[center][h1]Ashlyn Olivia Gauthier[/h1][/center] [b]Location[/b]: Charmaine's Charms and Oddities, Loom Slums. [b]Time[/b]: 4:30 am Ashlyn Olivia Gauthier better known as Ash was not in a good mood. Unable to vent her frustration on her true targets, seeing as they were safely tucked away in the comfortable and secure Gauthier mansion, she settled for taking it out on the puddles instead. Admittedly it wasn't the same since puddles of water generally didn't fight back, well not unless a demon was involved, but it was better than nothing. Thankfully her black knee high boots were decent leather and waterproof otherwise her mood would have no doubt soured even further. She zipped her leather jacket up higher and turned the collar up against the rain as she stomped through the streets. Anyone seeing her would probably assume she was lost in her thoughts and not aware of her surroundings, and taking in her small stature, might see her as easy pickings. They couldn't be more wrong and part of her hoped some idiot would be fool enough to try their luck. Though knowing her already bad day it would be someone human and not her usual prey, then she would have to be all careful not to kill them and that would just suck. Thankfully the street she was currently walking on was relatively quiet, everyone no doubt taking shelter from the rain or partying it up in the nightclub a few streets over. For a moment Ash debated giving up on her errand and going home, re stocking could probably wait till tomorrow and she was tired of the rain. The fact that she was closer to her destination than her home made the decision for her, she would be out of the rain soon enough. She turned the corner and saw her destination in front of her, Charmaines Charms and Oddities was an old somewhat ramshackle building on the corner of the street. Heavy windows with bars on them and a solid wooden door made the place seem unwelcoming but such measures were essential for a shop in this part of the slums. Besides Charmaine didn't need to advertise, his customers knew where to find him and everyone else didn't and that was how he liked it. The door was locked, unsurprisingly given the lateness of the hour, but Ash knew that he was in. She banged on the door several times and waited. "Come on Charmaine, open the bloody door! I'm soaked out here." She called through the timbers. She heard a slight muttering, several bangs, muttered curses, and then finally the sound of the locks being pulled aside. A moment later the door swung open and Ash hurried inside. She stood dripping in the middle of the 'fake' shop, the front area of the shop where Charmaine kept all of the goods that he sold to tourists and those without any knowledge of magic or the supernatural. Bookshelves, shelves and racks were all filled to the brim with everything you would expect to see in a 'magic shop' Basically utterly useless items suitable only as decoration and some not even then. There were candles in a seemingly endless variety, multitudes of various pendants, rings bracelets all of appropriate symbols such as pentagrams, the tree of life and various animals. The bookshelves were all filled with books on the occult and witchcraft and there was also numerous shelves filled with fanciful dragons, and other fantastic beasts. The counter had stacks of tarot cards of varying styles and a colourful collection of wind chimes and dream catchers hung from the ceiling. Ash hated it but she understood the necessity of it. Charmaine was a independent not employed by any group and as such needed to not only earn a living but avoid scrutiny as well. "When you said you were by I thought you might wait until morning, no?" Charmaine said grimacing when he saw the puddle of water around her. Charmaine D'poiner was a small man though still taller than her by a couple of inches, and thin with long grey hair and a wispy grey beard. He was dressed in his usual clothes brown trousers, untucked white shirt and waistcoat. Charmaine loved his waistcoats said they fit the look of his shop and the more colourful the better. Tonight's was a bright red and green affair that made Ash wince. Personally she thought they looked ridiculous but then she didn't have to wear them. "You know I usually come at night Char, besides you keep night hours too despite what the normal townspeople think." Ash responded drily. Charmaine chuckled. "True, true but still I would rather you had not come with a river of water." "Yes well I'd rather you delivered but we don't always get what we want do we." She answered sweetly. Charmaine muttered a curse under his breath in French and Ash sighed, he was probably going to complain about this all night now. Charmaine was brilliant at what he did and a good friend but he did so like to complain. A lot. "I'm sorry." She sighed. "Now can we get on with it?" Charmaine turned and led the way through the shop towards a door marked 'private' it was of course locked and not just with conventional methods. Charmaine was a wise man and had some very good protections for his genuine stock. Of course it helped that he was friends with people like Ash, that sort of put off potential robbers. He opened the door and Ash followed him into his real shop. The room was slightly