Sirens rang out like hellhounds released upon the scene. The revolutionary anarchist artists scrambled away from the lights of the cop cars like roaches, diving into alleyways and scaling walls to parkour away. When the first light shone, Max was frozen in place. She had never gotten in trouble with the police before. Would they be sending her to jail? There couldn’t be a more cruel ending to her fairy tail…
“The hell are you doing?” Arco said, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the cop cars. “You trying to get caught? You some kind of masochist or something?”
“A-ah, no, n-nothing like that,” Max said, flushing. “I just...I don’t know.”
“You’re kinda strange aren’t you?”
Arco said it without even the slightest tone of condescension. Max wasn’t able to figure him out.
He stopped, then stooped down halfway. He put one hand to the back of her thighs, then swung it up fast enough to force her into his carry. It was too unexpected and quick for Max to anticipate, so she let out a quick yelp and grabbed his shirt. In the blink of an eye, they were zooming down the streets. Max was never the type of person who exercised much, so she was surprised he could move so well, especially while carrying her.
And it wasn’t even uncomfortable to be carried, like she might have thought. Even though his movements were direct and sharp, his body felt like a warm but rugged sofa.
There was a moment of weightlessness when he vaulted over the edge of a bridge. Then he bounced off of a fencepost by the canal and was on the other side. Such a fluid motion that it felt like Arco had done it thousands of times. He loosened his hold and set her down on the ground at the edge of the road, then took a step away while watching her.
“Yo, crazy girl,” he said. His hair was all messy, so he grabbed it and pulled it back into a ponytail. “You got some place to be? Or was your plan to just sleep in the nicest rock wall you can find?”
“I…”
She didn’t. That was obvious. No way he didn’t know that. Getting a nice warm place to sleep was her greatest desire at the moment.
But she had only just met this guy, and he seemed super dangerous. Literally a revolutionary anarchist. Though it was sort of cool. Well, he did help her get away from the police, which meant he wasn’t a bad guy or anything. In that case…
“I don’t have anywhere to go,” Max said. “I’m homeless right now.”
“Damn. That sucks.” He smirked.
!!!
How could he do that!? Was he just going to ask her that then not invite her to his house? What kind of person does that? Rude!
Before she could voice those thoughts, Arco cocked his head to the side.
“In that case, while I don’t wanna be weird or anything, you could spend the night at my place,” he said. “No pressure or obligations for sex or anything. Just figured that from one anarchist to another, we should probably have each other’s back, yeah? Whatdya think?”
All she could think was how brazenly he brought up having sex. That was definitely not the type of thing you were supposed to say to a lady!
“Sure,” Max said quietly. “But just for one night. And no...obligations or pressure.”
“Hah, yeah, no worries,” he said, taking a quick step over and handing over her backpack. She hadn’t even realized she wasn’t wearing it. “You don’t gotta worry about me. I’m a gentleman! Well, I’m gentle, at the very least.”
He seemed to think that was funny, but Max was just worried about whether she was making the right choice or not.
***
By the time Nick and his men got to the warehouse, Bruno was already there, washing blood from his hands at the communal sink. A few of the other guys were there as well, talking casually, but everyone got silent as Nick entered the room, rubbing at his scar. Even though he’d had it for a few months, occasionally when he was too active parts of it would start to bleed and scab over, and as he rubbed his face, he saw fingers covered in blood.
“How’d it go, little bro?”
“We got him,” Bruno said, giving a wide smile. “Some weird shit though. Jack says it looked like devil summoning or something like that.”
“Devil summoning?”
“Yeah. Everything was going pretty well to start, since there wasn’t nobody near the bar when we snuck in. But once I busted down the door, there was just blood everywhere! Little bits of human sticking to the walls and ceiling! Didn’t phase us, though, and we grabbed the kid. He’s in a backroom all tied up right now. Unconscious.”
Nick took everything in without questioning it, but he couldn’t visualize it. Well, he could imagine a room filled with blood, but one that bothered his younger brother? The younger brother who had crushed skulls with his bare hands before?
Well, that was unimportant.
“You’re absolutely sure you got the right person?”
“Absolutely sure, bro,” Bruno said. “I made sure to ask him specifically. Even checked his wallet. Here, if you want to take a look.”
