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⚠️ Content Warning: This chapter contains physical violence.
Last time on TSA
Viktor ditched Klaus, so Chai took over Klaus’s body. This seemed to convince the gang he was alright.
“So, you’re here to stay, huh?” he said, his tone casual, but there was nothing casual about the way he stared me down, suspicion on his face, clear as day.
“Mei seemed to be okay with it,” I replied.
“Yeah, well, Mei says a lot of things.” He stepped closer. One might say 'in my face', but Joseph towered over me, my face in his chest. "Me, though, I don't trust you. Let's go outside. You'll make a mess on the floor."
Viktor, undercover as Dmitri, sinks deeper into the gang’s world. Trust is scarce, and violence is currency. Joseph tests his loyalty with tasks that unsettle Viktor. For the first time, Chai’s voice is no longer in his head, leaving him truly alone. One test leads to an encounter with a kid who sees far too much.
Chapter 11
The rain had stopped. It was now silent under the metal roof on the loading dock. Water in the ditch was receding. The fight with Klaus fought its way into my head. The way he choked underwater. The way he struggled and lost his grip... his... grip... on...
Shit! We forgot about the gun in the ditch. I could use it about now.
Joseph tossed me a towel. I had forgotten about my rain-soaked clothes dripping on the floor. That's the mess he was concerned about—not me lying in a pool of my own blood.
He leaned against a crate. “Listen, talk’s cheap. You want to stay? You’ve gotta prove your worth.”
At least he couldn't see the ditch. If the water got low enough and he saw Klaus's gun, I could not explain that away.
“How can I prove myself?”
He smirked, leaning in.
“There’s a guy that moves some product for us—owes us a cut, but he’s been holding out. We need you to send a message.”
I couldn’t afford to seem hesitant or defensive, but I also didn’t want to commit to something I couldn’t do. “You want me to threaten him?”
“Show him what happens when you cross us,” he said, his smirk gone now. I didn’t know how I was going to pull this off, but I couldn’t not do it. “When?” I asked.
He looked out into the dark alley. “Tomorrow night.”
Right, it was already almost morning now.
“I’ll go with him,” Chaus spoke up, standing in the doorway. “To make sure he doesn’t get himself into a bigger mess than we need on our hands.”
Joseph glanced at Chaus with a slight hint of confusion on his face, but it soon faded away.
“Alright.” He straightened up and clapped a hand on my shoulder as he passed. “Don’t let us down, Dmitri, you only get one chance.”
✹✹✹
The next day was spent with me being nervous out of my mind. I was alone since Chai had left my head. I had nobody to confide in.
I was scared that Chai could have been messing up the whole thing while I was away. The day passed sluggishly, but it also passed quicker than I expected—time is a weird construct.
As we were in the van heading toward the target’s location, my nerves were starting to show. My hands gripped the edge of the seat so tightly my knuckles turned white.
“Relax,” Chaus muttered, his voice low enough that the others in the van wouldn’t hear. “You’re gonna blow it before we even get there.”
The driver was named Finn, and the other one was Tony, I think. I sat behind Finn, staring at the blue hair that was long enough in the back to cover his neck. It stood out and didn't match the natural tones of the rest of the gang.
They were too busy discussing their plans to pay much attention to us. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that they were waiting for me to slip up—to give them a reason to doubt me.
Finn stopped the van in an alley a block away from the target’s store. The target was a middle-aged guy named Richard. He owned a high-end equipment store of some sort. According to Joseph, Richard had been hiding the gang’s cut of the profit in a safe in the store.
The front of the store was dark, the “Closed” sign hanging crookedly in the window. Finn stood next to the van to keep watch, while Chaus and I slipped around the back.
The other guy, Tony, was already at the rear entrance, fiddling with the lock. He must have been like Chai, just a lock-picker.
The door clicked open, and we pushed through. Chaus took the lead, moving upstairs with surprising stealth. The stairs creaked under our weight, which made my heart pound in my chest.
At the top, we found a small office and a heavy-duty safe bolted to the floor. Chaus pointed to the safe. “There.”
I crouched down, examining the lock. It was an old-school combination model, nothing too sophisticated, but it would take time to crack. Time we didn’t have.
“What are you doing here?!” A voice coming from the hallway startled me.
I spun around to see a man holding a golf club in front of himself defensively. This must be Richard.
Chaus stepped forward, his hands raised. “Take it easy, old man. We’re just here for what you owe.”
Richard yelled at us and swung the golf club, forcing Chaus to duck. It slammed into the wall with a loud crack, shaking a picture frame loose.
“Vik-d-damnit–d–Dimitri!”
Chaus shouted, moving to dodge another swing. I hesitated for a split second, then lunged forward, grabbing the club as Richard raised it for another strike. We struggled for control over the weapon.
“Let go, you bastard!” Richard shouted.
I didn’t respond. Instead, I watched as Chaus took advantage of the situation. He grabbed Richard’s arm and twisted it behind his back. The golf club clattered to the floor as Richard let out a pained yelp. Chaus shoved Richard towards the safe.
“Open the safe.” Chaus ordered, his voice cold.
“Go to hell!” spat Richard.
“Dimitri, pick up that lamp” growled Chaus. “Whut?" I asked.
“Do I have to do everything for you?” he said as he grabbed the lamp off the desk, his face more intimidating than I’ve ever seen Klaus or Chai have.
“Open it or I’ll hit you with this fucking lamp!”
Richard glared at him. I held my breath. The sharp, gleaming edge in Chaus's eyes mirrored the lamp's heavy metal base.
