A small droplet of mercury dripped into the hollowed bullet tip and was followed by a hot glue gun, sealing the hole before the bullet slid into the clip of his gun, guided by a hand that could be considered almost albino, as though the flesh had never once seen the sun.

Eyes, hidden behind shades despite the dim lighting of the room, turned to a far less wan person as he walked in the door. Decidedly sensual lips moved as he spoke impatiently, [i:68fe288026]"You got [/i:68fe288026]'the stuff'[i:68fe288026]? Good, 'cause I got less than twenty minutes left,"[/i:68fe288026] he said as the man nodded and held up hypodermic needle, tapping at the fluid in it, in preparation for use. It began to glow with a strange phosphoresence..

[i:68fe288026]"This stuff is gonna kill you one of these days, you know that, right?"[/i:68fe288026] the supplier groused, as the user sat back in his chair, turning his arm to expose the vein and snapping, [i:68fe288026]"Whatever, just do it. Okay? Before it gets bad?"[/i:68fe288026] The needle pressed into his skin, causing him to grit his teeth and brace, knowing what was to come.

Pressure was applied to the plunger and the fluid slid smoothly into the bloodstream, eliciting a gasp of pain as the fingers of the other hand gripped the chair with enough force that they left dents in the wood. Jaws clenched even tighter, the last of the fluid disappeared and the needle came out seconds before his back arched and the convulsions began.

Wasted minutes passed before the spasms stopped and the fast, ragged breathing leveled out, his body relaxing in the chair for a few moments before he stood, [i:68fe288026]"Thanks. See ya later, got a job to do,"[/i:68fe288026] was all he muttered before grabbing his guns, sliding the clip into the last one and strapping the whole thing to his chest before pulling on a long leather overcoat the color of rust.

There was a moment's pause as he stopped at the cabinet near the door, opened it, and took out a small leather belt pack before he turned and grinned, [i:68fe288026]"Just in case,[/i:68fe288026]"he said quietly, and then, with the soft double click of the door, he was gone.

An hour later, at a small table in Club Vitale, a well dressed young gentleman sat, drinking what he considered a very rare vintage. As he enjoyed each sip, he found himself a tad surprised as another man, who appeared several years older, came in dressed like a biker and made a beeline for his table. He raised one elegant eyebrow at the inappropriate attire as the opposite chair was hauled out, flipped around backwards and a decidedly wide rump settled onto it.

[i:68fe288026]"I told you not to come here, you silly boy,"[/i:68fe288026] the natty individual stated, calmly sipping from his glass as the biker glared at him, [i:68fe288026]"Yeah well, I wouldn't have, except I found out that you are as good as ashes, ya know? That dude you drank last night was freakin' Safira's ghoul....." [/i:68fe288026]

Both were unaware, as the discussion continued, that there was a death-like grin from a man who, remarkably, had the skill of reading lips.. This was going to be an easy job, and now he was glad he'd made that last minute grab for the pack. He'd intended a quick walk-in, execution of the commission and a hasty exit, the job being so simplistic but, instead, had found a convenient ladder to the roof and decided to check out the possibilites. Leaping upwards, he'd caught the bottom rung with an unmatched preternatural grace before swarming upward like a monkey.

It hadn't taken him long to spot the target through the trendy skylights of the establishment, nor did it take him more than mere seconds to reach into his pocket and pull out a circular object. Skilled hands applied an adhesive to the bottom of it, then set it on the glass, giving it enough time to stick, before turning it with the unpleasant sound of cutting glass.

Two more turns, and he had a perfect circle removed from the pane, with the patrons below none the wiser, and had started in on a pair of very short fuses, wrapping them carefully, and cutting the wicks down even further before lighting them and simply released the bundle, allowing gravity to take over.

[i:68fe288026]"I'm telling you, you screwed up! Safira herself can't touch you, sure, but I heard she called in Quicksilver!!"[/i:68fe288026] the biker was nearly screaming and slammed his hand onto the table, before his eyes widened in fear as his companion's hand suddenly grabbed his in an unbreakably hard gripe, to still the action. [i:68fe288026]"Quicksilver?"[/i:68fe288026] was the soft, dangerous query as the fashion plate shrug with dismissal. [i:68fe288026]"I've heard he's just another human. I'm hardly impressed if thats the best Safira has to offer,"[/i:68fe288026] reminding his companion of who was in charge here.

He didn't have time to swear when the dynamite neatly dropped into his wineglass. He didn't even have a moment to react, because there was only the slightest glimpse of it. A flash of fire, a sickening feeling of being hit by a train, and his body crumbled into ash, along with that of the biker, their souls screaming all the way to hell.

