A Little Too Much

The next day Mavis jumped up from her bed, ready to go. She got dressed in the gear she had picked out. She laced up the boots she had bought in the shop and strapped her sword sheath on her waist. She walked to her bathroom and eyed herself in the mirror. She was pleased with how it fit snugly against her form. She stared at her hair for a minute before scoffing. She really needed to find something to pull her hair back at least. She walked out of the bathroom and heard a knock on her door. She turned and walked briskly over to the front door. She opened it and found Knox standing there, arm resting against the door frame. He grinned at her, giving a quick wink.

“You ready to go?” He asked her. He was dressed differently this time, dressed in a long sleeve shirt with padding on the elbows. He had a similar leather vest on with two dagger strapped to his sides. He had a hood attached to his shirt. His legs were covered by leather pants and a pair of leather boots to match.

“Yep! I was trying to find something to pull my hair back but I don’t have much yet.” She shrugged and stepped out of her house, locking the door behind her and shoving the keys into a small pocket at her side.

“Well we can grab something while we are out. Let’s get some breakfast first and we can talk about our job.” He gestured for her to follow him.

“They have restaurants here?” She asked. She had yet to see one but she could have overlooked them.

“Of course! People gotta eat. Especially when no one wants to cook. I know the perfect place to go. I think you’ll love it.” He looked back at her with a big smile.

“With your tastes, I have no doubts.” She laughed.

“Whats that supposed to mean?” He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged, placing her hands behind her back with a sly smile on her lips. “Nothing at all. Just saying.” She walked past him, giving her own wink. What the heck was she doing? She didn’t know but it made her feel a bit giddy.

They walked together until they came up on rows of shops. A few were restaurants, the fronts painted bright with signs showing what kind of foods they served. Know walked to one that was a peach color with a mug of hot liquid painted on one of the windows. He walked inside, pushing the door open for Mavis to walk in. It was kind of small, with booths lined up against the windows facing outside. A bar sat a few feet away. A few people sat in the booths drinking coffee and eating various foods.

“We’ll be right with ya hun!” A plump woman called out as she was pouring drinks in clear glasses.

Knox sat down at a booth away from the other patrons. He unzipped his vest and pulled out a folder and set it on the wooden surface of the table. “This is all the information we have on our target. We lives close here. Our task is just surveillance, nothing more.” He told her, pausing as the waitress walked over to them. Her tan skin glittered with gold specks as she placed down two waters in front of them, along with paper menus.

“What can I get started for you both, or do you need a few minutes?” She asked, looking at them both. Her hair was like a sunset and came in short curls just below her ears.

“I know what I want.” Know folded his hand in front of him. “I’ll take a stack of pancakes and some hash.”

“Do you want a specific flavor or just plain?” The woman asked him, scribbling his order down on a notepad.

“Na, plain is fine for me.” He smiled at her, receiving a flustered smile back.

Mavis took a quick look at the menu before settling on an omelet. “I’ll take an omelet with everything on it.” She told her, looking up with her own pleasant smile.

“Can do. I’ll get these out to you both as soon as its done.” She smiled again before walking away.

Knox waited a moment before opening the folder. “He lives close to the middle layer of the city, where he sneaks in and causes trouble. We are not sure what he has been up to, we just got a tip that he has been doing some rather strange things.” He sat back.

“I was going to ask what he is suspected of doing. But I’m guessing that’s why we are going to be watching him.” She pulled the file over and took a good look at the man. He looked like an average joe, messy brown hair with glasses on his face. “He looks so normal.” She commented, resting her cheek up against her hand.

“The worst people tend to look normal. So anyone could be doing some pretty bad things behind closed doors.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“What do you define as bad? I’m just curious.” she asked him, closing the file as someone walked past them.

“Well, murder, cannabilsm, enslavement. There are some others but we look for those basically.”

“Cannibalism? You’ve had that happen?” She asked, her face scrunching in disgust.

“Oh yeah. It was pretty gross too. It was a butcher and he-”

“No, don't tell me. I really don't want to know the details before we eat Knox.” She had put her hand up to stop him from talking. He laughed at her expression.

“Oh alright. With this job, you’ll get used to all sorts of things, even if it means discussing it while eating.” He leaned forward and took his drink and took a sip.

“Well I’m not there yet. So give my stomach a break.” She put a hand up to her mouth like she was going to gag just thinking about what he was going to say.

~

Their food was delivered swiftly and they quickly ate it down. Mavis was like a vacuum, barely having time to taste the food she had been giving. She sat back, feeling full and sleepy with how much she consumed. Knox had gotten a large stack of pancakes and scarfed every single one plus the shredded fried potatoes he had gotten as a side.

