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EMPTY EYE SOCKETS CHAPTER 2
Meche stubbed her cigarette, not lifting her gaze from the paper. It was Domino's report to Hector LeMans and was supposed to be given to a black bird to carry as soon as possible. Even though he was sure Domino was loyal and knew how to take care of things, Hector demanded him to send a report of his doings and achievements once in a while.
What read on the paper made the woman feel even more depressed. There was listed everything the slaves had done, all coral they had dug, the new slaves that had just arrived and a note that told that it was probably possible to find gold if the mines were dug deeper.
She sighed and stamped the report with a stamp that was almost unique. Only two of them existed, she had one and Domino had one. The man thought he was too busy to write the reports himself, so he had given the responsibility of them almost totally to Meche. Sure he read them before they were sent; he didn't trust the woman enough to give her free hands.
There was a quiet "thump" when she hit her stamp in the corner of the paper with more strength than she had been about to. She almost thought she could hurt those who were to blame for her suffering if she treated their papers badly.
Nothing was well nowadays, not to her or anyone who lived there. Well, Domino was another case of course.
They were all slaves and forced to work for those who had stolen their salvation and destroyed their dreams. Meche didn't actually know what was going on, but she knew it wasn't right.
Then again, when compared to others she shouldn't complain. The others had to work underwater at the mines day after day when all she had to do was to sit there and go through Domino's paper work. At times she felt guilty because of it, that her afterlife was slightly better than the others'.
And at times she felt warm proud for that Domino had chosen her to be his secretary. The man was totally corrupted, arrogant and most of the time incredibly irritating, but he was also choosy. He could have as well chosen someone of the other women and Meche knew some of them were more beautiful than she was.
They were all good and had deserved a ticket on the Number Nine, but Meche guessed some of the slaves would join Domino if he gave them the chance. Meche herself didn't even want to think about helping the man with his evil business any more than she had to.
And sorting those papers was what she was expected to do. She didn't care about herself anymore and wouldn't have done it if she hadn’t had to take care of Pugsy and Bibi.
The children were too small and weak to work at the mines so Domino had allowed them to stay on dry land. They weren't allowed to rest though; he had made them make small light bulbs. Meche thought it was wrong, even dead children deserved to play, but it was impossible to make Domino change his mind about something.
Especially after Pugsy had bitten him and he had locked them both up in an old bird cage.
"Finished already?" an arrogant voice asked and Meche lifted her gaze from her desk. Domino stood in front of her looking, as pleased with himself as usually and Meche felt slightly annoyed. She handed the stamped report at the man.
"Here you go," she said coldly when Domino took it. He read it through carefully and that was one of the few things he actually bothered to do well. Usually he just lazed around; the small island had no real job for him. The slaves took care of most of the work and he had Meche to do everything else. That meant he had a lot of free time and it suited him well.
But he worked too some times and when Meche had written a report was one of those times. He wanted to see what Meche had written about his doings and make sure nothing negative was included.
Hector LeMans was a very demanding and strict man and angering him was never good. Domino had done it once when he hadn't been able to fetch Meche from the Land of the Living before Manny, and if Don Copal hadn't been there to take the blame the situation could have got pretty nasty.
But now everything was fine, he had got Meche back and as long as she was there they didn't have to worry about her telling everybody about what they were doing. Their business was better than ever, they got more and more stolen Double-N Tickets all the time and they sold them with high price to those who could afford, but didn't deserve them. According to Hector Nuevo Marrow -- the previous El Marrow -- had grown into a huge metropolis controlled by gambling and everything was better than ever.
Domino wanted to go and see it too, he had left El Marrow before anything had happened and he was sure everything important was there. It was really dull and boring on his island and he really hoped Hector would send someone there to take his place.
"Good job," he stated giving the report back to Meche who would send it with one of Hector's black birds. The man had sent them a message two days ago and it was now time to answer.
Meche didn't say anything at the compliment, she had been with Domino long enough to know that the man hadn't really meant it. He was so full of himself and despite what he said could never respect anyone else than Hector LeMans.
But Domino wasn't just a worthless fool who thought too much of himself. He was something in reality and a very capable man who just happened to be too proud. Meche remembered she had known some people who had always bragged about how they were involved with charity, but who had never actually helped anyone.
Domino always stood behind his words if he claimed something and he didn't just talk. It was he who had found Meche and saved her from the demons of the Petrified Forest. The man had brought her there with the other slaves and kept her as his secretary.
