Thursday night. 10 PM.
Corner of Eighth and Vale. The Hollows.
Vex had never been this deep in The Hollows before. His usual pickups were on the edge. This was the heart.
Dead center of the worst part of Veilcross.
Streetlights didn't work here. Not broken. Just never installed. Or someone smashed them all. Hard to tell.
Dark. Real dark.
Vex stood under the one working light on the corner. Felt exposed. Like a target.
Five minutes early.
Pulled out his burner. No new messages. Just the one from this morning with the address for delivery.
Midhaven. Residential area. Apartment building on Tenth Street.
Nice neighborhood. Clean. Safe.
Complete opposite of where he was standing now.
A van pulled up. Black. No windows in the back. Engine running rough.
Driver's window rolled down. Woman. First time he'd seen a woman doing pickup.
Thirties maybe. Short hair. Scar across her cheek. Hard eyes.
"Vex?"
"Yeah."
She got out. Walked around. Opened the back of the van.
Pulled out a package.
Not wrapped in paper this time. Actual box. Cardboard. Taped shut. About two feet long. One foot wide. Heavy looking.
She handed it to him.
Vex nearly dropped it.
Fuck. Had to be thirty pounds at least.
"Careful," she said. Not a warning. A threat.
"What's in this?"
"None of your business."
"It's heavy."
"You got arms, don't you?"
She got back in the van. Window down.
"Address is on the box. Fourth floor. Apartment 4B. Knock three times. Hand it over. Leave. Don't talk. Don't ask questions. Got it?"
"Yeah."
"Good. You got two hours."
"Two hours to get to Midhaven?"
"Two hours to deliver. After that, we come looking. And we won't be nice."
Window up. Van drove off.
Vex looked at the box. Label on top. Written in marker.
"Tenth Street. Building 47. Apt 4B."
That was it.
He shifted the weight. Thing was awkward. Not just heavy. Unbalanced.
Something inside shifted. Clinked.
Metal.
Parts maybe. Weapon parts.
Don't think about it. Just deliver.
Vex started walking.
---
Took forty minutes to get to Midhaven.
Train was packed. Late night crowd. People drinking. Laughing. Normal.
Vex stood in the corner. Box at his feet. Trying to look casual.
Guy next to him glanced at the box.
"Moving?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Heavy?"
"Yeah."
Guy nodded. Went back to his phone.
Train stopped. Midhaven Station.
Vex grabbed the box. Got off.
Station was clean. Bright lights. Security guards walking around. Cameras everywhere.
He kept his head down. Walked fast.
Out of the station. Street level.
Different world.
Clean sidewalks. Trees planted every few feet. Buildings maintained. Paint fresh. Windows clean.
Streetlights actually worked.
Couples walking. Groups of friends heading to bars. Life happening.
Vex felt out of place. Hoodie. Worn jeans. Carrying a suspicious box.
But nobody looked twice. Too absorbed in their own lives.
Tenth Street. Found it.
Building 47. Nice building. Modern. Glass entrance. Doorman inside reading something.
Shit.
Vex stopped half a block away. Looked at the building.
How was he supposed to get in? Just walk past the doorman with a thirty-pound mystery box?
Pulled out his burner. No instructions about this.
Checked the time. 11:02 PM.
Fifty-eight minutes left.
He walked closer. Studied the building. Side entrance maybe?
Alley to the right. Dark. Led to the back.
Vex went down it.
Back of the building. Service entrance. Door propped open with a brick.
Lucky break.
He went in.
Hallway. Service corridor. Smelled like cleaning supplies and garbage.
Stairs to the left. Sign: "Floors 1-5."
Started climbing. Box getting heavier with each step.
First floor. Second. Third.
Fourth.
Hallway. Nicer here. Carpet. Decent lighting. Apartment doors. Numbers.
4A. 4B. There.
Vex walked to it. Put the box down for a second. Shook out his arms.
Picked it up again. Knocked three times.
Waited.
Nothing.
Knocked again. Three times.
Door opened.
Guy standing there. Young. Maybe mid-twenties. Button-up shirt. Jeans. Looking normal.
Too normal.
