Cassandra: Debt payment

Who: Cassandra
Where: Cafe René, the promenade
When: After the summons
<snip>
Butler came to a stop next to her table and cleared his throat. A sideways glance at his grim countenance told Cass that this wasn't going to be good
"Le Souteneur" he rumbled "insists you attend him Ma'am. Now"
</snip>
<ooc> I guess I should warn that Le Souteneur's back and that he's pretty unpleasant here; so don't go reading if you're feeling unduly sensitive</ooc>
Off duty crewmembers and belligerent skutters moved quickly out of their way and past them as Butler strode purposefully down the promenade, his long strides ironically forcing Cass to occasionally jog a few steps to keep up with him, when all she wanted to do was to sprint the other way as fast as she was able
"Mr. Butler?" Cass called to him, trying her best to keep her voice as businesslike as possible and not to betray the apprehension she was feeling "Perhaps we could come to an arrangement? I have some money on me... Can we say that you didn't find me...?"
Butler stopped in his tracks and turned quickly to face Cass
"Think yourself lucky that I found you and not one of the others" he rumbled "This is bad Jones. I don't know what's going on with Le Souteneur - or how, but this is very bad"
"Wha? Why?" Cass asked, fear and panic suddenly welling up inside her
"I don't know yet. Whatever you do, do not piss Le Souteneur off. Offer whatever it takes, but do not piss him off" he paused to glance around "We need to move"
Butler turned at that, and began marching down the promenade again; Cass reluctantly following, feeling as close to being physically sick with fear as she had ever been, knowing that to run would just sign her death warrant
Five minutes later, they arrived at Lilith's club, the Velvet Fist, where Cass was guided through a concealed door at the back of the club into a small murder room, finally coming to a halt in front of an armoured blast door set in a bulkhead wall
Wordlessly Butler moved forward to press an entry buzzer next to the door, stepped back to stand next to Cass and closed his hand around her upper arm in a strong but firm grip
She sagged within his grip, aware that he would be able to feel her shaking
"Please..." Cass managed, struggling to blink unbidden tears from her eyes; she knew that this wasn't going to be good
Whether Butler was going to reply or not, Cass didn't get chance to find out; the door buzzed harshly, maglocks thudding back into their housings and Butler pushed Cass through the door into the office suite beyond
The room they found themselves in was large but sparsely decorated; just a chair a desk, a couple of sofas and a bank of security monitors dotted around the otherwise empty space
Lilith, Le Souteneur's former accountant and the current owner of the Velvet Fist was nervously smoking a cigarette on one of the sofas, sat opposite one of the several heavies in the room; her bone white hair and pale complexion almost making her seem like she glowed in the dimly lit room
Then there was Le Souteneur, standing in front of the bank of monitors and rebuttoning his shirt; he cackled in manic mirth as soon as he saw Cass
"Ah, bien. Bien; Ah 'ave prayed zat Ah might meet wit' you again, but Ah never dared 'ope zat my 'umble prayers might be answered; and yet 'ere you are on ze Blue Dwarf!"
Butler released his grip on Cass, and gently pushed her forward
"Uh ...yeah" she replied awkwardly
"Oui, 'ere you are" Le Souteneur smiled evilly as he stalked over towards her "In. My. Power"
Cass said nothing, fearful that any response might trigger the man's unstable temper
"Lilit'" he bellowed suddenly "What was ze deal Ah ad wit' zis one?"
Lilith flinched, clearly terrified
"Fifteen thousand" she called "Ten days"
"Oh." Le Souteneur stopped in front of Cass and pulled an unhappy face "Your payment's late"
"Everyone thought you were dead!" Cass protested "There was nobody to make payment to!"
"Ah'm not dead!" he snarled "Do Ah look dead to you!?"
"...No" Cass admitted meekly
"Bon. Now where's my sirty 'tau?"