Meche couldn't help it, but she felt special. Because of her Domino had bothered to wander in the forest, it was she who he had chosen to be his secretary and she was one of those few slaves he ever talked to. When you knew how arrogant Domino was, those small things seemed really important.
She didn't accept the man's dark business and would never understand them. All her life she had thought about others before herself and this kind of business that clearly hurt others was so strange to her. It both horrified her and made her feel a whole new feeling; the excitement of danger.
Crime fascinated her.
Meche had been born into a Catholic family and had been raised to respect the God and other people. She had never married or educated, but had dedicated her life to helping others. Orphans and ill children were especially close to her heart. She had been loved and everybody had appreciated her good deeds.
And that was why it had seemed so unfair when she had got sick.
Meche shook her head a bit. She didn't want to think about her last days or death, they depressed her. She was used to a different world and different people. Never had she believed she would become the secretary of a criminal.
"I'll send it immediately," she said with no feeling, standing up behind her desk and walking past Domino, stealing one glance of him as she went. Despite that she would probably never learn to accept him his whole being fascinated her greatly.
Domino was so sure about everything he did, he never seemed to be bewildered and unlike Meche, he had total control over his afterlife. Even though his business wasn't legal and he wasn't a very nice person he had everything in order.
It was something Meche hadn't enjoyed in years. The life of a helper had been hard; she had had to listen to other people's worries all the time without anyone ever asking how her day had been. She had never been occupied and getting the money for food and other necessary items had been hard.
She had often remembered how easy everything had been at home, it had all went with no nasty surprises. Meche liked that and at times she couldn't help but hope that Domino could give her a stable afterlife as his secretary.
Every time she let her mind wander in that direction she felt really guilty, how could she want anything from a cold criminal? Meche knew that all deceived people didn't end up there, but Hector sprouted most of them in El Marrow. She knew Domino didn't directly have anything to do with those things as long as he was on the island, but he was still one of them. The woman refused to use the new name of the city and had heard many slaves do the same. Especially those who had spent some of their time there didn't like the new name.
On occasions she had heard even Domino talking about El Marrow, though he was trying to adjust to the new name. The man had lived and worked in the city for years, the name was like painted to his mind and it was difficult to get rid of it. Especially when he hadn't seen the change himself.
"You do that," Domino said sounding amused. Meche didn't know what he thought to be so funny that time, but she felt irritated and hurt anyway. She did everything the man wanted and yet he treated her like that?
After getting out from her small office Meche sighed. She didn't know why, but lately she had had noticed she got mad because of way too small things. And on top of that those things were something she should be happy about, not the other way around.
Her morning was bad if Domino didn't say good morning to her. Every time he bothered to do it he sounded strangely amused as if he thought it was funny to be friendly towards people who hated him. And yet every morning she waited to hear the man somehow acknowledging that she was there, behind her desk.
Meche knew she was pathetic, but she couldn't help it. She didn't understand how she could have let herself sunk that low and she hoped she would one day wake up to notice that she despised Domino as much as in the beginning. Of course she still hated him on some level, but the flaming anger she had felt before was slowly dying.
She quickly walked to the small office where Domino kept birds and their cages. Or a bird actually, there had never been and would never be more than one of Hector's horrible black ravens. It had arrived with Hector's message and now it was time to send the bird back.
"Hi, Meche!" Bibi greeted her happily when she stepped in and she answered to her greeting.
"Hi. Has it been a nice day?" she asked politely. It felt cruel to ask things like that from children who were locked up in a cage, but she wanted to say something.
The cage was pretty big, but the children still didn't have very much room and now when watching them Meche almost could hate Domino like before. But to her own annoyance she felt more like sorrow and something gloomy.
Bibi shrugged.
"Oh well. Pugsy broke a light bulb again and Mister Hurley was really angry," she said and her brother glared at her.
"I wouldn't have if you hadn't pushed me!" he snapped.
"You called me childish!"
"You are!"
"Humph!"
Despite that they had been locked away a good while already both children were cheerful and their playful arguments always made Meche feel better. They were orphans; Hector LeMans had sprouted their parents in El Marrow and made Domino take them with him.
"Kraah!"
Meche flinched when the black raven screeched as she tried to open its cage. She shuddered, Hector's birds were really ugly with their grimacing skulls and if possible, she would have avoided them all the time.
"Be still, soon you can return to your owner," she said to the bird opening the door of the cage carefully. The raven stared at her in suspicion and tilted its head.
"Be careful Meche. It can bite you," Pugsy warned worried and Bibi nodded.
"Yeah. That probably hurts," she added.
