Fantasy FTK: Black Rose Detective Agency

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz ran forward, glancing back at Lautrec.
"Come on Boss! Toby needs backup!"
She turned quickly, running after her boyfriend. She heard a loud bang and then a shout from Toby.
"Toby?" Rheitz frowned when she got no response. "Toby?!"
She ran faster, breathing becoming frantic.

 

[Jodyguru]

When she rounded the corner, she saw Toby standing with the gun in his hand. His jaw was clenched in terror of the sight in front of him. A human corpse shambling towards him with a team of ghouls moving around inside the victim’s chest cavity. It moaned and stretched its arms out towards him.
Mitra... oh Mitra... won’t someone make the nightmare end?
Lautrec’s rifle exploded the shambler’s head. He cranked the action handle and aimed another shot, hitting it in the leg and toppling it over. It moaned with multiple voices inside it.
“Get away from it!” Lautrec yelled. Toby spun around and grabbed Rheitz, pulling her back behind Lautrec and the wall. He fired shot after shot until the thing stopped moving.
“My... my hands.” Toby said. “I prayed, but the holy arrow didn’t come out.”
His face was pale and sweaty. He felt like the holy Lady was leaving him in the darkness when he needed her light.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz tried to peer past his shoulder, staring in horror at the mess of blood and flesh sitting unceremoniously in a pile.
She glanced back at Tobias's face, taking it between her hands.
"It's okay. You're alright, okay? I'm still here and so is Lautrec and you're not dead. You should thank the Lady herself for that."
She pressed a quick kiss to his forehead, feeling him shiver in her arms.

 

[Jodyguru]

Toby shook his head and started saying the Lady’s prayer repeatedly until the gunshots ended.
“Damn beasts, thinking they can burrow into corpses to escape the light.” Lautrec turned around and ejected the clip, reloading and the weapon letting out that trademark ping sound.

In the distance they heard rapid gunshots and men laughing. Lautrec led the group out of the alley and down the sun soaking street, where clerics with machine guns were laying down fire. One errant shot went Lautrec’s way, hitting the ground near his foot.
“Whoops, sorry darling” an effeminate voice spoke. Appearing in front of them was the blonde haired man Meimar Cassident.
“I almost mistook you for one of these horrid shambling beasts... oh, Miss Toccash. Fancy running into you again.” He said with a smile, though she didn’t remember ever giving her name to this man.
“And the dutiful Officer Tobias. Look at you, three ducklings out for a morning jog.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz gave him a strained smile, the urge to yell at him and stir up a storm.
The weak sun played on his pale skin, highlighting his blue eyes which were so light that they were bordering white.
He gave her a bigger smile, teeth bright white, and perfectly straight. His grin was almost savage, hinting at the masochist within him.
"I see you're doing the same as we are?" There was a bite in her voice, though she had tried to make the comment sound casual, almost conversational.

 

[Jodyguru]

Meimar grinned and rested the gun over his shoulders. His lack of fear that Lautrec might fire on him meant that he knew the Dhampir wasn’t capable of doing that.
“Oh, purifying the streets of whatever filth crawls out of them is what we clerics do. Today needs a more hands on approach, as one of the crystals shattered. You ought to cozy up at home and wait for this to blow over. Right, sweetie pie?” He looked at Lautrec when he said this. The dhampir stared through him and didn’t say a word.
“What’s the matter, calipers caught your tongue? Or are you reminiscing about those long nights we spent together. Oh, I’ve missed you Lautrec dear. My subjects just don’t inspire me the way you did.” He turned his back and started walking away to join the other clerics who were moving on to the next street.
Lautrec growled softly but stayed silent.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz had enough. She broke from the group, running forward.
"You're a bastard! Disgusting! You're more wretched than a vampire ever could be in the eyes of Mitra!"
She glared fiercely at him, hands curling into fists. Meimar didn't turn, so Rheitz decided to egg him on.
"How could you do such a thing? How could you torture someone innocent?!"

 

[Jodyguru]

Meimar stopped walking, and spun half around. Lautrec desperately pulled Rheitz back trying to stop her.
“Rheitz, shut up!” Lautrec pleaded. Meimar smiled big, but there was fury in his eyes.

