Fantasy FTK: Black Rose Detective Agency

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec opened doors and looked in her office. He then checked his own office. “Rheitz? Are you here?” He asked. She recognized her boss’ voice.
“Delilah and I killed a ghoul outside. We’re getting ready in case more come.”
He found her under the desk.
“Hey, it’s alright. We’re going to win tonight.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz let out a sigh of relief, lunging forward to wrap her arms around Lautrec.
"I-I saw him at the window Boss! He was gonna eat me!" she squeezed him tightly.
Delilah frowned, peering into the room to find.
"Told you she treats you like her older brother," Delilah muttered.
"I brought the guns. I'll take the pistol. I have no idea how to work these things." She tossed the rifle to Lautrec.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec grabbed the rifle and ejected the clip, switching it out for a full one. The M1 Garand, the signature weapon of the rifle brigades.
“Really? I would’ve pegged you for the army brat.” He checked the sights and weight. There was something out there, for sure. They hopped on four limbs like squirrels. The sun was creating over the horizon, causing the night beasts to scurry for darkness.
“This isn’t good at all. Nightbeasts shouldn’t be able to survive within Dominion’s walls.” Lautrec said to Delilah. Detective Waters knew only one reason why that could be. The beacon was unlit. Someone at the High Order has been slain.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

"Oh Mitra," she leaned against the wall, face in her hands,"Dammit!"
Hands flying to her hips, she paced furiously across the room shouting another "Dammit!"
Rheitz looked nervous. "Detective Waters? What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?! The beacon isn't lit is what's wrong!" She squeezed the bridge of her nose, "Someone killed a damn person at the High Order."
She kicked a chair, causing it to topple to the ground.

 

[Jodyguru]

“Damn! Could it be... has anyone seen Aida anywhere,” Lautrec asked. None of them had seen her since the office duel except for Lautrec, who lost sight of her days ago.
“I swear to Sanguine, she better not be summoning.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah turned to Lautrec, brows furrowed. She rushed forward, grabbing his coat in her hands.
"What the hell?! Is this why they threw your damn sister in the loony house?! This is why you tell people this crap! So this doesn't happen!"
She shook him again for emphasis.
Rheitz frowned. "Detective Waters! That's rude of you to assume something like that!"

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec swallowed hard. The looney house? Is that what she called it? He remembered the pain of shackles digging into his wrists, the gruel soup, and the daily floggings.
He was staring out with dazed surprise. A monster growled at the door and started scratching. Gunshots echoed outside, and a pained squeal was heard.
There was a pounding on the door. “Hey it’s me Toby! Let me in!” He continued to knock.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz darted out of the room, relieved to be free from the tense atmosphere in her office. Pushing away the chair that blocked the door, she hurriedly jiggled the key in the lock, opening the door to see Tobias standing on the step. She lunged forward, wrapping her arms around him in a hug.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"

 

[Jodyguru]

He had a scrape on his arm and was a little scuffed up, but was otherwise okay. He was out of ammo.
“Y-yeah I’m okay. Thank the Lady. She’s blessed me with solid aim” Toby held his gun like a sacred tool.
“You look worried. Are there more of those things out here?”
“Possibly more” Lautrec said, “and I need your help.”
“Of course” Toby smirked.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz pulled him in and began to fuss over his arm. "Are you sure you're okay? Don't try to be a man or something, I don't want you to be hurt."
Delilah cracked a smile. "Nice to see you alive kid." The smile on her face quickly turned into a frown, "Give me an update. One of the beacons is out."
She tossed the gun between her hands, trying to appear calm and collected.

 

[Jodyguru]

“Something wrong with the crystal itself. The priests are okay.” Toby said. “They’re saying it was a case of sabotage. Police are taking care of the scene now.”
“So it is a conspiracy?” Lautrec asked.
“Seems so. This is big stuff, guys.” Toby shot back. “Rheitz, where did you get these beads?” He hadn’t seen them before. They didn’t match the ones he wore around his trigger arm.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz frowned, noticing the loop of blue beads around her wrist. She shrugged.
"Some fellas came by before you came to pick me up a couple days ago. That was when Detective Waters found out my boss had taken a file on his sister. They were real strange lookin', but they gave me these. Said I needed them for protection against vamps. Dunno why, but I have a feeling they had been watching us the whole time."
Delilah frowned. "I didn't notice anyone following. Though there was a big black car parked behind mine every single time that day...".

