As Rhenakos approached the alley that he sensed Lewis in, he immediately covered his nose. “Oh gods…Lewis, what the hell did you do.” As he approached, he looked at the now five bodies that littered the alleyway. One of them was fresh. The others seemed like they had been put through a variety of tortures.

“More importantly…how the hell did you do all of this and not get caught.”

Lewis was cleaning one of the many daggers he had used. “You’d be amazed at how certain magics can muffle sounds.” He finished cleaning the dagger, and looked to Rhenakos. “I’m much calmer now than when I started.” He smiled, which for Rhenakos was a scary image. His face had a bit of blood splatter against it. “She’s annoyed right now. Annoyed is good. It means she’s not worried. And that means I have time…even if she is in a little pain.”

“You can’t…like…feel her location? Can she say anything?” the hunter asked.

“Unfortunately, we’re rarely apart…so we haven’t had the opportunity to really test or train these resonance traits,” Lewis said with a sour face. “Something that, when I find her, we will probably remedy.”

The hunter nodded. “So what do we have?”

“A name. Hector.” Lewis smirked. “He was hired…as well as this one here,” the assassin pointed to the fresh body. “To find women who looked like Simone.” He turned to look at Rhenakos. “A certain nobleman has been offering a hefty bounty. All of them alive.”

“Any clues?”

Lewis scoffed. “Please. The nobleman is a moron. He used fake names, but he put an official seal on one of the payments. A Duke’s symbol. Putting two and two together…and well…” The assassin shrugged. “Duke Emil. But I have no leads on where he might have taken her. His estate is probably clear…he’s not THAT stupid.”

Rhenakos crossed his arms. “So what about shell companies that are owned by his circle?”

The assassin looked at Rhenakos with surprise. “You…”

“I..what? Raile was talking about how they’re great for being tax havens, and-”

“Shut up,” Lewis said as he closed his eyes. Octane. Payroll. Barista. He moved to one of the first bodies, and started digging into the pockets. Finally, he pulled out a letter with a strange looking symbol. “Warehouses. East side.”

The hunter slammed his hands together. “Let’s go then!”

Simone could feel the killing intent that Lewis had and she had a pretty good idea that he was on top of it all. It made her smirk lightly. “What the hell are you smiling at?” Hector was clearly getting pissed at how much he couldn’t get through to Simone.

She tilted her head at him and gave him a bored expression, “Thinking about how lovely it’s going to be seeing your throat slit… If he makes it that easy. My husband isn’t known for his mercy killing when he’s pissed. If I were you and this is actually a suggestion, I would get the fuck out of here and run for the hills.”

She was met with a slap and that just made her sigh, “He slaps me harder when we fuck.” Simone got hit again this time much harder as she was knocked out from smashing her head into the back of the chair. Damn that Hector could hit.

It was sometime after that when a voice called to Simone, “Lady Simone.” It was concerned for her and she knew that voice as her brows knitted together. She stirred awake to a soft touch and some water being given to her. “I thought that was you.”

“What?..” Her vision went from blurry to fine and she stared into the eyes of someone she knew quite well. “Ah, it’s you. You shouldn’t be here.”

“The Lord told me to make sure you are at least watered. I had no idea he actually had you. He’s lost his marbles.”

“So I’ve found out~ Didn’t know he had it in him to torture a woman not that he’s actually doing it himself. Though when have you ever known him to do things on his own,” Simone grunted as she tried to readjust herself. The older man helped her out loosening the restraints and retying them so she was more comfortable.

“I’ve cleaned your wounds,” he watched her with gentle eyes. “If I had known he would do this.”

“It’s not your fault~ Does he know?” Simone looked worried.

“No, we’re sworn to keep your secret safe.”

“Then I can endure anything he does to me. Do me a favor, gather all the house help, and leave,” Simone gave a warning. “When Lewis shows up and he WILL show up… He will probably kill everyone in the house. So take everyone not involved and leave.”

“But your health…”

“Don’t worry about my health. I’ll feel much better when these drugs are out of my system.” The older man nodded and he left her. “It’s just a waiting game now~”

”Lewis? Can you hear me?” This was the most she had actually been sober. ”Can you feel me? I can feel you. I know who has me. He’s —” She was focusing so much on trying to contract Lewis that she didn’t see Hector giving her another round of the drug. “God damn it,” she groaned towards the man. “You have the absolute worst timing. How’s a girl supposed to get her beauty sleep?”

Looks like it was another round for her then.

Rhenakos crossed his arms, looking at the twelve dead bodies piled in the warehouse. Sure, it was an unintentional drug bust, and sure they probably deserved it, but was this really necessary?

“I don’t even know why I’m here,” Rhenakos said with a sigh. “You did all of the work. What am I, moral support?”

