[color=gray] [CENTER][img]https://i.imgur.com/LE0oU15.png[/img][/CENTER] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/GZTjRyO.gif[/img][/center] [center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] [center][color=#BB253E][b]Location:[/b][/color] Warehouse in the outskirts of Gutterbane • [color=#BB253E][b]Time:[/b][/color] Dusk[/center] [center][color=#BB253E][b]Interactions:[/b][/color] N/A • [color=#BB253E][b]Mentions:[/b][/color] [@Ithradine] Luther[/center] [center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] [center][hider=Music][youtube]https://youtu.be/JVNpq6XI-cw?si=FG-4uuwmX3zgEAlJ&t=80[/youtube][/hider][/center] [center][color=black][sup]____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________[/sup][/color][/center] The scent hit her first. Metallic, thick, and drowning her senses, clawing down her throat. Instinct twisted her stomach long before she had pushed open the heavy doors, the quiet crunch of shattered glass beneath her boots suddenly deafening in the silence. Dusk bled through cracks in the warehouse ceiling, spilling weak light onto a scene ripped straight from a nightmare. Dozens of bodies hung suspended from the rafters like grotesque puppets, pale limbs swaying gently. Their skin held the waxy sheen of death, and their face stared out with wide, glassy eyes that seemed to bore into hers in greeting. Tubes ran from punctured veins, dark tendrils snaking downward into vats that glittered obscenely, brimming with ruby liquid that shimmered under the fading daylight. Angel stood rooted, hands flexing at her sides, the floor beneath was slick under her boots. Her blue eyes flashed faintly crimson in primal response, rooted to her spot. Her lip quivered almost unnoticeably as she finally took one step forward, leather jacket whispering against her body as she drew her blades, twin shards of gleaming silver reflecting what little light remained. [color=LightSteelBlue][i]"Oi, love. Should be a quick one for ya — local tip says there’s a rogue squatter holed up in an old bottling warehouse down in Gutter South. Place’s a dump, full of rust and rats. Should be right up your alley, yeah, Sicily baby?"[/i][/color] She stepped closer, her gaze lingering over the sight of a nude body on the ground. The man was twisted unnaturally, sprawled in a crimson puddle of his blood. Waxy skin stretched over hollow cheeks, eyes blown wide and frozen in a look of terror, mouth still parted mid-scream. He was already drained, staining the concrete floor in thick arterial ribbons. Grigg's voice buzzed in her ear like a gnat, the sound of his voicemail replaying in her mind once again. [color=LightSteelBlue][i]"Client says he’s gone mental. Sippin’ from mortals without a license, real messy work...Anyway, clean it up, make it loud if you like, I don’t care. Long as he’s dead by dusk."[/i][/color] Her jaw clenched, and her brows furrowed. [color=#BB253E] "Lying piece of shit."[/color] she muttered icily, as if the corpse had personally offended her. The world around her blurred as fury swelled in her chest like a storm. Then came footsteps. Her senses snapped sharp as steel, vision clearing instantly. [color=#BB253E][i]Three.[/i][/color] She moved before the first attacker lunged. Ducking low, Angel spun fluidly, slashing upward, her blade carving a precise arc through flesh and bone. Blood sprayed her face in a manner that was both hot on her cool skin and familiar. The first attacker staggered back with a guttural howl, his chest split wide open. The second struck from behind, fangs flashing. Angel pivoted sharply, driving an elbow into his throat. As he choked, she drove a blade upward through his jaw, burying steel in the soft palate of his mouth. He fell without another sound, eyes shocked wide in silent death. The third hesitated, eyes flashing fear and fury. Angel didn't give her time to reconsider. She leapt forward, blades slicing the air with lethal grace. Her opponent fought desperately, claws and fangs tearing at Angel’s leather jacket, drawing shallow red lines across her pale skin. But Angel's rage outmatched desperation. Her blades buried into the female again and again, cutting deeper until the vampire collapsed, shuddering and still. Breathing hard, Angel stood amid the carnage, blood slick on her fingers, dripping from her blades like falling stars. Around her, silence reclaimed the darkened warehouse, broken only by her own breath and the faint drip of stolen life from above. She wiped her blade clean on the fallen woman's shirt, her eyes dull. A wet, rasping sound behind her made her turn. The first vampire she’d struck, the one she’d opened from collarbone to navel, was still alive. Slumped against the rusted base of a blood tank, his hands pressed feebly to the gaping wound in his chest, fingers sliding over split muscle and gleaming rib. His blood shimmered like oil in the dim light, but his eyes… his eyes were alight with cruel mirth as a gurgling laugh escaped his lips. The sound slithered up her spine. He coughed thickly, lips curling into a jagged smile that dripped crimson down his chin. [color=c2bebe]“That all you got, Goldilocks?”[/color] he rasped, voice like shattered glass. [color=c2bebe]“You think you killed us all? The others will return any minute now!”[/color] Angel’s expression didn’t change. He coughed again, this time with pain, but he was still grinning. [color=c2bebe]“A vampire killin’ her own brothers and sisters. That’s gotta be considered sacrilege... or maybe just fuckin' punk rock, eh?”" [/color] Angel raised a brow. Her fingers curled tighter around her blade. [color=#BB253E]"Shut up and die already."[/color] He lifted his head with effort, locking his bloodshot gaze to hers. There was amusement in his eyes, like he had one last joke left to play, even as his lifeblood soaked into the warehouse floor. [color=c2bebe] “I've seen you before, you know... Walkin’ around with those baby blues like you still got a soul. Protecting the cattle like you ain’t just another monster.”