[tCotR] - Juan Vasquez

[Micah]

Micah - He went to answer Eve’s question but as he went to speak his wife reappeared and answered for him. “Well he’s a killer isn’t he? Killer’s aren’t known for their intelligence. We’re better with brute force.” The truth, though Micah had made sure to focus his training on his mind so that particular trait that came with his path didn’t apply to him. Juan though was a different story. Or maybe he just didn’t care about getting caught. That wouldn’t be a surprise, especially if he’d become detached. He wasn’t much help with the whole tracking thing. That was better left to those that knew what the hell they were doing. For now his part was done, until he needed to shoot someone. That was where his talent lay.

Every - “You’re an intelligent Killer, Micah, and oddly enough Azariel wasn’t as stupid as he liked to feign.” She stated as she clicked against the keyboard, pausing to think about the designs with a small sigh escaping past her lips, she’d looked through old newspapers, “Granted, the rest of the population that are killers can’t really say much. I’ve noticed Shadows aren’t the brightest either, sometimes.” Moving her gaze to Velveteen as the woman returned, Every’s hazel eyes showed curiosity before she gave a nod of her head. “Why does that not surprise me?” She frowned, “I can try to triangulate later. Right now, all I’ve found is a short report about his ‘death’ and the symbol only has a little bit of info. I’m not that talented of a hacker, your scripts just make me look more brilliant.” She pushed the laptop close to the others, sitting up a bit. “I never understood why some turn feral.”

Velveteen -“Mmm but some of you are smart as well.” She grinned crookedly at the man beside her before tilting her head a little giving him a rather appreciative once over. “But I think it is a pretty safe bet that this guy isn’t all that clever or her wouldn’t be topping the charts the way he has lately. Either that or it is some sort of cry for help and he just wants to be put out of his misery for a while.” Her eyes moved over the screen that had been pushed her way and she pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Not a lot there really...huh? Though that isn’t especially surprising either.”
She dragged the laptop closer and opened a new tab to display a map of the city. Well...sitting round here ain’t gonna catch this guy.” She turned her silver orbs on Eve. “We need to start trackin’. You wanna start with an eye spy first please? If it is anywhere you recognise that will be a good start, unless of course he is using alter ego which will just suck ***.”

Micah - He gave an amused chuckle. “Yeah, you’re both supposed to say **** like that to flatter me. Cause y’all gotta live with me and ****.” He had to give them a hard time, it was what he did best. Micah frowned as he considered her words. “Alter Ego is possible,” he began slowly. “If that’s the case then yes that’s gonna make out job a lot harder. But we’ve hunted before and found people who were using that. Just gotta be smarter.” He sat back in his chair, his fingers ceasing the drumming they’d been doing on the table. “Though I don’t think ol’ Juan is intelligent enough to have figured out how to learn anything from the wraith guides.” It was possible that Juan did know about the guides but given the sloppy way he was going about his nightly business Micah had his doubts.

Every - “Live with, yes, believe you’re intelligent, nope.” She grinned gently at her sire before she nodded at Vel’s suggestion about eye spying, leaning forward to collect another piece of paper and a pen once more. Her hazel eyes seemed to glaze over as she spaced out, her hand taking careful details down before she began to sketch the floor appearance down. “I don’t… recognize this but,” She shook her head and then pointed to the symbol that had come back up, “I think we found how the hunter boys connect.” She got up, moving to stand behind Vel and take back the computer once more, pulling up the page she had minimized, “My guess is, it’s sort of a ‘territorial’ mark like gangsters use. I noticed some Paladin have different design patterns, a bit. Not too distinct, but noticeable. The hunters aren’t going to give up on this guy.”

[Every]

Velveteen - Velveteen wrinkled her nose a little and grinned. “Nah...I wouldn’t say it without meaning babe. You should know me a bit better than that by now. But you might be right too. Can you appraise him , see what you can find out about his powers and level of training please hot stuff?” She paused a moment, her brow furrowing a little before her attention was returned to Eve. “Yeah..it could well be, which means we are going to have to be a little more observant. If they are working together enough to have this sort of connection there is probably more.”

The woman fell silent and appeared to be concentrating though her eyes had become rather unfocused. She hummed softly and tilted her head this way and that, much like an animal hearing something that has aroused their curiosity. “Wherever he is right now it is a privately owned lair, bigger than any normal apartment or most buildings. Could be another warehouse, perhaps, ore secret room in one. I dunno. It’s a pity we killed all those hunters. Ok....” She chewed thoughtfully at her lower lip. “We will have to start Psych tracking though I am wondering....” She let her words trail off deciding that it was probably a long shot and not worth the energy at this point.