There wasn’t much in the wallet. An identification card and a few bills and coins. The type of wallet you would carry if you were either poor or scared of being pickpocketed. While it did seem unbefitting of a rich person to do, going to seedy underground bars and trying to summon devils was also unusual. The ID did check out. Maxwell Vasquez.
“Oh! Looks like grabbing the girl worked out well too!”
Bruno exclaimed this because while Nick was looking at Max’s ID, the two men who assisted Nick, Frank and Lyle, were carrying in the crumpled form of Maxine Vasquez. Unlike Maxwell, she didn’t have any form of identification in her purse, but since she was with Jeanne Vasquez, there wasn’t any need to doubt her identity.
“Yes, everything went well on our end,” Nick said. He took off the servant hat that Vasquez servants wore and tossed it aside. “The wife suspected nothing. She’ll be sitting around at some restaurant waiting all night for her husband, without even knowing both her children were stolen away. Now, we’re going to need to get some proof that we’re holding onto them for the ransom note.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that bro,” Bruno said, holding out a bad. “I already took care of that.”
“You did what?”
Nick hesitated at grabbing the brown paper bag. It wasn’t entirely paper; the bottom of the bag was dripping and red with blood. When the Gordoli head took a look inside, what he saw was disappointing. Bruno was a good underling usually, but he did stupid shit often. Nick pulled out the disembodied ear.
“Did you fucking cut off the kid’s ear?”
The tone of disapproval made Bruno’s smile change to a frown. The other gang members quieted down, tension in the air heavy. Maxine’s body was slumped down on a table.
“Uh...yeah? I knew we were going to be sending proof that they’re alive, so I just thought-”
“You thought sending them their son’s fucking ear cut off was a good idea? You dumb fuck! What if Lenore gets fucking spooked and decides to just go to the police? Then not only do we not get paid, but we could get fucking arrested and put to death! This is why I tell you dumbasses not to make decisions without fucking telling me! You better have good news for me Dominic.”
While Nick was ranting violently enough to spit on Bruno, Dominic had snuck in through the back door. The youngest Gordoli brother smiled weakly.
“Everything good big bro. Nobody followed you and nobody even noticed what happened.”
“Good, good,” Nick said. “Now here, Bruno, let me show you how to not be an idiot.”
In a quick motion, Nick flicked out a small knife. The entire room watched as he slowly strode to Maxine’s unconscious body and lowered his blade. He took her hair and pulled it up tight behind her head, then sawed through it. When he was finished, in his hand he held a huge bundle of dark brown hair. Then, he grabbed her head and adjusted it until he could see her neck underneath. Using the knife, he cut through her choker necklace and wrapped it around the recently cut hair.
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“See? Was it that hard?”
Nick slipped the knife back in his sheathe and tossed the package of hair on the table next to the brown dirty bag. He twirled his finger around in the air.
“Frank. Go take her and put her in another room. Make sure there’s nothing too dangerous and lock the door. We don’t want ‘em escaping OR killing themselves. At least not until we’ve got our money. Got it?”
“Got it, boss.”
“And for the rest of you? Keep a lookout on the perimeter. Dom says we weren’t followed, but we gotta be sure there isn’t anybody stepping on our turf that could mess this up. Especially right now. Once we get that cash, everything will be smooth sailing. All we need to do is make sure nothing ruins our plan.”
***
--Earlier--
In the middle of the street, in the middle of the night, with light only coming from the cloudy sky, two people drenched head to toe in drying blood were frozen in their footsteps. It was still sprinkling, and a trail of blood from the two came from a nearby alley. One of them was bleeding from his leg, held up by his female companion.
Hanson and Honey gave each other a look, then looked back to the two.
“How many people you gotta kill to end up like that?” Hanson asked.
Before anyone could answer, a voice echoed from out of the alley.
“Where are ya’? I’m gonna find you~ I’m gonna find you and kiiiiiiill~you!”
The chant made the two blood covered vagrants shiver in fear. Honey gave a big sigh and slapped Hanson on the back.
“You running from somebody?” She asked, walking towards the alley the screaming came from. “That’s gonna kill you after they find you? Sounds rough. If you’re willing to pay for your lives, then I recommend following after my friend.”
