[DFM]

Saint Sinner



Embarrassing author's note:

So awhile back we got the Odius Chalice from Pisha and I totally said it was a cup but I actually looked at it for the first time and it's totally not a cup at all it's this fucking mollusk looking thing so we're going to just go on like I'd always said it was like that and maybe Helen made a hilarious quip about how it looked like a mollusk.







The Sin Bin's just down the street from Velvet's club, fairly good vantage point for noting who's going into or coming out of Vesuvius. I hadn't expected Velour to blow such a gasket when I offered to burn the place to the ground. Rile her a little, sure, that was the point, but... I wasn't expecting that.

She could have just been playing an angle, but I can't imagine why. It's been decades since anyone appealed to my sympathies and I've never been known as particularly charitable.

There's something wrong with her, something I can't put my finger on. Well, I can put my finger on a lot of things that are wrong with her, but I can't figure out what they add up to.

Whatever her reasons, whatever her game, I'll play it for now. In and out of the target zone, no mess, no witnesses, no disgusting euphanisms.



Great, I fucking love mannequins.



It'd help if there was a back entrance, but I'll have to work with what I've got. At least the actual hit should be easy enough, walk in and... pretend to be a customer? Keep my eyes on the floor? Blow a fake robbery and kill the hunter on accident? Start munching on someone's neck and get the hunter to chase me into the sewers?

How about stroll through the front doors and stand out from the crowd like Hitler at a bar mitzvah?



I am the greatest assassin the world has ever known.



The Sin Bin isn't a club so much as a one stop porn house. It's grimy, soiled and most of the stock is in disarray. Even the air feels dirty.



That's got to lead to Chastity, hopefully not too crowded. I walk past the front counter and the clerk seems more interested in his computer than someone walking through the door and there's no one else in sight, so hopefully there isn't going to be an accurate police sketch on the evening news.


Then again, I'm not really trying to avoid the cops.



I slip down the stairs as quietly as I can, and for the first time I actually think about what I'm doing. I've killed people before. Most of them had no idea what they were up against, got caught off guard, surprised... dead before I ever pulled a trigger. Some of them knew what I was, knew what I could do but they couldn't measure up when their backs were against the wall.

But, I've never been up against anything that existed for no other reason than to kill me.


An honest to god, Vatican bred, vampire hunter.



Take it easy, first thing's first. If the Hunter's undercover, she'll be dancing in one of the peepshow booths. The stage probably runs right into the employees only door, probable obstacles include disgusting old men drooling at the windows and other dancers working with the Hunter.

Quickest way to get rid of the patrons would be to dam their flow of low class breasts. Most places like this have some kind of last call lockdown in the computer systems, if I can get into the computer system I should be able to activate it.



My best shot at that would be in here. Hopefully it isn't occupied.



I slip inside and close the door behind me. The manager's office is a little spartan, but it's cleaner than the rest of this hovel.



Alright, let's see. Probably not a rocket scientist using this thing so the password shouldn't be too hard to guess. Sin Bin. Sin Bin. Sinnnnn Bin. Hmm.



Beautiful.





There's a beeping from the machine as the peepshow windows lock shut. Patrons are groaning outside and it isn't long before I hear doors slamming and feet shuffling.



I wait just inside the office door until I can't hear anything moving.



Nothing in the hallway, but now that I'm outside I can hear people in the next room. Has to be the dancers. Hopefully I can sweet talk them into clearing out for a bit.



Just one. Black hair, can't be the hunter.


Shouldn't be the hunter.



"Hey, what... uh..." She's confused for a moment. "...can I help you?"

"Maybe. I'm looking for someone, blonde on top, broken heart tattoo on their back? Your manager said she worked here."

"Oh, yeah. That's Chastity, she's on the stage back there. Flynn closed down the shows early tonight so you probably just caught her in time."

Alright, positive ID on the target. Now I've just got to clear the bomb site. Preferably without twisting her brain into a mobius strip.

"Than you, I..." Wasn't there a sitting room back there, just off the hallway? "...I think I'd actually rather spend time with you, if that's alright."

She raises an eyebrow and looks me over, confused. Probably scanning for some kind of glaring flaw she missed the first time.