"Yeah?" he said.
"Delivery."
The guy looked at the box. Then at Vex. Then back at the box.
"I didn't order anything."
Vex's stomach dropped.
"Apartment 4B, right?"
"Yeah, but I didn't—"
"Just take it. I'm just the delivery guy."
"I'm not paying for something I didn't order."
"It's already paid for."
"By who?"
"I don't know. I just deliver."
The guy stared at him. Suspicious now.
"What's in it?"
"Don't know. Not my business."
"Then how do you know it's for me?"
"Address on the box."
The guy looked at it. Frowned.
"That's my apartment but I seriously didn't order anything. And this looks sketchy as hell."
Vex felt sweat on his back. This wasn't right. Something was wrong.
"Look, man. I'm just doing my job. Can you just take it so I can go?"
"No. I'm not taking some random box. For all I know it's a bomb."
"It's not a bomb."
"How do you know?"
"Because—" Vex stopped. How did he know?
He didn't.
"Just... can you at least look at it? See if maybe someone sent it to you?"
The guy crossed his arms. "Call whoever sent you. Get them to explain."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't have their number."
"Then how'd you get the delivery?"
Vex didn't have an answer for that. Not one he could give.
The guy's eyes narrowed. "You know what? I'm calling the cops. This is shady."
"Don't—"
But the guy was already pulling out his phone.
Fuck.
Vex grabbed the box. Turned. Started walking fast.
"Hey!" the guy yelled.
Vex didn't stop. Hit the stairs. Ran down.
Box bouncing. Something inside rattling. Didn't care.
First floor. Service corridor. Out the back door.
Alley. Street.
Ran.
Block. Two blocks.
Stopped in another alley. Breathing hard. Box still in his arms.
What the fuck just happened?
Wrong apartment? Wrong building? Wrong address?
Pulled out the burner. Called the number that texted him.
Rang. Rang. Voicemail.
"It's Vex. There's a problem. Guy at 4B doesn't know anything about a delivery. Says he didn't order anything. He tried to call the cops. I left. What do I do?"
Hung up.
Waited.
Phone rang. Same number.
"Yeah?"
"What happened?" Woman's voice. Same one from the pickup.
"Told you. Guy doesn't know about any delivery. Thought it was a bomb or something. Got suspicious."
"You give him the box?"
"He wouldn't take it."
Silence.
"Where are you now?" she asked.
"Couple blocks away. In an alley."
"You still got the box?"
"Yeah."
More silence. Longer this time.
"Stay there. Someone's coming."
"What—"
She hung up.
Vex looked at the phone. Then at the box.
Someone's coming.
That didn't sound good.
Checked the time. 11:34 PM.
Twenty-six minutes left on the two-hour window.
His regular phone buzzed. Text from Kairo: "you around?"
Not now. Really not now.
Ignored it.
Waited.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Headlights turned into the alley. Same black van from earlier.
It stopped. Engine still running.
Back doors opened. Two guys got out. Big. Looked like they could bench press Vex without breaking a sweat.
One walked over. Took the box from Vex. Didn't say anything.
The other one stepped closer.
"The boss wants to see you," he said.
"Why?"
"Because you fucked up."
"I delivered to the right address. Not my fault the guy—"
"Don't care. Boss wants to talk. Get in."
"I need to get home. My mom—"
The guy grabbed Vex's arm. Tight. Hurt.
"Wasn't a request."
He pulled Vex toward the van.
The first guy was already putting the box inside. Then he grabbed Vex's other arm.
Between them, they lifted Vex off his feet. Threw him in the back of the van.
Doors slammed shut.
Dark. Completely dark.
Engine revved. Van moving.
Vex scrambled up. Felt the walls. No handles on the inside. No windows.
Trapped.
He pulled out his phone. Regular one. Tried calling Kairo.
No signal.
Tried texting. Wouldn't send.
The van's walls must be blocking it. Or they had a jammer.
Burner phone. Same thing. No signal.
Fuck fuck fuck.
Vex sat down. Back against the wall. Heart pounding.
This was bad.
He'd delivered to the wrong person. Or the right person who didn't know about it. Whatever it was, he'd messed up.