While Honey was talking, Hanson made his way down an alley across the street. He waved the two over, and they reluctantly followed him. He knew his ways around these streets like the back of his hand. This was his world, and he was the king. To the people following him, there was no confidence. Hanson’s sudden turns and sporadic decisions seemed like they were being made completely at random, but it wasn’t much better than the two on their own. When they finally caught up with him, they were at a dead end. But that didn’t mean they couldn’t go forward.
“Here, get on my shoulders,” Hanson said, crouching a bit with his back to the two. “Hold tight, please. Oh, I’m Hanson, by the way. My friend is Honey. But you can call her Ugly Bitch if you want. That’s what everyone else does.”
The sounds of the rabid gangster were not far off, so Eren and Lisa had no choice but to climb on his back and pray.
Lisa had only closed her eyes for a second before they were on the other side of the wall. That wasn’t normal. She hadn’t seen him do anything, but it was clear what she felt. Hanson was able to bounce between the two walls and climb over the rest of the wall in only a moment. Impossible for humans to do.
But then…
They had summoned a devil, so who is to say what is and isn’t possible?
“Come on,” Hanson said. “He won’t be able to get over, so we should be pretty good from this point on. You both need to get cleaned up, though, so you can come over to our place. Just follow me. Otherwise, who knows what might happen?” His lips curled up in a cruel smile.
***
The siblings’ home wasn’t anything spectacular. A dingy little wooden building with its back to the river and no direct connection to any streets. They didn’t have any running water, so the only thing Lisa could use to shower herself was the buckets of water brought to her. There was also a brush and some soap, but they were coarse and basic. Lisa hadn’t ever lived a life of luxury, rather, her family was pretty low class. But this was a new level of destitute reserved for only the most impoverished. No electricity or even glass windows.
And even as run down as this place was, one thing stood out as completely remarkable. It was spotless. No dust or dirt anywhere. After finally scrubbing all of the blood from her hair, she realized why.
When she entered the living room, Honey was cleaning everything with meticulous detail.
Eren wasn’t anywhere to be seen. It was almost something she considered asking, but Lisa realized she didn’t really care. Why would she? There was a lot going on. Suddenly, she was reminded of the fact that all of her friends had just been killed before her eyes by an entity above all evil with a snap of its fingers. The realization that at any moment, it could appear before her and drag her to Hell…
The fear started to paralyze her. Her head was aching and cold beads of sweat were forming along the creases of her body. So much blood. She ate the flesh of another person. And in the future, unless she wanted to go to Hell, she would need to eat more.
Cannibal.
That frigid air flowing through the windows made her skin prickle. The sprinkle from earlier changed into complete rain. The whispers from each drop were reminiscent of the sound of blood dripping from the ceiling.
Honey punched Lisa in the throat.
The stunned woman fell to the floor and clutched at her windpipe as she struggled to breath. Her savior (?) put a foot on top of Lisa’s chest and held her down.
“Stop fucking ignoring me,” Honey said, taking a swig from a bottle of wine. “I’m asking you a question, and I saved your life. Don’t be an asshole.”
Lisa coughed out an apology.
“Yeah, whatever. You’re good, just pay attention. Or should we take you to the hospital like your friend?”
“He’s at the...hospital?”
Lisa was doing the best to collect herself and crawled onto her knees. She was too weak to stand, and her throat hurt now more than anything else.
“Well duh. He got shot in the leg. After getting shot, you need to get the wound checked on as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more likely a complication could occur, and your chance of living starts dropping pretty spectacularly. Fortunately, the closest place is pretty decent at treating bullet wounds. But back to business: answer my questions so I can figure out how much you owe us. Why were you two completely covered in blood, and who was the guy chasing you?”
Neither were questions Lisa could answer. The first because of the sheer ludicrousness of the situation, and the second because she didn’t know who the guy was.
So she gawked.
Lisa was a pretty plain looking girl naturally. She knew this. Growing up in a poor family in a poor neighborhood as a girl without any special skills, you realize your best way out of poverty are your looks. Dress up looking cute, wear your hair cleanly, and smile. Men don’t care very much about your social standing, so long as they find you attractive. Marrying up was a common dream with her social peers.
