Torin - Day One: Part 2

It took us a good bit of time to get distance from that place, the crux of a situation that I could have just as easily have avoided. But where's the fun in that?  I took her with me and made it almost to where I was staying: a little inn on the outskirts of town, near the gates and a convenient little hole that avoids the gate and its guardsmen. As we neared the building, I heard the usual unpleasant sound of soldiers questioning commoners. I acted before I thought, and grabbed for my small blades. She stopped me before I moved to attack them, "No!" she whispered harshly, "We can't leave a bloody warpath on our way out! If we're getting out of this village, we have to think rationally." After an exasperated sigh, I nodded and took my hands off my blades.

"I agree, but I have to get into my room. I have to get some things that I left a few hours ago."

"What, back when you were looking for a snack?" She smirked.

"...You could say that... But regardless, we've got to get into that building. Trust me, things will go a lot smoother should we get caught in a bad situation, as long as I can get my belongings. Now, if we can't do things the easy way..." I looked around for anything that might help out, found nothing and sighed again, "Just...don't freak out."

"What?" She looked at me with a genuine curiosity and then shock. "Wait... What are you thinking? I have to say I don't like the sound of your voice right now." I smiled, holding back a laugh due to our...extenuating circumstance.

"Will you just shut up and hold on?" I smiled again and picked her up, waiting for a second while deciding if this was the best idea. Apparently, she thought I was thinking of other things, cause before I figured it out, she had looked at me funny and slapped me lightly.

"I don't think that what you're thinking is going to get us out of this mess, but I can assure you it will certainly get us into another one." I sighed at her a third time, smirked, and went to set her down, only to pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. She yelped a little in response, and hit me in the back.

"Hush you, it was worth it. Now stay quiet; this is the fun part." I figured that the soldiers had heard her yelp, and they would most likely be rounding the corner to see what the sound was, so I decided it was time to move. I wonder how it looked to her, to see the ground rise up, and then move rapidly away for a second or two. But I've done it numerous times. Something about the demonic blood had made me more agile. I've jumped higher than this, and it was extremely easy for me to make it onto the roof of a single story building. I let her down slowly, and she was surprisingly calm. You're very intriguing, I hope you know that. I looked down to see the guards right around where we were standing, and she came up to me and grabbed my arm, trying to pull me back. "It's all right, they can't see us. They don't really expect people on rooftops. We'll give them a minute to scratch their heads, and then see what we can do to get in."

While we waited, we talked. I introduced myself, and explained why I was in this town in the first place. I told her about the trail of bodies that I had followed from village to village, all connected to a murderer that no one could quite recall. She started to tell me things about her, when I heard something...unnatural. "Hold that thought...Diana, was it?" I walked to the other side of the building, and looked down to find a bloody trail leading into the building I was staying in. "...Great. We may have a situation."

"What do you mean, a situation?"

"See for yourself." I turned toward her as she stepped up to the roof edge, and watched her eyes search the bloody image below. "We need to move. I need to get my gear and we need to leave. I have this feeling that this isn't coincidental." She nodded, and I grabbed her up, taking a moment for her to get ready, and stepped off the roof. I made sure to hit the ground as easily as possible, and I surveyed our surroundings as I let her down.

There was a bloody smear moving from around the corner into the doorway of the small inn, and what looked like a leather chestpiece in shreds laying just in sight. Diana noticed my silence, and turned to me. "What's wrong?"

"We'll see once we get inside. But I have this suspicion that he knows I'm here. He's found his way out, and it looks to me that he might try to use me as a scapegoat. In short, he's trying to pin his little spree on me." I assume that she had noticed the change in my eye color. I had caught a glimpse of it myself in a reflection from a window: the usual bright red had cooled to a flat gray. I saw a slight hesitation as she turned away, looking into the doorway.

"Do you think he's inside?"

"I'd rather like for him to be...so probably not. But I'm open to surprises." I took out my two knives and handed one to her. "I don't want to do this, but the moment I walk inside without you, he'll end up out here tearing you apart like those soldiers. And I'd never hear you scream, because you wouldn't get the chance. So take this, stay  close, and don't hesitate to use that." She nodded and held the knife in her right hand, and placed her left hand on my arm.

"This isn't the first time you've done this, is it? Don't worry, I can take care of myself."

I looked at her one more time with my now flat gray eyes, placed my free hand over hers for a slight second, and sighed. ...If only I hadn't heard that before.

Day One: Diana (part one)

