Veronica and Jack Backstory
Veronica sat at a snazzy bar that rested on the top of Devalia’s highest skyscraper. Some people claimed it was the most luxurious place in the area, others claimed the number of people who fell to their deaths here was even higher than the building. Veronica made it her job to know everything about the location, but she wasn’t there for the view.
“I want this man dead,” said the fuming man as he slammed his hands on the table. Veronica looked between the man and her manager. These types were common. They came in ranting about their problems like they were in a therapist's office and then they would ask Veronica to do her job for free out of the kindness of her heart. Kindness didn’t pay the bills.
“He ruined- obliterated my reputation! I will never be able to make a deal again without that man- that fucking devil- filling my godsdamn-”
“Excuse me, Mr. Danvers,” Veronica’s manager calmly adjusted her glasses, “but we are a termination company, not human resources. The only way we can solve your problem is with information and incentive.” She flipped open Mr. Danver’s request file. “Based on who you are asking to have terminated, it will take quite a bit of both.”
Mr. Danvers, like every other businessman to step through Devalia, had wanted Jack Hallow dead. Veronica didn’t know too much about the man, but to be fair, nobody did. Hallow was one of the most elusive targets in all of the country. If not for the constant rumors, Veronica would have assumed he was long dead. He would have to be in his eighties at this point but he still managed to screw over guys like Mr. Danvers.
Danvers slipped a piece of paper across the conference room table. Veronica’s manager cooly picked it up and examined it.
“That’s the down payment. I pay double when he’s dead.”
Her manager placed the paper down in front of Veronica.
“I would like to speak to my client about your offer in private,” she motioned to the door, “If you could please wait outside for a moment.” Mr. Danvers grumbled but obliged, grabbing his coat and walking out of the room. “The door please, Mr. Danvers.” Danvers shut the door and Veronica’s manager remained silent until she heard the door click shut.
“But?” Veronica asked while taking a look at the seven-figure digit written on the paper.
“But if this job doesn’t go through, it’ll be a black spot on your career.”
“You think I can’t do my job?”
“I think Hallow is a hard man to pin down. Many people have already tried to go after him. If you don’t succeed with Hallow, you may have to succeed in other places.” She motioned her head at the door and Veronica caught on easily. Veronica worked at a relatively prestigious firm and they couldn’t risk their most promising “terminator” failing at her job because of a high-profile mark.
“I understand.” She folded the paper and placed it in her pocket as her manager got up to let Mr. Danvers know of her decision.
Veronica did a lot of research leading up to the hit. She read news stories about companies Hallow was rumored to be a part of, looked at online business forums, and scouted out information at corporate events. She was one of the best in her field and yet she hardly found anything. All she knew was that he was responsible for the beginnings of magic in corporate, had devil horns, and was around eighty years old. Her own magic couldn’t seem to track this guy, it was almost like he was a ghost.
A week into searching she got a tip. There was a rumor going around that Hallow frequented the Red Room, a luxury bar and hotel that rested at the top of Devalia. A common hunting ground for Devalian businessmen. She threw on a slinky pink dress, some enchantments that would keep her from leaving any traces, and a knife which she tucked behind the back of her dress where it would be impossible to notice.
The bar was indeed filled with businessmen. She recognized all of them from her research on Hallow and yet there was no sign of her target. They were all ogling at the dance floor which was filled with all kinds of beautiful people who were hired each night to catch the night of a paying customer and give them the time of their sleazy life. Veronica looked up to see one exception.
A young man in his mid to late-twenties with a pair of ram horns had just walked in and was decidedly heading towards the bar. He sat down a few seats away and paid no attention to anything except the drinks behind the counter. Veronica moved to sit next to him right before the bartender walked over.
“I’ll have the Cotton Candy Martini please.” She smiled sweetly at the bartender as she placed three dollars on the counter and tapped twice with her finger. In Devalia, most bartenders were made aware of a tapping system and two told them to make the drink virgin. It was a common play that Veronica used to seem like she was getting drunk without alerting anyone. The guy next to her watched her gesture with keen interest and placed ten dollars on the counter.
