The sweet smell of her perfume hooked his nose and pulled him further into the shadows of the buildings. Through the alley ways Krin, led by the hand of the beautiful woman in front of him, followed lockstep. Each weaving twist and turn accented by the minxy glance over her shoulder. Her silver locks bouncing with each stride, his heart thundering in his chest as the sinful images of what he wished to do, what he would do echoed in his mind. Every word uttered at the tavern had yet to dispel the notion that hung in his mind, her tone, her phrasing, her challenges. They were all invitations to keep advancing forward. It had been far too long since a woman had been spellbound by his advances. He was tired of paying good yul for a night of pleasure, no, tonight would come free of charge. And it would be a hell of a night. He was going to make sure of it.



All of that said, there was something about her eyes that did not sit right. Sure, they were mystifying, hypnotic and yet at the same time there was something else. Something he couldn’t put his finger on. Something almost familiar about them. Yet it remained just beyond his fingertips as to what. But with just a flash of those darkened orbs and a coy smile it was enough to banish the thought from existence.



“So where are you leading me? Somewhere fun? Somewhere more private? Or you prefer something even more public?” Krin probed with a smile as the muscles in his legs started to burn from the pace they were at. His younger days had become something of the past, the once fit body that he had sported had ebbed away into a gut that was forming just above his belt line. Shirts didn’t fit the same, snug in places where they hadn’t been and his pants screamed at the seams at any little movement. It gnawed at his confidence, his body had once been as solid as a rock, arms like tree trunks, stomach like a washboard and a jaw line that could break granite. All of that had faded, been padded and obfuscated to the nth degree.



“You will see when we get there. I promise, it is a spot you are going to die over.” The woman said with that mischievous tone that had ensnared him so thoroughly. Sure enough, when they arrived at their location just moments later, a large warehouse set along the river. A water wheel groaning as it moved with the current. Insajj hands wrapped around the handle of the large wooden door and gave it a good pull, it annoyingly crying out at being disturbed in the middle of the night. Slipping through the small opening Insajj beckoned to the older man with a pull of her finger before disappearing into the shadows within. Wasting no time Krin slipped inside as well, as he did the door groaned closed leaving the room bathed in shadow, only being accented by the rays of the moon that slipped through the windows set high upon the wall.



Turning back to the woman he felt her hand press firmly on his chest as she backed up against the wall. Her body fit snuggly against his, breath caught in lungs, he could barely contain the shit eating grin upon his face. The ale that coursed through his veins invigorated him with a confidence that too often disappeared in moments like this. Countless new valleys appeared on his face as his excitement was barely contained amongst the meaty flab. “Don’t waste much time, do you?” He asked knowing the answer fully.



“Why waste time when you have exactly what you want in front of you?” She replied as her breath pressed against the side of his neck before climbing up to his ear. Her lovely luscious lips pressed against the salty skin of his neck, sending goosebumps cascading down his neck and across the fields of his skin. As he turned to plant his own lips upon her, the woman spun away playfully just out of his reach. Stalking forward Krin would attempt to ensnare the woman once more only to see her duck his attempt. Another attempt, another escape. Each escape followed quickly by a snicker and a laugh.



“Playing hard to get after all this time?” Krin asked, hints of frustration starting to boil in his voice.



“Just enjoying the moment. You don’t have too many of these opportunities in life. To have exactly what you want, exactly where you want it.” Insajj teased as she retreated back to the edge of a work bench. His butt just pressed against the edge, hands bracing on the table top behind her, eyes inviting Krin in. Seizing upon the opportunity Krin charged forward and pressed his body against her. The warmth radiating off of her only invited him to pursue the conquest further. His lips pressed upon the side of her neck as a low chuckle reverberated in her throat.



“What is it?” he asked, with relenting on the kisses that were planted upon her.



