The Coin

The gold coin glinted in the rays of the setting sun. “Not bad for a day’s work. There would be a lot of drinking done this evening.”, thought Toen as he placed the rare coin into his inside shirt pocket. Just as he was doing so several pair of eyes were bulging in disbelief at the sight of the coin, that’s a month’s pay for an average labourer. “There can be only one thing that can pay that much and for sure there is good that will come of it.”, the onlookers thought as they left the area in a hurry. Toen chuckled to himself as he saw the onlooker’s reaction to the coin, his reputation as a killer was serving him well.

Several hours later Toen staggered out of the Leaking Barrel tavern, nearly falling on his face several times as he used the wall to keep himself upright. He turned into a dark alley to relieve himself, then stopped short as he met the gaze of a figure that was engaged in an act of biting the neck of a fainted female victim. Toen couldn’t break his gaze at the strangely clad figure, it was almost as if he was under a spell that prevented him from looking away. The strange figure flashed into action, grabbing the undone shirt of Toen, pulling him close to him. The smell of the beings breath was akin to the smell of corpses and Toen’s stomach started to turn at the rank odour. Just as the figure drew him close, a clawed hand pushed its way into his chest removing his still beating heart. The last sight Toen saw was his hearts’ still beating form… thump, thump, thump. Then all went black. As Toen’s lifeless body fell to the stone alley floor, a single gold coin rolled out of his shirt pocket towards the street behind him.