Micah - He nodded his head and fell silent as he concentrated. What he found wasn’t much of a surprise and it would definitely make their job that much easier. The rogue had no abilites whatsoever so he couldn’t use that to mask his location from them. “Well he can’t use anything to conceal himself which means no alter ego. It shouldn’t be too difficult to track him down. An eye spy and a triangulate should give us his exact location.

It was ironic that his wife voiced the thoughts that had been running through his head not that long ago. “Maybe. Or maybe they were just minions. It’s entirely possible that those hunters we killed had been sent to gather information. Whoever this group is Im sure they’ve heard of us and what we are capable of. Maybe they were bait so the real hunters could see what they were up against.” If this whole thing turned out to be a trap he wasn’t going to be very happy. When the hell had he grown so ******* paranoid?

Every - The petite brunette crinkled her nose a bit at the affectionate nickname, amused as she looked down at her drawing and tapped her nails idly against the table as she listened to the other two. “We can always have Cypriana and Stephen look around the warehouse for a symbol matching this… or even try to have Buns use her looks to draw in the attention of a guy, see if they have the tattoo or design.” Every muttered softly to herself, reaching past Vel to type away at the computer once more.

“I have seen this floor tile though, come to think about it,” She moved away from the other two in search of her sketchbook. If she remembered right, she’d left the book downstairs by her computer, as as expected, when she returned the leather bound object was in her arms. “Coastside, probably. Not too far from the Cimm? There wasn’t this design though, that much I do know.” She frowned faintly, closing her book as she sat down across from them.

Velveteen -Her head bobbed slowly as she listened, her mind already racing ahead with different scenarios and possible outcomes. “Maybe.” Came her rather absent reply, already making mental not of any place she could think of that might resemble that which Eve had drawn. “Yeah I think we send the wraiths first. Eve if you wanna track Juan. I might try tracking a couple of these guys, just....in case. Babe? Can you keep an eye on our target and monitor his condition please. Let me know as soon as anything changes?”

She pulled herself to her feet and tapped lightly at the wooden table top with a single, pointed fingernail. “Just...be careful. I dunno...I have a bit a weird feeling about this one. Something just seems...off. I dunno about letting Bunny get involved just yet. Not until we know for sure who and what we are dealing with.” Her sterling gaze settled on her husband. “What ya think?”

[Velveteen]

Micah - He didn’t mind Bunny getting involved. She wasn’t as stupid as she let on and underneath that airhead persona that she had there was an intelligent woman who was sharp as a tack and very efficient when it came to any task that was set before her. It wouldn’t take much to convince her to help them out. For now though he would leave her in the dark until her help was needed.

He stood and checked his weapon and upon finding a full magazine he returned the weapon to its proper resting place. “I can do that.” Micah wasn’t expecting much to change, but regardless he’d check in every so often just to make sure. “We should get started though. Don’t want anyone else beating us to this one.”


Every - At the suggestion of the wraiths first, Every gave a nod of her head and silently relaxed to slip into her wraith’s mind, silently telling the female to start heading to Coastside. When she heard the reply, she focused back in at the rest of it. “I can try to track him, no issue.” And then she nodded her head lightly, “Tracking them would be good,” She then began to sift through the ID’s in search of one in particular - the hunter she’d killed. “This is the one that arrived last, I’d suggest him…” She bit her lip idly, “Probably would be the freshest out of any one.” Leaning forward, she scooted it across to Vel and crossed her legs underneath the table.

“Definitely don’t want anyone crippling him, either. That’s the last thing we need with this much damage done.” She replied softly after Micah spoke, scratching at the side of her neck while she stared at the man’s photograph she had pulled up. “I suggested Buns because they’re less likely to peg her as a thrall, but yeah, I get your point. Wraiths first.” She knew the woman would want to beat Every later for the nickname to continue, but at that point, she didn’t particularly care while she shifted her attention back to her drawing.

[Velveteen]

With IDs tucked safely away and her gun nestled in the small of her back she did a quick check and set her gaze on her husband. “Keep in touch. I will let you know as soon as I find anything.” Her silver orbs turned on Every who seemed to have settled into some trance like state so rather than disturb she simply vanished seemingly into thin air arriving instantaneously somewhere in Stag Heath. She had little more than a hunch to go on currently but that was usually all she needed and this area did seem to have the most abandoned and derelict buildings in town. It wasn’t foolproof by any means but it was somewhere to start. With Stephen’s help if they didn’t find anything at the very least she would have eliminated a good number of possibilities.