“I am just thinking about how after all this time, you still haven’t realized yet.” The words strange but not enough to dissuade him from his course of action. “Though that is to be expected, after all, you really did prefer keeping your eyes on my sister…” Perplexed he paused for a moment. The heat of the moment beginning to dissipate as he straightened up only to see one of her hands rise to the level of his eyes. There, amongst the crack of light from the fireworks beyond, was a scar upon her hand, stretching from the center of the palm to outer edge of the hand. Eyes wide he barely had time to hear the next word. “…Rhianon.”



With a violent movement Insajj’s free arm shot through the air, hammer in hand, directly at Krin’s skull. The alcohol had dulled his reflexes even further than time had done already. The hammer’s head smashing against his skull, sending a small spray of red mist into the darkened air and a sickening crack with it. Krin instantly felt his knees go weak and his hand barely catch the edge of the table beside him. However, this crutch was quickly snatched away as the hammer fell upon his hand, eliciting a scream of agony as the bones shattered in the top of his hand. Crumpling to the floor, there he was able to see it for the first time. The woman that he was truly dealing with.



“You know, I never forgot that day. When you were trying to show off for my sister.” Insajj stated as she stalked after Krin as he tried desperately to stifle the cries of pain rumbling out. “How you were showing that the knife wasn’t that sharp and that there was nothing to worry about. How you assured us that no one would get hurt.” Desperately Krin rolled to his side and fished for his grimoire that hung from his belt. As he did so the heel of Insajj’s boot came raining down upon his ribs, thud after thud after thud only resulted in gasping air. Snagging book from the man’s hip she tossed it far to the other side of the room. “We don’t need that now. We are just having a simple conversation. After all, you don’t see me going for my grimoire, do you?” The mocking tone was laced with something, something strange. A tinge of something more.



“I-I-Impossible. You are dead…you can’t be here!” Krin screamed back as the room spun on him. The blood was starting to seep down from his hairline, over his eyebrow and into his eye. “You are nothing but a ghost!”



“You are right there. I am a ghost. A ghost that remembers you showing off that little knife trick to me and my sister. A ghost that overheard you talking to my grandmother afterwards. One that even saw her pass you a small bag of yul for your ‘mess up’. Even after my father nearly had your head.” Shimmying backwards across the floor, hand extended he found not a single word coming to his aid.



“Wh-wh…no…no I didn’t do that! That didn’t happen!” Krin stammered out which only drew a wider smile from Insajj. With one swift motion the heel of her boot collided into his jaw, snapping his head back and even sending a couple of teeth skittering across the floor. Circling her prey as he groaned and couched through the bitter iron that was flooding his mouth, Insajj never lost that sick demented smile.



“Now now Krin, we shouldn’t lie now. After all, you wouldn’t call me a liar, would you? I mean after all that would mean that you saw a ghost. A ghost that happened to get the better of you. Who is likely to believe that story now?” A giggle echoed forth into the warehouse as Insajj sank into a squat, finger extending out to trace around the wound from the impact of the hammer. “I spent so much time and effort trying to find you too. You aren’t the only one though. I’ve been looking for so, so many people.” Pressing down her thumb sank deep into the wound drawing forth a primal scream from Krin. “You are but the first.” The delight evident and the fascination nearly all consuming. Out of desperation Krin through a punch at Insajj, one that found purchase to the side of her head and sent her stumbling backwards.



Running on pure adrenaline Krin climbed to his feet and began to limp towards the door. “HELP! SOMEONE HELP! HELP! SHE IS TRYING TO KILL ME! HEL-AHHHH!” His yells cut short suddenly as the hammer drove into the side of his right knee, sending him crumpling to the floor. The hammer head continued to fall and the warehouse was filled with cracks, slams and cries of pain. Insajj mercilessly pounded away, over and over again. And we she was down with his right leg? She began to stomp and butcher his left. Her work did not stop until there was nothing but a mangled mess for a pair of legs left.