Quicksilver shook his head, then calmly strode away from the scene, jumping off the roof to land lightly on the balls of his feet in the alleyway, bending slightly at the knees to absorb the shock, then taking a deep breath of the chill night air into his lungs.

Another night, another dollar. Or rather, a whole lot of dollars.

(wow!

((Fantastic! He breathes? Is he human?

All to be revealed in time.

[b:67a3dd87ce][i:67a3dd87ce]Layers[/i:67a3dd87ce][/b:67a3dd87ce]

[i:67a3dd87ce]“Hey, Pete? Wake up! Don’t pass out on me just yet.”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

Pete’s eyes glazed over. He felt strange. His head was pounding, like the blood was thundering through it. He shook his head, sweating dripping from his nose. His eyes focused, but he didn’t understand what he saw.

Everything was upside down, including the figure that showed apparent concern to his condition.

[i:67a3dd87ce]“What’s wrong fat boy? You not suckled from your blood bitch’s tit tonight?”

“What the fuck?”

“Take a good look around Pete.”[/i:67a3dd87ce] The figure spun him around. Making him aware that he was in fact strapped up and dangling by his feet. He couldn’t, for some reason, make out his captor’s face.

[i:67a3dd87ce]“Who are you? Do you know who you’re fucking with?”

“Oh I think you know who I am, Pete. Your friend, Hoffman certainly knew.”

“The Partisan!? Nah man, you’re full of shit. Partisan’s just a rumour. Boogeyman for young Vamp’s.”

“You sure?”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

Pete’s face fell as the blowtorch roared into life. The incandescent light erupting from the nozzle.

[i:67a3dd87ce]“What you gonna do with that? You’re crazy man, they’ll eat you alive.”

“Who will? Who do you work for?”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

Pete went quiet. [i:67a3dd87ce]“I ain’t tellin’ you shit.”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

[i:67a3dd87ce]“Ok.”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

The figure turned Pete around, exposing his back to the attentions of the blowtorch.

[i:67a3dd87ce]“You won’t feel anything at first. The flame’s too hot for your nerves to cope. But you’ll smell it. And then you’ll feel it. Boy you’ll feel it.”

“Fuck you! You’re dead meat!”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

The flame kissed the flabby flesh around Pete’s ass crack, just above the tailbone. The crackling of the skin and the spitting as fat was fried inside made the figure wrinkle his face in disgust.

Pete, briefly, was numb. Then the numbness left him.

He screamed as the heat melted through his skin layer by layer. Then stopped, leaving him sobbing, as the torch was moved away.

[i:67a3dd87ce]“Had enough? I can go on all night if you want, Pete. Or you can talk and I’ll let you go.”

“Anything man, just don’t kill me!”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

Pete thought the figure smiled. But he couldn’t be sure.

[i:67a3dd87ce]“Good. Good boy. Now who do you work for?”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

-----------------

The explosion ripped through the building like a flame through tissue paper. By the time the Fire engines arrived the place was gutted. It took them three hours to douse the flames. Once Forensics had gone inside they found one corpse. A heavily obese male, who upon close examination, had been suspended from wires and hung upside down.

The figure parked the little Copen convertible, dialling a number on his cell.

[i:67a3dd87ce]“Davidtz? It’s Griffin. I have another favour to ask.”[/i:67a3dd87ce]

Quicksilver hung up the phone with a decisive *click* and glanced at the door through the smoky air of the tavern. She knew the routine by now. Five minutes to get here with his payment, thirty seconds after which he'd walk out. The next call Safira would get would be the one to inform her that she had messed up. Badly. But he knew she'd not willingly let him go, in fact, he counted on it.

Problem was, that kind of dependence lead to trouble and it was becoming obvious a change was needed. Especially since pale skinned men in shades, at one in the morning, tended to attract attention. The wrong kind of curiosity that was apparent in the eyes of the patron that was heading his way.

[i:26444751be]"So, whats your story? You some freakin weirdo goth?"[/i:26444751be] A bear of a man, sauntered closer with a bottle in his hand. Quicksilver didn't bother to answer. It was a rhetorical question anyway. [i:26444751be]"I said,"[/i:26444751be] the slurred words got louder,[i:26444751be][b:26444751be] "what's your fuckin' story!"[/i:26444751be][/b:26444751be] When he merely gazed past the beer drinker's shoulder, a hamlike fist flew up through the air, propelled by courage dredged from the alcohol fizzing in his blood.

