Now that I think about it, I realize that it’s Lady Scarlett’s birthday and it completely slipped my mind.
I’m a horrible person. Even though I know that she has no idea about me I’ve still made sure to always remember everything about her. Like how she always starts tapping her fingers when she’s concentrating on something. Even something as small as listening to one of her teachers giving a lecture about something that she won’t even have to use in the real world. I don’t understand why adults in this century make their kids go to school even though it’s a complete waste of time and money.
But still I want to beat myself up for even the smallest slip-up.
I start jogging back towards where her house is located. From where I’ve been living lately, I am exactly five minutes away from where she lives. Five minutes for regular humans but for those like me I could make it there in one minute if I really try.
I don’t really try tonight because there’s no reason to. There’s no real danger that’s coming for her tonight. So instead of shadowrunning or driving, I jog like the good little human I pretend to be. Plus I actually enjoy this kind of physical exercise. To be honest it’s more of a leisure than an actual physical strain like I’ve been put through when I was younger to be an official Reaper.
As I’m rounding the last bend onto her street I get hit with the stench of death. I know immediately someone has been slaughtered tonight and I pray to God or whatever is the higher power if it even exists, that nothing has happened to Scarlett.
Forget jogging. I start to shadowrun and in ten seconds I’m inside Scarlett's living room, covering my nose so my mouth doesn’t water with temptation. Looking to the right I see the base of stairs that leads to the bedrooms. Under the smell of decay I smell a strong trace of vanilla and strawberries. That delicious scent only belongs to Lady Scarlett.
I can tell that she struggled as she fought by the indent in the wall and a trickle of blood that ran down to the floor mixing with the already cool blood. I can also tell that it wasn’t that long since the fight. Her blood is still fresh with its bright ruby color.
Investigating the house didn’t take that long though I can tell by the atrocious sight displayed in the kitchen that the invaders were here quite awhile. Nothing or no one could slaughter someone that badly in only a few minutes.
They were also waiting for Lady Scarlett to get home before they left.
They took her along with them too which is better than killing her I suppose. But either way it still makes my blood simmer thinking about those dirty hands harming her in any way.
Flying up the stairs I make my way to Scarlett’s room hoping to find anything that might be able to help me track her down. I come up short when I approach her brother’s room. The room is a total wreck. The bed sheets crumpled up in a corner of the bed as though he was sleeping when all this went down.
I know that Scarlett’s so-called “Best Friend” put together a surprise at the beach for her and I know that he wouldn’t leave Liam out of it. By doing so it breaks a long time tradition of Scarlett and Liam hanging out at the movies every year and that would cause Lady Scarlett emotional harm.
So if I assume correctly - which I always do - I’d say that the siblings came home late but didn’t come through the front door because then she would notice that there were intruders here, she would have turned around and went back with Charlie to the police to report what happened.
That only leaves one other solution of how they would get in would be through the window in Scarlett’s room. The only way they would have gotten in through there would be to climb the white trellises that lead to the window. By the looks of the blanket on the bed Liam was sleeping so - being the amazing girl she is - Scarlett carried him on her back up into the room. Finding her shoes, I can tell she was still carrying Liam when she took them off so as not to disturb her aunt.
She didn’t at all care about Phil.
She then made her way down the hallway to Liam’s room to deposit him on his bed for the night. Scarlett probably noticed the stench but decided to ignore it because of her panicked state for not taking her medication on time. She then decided to go downstairs so she could take them even though it was late. It was still better than nothing for her even though those meds weren’t helping anything, in fact they made her weaker.
I follow the mental trail that I’ve made for her down the stairs and into the puddle of blood at the base. She must have stood in the blood for a little bit because her scent is even stronger when she spends some time in one place. After finally getting out of her stupor she then keeps walking until she reaches the kitchen where she observes the horrible sight. While she was downstairs one guy attacked the sleeping Liam, Scarlett probably heard something upstairs so she started to head back upstairs. It looks like there were two perpetrators still in the house, I can tell because she fought one in the entrance trying to get to her brother, there’s a trail in the blood that looks like someone was dragged after being knocked out or died. Hopefully the latter.
After taking down the first guy she makes it near the base of stairs before encountering the second guy. It looks like the second one was carrying Liam and dropped him so he could fight Scarlett. A fight that she inevitably lost.
I could pick up the bitter scent of medicine so the second intruder probably had to use it to actually knock her out so that he could take her easier. So all in all the people who did this were initially after her but still took care of her parents so that no one would look for her when she would be taken. Though I still look at their work in destain, they could have done all of this with less blood. They obviously wanted to send a message though to whom I have no idea.
Back upstairs I grab one pair of yellow, lacey underwear. Though I know that I could pick anything else to use to help track her down, it seems that the more intimate the better. And let's be honest, I’m still a guy at heart.
Putting the fabric up to my nose I take a sniff and can actually see her trace in the air like one of those old cartoons where the character drifts to where the smell is coming from. Her trace is a deep crimson red mixed with a bright orange and yellow. Just like flames in a fire.
I dash out of the house following the colors down the street, turning left then right then more directions. I keep going until I spot a white van speeding. That’s where the color is the brightest, it's formed into an unconscious lump in the back, flames coming and rolling off the person as if they were on fire. The van had no windows so I couldn't see into it.
I ran faster until I was side by side with the driver’s window. I look inside and see a man with a cut on his cheek. Looking past him I see the man next to him is unconscious but has a lump taken out of his nose. That’s going to hurt bad when he wakes up.
