" It looks very... abandoned ..." said the young african american woman right after stepping out of a car, shutting the door without as much as a look behind her back.
Her full attention was directed towards the abandoned mansion before her eyes. It wasn't falling apart by any means, though, it had clearly been deserted a long time ago, a few years at least, it appeared.
"Of course it does, and it is," the woman whom just gave a reply marked a few seconds break, then she spoke again, "Monroe, isn't it ?" she didn't wait for an answer, she just turned around, started walking towards the house and added, "Well then, follow me,"
Monroe picked up the trail, followed by the three young men that stepped out of the car with her. They entered the cold, dusty and unfurnished property, it was a large manor. They thought it must have looked stunning once upon a time, when it was inhabited by an ordinary family, supposing there ever was a plain family to settle in such place.
The hunters weren't there to visit the estate however, the woman guided them straight towards the levels below.
The basement would have been as unremarkable as any other if, it wasn't for the giant hole in one of the walls.
" This is it?" Monroe asked.
"You were expecting something else?"
" Not at all, in fact this is perfect... for the moment being at least," the huntress took a walk around and perused the place for anything that caught the eyes.
" What are you planning on doing with the place?" the guide asked.
" Nevermind my plans, how about, you tell me how a woman like you came across a place like this?" Monroe's question sounded almost like a provocation.
"A Woman like ... me ... I am not sure I like the sound of that very much,"
"Frankly, what you like or dislike isn't really on my list of priorities,"
The silence after that was one of the most uncomfortable out there, so much so that seconds felt as long as minutes. It seemed as though without a swift intervention, the meeting would have quickly gone south.
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" It looks like it has a pretty heavy and rough history..." one of the three men accompanying Monroe spoke up, an attempt at interrupting the unpleasantness they were plunged into. As awkward and lacking in confidence as it was, it at least had the merit of grabbing the ladies attention.
" So you do have a voice! I was starting to think that you were here just for show," the guide replied in an amused tone, almost a taunting one. She walked around for some, trying to find the words to capture what she felt about that place, well at least that was what she seemed to be doing, " Yes, a heavy and very rough history... Yes, that's exactly how I would describe its history," she continued in a much calmer and hushed voice, "If you put your ear to the walls, you could almost hear the cries of the tormented souls once held within this space,"
"People?... Humans?" he asked with a hint of anger and disgust that he was trying to contain.
"Yes ...Humans, now here is the part that might kick you in the balls, they were tormented not by supernaturals, but by humans just like them ..."
A look of confusion possessed their faces, she clearly was hinting at something, they weren't sure what but whatever it was, they had the feeling that they weren't going to enjoy it.
Her, on the other hand looked satisfied, just as if she got the reaction she was yearning for from them.
"Yeah that's right, sometimes we forget that humans can act like monsters as well," at this point she was back to moving around the basement again, slowly walking towards the shelves.
"Yeah, but we already have a system made to punish humans for their crimes," he replied.
"That we do, those criminals however, no human was able to stop , I am still wondering to this day how... That bunch of little runts managed to do it..." her timber gradually shifted flavor from soft and amused to dark and resentful.
"What bunch of runts?" quizzed Monroe.
"You know them... you fought them... in fact you came close to killing their leader,"
Monroe thought for a second before it clicked in her mind, "MCcall ..."
"Yeah, him... and his pack have been a serious pain in my ass a while back,"
" Sounds like we're on common grounds," smiled Monroe.
"Well yes, yes we do, too bad though ... it couldn't work between us..." the atmosphere switched once again at the sound of those words.
"Aren't you jumping the gun?" asked a second guy from the group.
"What makes you think we're not gonna get along?" Monroe was trying to remain as calm as possible.
"Don't ask me! The problem won't come from me in this alliance, it will come from you, at some point,"
Monroe slowly brought her hand to the side, she seemed to be catching onto what the woman was hinting at, she felt the danger, and she knew she'd have to protect herself, but...
" Not so fast darling ! Honestly I'll always be amazed by the number of amateurs who believe their own hype, I mean you don't really think it's gonna be that easy, or... do you?"