Oddly, I was sure I could feel my head rate accelerating. I was aware it still did that when I got excited or stressed..... or panicked, but I couldn’t tell what it was this time. The thrill of the hunt normally made me feel very….. level. Saints, I had even noticed my heart simply stopping when I got too focused on some of the more intense of the little stalking missions Merii assigned me... or too focused one thing in general.
Maybe there was a subtle stress in what I was doing. I was very much adamant we get this done as soon as possible. Merii was in full agreement of course, not wanting to deal with any of the drama, or possible brutal and torturous death, that this idiot was trying to bring to the city. 

We didn’t bother closing the doors as we stepped out. It was quieter and Merii had had the car stripped of alarms so one could exit it with next to no noise, and just leave it sitting quietly. I had no idea if that was actually legal, but considering our business and the weapons we were carrying, I didn’t think it was really an issue.

Merii threw me a questioning look and I nodded in the direction I thought the odd “call” was coming from. This close it was a little difficult to tell, feeling like the draw was to the area rather than a specific point. But I did my best to narrow it down, Merii sticking close besides me as we began our expedition into the industrial estate.

Even as we moved that little bit closer, I just couldn't pinpoint the feeling. It was complicated, and now that I knew what I was feeling it was distracting in its own right.
“I think it’s this way….. but it’s… did Brewer explain how it works to you?”

Merii nodded.
“Like a subtle beacon. Just do your best, once we’re close I’ll take the lead ok?”

I nodded and carried on.
“Sure…. We taking the roofs?”

“Not here.” Merii nodded her head towards one of the industrial warehouses as we passed. “Those buildings are tin roofed with no insulation, and each of these newer yards is too far from the other to make it passable, mainly to stop fire but it also stops us. So walking on them would be like sounding a drum and then you would need to come down to move to the next one anyway.”

I did kind of like the idea of sounding a war drum so my prey would know I was coming. But that would be for another time, a time when they were trapped and the knowledge of my inevitable approach would strike the most fear. Not when I was on an important hunt like this. For this I needed every bit of stealth Merii had instilled in me.
“Ok, yeah. Other than using the roads we follow the plan? Get close, wait and ambush them when they try to leave?”

“Yep. And do try to restrain yourself, we need this guy to be able to talk.”

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t that violent. Well ok yeah, I really wanted to kill this guy for what he was trying to do. But I could hold myself back enough to only beat him till he was nearly dead. It was after we got some answers I would actually kill him, slowly. He would suffer for his stupidity, or my name wasn’t Elliza….

I did worry for a moment about that train of thought. It wasn’t exactly something a healthy young lady would conjure up in her head. But at the same time it was necessary. “A” could not be allowed to get here, to find me…..
Those eyes flashed across my vision again, but I shook my head and  carried on. Ignoring the shiver down my spine and the nagging feeling of impending doom.  It probably wasn’t healthy, but I could worry about that when I was safe.

Merii put a hand on my shoulder.
“You ok? This thing messing with your head again?”

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and shook my head.
“No….. No, I'm good. Just clearing my thoughts a little.”
I still hadn't told Merii of my dreams, even after everything… they were private. Even if it was obvious she could guess at what was going on in my mind.

Nodding, Merii motioned for me to carry on. She had been very good about this the last few days. Never pushing me to talk about anything or asking the questions I really didn’t want to think about. She had even been careful about what she told me and what topics we talked about. While I didn’t like being treated like some fragile doll, I did appreciate the space she gave me. I would handle it when I was ready too and when we had time, she knew that and respected it.

Soon we were deep into the estate, creeping slowly and deliberately. Unlike so much of the east side, this place seemed to be funded privately, so the street lights were not only working, but also uncomfortably common.
Merii gave me directions on staying obscured, the two of us remaining in just enough shadow to hide our features and never strayed far from them. Several times we stepped off the road or dropped into the small shrubs and bushes that lined the roads, as a car or truck would rumble past. I wasn’t sure how they didn’t see us but Merii was confident, so we continued.

Reaching a T-intersection I could feel a subtle pull drawing me to the building across from us. Or more likely, to behind it. The building was a large beige office block, surrounded by old brick warehouses with small alleyways running between them. A perfect little place to sneak about.

“Pretty sure this is it.”
I said, pointing out the building.
“Or in the alleyways at least.”

Merii's sharp eyes scanned the building.
“Looks promising. Makes me wonder where they found a suitable victim around here but, we’ll worry about that when we get to it.”

The two of us dashed across the street The building had very obvious cameras and while I couldn’t figure out the exact angles the lenses would have, Merii was something of an expert. So I stuck close behind her as she took a slightly zigzag course across the road.