Meche gave the report to the bird not bothering to check if it was well attached to its leg. She wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible and was happy when she could let it fly off some time later.
---
Agent Santos,
I am pleased to know that things are going on well in Rubacava. I hope you can continue your research and find out what Maximino is up to. It is very important to know his plan, for that will eventually be very useful for our cause. I have received word from agent Calavera, he has probably already arrived Puerto Zapato safely. He still hasn't found the missing woman he is looking for, but he has not lost hope yet.
I and Eva wish you luck.
Salvador Limones
Now when LSA had trained many loyal messengers these reports came more often and it was easier to answer them. He glanced next to him where Lola was feeding the pigeon that had brought the message just a moment ago.
Toto Santos wasn't a man who you’d think to be part of a rebel organisation. He was short and physically weak, his profession as a scrimshaw artist was rather odd and he treated everybody like trash.
Someone could have thought that the angry shrew was just an act, but in fact it was the real Toto. He had tattooed himself full of all kinds of horrible patterns and kept his small shop hidden in the docks. He was despised in the upper town, but he didn't give a damn about it.
And he wasn't a man who you’d think would take the rebellious thoughts seriously either. But he had joined because of selfish reasons and wasn't fighting for a better Land of the Dead, but for revenge. When he had lived pretty pathetic life his brother had been the dream of every mother. He had educated from a good university, married, had children and lived like a saint all his life.
So it was clear that Theodore Santos should have deserved a ticket on the Number Nine. Toto had died before his brother -- not a surprise -- and waited jealously for his brother to arrive and take the train.
And then Theodore had died.
The ticket had belonged to him, Toto was certain about it, but it hadn't taken long before his brother had just disappeared and the train been filled with men and women whose business he was familiar with, and he had been certain that Theodore had been deceived.
Despite that he had always hated his brother and envied him for his position, Toto was mad about that someone had the courage to betray his family and he had vowed to avenge everything.
He hadn't known who was to blame, so he had been about to organise a ridiculous one man attack at the El Marrow railway station in order to at least somehow hurt those who he thought to be his enemies.
And then Salvador Limones had contacted him for the first time. At first Toto had been very suspicious of him, but when he had been told some chosen facts he had immediately promised to join Salvador's small army of souls.
Salvador had sent him back to Rubacava where he had lived for years and he took care of that everything that took place in the port town was known in the HQ. No one knew to suspect him, he was just the old annoying shrew that was in trouble with everyone and who no one ever took seriously.
Not even Manny, who too had LSA contacts. According to Salvador the man was to be trusted and Toto was pleased with that, but that didn't mean he liked the man. Then again, he didn't hate him which was something. Even though they were both rebel agents they hadn't really been in contact to make sure that if either one got caught, the other one wouldn't be in jeopardy. They both had their own role; Toto had his small shop and Manny his club.
"Let that cursed bird be and come here to see what Salvador has written," he snapped at Lola, who brushed the bird once more with her finger before getting the message from Toto.
"You should practise how to talk to a woman," she stated, but wasn't really hurt. She had known Toto long enough to know that he never said anything good to anyone. That didn't mean he wasn't a good person somewhere very, very deep inside him, he just had a nasty habit to snap at everybody.
"Humph. A girl, not a woman."
It was very much because of Manny that Lola was part of the LSA, as much as Toto loathed to admit it. It had been Manny who had seen her with her small camera snapping pictures and he had started to keep an eye on her.
She had soon turned out to be a promising recruit and Manny had dared to take the risk and get her in. When doing it he had accepted the fact that if she betrayed them it was he who'd have to sprout her, but he hadn't thought it would ever be necessary.
And Manny had probably been right, Lola had immediately realised what the LSA was about and now she had dedicated her whole afterlife for the cause.
"Do you think Maximino is up to something?" she asked carefully handing the message back. She had used to have a crush on the crime lord who controlled the gambling in Rubacava and even now his name made her feel nice and weird.
Toto glanced at her in annoyance; he'd probably never learn to understand.
"How should I know? That's what Salvador told us to find out!" he snapped. Lola sighed and shook her head in silence. She didn't know why Toto was part of all that, it didn't suit him at all.
But maybe that was why he was so good and why Salvador trusted him. No one would ever think that Toto Santos had anything to do with something so noble, and that was why he was able to do pretty much anything without anyone noticing.
"All right, but how will we do that? We can't just go and ask him about it," she replied.
Toto shrugged.
"Why not?" he asked and Lola knew he had a plan. That didn't make her feel very comfortable; Toto's plans were usually very risky and difficult to control.
To be continued...
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