It was over in an instant.
It felt like an eternity. I stood frozen on the spot, staring at the body of the man who had been my protector and provider for the last 3 months. He had ensured I stayed safe, sheltered, and well-fed every moment I was with him.
His murderer was standing above him, momentarily unaware of my presence. How could he? How could he have rid the world of my provider?
That lecherous ball of slime, before I could do it myself?
He had funded every step of the journey I was taking, at the high price of his pitiful advances, and unbeknown to him, his own life. My skin crawled to think of how many times he had tried to touch me, my ears rang with his whining that he had given me everything, that I had given nothing in return. I should have killed him weeks earlier when his pleas became more insistent. He had become dangerous, but to have lost the chance to dispose of him in my own way made me furious.
So furious that for a moment, I forgot that there was another person between me and his body.
My eyes rose to meet his ... as red as mine were angry. I could feel him analyzing me, and I could almost feel the lie coming on. I knew he hadn't found the man that way. I had watched him drain the blood from the body and slit the throat to cover it.
"Shut up."
His eyes widened a little.
"Do you know...how long I had to follow him? How long I have had to put up with that pitiful, disgusting man? And now, I don't even get to finish his useless existence?! Gods, all for naught! I still feel the burns on my skin from his lecherous hands, and thanks to you, I don't get to rid him of them!"
"If it's any consolation, he didn't feel much." He shrugged. My temper boiled over.
"I wanted him to feel everything I was going to do! I was going to make him suffer for every little thing that he has done in his entire miserable life! And now I've got you to thank for taking that opportunity away from me!" I ranted and screamed before he interrupted me and apologized.
"Look. I'm sorry. I had no idea that you were after this guy. I just happened across him. If I had known, I would have asked you about it first. I mean, hell, aren't there tons of other worthwhile guys out there that you can go after?"
He had no idea how many men were deserving of my scorn. But I knew he could have chosen a better target. He must have been tired. "Aren't there plenty of other useless people that you could go sink your teeth into? Quite literally, I might add."
For someone I had just seen take the life of another human being, he seemed so nonthreatening. Almost amused by my sarcasm, even.
"Now. Look here. I apologize for raining on your little murder parade, darlin'. I never planned on getting in anyone's business. So I'm gonna go my way. I suggest you go yours. The fuss you've stirred up has no doubt caught someone's attention. The faster you get out of here, the better."
"But what about the body?" Was he just going to leave it laying there? "Even I would have given it a proper burial."
He insisted we didn't have time - before walking up to grab my shoulders. He intrigued me too much to die, so I jerked away. As I proceeded to make distance between the two of us, I walked face-first into the leather-clad chest of a town guard. I felt the murderer grab me again, pulling me away from the guard.
In another split second, the guard had flown through the air - propelled by a strong fist - into a brick building. We had a short amount of time to get away.
So I went with him.

Torin - Day One: Part 1

Yeah, I could have went and found and embittered drunk who was tired of living. I could have went hunting down a wanted criminal who didn't deserve a second chance and who probably wouldn't get one should he or she be caught. I could have found anyone more deserving, but for the first night in a long, long time, I just didn't want to.

I was bored, had a rough day, and most of all I was just tired. And the man I found was just standing there, not doing anything and the moment was perfect.

So I seized it.

I can say with certainty that he never expected, or saw a thing. I broke his neck in mid attack, and he was dead before he hit the ground, but I used every second of the time in between to drain him just shy of dry. To hide the mark I left upon his throat, I took one of my shorter knives and slit across the wounds, disfiguring the appearance to look like that of a open knife slash. I cleaned my blade on the back of my shirt and sheathed it.

When I turned around, I hadn't expected to see the girl standing there, looking past me to the dead man. In shock, she stood quite defensively when I turned in her direction, but it was in her eyes. She knew him. But oddly enough, I didn't see grief in those eyes. There was nothing about her that suggested that I had just killed a loved one, but rather... that I had taken something from her, like a cat that realized the mouse was dead and playtime was over. The silence hung around for longer than I'd liked, and I knew that it had more to do with her analyzing me than what I had done to the poor man. I decided that I should try to at least make it look like something it wasn't, so I spoke out.
"It's a damn shame. I found him there, and just from getting close and looking, I can tell you he's-"

"Shut up." She faintly snapped at me, "Do you know...how long I had to follow him? How long I have had to put up with that pitiful, disgusting man? And now, I don't even get to finish his useless existence?! Gods, all for naught! I still feel the burns on my skin from his lecherous hands, and thanks to you, I don't get to rid him of them!"

........Not many things shut me up. I've been known to have quite the witty repertoire, but again, for the first time in a long time, I couldn't speak. I thought for a few seconds, and the words that came out weren't the a-typical response that this situation needed. "If it's any consolation, he didn't feel much."

I saw her frustration and knew that's not what she wanted to hear.

"I wanted him to feel everything I was going to do! I was going to make him suffer for every little thing that he has done in his entire miserable life! And now I've got you to thank for taking that opportunity away from me!"

Apparently, you've upset her, old boy. Nice going there. "Look. I'm sorry. I had no idea that you were after this guy. I just happened across him. If I had known, I would have asked you about it first. I mean, hell, aren't there tons of other worthwhile guys out there that you can go after?"

She scoffed at me, smirking as she replied, "Aren't there plenty of other useless people that you could go sink your teeth into? Quite literally, I might add."

The look I gave her seemed to calm the anger she was directing my way. "Now. Look here. I apologize for raining on your little murder parade, darlin'. I never planned on getting in anyone's business. So I'm gonna go my way. I suggest you go yours. The fuss you've stirred up has no doubt caught someone's attention. The faster you get out of here, the better."

She stammered for a second. "But what about the body?"

"What do you expect to do with it?"

She shrugged, "Even I would have given him a proper burial."

"Well then the local guard will just have to be his pallbearers. We. Don't. Have. Time." I walked to her and grabbed her shoulders, "If you don't go, then I'll leave you here to take the fall." She looked at me for a moment and scoffed again, jerking free of my grasp. She turned around to leave and slammed straight into a guardsman. She stepped back as he glared down at her. His eyes shifted to me as I walked up behind her, taking her arm, "See, darlin'? Now we're gonna have to explain ourselves to this fine gentleman."

I think that he saw it coming. My free hand clenched tightly onto his face, sheer muscle propelling him into the building adjacent to us. Bricks crumbled at the force of his weight being forced into them. I turned to her again as the dust grew around us. "Come with me. NOW!"