The first few buildings offered nothing. No aura of any of those she was looking for or Juan Vasquez. Just a lot of dust, and unused space: The odd trail of footprints that had been impressed upon the dirty concrete that was otherwise undisturbed. ’Probably hobos or vampires looking to feed and get out of the sun. ’ She thought to herself but nothing that was recent. Stephen , who had been instructed to look for secret rooms or entrances to unseen areas was also finding nothing out of the ordinary. Stag Heath is clear. Heading to Newborough now. It took little effort to project her thoughts into his mind, their bond had been strong from the start and had only grown stronger with time and their use of telepathy to communicate had become so second nature that half the time it was hard to tell if he had actually spoken or was in her head. The very thought made her smile though it faded quickly, this was the hardly the time to start daydreaming.

Stephen had been sent on ahead as she stood on the sidewalk beneath a streetlight. The several IDs she possessed lay in one hand and she moved her thumb over them as if the action alone would offer up some insight as to the rogue’s whereabouts. “Where are you Juan?” She asked the deserted, dark street though no answer was expected. Her monochromatic gaze narrowed as she concentrated on what she did know about the city. Searching for any one vampire that knew what they were doing was hard enough, but hunters who always seemed to be one step ahead was even more of a challenge. It was that challenge that propelled her forward and fuelled her determination to succeed. There was purpose in her step as she moved quickly through the steps from building to building when suddenly she stopped mid stride. It was Stephen. He found something. A hidden door and a group of unidentified people behind it. That was where it stopped making sense and before he’d even finished trying to convey what he had found she was entering the abandoned factory.

Once inside the vampire summoned the shadows to her and move quietly to where the wraith waited. A quick aura scan told her that the hunters had in fact been there though the reading was weak. Juan, however, had entered more recently, several hours ago perhaps? I might have something. Will let you know soon. Had she known what was about to happen she might have thought to include a little more information but that was something to regret later as for now she snuck through the door only momentarily curious as to why it wasn’t locked.

The scent of humans hit her immediately and Juan's aura was really strong. The vampire was still here. This made her smile but what did the hunters what with him? The sound of voices were muffled in the thick, stagnant air and whilst she could hear them, she couldn’t discern what was being said, even with her preternatural hearing. She needed to be closer yet remain hidden, luckily the many dark corners providing more than enough shadows to make that possible though she still used the broken down equipment and scattered empty crates as cover. Her eyes darted constantly around the dimly area. Every corner presented a possible problem and the smell of blood and sweat that saturated the air it made it difficult to rely on her senses to detect proximity.

Despite the slow advance she did eventually find them, crowded into a dark corner with a few dull, naked bulbs struggling to provide illumination. The first one she saw and recognised was Juan. He looked to be in bad shape and going by the amount of blood that pooled at his feet, he probably felt even worse than he looked. The humans were none that she recognised but she did recognise the marking worn by one. A paladin. Her pale lips formed a thin line across her face. It was not unheard of for them to have been working together but it did make things a little harder. Velveteen sunk down behind the crate that provided her hiding spot and began reiterating the scene in thought to her husband.

So consumed with doing that and formulating a plan was she that she did not notice another getting close. Not until the cold, metal end of a gun barrel was poking sharply into the back of her head. She froze instantly, automatically trying to recall the shadows that had dispersed suddenly though nothing happened. First there was confusion and then fear when she discovered she had been minblocked. Blood thieves too? Seriously? What the **** was going on? An anti-vampire convention of weird *** supernatural humans? She winced as the human shoved the gun harder into the back of her skull and instructed her to stand, announcing his find over his shoulder to his...comrades. ****. It was her only thought as she wondered how much of anything her husband might have gotten from her.

[Micah]

Was she kidding him right now? Did she seriously just disappear on him? Micah stared at the empty spot that his wife had occupied only seconds before, a sharp retort about to roll off of his tongue but what was the point of it now? The one thing about her that he loathed and loved all at the same time was her impulsiveness which she had just demonstrated once more. It was tempting to deliver that scathing retort that was still there on the tip of his tongue directly into her mind but he held off. It wouldn't do any good to distract her while she was hunting. It would hold, and once he got his hands on her she would hear it.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her. She was more than capable of looking out for herself, always had been. Her independence was one of the first things that had attracted him to her after all and while he knew that she didn’t need him to help in her tasks such as this hunt for Juan he still wanted to be at her side, watching her back just like any other time. It made him antsy, not knowing what she was up against with only her wraith as a guide. Stephen couldn’t do anything to bail her out if she found herself in trouble. All he could do was hope that whatever she was doing wouldn’t end in a catastrophe.