That always seemed like a disgusting answer. How was that any better than whoring yourself out like a prostitute? To expel even the possibility that notion ever entering her mind, she decided in her teens to make it impossible. Using a razor blade, Lisa has sliced a scar across her face, from the left ear to the right across her nose. Then she kept her hair always in a strange fashion. She shaved the sides and braided the rest of it backwards, mixing it with men’s pomade to keep it stiff. It was an unconventional look that made people avoid looking at her. This was her way of staying sane.
If Lisa was doing everything to make herself look attractive, the woman asking her questions was the exact opposite.
Long eyelashes, fashionable make-up, tanned skin, and the most modern clothes. This was the kind of person Lisa would look down on, even though they were the same age. In this situation, however, the one being looked down on was Lisa. Even though Honey was just holding a bottle of cheap wine, it felt like there was a gun being pressed to Lisa’s forehead.
“Are you gonna answer or what? This is getting annoying. Tell me so I can go to sleep; I had a pretty good day up til now, so you being so stingy is making it worse by magnitudes. Are you hitmen?”
“Hitmen?”
“Ah, so you can hear me,” Honey said, growing a smile. “Answer my earlier questions. Or do I seriously need to ask you again? Why are you covered in blood, and who was after you?”
…
“Jesus christ! We go out of our way to save your life, then give you a place to stay and help you clean up, and this is how you react? Ungrateful. Okay, whatever I was originally going to charge you for your help just got doubled. If you make me wait any longer, it’ll triple. Got it?”
“Sorry,” Lisa said, averting her eyes from Honey’s cruel gaze. “I don’t really know what to say. Even if I told you, you probably wouldn’t believe it…”
“Just fucking tell me already. Let’s get this over with you drama queen. Don’t make me kill you when I could have just let that shady guy do it.”
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being killed, Lisa thought. Though at this point, she couldn’t do anything but regret the devil summoning ritual. In hindsight, that should have been obvious. They were all fools.
No, that was wrong.
She needed to live.
That idea appeared in her mind. She needed to live. Not for herself, but for everyone else who died in that ritual. Eren was shot and might die from blood loss, and Max was abducted by some scary looking guys. If all three of them died, then what was the point of everyone’s sacrifice? It would be in vain. Therefore, someone needed to carry on their lives. And at this point, only one person could do it, and if she died here, it would all be over.
“Okay, I’ll talk.”
Honey cocked her head.
“We...were doing a ritual. There was a group of us, and we accidentally summoned a devil. It killed almost every single one of us.”
“Hold on, you summoned a devil accidentally? How does something like that happen?”
“Well, no, it wasn’t accidental, but we didn’t know what would happen,” Lisa said, then paused. Wait. Did this woman really believe her? There was nothing that looked like doubt in Honey’s eyes, so it seemed like she took it as the absolute truth. “But yeah, we summoned a devil. There were 30 of us, and it killed almost all of us. That’s why we’re covered in blood.”
“Ooooh, that makes sense. And the person chasing you?”
“I’m not sure, honestly,” Lisa said. “After we finished the ritual, some guys burst into the building and grabbed our leader, Max. They wanted him for something...I thought it was the police, so I figured we were going to jail. Eren told me that the only way for us to get out was to make a break for it, so we did. The guy chasing us was one of those men. Sorry, I don’t know who they were. After the devil summoning ritual...my mind went a little bit blank.”
“Ah, yeah, okay, everything sort of comes together,” Honey said. She turned her back to Lisa and went to the tiny couch in the living room. It was one of the few pieces of furniture in this desolate house. She sat in it. “Okay, then that makes the next steps of negotiation easy. Normally, I’d ask for 50,000 franc for saving a life, and with the calculations in my mind...for saving two of you then doubling the cost, it’d be 200,000 franc. You got that kind of cash to pay back?”
There was no way. It must have shown on Lisa’s scarred face.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Honey continued. “Instead, we can go based on a system of favors. Basically, I did you a huge favor, so you need to repay me back until I feel like you’re good. Sound unfair? Yeah, it is. Absolutely. Totally. But I saved your life, so if I really wanted to, I should be able to just tell you to die and you do it for me. Instead, I bet there are plenty of things we can work out.”
Lisa was speechless. She couldn’t argue against what Honey was trying to suggest. Not only did this gaudy woman make sense with her requests, but what she was suggesting fit along the line of morals Lisa kept. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as it seemed.
“So, my new question to figure out how you pay our favors is: who was the devil you summoned, and what kind of gift did you get?”