The following takes place after The First Arisen: Pilgrimage.
Sunny came home with a list of names She didn't believe in transcendence "It's time for a few small repairs," she said Sunny came home with a vengeance
If anyone were around to notice the man that came charging into the house, what would get their attention first was the wild look in his eyes. It was one of sheer terror, and a glance over him gave at least one good reason - hobbling, bruised and dripping blood on the floor, the first thing he did was slam the door behind him and back away from it as if he expected the Devil himself to come bursting through. Until a short time ago, he might have been somewhat handsome, in that way that certain bad elements have, but at the moment he looked more like a wreck.
Despite there being no one else home, he spoke to himself, words that sounded like insane gibberish. "She...oh, God...there ain't no comin' back....she's gonna kill us all..." Other recitations, variations on this, continued to pour from the man's mouth, his voice trembling and terrified. Throughout this he didn't take his eyes from the door. The man himself was tall, broad at the shoulder and muscular, and looked as though he shouldn't be afraid of much, and most likely wouldn't be on most other nights.
A sudden cry was heard, a raucous, harsh call that was instantly recognizable - the voice of a crow. The sound came from the shadows of the rafters, and as soon as he heard it the man looked up at the shadows and screamed in terror. At the same instant the owner of the voice dropped out of the shadows, flapping over to the unlit hearth and settling on the mantle. Whatever grip on calm the man might have been regaining was instantly gone, the same words now being murmured over and over: "It's too late..."
From the shadows directly overhead the man dropped a figure clad in black pants and a corseted top that left her arms bare. Slender, lean, tall and toned, it's not the body that would fix the attention of those present and watching, but the face: a pale death mask, the circles around the eyes darkened to black and thin vertical lines seeming to slice like a blade over and under each. The lips were likewise black, the ends stretched out and upcurved in a smile of maniacal glee that showed in the girl's eyes - the zealous fire of one who's been waiting for a moment to come for far too long.
She landed behind him, and before the man really knew she was there she grabbed him by the collar of his coat and shirt. A twist and a drop into a crouch of her body brought the man crashing to the floor hard enough to send a few large splinters flying from the boards of the floor beneath the man. Without so much as a pause she pinned his arms at his sides and sat astride his chest, her derrier settled right atop his solar plexus. As she leaned over him, her crossed forearms settled across his neck, her fists pressed to the floor as she pressed down. The man tried to buck and writhe, but he was held firmly in place by the woman atop him.
Her lips pulled back over her teeth in a snarl as she watched the man suffocate, making the painted smile all the more manic. Her voice was a gleefully rage-filled scream as she looked into his eyes. "How does it feel, Jack" How does it feel, huh, you rat f*cking bastard piece of cheap sh*t?" She let up slightly, and suddenly the sharp, painful rattling of choked indrawn breaths could be heard.
The man managed a single word on the outbound breath: "Please..."
Whatever word he should have uttered, that wasn't it. "Please?" She leaned back down, her voice low and deadly, her eyes narrowed to infuriated slits. The next word was snarled out, barely comprehensible. "Please!?" As she said it the second time her weight came back down, and the man tried desperately, with the last bits of his strength, to get away. The crow atop the hearth suddenly cried out, its wings flapping, as if excited.
The girl leaned over the man, her face a hair's breadth away as she looked into the man's terror-filled eyes. Her voice was low, deadly, filled with venom as she spoke. "Did you listen when Jessica said please!"" The last word was snarled out again, her voice nearly feral as she let up with her weight. The man didn't even have time to snatch a breath - in a single lithe, smooth motion the girl had him by the lapels and was standing with him, lifting him up and hurling him in the direction of the fireplace.
Sailing through the air, he landed on the floor with a crash that drove the air from his lungs as he slid across the floor, coming to a stop only when his head impacted the stones in front of the fireplace with a resounding crack!
Rather than knocking him out, though, the impact brought the man around to full alertness, a yelp sounding from his lips as he sat up and looked around wildly, his terrified eyes scanning the room and settling on the lean dark shape stalking towards him, speaking in low, deadly tones filled with rage and pain.