Her quiet voice entered his mind then and he allowed himself to breath a little easier. “She said that she might have something for us,” he repeated dutifully to his childe, having almost forgotten that she was in the room with him. “I don’t know what. She hasn’t said yet but Im hoping that it won’t be long before she has something that we can work with.” It wasn’t much to go on as of yet but at least it was something.

Micah began pacing as the seconds stretched out, turning into minutes but those minutes felt like hours to him. What was she doing? What had she found? His inner musing were interrupted by her voice pressing gently into his mind once more. She began to describe what she had found. “She sees Juan...and hes surrounded by humans. One female Paladin so far. Juan’s in bad shape from her description and -”

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. He could feel it with every fiber of his being. “Somethings wrong…” he murmured almost absently and he tried to concentrate on what he was feeling. His wife was in danger and they had to go. Now. Before the unspeakable happened. “Every triangulate her. NOW!” The last word was shouted as he turned and headed for the elevator. With or without his childe, he was going to find his wife.

[Every]

“Be careful, Vel.” She responded in a small mutter, not breaking her concentration as she searched with her wraith through Coastside and didn’t quite notice until after it happened that Velveteen had left as she came out of her thoughts. Her hazel eyes blinked, the glazed-over appearance soon vanishing while she looked around their living area. “Clear in Coastside.” She sighed, “What’s happening over on her end?” A few strands of brown hair fell in front of her face as she reached up to scratch at her scalp while her gaze fell back to the drawing that sat on the table. That floor was going to be bothering her.

Lifting her gaze to her sire with a carefully blank expression across her features to hide her amusement at his body language, Every gave a small shake of her head. “Micah, worrying will not do anything but make your imagination run wild.” She reached over and collected what seemed to be a medallion of some sort. Now that, she had seen before and she gave a faint chuckle, “My little brother had one of theses, it was used to increase your luck,” She held it up for Micah to see, trying to distract him slightly, “doesn’t work when you’re against vampires.”

She focused out again, listening to Cypriana saying something along the lines of Paladin as she continued to fiddle with the object in thought. “I think I’m going to go track his aura, be more of use than sitting here.” She stated quietly as she stood up, at least that she could do. Hacking wasn’t her best hobby. She was much better when it came to breaking into buildings. As she collected her jacket off the back of the chair, Every paused and lifted an eyebrow as she heard his words, watching him pace with a curious expression playing across her features while she stopped.

The minutes passed, and then as her full name was said and she was ordered to triangulate, she did it second nature without any hesitation. “Got her.” She responded, grabbing her phone to check the small list of buildings with those coordinates as her sire headed out. “Micah,” She called, sighing inwardly while she threw the device onto the table and hurried after him. “This would be a lot faster,” Every set her hand on the middle of the man’s back, teleporting him to the coordinates outside of the building before she double checked her weapon and counted how many things she’d done for the evening. She could summon a little bit later and then teleported herself.

As she landed, she spoke quietly, “Sorry about that, and we need to think of the best way to get inside without alerting them.” She frowned while she adjusted her jacket, “Actually. Do you have any noisemakers on you by any chance?” Her eyebrows lifted hopefully, maybe alerting them in some way would be useful, “And knockouts?” She called for her wraith so Cypriana could give them an eye in the building.

Permission was asked and granted for Every to teleport Micah in the post.

[Velveteen]

After being ordered to stand, patted down and having her gun removed from her person, an act which made her groan inwardly as she tried to see where it was put for later retrieval, she was shoved forward with a none too gentle push of the gun barrell at the back of her head. A growl of disapproval was directed over her shoulder and a sharp, painful thump between her shoulder blades was delivered in response. “Not so tough without ya powers are ya?” Came the low, gravelly sounding voice from behind. Velveteen grinned a little as the blood thief had now made her task that much easier and continued to do so everytime he spoke. “Got another one here boss, if that one don’t talk, this one might.”

The female paladin turned to face them and immediately identified herself as the one in charge. “You mindblocked it?”

Velveteen’s brows shot up. It. Did she really just call her that?