When they finished they left their money and went on their way. Mavis had pulled out her map to look at it. Knox pointed out several places of interest there, most were portals to get around easier especially when she got started on missions.

They grew closer to the next level of the city, a large gate rising up in the middle of the wall. It was open and people were coming in and out of it. The roads were smoother and the buildings just inside were more modern, like a small urban city. Knox turned down a side street, and headed towards the more clustered houses there.

“What yourself around here.” He told her just above a whisper as he pulled his hood up over his head.

Mavis nodded her head and followed, keeping an eye on her surroundings as they turned this way and that, going to their targets location. The buildings varied in sizes and styles, like they had been plucked from different periods of time and placed next to different ones, like a child trying to find a way to make a make believe city with colored and warped blocks.

Knox stopped when they came to a more open street. There were only a few people walking along. Some where just sitting in front of doorways. The cobblestone path was covered in dirt, and various pieces of trash. He crouched and nodded to a taller building with a jutting top floor that had beams keeping the small bit up. A window sat there in the wall, a bit dirty but clear. A sickly figure could be seen inside, doing something. From the angle they were at it was near impossible to get a real good look at what he could be doing. His face was paler than the photo of him. His cheeks were sunken in and his eyes were dark. A grin spread over his face as he laughed at something. He turned away from the window, disappearing from sight.

“He looks different from his photo..” Mavis whispered to Knox. He nodded his head, his face looking grim.

“We should hurry up and report this…I thought this was going to be an all day thing but from the looks of it…” Knox gritted his teeth and looked at Mavis. “He’s becoming one of the Soulless.”

Mavis’s eyes widened and looked back at the house. “Are you sure? He could just be sick…”

“No. There are several signs in becoming one of those creatures…pale skin and hollow eyes is one. But they begin to transform into something else. Muscle mass changed, teeth become sharper. They literally lose anything that makes them human.” He started to back away slowly.

A shrill scream reached their ears, coming from the building next to their targets home. People on the street quickly scattered as more screams could be heard.

“Knox, we need to do something.” Mavis told him, her eyes glued to the house, her hand already reaching for her short sword.

“WE can’t. Our job was only to monitor his actions.” He grabbed her arm trying to persuade her to move away but she didn’t budge.

“...if you had the chance to save someone when its presented to you…would you let them die just because someone told you just to ‘monitor’?” she looked at him, her expression determined. “Because I can’t stand by and listen to it. If you don’t want to come, then don’t. If I get in trouble for acting over my authority, so be it.” She stood up and shook off his hand and rushed the building.

Knox stood there for a minute, mesmerized. He shook his head with a heavy sigh. He knew she was right. He also knew they would both get in a lot of trouble for this. He drew with duel blades and raced after her

Mavis kicked the door in with a grunt, and hurried inside the house. She could hear someone upstairs crying, pleading.

“Please…please don’t hurt him anymore! We haven’t done anything wrong…please..”

Anger boiled up inside Mavis and she quietly crept up the stairs and peeked around the corner at the top landing. There were three people there, a woman who hands had been tied up. Blood was splattered across the front of her dress. She got a good look at the other victim. He was being held in a choke hold, struggling to get free. The front of his shirt was ripped to shreds by deep claw marks. Their target was licking his flaky lips, his black eyes looking hungry as he ran sharp nails across the mans already bloody chest.

“Oh please…plead with me some more…its making me even hungrier!” He laughed, his voice breaking up as he did.

The woman was thrown into another crying fit.

Mavis felt knox next to her. She looked at him, and he just nodded at her. She turned back around and stepped out to confront the creature. “Hey you! Why don’t you pick someone with a stronger soul.” She shouted, pulling her short sword out and getting in a stance.

It looked up, opening its mouth which was full of dozens of sharp teeth. There were two fangs that extended. It growled and dropped the man in his arms. “Oh I like a challenge” It growled, stepping over the man. “Once I eat your soul, I will enjoy carving up these meat bags as I take theirs too.”

“Over my dead body.” She glared at it as it stepped forward. The clothes it had on looked like a child wearing their parents clothes, baggy and slipping off their body. It leaped at her with a shriek, a butcher knife in its clawed hand.

Mavis met the blade easily with her own blade. He pushed it down with his inhuman strength, making Mavis grunt with the strain. She gritted her teeth and pushed it off her, before leaping after it quickly and slashing with her sword.

Knox came from around the corner and raced to the woman. He cut her binds and they both rushed to her husband and dragged him away from the fighting. The creature shrieked again, angry that its meal was being dragged away. It leaped at the three, but dropped to the ground with a painful thud as Mavis had swiped her sword up, catching the creature in the side. Black goo sizzled on her blade. It speckled the floor and pooled around the creature as it stood back up and turned to her again.

