A Clandestine Investigation [Marko + Open!]

[crnagora]

The Red Light District was a place that Annica had been taught to avoid from a very early age, ever since she was old enough to comprehend the difference between "Yes" and "No". According to her mother, the only men who frequented it were deadbeats who were so boorish that they couldn't charm women into their bed and had to result to bribing them, and the only women who set foot there were whores. She wasn't so sure about that. Once, when she was thirteen years old, she'd followed her father when he and his friends went out for a "night out on the town". Her father wasn't a boorish deadbeat, but he and his friends had gone into a little building and hadn't come out for a very long time.

Then again, perhaps her mother simply didn't know. She certainly hadn't told her.

But some of the men who came here were sleazy, and where sleazy men gathered, there was usually something shady happening. That, she reminded herself as she pulled her hooded cloak more tightly around herself, would be a good thing. She'd overheard one of her superiors talking about how they were sure there were Ruthians using a business in the Red Light District to raise money for their operations, but that they hadn't been able to find any proof. If that was true - if there were Ruthians here - then walking these streets as a noble woman would be very dangerous.

Dangerous, but profitable. If Annica could procure the information they needed to make some arrests successfully, they'd have to admit she was capable. And if they wouldn't even look at the information when she handed it to them, she'd submit the tips anonymously. At least she'd know that someone competent had a hand in it.

So she continued down the street, her eyes darting from side to side on the lookout for anything or anyone suspicious. It didn't even cross her mind that she looked pretty suspicious, herself.

[Marko Iliev]

A common misconception within the Red Light District was that there was a brothel owned under the Iliev name. It was just a rumour of sorts – albeit in poor taste – however, the range of sources from which the rumour had sprung up and spread through often gave different names. Occasionally it would be Veselin or Grigor, but more often than not, the finger was pointed at Marko. It was all word of mouth, though no one was really certain who had sparked it off. Marko owned a small bar just over the edge of where the Red Light District ended, and his face was regularly seen around those parts anyway, so it was all the more likely that the evidence was against him. But funnily enough, he never seemed to deny the claims.

Despite this, he did have to be in that area that evening. He was there to collect a sum of money gathered from a small business, and pass it on to his Ruthien 'superiors' in order to fund an upcoming operation. Marko himself made enough money to fund the Ruthiens; at the same time, doing what they did, every last Florin seemed to count.

The further and further he got in to the middle of the Red Light District, the more dishevelled the area looked... And the more out of place he seemed, too. After having taken a few short cuts, he stopped walking outside what he thought was the right place. The business looked closed, of course, but that didn't mean there was no one in. He glanced around once or twice with caution, before knocking three times on the door, as he had been instructed to do.

[Feliks £ukasiewicz]

Feliks didn’t venture into the Red Light District except when he had to meet face to face with his clients. After all no one looked twice at a man and woman in a dark corner in that small part of the Entertainment district.

Tonight was one of those nights that Feliks had to venture into that shadowy corner of Granor. He was supposed to deliver a package to one of his clients. He was dressed in one of his cheaper, red gowns, one that showed his shoulders, and looked like what most of the whores here wore; this was so that his mark could find him. His client knew to find the whore in the red dress with a phoenix tattoo on her shoulder. Now Feliks never committed to getting a real tattoo, his was just one painted on every time he used this disguise.

The one danger to the blonde was the men who were out looking for whores. They could be very argumentative when told no by what they thought was a whore. Feliks’ main defense was telling them a price out of most everyone’s price range. And the rich Johns hardly ever picked up a girl on the streets; they went to the brothels or had their private whores.

Feliks steeled himself before stepping out on the street; he had to be visible for his client. His green eyes instantly settled on a nice looking young lady, obviously out of place. Unfortunately he couldn’t confront her until after his business was done. So he’d just keep an eye on her, making sure she was safe.

[crnagora]

At first glance, the people in the Red Light District that night didn't seem to be doing anything too out of the ordinary. Suspicious, yes - the people who frequented this place were almost suspicious by nature, she thought - but there was nothing that overtly implied that they weren't doing anything other than selling their bodies to the highest bidder, or attempting to become that highest bidder. Marko Iliev - though she didn't seem to know that it was him - didn't seem too out of place... at first.

But when he continued on towards the more disheveled parts of the district, Annica's brows knit together. He was a little too well-dressed; surely he could afford the things in the nicer part of the area. There was always the chance that he preferred quantity over quality, but her experience with men so far, however limited it was, had shown that was rarely the case when it came to the things that were for sale in these parts. Oh, sure, they'd go for as many lays as they could get, but when they could afford a good lay they very rarely went for multiple bad lays... so he must have been up to something.

Sometimes, she could be a little too cynical. But other times, it paid off. This seemed like one of those times. Her gaze, half-hidden by her hood, lingered on Marko as he stopped in front of a seemingly closed building.

Jackpot.