"Um... alright, sure. There's a room down the hall, but... I mean, it isn't free..."

I smile at her and pretend to admire her grimy figure.

"Obviously not. Could you... wait there for me? I need to stop by the ATM."

"Yeah... yeah, sure."

She puts her cigarette out in the ashtray by the water cooler and leaves the room, looking at me again before closing the door behind her.

Probably could have done without her getting such a clear picture of the last person seen with the victim, but at least she's gone. I glance around the empty break room, more out of idleness than anything. I don't know what to do now. Velour said she wanted it done quietly, so I can't just walk onto the stage and blast her with a forty four. I don't really want to get close to her since I've no idea what to expect and Nines wasn't kidding when said I didn't know anything about how to handle a brawl. The knife in my shoe wasn't anything but a desperate last resort.

I look around the room again and notice something sticking out of a pile of clothes in the corner. I bend down and pull away the shirt its hiding under.



Talk about lucky. Not only do I have a quick, quiet way to take down the hunter, it's one less weapon they've got on their person. Not that I know how many still are, but it's one less.



The bow's already drawn, bolt loaded into place. Only one shot, but it's enough. Assuming I've still got the element of surprise, which I'm almost certain I do. Still...

I clutch the crossbow and concentrate, my skin starting to shift and flex. The ability's saved me in the past and it never hurts to... wait a minute, something isn't right. I pull a hand away from the weapon and glance down at it. Interwoven through the leathery hide are scales of... bone? What the fuck? I glance at the empty mirror behind me before trying to shift my jaw. It moves, but it's definitely working against something. I feel the edges around my face, chunks of bone extending out of the skin, like studs in leather.

I am so fucking sick of this vampire bullshit.

Now I have to call Tung and ask if this is normal or if I'm going to die. I shoulder the crossbow and peek onto the stage.



The money shot. I lean my head down, eying through the sights. She looks tense, like she senses something nearby that shouldn't be there. The hunter turns towards the break room just in time for me to pull the trigger.

A stiletto heel kicks a panel on the wall. The bow twangs straight. A window pops open and a sword falls out. The bolt is across the room. There's a flash of steel. Two pieces of wood strike the far wall.



My jaw's hangs open. The hunter swings her arm wide, a stake slicing through the air and punching into my chest before I know what's going on.

I drop the crossbow and stagger back, the wooden stake bouncing off my armor and shaking my insides. I just start to pull the magnum out when Chastity leaps off the stage and into the break room. Her sword moves in a horizontal slice that catches me in the face as I dodge, cutting through the armor like paper. I finish pulling out the revolver when Chastity twists herself in mid air, sending her follow through right back at me.

The gun slams into the floor along with my vaporizing arm. Pain.

Pain.

I turn and stagger backwards, tripping on the steps and falling onto the peepshow stage. God damn it. God damn it. My armor starts to melt back into skin. Not strong enough to keep it up. She's too fucking fast. I lie on my back and grab the handle of the Mac 10 with my remaining hand. Hit her with a burst and point blank range as she comes up the-

In the blink of an eye, Chastity's over the stairs and slamming her sword into my chest, slicing through my wrist and torso and pinning both to the stagefloor. Fuck. FUCK. Chastity glares down at me, a dagger heel on my stomach and a hand still gripping the hilt of her sword.

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Her voice is quick and quiet, almost cold. She makes the sign of the cross. "I have pledged my soul to the Lord and his cause, to see his enemies scattered and those who hate him purged forever from this earth." She kneels down closer, never taking her eyes off mine. I can't tell if she's talking to me or at me. "As smoke is driven by the wind, so are you driven from his domain. As wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish and melt at the presence of god."

She stands again, twisting the sword and pulling it away. I'd scream, but I don't have the strength for it anymore.

"Behold, demon, the will of the Lord. Lion of the tribe of Judah, the offspring of David, hath conquered."

She lifts the sword and thrusts downward. I twist my torso as much as I can manage, just enough to shift the submachine gun out of my shirt and onto the path of the slashing blade. The sword bounces and slices through the soft flesh on my shoulder. I have time to catch the surprise in Chastity's eyes before I grab the Mac 10 and raise it up with everything I have.