Smiling to myself I realize that was the guy Scarlett fought first and obviously won against. Damn, that girl can do damage.
They can’t see me because I’m going so fast that I’m just a blur. But they couldn’t even see the blur if they tried to because I’m cloaked in shadow. So I use that to my advantage, moving closer to the vehicle, I strike the window with enough force to shatter it. My fist keeps hurling forward until it strikes him in the face. My other hand grabs the wheel so it doesn't veer off of the road.
The man driving looks dumbstruck as he tries to regain control of the van but I don’t let go. I guess he finally realizes that the vehicle is under attack because he’s spouting out commands to people who are in the back with the victims.
Suddenly there’s another face in the cab of the van. The person looks pale as paper and there’s a red gleam of blood that travels from his mouth to his chin. He looks right at me even though I’m still cloaked. By the unstable look in his eyes he’s obviously a ghoul, the lowest and more unstable of our kind.
His hand shoots out in front of the river to my neck. That earns a shout from the driver who tries to look around the ghoul’s arm. The hand at my neck is strong enough to crush my windpipe, he has fed very recently.
Well obviously.
I grab his wrist and twist it until he’s unable to keep a hold on me. I then yank him out of the car by his arm. Flinging the ghoul behind us, I refocus on the human driver who has a panicked look in his eye. Still keeping one hand on the wheel I use my other to unlock the door that I’ve been dangling off of for too long. I use that same hand to open the door, and in a fit of rage I accidentally rip the door up.
Whoops.
The human who’s still in the driver’s seat looks right at me finally seeing who has been making a mess of what he has worked hard to accomplish. He gives me a wicked smile before slamming on the brakes, causing my body to jerk forward. If it wasn’t for the stronghold that I have on the wheel I would have been thrown forward off of the car. Speaking of the hold I have, my arm hits and bends backwards against the outer of the doorway. It makes a sickening crack and pain explodes from my arm before it starts healing itself.
The driver uses that second to pull out something sharp that gleams in the moonlight. I realize a second too late that it’s a needle that’s attached to a vile of some clear liquid. Before I can do something to stop what’s about to happen she sinks the needle in my wrist and disperses the liquid into my bloodstream.
There’s nothing at first as the poison runs through my body. Just when I don’t think anything is going to happen something burns a bright fire inside of me starting at my wrist and traveling to my whole body. The poison is strong enough for black spots to blink in my eyes, and my hands open involuntarily causing me to lose my grip on the wheel.
I fall, landing hard on the gravel. The van is a few feet away. Close enough for me to be able to get back into the fight or at least crawl to the back to release Lady Scarlett and her younger brother free so that they’ll at least have a fighting chance. But when I try to get back up fiery pain erupts again making me slump back to the ground.
My sight goes second with the ability to move. So this is what paralysis feels like? Huh, it’s kind of peaceful other than the fact that I feel like I’m on fire. Luckley my hearing doesn’t go yet, though I feel it slipping away. I’m still able to hear the stepping on the gravel that’s coming towards me.
The man must have crouched down next to me because his words are right above me. “What do we do with you?” There’s a pause. “You are quite strong and seeing your desperation to stop the vehicle it seems like one of the children in the back is someone you care for.” He chuckles.
Someone else is approaching from behind. It sounds like it’s the ghoul from earlier. The steps are light yet flimsy, the breathing hagrid as if he just ran for miles. Then again it could have been miles ago when I threw him out the car. But I know what that breathing means though, it means that he’s holding himself back from diving and feeding off of me even though we’re technically the same species. The ghouls don’t really care about where the blood comes from, just as long as there's a lot of it, even if it does nothing for their appetite if they feed off of animals of their own species.
“My little nose tells me there’s something off about him.” His voice literally slithers. He takes an audible breath and sighs in disappointment. “Ahh, I see. He’s a reaaaper.” He stretches out the word as if it disgusts him.
That might be because Reapers are on a higher podium when it comes to power. In fact, Ghouls are the lowest, causing them to look up at us here with hatred. Ghouls have a horrible hunger and are willing to feed from anything in their sights. The fact that this one is able to talk to a human without ripping his head off is actually kind of impressive but extremely suspicious.
“That makes sense then. But the question is what do we do with him?” The human responds. I want to snap at him about the fact that I can hear them talking about me as if I’m not even here but for some reason my tongue won’t move and my lips are glued shut.
“I think we should kill him. Then let me and my buddies feast off himmm.” He ends the sentence in a mouth watering Mmmm as if I’m a juicy steak ready to be consumed. Man, ghouls disgust me.
“Of course you want that. But I don’t know…he could be of some use to us if takes the correct training and if we’re able to dose him up enough for him to forget anything other than what we tell him. But then there’s the situation with the girl, he’s gonna have an impulse to protect her.” He pauses to think. “Then again he would ensure her safety, so the decision is made! We’ll just take him with us!” He claps at his own “brilliant” idea.
The ghoul crouches behind me as whispers, “It’sss your lucky day, reaaaper.”
Suddenly there are arms under my arms and the human is dragging me to the back of the van. The ghoul opens the doors to the back and the human drags me into the back. For some reason the human set me right next to Scarlett, positioning me so that I face her. The only reason I can tell is because her scent is even more potent than usual, and from behind my eyelids it glows a bright red.
I feel her breath against my neck, coming out evenly as she is only sleeping and not about to be in grave danger. Even though I know this, it still calms me to know that she’s alright at least for now.
It also calms me to know that I’m going to burn wherever it is we’re going to the ground.
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