1 Welcoming Bouquet

The sun slowly sets behind the tall skyscrapers of the city. In a corner at a crossroad, a small shop creaked up into view. At a closer glance, a black Rolls Royce stopped in front of it. The driver gets off and quickly jogs to the passenger door, holding it open as he slightly bowed as a woman got off. She stood tall and gave a quick glance around the neighbourhood. The man did not move an inch until she started walking towards the door of the shop. He followed tee behind her as soon as he closed the car door, but came to a sudden stop while the woman tried to open the door. It was locked.

She smacked her lips and spoke displeased " Asphodel, didn't we tell that buffon to leave the door unlocked after he was done? "

" We did more than once, ma'am. " His response was exact, yet humble as if to avoid the further commotion.

" I see... " Her reply left an unfleeting silence settle in, while she would lean in towards the window to see into the shop. " It seems he finished the majority of the work… " she smiled " but still not finished as we have agreed, nor an open door. "

" It seems to be the case. What would you like to do regarding it? " Asphodel glanced into the dim shop as he frowned knowing what was going to happen. Disrespect is very displeasing within her garden.

She turned towards the car " Asphodel … " she paused while looking at the empty street as if deserted, yet there were only apartment blocks as the eyes could see. " Did you bring enough welcoming bouquets? " As soon as she finished speaking she walked back to the car. Asphodel followed up while replying " It would be unkind to not greet our benefactors without them. Wouldn't it? " he opened the door, she scoffed at his sarcastic reply as she got in the car " It would be truly unbecoming of us not to do so. "

Asphodel nodded in agreement as he closed the passenger door of the matt car. He fixed his tie while he strode to the driver's side. Got in and drove off. The car did not seem to speed up, it kept it pace till the darkness swallowed it.

Ten days before the opening…

Small town up north, snow was slowly melting under the sun's glare as it was apprising the arrival of spring. Among the many residents, today it was quite a special day for young Desmond. Today he was going for the first time shopping alone, he could finally feel truly grown up.

He quickly put on his jacket and boots while shouting " Mom! Did you finish the list? " impatiently asking his mom quietly sneaked in a giggle she replied " Yes darling. " Then quickly tiptoed to her husband, handed the note, patted his back, and gave him a thumbs up. He just stood still, looking confused by the gesture until he opened the note. He smiled. Walked up to the main entrance " Here it is. " hands his son the note with the list and money " Make sure you look before you cross. In case you get lost call us or ask someone for directions. " Desmond proudly replies " I got this father. " As soon as the father opened the door Desmond bolted out, lastly his father shouted " Be careful Des! " a childish voice replied while laughing " Yes! " he waved goodbye.

Desmond picked up the pace and arrived earlier than expected. Enters the shop, carefully checks the fruit section, cereals, and bread section. Out of the blue, the quiet shop was bustling with students. They were coming down from their trip on the near mountain. It made his shopping slower. At some point, he couldn't move by how crowded some sections were. In this busy-body atmosphere, he heard a few men bickering with some other adults at the entrance. Within moments more men entered the store, this time with guns. They shot all the adults they saw on sight. Soon after they quickly maneuvered picking the children left and right. They worked like an oiled machine. Desmond froze in terror at the sight of the situation.

Anyone could tell it was not their first rodeo, within minutes of their arrival the place was cleaned. All children were taken and put into vans along with Desmond. With the closing of the door, the van drove off to god knows where. One of the perpetrators was sitting with the children in the back of the van getting all their items. There were no exceptions.

They drove for hours… days… Desmond just did not know what to make out of it. What to even do. Crying would only get him hit till knocked out. Food was given every now and then, but their needs. They were never allowed to leave the van. The smell of the urine was lingering that even the driver asked his partner if they really can't just stop in the middle of a forest. The partner immediately shouted back as he hung up. " Shut up! Don't you want to cash in?! Just drive. " he threw his phone into his bag " This dumb bitch, so fucking picky. " he mimics a woman's voice as he quoted her " I would like the floor changed, remodel the basement. I don't like the color. " as he came to an end of his act he punched the door.

" Didn't they pay big money? " the driver asked confused, the partner instantly cut in " She thinks she's a fucking princess. She's fucking nuts. We ain't working in a castle, we are the dark side of the moon, that no one talks about. " the driver laughed at his poetic remark and replied " I thought you never went to school. Guess there is always more on that dark side of the moon you speak of. "

The partner gave the driver a light shove " Shut up, you fucker. Anyway, I won't give that psycho the key. She'll have to come to me, then I'll kill her. She's only 16-17, a kid. I spit on her and she dies. " They both laughed it off as the days kept adding up.

On the 10th day, the black Rolls Royce came out of the shadows and stopped under a tree. Silence. Both of them gazed at the house and the warehouse near it. Vans started to come at different intervals.

The woman started to twirl her hair strand as more vans came into the warehouse. " Well, would you look at this Asphodel? We might reap more than what we came for. " she paused for a moment as another van passed by amounting to a total of 8 so far. " Notify the others we are opening earlier than expected, so tell them to hurry it up. "

Asphodel nodded " Very well. " He took his phone from his pocket and started texting for the next 10-15 minutes. He put his phone back in his pocket as he reported " Iris should be arriving any moment now. I have also asked Violet if she has some idea about the circus that's about to burn down, seems like we didn't carve our roots that deep as of yet. "

The woman sighed as she leaned on her seat, seeing another Rolls Royce park at the other end of the street. Her phone lit up. She picked it up " Seems like Violet and Bluebell arrived. " points towards the other Rolls Royce, then checks her phone " and Iris is behind us. Sneaky as always. " unlocked her phone and texted to notify the others to not move until she will get out of the car.

