Chapter 2

After Jack said those things, Julias gave him a very serious gaze. He even gave his canines a quick lick. The elderly guy sighed and moved away from the window, heading for his kitchen. The apartment's living area, kitchen, stairs, and bedroom were all seamlessly connected. Surprisingly spacious and large, it allowed Julias to walk to his counter and refill his drink without interrupting the discussion.

"If you had one, would you?”

If I had something worth taking the risk for, would I?"

“Yes. Imagine you were engaged in a dominance struggle. Politics. How low would you go to win a campaign?" Julias waited while keeping his eyes level with his little buddy. The sudden gaze caused Jack to flinch a little because of his steely, cold eyes. Why the sudden shift in attitude?

"It might depend on how I felt about my competitors, I guess."

"Predators . The rest of them are predators. If given the chance, they'd murder you, let alone your campaign", Julias said as he licked his teeth once more and grinned. "You may hate some of them or not, but they would all be ready to murder you while you were asleep if it served their own interests."

"Wow , that involves a significant amount of risk for political power."

"But, Jack, the benefits. The benefits are... actual power. You are at peace, in control of your own realm, and free to do as you please and with whomever you please." He called for the little fellow, and Jack came. Even though he had no intention of doing so, Julia's eyes remained wide and unflinching. They regarded him and gave him a strangely resonant look.

"What's going on, Julias?”

"Answer the question."

"No, really, you're asking some weird questions."

Jack stepped back as Julia's eyes widened in command, "Answer the question." The area around Julias appeared to be almost darker, as if the lighting in some incredibly corny horror movie had been turned down. When you're in it, it's not quite as funny.

Jack's lips began to move on its own, "I..." Why did he speak? He didn't intend to respond to that query, but he was powerless to stop. "I... for my own objectives? I'd destroy them. for my own survival? ... I would murder them."

"Murder them?"  Jack sat obediently across from the older guy at the counter after the latter motioned for him to do so. Very tiny, that's how he felt. The dark flat suddenly felt less like a hip hangout and more like a web of spiders.

"I've never been in that position, fuck man. We're discussing a fantastical setting in which I'm a goddamn gangster. Here, I'm just going with my intuition. What is... what is happening, Julias?”

Julias set down his glass and plopped down next to him after he let out a long, exhausted sigh. He leaned forward and placed his chin on top of his knuckles with netted fingers. He was simply looking Jack dead in the eye until the boy was almost perspiring. He wasn't playing, kidding, or even joking.

He didn't know Julias like this. This was terrifying.

"I require aid. I require a reliable person. I require a support system for when things go south."

"When things goes south, as it did back at Omack's? Right?" Jack grinned as he said this, but he noticed that his smile was dimming when Julias didn't reciprocate. Although the guy across from him on the counter was almost glaring, his expression was more icy, hard, and dead than angry.

He paused, "What if, Jack... what if you could... leave it all behind?" He did not offer an explanation. Jack cocked his head to the side in perplexity as he simply left the remark on the air.

"I, um, what?”

Despite being complimented, Jack found himself flinching when he heard, "I need someone to help me, and I think that person is you." Julias' praise for him wasn't random. He expressed a desire for something, and his proposal appeared to be one for commerce. Julias was aware that Jack had observed them. The issue was that, in spite of this, Julias continued to deftly steer the discussion, and Jack felt smaller and smaller by the second.

"My aid? You, Julias, earn enough money to purchase ten of me. What could I conceivably—?"

“Trust. My buddy, you. And you're much superior at dancing than you realize."

“Dance?”

Julias gave his little buddy a playful grin, like a fucking tiger might before the kill, and said, "Politics, sort of." I need a companion, though, and I have a proposal for you. The problem is that you have to leave everything behind."

"What's  all?”

“All.”

Jack knew his comments would annoy Julias, but the ambiguity of it all was driving him crazy. "You can't... I don't... Julias you got to help me out here."

Julias maintained his calm but firm voice, saying, "All," without becoming irritated or agitated. "Your present friends and family will change, and you will too. They'll believe you're gone. Here in South Side, you and I will be working together." The fact that Jack's mouth had opened did not deter Julias; he continued, "You will have a new place to stay and you will be powerful... very powerful." "The power is bigger and the wealth greater, but that is not the issue. Not just about that, though. It concerns a completely different universe, Jack." If his friend was attempting to sound romantic, he was failing miserably. A world comes with risks and rewards. Jack's only reaction to Julias's statement so far has been to tremble in his shoes.

At this point, Julias had stood up and was moving around holding his drink. He made gestures with his words, but Jack was never out of his cold stare. If only to evade Julias's attention, the smaller man couldn't help but cast quick glances toward his friend's drink. Has his red wine always been this thick? 

"My dear friend, you'll be joining me in a long career. You will receive everything you could possibly desire and more."

"I, I just, I... I have no idea! I mean, simply give up everything?”

“Everything. Only my companionship will remain from your previous existence."

"But  Julias, my fucking relatives! My mother, sibling, and dog for fucksake. My buddies..."

Julias took another sip, "You don't have any close friends besides me, and you know you're not close with your family."

Jack slouched into a stool at the bar and said, "Hey, I got... yeah, I got nothing. Oh my god, Julias. You just dumped a fairly large god damn thing on me."

"A  confidential matter, just so you know."

Jack let his buzzed head fall to the counter, gently rolling it side to side, "Well yeah, considering the lead-up to your question, I get the impression I tell anyone about this and I'll have snipers at my back."

"That  is possible." 

"Oh my god. I didn't believe it until you said it, oh god fuck fuck."

“Jack. Breathe in deeply. There's nothing I'm pressuring you to do. Think about it. This is not an offer you can't reject." Jack kept his forehead on the bar, only moving slightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Take some time. Take a few days."

"Few days?" He pushed himself off the counter and stood there for a minute. "Yeah, yeah, I think I'll do that. Julias, who was positioned across from him with only a counter separating them, was alternately smiling and frowning. Jack continued to become more uneasy, his expression alien and unreadable, and finally turned around.

Jack walked to the door, put his hand on the handle, and looked back. "And here I thought we were going to talk about random shit."

"Sorry," said Julias, and the guy shrugged in regret.

"Okay, so this employment, this change... anything illegal?”

“Illegal? Not really, no. Different worlds, my buddy. Different rules and standards."

" … syndicate. This sounds like mafia-related material." Jack's statement evidently caught the big man off guard because Julias laughed and put his drink down. "That's why you have all these suits," Jack said.

"Cherry  at the top. If you agree to come with me, I'll set you up with a bunch of suits."

"Damn, dude. That..." Jack was on the verge of taking his palm off the door handle. "I'll have to give that some thought. Cya.”