Nightside 02 - Agents of Light and Darkness

silhouette, and as she started down the dark alleyway towards me, a soft golden glow appeared around her, lighting her way. She was exceedingly blonde and pretty, and almost overpoweringly voluptuous, moving with easy grace in her own pool of light. Marilyn Monroe, in her glorious prime, in her iconic white halter dress. Not a look-alike or a double, but indisputably the real thing, wrapped in glamour, bursting with life and laughter, just like in her films. Sweet and sexy Marilyn, walking in her own spotlight.
    She came to a halt before me, and smiled dazzlingly. She smelted of sex and sweat and sandal-wood, of roses and rot, and though her smile was a inviting as ever, there was no matching warmth in her eyes.
    “Hello, sugar,” she said, in a voice like a caress. “I’m so glad I found you. I’ve got a message for you.”
    “That’s nice,” I said, carefully non-committal.
    She laughed her famous laugh, wrinkled her nose at me, and handed me a long white envelope with the tips of her fingers. “This is for you, sweetie. Inside the envelope, there’s a blank check! Signed by Mr. Hughes himself. He wants the Unholy Grail for his collection. All you have to do is find it for him, and you can fill in the check for whatever amount you like. Isn’t that generous of him?”
    “Pardon me for asking?” I said. “But aren’t you dead?”
    She laughed huskily and tossed her head. Her wavy hair moved in slow sensuous waves. Being bathed in the glow of her open sexuality was like staring into a blast furnace.
    “Oh, that wasn’t me. Howard looks after his friends.”
    “I rather thought he was dead too.”
    “Men that rich don’t die, sugar. Not if they don’t want to. They just move to another plane, for tax reasons. He’s mixing with some really powerful people these days.”
    “People?”
    “Loosely speaking.”
    I weighed the envelope in my hands thoughtfully. I’d never been offered a blank check before. I was tempted. But… I smiled regretfully at Marilyn.
    “Sorry, dear. I already have a client. I’m spoken for.”
    “I’m sure Mr. Hughes can match any offer…”
    “It isn’t the money. I gave my word.”
    “Oh. Are you sure … I couldn’t do anything to persuade you?”
    She took a deep breath, and her breasts seemed to surge towards me. I was finding it hard to breath “I’m probably going to hate myself in the morning,” I said finally, “but I have to say no. My services are for sale, but I’m not.”
    She pouted at me with her luscious mouth. “Everyone has their price, darling. We just haven’t found yours yet.”
    “I’m always loyal to my client,” I said. “It’s all the honor I have left.”
    “Honor,” said Marilyn, wrinkling her nose again. “See how far that gets you, in the Nightside. See you again, sugar. Boop boop de boop.”
    She blew me a kiss, turned elegantly on her left high heel, and strode off down the alley. Her shoes made no sound on the cobbles. She walked in glamour, still in her own spotlight, like the star she was. I watched her disappear back into the neon noir of the city streets, and only then looked down at the envelope in my hand. My first impulse was to tear it up, but wiser thoughts prevailed, and I put it carefully in my inside coat pocket. You never knew when a check with Howard Hughes’s signature on it might come in handy.
    I looked around for a dark doorway. They tended to come and go, but you could always rely on a few, this close to Strangefellows. I walked over to the nearest, kicked a few hands aside, and sat down cross-legged. No-one would disturb me here, and I had work to do. If one major player already knew I was on the trail of the Unholy Grail, then it was a safe bet everyone knew. Or at least, everyone that mattered. They’d all be looking for me, and the people they’d send wouldn’t all be as pleasant and polite as Marilyn. This was the kind of treasure hunt that started serious turf wars. And the last thing I needed was the Authorities getting involved. No, I needed to get my hands on the Unholy Grail as quickly as possible, and that meant using my gift. I’m always reluctant to do that, because when I use my special talent, my mind blazes like a beacon in the darkness of the Nightside, signaling to all my enemies exactly where I am. But it’s my gift that makes me what I am, that enables me to be so very good at what I do.
    My gift. I can find anything, or anyone. No matter how well hidden they are.
    So I sat