She nodded at the fourth floor of the building once we had reached the base and pressed ourselves close to the brickwork.“Think you can get up this without falling?”

“I can climb… but yeah I’ll be a little slow.”
No point in exaggerating when we both knew I wasn't nearly as skilled as her.

That got an approving nod.
“I’ll wait till you're up before I follow. Be careful on the roof. It should be good but don’t go far before I join you, ok?”

“Sure….”

Plucking myself up onto the window frame I had several curses for my short stature. Mainly because this building had its ground floor slightly elevated, meaning I had to do stupid little half jump to reach the ledge. But once I had my footing, I was off, climbing the windowsills like an oversized ladder.
I would very much have liked to use my claws, but the marks they left would be rather obvious. And by morning I expected this place to be crawling with Guard. Claw marks climbing the building right next to the vampire themed murder wound be a bit of an obvious clue as to who was lurking around.

Surprisingly true to her word, my sire stayed behind. It was nice to have something of a safety net this time. Though whether she would actually catch me or just laugh at me we’re still both equally plausible options. I did hope she at least wouldn’t let my stupidity alert our target if I did fall.

Hauling myself over the lip of the building I took several small steps forwards. The area was what I had expected, mostly flat with a few fans, perfectly suitable to walk on.
Crouching low I waited a few moments before Merii came vaulting over the ledge. Red eyes bright with energy, her silver pupils wide in the low light. She really was the visage of the sleek predator of the night. Graceful movements and subtle strength giving her an edge that I would have terrified and fascinated me as a human. Something that I had to admit, it still did as an undead.
While I had given her a hard time about it earlier, the bodysuit and coat were definitely an aesthetically pleasing choice.

A little narcissistically, I wished I had a mirror at that moment. While there was no doubt I looked ever so slightly more feral than Merii, I suspected I would look, if not as sleek, then just as menacing and awesome. If not more so given the composition of my eyes and the grin I could feel on my face.

Talking in a whisper Merii crept forward.
“Ok, try to go slow and not spook this guy. I’m still assuming he’s a biomancer so he could have enhanced hearing”

I nodded, not saying a word, or even breathing, as we started our slow crossing of the roof. Maybe it was nerves, the thrill of closing in on my prey, or the call of the dark magic happening meters away, whatever it was I could feel myself practically buzzing from my toes to my fangs.
Each step seemed to take an eternity as I followed Merii’s lead. But eventually, inevitably, we did reach the far side. The smell of blood and the sound of soft murmurs in a language I couldn’t understand drifting in the air.

Laying on our bellies we crawled the last few feet to the edge. Me, very much regretting my choice of top as the roof scratched against me, while Merii seemed completely unbothered and in her element. Even crawling on her stomach she moved with a grace and ease that only years of experience could instill.

She whispered softly as we came to the building's ledge.
“It’s sort of nostalgic working as a team.”

I pushed my lungs back into action as gently as I could. Whispering in return.
“Is that an assassin thing?”

A wistful look crossed her face for a moment before she flashed me a fanged grin.
“A Vellity thing. Our “king” has a real passion for even numbers.”

I frowned.
“That sounds a little….. Special?”

“Ha…. Saints I wish he could hear a fledgling saying that. I bet it would knock the old bastard down a few pegs. But let’s get serious, get your game face on.”
Saying that she sunk a fang into her lip, blood instantly springing forth in a boiling mass. I was confused for a moment, before the bubbling ball began to spread out, like watching some creeping plant in fast forwards, it spread out in ever larger tendrils and vines across her face. In the blink of an eye the blood completely masked her features, her mouth and eyes the only things left exposed as she smiled, looking like a creature fresh from the hells.

“You didn’t tell me it could do that!”
I hissed quietly, it was extremely unsettling and would definitely put the fear of the gods in my pray if I could do it……. not to mention its use as a mask.

She shrugged. “Most of us figure it out ourselves, and you probably can't do it anyway. Now hush, let’s take a look at what our local madman is up to.”

I huffed, but together we peeked over the side of the building.
Below us was a small parking bay, two small alleyways and a driveway leading off into the night. But that wasn’t what I was really looking at. What I was looking at with great interest was the scene towards the back of the lot. It was almost a repeat of the last murder, the naked and beaten body of a woman suspended from one of the broken light fixtures. The same runic circle as before was painted on the ground and a symbol on her stomach, both coated in her blood.

The main difference, other than location, was the figure in a black, hooded robe standing next the circle, with a large fuel container at his side. He wasn’t exactly tall, though it was a little hard to tell from where we were, I would say he was around five eight, only having a slight build. But that was also very hard to gauge under the thick and swaying robes.