"Did any of you listen when Lisa begged you to stop?" The words were slow, not halting but punctuated by grief and anger, the rhythm accompanied by a slow, menacing stalk towards the man, who was by now incoherent in his terror. By the time the last word passed her lips she was standing over him as he uselessly tried to shrink into the stones behind his back.
"No. You didn't listen. You laughed." As if for emphasis, she laughed softly as she bent over, again grabbing him by the front of his shirt and coat and hauling him bodily to his feet. Despite her being half the man's size, she picked him up as if he didn't weigh much more than a child, holding him off the floor.
The man's eyes looked down into the woman's, terror meeting holy fury for the last time. "S...sorry..."
The girl only laughed louder, the sound gleeful and insane as she looked up at him, her lips forming a snarl. "You're sorry. I'm sorry. We're all so f*cking sorry!" Abruptly she brought him down to her eye level, their noses actually touching as she bit the last words out. "But sorry don't pay the goddamn bills, Jack!"
What happened next was so fast it startled the crow from its perch, scolding in its harsh voice as the woman stepped forward and shoved the man hard at the hearth's dark maw. There wasn't far to fall - the back of the man's head hit the mantle hard enough to crack it as he went down, his body folding as momentum kept him going, finally coming to rest nearly bent in half inside the fireplace with his legs sticking out of it past the knees.
The woman wasted no time, turning and heading for the kitchen. A few select ingredients, violently thrown together, mixed in the proper proportions.
Coming back, she noted the man was groaning, coming to inside the fireplace. Walking over, she set her tools down and walked over to the man, dragging him out by an ankle and hauling him to a sitting position. He looked at her dazedly for a moment before a pair of long, strong fingers found a nerve cluster and he screamed in sudden, blazing pain.
"Now, before we finish, Jack, I have a few questions to ask you. And you're going to answer them honestly, or there will be...consequences. Do you understand?"
Her first question was punctuated by a hard thrust of pressure and a girlish scream of agony. "I see you understand. Let's get started."
No one saw the dark-clad, pale woman leave the house perhaps ten minutes later, but no one had a problem reporting the explosion that blew out all the windows in the house moments afterwards and set it ablaze.
((Continued in Pilgrimage.))
Sunny came home with a list of names She didn't believe in transcendence "It's time for a few small repairs," she said Sunny came home with a vengeance
If anyone were around to notice the man that came charging into the house, what would get their attention first was the wild look in his eyes. It was one of sheer terror, and a glance over him gave at least one good reason - hobbling, bruised and dripping blood on the floor, the first thing he did was slam the door behind him and back away from it as if he expected the Devil himself to come bursting through. Until a short time ago, he might have been somewhat handsome, in that way that certain bad elements have, but at the moment he looked more like a wreck.
Despite there being no one else home, he spoke to himself, words that sounded like insane gibberish. "She...oh, God...there ain't no comin' back....she's gonna kill us all..." Other recitations, variations on this, continued to pour from the man's mouth, his voice trembling and terrified. Throughout this he didn't take his eyes from the door. The man himself was tall, broad at the shoulder and muscular, and looked as though he shouldn't be afraid of much, and most likely wouldn't be on most other nights.
A sudden cry was heard, a raucous, harsh call that was instantly recognizable - the voice of a crow. The sound came from the shadows of the rafters, and as soon as he heard it the man looked up at the shadows and screamed in terror. At the same instant the owner of the voice dropped out of the shadows, flapping over to the unlit hearth and settling on the mantle. Whatever grip on calm the man might have been regaining was instantly gone, the same words now being murmured over and over: "It's too late..."
From the shadows directly overhead the man dropped a figure clad in black pants and a corseted top that left her arms bare. Slender, lean, tall and toned, it's not the body that would fix the attention of those present and watching, but the face: a pale death mask, the circles around the eyes darkened to black and thin vertical lines seeming to slice like a blade over and under each. The lips were likewise black, the ends stretched out and upcurved in a smile of maniacal glee that showed in the girl's eyes - the zealous fire of one who's been waiting for a moment to come for far too long.
