petrichor [rosalie hale]

lvi. garrett and kate

"So, we came all this way and your plan is literally to just wander dark alleyways until you catch this dude having a snack?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Kiara almost snorted at how stupid it sounded. She already was doubting the plan that the three vampires had concocted during their journey, but just questioning it out loud really helped her point.

Rosalie rolled her eyes, looking at Beverly who simply shrugged sheepishly. The older Hale sister had even gone as far as telling Kiara that had she not been Rosalie's mate, she would have thrown her out the car half-way through the trip and left her to the wilderness. Who knew that Kiara Black could be more annoying than a ten year old on a road trip?

At least they were out the car now and in the process of tracking down Garrett. In an ideal world, Alice would have been able to almost tell them the exact time and location to find the vampire - but as Kiara had long came to realise, this was not an ideal world and Alice wasn't answering her phone for some reason.

"Look, Kiara, I know this isn't your ideal plan, but we have to trust our instincts on this one. Garrett is a slippery one, and if we want any chance of finding him, we have to be patient," Beverly snapped after a moment, getting annoyed with the small mutters coming from the much younger girl.

Kiara gritted her teeth, feeling the tension rise between them as they continued down the dimly lit alleyway. The dense shadows seemed to swallow the faint streetlights, casting an eerie glow that made Kiara's wolf senses tingle with unease. She couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched, a prickling sensation that crawled down her spine.

As they rounded a corner, a low growl rumbled from the darkness ahead. Kiara's muscles tensed, her instincts urging her to protect her friends. Rosalie's hand shot out, halting Kiara in her tracks as she grabbed on to the hood of the fleece jacket that she'd thrown on once they stepped into the colder Chicago air.

"Looks like we found our boy," Emmett said coolly, a smirk playing on his lips. Kiara bristled at the casual way he referred to the situation, especially from the idea of Garrett that she had in her head from their road-trip conversations.

Kiara bristled as they stepped closer towards one dark alley, hearing pained grunts and groans mixed in with a few low chuckles of amusement. Everything in her nature told her to shift, to lunge into the alley and rush to the aid of the human that was crying out for help. Emmett grabbed her forearm, pushing her backwards a little and into Rosalie's side with a warning glance.

Right, she thought. Control yourself, Kie.

The scent of blood was now stronger, its metallic tang carried on the cold Chicago wind and hitting her nostrils. It nearly made her lose control right then.

"We can't just stand here and do nothing," Kiara muttered, her fists clenching at her sides. "Garrett is...he's..."

"Murdering someone," Emmett finished bluntly. His gaze remained steady on the dark alley entrance. He wasn't as affected by it as Kiara was, but she could see the tension in his posture; although she wasn't sure if it was because of her instead of the scene happening moments away from them.

The light shifted as a car drove past the other end of the alley, suddenly highlighting the very man before their eyes. Garrett was huddled over a figure, his back to them. His chuckles filled the alleyway with an icy laughter that made Kiara shudder.

Kiara couldn't help but growl at the sight of him. The entire situation felt wrong and she hated it. She hated how he was treating a human life as nothing more than a plaything, how he seemed to revel in it all. She took a deep breath in as the three vampires turned to send her one more warning look, and Rosalie's words echoed in her head about them picking off bad people - and she just hoped that Garrett still stuck to that policy.