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He spit into an old rusty jar he kept beside the cash register. A goop of dark black molasses the color of the cancer that ran in his sixty year old body. He swiped the rest of the spit off his yellowed mustache and looked at me.
"What the hell you doin' round these parts, Spectre? You know you ain't welcome in half these good folk’s fine establishments."
I smirked. "Yeah, well, I'm only planning' on bein' in yourfineestablishment for the least amount of time possible.."
"What does a Bastard want in an old podunk gas station like mine?"
"Lookin' for some information Charlie. And you and I both know that this oldpodunkgas station has a lot of passersby that do a lot of whispering to you."
"I don't know whatcha talkin' about?"
I lay a fifty on the counter. "You sure about that?"
He stared at the bill and then his eyes lit up as I lifted another fifty out of my wallet.
"Tell me what I need to know and there's ten more of these waitin' on ya'.
"There may have been a few tidbits here and there. Depends on what you wanna know."
"I'm lookin' for a man. Goes by the name Serge Bastien. You heard of him?"
He nodded and I laid the second bill parallel to the first. "What have you heard, Charlie?"
He sighed. "I can't tell you that, Spectre. No one around these parts has any protection, ya know. I talk, I'm dead."
"I'll offer you protection…"
"Now that's bullshit if I ever heard it."
"Tell me what I need to know and not only do you get the money, I'll put a watch on you til this shit clears out."
"Last time a Bastard promised us protection, this whole town went up in flames."
He wasn't wrong. Bulldog had done a number on this town, runnin' out half the population. Of course it wasn't all his fault. The Scorpions had a lot to do with the filth that got cleared out. Charlie was one of the few who were spared.
"Yeah, well. you can trust me."
"I don't trust no one. Least of all a Bastard."
"Fair enough." I shrugged, taking the money and turning to leave.
"Hey, I didn't say I was done."
I smirked. I knew as soon as those bills disappeared he'd have somethin' to say. Money always talked.
"You're wastin' my time, Charlie." I took another three strides toward the door when he shouted out to me.
"Fine! I'll tell you where to find him."
I turned slowly toward him. "Talk."
"He's not somebody you wanna mess with, Spectre. I heard he dabbles in dark shit."
"I live in the dark, Charlie. There isn't anything that surprises me these days."
Especially not after having a conversation with Lucifer, but I couldn’t tell him that.
"Yeah but this ain't your normal dark shit. This is the type of shit that crawls in the shadows. The type of shit that haunts your nightmares."
