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A calm and cool Saturday night permeated outside of the car as Caelus stared at the entrance of the bar in front of him. Dan Heng next him took a long drag of his cigarette and dropped the ashes out the car window. Caelus let out a sigh as he mentally prepared himself to leave the vehicle. Dan Heng and Caelus were assigned by the Bureau to investigate the bar as a possible hotspot of distribution of illegal drugs for a national crime syndicate. The intel from their informants Mister Aventurine, Miss Topaz, and Miss Jade seemed to be spot on as many shady individuals seemed to be outside the bar enjoying the somewhat calm atmosphere of the night. Dan Heng threw the remains of his cigarette outside and told Caelus “Alright let's get this over this. Remember Mr. Yang and Ms. Himeko told us to observe our findings and not to push for any arrests. If we are somehow discovered then we can try to make a move, but I would like to avoid stoking conflict if I can.” Caelus hummed in acknowledgement. They left their vehicle across the street in an open lot and proceeded to walk towards the bar.
As they approached Caelus noticed that many of those outside were becoming increasingly quiet and sizing up Dan Heng and him. The bouncer held out his hand and said in a gravelly voice, “Hold it there slicks. Can’t let you just walk in without knowing the rules.” Dan Heng blinked at the bouncer stoically whereas Caelus just shrugged and said “Rules? Rules are meant to be broken, man.” Dan Heng did his best to make it known that he was preparing to defend himself and Caelus when he heard barking laughter erupt from the bouncer and the gathering crowd. After recovering, the bouncer said to them “Ah man that was pretty good. I like your attitude. Come on in. Besides, I wouldn't want our new patrons to miss tonight’s lovely performers of “Twilight Twirl”. Enjoy gentlemen. Remember what you see in there is for your eyes only.” Caelus let out a soft smile while thanking the bouncer and proceeded through the door Dan Heng nodded in the acknowledgment of being permitted in and followed suit.
The inside of the bar reeked of smoke of all kinds which at least confirmed their suspicions that at least some drugs were being used here, but nothing concrete yet. So Caelus and Dan Heng proceeded to the bar in order to blend into the scene. After placing their order with a very short woman who looked oddly like their friend Bronya Rand, they turned around to observe the bar and see if they could find any deals going on inside to report back to the Bureau about. The layout of the establishment seemed fairly open in front of the stage that was situated on the opposite side of the bar, but with notable outlets that held private booths off to the sides. After taking a sip of his drink Caelus glanced and stated in a hushed voice “Maybe one of us should do a lap and see if there is anything going on in the booths?” Dan Heng nodded in agreement without looking at Caelus and responded “We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves. It might be best to do it while the performer is on stage. Might keep most people's attention onto the stage and away from what going on elsewhere. You go. I will stay back and observe the rest of the floor. “ Caelus nodded in acknowledgement. He finished his drink, the “Beautiful Enemy” and waited until the lights dimmed and two stage lights turned onto the stage. He started walking toward the right side of the stage and making subtle glances into the booths to see if there was any sort of drug trading as he made his way up.However, his attention was diverted away from his task as soon as he heard the clacks of heels on the stage. As he turned his head, his pupils blew out as he saw the woman making the noise with her heels. Her long magenta hair being accented by her pearly skin and the lovely long black dress she was wearing. She carried a violin with her and placed it under chin and opened her eyes which stared directly at him.
Caelus felt his heart thump as she gave a small smile and a wink toward him before she started playing. While the melody was not something he was immediately familiar with, since his musical preference tended to be more modern, he could tell whoever this beautiful woman was, she was a top notch violinist. She started to slowly sway to her own music which only further hypnotized Caelus as he paid close attention to her every movement, like a fly being drawn into a spider’s web.
Dan Heng did his third sweep of the venue from his position from the bar when he caught Caelus just standing there dumbfoundedly staring at the performer. He sighed but ultimately thought not much of it. He then heard a voice calling out to him from behind. It was the short bartender from earlier and she said, “Hey, I know it’s not normally my business on how someone does their job, but you may want to wrap up your little investigation soon.” The alarms went off in Dan Heng’s head as it appeared this bartender knew what he was doing. But to confirm his suspicions he decided to answer coyly “What do you mean?” With a small sigh, the bartender said, “Look I know you are not here for the atmosphere nor are you here for the drinks because I am not the regular bartender and I don’t really mix drinks. That leaves you either to be one of the less savory patrons or you are with the fuzz.” Dan Heng trying to keep his cool and trying to figure out his next move responded by asking “Okay and why would I want to leave here as soon as possible?” The bartender just smirked and stated “Well let just say me and my friends are none to happy with the people who run this joint and plan on taking some of them out and causing general chaos. My buddy over there is going to start causing a ruckus soon.” She then pointed to her right with her thumb. Dan Heng followed her pointing and saw a man that had only haunted his nightmares. Luckily for him it appeared the man did not take notice of him or seem to care at the moment. Dan Heng realizing the great danger Caelus and he were in decided the best course of action was to leave immediately.
