Jay's Story

Jay turned away, quickening his pace as his target lie on the wet ground in an alleyway just east of the club, his throat cut, ear to ear. The man had recently been discovered to be a government whistleblower, and has been snooping around the club for the last two nights. Jay took the man's ID, cash, and watch, and destroyed them. A simple mugging gone wrong, was all the news reports would say.

Jay quickly walked into the club, ignoring the man lying on the floor with a face full of glass. He probably had it coming. Jay found a seat at the end of the bar, looked at Rosa, knocked three times, and held out one finger. She looked at him and nodded, and he made his way in the back. A small envelope lie on the kitchen counter in the back room, simply labelled "J". He opened it, although it had already been opened once, the seal was broken. Odd, the Hawthorne's always seal their envelopes. There was a different colored piece of paper in there also, with an address on it. The usual in there aswell, 250 dollars cash, and an IOU for the remaining 250. He wasn't concerned, the don had never cheated him before, and this was not the first IOU he had received. Although the address concerned him. This was new. It was also across town. 1103 Ledder, 12pm sharp.

A meeting, maybe? He didn't like the idea, and he definitely didn't like the handwriting. it was, unfamiliar to him. Clearly not The Dons' writing. Maybe something to do with this "Nightingale" He'd been hearing so much about. Someone who'd just, drifted into town, and drifted right back out. Soothed the town, even made Jay feel alright. Alright enough to take his mask off and have a drink. He was unsure of what happened to her or where she went, but it was none of his concern.

He made his way out into the bar, and sat quietly at the end of the bar, awaiting an appearance from Bella, or The Don.

Behind the bar is quite a sight. A tall figure, a very tall figure, the eldest son of the Don, Amaranth Hawthorne. He's always been bent on keeping straight. Being something of a people person he's gone on to take the bartender position while business is strained.

"Apologies to enter under such conditions," he says to Faustus while turning towards him. "Our selection is still quite varied."

Rosa walks over and places glasses in the sink then leans over the counter next to a wilted bouquet of flowers.

"Easy to supply where natural talent provides," she says somewhat cryptically as she pokes the vase springing the flowers back to life.

"Yes," Amaranth responds nodding. "What will you have?"

The creaking sound of heavy footsteps can be heard. Coming down from the upper section is the Don's eldest, Belladonna, far from a daisy and daint she has a presence and glare to her that puts a chill down most men's spines, not too unlike her father on a bad day, and there have been many bad days as of late. She steps into the proximity of Jay.

"Don's tied up up with some odd badge, wish this city would get over that Jane." She says as silently as possible to Jay, clearly referring to the Nightingale incident. "But for now, it is me."

"Don's tied up up with some odd badge, wish this city would get over that Jane." She says as silently as possible to Jay, clearly referring to the Nightingale incident. "But for now, it is me."

"Yeah, never seen anything like that. Even had me different. Took my mask off and everything. Anyway, job's done. Mugging gone wrong as far as anyones' concerned. If it is just you, we need to talk, upstairs. something in the envelope was, concerning." Jay wasn't kidding, the envelope had concerned him greatly. He was glad he was dealing with Bella, instead of Rosa. She was easily the prettiest of the two sisters in his opinion, and, unlike Rosa, she valued his opinion on matters of death and destruction. They had both been involved in the trade long enough to know what they were talking about. Not that Rosa was a bad business member, she just wasn't fit to deal with the stuff that Bella deals with. Best to leave killings to the pros'.

Bella looked at him questioningly, seeming to wonder what his sudden problem with the envelope was.

"We'll talk upstairs, I'd rather avoid prying eyes and wandering ears."

"We'll talk upstairs, I'd rather avoid prying eyes and wandering ears."

"Yes, there have been too many," Belladonna says, getting up and heading towards the stairs. "Let us care not to disturb my father's session."

She clearly meant her father's current meeting with the detective. She clearly had some misgivings about this person aside from them being a detective, an uneasiness. As she walks up to a room across from the Don's of the upper floor she turns on a radio, likely to give eavesdroppers trouble.

As they go upstairs Rosa looks on with her head rested on her arm. In her eyes another juicy thing she is barred from by her elder sister. She looks over at Amaranth as he passes a drink on to Curtis

"There have been better days," he says answering Curtis as he begins drying a glass. "But there will always be better ones."

He always had an odd "the glass is half full" outlook, one that young Rosaline can only roll her eyes at.

As Jay followed Bella upstairs, he noticed Rosa staring inquisitively. She must've thought this was something of import, of meaning. It held no real value to the family, rather just to Jay, seeking the advice of an longtime friend.

One the radio was on, Jay sat at a large table, and slipped the address onto the table. "This is my concern. It wasn't sealed, someone opened it and put that there. A setup, maybe. I'm not sure, but I'd appreciate if you could send a grunt along with me, or come yourself, but I wouldn't want to risk you on some suspicious meeting."

Jay spoke with precision, making sure each of his words were understood. In the back of his mind he hoped she would come, he didn't enjoy spending time with the families lackeys, they were unpracticed, careless, untrustworthy, and Bella was much better company.

Jay sat there quietly awaiting her response, his eyes following her every move, not that she'd be able to notice through his mask.

Bella looks at the letter, a twinge of fury in her eyes. She had never had someone slip by her like this and she knows she can't be getting dull. In her mind she surmises that it must have been in that moment she was in with her father. She can't have people taking advantage of them.

"They took a risk, best not to disappoint." she says with a short breath.

As she says this the sound of floorboards come to her ears. It was the man in a dark trench who was talking with her father. A fairly tall man with distinct facial features partially covered by the brim of his hat. He was a former soldier turned private detective carrying with him a reputation for being too stubborn to die.

His deep green eyes set aglow as he lights a cigarette. She does not know how long he had been standing there. The man's presence was disturbing her.