 

[Jodyguru]

Tobias looked at Lautrec with a bit of surprise. He didn’t think the detective would do anything like that.
“A big black car” Lautrec asked. “Were they wearing robes, like clerics?”
“What was that about a file?” Toby asked. Lautrec shot him a look, like he was striking a nerve.
“I think my sister might be connected to this case. I didn’t communicate that very well to the others. It’s a theory without much weight, but I wouldn’t put it past her.”
Lautrec looked to Delilah, wondering how bruised her stomach was from the fight.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah shifted uncomfortably under Lautrec's gaze, looking down at the pistol in her hands.
The bruising at her stomach had begun to fade but the expanse of skin was still very much sore from the pounding it had received from Aida's fists.
Rheitz pondered the memory, trying to remember their attire. "No...I think they were just wearing suits. One of them was blond and kept giggling like a girl."
The younger girl looked up at Tobias. "Clerics don't wear suits, do they?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec shifted his eyes back to Rheitz. A blonde man. He knew who she was talking about.
“Meimar Cassident, the Joyous. He’s a member of the High Order. Never was a flogging more vicious and demeaning than when he held the whip.” He closed his hands into tight fists. He was trembling with impotent rage, remembering Meimar’s cunning use of language in the dungeons.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz frowned, unfamiliar with the names of those in the High Order."Who?"
Delilah shrugged. "I've briefly heard of him. I've only seen him once in person. Apparently, he's one of the best torturers they have. They're rather proud of his ability to punish the damned."
She frowned at this, the movement of the pistol stilling in her hands.
Rheitz glanced at Lautrec. "How do you know him Boss? I didn't know you knew any of them."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec nodded slowly. “Yes. That man is the reason Aida is the way she is. That file said she went to Applegate, but that was a lie. She was taken to the Dominion dungeons first, to pay for her crimes, as well as I. The last night I served as a police officer. I dared to point my weapon at High Authorities who wanted to kill her on the spot. That man, Meimar, thought it would be more fun to break us than to kill us.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah snorted, thinking he was joking. "Impossible. That isn't legal at all. How could that have happened? The High Order can be dirty, but that?"
Rheitz glared at Delilah. "How could you say that! Detective Leore doesn't lie!"
Delilah snorted again. "Really? Doesn't lie? Please, your boss can lie."
Rheitz opened her mouth in shock. How could she be so insensitive?! Her boss had been tortured and she had the nerve to think he was lying?! He was a dhampir so obviously the High Order didn't care about the law when it came to him and his sister.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec said nothing. He stood up and pulled his tie loose, and unbuttoned his shirt. He pulled it off and revealed his pasty white back to them. He was covered in a road map of dark scars all over his body. Some of which were so finely defined that it could only have been done using several instruments. On his hip were the initials “M.C.” scarred on his body and made of small pinholes.
“Can I lie about this, Detective Waters? He branded me as his favorite subject. He did that with a needle and thread. He used me as a living pin cushion!”
The marks were gnarly, and they were on his stomach and chest as well.

