Bloody Drizzle

The room, which was at one point consumed by the stench of burning skin, was now conjoined with the metallic smell of the dead woman's blood. The rest of the members, although clearly afraid, remained frozen in their spots. The youngest in the room was trembling, eyes unable to leave the corpse of the woman by the door.

"She was your sister." It was Silver who had spoken, he was lounging in a chair, and it was obvious that he wasn't asking, he was stating a fact.

"Those who follow the Ruenen must die, they are nothing but filthy swine, ragged, musty, vile..." the boy chocked on a sob, as he gripped his thighs. "You can kill all in your path, all dear to me, it matters not, I will help you destroy the Ruenen. Their high lords sit on the bodies of those below them, which they use only for pleasure. My parents gave me away as a prize, I was.... " His pale eyes shone with a craze Violet knew too well. He could not be older than seventeen, and here he was. Silver was appeased, and with a wave of his hand the true meeting began.

Violet surveyed the meeting attentively, the suspicions aroused by Vi were proving to be only the tip of the iceberg.

This was not a recruitment, the recruitment had already been held. The new members sitting below Violet had carried out their tasks and were now considered fully fledged members.

A tall man, one of the men who had arrived with Silver, rose from his chair and spoke. "The last attack was not nearly as efficient or deadly as it should have been. This was partially caused by the appearance of the soon to be king of the fools. Kieren Zordyk is the one enemy you should never let near you, he is dangerous and brainwashed."

Violet's eyebrows rose, the tall man, -'baldy' she had named him- had a picture of Kieren for the new recruits.

"All of the children in that school should have died!" Baldy glared around the room, "The information Silver risked his life to attain, the location of every marking stone, the staff roster, all of it was worthless under your useless hands. Every single one of you new recruits, you were present, explain to me why those children are alive."

A shivering silence overcame the room. As the recruits fidgeted without looking up from their feet, Violet glared at them from above, only cowards attack children. Violet tilted her head to the left staring into the face of one of the girls kneeling toward the back row. Realization hit her as the girl opened her mouth, that girl, she had been present at the school, as a god dammed healer. Violet gritted her teeth.

"We have an unknown." She spoke lifelessly, "A girl, like a stupid shiny princess appeared, she healed them with powers I did not know were possible. She was with Zordyk."

Silver leaned forward in his chair, "That is impossible, we keep tabs on every single person in and around him, are you suggesting..."

The girl looked up, "he knows her, he's interested in her. I have nothing but my life, so that's what I bet on this. He was there, even after all of our careful planning, because she was there."

Their voices faded, Violet looked to the camera, she had come here for Silver, and now, they would all have to die. Well, sometimes plans just don't work out. Turning the camera off and stowing it in an adjacent vent Violet prepared herself. She moved slowly and carefully as the conversation below her continued. Once she was positioned directly above Silver she closed her eyes and called for her Murasame.

The sword appeared in midair and sunk itself

Into the ground causing a crack in the one way mirrored floor.

Their reactions were instantaneous, but misplaced, as the sword had fallen Violet had kicked down the vent and swung herself into Silver with all her might. Her legs had closed around his neck and as she left herself fall backwards hands reaching to touch the ground she flipped him into the floor. He was comatose before he hit the ground.

Violet smiled softly, she had untangled her legs from Silver's neck as he fell and had spiraled into a carefree back walkover. She pulled off her wig facing the girl, "you called?"

They charged simultaneously, Violet grinned as she connected her heel into the throat of one of the attackers, slicing clean through his trachea. Baldy's fist covered in fire swung her way and Violet dodged using another body for cover. They let out an ear-splitting screech as their clothes caught fire. Good thing the music below was so loud. Her heels worked in tacit understanding with her firsts as she danced through the crowd. One by one and sometimes two at a time Violet demolished them until only four remained.

The remaining four encircled her warily, eyes bulging at the bodies around them. Violet pulled Murasame from the floor taking a relaxed fighting stance. "Time to try a little harder my friends."

The girl from the school in California spoke while attempting to heal a deep gash in her chest, "Healers can't hold runestone weapons, it's impossible."

Violet dashed forward, taking the girl by the arm she flung her away, into the reinforced ice. Instantly she was upon her again, "I'm full of surprises." Violet cut the girl in half as a well timed fiery punch knocked her sideways. She dropped Murasame and flipped over to her right.

Baldy, sporting a missing finger, covered himself in flames, "you're unarmed and I've got you cornered."

Violet giggled, she held out her right hand in front of her, outstretched, as if reaching for him. He took a step forward then stumbled as her sword imbedded itself into him, the tip protruding from the bottom of his sternum.

"I did ask you to try harder."

The remaining two members (apart from the unconscious Silver) gasped in fear as Violet's injury disappeared. She stepped over the body of baldy and pulled out her sword. Her eyes landed on the boy, the one who had been sold by his family. He looked broken.

A gun caught her attention, the only other member pointed it at Violet. The man let out a scream, then as if accepting defeat turned it open himself. It went off with a bang. The boy collapsed onto the floor shaking more than ever.

"How can you work for them, they're monsters."

Violet sat opposite of him eyes kind, he looked surprised at her gaze.

"We are all monsters here, what is your name?"

"Charlie." A tear slid down his face, "you don't work for the Ruenen?"

"No Charlie, but it's not black and white, who were you sold too?"

Charlie lifted his shirt, another brand, this one over his belly button. Violet took in his marred skin, lines crossed and intersected all around, "He was a fan of the knife?"

Charlie nodded, "he has other boys at his mansion, I grew too old."

Violet opened her arms to the boy who let out a sob and threw himself at Violet.

He held onto her and cried, angry at the world for the life he had been dealt.

"You can't let me live can you?"

Violet shook her head softly, "I cannot, but I will make you a promise, one that won't make your life any better. I'll kill the man, and I'll free those boys."

Charlie chuckled weakly gripping Violet's body, "I wish you had come sooner."

Violet sighed, "I'm no hero Charlie."

He gasped, a shallow cough sounded in his throat, a trickle of blood leaked from his lips.

Violet pulled Murasame free of his body and laid him down.

With a flick her wrist Murasame vanished, Violet approached Silver calmly. She connected her foot to his face, and with a groan he stirred.

"Long time no talk Avery Silver, I've come to collect."

He struggled to focus his gaze, Violet punched him in the eye, he cursed and rolled over moving away from her in a fast crawl.

"If.. if you have any chance of winning, you'd better kill me now cunt, give me another minute and I'll tear you limb from limb."

Violet grabbed a chair and sat, "Tsk, you're not seeing me Avery, take a good look."

He looked up, after a few seconds he froze, his gaze turned manic and he laughed, a cold mirthless laugh. "Violet, Violet, Violet... what a devil you've become."