[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/uurhDHh.jpg[/img][/center][center][img] http://i.imgur.com/HtvPRRx.png[/img][/center][color=ed1c24]“Kid I barely get paid enough as is. Why would I waste more of my time helping out the brat of this manor?”[/color] It was a rhetorical question that Garou didn’t feel like repeating in any manner. Thomas could have either accepted the response or keep on walking because the wolfish guard was already doing that latter, albeit in the opposite direction; though not without a passing glare at Caprice for resembling a suspect. [color=ed1c24]“Way I see it, whatever damages you make are coming out of the head brat’s paycheck in fixing anyway so I’ll be taking a nap.”[/color] As if on cue, the sound of wood splintering and a door caving in heralded Garou’s predictions with an annoyed sigh.

Whatever the case, he was going to ignore it for later. What he didn’t say, after all, was that he was conducting his own search for the thief in the opposite direction. After all, if everyone was distracted by newcomers it’d make the culprit that much more likely to slip up and reveal themselves. And no one knew the mansion better than Garou. Had he stayed a moment longer, he might have noticed the sudden disappearance of the thorned hounds meant to return to Victoire’s chambers. All of them vanished without trace or scent.

Back inside the theater room Kanbaru had accidentally discovered, the room glimmered and glinted with antiques that, although quite boring to look at despite being reflective of Victoire’s tastes, were probably worth a fortune to pawn off in the Dangeki. Riches were of no concern to the being hosted inside Kanbaru’s body however. There was a sudden sting in her ears, the force inhabiting her suddenly sparking with a new sense of excitement. There was someone in this mansion who shouldn’t belong, someone of interest. The JSTR saw more past this simple world, diving into things unseen and hidden by the shadows of time and saw…

Yes. She [i]was[/i] here. Before the others could respond to her, Kanbaru was gone from the theater room, only to appear with Akiko and Ami in Victoire’s chamber in the shadow of their step. Although she didn’t note it yet, the JSTR inside her buzzed as soon as it picked up Riku’s presence among the vampire’s chamber. The shadows of things to come further excited it. Perhaps it was intentional too because without Kanbaru, Rose and Clair were left to deal with their own problems without the others.

As they scoped out the room for valuables of any kind, the backdrop shifted somewhat among the corner of their eyes. Movement stirred once but never enough for either girl to catch a proper look, but it was there, watching them, waiting among the low light of the room’s corners. And then, with no hiss or roar but plenty of momentum, a dark serpent, large and nearly gargantuan in length, suddenly sprung out from its hiding spot. Black as coal, it slammed itself into Clair, maw open and fangs bared to lunge for her throat.
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