2 - The Muscle

Awake.

At least, I think so. The lack of anything but black is kind of distracting.

It's cold, damp. My hands have been fastened behind my back - it's clear the people who tied me up have done this before. A pulsing ache is growing at the back of my neck from the strike that put me out. My chest feels like I rammed a brick wall and my face is numb. So, I felt the ground face-first.

I can hear voices - soft ones, as if they're expecting me to wake up in the middle of things. Though, to be fair, I did. I can't make out anything, but they seem to be coming from in front of me - figure there's a door there.

An idea sprung into my head, and I managed to pull myself up against a crusted wall behind me. Steadying myself, I braced my shoulder. These doors should be weakened intensely from the damp and the age, anyways.

With a swift breath, I ran forward...

...And broke the door off it's hinges and onto the floor. I fell, hard, and suddenly, my face wasn't numb anymore.

The room was lit - it seemed to be the same cellar that I was in before, only with everything highlighted. In the center of the room, stood two people - a man who was a good head taller than me and packed with more muscle than I could even dream of, and a woman who, forgive me, was a legitimate dwarf.

I had all of two minutes to appreciate the pain returning to my shoulder before the man grabbed me by the collar and pulled me off the floor. From here, I got a better view of him: his skin was tinged... blue? What? And his ears were pointed and cut, like he messed up a pierce and decided it was worth it. His nose took up the whole of his face, but I could make out the brown eyes filled with all manner of hatred pointed at me.

He pulled me closer to his face, probably intent on choking me with his breath. With a growl, he spoke in a gruff tone. "Figures this one ought to wake up soon." He turned to the door that remained in splinters on the floor. "Although he did a number on the door."

The woman piped up, in a deeper voice than I pictured from her size. "I'll call Charlie, maybe get a wrought-iron one put in by Thursday." She turns to me. "We need to deal with this quick."

The man smiled. "I got an idea." He extended both hands, let go of me, and drove a fist into my stomach.

I hit the ground and vomited. There might've been a flash of red in the bile.

My ears still ringing from the pain, I made out their voices.

"Nathaniel! We're not killing this one!"

The man chuckled. "What, seriously? Four wandered in, and you want to keep the one that breaks our shit and steals our liquor?"

"And I told you the same thing when it came to those three: we'd have just been fine with a simple headache and a little blackout!"

"Look, just because they couldn't take a simple punch to the gut without shitting themselves--"

"Nathaniel!"

I managed to regain my composure enough to try and stand. The two stopped arguing and looked at me.

The man laughed. "See? He's fine!" He grabbed me again and picked me up. "But we do need to deal with ya."

The woman slapped the back of the man's knee. "Nathaniel, remember what Mickey said."

Nathaniel scoffed, then set me down. I nearly fell from the pain in my gut. "Alright, alright. Just trying to scare him a bit."

I felt another urge, knelt, and let loose another torrent of bile. Hopefully the last. The woman approached me, careful of the puddles.

"Hey, buddy, are you okay? You feeling alright?"

I felt my head rise. My voice came out weak, hoarse, and all other manner of words. "I was just disemboweled by Chuckles over here after waking up from a headache the size of Texas and you're asking me that?"

Silence, while I continued gasping for air. I heard the Nathaniel guy cough.

I picked myself up and found I rose above the girl. Yeah, dwarf was the proper term here.

With actual breath filling my lungs, I looked at Nathaniel. "Fuck you, man."

He growled, but stood still. The girl motioned for me to look at her.

"Alright, alright. Look, we, uh, can't have you running around now..."

I gave her a quick glance. She was small, really small. And cute, but I think that's a side effect of being tiny. Other than her size, she looked like a miniature woman rocking a formal skirt and attire. Same style as the big guy, now that I look at them in the same frame.

Apparently, the look on my face was vicious, as she froze on the spot. She stepped back a bit, intent on giving me space.

I could use this chance.

I spat as much blood as I could on the ground in front of her. "What? So, what, you some mob bosses or something?" I gestured at Nathaniel. "He your fucking lackey or something? You gonna call a guy named Vinny to fit me with some cement shoes or something?"

The girl looked shocked. "What?! No! Vince is off for the week!"

I smiled. "Oh, goody. I get to meet Mickey, instead."

Suddenly, a look came across her face, and she turned to Nathaniel. "That's... actually a good idea."

Fuck.

Nathaniel grabbed me again - he's loving this too much - and hefted me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. From here, though, I caught sight of the red door - it was wide open, and pitch black darkness was visible inside. The woman ran through, then stopped at the door frame.

"Nathaniel, keep him off the ground until we meet up with Charlotte. We can't have him running, remember." And with that, she was gone.

Nathaniel, meanwhile, began towards the door with me in hand. He ducked under the door frame, and into the black void, which, as it turns out, is cavernous as all get out. The tears welling in my eyes from the heavy vomiting and gut punching make it hard to get an idea of the ceiling position or where I am really. I can also barely see my breath float in the air, so it's really damn cold - probably for the liquor they're storing.

It was then I noticed the noise. Chatter, like a bar - well, no shit. I couldn't make out any light, but I can here the voices coming and going, and as Nathaniel kept descending down whatever staircase we were coming down, they only grew louder than the ringing of  my ears.

Finally, Nathaniel stopped. I felt the pure cold on my numb skin, now.

I heard another voice in the darkness, just as gruff as Nathaniel here. "Mickey says you're good. Keep the monkey on a leash, though. We don't want an incident."

The woman's voice came. "Don't worry, Jimmy. Our 'friend' here ain't going nowhere."

Another door opened, and the voices were loud. As Nathaniel walked through the door, I caught sight of who they were talking to - a literal ogre of a man, complete with a thick horn growing out of his balding head and a single, solitary eye in the center of his face. For a minute, the vomit almost came back, but then I realized Nathaniel would probably do worse to me if I splashed him.

Soon as I noticed the dim lights in the room, the voices stopped. I looked beside myself, and found a bar filled with all manner of people and... things. Things straight out of myths and legends - an orc here, an elf there, a gaggle of wasps that somehow form a man, a dwarf looking like Gandalf's granddad, everything. Each and everyone, sitting at a table, holding a large glass, and staring straight at me with a look of disbelief. Apparently, among a gaggle of freaks, I'm the odd one out.

The bar itself was interesting. From the looks of it, it was something out of The Great Gatsby, with sequins, shelves, and all manner of New England-posh lifestyle touches to the furnishings.

And I just knew then and there how deep I had gotten myself into. I had seen what they kept hidden, and now they can't let me walk away alive.

We walked into another room. As soon as the door closed behind us, Nathaniel hefted me again and threw me onto the ground. I tried to get up, but a foot on my back kept me low. I looked up at a pinewood desk.

There, looking over the desk at me, was an old man - mercifully, human. His trimmed beard and mustache were lined with silver and white, and his eyes were sunken in from decades of age. With a trilby, this man might not have been out of place in a mafia scene, which was only confirmed by his pressed, gray shirt.

He spoke. "So this one?"

I heard the dwarf speak. "Yes, Mr. Mickelson."

He rose, then walked in front of the desk. Looking me in the eye, he smiled. He turned to Nathaniel. "Then we need him quiet for a bit."

And with that, I felt Nathaniel land a hook to my head before I passed out again.