“There is no use in crying out by the way. Did you think it a coincidence that I found you on a night that most of the city was celebrating and would be otherwise occupied? I wanted to make sure we had all the alone time that we wanted. That’s what you wanted, right? Someplace where we could go and have a little bit of ‘fun’.” A snicker grew in a depraved cackle as Krin fought to stay conscious. The pain trying desperately to free him from the hell he found himself in. His eyes flickering shut as the world grew dim. “Oh no no. You aren’t allowed to sleep quite yet. We still have some stuff to talk about.” With the words came a loud pop and then a series of cracks. Krin’s eyes flew open as he let out yet another scream. Looking down he could see that his index finger was no longer in a natural position.



“Wh-wh-what do you want?” Krin whimpered as he futilely tried to curl himself into a ball. The smile began to fade from Insajj’s face a bit at the question. Twirling the pilfered hammer in her hand she straightened the man out with flat of her foot.



“I want to hear you say it. I want to hear you say that my grandmother put you up to cutting my hand.” Her words monotone and eyes fierce.



“Sh-she didn’t. I-I-I-It was just an accident! You weren’t suppo-” his words cut off as he erupted into coughing. A firm stomp to the chest the source of the agony.



“What did I tell you about lying? I want to hear you say my grandmother put you up to it.”



“She didn’t!”



“Say it!”



“She didn’t tell me to!”



“SAY IT!” Insajj’s voice boomed as her foot stomped down on his chest over and over again. “SAY IT! SAY IT SAY IT SAY IT SAY IT SAY IT!” Krin tried desperately to curl up, to hide but there was no escaping from her wrath. Her foot fell more and more and his coughing only grew louder until he was finally able to croak out a sentence.



“Sh-she did! She paid me for cutting your hand!” The stomping stopped and Insajj just stared down at the man. “That’s what you wanted to hear, right? Please just let me go. I won’t tell anyone. I promise. Please just let me go and you can go back to being the ghost you were. Please…” Tears rolling down his cheeks, intermixing with the crimson mask that had fully overtaken his face. “…please…” the pleading seemingly failed to find a home as Insajj stood over the shell of a man.



“…was that so hard?” She asked, that sick tone once again returning to her words. Stepping away and out of his field of vision a strange sense of relief began to wash over Krin. She had finally stopped. She was going to him go. She was going to disappear and he would be able to live his life. And once she was far enough away, he would tell the guards, tell the Tuvash’s, tell Insajj’s grandparents that she still drew breath. He just had to make it to the street. That’s all.



But the sound of rattling chains against the stone floor made his heart drop. Lifting his head, he could see the psychopath returning back to him. “Please! Just let me go! I won’t tell no one!” His pleas falling on deaf ears as she firm grabbed hold of his legs and painfully jerked them to the side.



“Don’t worry. I believe you. You won’t tell a single soul of our wonderful time together!” A disgusting pep to her words. Round and round the chain encircled his legs before she tightly fastened it to itself. Dropping his legs, Krin letting out a pained squeak as she did, her hands moved down the links before she gave the length a good yank and then another. It took only two to dislodge Krin from the crimson pool that was forming around him. Streaking across the floor, Insajj dragged the poor fool to the edge of warehouse. Krin tried desperately to fight back but with no working hands, a head wound and bust legs there was not he could muster. The demoness opened a far door to expose the night air to the room. The sky exploded in light as fireworks went off one after another, booming out over the town. Taking the end of the chain she looped it several times through a pair of cinder blocks.



“Please…please you don’t have to do this!” He cried but the only thing he drew was Insajj rising, making her way over to him and then sinking down to place a kiss upon his forehead.



“Krin, it was good seeing you. Don’t feel lonely though. I will be sending others to join you soon enough. It won’t take long. After all, no one expects a ghost from the past.” Rising once more she made her way back to the cinder blocks. “For what its worth, Rhianon did have an eye for you…in some weird twisted fashion…I’ll tell her you said hi!” With that she tossed the cinder blocks into the river, each breaking the surface with a heavy plunk.



“No no no no no no! PLEASE! NO!” The chain links rattled across the ground faster and faster as the cinder blocks fell to their final resting place. Soon all of the slack in the chain was gone and the man was viciously yanked across the floor. His arms flailing behind him hoping to latch onto something but there would be no saving grace. Krin Kross would be ripped clear from the warehouse floor, for mere moments he was airborne before disappearing beneath the dark current of the river.



