Harpy's Lament

Her prey was no longer laughing. His eyes widened. Sweat rolled slowly down his cheek and dripping from his chin. He drew in breath at a heavy pant. His back was pressed against the wall.

A twisted smile crept onto Perora's face as she looked at the man who called her so many names in the past few months. She took a calculated step forward, spreading her wings wide. The single light on the rooftop cast through her white and brown feathers. She threw her head back and laughed, as she had with the others. The man wimpered at the cawing laughter.

"Please..." Edward Mitchell pleaded. His voice, usually smooth as silk and quick as silver, cracked at the end as his breath caught. He swallowed hard, trying to find his voice. "I-I'll give you anything you want."

Perora brought her gaze back from the cloud-covered sky back down to her prey, her yellow eyes shining. "Oh, you will, Mister Mitchell."

"You want money, I can give you money." Mitchell said as his hand slipped down into his jacket.

Perora swooped in closer, she didn't have to look up at him anymore as he cowered down to her level. "I don't want Money." She said, her gravelly and deep. Tears welled up in his eyes. Perora smiled wider, chuckling under her breath. "I want you to suffer, as you have made me. You and your friends."

Mitchell's eyes widened. "You killed them, you bitch!"

Perora let the cackle escape. "And they looked just as fearful as you do now."

"They had families."

"Who are much better off without them."

"I have a family."

"Do they know about your adultery."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I see more than you think, Edward." Perora crooned. "I've seen things that could ruin you."

"What the hell do you want?" Edward breathed.

"What do I want?" Perora asked, as she closed what remaining distance their was, her beak-like nose nearly pressed against his. "Now you think about what I want? Now that you have your back against a wall?" She scoffed. "I wanted so many things...but because I wasn't pretty I was constantly overlooked. So, what do I want? I want you to die for the awful things you said to me."

Perora took a step back and threw a hard punch into the jaw of her former boss. He hit the ground. She stood over him, breathing in the moment as now she had power over a man she had been powerless against.

The solitary door on the rooftop swung open at that moment. Perora nearly jumped out of her skin as she looked in the direction of the sudden sound. The door hit the wall hard, falling off of it's hinges and landed on the gravel-covered rooftop.

There was nobody there.

"Let him go, Perora," A growl of a voice told her. She turned, searching for the source, and when she found it she wished she hadn't.

Red eyes pierced through the shadows first before he took a step out. His hands at his side were balled into fists. He was tall and lean, wearing a black silk shirt with the top-button undone with trousers to match. His shoes were made of a thick leather and looked scuffed. His short hair unkempt and a hint of a beard covering the lower portion of his face. A silver ball of light orbited him, the source too small and moving too quick to see.

"I've seen what you've done to the others, Perora," The intruder said in a slight English accent.

"How do you know real name?" Her heart raced and her face boiled.

The intruder smirked. "You'll find I know more than you think. It is my job, after all."

Perora paused. "You know what I am."

"You're wearing it for everyone to see now." He scoffed. "But yes, I know what you are, I know who you are. You are not the person who would kill in cold blood."

"This man..."

"Is guilty of many things," He finished for her. "But an executioner you are not."

"You mean to kill me," Perora said, "for what I am."

"I am not an executioner either," He said. "I am like you."

"A monster," Perora said.

"A freak," Mitchell said. Perora turned her attention back to him and realized in the confusion he had turned over and was against the wall again.

The intruder moved in the blink of an eye. He was now kneeling in front of her prey. "Insults, are what got you into this mess. I am trying to save you. And I beg of you, please do not help."

Perora stepped away from the intruder who was now much closer than she would have liked. She looked around for a moment, realizing that she was no match for his speed. She looked around and realized she only had one chance to get away, her one advantage would be the sky. She spread her wings wide and took off at a sprint toward the edge of the building.

"Elliot!" She heard a female voice shout.

"Oh, for the love of..." The Englishman finished the swear under his breath.

Perora launched herself off the roof and caught the wind under her wings. Flapping hard to try and escape the scene she knew she was going to lose. She would get her prey another day, she decided.

Before she could get too far away from the building, something heavy caught her ankle. She looked down and, flapping harder to try and keep in the air. The Englishman had caught her, if only just, he was still mid-arc and weighed almost at least thrice her own weight. His momentum stopped hers cold and they both plummeted as gravity took hold of him again.

Perora shouted out in surprise as she was no longer ascending. She kicked hard against his hand, trying to break a grasp like steel. She did more harm to herself than him, as she felt pain shoot up her leg when her foot hit his hand. It was truly like hitting metal.

