Michelangelo appeared on the rooftop with a flash of light that briefly illuminated the darkness surrounding them.
Sitting in the distance was the Faewall's City Lord's mansion, the lights bright in the portion of the estate where the party was ongoing. He stepped forward to stand at the edge of the rooftop.
"Hmmn. There's a serial killer and he's throwing parties? That takes balls." The speaker, one of the two won who had co with Michelangelo, paused. Then she turned to her two companions with a bright smile. "See what I did there?"
Michelangelo sighed, glancing at her. She just couldn't seem to stop talking, no matter what he did. "We're here for work, Lisa."
Lisa tossed her dark hair behind her hair, sticking her pointed nose into the air. "That was pretty cool if I do say so myself. Isn't that right, Daphne?"
Daphne, the second woman, just stared stoically at the two of them. Unlike her colorfully dressed friend, she was dressed like an assassin in all dark clothes, complete with a half mask covering her face.
"See, she finds it funny too." Lisa pointed at Daphne.
Michelangelo glanced at Daphne with an even bigger sigh. "Stop laughing, Daphne. Focus."
Any innocent bystander watching would have pointed out the obvious fact that the woman hadn't even cracked a smile not to talk of a laugh but these were vampires. The natural laws don't apply.
Michelangelo turned to stare at the mansion with his usual focus. His posture was rigid and his gaze intense. He was in the zone.
Lisa walked forward to lean over the edge of the rooftop, her eyes sparkling.
"Why the rush, Angelo?" She asked playfully. "We could have just taken our ti. Send Daphne ahead to scout and see how things play out."
Lisa glanced at Daphne, affronted. "Of course not. It's not a ploy to have Angelo all to myself."
Michelangelo's eyes didn't shift from the mansion. "It's better to finish this now." He said. "Dragging it out will only cause more complications."
They stood in silence for a few monts, watching through the available windows as the guests mingled under the light of the chandeliers in the ballroom.
It wasn't long before they spotted the two figures standing at one of the available balconies. A man and a woman.
Lisa smirked as she squinted. "If I'm right and I always am, that looks like the captain of the peacekeepers. What was his na again? Yeah. That." She nodded in Daphne's direction before continuing.
"And the woman should be the widow of the dead Count Hyde." She turned to look at Michelangelo. "What do you think this is? An affair?"
Michelangelo said nothing, watching as the two conversed. Then a mont later, Ezra Matten stepped back before leaving the balcony.
"You won't believe what I heard about this dude." Lisa said. "When we stopped at First City, I heard that he was a key player in that war they had nineteen years ago."
"Apparently, so people are not sure, but they say he was one of the things the Counts fought over. Most interesting part, he walked out alive when most didn't."
Daphne nodded at her words.
"Yeah. Daphne's right." Lisa said. "He left the mont Itachi ca back. So, maybe he hid throughout the war or sothing."
Michelangelo remained focused, his eyes narrowing as he watched the balcony.
Soone was sneaking into the balcony, moving in a way that ant they weren't up to any good.
The person moved to stand behind the widow and speared through her chest, ripping out her heart. The widow crumpled, dead before she hit the ground.
Lisa laughed in delight, pointing like a kid that just saw an ice cream truck. "Well, would you look at that! We found our serial killer! I didn't think we'd solve this case so quickly!"
Michelangelo's expression didn't change as he spoke calmly. "It's ti to join the party."
He glanced at Daphne, who nodded in response to his order. "Bring the killer to . Alive."
He turned to Lisa. "Let's go and et with the City Lord and Arbiter."
Daphne nodded again before disappearing into the shadows without a sound, her figure slipping into the darkness as if she were made of it.
"Let's go."
**********
Gen's vitality surged within her as she stepped back into the ballroom.
Her eyes imdiately found Jas and Anya across the ballroom, staring at her.
There's no way they wouldn't have been able to recognize her through the chaleon cloaking her but even if they hadn't, the blood dripping down her hands would've given it away.
Jas' face was painted with fury and he imdiately turned to Anya, muttering sothing to her. Anya nodded and within seconds, she was moving through the crowd, her posture predatory and unyielding.
Gen's every instinct was screaming at her to run. But she had to know.
She lingered just long enough to see Jas glancing across the room, his gaze resting montarily on Ezra.
"That bastard."
She gritted her teeth with a renewed sense of urgency. If Jas was involving Ezra, she couldn't afford to stay and be caught in the trap that was closing around her.
Soone had to survive to tell the tale.
She began running, slipping into the mirror dinsion midstride. Maybe if Anya couldn't see her, she'll be able to make it in ti.
She ran as fast as she could, retracing her steps. This ti, it wasn't about staying hidden. It was about speed. She had to get back to the basent and disappear.
If she could get into the basent, then it wouldn't matter anymore. She'd have won.
She gritted her teeth as she tried to stay ahead. But before she could gain any real distance, a powerful force crashed into her.
Anya's Aura, oppressive and unrelenting, mixed with the intense pressure of her sixth ring ability, Dominion.
The sheer force of it rippled through the mirror dinsion, causing it to flicker as Gen's control wavered. Dominion was the ability to strengthen or weaken the powers of other vampires. And it was working.
Gen powered through, slamming her vitality into the fragile reality around her, reinforcing it just in ti to avoid being pulled back into the physical world.
Her legs burnt vitality as she sprinted down the hallway. Every successful step was a step closer to freedom. All she needed to do was persevere.
And that was when she was hit by the storm. Anya's Dominion Aura hit her again, almost sending her to her knees.
Genstumbled and before she could recover, the mirror dinsion shattered around her, flinging her back into reality.
She crumpled to the floor under the power of the Aura. She could only listen, her face to the floor as Anya approached, the sounds of her footsteps echoing off the walls.
"Well, well, we-" Anya's words were cut off with a loud crash and the Dominion Aura disappeared.
Gen's eyes snapped up to see a hole in the wall. Soone had crashed into Anya with a force that took the both of them through the other wall.
Gen's mind was blank for a mont at the sight of the empty hallway before it woke up.
Not wasting a single mont, she scrambled to her feet and began running. She slipped back into the mirror dinsion as she went.
She could hear the sounds of battle behind her as she ran towards her salvation.
She finally reached the basent door, slipping through it and back into the basent. It was a good thing she'd left the door open in the mirror dinsion.
She turned, slamming the door shut behind her, the heavy sound reverberating in the space. She sighed as she leaned against the cold tal in relief.
She had made it.
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