It was the faint scent of iron mixed with smoke that gave him away. It was that smell that gave away every dakini.
Cinnia flowed through the crowd, her nose tucked in her scarf and her hands in the pockets of her dark blue coat. She had been following this particular trail for almost two weeks now. Two weeks of moving from one place to the other, gathering what little information she could get and planning her approach.
Her dark blue eyes darted from one side of the street to the other and back, following the lines of the buildings, searching for an opening as she moved forward. All murders had taken place in an ally off of the main road she was on right now, so he had to be close.
She quickened her pace when the streetlights turned on. She had to hurry if she wanted to be the first.
With every step she took the smell grew stronger, almost causing her to gag at its stench. Then her gaze fell on an opening not too far away at her side of the road. It was small, but distinct. It had to be it.
She acted surprised the moment she rounded the corner and saw his lean figure blocking the way, stopping at the start of the ally. It was a dark ally, litter lying all alongside the walls, closing her in with him.
Tensing her muscles she raised a hand to her scarf, lowering it so her face was uncovered. She felt her hair fall from where it had been tucked in at the base of her neck. Black as the night, it fell just below her shoulders, framing her ghostly pale face evenly on both sides. She swore that she could see a faint flicker in his eyes.
“Excuse me”, she said, delighted at the little tremor she had practiced numerous times and which came out perfectly.
She started walking again, getting closer to him. Little clouds of her breath were drifting upwards.
He stood completely still, following every movement she made with piercing yellow eyes.
She was almost at an arms-length when he lashed out. Before she could blink she was slammed with her back against the wall, a hand clamped around her throat and stars exploding in front of her eyes.
He was towering over her, one hand keeping her in place and the other against the wall next to her, long fingers stroking her hair. Her eyes darted towards his face. He would have looked like any normal human man, were it not for the black mark covering the entire left side of his face that gave away his true identity.
“Well, how lovely indeed the company is this evening”, he murmured.
She looked at him, her face set in the perfect image of a terrified girl.
“S-Sir?” she squeaked, finally meeting his yellow eyes. O, how she loved to play the scared little girl. Seeing that look of power in her opponents eyes always gave her a thrill. It was a pity that it had to stop.
Slowly she eased her face out of its practiced position, flashing him an innocent smile which she knew would unsettle him. His brows drew together, his mouth open in confusion and his hand stopping the twirling of her hair.
“John, John, John”, she cooed, “just look at yourself. What happened?” She raised an eyebrow, feigning interest, not paying attention to his hand growing ever tighter around her throat. “I thought we talked about this.”
A grin spread on his face, giving her a full view of his sharp yellow teeth. Ignoring her question he slowly brought his mouth to her ear. His breath was hot in her neck as he spoke, hissing every word.
“But darling, I haven’t had the pleasure of laying eyes on you ever before.” Cinnia suppressed a shiver when he lingered there, his face too close to hers.
“O, but you have had that pleasure”, she said, her voice steady despite his closeness. She pursed her lips, raising her eyebrows the moment he pulled back. She saw the confusion in his eyes so, unable to retain herself any longer, she raised a hand and placed it in front of the upper half of her face.
“I am sorry to report that I forgot my mask,” she said, lowering her hand again, “but I was sure you would remember me without it, since we had such a passionate discussion last time.” She grinned when she finally saw realisation dawning on his face.
He retracted his hand, releasing her form her pinned position. Jumping back he looked her over, disbelief clear in his eyes.
“Thank you, that is much better,” Cinnia said, making a show of rubbing her now bare throat. She started towards him, confidence showing in every movement she made.
“You wouldn’t kill anyone anymore, remember?” With both hands she reached for the back of her jeans, sliding underneath her shirt and finding their grip on the handles of her two daggers.
“It seems that you have broken that promise”, she said, giving him a pout. Slowly she revealed her weapons, marvelling at the way his face drained of all remaining colour. They were long for daggers, and very thin. With handles clad in a deep blood red and a golden blade. They were her pride and joy.
She bit her lip as she changed, not allowing the pain to show on her face. She felt her bones grow, stretching her already slender form even further as she continued walking towards him. Her hands had changed into long claws and as she flashed him a grin, her teeth had made way for fangs.
She savoured his fear as he took her in. She was now at least as tall as him, meeting his eyes with hers, which, as they always did when she changed, had become entirely black. She liked to think of it as her signature feature, which it apparently was, since John only now realised that it would have been wise to run.
Too bad for him, it was already too late.
With one jump Cinnia was next to him, one dagger already planted in his stomach and the other coming down in his heart. He lips curled up in a smile.
He looked down in disbelief at the two weapons now protruding from his torso as a little stream of blood, as yellow as his teeth, came out of his chest.
“Goodbye John”, she whispered when his eyes met hers again.
Closing out and letting out a groan his body went slack, hanging from the daggers penetrating his skin. Cinnia let go of her weapons, letting John fall to the floor with a silent thud before he could bleed all over her.
She let out a little sigh as she bent over and pulled out her daggers, wiping the yellow one clean on Johns vest, before she put them back in the back of her jeans.
Looking down on his lifeless form she changed back. When she first started hunting she always cleaned up the body. But now, ever since she was caught with a corpse in her hands, she had decided it was better to let the humans deal with it, especially since they were always so eager to find the killer – even if the victim had been one himself.
She swiftly straightened her coat and scarf, tucking her hair back in at her neck before she turned around towards the street. It was still flooded when she emerged and started walking, face once again hidden in her scarf.
It was a clear evening, stars decorating the night sky. It would have been a peaceful sight, were it not for the scream of terror ripping the cold air, encouraging Cinnia to keep on walking and not look back.370Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCN7XJQycqE
*Alright, so this was actually supposed to be a short prologue, but it turned out a bit longer than expected:P
I hope you all like it, since I am already quite excited about this story:)
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