The acrid scent of smoke, screaming, and the sound of glass shattering.

That was what pulled her from the deep daytime slumber she had fallen into. Panic surged through her when she heard something ram into the door that closed off her sleeping quarters. Briefly, her mind danced to her friends that were elsewhere in the building, and she worried. In seconds she was on her feet, tanzanite eyes searching the room. The only currently viable escape was the window. Two seconds passed before she was before it. A nail was wedged under the corner of the foil that had been put up to block out the sunlight, and carefully she peeled a small portion back. Her fingers and a small portion of her hand sizzled and blistered, and she hissed at the pain, before she scooted to the side, and dropped her hand. Through the small bit she had pulled up, she saw there was pink that streaked across the sky. Sunset. Still enough sun to kill her, and too long for her to wait the hunters out until it was dark, by the splintering sounds of the door. Feeling trapped, quite literally, there was a low whine that came from the back of her throat.

"Run." "Get out." "Fight." "Help will be given."

Each statement slithered through her head, each belonging to a distinctly different voice. Wood splintered again, and this time she could see the tip of an axe peeking through the wood of the door. She shifted uneasily on her feet, eyes on the door.

"Hide." "The closet."

Almost immediately, she dove for her closet, yanked the slatted door shut after her. There was another shriek of splintering wood, before it sounded like something solid hit it. With a spray of broken wood, the door popped open.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Heavy foot fall, that sounded like they came from the booted feet of a large man. "One. Two. Three." She mouthed the words with each thump, fingertips twisting in the edge of her nightgown. "Come on leech. I know you're in here. Just like yer pretty lil' friend and her mate were in their room. And just like 'em, yer gonna die."

His words pulled a wave of pain, both physical and emotional, that twisted in her gut. Leah and Jack were gone. Both had been long time companions and Leah had become like a sister to her over the years.

Four....five....six... Three numbers she missed in her grief, and the footsteps pulled her attention back to the hunter. Crimson welled in her eyes. The hunter was important. If her friends were dead she should survive so she could exact her revenge. Seven....eight... The hunter became visible through the slats in the closet door, and she pressed backwards, back flat against the closet wall. Somewhere in the building, she heard Leah scream, and immediately her thoughts were back on her friends. Hope welled within her that both still lived. "You hear that' We're having fun. Taking our time. We make it slow and painful. With fire." She bit back every snarl and growl she wanted to given him, while unbidden, the welling Crimson spilled, leaving streaks and trails of red down her face.

She shifted quickly so that she was crouched, and looked ready to fling herself through the closet door at him.

"Wait." "Not yet." "Wait until the door opens." "Go for the face."

Each distinct voice rolled through her mind, coaching her. She trusted them. They always knew what was the best way, the cleanest way of getting out of things. The hunter started to reach for the knob on the closet, and her fingers walked a path to one of her discarded and fancy stilettos that she wore once, and never wore again. They were all pinchy on her feet. As she gripped it tightly, the closet door cracked open. Tension wound her tightly. She waited as the door creaked open. Waited. Waited. Waited.

"NOW."

The shout had been a collective effort that came when the door was halfway open, and without hesitation, she leapt from the closet, stiletto in hand. Her tiny frame connected with his with more force than what could imagined coming from one as tiny as her. He grunted at the contact, and swung a hand around to catch a fistful of her hair. She snarled when she felt the tug, and yanked her head back, which in turn caused him to jerk forward. The momentum easy used to her advantage, and the stiletto was thrusted upwards, heel first for his face. She felt it sink into flesh, felt his body tense and arch in pain against hers. As he howled, she dropped, letting the shoe go. Almost immediately his hand came up to hold his face. Or more importantly, the stiletto that had been rammed into his eye socket. He dropped to his knees and she skirted around him, and through the remains of what had been her door.

"Down the hall." "The living room." "Out the front door." "But it's sunset. I won't make it." "Better chance of living than staying here."

She looked as if she were arguing with herself. Her face screwed up in frustration, before she started moving again, only to come to a stop as she passed by Leah and Jack's room. Tanzanite eyes danced across the room. There were signs of struggle, and fire has scorched the walls, and hungrily devoured the curtains, bedding, clothing, everything that was cloth that the room had to offer. Smoke roiled out of the room and into the hallway.

She reeled back, half from the heat came from the room, and half form revulsion. Instead of lingering, she pushed on, down to the end of the hall that branched out, one way to the kitchen, and the other to the living room. She took the branch that led to the living room. Seconds after she stepped over the threshold, there was another scream that cut through the air. Her eyes cut towards the source. Leah, pinned with a hunter looming over her, torch in hand. The small of burned flesh filled the air, and she could take a wild guess that the source was the blackened and blistered spanse of her flesh. It took all of a few Seconds, before she had several sets of eyes on her, including Leah's pain glazed ones. "Az! Run. Get out of here!" The words were a rough shout, and they seemed to push something within her, as instead of fear there was rage that flushed through her, hot and blinding.

She ignored the whispers in her mind, urging her to run, and settled her attention on one of the hunters that had broken away from the group. Her eyes narrowed, and for a moment, the hunter froze. Then, his attention shifted to his stomach, and gave a noise that resembled surprise horror. Then he started frantically pawing at his stomach, as if he were trying to scoop something up and hold it to him. She grinned, as she knew that in his mind's eye he believed that he had suffered a large slice across his middle, and that his insides were becoming outsides. As he sank to his knees, it caught the attention of one of the other hunters, who also stepped away from the others and towards them, just as she stepped forward, and placed a hand on either side of the first, who merely groaned. With a maniacal grin, and a quick jerk, she snapped his neck, and his limp form fell to the ground completely, after she let go.

Then the brunt of her attention shifted towards the Second hunter as he made his approach, which was met the slow curious cant of her head. Once again, she grinned, and the hunter looked as if he were struggling with something for a moment before rage washed over and twisted his features. "They're having all the fun. Like always. You are stuck with the grunt work. You're very angry at them. Show them how angry." As she spoke, she noted the smoke billowing out from the hallway. It made her guess that the walls had finally caught fire in Leah's room. Which meant she had to get out of there.

Meanwhile the hunter that had been approaching her, turned. And with a roar, barreled towards the other two that still had Leah pinned. She watched, before her eyes shifted to her friend, who was making it to her feet, since the other two had let her go to deal with their comrade. "Leah. Run fast and far. Find one to embrace with the kiss. Meet me at the place of sin. As planned, if something ever happened." She brushed a flutter of fingers at her, and turned for the door.

In the broken glass of the door she could see the sun was finally sinking over the horizon. So she bolted for the door, yanked it open, and stumbled through the door, and onto the bustling busy nighttime street of somewhere that was not exactly the nighttime streets of France. Various scents, familiar, and unfamiliar assaulted her senses, and for a moment, she stumbled around a little more, until she righted herself, and looked around with wild and wide tanzanite hues. What happened" Why did it smell like a mishmash of supernatural beings all in one place"

Little did she know that she had ended up in the night life of the Rhy'din marketplace" Just another face in just another place.