“I won’t attack you again,” she forced out, her adrenaline spiking again with her desperation to get inside the apartment. “Now let me go.” She glanced over at the apartment quickly before forcing herself to look back at this mystery guy. He seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn’t place why.
He let go of her, taking a few steps away from her and away from the apartment. "Good luck with your granny, girlie." he said in a low voice, almost a growl, and then he was walking away from her, long legs carrying him down the hall and then down the stairs as he headed out of the building.
Elissa barely paused to give his receding form the finger before getting her key to her grandmother’s apartment from her pocket and letting herself in. Already, the apartment felt like a ghost town and Elissa cursed. She glanced around, searching every corner for some sign of life, though there were indeed signs of a struggle. Or at least, they appeared that way. A chair tipped over, a lamp still on, a glass of water spilled on the floor. Elissa hoped it was just the clumsiness that was slowly befalling the once nimble woman.
“Granny?” Elissa called, checking for certain that no one was here as she went through the small apartment a second time. “Granny?”
The man, whoever he was, must surely have done something to her. It was the only reason he would let Elissa go free like that. She quickly got out her phone to check for any more calls, but there were none. She decided, instead, to call the police.
“My grandmother is gone,” she said the moment the call connected. “She left a message about some pack, and there was an odd man outside her apartment.” She went on to describe the whole incident, adding the apartment building and number before hanging up. Now was the hard part—attempting to track down these guys, though Elissa doubted that she would have any luck going after who she now realized was the Wolf and his pack. A gang of notorious criminals. Perfect.
Once he was outside the building, Dmitri was running. Sure, it had been a risk to leave the girl alive, but who cared? It wouldn't do much, in the end. The cops couldn't do anything about the Pack. They'd tried, but once you got to West Street and 56th, it was known well enough that that part of the city was his. That there, his word was law, and even the cops couldn't penetrate that. Sure, this area wasn't within those bounds, but it didn't matter.
"On my way." he told Crow, Jackal, and Fox. "Meet me back in the execution site." They weren't bringing the old woman back to their home. No, she'd be left in Deadman's Alley, where the Pack left most of its victims. Examples, to show people what happened when you crossed them.
Elissa cursed again as she got down to the street. From the window, she thought she’d seen the guy go this way, but she had completely lost track of him. She really should have paid more attention to her grandmother’s lessons about finding people who don’t want to be found instead of just the self defense stuff and the cursing. Her father, of course, was largely oblivious to most of this, but she would be in huge trouble when he woke up and found what had happened.
That gave Elissa pause only briefly. Surely her grandmother’s life was more important than getting a good night’s sleep. She frowned, trying to narrow down her options. Wasn’t there some sort of place that the Pack always went? A place where you’ll get yourself killed, a part of her mind warned as Elissa pulled out her phone to search, ducking into an alleyway.
Elissa gasped as she saw a few news stories about the Pack’s victims—which they all left in Dead Man’s Alley. She quickly typed that into her phone, but of course nothing else helpful came up. Where wad the infamous alleyway? Surely there was an address somewhere.
Of course there was an address for Deadman's Alley. Most people knew where it was. It was in the edges of the Pack's territory. The police came in and cleaned it up when they could; the Pack didn't chase them off for that. Once people were dead, neither the Wolf nor those in his employ gave a shit about the bodies they left there.
The Wolf himself was still jogging back towards the Pack, his hood pulled up over his head.
Elissa smiled grimly as she managed to find an address. She had somehow overlooked it the first time, but didn't have time to waste. She tucked it back into her backpack and hurried as fast as she could straight for Deadman's Alley. She was practically running, pushing people out of her way. Despite her brisk pace, she had a sinking feeling that she was going to be too late.
She pushed the thought out of her mind as she neared the alley, rushing into it, unsure what she would find.
(should she be too late, early, or right on time to see them kill the grandma? Unless you'd rather that she somehow save her grandmother or something??)
(i was thinking right on time bc i love making my characters suffer for some reason lol)
(or too late, either works)
(alrighty lol)
Dmitri's eyes snapped up when he heard footsteps, and his eyes landed on the girl. He cocked his head at her slightly. His hood was off, his pale blonde hair curling a little bit on his forehead and his eyes cold as ice. He was holding a knife in one hand, and near him were three others. Crow, who had dark hair and eyes, much like her namesake, was holding another knife. Jackal, tall but not as tall as Dmitri, was holding the old woman still. And Fox? Fox was merely standing to the side, awaiting orders, his red hair gleaming in the dim light.
"Do it." Dmitri said to Crow, not taking his eyes away from Elissa. So, the girlie wanted to watch? Then she could watch.
Crow nodded, and stepped forward. Her knife flashed, and crimson bled out along the old woman's neck. Jackal let go, letting Elissa's grandmother topple away.