Richard reluctantly nodded, and I exhaled. He crouched before the safe and turned the dial. The safe clicked open a minute later, revealing stacks of cash.
Chaus stuffed the money into a bag while I tied Richard to his office chair with the lamp cord. Chaus stepped over and put the lampshade on Richard’s head.
“There, a masterpiece,” he said with a little of Chai’s usual mischief.
A muffled voice came from under the lampshade. “What am I supposed to do now?”
“I don’t know, why don’t you go walk into traffic?” Chaus replied and tossed me the bag.
“How? I’m tied up!” we heard as we walked out.
I jumped into the front passenger seat of the van and opened the bag to show Finn. He gave me an approving nod.
“Not bad, rookie,” he said, punching my shoulder, “you might actually have what it takes.”
I forced a small smile as we drove off.
Back at the gang’s hideout, Joseph gave us a once-over as we walked in. “Everything go smoothly?”
I tossed the bag of cash onto the table, “See for yourself.”
Joseph smirked, pleased with our job. I kept my expression neutral, not trusting myself to speak. I was deeper in this case than I ever planned to be. I couldn’t screw things up now.
✧✧✧
That night back at my apartment, I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling. This was all moving too fast for me to process. The day's events had been unsettling—not just the robbery—but the way Chai had acted.
He slipped into Klaus's skin, and suddenly, he's a violent criminal. Sure, he was a criminal before I met him, but this wasn't like the Chai I had gotten to know. I made a mental note to ask him about it, then took some melatonin to battle the caffeine and adrenaline that held dominion over my body.
✹✹✹
I woke up thinking I heard the crow pecking at the window, but my apartment was empty. The silence was deafening, so I didn't even bother to make coffee. I headed to the cafe to hear the background noise of busy people in a hurry.
It too was empty. What day was it? Is it a holiday or something? I figured I might as well go to my new job as unnamed gang member number four.
At the med-supply hideout, Joseph tasked me with another job, this time I was the lookout. He didn't tell me anything about the job other than to "keep an eye out". I guess gang members are supposed to know what to look for.
Finn drove again, just him and me. We pulled up to a building. Was it a bank? A train station? A post office? No, it was an old library. At least it wasn't another warehouse. How come all this crime has to happen in dilapidated and nearly condemned buildings?
Though it was nestled between skyscrapers in the city, it was quieter than I expected. The white noise of the city had been muted, like the jungle going silent when a tiger stalks—no creature wants to catch the predator's gaze.
My assigned post was a narrow alleyway near the back, standing on a creaky metal staircase that led to the third-floor emergency exit. Chaus couldn't go on every job with me—that would be too suspicious. Finn stood on the metal landing beside me.
"Dmitri!" Oh, that's me. I don't think this was the first time Finn said it.
He looked at me. I got the feeling he was sizing me up. Was this another test for the gang?
"Kind of short for a gangster aren't you?" he prodded.
I had to look up to meet his eyes. "Maybe," I shrugged.
He turned around to look into the alley, tapping on the metal railing with the tips of his fingers. He didn't seem to be much of a conversationalist. So, here I was, alone with my thoughts, leaning against the rail, pretending to scan whoever was walking on the streets.
In reality, I was scanning the inside of the building through the narrow, dirt-stained window of the steel emergency exit door. Being on a stakeout for the cops was the same as doing one for the gang. Not a lot to see—until there was.
A muffled commotion inside the library caught my attention. I wiped away some of the grime obscuring the view with my coat sleeve. At the opposite end, the front windows spanned the entire building. They were covered with white plastic film that diffused the light into the large open space.
From our second-story perch, I could see the circular main foyer, with a wide staircase spiraling to floors with empty bookcases arrayed like the spokes of a wagon wheel. Footsteps thudded down the main staircase, and I shifted, straightening up just as I saw him.
A man in a dark suit nearly ran down the staircase. Sharp echoes followed his fast footsteps. His face was ashen, and I could see the glimmer of sweat. He rushed to the glass front door, pushing through and smashing his face.
Now I know what that looks and feels like. He found the bar, pushed harder, and hurried out.
A pair of figures emerged from the bookcases and ambled to the top of the stairs on the second floor. One was hidden in shadow, the other dominated the scene, framed in a shaft of light from a skylight—a looming presence, revealed as if by a sudden break in the jungle canopy.
It was a boy. No older than ten with perfectly smoothed down blonde hair. He was dressed in a plaid blue button-up and simple pants that were more functional than fashionable.
I quickly noticed his eyes through the dirty window. Even though he was further away than I should have been able to, I could see them clearly. They were a piercing blue, almost too sharp and way too calculating for someone his age.
“Who’s that?” I asked Finn, though I already knew who he was. It was the psychic kid that Chai and the grizzled gangsta had talked about.
“Ben,” he exhaled. “Boss’s kid or somethin’.”
I continued looking through the window as I repeated his words, “Boss’s kid?”
He shrugged. “That’s what they say. Creepy little guy. Best stay out of his way.”
The kid then tilted his head, his eyes meeting mine across the distance, locking me in place. He didn’t smile, didn’t frown—just stared, unblinking. I averted my gaze as fast as I could.
There was power in the way he had looked at me—in the way he carried himself. Power I couldn’t ignore.
Finn saw me jerk away from the door's window and was studying me. "Did you see something?" He looked down at me, and his blue eyes caught mine.
"It—was nothing." It was my turn to tap on the rail and stare at the alley.
Whatever Ben was, he wasn’t just a kid. And I couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew exactly who I was—and, why I was here.
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