“Explains where the blood went.”
Merii muttered, sounding a little disproving of the waste, something I completely agreed with.

The buzzing in my skull peaked as i looked down at the ritual, and for a moment I almost thought i could see a faint red mist floating off of it. But my mind was pulled elsewhere, to the blood, so fresh and plentiful I could smell it as though it were next to me…. Seeing to go to waste was almost enough to make me cry.
“We’re keeping that….." I nodded at the container of blood, "Also is there a “cults are us” where I can get that robe?”

Merii smirked.
“Ask Brewer, she was a cult leader before….. before a lot of things. Anyway, can you understand what he’s saying?”

I stopped talking and strained my ears. I could easily hear him, his muttering wasn’t exactly subtle. But I couldn’t understand a word of what he was saying. If I had to guess it was one of the eastern languages from the deserts, but that was entirely based on a movie I had seen once. Having no luck, or any chance of translating, I asked Merii.
“What is he saying?”

Merii listened for a moment longer, paying close attention to the words, nodding to herself and stoking her chin as though in deep thought before turning to me with the most serious of looks.
“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Helpful”
I deadpanned.
“Shouldn’t you know, like, every language?”

“I’m not that old,” She huffed at me, before going back to watching our mark “Or that bothered…. But yeah, I don’t know, Arabian maybe? Let's just wait and see what he does.”

I wanted to call her lazy, but focused on the job at hand. Presumably Brewer would do it for me when we got back.
“So wait till he’s done, then we follow and grab him yeah?”

She nodded softly.
“I’ll go ahead and cut him off, you follow and box him in. There’s a lot of places to run and I don’t want him getting away. When he reaches me, I’ll let him see me and you get him from behind. If it all goes to shit just do what you can.”

“Right….. Good plan.”

The two of us went quite again after that, simply watching and waiting. Whatever he was doing was apparently very important to him, the chanting sounding almost like a hymn as it went on. I would honestly have liked to get a recording for later use as a creepy backdrop, but Merii had doubled down on the no phones rule after Brewer’s talk.

Eventually, after far too long if you asked me, it came to an end. Our killer going quiet for a long moment before leaning forward, putting his fingers to the small trickle of blood still on the victim's neck, and bringing it to his lips. It was very confusing to see, like watching an animal do something that was distinctly human. In a way it was flattering, cute even, that he emulated us…. But not nearly cute enough to change his fate.

His deed seemingly done, the man collected his container of blood and started off into the night at a sedated pace. Not rushing or seemingly bothered at all with the scene he was leaving behind.
We waited a long moment to see what way he would go before making our move. Unfortunately he went deeper into the maze of warehouses and alleyways, meaning we would actually need to do some work to corner him.
“They never make it easy…. Ok so the roofs are out, I’ll go around. Just cut off his retreat and don’t get too close, ok?”

I let my tongue play over my fangs.
“Easy…. And don’t kill him?”

Merii raised her eyebrows. “Please?”

I put on an exaggerated pout, “I’ll try not to.”
With that I pulled myself up and over the edge. I still wasn’t confident enough to just jump, so I did what I had on the way up and dropped from ledge to ledge.

Once I was on the ground I quickly made my way after the man. Fighting desperately not to look too closely now I was near the circle. Again I felt an almost magnetism pulling me, if I hadn’t been focusing on my hunt I likely wouldn’t have been able to resist. Especially with the scent of blood and tang of fear so thick in the air I could have sworn I could see it.

However I did make it past without doing something stupid, and once I was in the dark of the alleyway the feeling faded back to the faint tingling I was used to.
Slowly I made my way down the small passage between the buildings. We had expected the killer to mask his scent, and in truth I couldn’t smell a hint of him. What he hadn’t done though, was mask the smell of blood that was sticking to both him and his cargo.

Even in the near pitch black I could follow that alluring and delicious smell with ease. Not that the darkness was an impediment. Everything now appeared in a slight grayscale, but it was still clear as day to me. What I didn’t think of until I reached the first corner was something very obvious, that in retrospect, I should have noticed far, far, sooner. I couldn’t hear any footsteps. 

Pausing for a moment, I thought it over. Best case he had stopped, worst case I lost him somehow and needed to double check the building I had just passed. Fearing the worst case I strained my ears to their limit. At first I heard nothing but my own breathing, something I quickly put a stop to, and after a brief pause, there it was, a faint but clear heartbeat just ahead.
The good, pious girl I was, I thanked the Saints and asked for their help as I learned forwards and peeked around the corner.
I caught the tiniest hint of movement, a metallic glint in the corner of my eye, a faint click in the quiet night.

And then the world went white.