It felt like the silence was tightening, hawks on the hunt. Awaiting their prey. A skinny fella left out the front door of the house lit a cigarette and started to pee. Humming while looking around the neighbourhood, immediately noticed the two Rolls Royce stacked one after another. He spoke to himself " What fag would come here in a warm seat, and leave it open. Well today is my lucky day. " he shook his manhood, zipped it in, and slowly waddled towards the two cars. The tinted black windows made it hard to see inside. The fella walked around the car to check if the tires were fine, scratches. His inspection came to an end when he reached the driver's side. He tried to open the door. Locked.

The woman instructed Asphodel to not make a move as a red light blinked from the Rolls Royce on the other side of the road. Violet had a clean shot on the lowlife. He kept struggling to unlock the door. Soon after a van stopped right next to the skinny man as he was looking in his pockets for his tools. He only realized as a voice came behind him.

" Oy, junkie boy did all the cars arrive? " asked the man in the car while smacking the outside of the car's door to get his attention. Then he saw the cars. He started to get curious.

" Yes, yes " the junkie nodded with his whole body.

" Who do these belong to? " he squinted his eyes as if that would help him see through the tinted glass.

" I don't know. "

" Ok, kiddo. Get back in, we'll look at them after we are done with our load. " He gestured with his hand to the boy to move. He started running inside. At the sight of this Violet turned off her tracking light. The van drove into the garage. A few minutes after its halt cries and struggles were coming out of the garage. Yet silence has set again.

Without any repercussion, the woman unlocked the doors of the car and got out. Iris stood behind her as if engulfing her whole. She raised her right hand in the air and waved twice towards the other party at the end of the street. The cars instantly drove in front of the house. Asphodeus opened the trunk of the car, took two pistols and two carbines, and walked towards the woman. " Here is the bouquet and the chocolate. " he stated as he handed her the two pistols and one carbine.

" Thank you. " she holstered her pistols and took the carbine in her hand. " Let's greet these buffoons, follow the lead of Asphodel, we need one specific pig alive. The rest, kill on sight. " Bluebell and some of his henchmen headed for the back door. The rest followed Asphodel's lead as they barged into the house. With no hesitation he took position and fired anything in his sight, the junkie, the prostitutes they had ordered everything was falling apart. From Bluebell's side, they shot everyone's knees as they were not sure who the main target was. Asphodel's group moved to the first floor to see a selection of rooms, but no one was to be seen. He immediately laid on the ground and the rest on the stairs as he yelled " Down! ". A spray of the submachine guns fired relentlessly at the walls, a scream would be heard every now and then but then it would die out under the random bullets. Everyone inside the house awaited for their enemies to run out of bullets. It posed no threat as most of its users were untrained.

In front of the house, Violet set up on the hood of the car furthest facing the house, waiting for any headless chicken to run out.

From this point onwards the woman started to take action, she entered the house. Iris, asked while he followed up and loaded his gun " Where to? "

" Garage. I am curious about how these worms survive. " She turned right in the hallway, entering the garage. The stench of the children made her so disgusted. " Check the car, I'll check the storage rooms. " She motioned with her hand as she ordered while she covered her nose with her sleeve.

Suddenly the sea of fire stopped, while two loud thuds broke the silence and a long scream. Iris, unfazed by the loud noise, continued to look through the van driver's seat " To think they were stupid enough to jump and break their legs. "

The children in the locked room started screaming and crying for help. Iris, immediately reacted, aimed his gun at the room. " Laura, wait. " he whispered as the cries only got louder.

Desmond for the first time in what seemed an eternity heard another person's voice other than that of the kidnappers. He was free in his mind, he stood up. Then the female voice behind the door spoke " I can save all of you if you sacrifice one of you. " All the children went silent, then as if possessed, looked at Desmond. Then as if wailing the majority of the voices overlapped " Take him! " " He's not one of us. " " Yes, yes, him " they all kept pushing Desmond towards the door. Even after getting pinned against it, they kept pushing and crying out to take him for their freedom.

Laura unlocked the door, yanked Desmond out of her firing sight, and shot everyone. Lowered her gun as the cries stopped, then slammed the door. Desmond in his fear peed himself and begged " Please, don't kill me. " She grinned as if everything was going according to the plan. " We won't… for now. " Then continued to walk to the switch to open the garage door " Iris, take him, give him a bath. He stinks worse than all the dead bodies here. Bring him tomorrow. "

Iris stood in silence trying to understand her reasoning, but gave up as the last bit of the sentence was delivered. " Ok. "

The door rose up as Laura pressed the switch " Oh, and one more thing. Throw him in the trunk, i do not wish to change the seats. " then headed to the two that were groaning in pain as they broke their legs from the fall.

In the meantime, Iris grabbed Desmond by the back of his collar and started dragging him towards his car. Desmond kept kicking, yelling, and crying. But it seemed as if the whole neighbourhood was dead. Iris lost his patience and knocked the child out cold, then threw him in the trunk. Gave Laura a last glance, then got in the car and drove off.