“Whiskey on the rocks.” He made a gesture of tapping three times as if he had any idea what the two taps actually meant. Just another playboy. The bartender took the money silently and left to make the drinks. The playboy turned his head to look at her and smirked.
“Come here often?” A very cheesy pickup line, but Veronica knew how to play her part. She giggled.
“No, first time here. I hope it isn’t too obvious.” She tucked a stray hair behind her ear.
“Nah, you blend right in.”
The bartender returned with their drinks.
“Wow! Thank you so much!” She turned back towards the playboy. “The drinks got here so fast!” She kept her voice light and dumb as she sipped her virgin martini
“Yeah, they’re pretty good here,” he said as he nearly downed his glass of whiskey in one shot. No doubt to try and impress her. Guys really were all the same.
“My name’s Jenny by the way! What’s yours?”
In most places in Devalia, people used an alias instead of their real name. It supposedly kept people from being tracked to the more shady places in the district. Not that fake names had ever really hindered Veronica’s ability to track her targets.
“Oh my gods! That’s my zodiac sign. How funny is that?” She giggled and touched his arm.
“I get that a lot.” Still smirking, playboy- Capricorn finished off his drink before waving the nearby bartender over for another.
“So, what brings you to this part of Devalia, Jenny?” For someone so young he sounded just as smug as any of the other men in the room.
“Well, I just heard so many good things about this bar so I had to come. The view is gorgeous up here! You can almost see all of the district.” She gushed.
“Yeah, it’s definitely something.” His eyes glanced over the dance floor and two young succubi winked and waved at him. He turned his eyes to the bartender who had returned with his second glass of whiskey. “Expensive though. How’d you get this far?” Veronica had her cover story ready.
“My dad works in sales so he was able to get me in,” she leaned her head and whispered. “There’s a lot of rich people here apparently.” Capricorn's smirk turned to one of honest amusement.
“So you’re here on business?”
“I guess you could say that.” She took a small sip of her martini. “I’m going to be an actress.” Capricorn looked her up and down.
“I definitely see you making it as an actress.” He grabbed his drink and spun his stool to face the crowd. Veronica followed his motion. “Let me help you out.” He pointed to a group of louder men who had seemingly made it their goal to catcall as many girls as possible. “Those three men over there are all in ad sales,” he spoke in a hushed tone as if telling her a secret. “Callaway, Monroe, and Wilden. They’re pretty egregious with women but they’re loaded so if you’re looking for finance, one of those guys will help.” He looked back at her. “For a price of course. I doubt there’s a man in here who would turn down a pretty lady looking to give them a good time.”
“I got places to go and whiskey to drink.” He gave Veronica a sad smile that bordered very close to sincere. He faced the crowd again and started pointing out different men in the crowd by name. Every once in a while she caught him looking at her.
By the end of the night, she had gone through 3 virgin martini’s and Capricorn had gone through more whiskeys than she thought anyone could possibly handle. They had talked about the other men there, what they thought about certain practices in Devalia, their favorite drinks. Hallow still hadn’t shown up and she was close to giving up when the subject of rumors came up.
“Gods, there are too many rumors in this industry.”
“In business? You're kidding.”
“Oh no. The people who think women are the most gossipy haven’t been around an office on break. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff they come up with.”
“Like-” He stopped mid-sentence and looked behind her. She moved her head to look at whoever he was fixated on.
The man who walked into the bar had to be at least in his fifties and even that was a generous estimate. He was old, yet cocky, and he had dark hair that just barely concealed a small pair of horns. Not breaking his focus, Capricorn kept their conversation going.
“The craziest rumors are about him. That he’s immortal. That he made a deal with the devil. That he is the devil.” He looked back at Veronica who tracked the older man to a corner seat at the other side of the bar. “If you’re looking for funding for your acting career, that’s the man to go to.”