“You’ve got a nice mouth” he started walking towards her. “I’d love to see it sewn up, so I can watch you rip your mouth open while going to work on you.” He jabbed her injured arm with a hard finger.
“Some nerve you have, accusing me of torture. If you were a true follower you’d understand the mortification of flesh. Lautrec came to me bathing in his sin. I made a proper man out of him, well... half is enough for me.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz let out a startled cry of pain. The look on Meimar's face was demonic, an almost bloodthirsty smile displayed on his face.
She placed a foot behind her but she remained stubbornly in place, trying desperately to intensify the glare she was giving him.
"Y-you don't scare me! You're gonna die someday and Mitra will damn you to the fiery depths of Hades!"
She let out a strangled gasp. Meimar's fingers had wrapped around her neck, squeezing painfully.
Rheitz's hands flew to his, trying to pry his fingers from their hold.

"I would suggest letting go of her, Cassident before I blow a bullet into that sick head of yours."
Delilah stepped forward from the shadows of an alleyway next to the cleric, gun aimed at Meimar's head as she walked out into the light.
"I said let go of her, cleric."

After an hour of mopping, Delilah had finally smacked herself into action. After picking herself and the pistol up off the floor and wrapping her coat around her, she had driven through a tangle of roads, trying to find the group who had left her in the office. The roads had been strangely clear, most likely due to the abundance of flesh-eating, bloodsucking, ghouls roaming the streets. She'd been cruising down the road, stopping at a red light, and glanced out the window when she spotted a figure through the window of an open alleyway, a gun slung across his back. He was decked out in cleric's robes, blonde hair shining against the sun. A voice shouted something, sounding familiar.

Rheitz.

Oh, goddess.

Delilah inched the car forward, parking it at a nearby sidewalk before rushing into the alleyway, tucking herself into the shadows created by the sun.
When Meimar's fingers had twisted around the young girl's throat, Delilah had seen enough.

 

[Jodyguru]

His hand was stopped before she felt any loss of breath. The grip was only meant to scare her into shutting that insolent mouth. The arrival of that damned royal daughter only made his blood boil more.
“Dear girl, I was just admiring her lovely hair. I might grow mine out and try something wavy. What do you think?” He gleamed at Detective Waters.
One of the brothers from his sect was calling Cassident over for support.
“Gotta go my lovelies, ta ta” he whistled while carrying the machine gun.
Lautrec’s heart was beating out of his chest. He was helpless to stop him from hurting Rheitz.
Seeing Delilah was reassuring. He was totally prepared for her to start yelling at him, so he stayed silent.
Officer Toby felt the most anger out of anyone. He was red mad, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. He only smoked one a day, and it was barely 5 am.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz collapsed to the ground, heaving for breath. Delilah pocketed the pistol and rushed forward, pulling the goat girl into her arms.
"You alright doll? That sicko didn't break anything, did he?" Rheitz shook her head, coughing.
She pushed the Detective's arms off of her, pulling herself out of her grasp.
She hadn't forgotten the cruel words she had said to her boss and she wasn't going to be friendly with her now.
"I don't need your help," she muttered, standing up.

Delilah looked taken aback but she managed to quickly school her face into a rather passive expression.
She got up from the ground, glancing at the trio. Rheitz had run into the arms of her boyfriend who was hugging her tightly. Lautrec seemed to be avoiding her gaze.
Delilah sighed, the sound barely audible and made her way to her car.
It made sense. They were better off without her anyway. Leore didn't need her. He had Toby, a friend in the law. He'd do just fine without her. Rheitz probably hated her now, so she obviously didn't have anyone to go back to there.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec noticed her glumly walk away.
“Delilah” Lautrec said. He wanted to see her turn around. “Thank you”
He had this wide eyed look in his eyes, like he’d seen her for the first time. He looked like he swallowed a grapefruit whole.
She’d seen this look before on Aida’s face, when Toby scared her shitless.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah stopped, her back facing Lautrec.
She grinned darkly, his words haunting from earlier haunting her thoughts.
"I'm just like the church, remember? Instead of shedding tears I shed blood."
She resumed her walk to her car.

Rheitz stared after her.
"Really?! Detective Waters, you can't even respond correctly?! Is he so beneath you that you can't even do that?! Are so proud that you can't say 'you're welcome'?" she shouted after the woman.

Delilah closed her eyes, grimacing.
Yes. Yes, she was. Too proud to ever say what she meant.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec shakily reached for his cigarettes, and the packet fell out of his hand. He bent down to pick it up, and when he did, found no breath in his lungs. He strained, but he couldn’t breath. The grip of death felt like it was overcoming him. He closed his eyes... was he...