Elissa's eyes widened, her open but no words coming out. She wanted to scream and yell and hurt these people who had just killed her grandmother in front of her own eyes, but she was frozen, unable to do anything but stare in horror. Why would they kill an innocent (or honestly, probably not so innocent) woman for no apparent reason? She couldn't fathom it. After several too-long moments, she was finally able to move again.
She took out her knife, eyes roving among the four strangers. There was no possible way for Elissa to get rid of all four of them, but any damage she could do in her grief-addled mind was enough. Anything to cause them even a fraction of what she was currently feeling was enough. She ran into the alley recklessly, her own hood falling off of her youthful face. Her long hair flowed behind her, free at last, like a Valkyrie, as she imagined herself righteously fighting these awful criminals. She went for the woman first, as she had delivered the killing blow.
Crow spotted the girl, and raised an eyebrow at Dmitri.
"The granddaughter." he said simply.
She nodded, and flung her knife in Elissa's direction, aiming at the girl's shoulder. Not a killing blow, but a highly painful one. Fox simply moved to block the end of the alleyway, silent. Jackal stepped away from the body.
The blade hit it's target, sinking into Elissa's shoulder and making her gasp again, though this time in pain. This was it. She was going to die here, and no one would do a thing to stop it. The pain sobered her, making her realize what a foolish idea this endeavor was. She couldn't have saved her grandmother; she was practically still a child. She hadn't even realizing she was falling until her head hit the cement. Her vision went black for a moment before fading back in.
She had really done it now. Her grandmother surely would have wanted her to run, to get away from here and at least have a chance of surviving. At least Elissa knew better than to take out the blade and let herself bleed out, a much more painful alternative than letting them shoot her or vaporize her or whatever technology they were in possession of allotted.
She managed to bring herself back to a standing position, eyes brimming with unshed tears. At least the woman had hit her left shoulder, and Elissa was right-handed. It was a miracle she hadn't dropped her own knife. She glared up them, hoping that she would at least go down fighting.
(what exactly do you want the Pack to do with her? Kidnap her or just leave her there?)
(idk, whichever you think makes more sense)
(I can see them kidnapping her just for kicks lol)
Crow looked at Dmitri for a cue on what to do. He signaled something with his hands, not speaking aloud. She nodded, and stalked closer to Elissa. She snapped her fingers at Fox, giving him a look. The redhead smirked, and drew out a stungun. He shot Elissa with it, watching to make sure she passed out.
(lol me too tbh)
The pain intensified, and Elissa closed her eyes. This was it. She was dying. She sent out a silent plea that her father would be safe of all of this as she fell, darkness taking hold of her. Soon enough, none of this would matter. Then everything faded to black.
(question: is this meant to evolve into like a romance, or no?? Because that was never made clear XD)
Crow caught Elissa, passing her off to Jackal. Jackal cuffed her, and Crow did a quick patdown, removing all weapons that Elissa had and pocketing them.
"Let's move out." Dmitri said, and began walking, stepping over the body of Elissa's grandmother as he led his group back to base. The four of them weren't the full pack, not by any breadth of imagination, but they were in charge of it.
(it can but it doesn’t have to lol sorry if that’s super vague but honestly i’m fine either way)
Elissa was still out cold, having no idea what was happening to her. She would definitely be surprised to find that she was, in fact, very much alive upon waking, however.
(haha that's really vague, yeah, but alright)
Jackal carried Elissa, holding onto her securely, but rather like she was a sack of potatoes. They walked down the streets to the ex-warehouse that served as their base. The inside had been completely torn apart and remade, with a large center room where most business was done, a catwalk above it. In the upper levels were most of the bedrooms and the bathrooms, and in the highest level was some extra, empty rooms. In the floor level was the big room, a bathroom, a med area, and assorted other rooms, including the cell, where Jackal now put Elissa.
After some time, Elissa opened her eyes blearily. Her shoulder still throbbed painfully, and she was cold. This wasn’t at all how she imagined the afterlife to be. Where were the angels and clouds? Or fire and brimstone, if that was it?
She wondered where she was, since she seemed to still be as alive as ever. She tried to blink away the confusion, but only succeeded in making the pain worse.
“Hello?” she croaked, her mouth dry.
Crow stood and walked away when she heard Elissa's voice. "Miech!" She called. "Prisoner's awake!"
Dmitri sighed softly, coming down from where he'd been perched on the second story railing, and came over to the cell. He opened the door, looking at her for a long moment. He was wearing a black jacket, no hood, his blonde hair shining in the lights. "You've caused a shit load of trouble, girlie."
“Good,” Elissa responded defiantly. She stared at him with contempt for a moment before deciding to ask what had been troubling her ever since she had woken up. “Where are we? And also, could you kindly get me some bandages or something so that I don’t have to keep this knife in my shoulder?”
"The Den." Dmitri replied. "And yes. I'll have Mags take a look at that. As long as you aren't going to attack her?" He arched an eyebrow. "Because I am perfectly alright with leaving that knife in you, if you're going to attack my medic."