((OOC note: I would like to thank Sorcini for her contribution to this scene's aftermath as well as volunteering her character, Synerva Devereux, for victim number 10! More details should be found in related news article to this scene. ))
Victim 10
The lock was harder than the one she handled before; but it eventually did pop out of place and allow entry into the old storehouse. The ground floor was normal -- just as it had been years ago. It was a cruddy old safe-house that only looked like a tavern on the surface. Very few were ever allowed entrance -- only those with the key. Once, they had stolen that key when they were young and far more foolish.
This visit was not for the booze. She already had her fill over the years. Besides, she was not a welcome guest in the establishment anymore. Not that there was anyone there to welcome her at all. The place was eerily quiet. She might have thought it completely vacant if she did not hear the strange sound that came from down the stairs.
There was a bloody trail she followed. It started sometime ago near the entrance-way but became thicker the closer the arrived to the destination. There was once a room labeled for storage that was not a storage room at all. It was a room used by those who needed a place to stay -- one that no one else knew how to find. In the broken doorway were two bloodied bodies. They meant nothing to her, so she casually stepped over them on her way into the room. But what had happened and where were the others involved?
The sound she heard before came again -- a low rumbling growl. Her blue eyes stared after the sight that she thought could not have possibly been real. When she figured out the location, she expected to arrive to another girl’s body. She expected a scene made to taunt the inspector. What she did not expect to see was the mangled coeurl on the floor. She barely recognized the creature.
“Mere..?†she called out, both concerned and confused. If the coeurl was there, then where was the beast’s master? He had to be near. He would not have just left Mere to die alone. But there was no sign of him. The room was empty aside from the dying coeurl, torn rope, and remnants of what looked to have been a part of a woman’s clothes.
Somewhere above, shots were fired. It was enough to startle her into spinning around, intending to head back out and up the stairs. However, upon turning, she came face to face with the one that was missing from the picture.
The dark miqo’te stood over her, quite a bit taller than her. His golden gaze focused down upon her as she froze in place in her shock. It was not only the fact that he was there when he had not been noticed before that frightened her. There was still blood trailing down his face from the gash on his head as well as a scrape cut across his chest.
“It’s time to go home, Lissy,†Ehvar announced just before he took a swing for her head. His fists were still wrapped in metal.
Outside, the young male midlander waited. He stood over the large body and was still giving the furred beast a cautious nudge of his foot to test it for life. The door to the safe house opened and the youth watched as Ehvar, bloody-faced, carried out the blond female miqo’te who had broke into the place. “What happened in there? Where is everyone else?â€
“Gone,†Ehvar answered simply.
“What about that woman we found?†the youth inquired.
“Gone,†Ehvar repeated as he easily found where it was the young midlander stowed away his chocobo. The brown bird was untethered and, after resting the girl’s body across its back, he followed after.
“Wait, where are you goin’ with Gobs?†the boy complained, finally leaving the woman’s dead coeurl behind. It had been shot in the head multiple times. “What am I supposed to do?â€
As Ehvar steadied the bird beneath him and kept the girl’s unconscious body from sliding off, he smiled through the blood on his face. “You’ll stay here and deliver a message for me to the inspector.â€
“Inspector??†Leto echoed with some dismay, shouldering the large rifle. “I’ll get arrested with all this mess around here.â€
Ehvar did not care to reply about those troubles. They did not matter. He knew the inspector would arrive long before anyone else. If Lissa had found him, her ally wouldn’t be too far behind. “Just let him know.. That we have returned home.â€
Victim 10
The lock was harder than the one she handled before; but it eventually did pop out of place and allow entry into the old storehouse. The ground floor was normal -- just as it had been years ago. It was a cruddy old safe-house that only looked like a tavern on the surface. Very few were ever allowed entrance -- only those with the key. Once, they had stolen that key when they were young and far more foolish.
This visit was not for the booze. She already had her fill over the years. Besides, she was not a welcome guest in the establishment anymore. Not that there was anyone there to welcome her at all. The place was eerily quiet. She might have thought it completely vacant if she did not hear the strange sound that came from down the stairs.
There was a bloody trail she followed. It started sometime ago near the entrance-way but became thicker the closer the arrived to the destination. There was once a room labeled for storage that was not a storage room at all. It was a room used by those who needed a place to stay -- one that no one else knew how to find. In the broken doorway were two bloodied bodies. They meant nothing to her, so she casually stepped over them on her way into the room. But what had happened and where were the others involved?
The sound she heard before came again -- a low rumbling growl. Her blue eyes stared after the sight that she thought could not have possibly been real. When she figured out the location, she expected to arrive to another girl’s body. She expected a scene made to taunt the inspector. What she did not expect to see was the mangled coeurl on the floor. She barely recognized the creature.
“Mere..?†she called out, both concerned and confused. If the coeurl was there, then where was the beast’s master? He had to be near. He would not have just left Mere to die alone. But there was no sign of him. The room was empty aside from the dying coeurl, torn rope, and remnants of what looked to have been a part of a woman’s clothes.
Somewhere above, shots were fired. It was enough to startle her into spinning around, intending to head back out and up the stairs. However, upon turning, she came face to face with the one that was missing from the picture.
The dark miqo’te stood over her, quite a bit taller than her. His golden gaze focused down upon her as she froze in place in her shock. It was not only the fact that he was there when he had not been noticed before that frightened her. There was still blood trailing down his face from the gash on his head as well as a scrape cut across his chest.
“It’s time to go home, Lissy,†Ehvar announced just before he took a swing for her head. His fists were still wrapped in metal.
Outside, the young male midlander waited. He stood over the large body and was still giving the furred beast a cautious nudge of his foot to test it for life. The door to the safe house opened and the youth watched as Ehvar, bloody-faced, carried out the blond female miqo’te who had broke into the place. “What happened in there? Where is everyone else?â€
“Gone,†Ehvar answered simply.
“What about that woman we found?†the youth inquired.
“Gone,†Ehvar repeated as he easily found where it was the young midlander stowed away his chocobo. The brown bird was untethered and, after resting the girl’s body across its back, he followed after.
“Wait, where are you goin’ with Gobs?†the boy complained, finally leaving the woman’s dead coeurl behind. It had been shot in the head multiple times. “What am I supposed to do?â€
As Ehvar steadied the bird beneath him and kept the girl’s unconscious body from sliding off, he smiled through the blood on his face. “You’ll stay here and deliver a message for me to the inspector.â€
“Inspector??†Leto echoed with some dismay, shouldering the large rifle. “I’ll get arrested with all this mess around here.â€
Ehvar did not care to reply about those troubles. They did not matter. He knew the inspector would arrive long before anyone else. If Lissa had found him, her ally wouldn’t be too far behind. “Just let him know.. That we have returned home.â€