Status: In progress...

Vain Redemption

Prologue

It was well past city curfew when I answered the door. The man on the other side, however, looked as though he had never followed city curfew his entire life. Short and stocky with clothes that smelled like the refuse pit, the man looked up at me with an intense gaze that spelled everything out before he even spoke the words,

"Your help is required."

"Who sent you?" I demanded, looking out past my door suspiciously. This man meant business. Did he have henchmen, just waiting around the corner if I refused?

"The Council," he said, the word and I stumbled back. The council wanted my services? Never, in a million years had I imagined that I, just a lowly detective on Ryder Street, would be summoned by the council.

The council that controlled the country, the city, the people.

The council that controlled my life.

"Case details?" I barely dared to ask.

His meaty hand pulled a pristine envelope out of his jacket pocket. "The details, and commission, are in here," he backed away as soon as I had the thick envelope in my hand. "Good day sir," he said, and then he was gone, disappeared in the shadows.

I stood there for a moment, not quite believing what had just happened. But then I spotted a watchman's lantern bobbing in the night, and I quickly ducked back inside before he could see my open door.

The council had called me, it was time to get to work.