stirlinghaven | jensoo

III: killer unmasked

ruby is almost certain that her heart will stop at any moment if it continues to beat at its current rate. each thud against her chest quickened her breathing. she feels an unpleasant feeling start to build up as her hands sweat profusely.

she made no attempt to conceal her gaze as she followed jisoo's every move. she was baffled by her presence but she couldn't deny the fact that the woman sitting in front of her is quite stunning.

an enigma is what she is. her eyes were commanding, her gaze held something powerful that pierced through ruby, making her shuffle through all her fears and every bad thing she did in life like playing cards, with jisoo as the dealer who ran the game.

her lips curled into a tremendous smirk that stole ruby's breath. jisoo knew the young one was marveled by her appearance.

it was her face.. no it's everything.
her stare that is so intimidating, the way she moves like she aims to hypnotize everyone in the room and how she manages to terrify ruby by doing so little at all.

"i'm sorry if i scared you." the woman said with a coy smile. "i'm a journalist. i know your father and i'm writing a piece about him."

ruby had a skeptic look on her face.

she may be young, but she knows that journalists should be dressed in a way that does not draw attention to themselves. they don't go around in black hoods, sitting in a dark corner of a tavern looking for stories.

"for a journalist, you sure do know how to blend with a crowd." a caustic remark from ruby as she gestured towards the hood that still clung to the woman's shoulder.

"it serves a purpose, to instill fear, and it works most of the time," jisoo replied in the same tone, tilting her head to the seat across from ruby. "do you mind?"

ruby, in spite of fear searing under her skin, shakes her head with a proper smile. "please, i wouldn't mind some company."

jisoo slid into the seat and graciously disregarded the hood.

"were you afraid?" she asked, concerned. as much as she enjoyed scaring people, ruby's expression earlier indicated that she went a little too far with her tricks.

she can't have her running away.

"no," the youngster replied quickly. "how did you come to know my father?"

"he's a respectable man, and i guess you could say i'm a fan of his," the woman replied, her smirk ceaseless.

it didn't answer her question but ruby left it at that. she's known to be loud and intrusive.. maybe even offensive on some days. these traits she can't seem to grow out of.

but everything she is and everything she stood for suddenly meant nothing now. she couldn't be anything but well-behaved in front of jisoo.

"what's a kid like you doing in a place like this?" jisoo tilts her head to the side, carefully scrutinizing the youngster.

why is this woman staring at her like she's some kind of prey?

ruby felt her throat ran dry as she forced a reply, "what are you doing in a place like this?"

"the same reason as everyone else, to drink, eat, and, of course, to hear the latest town gossip," jisoo flashed a meaningful grin, running the tip of her tongue to the corner of her lips.

"then you know about the missing girls." it wasn't a question from ruby. it was a statement. because, if the woman is a journalist, as she claims, she should know.