She stood there silently. Standing there just watching the bubbles ripple up to the surface. The sign of the desperation as the horror of the end set in. But soon those bubbles dwindled and then disappeared into nothing. But that didn’t stop her from staring, she waited to make sure that they had truly ceased and for a time the hint of doubt lingered in her mind. In time she let out a slow exhale and tossed the improvised weapon of her abuse into the current after her target. Turning on her heel, she shut the door of the warehouse behind her and plucked his grimoire from its resting place. Like a shade she slipped from the building and into the night. Off to have one final conversation for the evening.

---

Now trapsing across town even late at night someone is bound to see blood that stained any clothing. That would simply not do, not right now. There did not need to be more bodies on the evening. It was for that reason that her mentor had made sure there was someone close to the warehouse for her to slip into afterwards. A place for her to come rest and clean away any evidence. The price? One grimoire.



The door to the house creaked open as the lantern swayed overhead. A man stood in the door, at first glance he was no one important looking but the more one looked the more you begin to feel his true intentions. This was not a man to leave a loose pouch of yul if you wanted to retain custody of it. “Well well well…look what the cat dragged in. I take it you had a productive evening?” A smug knowing teasing draped across his words. It was hard to misinterpret such a thing. Especially not with her clothing stained with patches of crimson over top.



“Yes. I had a productive conversation.” She answered numbly back. Pushing past the skeevy malcontent in the doorway Insajj disappeared inside and for the first time in days she could feel the tension in her body begin to release. She was finally able to relax. “There was a trail of blood from where I dragged him.”



“Don’t worry about it. The payment you brought bought a clean up crew for mild things like that. Did anyone see you?” The man answered back as he shut the door behind him. “Can’t have the guards or magic knights suddenly kicking in my door. After all, a dangerous fugitive like yourself holding me hostage after forcing your way in. What was I supposed to do?” The words drew a bitter gaze from Insajj as she sank into a chair.



“No one saw me. People are too distracted with the fireworks and drinking to notice me. All they know if some fat old fuck got lucky and went off with a girl from the bar.” Reaching to her side she tossed the grimoire at his feet. “And a dangerous fugitive? I wouldn’t put it past you to sell the knowledge of this crime to the guards just for a little bit of a reward.”



Plucking the grimoire from the ground the man gave it a good dusting with the back of his hand. “Hey now. You should know me better. I wouldn’t sell the information to the guards.” Pausing for a brief moment. “I would have offered it up in exchange for getting out of my own set of problems.” He replied with a snicker which only drew an eyeroll from Insajj. “This grimoire should fetch at least a decent price on the black market. Buncha people would love to have magic back after having their grimoires stripped from them. Will easily cover the cost of cleaning up your little mess and our wonderful accommodations for the evening.”



“Good. I am going to bed. I will talk to you in the morning after I have gotten some sleep.” Rising she went to excuse herself to her room when she paused. “If you try anything funny, and I mean anything, I will bake you in acid and have you join Krin in the river. Is that understood, Varen?”



Raising both his hands in the air innocently Varen smiled. “Scout’s honor.” The words drew a snort from Insajj as she disappeared through the threshold of her room. Only once there did the relief fully drop away. Her hands were shaking and her heart was caught in her throat. The excitement and exhilaration of the entire ordeal still fresh on her mind. Rubbing the two together she sought desperately to stifle it down to nothing but it was hard. It was hard to bear down and silence that giddiness that wound in her chest. It wasn’t just the act performed; she had found her strange fascination with that long ago. No, this extended beyond that.



She had finally set her plan in motion. After years upon years of scheming, of dreaming about getting revenge on everyone in the Tuvash household, it was finally starting. There were so many names on her list. Some petty and small, like Krin today. While others were far bigger targets and require her to amass even more power before striking out. And then finally the day for her grandparents would come, the day of their reckoning would be upon them. But that was not tonight. No tonight was a moment of celebration.



Tonight, she could mark the first name off her list.






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