‘I’ve worked out a spot you could shoot someone from and get away without being seen,’ he said smugly. I looked at him carefully, weighing up whether he was kidding or not.

He was scrawny and pimply, with a plain black t-shirt hanging out over black jeans. His dyed-black hair was short, with the beginnings of curls attempting to form through the layer of oil. He was not attractive, and seemed very far from being cool; yet he had the demeanour of a celebrity, charming his way through the social circuit. The friends around him listened in awe, and two girls flanked him, fawning absurdly. Maybe cult leaders had this same charisma.

He seemed to take my stare as flattering interest, and he hurried to continue. ‘I know where the mall surveillance cameras are, and what they can see, and where their coverage stops. It’s not as complete as you’d think. And if you’re blocks away, from a building window, no-one’s gonna see a thing.’

I groaned silently and gritted my teeth. Unbelievable. This party was pathetic, and the crowd worse. Anne, an old school friend had invited me, so I’d brought my flatmate Glen along, expecting a great night. So far, it was pretty far from a great night. I didn’t want to guess what drugs Anne was running on, but from the look of her, they had been fuelling her for some years now. She could barely speak, and hadn’t moved from the lounge the entire time we’d been there.

Glen was now settled in with a short, blonde girl. Well, that had taken all of five minutes. It wasn’t surprising, he did it everywhere he went, mostly unconsciously. He was tall, athletic and handsome, as well as being a funny, likeable character. His long hair gave him the aura of a fashion model, while his sense of humour didn’t let him take himself seriously. Quite the happy ‘himbo’!

I resigned myself to being stuck in conversation with the self-styled ‘master of evil’.
‘So you’ve got a rifle here?’
‘Not here.’
‘So, you don’t have a gun?’
‘I know where I can get one. I can get one straight away if I want to.’
‘Uh huh.’

The two drunk girls on either side of him swooned and gushed about how clever and dangerous he was. I rolled my eyes and went for a drink.

Constructive criticism welcome.

© 2008 Damian Herde