Meanwhile, Caelus just stood there lovestruck as he observed the performer on stage. Her elegance, beauty, and dexterity in her performance drove him further into hypnosis. Her performance ended with a frill from her violin. The audience started to clap with some giving a standing ovation as she took a graceful curtsy onstage. She then placed the violin in a case and proceeded to walk off the stage and toward Caelus with the case in hand. His heart rate was rapidly increasing and she came closer. She then stopped in front of him and the first thing that his senses caught was how wonderful she smelled. She spoke to Caelus in a very sultry voice, “Did you enjoy my performance?” He responded by stammering “Y-y-y-yes! Of - of course! You were incredible!” She gave a small giggle and then said, “Why thank you dear. The name is Kafka. Nice to meet you Mr. . .” Caelus eagerly responded, “Caelus. My name is Caelus.” Kafka gave a small smile and said, “Quite the name Mr. Caelus. Listen, could you do me a favor and accompany me to the table in the booth over there? I just don’t feel quite safe with all these . . . charming people and I could use some company. What do you say?” Kafka proceeded to bat her eyes coyly at Caelus to further accentuate her act. Caelus however was caught within Kafka’s web and had proceeded to throw all logic out the window. “Sure! No problem.” he responded proudly with his hands on his hips. She let out a small laugh at his enthusiasm. She then wrapped her arm around his as they walked toward the table she mentioned. As they walked she dragged Caelus' head closer to her face so that her mouth was close to his ear and she said to him, “You seem like a good kid and I am sorry about what's about to happen next. But stick next to me until your partner comes for you and when he does, get out. Do that for me okay?” She the kissed his cheek which made Caelus blush furiously. Caelus just nodded on instinct, not really absorbing what she said except for “. . .stick to me . . .” That was until they reached the table. Kafka had let go of his arm and as he starting actually process what she said, all he heard from the periphery of his consciousness “ . . . Elio sends his regards.” Then chaos erupts as Kafka withdrew a submachine gun from her violin case and sprayed a very corpulent (and frankly unpleasant looking) fellow at the table that had bags of white powder, pills and other items that were probably other illegal drugs on the table.
Caelus’s instincts kicked into action at the sound of gunfire and he spun around having already decided to trust Kafka for some reason and noticed that about a good half of the bar was full of screaming patrons, but the other half was full of men unholstering their own firearms. Caelus then on muscle memory tried to reach for his .45 and drew it out and fired in the direction of the nearest armed miscreant. He then heard the breaking of wood behind him preceded by a loud thump. After taking down the first guy Caelus turned his attention to in front of him and noticed he was staring down the barrels of multiple guns and that he was toast. As he braced for the inevitable as the first shots rang out, he felt nothing, but then noticed he was being protected by a table and next to him Kafka was firing above the table with her machine gun. Caelus yelled in the midst of gun fire as Kafka crouched behind the heavy table head “Hey you could have told me you were going to do that beforehand you know!” Kafka smirked back and yelled “And why’s that? That was part of the fun.” He fired around the table with one hand fire several shots down range “Well I could have protected you if needed protection from the mob! I’m a federal agent!” Kafka sardonically replied “Ah, but you see I don’t need protection as you can see.” Caelus just raised his eyebrow in response. Kafka gave a small sigh, “Look I am sorry that I ruined the FBI’s investigation and that you are in danger, but trust me. My friends and I are taking care of this syndicate.” Caelus replied back “Friends?” Kafka then grabbed a frag grenade from her violin case, removed the pin, and tossed it over the table. She raised her right hand and she said “Boom.” while also having her hands follow a similar motion. Caelus just started laughing at the absurdity of the situation because he was in a fight for his life and the woman he just met was fighting a gang in a long black dress and then just “boom” to accentuate an explosion and he actually found it hilarious. His thoughts were interrupted as Kafka said “It’s time to move” with a sing-songy frill towards the end of the phrase. He followed Kafka’s line of sight as she was not looking at him when she said that, and he found Dan Heng running towards him. Dan Heng managed to stay unscathed as he made his way to Caelus. Dan Heng yelled “Caelus we need to leave now!” Caelus nodded in the affirmative as he turned his attention to Kafka as she blew him a kiss, “Later slugger. Next time we should meet under less dangerous circumstances.” Caelus just nodded and Dan Heng yanked Caelus by his shoulder and yelled, “We leave at the next opening.” As the torrent of gunfire hit everything around them, Caelus had serious doubts as to when they would have an opening to make a run for it. However, just as he finished that thought he heard Kafka yell “Bladie! It's your turn!” He then heard a man shout “I may never reach the other side.” The gun fire then stopped which gave Caelus and Dan Heng the break they needed to run for it. Just as they reached the door Caelus heard the very end of what the voice of the one he assumed was Bladie saying “So savor it in my place!” followed by the shrieks of many men.
As they reached the door they were prepared to fight any of the guys outside, but it turns out the local police had already responded and had several of the outside patrons already on the ground and in cuffs. They approached Caelus and Dan Heng stating they had the right to remain silent. Caelus and Dan Heng flashed their FBI badges which at least made the local police drop their guns. After a long time explaining what happened in the club and writhing internally over the prospect of having to tell Himeko and Welt what happened last night and having March tease Dan Heng him merciessly about their failed simple observation, they left to go back to their homes. Dan Heng dropped off Caelus and after Caelus entered his apartment. He dug through his pockets and felt a piece of paper that was crumbled in his pocket. He withdrew it and found a piece of paper with a kiss mark with the words “Call me -Kafka”. He then gave a small smile. Maybe the woman in the long cool in a black dress made the madness of tonight worth it.