Without even looking at him, Quicksilver's hand shot out and caught the wrist in a vise like grip. At the man's gasp of shock and pain, a softly whispered, [i:26444751be]"Every story must have a beginning."[/i:26444751be] slipped involuntarily from the human predator's lips and set him to thinking back years, to that very thing.........

****************************

The fourteen year old raged softly, pulling and twisting at the handcuffs that were around his wrists as they manhandled his resisting body off the bus and into the Juvenile detention center. [i:26444751be]"Stop struggling, kid, or you'll get to meet the warden before you've had time to rest and eat,"[/i:26444751be] said one of the officers who clutched his skinny, bared arm in a punishing grip. A disgustingly fat man who had probably never had this much exersize in his entire life.

[i:26444751be]"Hell with it, Joe, lets just take him right over,"[/i:26444751be] the one on his other side piped up, a creepy man who had eyes too large for his head. [i:26444751be]"Its after dark and you know she would welcome him with open arms."[/i:26444751be] The grin he flashed was one of the most evil the teenager had seen in his short, hard life. The senior man grunted in agreement and they changed direction, forcing the boy into an office where a tall, attractive, dark haired woman waited, an arrested expression in her compelling eyes, that boded nothing good to the prisoner.

A quick look that scanned him from head to toe brought out a soft, seductive chuckle before turning to to the two men, [i:26444751be]"Oh, do take off his handcuffs! What are you, barbarians?"[/i:26444751be] she asked acerbically. His cuffs were stripped off expertly and the two guards made a hasty exit leaving him alone with the so called warden, if that's what she really was.

Still dazed by the velvet of her voice he raised his head to find that she was practically right on top of him, and then (much to her astonishment) the boy reacted with an instinctive fight or flight as she caught a right fist to the side of her cheek, then a foot to her abdomen as he backflipped onto her desk top.

It barely phased her.

A low purr sounded from her throat as she laughed, then remarked, [i:26444751be]"Oh, how spunky you are,"[/i:26444751be] and a macabre grin spread across a face that suddenly melted from gently smiling beauty to a death's head with greyed skin stretched taut across the bones. His stomach lurched and sent a tight, burning sensation to his entire chest as her canines became something he had only seen in the movies. Long, sharp, and pointy. [i:26444751be]"All the better for me, as I prefer my prey, shall we say, active."[/i:26444751be] A long snake-like tongue licked rubbery lips. He looked back up into hellish eyes that drew him in, drowning him and his rebellion.

He woke what seemed moments later, dizzy and weakened, sitting in a chair and wondering how he'd gotten there. The last thing he remembered was being outside and struggling against the guards. A black haired, female marshal was reading from a file, [i:26444751be]"Ah, interesting name, Mister Ashe Black. Someone's parents had a sense of humor, but it seems that your violent behavior wasn't taken with the same sort of amusement,"[/i:26444751be] she said, turning a burning looking upon him, [i:26444751be]"Seems we'll be very good friends for the next two years, young man. Cell sixteen."[/i:26444751be] She snapped the instructions at the two who stood at ease at his back.

The guards, grinning at each other, lifted him by the arms, pausing as she spoke, [i:26444751be]"Don't touch him for a day or so,"[/i:26444751be] she warned, and the guards, looking disappointed, dragged him to his cell. Thrown uncerimoniously onto a cot, he quickly sank into a deep slumber. [i:26444751be]"Wake up,"[/i:26444751be] said a strangely comforting voice in his dream, and then.....and then the dream turned to screaming. Eyes opened, and the world of light was pain.

****************************

The beefy man's shrieks brought him out of his momentary reverie. Quick had, unknowingly, crushed his wrist in a grip that no one would have been able to break. Terrified onlookers, frozen by the spectacle of a seemingly sadistic, heartless man in sunglasses, could only stare in helplessness.

[i:26444751be]"Hmmph,"[/i:26444751be] Quicksilver muttered, seeing Safira standing in the doorway, an amused grin on her face as he tossed the larger individual aside as though he were nothing more than a child's rag doll. He strode to meet her before she could advance further, grabbed her by the arm and steered them both out the door before anyone thought to alert the authorities. He wanted to be well away from trouble when that pot of scorpions began to boil over.

[quote:400af43ccd="Quicksilver"]He wanted to be well away from trouble when that pot of scorpions began to boil over.[/quote:400af43ccd]

(OOC: Nice, very fucking nice. Please continue.)