smaller and filled with items of a different sort. The layout was similar with bookshelves, shelves and racks but they were filled with actual magic tomes, genuine magical ingredients and a variety of charms and other enchanted items. "Aaah much better." Ash sighed. "This makes this whole sodding day worthwhile." Charmaine busied himself behind the counter pulling out boxes from drawers under the counter whilst Ash walked the aisles. She wistfully touched an item here or there wishing she could afford them but knowing they were out of her league money wise. "So what has got you in such a foul humour eh?" He had finished laying out the boxes and had placed a couple of glasses and a bottle of spirit next to them. Ash approached the desk and lifted the lid on one of the boxes, gleaming silver bullets greeted her eyes and she smiled again. Charmaine passed her the bottle to pour whilst he began to pack a bag with her order, Ash had been coming here long enough now that he knew her regular order without having to ask. Ash poured some liquid into both glasses and then took a healthy swallow of hers. The whiskey, a good Scottish malt, burned it's way down her throat and she sighed with pleasure. "You always know how to cheer a girl up Char." She said. "As to what's up just the usual." "Ah." Charmaine nodded knowingly as he finished loading her goods. "Family of course. Let me guess you were coerced into attending another soiree no?" "The blasted thing seemed to go on forever and I couldn't even carry my guns." She grimaced. "Mom said you could see the holsters through the dress. That is why I don't wear the damned things." "Oh to see you in a dress, that would be a sight." He smiled eyes twinkling. "Such horror this standing and drinking, no monsters in sight. However do you cope?" "Badly."She said. "You know that. Me and social gatherings...well the less said the better." "Indeed." He agreed with another chuckle. "Still, I can imagine with your figure..." "Not another word. Char." She warned though she was smiling, Charmaine was fond of teasing her and she didn't mind it much. Only Zee and Char were able to get away with it though. "I yield." He said with a swift grin before gesturing to the bag he had packed for her. "You order madame." "Thanks Char, payment as usual?" "Of course my dear. I trust you." It was true he did but then she had saved his life once and that went a long way towards building trust in his mind. Ash finished her drink and picked up the bag, it contained her standard hunting supplies, silver bullets, several protection charms and a few other items. She headed back out to the front of the shop and waited while Charmaine relocked the door to his back room. "Thanks again Char, see you in a few." She headed to the front door but then stopped and turned back. "Oh I almost forgot here." She passed him a small pouch which he took and looked inside with a grin. "Courtesy of my last hunt. Enjoy, they were not easy to get." "Ah my dear Ash you always deliver. My thanks to you. Be careful out there." "Always." She answered before heading back out into the rain. [hr] [b]Location[/b]: Loom Slums, Alleyway to Club Ambrosia [b]Time[/b]: 5:45 am The rain had lessened somewhat and Ash was in a much better mood thanks to Charmaine and his whiskey. She was no longer feeling the need to hit things and instead was looking forward to getting home and sinking into a hot bath. She didn't have a contract at the moment and though she regularly patrolled the city for unpleasant nastiness of the supernatural variety even she was entitled to a night off. The soiree or party to those not well versed in wealthy speak, had been long and tedious and now that her anger wasn't fuelling her she was just tired. She was thinking of her coming bath and about the events in [i]'The Duke's wager'[/i] her latest Mills and Boon Regency novel, Duke Hawthorne sounded gorgeous, and how she could finally get through a few more chapters when something caught her eye. She was walking through one of the alleys, automatically keeping an eye out even while she was lost in thought, which led towards the nightclub and was a shortcut for her route home. Whilst it was usually unpleasant due to the smell of urine and vomit from those inside the club stopping here to either throw up or take a toilet break, it was worse than usual. It was the flies she noticed first, quite a few of them, clustered around something a little further away. As she drew closer she sighed quietly. "Ah bloody hell. What a waste." The woman had been killed and dumped here like leftovers, which she supposed wasn't too far from the truth, most demons killed for food after all. This one had left her in quite a mess. At first glance she could see that the body had been struck in the side and neck. The skin was greyish and Ash guessed she had been drained of blood. "Bastard demons." She muttered angrily. No matter how many dead bodies she saw she never got used to it, the look, the smell, but above all the general wrongness of it. This woman, whoever she had been, surely hadn't deserved to die like this and left like a pile of refuse. With a sigh Ash bent closer to the body, needing to examine the body further. She needed to be sure what had killed this woman.