“Yeah boss. Not much going on here.” The metal tip of the gun was again tapped against the top of her skull. Why was he treating her like a simpleton? Obviously the guy needed to be taught just how weak a powerless vampire wasn’t. In a blur of motion her arm came up and a balled fist was snapped back over her shoulder and driven with forceful precision into the blood thief’s face, breaking his nose on impact. A smug smile turned the corners of her mouth ever so slightly at the instant howl of pain though all of a sudden all hell broke loose and vampire found herself flanked by bodies with the intent of holding her in place. More humans seemed to come from nowhere and if there was any doubt in her mind only moments ago, she was now pretty certain she was quite outnumbered.

“You idiot. Never, ever forget what you are dealing with here. They’d snap you like a twig and not think anything of it.” It was the paladin again, her tone clipped and tinged with irritation. “Are all blood thieves as stupid as you?” Velveteen couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Most that she had encountered were, though her amusement was very short lived. The sound of metal being drawn drew her attention and a sword was passed to the only other female and then dipped into a large metal drum. Velveteen’s eyes narrowed as she wondered what was in the drum though she figured her answer would come soon enough even if not how she’d like.

“Keep on laughing, vampire. The best is yet to come but you are gonna have to wait your turn” There was a twisted smile, a flash of metal and then searing pain as the poison coated blade pierced her flesh and was driven straight through turning her into some sort of vampire shishkebab. Whatever it was that coated the blade burned like fire in her belly and her scream echoed through every dark corner as she doubled over. That smell, it was similar to the smell of the gas she used in her traps except...slightly different. If she could think straight right now she might be able to work out what it was but as her insides felt like they were melting, playing guess the secret ingredient was not a priority.

The hands that had been holding her in place let go and try as she might she could not stop the world from racing up to meet her...or did she fall down to meet it. Either way it didn’t matter much as her face smashed against the concrete floor in a most unlady like manner as the world suddenly went dark.

[Micah]

The change in his surroundings took him off guard. Of course she had teleported him. His childe knew him and knew him well. She knew how easily he would act without thinking when it came to Vel so anything that she could do to help him, she would do it. Micah felt her presence beside him and offered her a nod of gratitude. It was a good thing she was with him because one of them needed to keep a clear head and right now that just wasn’t him. “I think I have an idea,” he said in that calm almost serene tone that was a clear indicator of just how close he was to snapping. Looking back he wouldn’t know how he managed it. Maybe it was because this task was important, maybe it was because Every was with him. He didn’t know.

A silencer was attached to the end of his gun and he closed his eyes in a brief moment of concentration. The familiar feeling of alter ego encasing his tall frame was a welcome sensation and he opened his eyes to look at his childe. “Use the shadows. Whatever you do, do not pull your blade unless I tell you to. Do nothing unless I tell you. They will never see me unless they are standing right in front of me.” A fresh clip of ammo was placed into the weapon and before she could offer a reply he was moving towards the warehouse trusting her to follow him.

He had barely set foot in the dank warehouse when his wife’s scream pierced the air. His first instinct was to rush in without a care but he couldn’t do that. The information that she had managed to give him didn’t describe much and she hadn’t gotten the chance to tell him how many others were there. Other than the female paladin and Juan, Micah only knew of the humans. That sick feeling that had told him something was wrong started to grow with every passing second and it only gave him more ammunition to find her. If she was hurt in any way, every last person in his line of vision was going to die.

When he turned the corner he found himself in the room that Vel had started to describe to him. His sharp gaze took in every detail, from Juan in chains, to the female paladin laughing, holding a sword that was dripping with fresh blood, to his wife face down on the concrete floor. That was enough to have him seeing red and without a second thought he raised his weapon and fired off a single silent shot. The paladin was no longer laughing. Her head exploded in a shower of blood as the room around them became a flurry of panicked activity.

[Every]

Her head inclined lightly as she listened carefully to the movements inside the building through her wraith’s ears, pausing only to look right back at her sire while he nodded. Her lips lifted in a short, quick smile to show that she acknowledged it and understood before her attention went back to the building in front of of them. “And what,” She questioned, “is that idea?” Every then fell silent to listen to him explain, her hazel eyes taking in the silencer with a curious expression playing across her features. At the instruction not to do anything unless directed, she frowned but nodded once more as she allowed the shadows she’d grown so comfortable with to over the past year to take over her slender form.

“Doesn’t that make me feel useless.” She muttered under her breath, not caring if he heard her or not as she followed after him. The scream set her nerves, which had already been on edge when Micah first suggested that something was wrong, on overdrive and it took her quite a bit of self control not to have her blade drawn on instinct. Directly behind her sire, she set her hand lightly on his back to suggest he calmed silently and then attempted to peek around the area. There were some days that she enjoyed being short, but surely, that was not one of them. “This is it.” Every spoke quietly while she took in the flooring that she’d drawn back in The Eyrie before she ran straight into him with a small grunt at the turn of the corner.