Quicksilver studied Safira for a moment before he reached for the suitcase in her hand. The woman in front of him was of a slight build with purple hair, which on any other woman, would have been hideous but actually complimented the cream colored business suit she had squeezed into. Her blue eyes, the color of a serenely vast ocean, [b:7309f788e6]seemed[/b:7309f788e6] devoid of intelligence but was frighteningly aware of everything. He'd seen the odd flashes of cunning she thought he was unaware of and he'd have planted himself between those inviting thighs in a heartbeat if it weren't for the fact that she was a bloodsucking bitch of the evening.

There was the soft *clack, clack* of latches as he opened the grip and began examining what was inside, for good measure. Not that he believed Safira would ever try to cheat him, as he knew she was much smarter than that, but it was still good form to keep the client intimidated. [i:7309f788e6]"You always do that, you should know by..."[/i:7309f788e6] she groused, only to be cut off abruptly, as her eyes suddenly crossed, when she stared down the barrel of one of Quick's guns. [i:7309f788e6]"Questioning my business practices is bad for your health, Safira,"[/i:7309f788e6] he said in a flat tone, as he turned a calculating gaze away from his money to stare directly at her. "You should know that by now." he parodied.

Not for the first time, Safira found herself speared by a pool of lust, low in her belly, at the timbre of his voice. One part fear, one part primal, animalistic attraction and one part hot blooded rage! Still, she masked all as she tentatively reopend her conversation. [i:7309f788e6]"You know, it might be good for business if you'd listen to another proposition of mine..."[/i:7309f788e6] she tempted but slammed to a halt on a soft gulp of air when the hammer on the gun deliberately clicked back. A slow hiss warned her, [i:7309f788e6]"If your business proposition, [b:7309f788e6]this time[/b:7309f788e6], is what I think it is, I don't suggest you finish."[/i:7309f788e6] It was no secret what Safira wanted from him.

[i:7309f788e6]"No, no, nothing like that, I have another job for you..."[/i:7309f788e6] her words, drenched in fear and her eyes widened impossibly large, shot back like rapid-fire bullets, [i:7309f788e6]"I thought it better to talk with you now, rather than wait to get in touch with you again."[/i:7309f788e6] Having once before seen the devastation of what the rounds kept in his guns could do, she had no desire to see a repeat demonstration tonight. On herself. [i:7309f788e6]"I want you to hit the Razor Club,"[/i:7309f788e6] she blurted out, causing Quick to turn and look at her.

There was a momentary, terrifying expression on his face before he dropped the suitcase, and then, with a speed that rivaled a werewolf... grabbed a hold of her throat, ramming her into the brick wall at her back, exercising some of the unnatural strength he was both blessed and cursed with, before pressing the barrel of his gun into her right eye. [i:7309f788e6][b:7309f788e6]"Do you think I'm fucking stupid?!?!"[/i:7309f788e6][/b:7309f788e6] he raged, not bothering to disguise the momentary loss of control.

Then he went glacial as he calmed to a cold venomous contempt, [i:7309f788e6]"Club Razor is the prince's private playground. He's got half the court there. And you expect me to just walk in and start shooting?"[/i:7309f788e6] He steadied his breathing and fixed her with a malevolent glare. Safira gave a mewling whimper and it seemed to satisfy his need for the truth because he lowered the gun and caressed her throat with it. His voice turned light as he whispered, [i:7309f788e6]"You'd better have the money for this one Safira. because I'm going to be wanting six hundred thousand.....and not a dime less..."[/i:7309f788e6] he finished, before releasing her, to crumple at his feet.

He picked up the case, holstering the gun, then turned his back and started away. As if daring her to try something, anything. Ten feet away, he stopped and turned burning eyes back toward her as she picked herself up from the dirt. [i:7309f788e6]"Oh, and Safira?"[/i:7309f788e6] it was more of an afterthought than a query, [i:7309f788e6]"If this is a trap, I'll personally drive you to the desert and stake you there. Then I'll watch as you sunscorch. Starting with your toes."[/i:7309f788e6]

The quiet promise rolled like a blast of thunder through her mind as he strode away and she grasped the opportunity to hurled her invective at his retreating form, [i:7309f788e6]"Deny it if you want, Quicksilver, but you're nothing more than just another murderer!"[/i:7309f788e6] She started to shake as the enormity of her blunder dawned on her. Relief cascaded within when his reply calmly drifted back to her, [i:7309f788e6]"Yes Safira, and you, my dear hellion, are just another person looking to hire one. Which one of us, I wonder, is more the monster then?"[/i:7309f788e6]

btw, welcome to the thread Griffin. And thanks for the complements guys, much apreciated.