I don't get out more than a burst before the recoil knocks the gun so far off course I'm hitting the ceiling. Not more than a burst, but it's enough. Chastity falls backwards down the stairs. I drop the gun and clumsily reach for the mollusk in my pocket, the one Pisha gave me. The eye in the center is glowing a bright red, and I latch onto the swinging tendril with my teeth.

The heat rushes through my body before I know what's happening, gallons of blood shooting into my system from god knows where. The bones just off my elbow start extending, twisting and splitting until they form an arm, then a palm, then a hand. Nerves, muscles and skin begin shooting upwards not far behind them. The pain's worse than being on fire. I pull the sword from my shoulder, wound closing almost before the blade is out. I twist upwards until I'm kneeling on my own sickly wet pool of blood.


No more pain.

I grab the Mac 10 from the floor and stuff it into my ruined shirt as I stand. I walk down the stairs, stepping gingerly over the crumpled body of the most dangerous thing I've ever seen.

I pick the forty four up off the ground, tossing the sword onto the clothing pile. I'm going to look suspicious enough without lugging that thing around. I glance around the break room again, now little more than a blood canvas. Not exactly the way I was hoping for things to turn out, but I'm damn lucky to even be alive. Damned if I'm going dwell too much on that, though. I start to slip the forty four into my shirt when I hear steel scrape across tile.



The explosion of the magnum fills the room like an artillery blast. I don't think I pulled the trigger. Chastity falls past me, her face a blurred mess of red, flecks of bone and brain hitting the far wall.





That's it. That's it.



I'm getting the fuck out of here.



The alarm sounds as I throw open the fire exit, blending in with the chorus of sirens advancing through the city. I'm covered in blood, missing a sleeve and my shirt's slashed open in at least two places. I grab one of the more respectable homeless women and throw a hundred dollar bill in her hand for her jacket. I toss it on and hurry down the back streets of Hollywood to Velvet's club.



Fucking shit. Fucking shit that could have gone better.



I near club Vesuvius in time to see a beat cop rushing towards the Sin Bin. Shit.



At least there's no sign of a disturbance inside. The last thing I need is to have all the vampires in Hollywood pissed off at me.



Maybe a few less patrons than usual, but that's probably nothing.



Alright, keep your head and don't start getting hypnotized by whatever sex aura she's projecting.



"Velour, I took care of the-"



"I know. I heard you from here." Her voice is still soft, but it sounds... scared. "All you've done is attract attention to yourself and now you're in my club. Don't you think somebody's going to put two and two together?" She lets out a broken sigh, rubbing her temple. "I don't know if you've helped or made things worse."

I shove my face into hers, not quite hard enough for a headbutt.

"SHE ALMOST FUCKING KILLED ME."

Velour takes a step back, startled. For the first time she sees the blood underneath the jacket and the giant slashes in my shirt. Her eyes go wide for a moment before she looks away.

"I... I'm sorry, I thought..."

"That bitch was hate incarnate! If wasn't so fucking lucky I'd be dead twice over!"

"I'm sorry." She looks me in the eye when she says it this time. She rests a hand on my cheek, a slow warmth spreading across my face. She sounds... sad. "I never meant for you to get hurt, and if I could take it back I would. But... the hunter's dead, you're alive, and you made sure no one else got hurt. That's all that really matters." She smiles and I almost feel my heart twang. "Thank you, Helen."

"Yeah, I..." Fuck, fuck she's doing it again. "...I..." My sentence trails off, her eyes staring into mine.

"That's it." She says after a moment, like a matter of fact as she pulls her hand away.

"What's it?"



"You didn't seem like the bloodthirsty tyrant everyone makes you out to be. Not underneath, anyway. I have..." She bites her lip, almost pensively. "A... knack for... feeling what a person is and you... you were cold, of course. Merciless, probably, but... it wasn't authentic. I just didn't understand what it was until now."

"...what do you mean?"

Her voice is gentle, almost delicate.



"You're scared. I think... you always were. You were scared, so you pretended to be cruel. After awhile you forgot how to stop pretending. I... recognize that look."

I blink once, not quite sure what I'm hearing.

"I have..." She thinks for a moment. "...a favor to ask."