Sliver - A Prelude - 1x1

[Riddiskel]

Either she doesn't know, thought Rid, or I'm being played. Or, maybe, he was wrong. He'd certainly been wrong before, but he liked it less than he liked small bratty children. There was something fishy about this though. "No, there is no sheath for that," Rid responded calmly, "it was made without one so that the blade could always be exposed, there was a purpose to that, at the time. My ancestors had enemies everywhere, and as it turns out, that still seems to be the case." Rid took a breath, and mentally forced himself to decide that Silvasi wasn't a threat to him. Well, not an immediate threat.

He then listened to Silvasi, and weighed her concerns against his. There was a lot to process.

"Hold on a second." Rid then said as he disappeared into the kitchen area again to return an instant later holding a file stuffed with old papers and a pair of black mechanic's gloves. "Here." He held out the gloves. "They might not be your size - I have smaller hands, always have, but they may work for you - you don't seem to have gigantic hands. They'll keep The Teller - that's the blade's name, the family name - from hurting you again, unless you decide to draw the blade across your hands or something."

Rid held the file close to his chest and fished the tactical flashlight he'd taken from the officer at Chet's house out of his pocket. "I'm not going to step around it, Silvasi; something's off about you. I may not know what it is, but you might have to embrace the bizarre tonight in a way that you've never had to before." He shook the stuffed file in front of her. "Here, Silvasi, here are your answers. There are also a thousand other questions here, too. Douglas and Kirido - here's to hoping they're dead - know more than they've let me believe. Maybe they know more than they've let you believe as well. Douglas thought this was related to the activity of a Coven of Necromancers. I thought he was full of shit, but it turns out that they may not be so far off. There are too many connections to ignore." Rid said as he crossed the room to the curio. He extracted the black rod and stuffed it in his pants pocket. He doubled back and CRRAACK!

There was a loud splintery slam at the front door. Once, and the frame held. Twice, and the door nearly burst open. Thrice, and two shapes crashed through. One of them was the naked mutilated corpse of Jen Franti, a gaping hole having been punched into her chest. Justin Franti, one of the boys who had gone missing, stood beside her with a snarl on his face. He held a human heart in one of his hands. Just as Jen lunged for Rid, Rid whipped out the black rod, held it outwards, and yelled "Tenebris cecidit!"

The room was plunged into complete darkness just before Rid switched on his flashlight. As soon as he did, Jen slammed into him and raked her dead fingernails across his face as they went down in a heap.

 

[Huntress]

It almost felt as if he was trying to insinuate something. Was he worried about what she truly was? How did he even know? Did he actually know? She clenched her jaw and listened. Anna grew even more confused. She was not going to wield this weapon, no way, it was too dangerous for her to do so. The woman simply shook her head and put the weapon down. Her ears were open, his voice echoing through her mind as he spoke.

Necromancers? She thought to herself. That was territory she would rather avoid, but why would Douglas and Kirido bring others on if they weren't willing to share? She scoffed, that was probably one of the most irritating things about the government. They had levels of secrecy. It was as if one needed to earn the ability to read classified information that could practically destroy humanity. Anna wanted to help humanity, she wanted to keep others safe. It was the least she could do, but the government wouldn't allow her until she had quote, unquote, passed.

Her head immediately shot to the right as she heard the booming crack. She quickly switched to a more offensive position, slightly hunched over, hands tightened into balls, knuckles white and a slight snarl forming on her face. Anna froze when darkness took over the room. Her senses grew more alert, her vision beginning to adjust. Turning around she could barely make out shapes in the dark but the thud was loud and clear in her ears. She sniffed the air, the scent of decay was strong, but she was trying to focus on the smell that wasn't dying. Lunging forward she collided with a body of some sorts. The sounds that soon followed reassured her that this was not Rid. Maybe she should've held onto the sword.

"Rid?!" She called out as she looked somewhere into the darkness. "Are you alright?!" Another question. Before she could wait for a response her hair was pulled back. A sound of surprise escaped her. A bit of pain. Snarling she turned around. Her hands shot forward as she grabbed the throat of the screaming and moaning wight. Her grip grew tighter as the sounds coming from the creature began to fade, no air entering or exiting the undead's larynx.

The Wight flailed and reached for Anna. The woman's teeth were bared as she felt the wight's windpipe crushing under her grip. She felt a sting, the scent of blood entering the air. Anna tried her best to ignore the stinging that grew more and more irritating. The undead's fingernails had dug into Anna's skin. Clawing down her arms.

The loud sickening crack echoed through the house. It's spine broken, the creature falling limp. If it was anything like Chet Lerato, Anna knew that it wasn't dead but with no way to speak or move she wasn't worried. Standing up she felt her blood running down her arms. Anna once again grew alert, focusing on finding Rid. "Rid?" She called out. A sigh escaped her as she clenched her jaw.

Her eyes had finally adjusted to the lack of light, although unable to see in complete darkness she could make out figures. Along with her enhanced senses, she had a decent judgement of where she was.