Veronica looked back at Capricorn once she was sure he wasn’t going anywhere.
“That’s Jack Hallow.” Veronica whipped her head back at the man- her target- to make sure he was still there.
“I take it you’ve heard of him before.” Veronica looked back at him letting the shock play on her face.
“He’s infamous in the business industry. My dad talks about him a lot.”
“Infamous is a kind word for the attention he attracts.” Another gulp of whiskey. “He started showing up recently. Attracted a lot of people looking for quick money and I’d bet anything that assassins are gonna show up any day now.”
“What makes you think anyone would want to kill him?”
“When you’ve been in the industry for a while you start to make enemies.” He pointed to Hallow. “That man has been in for decades so you can only imagine how many people he’s pissed off.”
Veronica looked back over at Hallow and watched a group of girls try to cozy up to him.
“I’d be careful getting involved with him.”
She downed her martini and stood up.
“Sometimes if you want to get far, you have to make a deal with the devil.” She started to walk over to Hallow before quickly turning back to Capricorn.
“Thank you for the help. It was really nice of you.” Before she could hear his response she was gone.
She crossed the dance floor to join the group of women shmoozing Hallow. It wasn’t long before she made herself the favorite. He bought her drinks and eventually he brought her to his room on one of the lower floors. The room was fancy and Veronica noticed the lit candles and velvet sheets on the bed. Clearly, he had run this scenario before.
She continued to play along. She told him to lay down on the bed and then straddled him. He made more than a few dirty remarks before she leaned in close to whisper, “Close your eyes.” He obliged and she moved her body down his. She pulled out a knife that was tucked in the back of her dress before stabbing him in the heart. His eyes flashed open in shock and pain right before she removed the knife. That was all it took though she got a decent amount of blood on her new dress as well as her hands.
She pulled herself off of him and left to clean herself up. The cold water felt good on her hands. The mission was relatively quick considering Hallow’s elusive past. It may have been luck but Veronica couldn’t say she wasn’t proud of herself. Not for a few minutes anyway.
After cleaning herself up, she looked for any trinket she could sell or maybe even keep as a trophy. The hotel room was pretty bare except for the candles and a small suitcase with a jacket on top. She crouched by the suitcase on the floor after checking to make sure her enchantments were still on and pushed the jacket off only to hear the small thump of a large wallet falling out. It was designer and it looked like it was bursting with money. Veronica picked it up and was about to see how much she had gotten as a tip. She didn’t notice how there were hundreds on either side of the stack to cover up a huge wad of five-dollar bills or even the ice cream member card. What caught her eye was his ID. Jonathan Williams. Not Jack Hallow.
Veronica found the man's phone and Googled the name and sure enough, the man she had just killed was not Jack Hallow. She grew livid as she scrolled through his phone.
The man was an up-and-coming scam artist who would apparently go to bars pretending to be someone with a lot of money and Hallow seemed to be a go-to for him. She threw the phone across the room, not flinching as it shattered a painting of a bowl of fruit. She had just killed the wrong man. It felt like such a rookie mistake and yet here she was. She would have to let her manager know and then take care of Mr. Danvers. They couldn’t let Danvers tell everybody what kind of business they were running. She sighed and rummaged around the dead man’s suitcase to find a pack of cigarettes. She used one of the candles to light it and cracked open a window.
All the way at the bottom of the building a young man with ram horns could make out the faint scent of smoke. The cold air pressed against Capricorn’s hair as he waited outside for his car to pull up. What a night it had been. The whiskey was fairly good but he would be an idiot if he came back here anytime soon. His own immortality let him develop a strangely high tolerance for liquor, that or the power fended off death by alcohol poisoning.
The valet pulled up with his car and got out leaving the door open for Capricorn to get in. He tipped the valet close to a hundred since the car looked completely undamaged for once. The valet closed the door for him and stepped back.
“Have a nice evening Mr. Hallow.”