[/color] He laughed again — not the wild, mocking cackle from before. The sound scraped from his chest like the last echo of a life he’d already half-forgotten. He leaned his head back against the cold steel behind him, and his gaze, though fading, still sought hers. [color=c2bebe]“You know what’s funny?”[/color] he wheezed, [color=c2bebe]“If someone had told me... that bein’ a vampire didn’t mean I had to be a bastard... maybe I’d’ve done things a little different. Maybe.”[/color] The words hit heavier than she wanted to admit. To her surprise, tears had begun to gloss over his eyes, glinting faintly. Angel said nothing at first. She should have finished him... Put a blade through his throat and walked away as she always did. But she didn’t move. His smile wavered as his eyes flicked downward. [color=c2bebe]“Guess I’m not gonna make it, huh?”[/color] There was no time left, not really, but something in Angel’s chest twisted. She stepped forward just a few paces, then knelt beside him, and she took his hand. He stared at her in stunned silence, as though the touch itself was something holy, [i]something he didn’t deserve.[/i] His blood-slicked fingers twitched in hers, as if unsure whether to fight or cling. [color=c2bebe]“I used to be a father, you know,”[/color] he murmured eventually, [color=c2bebe]“My little Molly...Oh, she looked just like her mother."[/color] His glassy gaze drifted upward, as if the rafters above had turned into something beautiful above him. Whatever he saw there, it wasn’t the warehouse. [color=c2bebe]“She’d sit cross-legged on the floor, back straight like a soldier, waitin’ for me to finish fixing her hair. Giggled like mad, said I always pulled too hard.”[/color] His trembling hand reached into empty air as though he could smooth her hair just one more time. [color=c2bebe]“I used to braid it every morning… blue ribbons, her favorite. Said they made her magic.”[/color] A ghost of a laugh escaped him, the kind of sound that died before it made it far. [color=c2bebe]“Last thing she saw of me was me runnin’ for good. She was at the door... holdin’ one of her ribbons, waitin’ for me to fix her hair.”[/color] His voice was fractured, as though speaking hurt more than the wound tearing him apart. [color=c2bebe]“Thought I was protectin’ her… keepin’ the monster away..." [/color] His red pupils shook as tears streaked down his cheeks. [color=c2bebe]“Didn’t even say goodbye. She probably thought I didn’t love her.”[/color] Angel’s throat tightened. [color=#BB253E]“You did love her,”[/color] she whispered, her voice barely louder than her breath. [color=#BB253E]“You still do.”[/color] [color=c2bebe]“Do you think…”[/color] He hesitated, the question trembling in the space between them. [color=c2bebe]“Do you think she’d forgive me?”[/color] Angel didn’t answer right away, but when she did, her voice was gentle. [color=#BB253E]“...I bet she’s still waiting for you, ribbon in hand.”[/color] He turned his head slightly, resting it against the cold steel tank behind him, his fading eyes drifting down to their joined hands. A faint sound, almost a sigh, escaped him. [color=c2bebe]“You’re kind,”[/color] he said, almost in disbelief, as though he’d only just realized it. Angel met his eyes steadily. [color=#BB253E]"I'm no less a monster than you are."[/color] She confessed quietly. Something genuine morphed his smile, and for a moment, it looked like he might slip away in peace. But then he jerked forward sharply, gripping her hand with the last of his strength. His face twisted, not with anger, but something more haunting. [i] [color=c2bebe]“You better run... Before Corvane hears about you..."[/color][/i] [color=#BB253E][i]Of course this is his crap. Fuck me, right?[/i][/color] Angel yanked her hand free with a grimace as he slumped back, the final trace of life draining from his eyes like the last drop of blood from an emptied vein. The quiet in the warehouse pressed in like a held breath, thick with death. Blood pooled beneath her boots, and overhead, the bodies swayed gently on their hook She rose slowly, expression darkening. With one last glance at the room of utter carnage, she turned on her heel. Her phone was already in her hand before she reached the threshold, her thumb snapping a picture of the scene behind her. Her thumb subsequently flew across the screen, dialing Griggs. No answer. She pressed the phone harder to her ear as it rang, her teeth grinding... Annnd [i]still nothing.[/i] [i]Beep.[/i] The air still reeked of blood and rot, clinging to her clothes like a second skin. Holding the phone to her ear, Angel's eyes scanned the empty lot. [color=#BB253E]"You're so full of shit, Griggs."[/color] Her voice was cold, even, and low, perhaps more dangerous than if she had shouted. [color=#BB253E]"You said no more lies. That you wouldn’t send me into something blind again."[/color] She stepped outside, her boots crunching on broken concrete. [color=#BB253E]"That was a fucking feeding den. A whole damn nest."[/color] The blonde tapped her foot impatiently against the pavement, her other hand twitching with the urge to draw a blade again. [color=#BB253E]"They’re all dead... So you better pay me, jackass. [i]Now[/i]."[/color] Angel then hung up with a sharp flick of her thumb. It was a lie. No den that well-stocked was ever left unguarded for long. More would crawl back soon enough, vengeful and pissed to find their buddies as dead as dirt. But she wasn’t sticking around to be picked off like a rookie for the kind of pay Griggs was offering. She stormed across the lot, eyes narrowed, jaw tight. The door to her car groaned under her grip as she yanked it open. It creaked in protest, and for a moment it looked like she might rip the damn thing off its hinges. Angel slammed herself down into the driver’s seat, gripping the wheel with white-knuckled force. That’s when her phone screen lit again. [color=#90F1FF]LUTHER – Incoming Call.[/color] [/color]