"What time Forgets" by Mitchell B. Clarke

What time Forgets

            Jakob Khan sat waiting patiently for the third time that day. Days like today had a bad habit of irritating Jakob. It was one of those days where nothing really gets done. Sure you plan  for a lot to happen, but in the end it turns out to be a waste of a day. The kind of day where the sun beats down on your shoulders, relentlessly seeping the energy from every muscle in your body. These sort of days seemed to make people irritable, and irritable people have a bad habit of killing you. Or robbing you. Jakob was afraid of neither murderers or thieves. The people who tried something on him often found themselves face down in a river. Or so it was rumored.

            This was the way things worked within the Maze. You killed or were killed, and if you didn't want to die, you stayed out of the Maze. Only the hardest, or smartest, criminals stayed within the Maze. During the day the Maze was dangerous. At night it was a deathtrap. Honest people who entered, rarely were seen again. Or if they were seen, it was not in one piece. Jakob was reputed to be fairly honest (for his profession), and one of the only informers that could get his hands on specifically dangerous information. This day was one that Jakob would spend hunting information within the Maze. A specifically dangerous place for men of his profession. Criminals often didn't take kindly to being asked about, and an angry criminal makes a bad enemy.

            This time he was looking for information on a man that had seemingly turned up over night and killed three of the Gate Guards on his way in. The only difference between what he normally did and what he was now doing was that this time the money involved was three times the amount he regularly received. Twenty gold was enough to make a dead man turn in his grave, and Jakob wasn't about to let twenty gold slip through his fingers.

            "Hey, buddy, got a guy ya should talk at."

            The bartender of The Golden Keg tavern indicated a man off by himself in a dark corner of the tavern with his thumb. "Says he got a bit of a tale about that guy you was askin' after. Figured ya wanted dirt on the guy, so I says to myself, betcha that guy over there would like to give a listen."

            "Thanks friend." replied Jakob as he rose from his seat, flicking a copper at the bartender.

            This was what Jakob had been waiting for. A man that would give some information about the new hand in the Maze.

            "This is a dangerous place for your kind."

            The man at the table was looking intently at Jakob. "Do I know you?"

            "No. But I know you well enough Jakob Khan. And this is no place for the likes of you."

            "Well, do you have something for me, or are you just going to threaten me from across the table?"

            The stranger looked at Jakob for a moment before replying. "Ya, I've got something for you. But the question here is how much it is worth to you."

            "Well friend, that depends on just how much your information will benefit me. You tell me the story, and if it is worth it, you will be a gold richer."

            The man thought over the proposition for a moment before replying, "Fair enough I suppose."

            Jakob sat down at the strangers table, ordering a mug of ale for himself and the other man. As the waitress delivered their drinks the man began his whispered tale.

            "It was three days ago that the man first appeared within the Maze. I hear that he killed a couple of gate guards, but compared to what happened in the Maze, that's nothin'. Me and a... associate of mine were busy finishing this deal we had, and just as we finished, the screams started. Now, I'm not one to foolishly risk my own neck, but I figured it was probably another mugging or a rape. Either way, I figured by savin' the person I'd earn myself at least a couple coppers. Then again, that was before I had the bad fortune to see what was actually happening. He was killing her all right, but not with any conventional means. Nope, this man was Eatin' her. Like, actually takin' chunks out of her, and swallowin' them down. Horrible to the extreme it was. I took one look more, and high tailed my arse outta there.”

            Jakob sat in stunned silence. No wonder he was getting paid so much, he was dealing with a psychopath. Jakob was beginning to get that feeling of dread that always seems to come just before something really bad happens.