And now they were taking him somewhere.
To Raze probably.
And Raze didn't seem like the forgiving type.
Van drove for a while. Turning. Stopping. Turning again.
Vex lost track. Could be going anywhere.
Finally stopped.
Engine off.
Doors opened.
Light flooded in. Vex squinted.
Same two guys. They grabbed him. Pulled him out.
Warehouse. Different one than before. Bigger.
They walked him inside. Through a door. Down a hallway.
Another door.
Room. Empty except for a chair in the middle. And Raze standing next to it.
He looked at Vex. Not smiling.
"Sit," he said.
The guys pushed Vex toward the chair. He sat.
Raze walked over. Stood in front of him.
"You want to tell me what happened?"
Vex swallowed. "Guy at 4B said he didn't order anything. Thought it was suspicious. Tried to call the cops."
"So you ran."
"Yeah."
"With the package."
"Didn't know what else to do."
Raze nodded. Thoughtful.
Then he hit Vex.
Open palm. Across the face. Hard.
Vex's head snapped to the side. Ears ringing. Tasted blood.
"That," Raze said, "is for running."
Vex touched his face. Lip split. Bleeding.
"The address was right," Raze continued. "Building, apartment, everything. But the guy who lives there? He's not the customer."
"Then who—"
"The customer is his roommate. Who wasn't home tonight. You were supposed to leave it if no one answered. Not interrogate whoever opened the door."
Oh.
Vex hadn't thought of that.
"Instructions said knock three times. Hand it over. That's it."
"Guy wouldn't take it."
"Because you made it weird. Asking questions. Being nervous. Looking sketchy." Raze leaned down. Close. "You're supposed to blend in. Look normal. Act normal. Not make people call the fucking cops."
"I didn't know—"
"That's the problem. You don't know. You're sloppy. Careless. Lucky the guy didn't actually call before you ran. Lucky we got the package back. Lucky you're not in a jail cell right now."
Raze straightened up. Walked away. Turned back.
"You get one mistake, Vex. One. This was it. Next time you fuck up, it's not a slap. It's not a conversation. It's pain. For you. For your family. Understand?"
"Yeah."
"Say it."
"I understand."
"Good." Raze nodded to the guys. "Take him home."
They grabbed Vex. Pulled him up. Out of the room. Back through the hallway. Into the van.
Doors closed. Dark again.
Van moving.
Vex sat there. Face throbbing. Lip still bleeding.
One mistake.
He'd used his one mistake.
Next time, it wouldn't be a slap.
Next time, they'd hurt his family.
The van drove. Turned. Stopped.
Doors opened.
They were in Ashward. Few blocks from his building.
"Get out," one of them said.
Vex climbed out. Van drove off immediately.
He stood there. Street empty. Quiet.
Pulled out his phone. 12:47 AM.
Seven missed calls. All Kairo.
Three texts.
"bro where r u"
"seriously answer"
"if u dont respond im coming over"
Shit.
Vex called him back.
Rang twice.
"Where the hell are you?" Kairo answered. Angry. Worried.
"Sorry. Was... dealing with something."
"For three hours? I've been freaking out."
"I know. Sorry. I'm okay."
"You don't sound okay. Your voice is weird."
"I'm fine. Just tired."
"Vex—"
"I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow."
"Vex, wait—"
He hung up.
Started walking home.
Block. Two blocks.
His building.
Up the stairs. Third floor. Unlocked the door.
Dark inside. Mom's door closed. Lira's too.
Both asleep.
Good.
Vex went to the bathroom. Looked in the mirror.
Split lip. Swelling on his cheek. Gonna bruise.
How was he gonna explain this?
He couldn't.
Not really.
Cleaned the blood. Gently. Hurt like hell.
Went to his room. Sat on the bed.
One mistake.
He'd made his one mistake.
And now he was on thin ice.
One more fuck up and they'd go after his family.
Vex lay down. Stared at the ceiling.
Water stain. Still there. Always there.
His phone buzzed. Kairo: "seriously worried about u. call me in the morning"
Vex didn't reply.
Just closed his eyes.
One mistake down.
Zero left.