Vance Benedetti and his flask thief

[Ecurle]

Vance Benedetti

"I shouldve listened to him" a weak voice muttered in the dark, barely audible even to himself as the rain hammered down all around him. "dont fuck with him Tom, theres plenty of profit to be made without pissing him off" he sarcastically chuckles to himself, coughing up splutters of blood while doing so. Propped up against a wall in a cobble stoned alley way dressed in what was a very nice suit, now tattered from gunshots and the reckless escape he managed to find for himself. Not that it was much of a blessing he reminded himself, focusing on the distant gunfire from where he had fled from. It was supposed to be a simple job, intercept a shipment of opium coming in from overseas and take it for ourselves. The information came from a good source, had all the information we needed to plan a heist. The time it was to come in, the size of the shipment and how much muscle was guarding it. The numbers were off by one, an old acquaintance I unfortunately pissed off in venice 30 years ago. You would think after 30 years a man would forget a lowlife stole their whiskey flask, then again this wasnt a man at all. Hes a monster who dresses and looks like one, dresses remarkably well ill give him that. I had heard all the rumours and the stories surrounding him while i was in Venice, a hitman for the mob whos never failed. Made a fortune gunning down fellow lowlifes, no one ever got away from him. He makes sure people knows that wronging him is a terrible idea, promising that he will catch up to them eventually. Vance 'Ironskin' Benedetti was his full name although not many knew it, i thought his earned title of ironskin was a myth until i saw in firsthand today. He dropped 4 of my men in an instant while being hammered by bullets, im not even sure he flinched. To think this is over a dumb stunt to look brave, stealing a monsters whiskey flask. "A fucking whiskey flask!" the man laughed loudly as he braced himself on the wall. He dropped his thompson to the floor and reached inside his coat, pulling out an old whiskey flask. It was nice and had little sign of age, it had the letters V and B carved into it. He leaned back against the wall and unscrewed it, as he lifted it towards his mouth the light coming in from the street flickered and a shadow stood there looking at him. Piercing eyes of red staring at him under a hat and trench coat, the silhouette of the monster was getting bigger as it walked casually towards him. Tom stood there almost frozen, the pain from his injuries and the blistering cold all but fading away as the dread set in. Ironskin was here right in front of me he thought, the monster has come to fufill a promise i made for myself. "drink" the indifferent and deep voice of the monster pierced him and he found himself draining the flask, the burning in his throat did little to stop this overwhelming compulsion. Tom emptied the flask and fell back into the wall, letting himself slide into a sitting position on the cobbled floor. The red eyes of the monster crouched down to meet his wandering gaze, "Its a shame Tom, i think a brave man like you with something to prove woudlve done well under me". Tom chuckled and pulled out a cigar, placed it in his mouth and reached for his lighter. Before his hands even entered his pockets a spark followed by a flame appeared directly in front of him, the face of the monster lit up before him. A handsome face with sharp bold features, no different to how he looked 30 years ago. Tom puffed on his cigar and laughed, exhaling a large plume of smoke into the monsters face. "HAHA you really are a monster eh Ironskin, youre looking good for a man in your 70s" He sighed and leaned back into the wall. Ironskin stood tall, taking his flask back and placing it inside his coat. He looked over the broken body of his flask thief for a second before walking away, "It truly is a shame Tom, but i have a reputation to keep" he casually remarked behind him. There was no response.