City of Sinners
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 7:15 pm
It was a cold September night, the sound from passing cars was ringing in his ears as he walked through the streets. Rosefort or the town of sinners as they called it, was about the half the size of a city like New York, but housed almost 50 percent more people than a town registry stated. The place was full with people who didn’t ‘exist’ and just fell between the cracks of the system. Aside the homeless, the town was full of criminal organizations, plain street gangs and even some cults around which lot’s of legend like tales were floating. Needless to say, this place wasn’t the best to live. Many of those who couldn’t find decent work, just turned to the life of crime or sin in some of the towns many brothels, gamble clubs or speakeasies.
Jack sighed as he saw some barely dressed women waved at him from the other side of the street and a police car just passed along, not even paying attention to them. Even the law was already rotten in this place. Despite that, it still attracted people and the unofficial population just continued to grow, the whole place reminded him of the maw of a giant grotesque monster… you can enter, but never leave.
As he continued to walk along the street, many looked at him with curious eyes. People were wondering what’s a good looking student like him doing in this part of town. While the whole place was stagnating with corruption, crime and death, some parts of town were significantly better than the rest. The University area was one of the few places where the law was ‘enforced’ strictly. To put it simply, there was a lot of money being flown into the university by wealthy people from around town, so their children would be well protected. The police of course played the role of the guards. No one dared to do anything stupid there, as the law often used the saying: shoot first, ask later.
Jack was one of the few people who were in this town by their own choice. Long ago when his sister, studying here, died here under suspicious circumstances, he swore to find out what happened here. For that very reason he convinced his parents to send him here. They were reluctant at first, but eventually gave in to his request and offered their support. It’s been 7 years since his sister died and a year since he came to this forsaken place, but there was still no clues about her death. He visited the city’s library to check the newspapers of that period, but they just weren’t there. He tried to locate any of his sister’s acquaintances, but all records were impossible to find also. Everywhere he tried to go, he was met with walls that blocked his way. For a year he struggled alone in this, but without any results so far, he realized that professional help is needed. Using the little contacts he had created during this year, he began searching for a private investigator who would help in this undertaking.
That task too was a struggle as every PI he found was either corrupt as the police or required money way beyond what he could pay. Just as he was about to give up, his search paid off. One of his fellow university students with shady background, actually give him information about a certain investigator who’s services were up to negotiation depending on the job. According to his friend, the only way to get a meeting with the said person was to leave a message at a certain speakeasy and wait for him to send you an invitation. Turns out that was an adventure of it’s own, as it took Jack a few days to convince the barkeeper to take his message. Eventually after all that struggle, a small letter was waiting for him at his door at the university campus. How it was delivered he didn’t know and didn’t dare ask the guards if someone was spotted, for he knew he couldn’t trust anyone in this forsaken city. Now here he was, following the address given to him in the letter. He never visited this part of town before, but now that he stepped here, a shiver was running down his spine with every step. He felt that he was watched… and not the hookers or the gang members who were at every corner. What he felt was a presence that seemed to steep from the very darkness that surrounded him.
Finally after what felt as an eternity, he finally found the address he received in the letter. From the outside the building didn’t look like anything special. It looked old, very old, the front doors were made out of metal and the windows of the shop on the ground floor were covered with metal bars. Two things he noticed now that he stood in front of the front door of the building. First was that the gangs seemed as if they were keeping their distance from this place. All of the people around seemed to throw looks at him, but no one dared to even make a noise. The second thing was a number of strange symbols engraved in the door. With a gulp, the young man stepped through the door, leading into the building.
Jack sighed as he saw some barely dressed women waved at him from the other side of the street and a police car just passed along, not even paying attention to them. Even the law was already rotten in this place. Despite that, it still attracted people and the unofficial population just continued to grow, the whole place reminded him of the maw of a giant grotesque monster… you can enter, but never leave.
As he continued to walk along the street, many looked at him with curious eyes. People were wondering what’s a good looking student like him doing in this part of town. While the whole place was stagnating with corruption, crime and death, some parts of town were significantly better than the rest. The University area was one of the few places where the law was ‘enforced’ strictly. To put it simply, there was a lot of money being flown into the university by wealthy people from around town, so their children would be well protected. The police of course played the role of the guards. No one dared to do anything stupid there, as the law often used the saying: shoot first, ask later.
Jack was one of the few people who were in this town by their own choice. Long ago when his sister, studying here, died here under suspicious circumstances, he swore to find out what happened here. For that very reason he convinced his parents to send him here. They were reluctant at first, but eventually gave in to his request and offered their support. It’s been 7 years since his sister died and a year since he came to this forsaken place, but there was still no clues about her death. He visited the city’s library to check the newspapers of that period, but they just weren’t there. He tried to locate any of his sister’s acquaintances, but all records were impossible to find also. Everywhere he tried to go, he was met with walls that blocked his way. For a year he struggled alone in this, but without any results so far, he realized that professional help is needed. Using the little contacts he had created during this year, he began searching for a private investigator who would help in this undertaking.
That task too was a struggle as every PI he found was either corrupt as the police or required money way beyond what he could pay. Just as he was about to give up, his search paid off. One of his fellow university students with shady background, actually give him information about a certain investigator who’s services were up to negotiation depending on the job. According to his friend, the only way to get a meeting with the said person was to leave a message at a certain speakeasy and wait for him to send you an invitation. Turns out that was an adventure of it’s own, as it took Jack a few days to convince the barkeeper to take his message. Eventually after all that struggle, a small letter was waiting for him at his door at the university campus. How it was delivered he didn’t know and didn’t dare ask the guards if someone was spotted, for he knew he couldn’t trust anyone in this forsaken city. Now here he was, following the address given to him in the letter. He never visited this part of town before, but now that he stepped here, a shiver was running down his spine with every step. He felt that he was watched… and not the hookers or the gang members who were at every corner. What he felt was a presence that seemed to steep from the very darkness that surrounded him.
Finally after what felt as an eternity, he finally found the address he received in the letter. From the outside the building didn’t look like anything special. It looked old, very old, the front doors were made out of metal and the windows of the shop on the ground floor were covered with metal bars. Two things he noticed now that he stood in front of the front door of the building. First was that the gangs seemed as if they were keeping their distance from this place. All of the people around seemed to throw looks at him, but no one dared to even make a noise. The second thing was a number of strange symbols engraved in the door. With a gulp, the young man stepped through the door, leading into the building.