He opened his eyes. He was laying in a shady alley beside Rheitz. Toby was fanning him with his cop shirt.
“Hey buddy, you passed out.”
“Wha, huh?”
“It was probably a panic attack. Just breathe deeply.”
“Where...” he looked around.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

"You're in an alley, Boss. We killed a monster with a bunch of ghouls in it. We came across Meimar and he choked me but Detective Waters came and threatened to shoot him in the head. Then you passed out," Rheitz said hurriedly, fanning his face with her hand. "Don't worry, you weren't out for too long. Just breath."
She tried to demonstrate, inhaling and exhaling in an exaggerated fashion.

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec groaned and shook his head.
“Yes, I remember. I didn’t forget how to breathe. I just...” he had no answer for why it happened.
“I think it’s time to back up and take a look at all the evidence on this case. A change of course is necessary, if I’m coming up against the high order on some leads. Any objections?”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz shook her head. "Are we including Detective Waters? I don't think she deserves to work with you anymore."
She frowned, sitting back and crossing her legs and arms. "I mean, she was so obnoxious when you told her of the torture Meimar had done! I can take her ranting, but that-." she raised a finger, "was too far."

 

[Jodyguru]

Lautrec put a hand up. “Please, don’t mention that anymore... I think I passed out from meeting that cleric again.”
“That would explain it.” Toby said.
“Waters has deep ties to the Order. Without her intervention, you might be sitting in a cage right now. None of us could save you. I don’t need you to rush to my defense.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Rheitz's eyes widened, mouth shutting quickly in surprise. "I...I understand Boss. I won't do that next time."
She frowned, looking like a wounded puppy. "Fine. Then how do we get her back?"

...

Delilah basked in the warm morning sun, smoke curling from the cigarette dangling from her lips. Heck, she smoked a lot but seeing how this day was going she might be breaking a record or something. She pulled the roll from her lips, tapping out the loose ash onto the pavement outside her car. She slid back in her seat, eyes closing. The images from the alleyway flashed in the darkness. Rheitz being strangled by Meimar's hand, Lautrec's scars and the brand on his hip, Toby's angry face. She blinked, taking another drag of her cigarette.

When she saw a tall figure approaching her car, she cast an uncaring glance at them.

"I thought I was like the church, Leore? Unless you like the church more than you let on," she called out, blowing out a stream of smoke.

 

[Jodyguru]

The tall figure approached, but the pale face was rounder, and he wasn’t as tall up close.
“I assure you, I do not like Mitra.” He had a cane that he rested his body weight against.
“My name is Venrir Carcophous. I think we have much to discuss, Miss Waters”

He smiled. A man behind her was holding a pistol, as well as another thug in the alley with a machine gun. He opened her car door, and the detective was shoved into the passenger seat. The goon got behind the wheel, and Venrir sat opposite her in the back.

“You’ve been busy playing games with my boys. I’d like to know who you think you are.”
Looking through the mirror, she’d see a suit and no man. Lautrec had a reflection, so this was deeply concerning.

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah managed to remain straight-faced, breathing in another lung full of cigarette smoke and letting it stream out past her lips.
"Which boy are we referring to?" She cocked a brow, leaning against the car door.
Venrir gave her the creeps. His eyes were dark and haunting, boring straight into her mind. He smirked, as if she was on the brink of death and he had already won the battle.

 

[Jodyguru]

“Oh, you know. Folks like me, the down to earth types. Those of us who weren’t given everything, and still managed to become miserable. The common man you look down on from your ivory tower.”
The wheel turned sharply, and Delilah hit her face on the window. Tires squealed and the motor revved.
“You’ll stay out of my way if you know what’s good for you. Go back to your fancy ball and gown parties, princess. Leave the streets to the people, how it’s meant to be.”

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah rubbed her jaw, rolling the cigarette in her hands.
"Princess? If you're really as smart as you look, you'd know I'm nothing like a princess."
She flicked some of the live embers onto his skin, the heat searing his skin.

 

[Jodyguru]

Venrir didn’t react to the ash. He simply nodded.
“Oh you’re missing the dress and the crown, but you’re just as intolerable. The Rodrick bloodline lives on, just as the vampire does. The Dominion has defeated both of our sides. Wouldn’t it make sense to join forces against them, instead of playing their little games

 

[alwaystheOptimist]

Delilah snorted. Join forces? Against who? She didn't care to see the High Order fall, only wished for its practices to become moral once more.
Delilah shifted in her seat, making sure to distance herself from the vampire. She wanted to make sure she'd have room to move if this gangster tried anything.
"Where're we going? You boys must have someplace in mind."