Whispered Kiss

Bleeding Scries

Paper traveled across the length of Bladen's desk as he shoved the pile away from him with a groan. For the last four hours he had been combing through piles of paperwork for Affinity Black, but his mind refused to focus on the task. He exhaled and maneuvered himself towards the liquor cabinet, it's dark mahogany gleaming in the low light of the desk lamp. He poured his drink of choice and swiped the remote control on his desk, pressed a button and waited while the shutters on his floor-to-ceiling windows opened.

Specks of light spread out like a starry-sky beneath Affinity Black while the Damesville lake mirrored the vibrant full moon above. Some areas of the town beneath were darker than others with most residents already asleep.

His heart yearned to be one of the residents in bed among the many houses in front of him, a wife lying next to him with his arm sprawled over her middle, maybe a baby in the next room or even alone. It didn't matter. He desired to be a simple man with simple human problems. His shoulders where wide but the weight on them where heavy. He was not lucky enough to be born outside of the supernatural limelight.

He breathed deeper. The idea of normalcy was just a far-reached ideal. He could only hope for peace that brought a sense of calm and a lighter load. None of which he could achieve without the needed help. Help which wasn't far out of his reach. All he required laid in a specific house to his right. He knew it well and could find it without searching. His heightened sight helped see far more and further than most. A woman lived in this particular home. A woman new to his employ. Without her he could never have what he sought. In her burned the potential flame of his hope and she wasn't even aware of it.

"Banish the doubt. She's the one." The singular tone punctured the stillness.

Bladen tightened his grip on his glass and brought the glass to his lips. The cool rim dug into his bottom lip as he took a sip of clean whiskey. Again, the wish to be normal, encroached on him. Normal meant to have your own space and make your own decisions but with the shadow lurking behind him, none of it was possible.

"The future is unclear. You might be right, but-"his gaze caught onto movement. He leaned in closer, zoning in on the silhouette perched on the roof of the home where his salvation rested.

At the highest tip of the rooftop, a woman dressed in figure-hugging red leather, caught his eye. She knew his watchful gaze was trained on her and made no pretense of hiding it as she stared back. His eyesight enabled him to see her as if she stood right before him, basked in light. Her bleeding orbs caught his own while her lips pulled into a delirious smirk. The woman dragged the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip and the smirk transgressed into a slasher smile. In those bottomless hellish eyes laid a different type of calculated madness. An stable-insanity he himself found difficult to lay words to. The hairs on the back of his neck rose. His lips tugged into a defensive snarl, one he directed towards his enemy.

"The Bleeding Scries have found her." he breathed through his teeth as the glass in his hand shattered from the force he applied. Blood dripped from his hands onto his shoes, but he felt no more than a sting. He'd be dammed if he allowed those blood suckers to get their grimy hands on her.

"Harm her, and I'll break you." He mouthed the words to the woman atop the roof, a savage promise laced into each word.

"I'm looking forward to it, love." She mouthed back with the same crazed smile. If not for that smile, she would appear beautiful, normal but she was the red widow that threatened to rock his world and all who lived in it until her poison spread and killed them all.

With one last stare-off, she sauntered to the roof's edge and jumped from the two-story building disappearing beneath the blanket of darkness and twinkling lights.

"We must haste with our plan. I shall go to her. Keep watch."

Bladen almost spun around and grabbed the spirit by the neck but refrained. He wanted to go to her. He was solid mass, not the whisper of it long passed. Yet, he did not have the overpowering vote. The mere fact brought him immense displeasure. He gulped back the rage and fighting spirit in him and allowed his legs to turn to led.

He mustered a nod. His partner though just a ghost of the man he once was, had some nasty tricks up his sleeve. Tricks to keep her safe.

"Bladen. Be wary. They prowl by day."

Bladen knew what his partner meant and the ripple effects his words and The Bleeding Scries appearance had for him and for her. Come tomorrow, the plan would escalate, and he would need to be the one to grab onto her before anyone else could. Once he held her in his custody, he wouldn't ever let go. Everything depended on her.