“Of course he avoided the face. Said I was too pretty for that. I was given mercy compared to what Aida went through.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz shook her head. "You don't have to prove anything Boss. Detective Waters is just ignorant. She doesn't understand how hard it is for you."
She grabbed his shirt, moving to put it back on him. "No sense in doing these kinds of things for people who don't deserve it."
Delilah looked taken aback by the scarring on his back, repulsed at the branding at his hip. She looked away, staring at the floor, the color draining from her face in shock.
How could...how could the ministry have done such a thing? Yes, he was a dhampir, a supposed drinker of blood, but...how could they have done something so....so barbaric.
She shifted uncomfortably under his cold gaze, the motion of tossing the pistol between her hands resuming.
"Wh-what do you want me to say?" She cringed at how cold the words were but there was no taking them back once they were out.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec put his clothes back on and straightened his tie. “Nothing, but understand what the High Order is capable of. If you check Aida you’ll find similar scars, in case you still think I’m making it up.”
Tobias hung his head and looked at the floor. How could the order do this and preach morality to him? What god would allow these things to happen under their watchful eye?
“Oh Mitra... what twisted sense of justice is this?” Toby asked himself, then looked up.
“Now I understand why you retired, but why continue to serve the order?”
Lautrec shrugged. “It’s not like I have a choice. They own me.”
Toby shot out of his seat. “Nonsense! You always have a choice. Do what you’re told, or do what you believe is right. You’ve always done the latter, so why let them control you?”
Lautrec was silent. He couldn’t explain the fear buried in his chest. The supreme power of the Order to destroy him was too great. They had his weaknesses boiled down to a line of prayer that can be fired righteously from a gun.
“You’re wearing the reason around your hand, officer.” He gestured to Toby’s bead necklace around his hand. “They simply have too much power over a wretch like me.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz looked down at the beads around her own wrist and ripped them off, the broken strand scattering the blue beads across the floor.
She watched them roll away, occasionally bumping into another bead. Delilah watched as Rheitz's expression crumpled into one of shame.
"How could I have thought they were good?!" She leaned against Toby, voice shaking. She hung on his arm, hiding her face in his sleeve.
Delilah finally looked straight at the dhampir, mouth set in a tight line. "Bull. Do you want us to cry for you? Pity you? Pat your head like you're some damn child?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Toby looked at Delilah with brows furrowed, and he shrugged her off. “What the hell are you saying? The man just showed us the worst thing I can imagine a person enduring. If he wants my pity he can have it!”
“Calm down Toby. It’s impossible for her to show sympathy towards anyone. Just like the church. Instead of shedding tears, they shed blood.”
He took his rifle and moved past the group.
“This talk is going nowhere. I’m off to hunt those ghouls. Sun is rising, so they’ll be hiding in the alleys. Whose with me?” Lautrec didn’t wait for a response and left the office.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah stayed unmoving, leaning against the walls as the others moved to follow him.
Tobias shook his head at her and Rheitz gave her another glare. The two quickly donned their coats and rushed out the door.

Once they had left, the tension in Delilah's shoulders released and she seemed to almost deflate as her back slid against the wall to the floor.

Placing the pistol next to her, she pulled out her pack of cigarettes, she lit a smoke taking in a long breath.
"You're such an idiot," she muttered, rubbing her eyes with a hand, "saying crap like that. The High Order damn near murdered him and all you can say is 'Bull'? His sister is messed up in the head because of them and all you can do is mock him."

She let out a small, dark, laugh. "Pathetic. Just like the church, huh?"
She couldn't pretend that the comparison had stung. She had always been obedient to the High Order but she had never totally agreed with it and some of their practices were downright immoral. She never wanted to be associated with them. But it had happened. Of course.

"Just like the church."

...

Rheitz walked beside Tobias glancing around her in the dim morning light.
"So...how exactly does this ghoul catching thing work?"

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec had the rifle slung over his shoulder, and Toby had his gun drawn. Even after the talk they had, he had his beads around his hand.
“We aren’t catching, we’re hunting. Don’t touch those things if you can help it. Ghouls, or Nightbeasts as we used to call them, are spawned from vampire blood rituals. They’re outsiders. We shoot to kill, and keep at it until we run out of bullets.”
Toby nodded, “sounds good to me... and Lautrec?”
“Hm?”
“Thanks for taking care of Rheitz all this time. I don’t blame you for the slave incident.”
“No thanks are necessary” Lautrec answered.
“I know, but I need all the good karma I can get... there!” He pointed down the alley where a beast slinked away. Toby ran ahead of the others to chase the ghoul down.