I should be home...Sleeping with my beloved Jenai. I should be peacefully dreaming, as I hold her in my arms...I should be. I know that I should. It's late...Instead of bed, I find myself in our weapons room...It's late. I take a deep breath as the scent of leather and steel cause me to break the uncomfortable silence, that seemed to last forever and a day. It had been months since I had been in this room. It had been a while since I even considered heading back, even for a short while. But a storm has once more shown itself on the horizon that is our city...I can smell it...That scent of rain carried by the wind, that forboding precursor that carries with it a warning. A storm indeed.

It doesn't take long...I can do it in my sleep, and who knows...Maybe I am. But the sound of leather creaking, the clicking of heavy grade plastic clasps, the cracking of my neck tell me otherwise. My eyes are closed, as I do this. As i make ready once more. I should be in bed...I should be. But tonight, I cannot sleep. Just one night, what harm can it do...One night. I keep telling myself that. One night. It's amazing just how much I need to convince myself at times...My eyes open, and I look to the newspaper on the floor..."West End Killer or Killers Possibly strikes again.." Stephen mentioned and my sister by association. I think of that, and the rest is easy. Convincing indeed.

I look to the mirror on the far wall, and say nothing. No real expression on my face. No false bravado, no playful winks. Just a coldly expressioned face, with eyes of steel. I don't know why. It's just how I am at present, I guess. It's been so long since I have felt this way, then again it's been so long since I have been out in this fashion. Completely by choice mind you...Jenai and I decided on this a long time ago, and I mean to keep to it, but something is calling, and I need to find out what...I need to once more head back into WestEnd, I need to see what happened to this new victim, and see if it truly was them somehow...I need to do something...It's late, I can't sleep..

I leave the house, as silently as ever...Not a word to anyone or anything, no notes...Nothing save what I need to 'hunt'...I should be home in bed, I should be holding the woman I adore above all else...I should be sleeping...But it's late...I can't sleep, and something calls...There is a storm...gods help us there is, I warned this would come...Others did as well. Now I need to see with my own eyes somehow...I need to be sure. For my brother-in-law, my sister....For my fam...It's for one night...One night only...Funny, how much I need to convince myself. I hear the thunder crack in the distance...I see the lightening, I smell the rain...I take a deep breath and once more plunge into that which is the WestEnd, and all she holds darkly...It's late, and I am more awake than ever.

Long lost words whisper slowly to me.. Still can't find what keeps me here.. When all this time, I've been so hollow inside.. I know you're still there..

Watching me, wanting me I can feel you pull me down Fearing you, loving you I won't let you pull me down..

Hunting you, I can smell you alive.. Your heart pounding in my head..

Something deep in the back of my mind, keeps speaking to me...Keeps telling me to mind my own f*cking business, and move on...Tells me this isn't my fight anymore, that I walked away a long time ago, and shouldn't look over my shoulder...Yet, here I am. Watching this woman, and the pair of stalkers...So much for listening to that little voice, eh'

Finding myself, a nice vantage point across the alley was easy enough. A quick leap from rooftop to rooftop and in a flash I am settled once more, akin to the gargoyles that frequent this part of town. A somewhat smirk takes form under the cover of my mask, as I continue to observe. What I see would make me laugh under normal circumstances, as this pair of geniuses were a far cry from half decent in the realm of stalking. Still, the storm masks the lack of skill they have in their chosen profession for this evening quite well.

In any event, after a few minutes my choice was easily made, as I somehow without a thought, ended up at the end of the block, following and waiting for my chance. It's funny how much the body will remember, while the mind is elsewhere. A self induced smack upside the head helps me focus once more, as I note the female crossing the street. The pair their position a bit aways, using a street side pile of garbage as cover. I begin my descent, and stop dead in my tracks as she pauses in the middle of the street, and turns around.

My blood ran cold..

I don't know how else to put it. She turned around, and looked upwards...Ducking low and using another gargoyle for cover, as quickly as I could to escape her view....It still felt in vain, as I swear she looked dead at me. Cold is what I felt, so cold inside and out. I can't explain it anymore than that for the moment. The only thing I can add, is that I felt a severe need to be home with my Jenai and children, so bad that it hurt. Y'know that feeling you have, that invicible feeling" Like no matter what happens somehow, you'll come out of it' Somehow or someway' Well I don't feel that right about now, in fact I feel the opposite...

All the sudden like some kind of a safeguard, reality kicks in...The cold is from the wind and rain, from the very storm I threw myself into. The Abyss, so to speak. My doing...My cold...My choice. No one else to fall back on, so get a grip, and do what needs to be done. It isn't like I haven't done this before, this is SoP...Well, save the sneaking out of the compound without as much as a note...Okay, that was new. In any event, I suck it up once more, and back track about ten feet back, lifting my head once more, hoping I didn't lose them.

What the hell!"

I didn't lose them...There she is, still in the centre of the road. I swear minutes have passed, what the hell is she doing" My eyes pan down the block a bit, and locate the pa— No, not a pair, only one.

F*ck!

Where did the other go' More so why hasn't she moved yet!" I am liking this less, and less. I need to get close, somehow. Across the far end? No, I'll have to backtrack, that'll mean a loss of 'LoS' <Line of Sight>, and I can't afford that. I can hear Jenai's voice chiding me for my lack of foresight in regards to this particular situation. I shake my head to clear it once more, can't afford to slip anymore. A quickly made decision sends me back along the rooftop edge a bit more, as I look for a quick way down, without drawing too much attention to mys—

No other thoughts come to mind, as a scream pierces the chaos that is the storm, and WestEnd herself! Before I know it, a dagger flies from my hand with a deadly accuracy, resulting in a 'thunk' type sound, as it finds it's mark across the small alley. In turn I now have a building to building clothesline in hand, and am descending rapidly around the buildings corner, letting go just before clearing the corner. Instinct takes over, again with the body remembering more than me at times, as I literally go into some kind of baseball like slide, upon my landing upon the soaked cobblestoned steet. Gloved hands get to work to slow me, and assist in the procurement of an upright position. A pivoting shift and before I know it, yet again I am headlong into whatever may come.