Her head inclined lightly at the smell of vampire blood, the brunette moving off to the side to get a better view of everything but staying close enough to Micah that he wouldn’t have to shout as she took in the scene. Automatically, she began to count the bodies in the room. The Paladin laughing, the blood thief with the broken nose, and Vel. Every could taste the poison on her tongue and cast a wary glance over to her sire, wondering if he could smell it but before she could ask, the Paladin’s head was blown off and she moved her hand to the hilt of her blade to wait.

She carefully hopped up onto a nearby crate, tapping her fingernails against the handle in wait for instruction as the muscles in her legs tensed in protest. Every did not like standing around, and she certainly did not like the way the sword stuck out of Velveteen. “Nice shot.” She spoke in a low tone, soft enough so only the vampires in the room would hear her and her hazel gaze fell on Juan in wonder. At least they had found their Rogue. The question was, what were they going to do now?

[Velveteen]

Velveteen groaned and she brought her knees up, curling her form about the hilt of the sword. The pain was excruciating and even the slightest movement was taking far more energy than she seemed to have all of a sudden. Sounds, yelling maybe? Came to her as if they were being made under water, everything was garbled and hard to decipher and was only getting worse. Whatever was infecting her had reached the frayed fringes of her mind and she panicked. Even thinking straight was becoming a battle of will. Blurred images moved back and forth across her limited line of vision. There was a lot of motion but as her eyes flickered and rolled back she couldn’t for the life of her work out was going on. Where was she again and what was that sound?

Her brow furrowed, at least she thought it did, as something changed so suddenly she had trouble figuring out what at first. The silence….it was quiet except for the gentle metallic sounds of a musical jewellery box. No..that wasn’t it. It was her jewellery box. The one she had when she was a kid but what was it doing here? Velveteen sat up her hand instantly drawn to her stomach but then she realised there was no pain...no sword either. Wait...where was she again? her head swivelled to the side and then snapped back sharply as she caught movement out of the corner of her eye but found nothing except an empty warehouse. Shadows danced in her peripheral and now matter how she tried to catch them they seemed faster than her own eyes. Taunting her from the edges reality. Where did everybody go? She wondered before the music caught her attention once more.

She moved without walking towards the sound and the already surreal surrounds shifted, though the motion was so fluid and seamless it was barely registerable. “Valyrie? Is that you?”
Velveteen turned without moving. “Mum? I thought you were dead. How did you find me? Am I dead?” Her words were clear in the silence though she was certain she hadn’t made a sound. She spun on the spot and then swung back the other way, chasing the shadows once more.

“You have been gone all night. We were worried!” The accusing tone of her mother’s voice was one she had come to know all too well in her teenage years.

“What are you talking about?” This was just confusing now and why couldn’t she see where the voice was coming from?

The world began to spin around her. Slowly at first and then increasing in speed until everything was nothing but a blur. She turned and as the spinning increased so did her confusion. The music had stopped, her mother was gone...if she had even been there at all and the shadows that seemed to move constantly in her peripheral remained. How was that even possible? A blood curdling scream pierced the silence. What the **** was this place? How did she get here? How did she make it stop? Her hands came up to cover her ears against the screaming. Her screaming. And then silence once more.

She opened her eyes. She was back in the warehouse and there were people standing around as if they were waiting. No...they were frozen. Like time had suddenly stopped. Gravity had begun to pull at her, the weightlessness she had felt melted away and movement was becoming difficult once more but she managed to turn despite it and came face to face with a single bullet that hung in the air right between her eyes like it had every right to do so. She swayed from one side to the other watching it, it was spinning slowly like it had just been fired from a gun but she had never seen them do this before. She looked behind it into the darkness from the direction it had come and then she saw him.

“Micah.” The word rolled from her thoughts in the softest of whispers. He was the one thing she was sure of, that she did recognise and that did have a place in her completely confused head. No sooner had she thought his name than she fell. Her face smashing into the concrete once more and the pain….oh god the pain. Her small frame curled about the hilt that was buried in her gut and her fingers fought their way around it though she didn’t have the energy to even try and remove it just yet. A body fell next to her and she looked into the now unseeing eyes of the paladin woman who had done this to her. A dark river of blood escaped the neat hole in her forehead. She felt a soft tug at the corners of her mouth. He found her….and then suddenly all hell broke lose.