Merely stopping somewhere wasn't enough to condemn him. She knew full well that she would need more information, so she did her best to blend in as Marko waited for the response of whoever was behind that door, carefully watching his every move - three knocks had been the first signal. Perhaps if she imitated him well enough, she could get in too, though she wasn't quite sure about that. If whatever he was doing was with a tightly-knit group, they'd know an outsider by sight and her cover would be instantly blown.

She felt a slight prickling at the back of her neck and looked up, almost ready to swear that someone had been looking at her. Sure enough, there was - what seemed to be a very pretty young lady in a red dress. Oh. Annica looked away, returning her gaze to Marko at the door. The lady in the red dress hadn't seemed very out of place; waiting for a client, perhaps. She certainly hoped the other woman didn't think she was trying to steal her clients. She had heard that the women here could be very ... territorial, and a catfight with a whore wasn't something she wanted on her record.

But it occurred to her that the look in Feliks' eyes hadn't been menacing in the slightest... not even vaguely threatening. She glanced back carefully to take another look as discretely as she could. Maybe things were as they seemed, but then again, maybe they weren't. It was her job to be suspicious; she needed to keep an eye out for anything.

[Marko Iliev]

It took a while before the door was opened. An uncomfortably long while, Marko thought. He had been careful not to look suspicious by scanning the area for anything – or rather, anyone – lurking in the dark, as risky as it was to not do so. But when the door finally did open, it creaked on its hinges, as if it had hardly been in use at all, and stopped when it was ajar. The building itself seemed to give off an air of abandonment, like it had once been a business, years ago, but was no longer.

"When will the phoenix rise?" Muttered a raspy voice from inside. Marko could just vaguely make out the figure of someone in the doorway. The interior was pitch black.

For a moment, he felt a pair of eyes on him – and not from the front, either... His breath threatened then to hitch in his throat for a second, but he managed to shake it off. The question he'd been asked was part of a password, something he'd been briefed with earlier. "At midnight." He replied, rather quietly.

The door shut again, then the sound of a chain unfastening came from behind it. Moments later, it opened once more, just slightly wider than before. "Come in."

He did as he was told, stepping into the darkness. No light appeared until the door was shut again, behind him.

[Feliks £ukasiewicz]

Feliks noticed when the lady saw him. He prudently looked away; it just wasn’t safe to look too long unless you were “in the market”. The blond leaned back against the door appearing just like the ladies of the night. He looked around the alley, looking for what brought the lady to this neighborhood she didn’t belong. His green eyes settled on a familiar form, Marko Iliev.

Feliks smiled. Marko was a handsome man, enough so to ensnare the young lady into following him into this dark corner of the city. This made the blonde wonder what Marko was up to. Feliks knew all the rumors about Marko; he’d sold a few of them himself. He watched him slip into the abandoned building. The blonde’s attention was now on the juicy information he could potentially get now.

[crnagora]

Marko disappeared into the building, and Annica pursed her lips. She knew better than to try and pass herself off as someone who belonged there. For one thing, she didn't particularly look the part; for another, she had no idea of what the password might be. And undoubtedly there would be a password - if she were doing something illegal, she would certainly make sure there was.

There was nothing for it - she would just have to wait.Trying to force her way in could only end badly. She knew she was outnumbered at least two to one, but she had no idea of the number of people that might have been in there before Marko and the person who had opened the door for him. She looked the building over, memorizing its location, its features. Even if she didn't get anything out of the man who had gone inside tonight, she at least had something to go on. She could return the next day during more normal business hours, perhaps. She hadn't quite decided yet.

But she did want to at least find out the identity of the man she'd been following. She was certain that if she could at least get a glimpse of his face, she'd be able to describe it well enough to find out if there was anyone who knew him, if she didn't know him herself...

She shook her head and backed off a little. It wouldn't be good if he emerged and found her staring at the entrance - that would give her away even more quickly than trying to follow him in would. After a moment it occurred to her that perhaps he wouldn't even come out the front way... what if there was a back exit? She could go look herself, but... oh, no. If the other woman - she noted that she was still there, and she wondered briefly what she was waiting for - noticed her scoping out the building, and then she came back and waited out front...

Annica had heard that the gossip passed around by the women of the red light district could be damning. Not only that, but if she got a reputation for scrutinizing buildings around here, she'd never be able to get any information here without people wondering what she meant to use it for.

No, she would just have to wait. She didn't know how long she'd be waiting, but she would wait as long as it took, keeping the building in her peripheral vision. That way she'd at least be able to see if anyone emerged.

[Marko Iliev]

Even when the light appeared, it was dim. The figure who had opened the door was a woman, funnily enough - Marko had suspected from her deep voice that it had been a man, but he then realised she may well have been keeping her voice in a low key to be quiet. But she was also an older woman, twice his age, were he to estimate, and going grey in the roots of her dark hair. He didn't catch sight of her face at first, as she was short and rounded woman, and she scuttled past him when she had lit the lamp on the far side of the room. He turned on his heel, watching her pulling the shutters of the window next to the door open an inch for her to peer out.