She knew she didn't have much time to react, she tried hard to catch the wind under her wings but only succeeded in slowing the fall. She swore under her breath, readjusted, and tried to change direction. She managed, if only accelerating that arc they were already falling at and watched as the building approached faster than she had hoped. She braced, wrapping her wings around herself and curled as much as she could. It didn't do much for the impact as she hit the glass shoulders first. The glass gave way when the intruder hit it, shattering inward allowing the two inside.

Perora slammed hard to the ground, her wings sheltering her from the scattered safety glass. She felt the hand leave her ankle as she rolled to a stop, pulling her now-free leg into the shelter of her wings until she finally stopped moving. Her heartbeat was in her ears as the deafening silence closed in.

Slowly, she unfurled her wings and quickly took a moment to take stock. She ached in her shoulders and in the leg that had the excess weight on it, but surprisingly nothing seemed to be broken. She flexed her wings and carefully got to her feet, favoring one leg over the other. She looked around for the intruder.

He had left a trail of wreckage behind him as he had hit harder. She could see where he hit the ground, bounced through a glass wall, and crashed through a conference table on the other side. He was just pulling himself out of the wreckage when Perora caught his eye. He winced and held his shoulder as if it might fall off if he didn't.

He was injured. This was her chance.

"Wait!" He growled after her as Perora spun on her heel and dashed back toward the broken window. She leapt into a swan dive out the window, hoping to pick up momentum before she hit the still busy streets of New York below her. The wind whipped at her face as she fell, her wings curled in but ready to spring out when she needed. She watched, suddenly fearless, as the ground got closer. It was one of her favorite maneuvers to pull off if she could. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she unfurled her wings...

A heavy weight crashed down on her just as she was about to swoop out of her dive. An arm gripped her from behind and she felt the weight shift as she changed momentum and tried to level out. She found herself turning with the weight down an alleyway. She crashed hard to the cement and felt the weight leave her again as she tumbled to a stop, not as gracefully as she had before.

She screamed in pain when she came to a stop as the nerve endings in her right wing felt like they were on fire. She looked an noticed that her wing was bent at an awkward angle. The white of her feathers were turning red as blood trickled into them. The harpy felt tears well up in her eyes as the pain overwhelmed her.

She rolled onto her back and braced herself on her forearms, trying to sit up. Her leg burned worse than it had, and the other had joined. There was no way she could run now, but she looked for her predator nonetheless.

The figure was shrouded in darkness now, little light was filtering in from the street at either end. He opened his eyes and the red still stood out in the darkness, but something had changed. The color was molten, burning her as she starred into them. She wanted so desperately to look away but found herself captivated. He stalked toward her, his footsteps echoing off the high walls. His unblinking stare would not let her escape as he moved closer. She could feel her heart in her throat, trying to flee.

Finally she was released as the hunter looked down at his feet. Perora followed his gaze to a glint of silver shining in the light. She took a moment to try and catch her breath as the hunter scooped up the object and examined it close. He swore under his breath and looked in her direction again.

"You shouldn't have run, Perora," He growled. "I was on your side."

Perora's heart was no longer pounding.

It froze completely.

"Was?"

The hunter nodded. "Now...I'm not so sure."

Perora felt her breath catch in her throat. She was trapped, much like she had Mitchell trapped on top of the building. The tears finally flowed down her face she looked up at the hunter. He towered over her and he was still a few paces away. His lips parted and she heard a gutteral growl. His teeth were white as pearls, but his incisors were sharp as knives.

Tears flowed faster as she realized her fate at the hands of a vampire. There was a hunger in his eyes that hadn't been there before. She was bleeding, which she suspected had sent him into a frenzy. She remembered the stories, the myths, the legends, the books, the movies. Everything came to her mind in that moment as he took another step toward her, this time calculating.

"Elliot!"

A ball of silver light shot down the alley and started orbiting the hunter again, causing him to take a few steps away from Perora. The ball settled after a few cycles in front of his face. "When was the last time you fed?"

The hunter growled a response.

"Go!" The light commanded. "I will finish here."

The hunter stared into the light for a long moment. It felt like a lifetime for Perora, who knew her fate would be decided in that moment. Then finally, he nodded and he was gone in a flash. Perora watched as the ball of light hovered there for a moment longer before it moved a few feet down the alley and stopped.

Perora watched, mesmerized as the ball of light grew larger. Before long it had extended to a capsule, then started to take shape. The light faded and a woman was standing where it had been. Her porceline skin looked out of place in the dirty New York alleyway, as did her outfit. White trousers sheathed her long legs, ending in stiletto heels that looked almost sharp at the tip. An equally white tank top was covered by a thin jacket. The woman turned so Perora could see her face. A soft face framed by silver hair with a kind smile put Perora at ease. Blue eyes were a welcome change from the ungodly red of her predator.

The woman walked toward the harpy, her heels clicking on the concrete. She extended her hand, palm facing upward.

"Do not worry, Perora. You are safe now."

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