"Thirty!?" Cass blurted, her recently edited personality giving her an angry edge of indignation to her incredulity
Le Souteneur moved without warning and with astonishing speed, catching Cass hard with an uppercut that rattled her jaw and snapped her head back, making her stumble backwards and fall to the floor where she lay sprawled, mutely trying to shake her head clear of the disorientation and stinging pain
"Sixty" Le Souteneur smirked with an evil curl of his lip, as he advanced towards where she lay "Right. Now"
"I... I don't have sixty..." Cass began
Le Souteneur swung a kick, catching her on her ribs, making her cry out in pain and roll over into a foetal position, from which she was hauled seconds later as he grabbed a fistful of her hair to pull her up into a sitting position
"Ah don' care if you 'ave sixty on you or not" he hissed, pulling his fist back "Ah jus' wanna make you suffer"
'What!?'
Vainly Cass tried to raise her hands in defence, but Le Souteneur just batted them aside with his free hand and punched her hard enough in the face to split her lip, her mouth immediately flooding with the bitter tang of her blood which she tried to turn and spit out, only catching the next punch on her cheek
Le Souteneur let go of her hair, dropping her back to the floor and stood up, brushing strands of her hair from his hands
"Ah 'ave dreamed of zis moment" he smiled "Zis is just ze start..."
"Wait" Cass bubbled, holding her hands up in supplication "I've an offer for you"
Le Souteneur just ignored this and stamped a heel down hard onto her ribs with a worrying and excruciatingly painful pop that made her shriek in agony
"You know what?" he laughed "Zis ees every beet as much fun as Ah sought it would be"
Turning his back on her Le Souteneur strolled across the room to pluck a pack of cigs from the table and spark one up as Cass rolled over moaning in pain, to try and push herself up onto her feet; the effort though was too much, and Cass collapsed back down onto her knees on all fours, whimpering with pain while Mr. Butler, standing a few metres away, shifted uncomfortably - apparently feeling some measure of sympathy for her but unwilling to offer assistance
Le Souteneur took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled, trailing a cloud of smoke as he moved back over towards Cass, quickly picking up speed before swinging a viciously heavy kick at her
Cass saw what was coming, but in her pain clouded misery began moving too late; the blow connected with her head and her world exploded in pain and white light
Consciousness swam painfully back into focus a moment or two later; Cass finding herself laid flat on her back with Le Souteneur crouched over her finishing his cigarette
"Bien" he sneered "Welcome back"
A low groan escaped Cass' lips in unbidden response; it hurt to breathe, her head throbbed unbearably, and she was worried she had a fractured jaw or worse
He watched her for a few seconds longer, evidently satisfied with his work before he causally flicked the remains of his cigarette at Cass' head, the butt bouncing off her cheek in a shower of sparks that made her flinch
"Maintenant" he hissed "Tell me wha Ah shouldn't just kill you like Ah 'ave so many other girls?"
"I've... I've compromised... I've hacked Dwarf security" Cass gabbled, bubbling though her bloodied mouth "I control it all. You can do anything. Security will never - can never know"
Le Souteneur raised his eyebrows
"Intéressant..." he muttered
"Yeah" Cass croaked, her breath hitching with the pain "Think of what you could do without security..."
Le Souteneur was silent for a moment before he reached forward to grab Cass' bruised jaw, cupping it roughly with one hand and eliciting a low moan of pain from her
"Ah can sink of a lotta of tings baby. Well done: you jus' got you your reprieve"
He let go of her, stood up and aimed a half hearted kick at her "...but if you even sink of crossing me, your suffering will be legendary"
Turning he strode away
"I want zis beech ready to work in an hour" he shouted
The assorted heavies moved to act on these orders with Butler making it over to Cass first and effortlessly lifting her to her feet
"Let's get you some help..." he growled
<tbc/>
<ooc>I've a few ideas about what the maniac's going to do, but if anyone has any suggestions, then feel free to get in touch :) </ooc>