"I get that it is a survival instinct," he says in a gravelly voice.

"What was that?" Bella responds.

"You being so secretive," he says as he blows out a fine stream of smoke. "I'm not your enemy, and I'm not here to bust any kind of operation you got going on."

He turns his back and places a hand on the stair railings. Bella looks on intensively, the man put her at unease, there's no sign of fear in him in their presence, almost as if he saw himself as an equal, or even above them in some manner.

"Oh yeah, something really off about this night, got my scars all itchy'."

With this cryptic warning the detective heads down the stairs and out of the establishment, Rosaline and Amaranth watch as he leaves.

"Who knows, now with Nightingale gone, maybe we'll get back a Parrot or a Lark."

"A parrot singing? We don't want people more agitated." Rosaline jokes back.

"Well, wouldn't hurt to have a new talent." Amaranth admits. "But there was always something... untouched... about that girl, like she wasn't from this world of ours."

Jay was uneasy enough as it was, and now, him. He listened silently, clicking his knife with each word the man spoke.

' "I get that it is a survival instinct," he says in a gravelly voice.

"What was that?" Bella responds.

"You being so secretive," he says as he blows out a fine stream of smoke. "I'm not your enemy, and I'm not here to bust any kind of operation you got going on."

He turns his back and places a hand on the stair railings. Bella looks on intensively, the man put her at unease, there's no sign of fear in him in their presence, almost as if he saw himself as an equal, or even above them in some manner.

"Oh yeah, something really off about this night, got my scars all itchy'."

With this cryptic warning the detective heads down the stairs.'

The man had definitely spooked Jay, but he meant well. Otherwise he'd have been laying on the floor, bleeding out on the rug. This would be interesting indeed, an unknown note, a cryptic warning. He simply looked at Bella, gave her a small nod, and was off. This man needed to be tailed. see where he came from. Jay hopped out of the window as the man made his way to a black luxury vehicle. Definitely someone with some money. seemed like a man that could be bought. He slowly made his way down the fire escape. He was weary to be silent, you could hear a pin drop out here. It was looking like Jay would have to tail him from the rooftops. He made his way up, watching the man take a right turn. He quickly began putting his free-running skills to use, managing to catch up with the car rather quickly. he didn't seem to be heading out of the city which is a definite positive. After around 10 minutes of chasing him, he pulled into an abandoned warehouse and made his way inside. They were out of Hawthorne territory, and into the Rizolli's part of town, which was rather small.

Jay hopped down quickly, and made his way into the warehouse from a small broken window on the back of the building, and followed the mans voice to a small room, only to hear him say "The situation is dealt with." A rotted floorboard squeaked underneath Jay's foot. 'Fuck'.

"It seems we have a guest." Time to go, now. Jay quickly snuck into an adjacent room, making his way out another broken window, cutting his arm on the way out, leaving a small trail of blood across the paking lot and up the roof. Once he was up he once again put his skills to use, making the run in 8 minutes, and quickly dashing into the small room of which he and Bella spoke. "Stitch kit" He spoke plainly as he popped a few oxycontin.

Belladonna gets a first aid and begins by disinfecting the wound.

"A gash, deep but clean... you were in a hurry... you got noticed." She deduces, a marvel of instincts not too unlike her father. She starts to work at closing the wound using the suture kit, something she's become good at... though doubtful she'd make a good nurse.

"What happ-" She was abruptly cut off as a tone plays over the radio, an important message.

"A new victim in a line of brutal ritualistic murders was discovered just now in an alley way. Cause of death? Cubed. You heard me right, he was cut to pieces. Before I got thrown out by the badges I caught a glimpse of the... er... head of the victim... get this: it was Philippe, the youngest son of our favorite neighborhood tyrant. No shocker he'd be offed. However... this gets weirder... the psycho wrote a message in that poor slob's own blood. 'Monster.' The heck does that mean? Whatever the case, they'll be putting Humpty Dumpty back together for a few days so keep an eye out for some missing... pieces. The hell? Seriously, who wrote this? You laughing? Isn't funny.Don't touch me."

The broadcast cuts off. There's a bit of silence, some of the patrons seem suddenly in no big of a hurry to leave. This chain of murders has always been some criminal, big or small. Rumors have started spreading about some vigilante got tired of living in fear... others a bit more fantastical of a rogue angel purging the streets of the impure.

"Hey... isn't he one of them that killed..." Rosaline begins to blurt out before Amaranth casts a glare.

Amaranth pours up another drink for those at the counter. "No charge..." He says quietly, his voice almost cracking. This looks bad for them, real bad, and the last thing they want is another gang war.

Jay sat silently as she closed the cut on his arm.

"A gash, deep but clean... you were in a hurry... you got noticed."

"What happ-" She was abruptly cut off as a tone plays over the radio, an important message.

"A new victim in a line of brutal ritualistic murders was discovered just now in an alley way. Cause of death? Cubed. You heard me right, he was cut to pieces. Before I got thrown out by the badges I caught a glimpse of the... er... head of the victim... get this: it was Philippe, the youngest son of our favorite neighborhood tyrant. No shocker he'd be offed. However... this gets weirder... the psycho wrote a message in that poor slob's own blood. 'Monster.' The heck does that mean? Whatever the case, they'll be putting Humpty Dumpty back together for a few days so keep an eye out for some missing... pieces. The hell? Seriously, who wrote this? You laughing? Isn't funny.Don't touch me."

The message seemed, off. Cubed? Nobody kills like that anymore. It ends up making front page news, and you get caught. Then the media comes into play, and end up digging out your roots, connect you to a family, and then everyone's going away. It seemed this was different, though, they mentioned this wasn't the first one. Jay had to find this guy, and soon.

"We need to find and eliminate the killer."