She landed behind him, and before the man really knew she was there she grabbed him by the collar of his coat and shirt. A twist and a drop into a crouch of her body brought the man crashing to the floor hard enough to send a few large splinters flying from the boards of the floor beneath the man. Without so much as a pause she pinned his arms at his sides and sat astride his chest, her derrier settled right atop his solar plexus. As she leaned over him, her crossed forearms settled across his neck, her fists pressed to the floor as she pressed down. The man tried to buck and writhe, but he was held firmly in place by the woman atop him.
Her lips pulled back over her teeth in a snarl as she watched the man suffocate, making the painted smile all the more manic. Her voice was a gleefully rage-filled scream as she looked into his eyes. "How does it feel, Jack" How does it feel, huh, you rat f*cking bastard piece of cheap sh*t?" She let up slightly, and suddenly the sharp, painful rattling of choked indrawn breaths could be heard.
The man managed a single word on the outbound breath: "Please..."
Whatever word he should have uttered, that wasn't it. "Please?" She leaned back down, her voice low and deadly, her eyes narrowed to infuriated slits. The next word was snarled out, barely comprehensible. "Please!?" As she said it the second time her weight came back down, and the man tried desperately, with the last bits of his strength, to get away. The crow atop the hearth suddenly cried out, its wings flapping, as if excited.
The girl leaned over the man, her face a hair's breadth away as she looked into the man's terror-filled eyes. Her voice was low, deadly, filled with venom as she spoke. "Did you listen when Jessica said please!"" The last word was snarled out again, her voice nearly feral as she let up with her weight. The man didn't even have time to snatch a breath - in a single lithe, smooth motion the girl had him by the lapels and was standing with him, lifting him up and hurling him in the direction of the fireplace.
Sailing through the air, he landed on the floor with a crash that drove the air from his lungs as he slid across the floor, coming to a stop only when his head impacted the stones in front of the fireplace with a resounding crack!
Rather than knocking him out, though, the impact brought the man around to full alertness, a yelp sounding from his lips as he sat up and looked around wildly, his terrified eyes scanning the room and settling on the lean dark shape stalking towards him, speaking in low, deadly tones filled with rage and pain.
"Did any of you listen when Lisa begged you to stop?" The words were slow, not halting but punctuated by grief and anger, the rhythm accompanied by a slow, menacing stalk towards the man, who was by now incoherent in his terror. By the time the last word passed her lips she was standing over him as he uselessly tried to shrink into the stones behind his back.
"No. You didn't listen. You laughed." As if for emphasis, she laughed softly as she bent over, again grabbing him by the front of his shirt and coat and hauling him bodily to his feet. Despite her being half the man's size, she picked him up as if he didn't weigh much more than a child, holding him off the floor.
The man's eyes looked down into the woman's, terror meeting holy fury for the last time. "S...sorry..."
The girl only laughed louder, the sound gleeful and insane as she looked up at him, her lips forming a snarl. "You're sorry. I'm sorry. We're all so f*cking sorry!" Abruptly she brought him down to her eye level, their noses actually touching as she bit the last words out. "But sorry don't pay the goddamn bills, Jack!"
What happened next was so fast it startled the crow from its perch, scolding in its harsh voice as the woman stepped forward and shoved the man hard at the hearth's dark maw. There wasn't far to fall - the back of the man's head hit the mantle hard enough to crack it as he went down, his body folding as momentum kept him going, finally coming to rest nearly bent in half inside the fireplace with his legs sticking out of it past the knees.
The woman wasted no time, turning and heading for the kitchen. A few select ingredients, violently thrown together, mixed in the proper proportions.
Coming back, she noted the man was groaning, coming to inside the fireplace. Walking over, she set her tools down and walked over to the man, dragging him out by an ankle and hauling him to a sitting position. He looked at her dazedly for a moment before a pair of long, strong fingers found a nerve cluster and he screamed in sudden, blazing pain.
"Now, before we finish, Jack, I have a few questions to ask you. And you're going to answer them honestly, or there will be...consequences. Do you understand?"
Her first question was punctuated by a hard thrust of pressure and a girlish scream of agony. "I see you understand. Let's get started."
No one saw the dark-clad, pale woman leave the house perhaps ten minutes later, but no one had a problem reporting the explosion that blew out all the windows in the house moments afterwards and set it ablaze.
((Continued in Pilgrimage.))