“Eyes on me monster.” She kept an eyes on it as it stalked towards her, mouth salivating profusely.

“I think I will wound you..then let you watch me eat all three of them, those delicious souls and your partner…the Scarlet Widows will regret trying to get rid of me.” It grew closer to her, its hair falling off with every movement.

Mavis took a step back every time it stepped forward until she felt her feet hit the wall. She turned her head to see the window there. She cursed herself for not realizing where she backing into. Looking back at it as its haunches tensing up. She stood on her toes in anticipation. It leaped at her, claws extended. She ducked and rolled out of its ways as its body smashed against the window.

It broke the window but didn’t fall out like she had been hoping. She turned as it shrieked at her, glass sticking up from where it had hit the window. “I believe this is your exit.” She ran towards it, bringing her sword against her side as she rammed into it, letting her blade slid forward into its abdomen as they both were sent out the window.

It shrieked and thrashed, their bodies turning over as she hit the ground instead of the Soulless. It knocked the wind out of her and her head hit the ground hard, sending randow swirls into her vision. She gasped, trying to regain her breath as the beast thrashed on her sword. It sank it talons into her shoulder in rage which made Mavis cry out in pain. She pushed her arms up, still griping the sword and twisted it. She heard it scream and pull back off the blade.

Mavis’s vision slowly came back, and looked up at the window. It was like a trigger in her brain was pulled. She found herself thrust into a memory, where she was laying on the ground, her eyes looking at the burning apartment building she had been thrown out of. She could hear her name being called, but it felt distant. A figure came into her vision, it was someone she had worked for. His peppered hair combed neatly. He pulled a gun on her.

“You should have stayed out of this…maybe your parents would still be alive.” He grinned wickedly before he pulled the trigger.

She was brought back by another pain in her side. She gasped and sat up quickly, using her sword to swipe at what had attached itself to her. She felt the blade cut through something hard but the pain ebbed to a dull throb. Something dropped next to her but she really couldn’t tell in the moment what it was.

Her head was throbbing, her chest pounding and tightening up. Her entire body hurt but felt numb at the same time. She tried to stand up, the memory still swirling around her head, replaying the event over and over again like a bad movie scene.

“Mavis!” Knox yelled and he came over, but he stopped when he noticed something was off. Her eyes were different, glowing violet. A strange sensation washed over him, the need to run from her. He pushed the feeling away and stepped closer, reaching out to her. “Mavis are you okay?” He asked

“Don’t touch me!” She yelled, her hand dropping the sword as she stood up shakily. “Don’t…don’t touch…” She whispered. She backed away from him, her back hitting the front of the building.

The scene of the man standing above her pulling the trigger played again. It felt like it was happening all over again. She put her hands on her head and screamed, dropping to her knees.

“No!” She screamed again. This time, it was like an energy erupted out of her. It swirled in violet sparks, like electricity. It erupted out of her back, shredding the fabric of her shirt and sending deep cuts in the stone, making some parts crumble away to the ground.

Knox hadn’t moved from his spot the entire time. It was like a hand on his chest keeping him from moving. The moment the sparks dissipated and Mavis dropped to the ground was he able to move again. “Holy shit…” He cautious walked over to her. The first thing he noticed was the back of her shirt had been torn open, showing her skin and a strange marking where skin had been revealed. He rolled her over, pulling her head into his lap. Her face was smeared with dirt and tears. Her shoulder was bleeding along with her side. “This is why we don’t give newbies dangerous tasks…” He sighed and put a hand on her face.

“Knox..” A voice behind him made him jump, his head turning to look at the white hair woman standing behind him.

“Damn it Ash, can you be more noisy when you come up on someone?” He rolled his eyes.

“What the hell happened? You were told not to engage the target.” The woman told him, kicking the decapitated head of the creature.

“I know…But we had to intervene. He was fixing to make a full transformation, and devour souls.” He paused with another sigh. “I’ll take the blame anyway.”

“...did she kill it?” Ash asked him.

“Yeah she did…it got her pretty good though. Go call the clean up team. Don’t need anyone touching the corpse without proper gear. I’ll take her back home and get her patched up.” He pulled her into his arms and stood up with a grunt.

“Just take her to the Guild. It’s closer, and plus…” Ash looked at him again, her red eyes narrowing. “You will BOTH have to answer for disobeying orders.”

“Oh come on…” He groaned like a child. “Fine then, just clean this mess up and send a doctor to look at one of the civilians.” He walked off, adjusting Mavis in his arms. “What a day…”