"You were being watched." She said, her voice still raspy and low despite what he had thought. She let the blind drop quickly after, and she turned back away from the window. He noticed then, catching a glimpse of her broad, toad-like face that was covered in make-up, that he'd seen her somewhere around the area before. He also took note that she was wearing a plain skirt and a low-cut top that wasn't particularly modest for her age. She didn't make eye contact with him at first, and she scampered back across the room in a hurry, but he had a suspicion as to who she was.

"I thought I might've been." He replied, turning towards her again. The room was full of cupboards; it looked as if it might have been a disused kitchen of sorts - there was also a worn-looking wooden staircase to the side of the room, and a small table in the middle. The woman began to search through the cupboards, opening each of them and searching through the array of items inside.

It was probably mostly junk, but he figured that was to hide the money, in case the collection went wrong, somehow. The woman said nothing, but continued huffing and scampering around the cupboards.

Marko raised his eyebrow slightly, deciding to press the matter of being watched. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes, yes, of course it's a problem!" She near snapped at him, pulling what looked to be a locked box from one of the cupboards and slamming it behind her, before taking it over to the table. "The military could be out there, for all we know!" She dug around in the pocket of her skirt for the key, and slid it into the box's lock once she had found it.

He didn't think anyone else other than the military had any reason to stalk a potential Ruthien suspect, then again, what did he know?

The woman turned the key, and the box opened with a click.

"This is half of the profits we made this month." She said, removing a swollen pouch from the inside of the box. "Don't you dare lose it - take it straight to your boss, you hear!?"

Slightly surprised by her manner, he took the pouch when she dropped it into his hands, and cocked an eyebrow at her. Really - who did she think he was? "Believe me, that's exactly where it's going." He placed the pouch inside his coat, and moved back in the direction of the doorway, opening it soon after. Whether he'd been watched or not, he didn't feel like lingering around and making himself appear all the more suspicious.

[Feliks £ukasiewicz]

Feliks noticed the lady trying to be sneaky about watching the building Marko had entered. The cross dresser smirked and took this as an opportunity to confront her. He looked up and down their small alley and, seeing no one, descended his stoop and swished over to the lady.

“Darling, what are you doing in this place where someone like you shouldn’t be?” Our blonde gossip monger was fishing for information; who was this girl and why was she following Marko Iliev? He wasn’t trying to appear overly aggressive. If anything his actions could be considered predatory.

[crnagora]

Annica heard the swishing of Feliks' skirts before she saw him approach, and looked up to face him before he spoke. Her expression was neutral - it was true, she was somewhere she shouldn't have been, but she wasn't going to give anyone the pleasure of seeing that they'd caught her off-guard. "I wasn't aware that it was up to anyone to decide what sort of person I am, or what sort of place I should and shouldn't be in," she said quietly. Marko had not yet emerged from the building; perhaps this crossdresser's curiosity was a blessing in disguise. If they were still conversing when he finished his business in there, she wouldn't appear to have been waiting for him to come out.

Of course, there was the possibility that the conversation would make her miss the moment when he emerged, but if there was anything Annica prided herself on, it was her attention to detail. She was fairly confident that keeping the building in her peripheral vision would be enough.

And whatever was going on in there, she was sure she had enough time for a brief conversation. Feliks seemed talkative; he'd started the conversation, after all. Perhaps she could get something out of this. Unlike her, he was the type that frequented this place... so he might know if it was or wasn't common for the man she'd followed to stop at that particular shop... or if there were other places he frequented.

She looked down at her feet and fidgeted, bringing a hand up to toy with a few loose strands of hair. In the dark, it was possible that one might imagine a faint blush on her cheeks; her body language certainly suggested a sort of bashfulness that was characteristic of lovestruck young women. "It's just... that man..." She glanced briefly towards the building and looked down. "I'd hoped that perhaps..."

She allowed her voice to trail off and giggled nervously. "Oh, but it was a silly thought. I shouldn't have come here..." There was a wistful note to her voice then - like she knew she shouldn't have followed him but hadn't been able to keep herself from doing so. "It's not as if he'd look my way, is it?"

It was degrading, she thought, to behave this way. But it was certainly what one might expect from a woman who'd been compelled to follow a handsome man into a bad part of town. She noticed motion out of the corner of her eye and looked up just as the door to the building opened and Marko stepped out. Her eyes widened slightly and she looked back down at her feet.

Had she seen that? There was a sort of familiarity in the man's face... someone she knew, perhaps? But she couldn't look for too long or he might get suspicious. And if it was someone she knew, the lovestruck act would crumble around her feet in an instant. Annica Cvetkovic was not someone who went googly-eyed over a man. She could appreciate a man's good looks, his wit, his charm, but she wasn't the type who went wandering down dark alleyways in the hope that they might give her the time of day.

Besides... it couldn't be who she'd thought that it was. That would just be too much of a coincidence. It couldn't be... her mind had to be playing tricks on her.