My friend in Hell (extract, chapter 01)

One is black, the other silver. Black is Adam, Silver is Eve. For most people, Adam and Eve are the beginning, they are creation; for some, they are the end, they are destruction. For Eddie Stote, Adam and Eve are on their way to punish him for his loose tongue. Soon he will know the consequences of spitting on the good name of Theo Astoni.

Adam and Eve travel in the meticulously clean hands of their master, Tomi Verona. Standing in the elevator of the Chapman Hotel, he finishes screwing a silencer onto Eve before the lift stops on the 12th floor and collects a rather flaky looking Vegas virgin. Returning his guns behind his back and into the waistband of his pants, he covers them with his long leather overcoat and continues to stare forward as the lift continues up.

‘Nice coat, leather huh? yeah, thinking about getting me one of those when my number comes up. Gonna be soon too, I can feel it’ Flaky smirks, eyeing up Tomi. ‘You know, you look like the kind of guy who knows a good deal when he sees one. You see, I have a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to the tables downstairs, if you know what I mean. Blackjack, Poker...’
This guy just won’t shut up.
The lift stops and the door slide open, Flaky stands cleaning his glasses. ‘I could cut you in man, you know, help you out. I’m a lucky charm, man, I got the know and I could always use another set of eyes watching...’ Tomi lifts up his gloved hand, cutting him off.
‘Listen pal, shut the fuck up, go to bed and when you wake up in the morning get on a plane and go the fuck home before either Vegas eats you up or you get thrown out of a twenty floor window by one of the many charming club owners this town plays home to’ Tomi never looks at the guy while he talks.
The guy just stares, ‘what?’
Tomi finally looks at him, ‘What the fuck are you waiting for, go fucker!’. Flaky walks out of the lift backwards, ‘Asshole!’
The doors close again and Tomi mashes number 19 as if to make the lift move faster.
Some fucking people, jeez.

Finally the doors open again and Tomi makes his way to room 1988, Eddie Stotes room. When he reaches the door he reaches back and brings Adam and Eve out into the spotlight, ready for them to act out their part in tonight’s play.
This should only be a 5, Stotes pretty nervous.
He inhales and holds his breath as he knocks twice on the door. In his head he counts, one, two...
He raises Adam to the peephole in the door, three...
He points Eve towards where Eddies crotch will be resting in two more seconds, four...
Inside Eddie is running to the door, to the little hole that lets him spy on his visitors, only this time it’s not the hallway but the inside of the barrel that he sees. Eddie breathes in, Tomi hears him.
Five.
Two holes are blown in the door, one then the other. There’s no need for the cock shot as Eddie is dead far too quickly to realize that his dick is missing, but what Theo asks for gets done.
The door doesn’t fall off or appear much damaged in any way. It just now has two small holes to match the two large ones in Eddie's body.

Tomi is back in the elevator and wiping the blood from his guns onto his gloves. The lift takes him back down towards the lobby. On the sixth floor the lift clangs to a halt and the lights go off. A voice fills the room and hisses in his ears.
‘Bring him to me!’
‘What the fuck!’ Tomi roars as the lift doors rip open and through the darkness two bright yellow eyes light up and race towards him. Tomi's guns are instantly back in his hands, blasting the eyes with bullets.
A black, scaly hand grips him by the throat and pulls him out of the elevator.
‘He must know the truth!’ the voice fades as Tomi loses consciousness.