“Something like that,” Lewis replied. It was moral support in the most literal way. He may not give a fuck about killing, but he didn’t want to involve innocents, despite his demeanor. And Rhenakos, for all of his stupidity, was not one to idly sit by when innocents are in danger. It wasn’t the perfect solution, but it was what he had on hand.

“So this was a waste,” the hunter said, sitting on a shipping container. “What’s your next bright idea?”

Lewis closed his eyes. C’mon, Simone…give me something. Anything.

..wis? Can you he….feel me? I can feel y.. I know who ha….

“Simone?” Lewis replied. Shit. The drug again. C’mon, give me something…anything! The assassin opened his eyes. The sensation she was giving off. When she was calling him, he felt her pull him. It was light, almost like a subtly gust of wind, but it was there.

“This way,” he said as he darted out of the warehouse. Rhenakos rolled his eyes, but followed anyway.

“Where are we going?” Rhenakos asked finally as they started to get close to the edge of the city. “I thought she would be-”

Lewis pointed. “I felt a pull. That way…towards Bohar. I can’t…pinpoint it exactly, but….”

“So you can feel her. Where is she? Let’s go knock some heads!” Rhenakos was pumped and ready to roll.

“It’s not that easy. They’re drugging her, so we can’t focus properly,” the assassin said with an annoyed tone. “But we’re closer.” The two took the main roads, traveling in the directions that Lewis had felt. Every so often, he’d feel a pull again before it was dragged away by the drugs. Every step he got closer, though, was a step closer to the fury that he would unleash upon her captors.

Finally, they came across a traveling caravan, with a wagon leading the way. Lewis looked at the driver, who was an elderly man. At once, the man’s face lit up with recognition, and then immediately he tried to hide it.

Amateur, Lewis thought as he stepped in front of the cart. “Old man…let’s have a chat.”

The elderly man stepped down from the wagon, and got down on his knees, practically begging for Lewis to spare his and those who had fled from death. The assassin pulled out a dagger, and pointed it at the man. “You know where she is, then?” There was a gruesome smile across his face. “We can do this two ways…you either tell me, and I kill you quickly…or you don’t, and I kill you slowly while you sing…”

A hand came down on Lewis’ shoulder, and Rhenakos pulled the crazed assassin back. He held out his hand for the old man, and pulled him up.

“What the fuc-” Lewis started.

“Shut it, runt,” Rhenakos snapped back angrily. He turned his attention to the old man. “She told you to run, didn’t she…” The man nodded quickly. “It means she trusts you. You helped her…at least tried to, at least.” Again, the old man nodded. He was quivering, terrified for his life. “Then you know who he is.”

“Y-yes…” the old man replied. “Just…just spare these people. They’re innocent. If you must take my life, then do it…but not them.”

Rhenakos smirked. “Ballsy. I like it.” He looked to Lewis. “See what happens when you talk to someone? Now,” he turned back to the old man. “Tell us where she is, and you can all go. We’ll save her…I promise…”

The old man was terrified but Simone had given him exactly what Lewis would do if they were found. “It’s at the Somerset Vacation house. He had it built for Simone years ago when they first got married.” The old man was hushed at first, “She trusts you… Then you know she can’t die right?” They all knew. The house help perked up a bit at the news before ducking back down. “I was the one who pulled her from the lake~ We kept it from him. His father would have accused her of being a witch and done gods know what. Poor girl has been through enough and yet she insisted we leave her.”

He was attempting to get his footing, “You cannot miss the estate. All he has on him is his personal guards as everyone else was evacuated under Lady Simone’s last request of us. We prefer her to the Somersets. If you follow this road it will eventually come to a cobblestone road. There is a road sign for it. He named the road after her so you won’t miss it.”

He eyed Lewis for a moment, “She has a lot of faith in you. Please, get her out of there. She’s in the cellar. He has a hidden passage to it in the main foyer behind the large painting of him and the Miss. I loosened her bindings but… Hector probably has noticed by now. Lady Simone has already broken his nose using her own head to bash it in just before we left. His patience is growing thin… I dare not think about what he’s doing to her…” The old man was ashamed of himself for leaving.

Meanwhile, at the vacation home, Emil was pacing in the upstairs. “All the house help is gone. I can’t believe they chose her over me. This is most upsetting. Father, what do I do?” The older man was staring his son down.

“I told you this was a bad plan from the start. Get rid of the girl and play stupid. It’s only one man. If you must have her station the guards around the grounds. He can’t possibly get through all of them.” Emil nodded to the second plan as he dispersed the guards. He left one at the painting just in case as his paranoia had gotten the best of him.

All about the house, things fell into a tense silence. The guards walked their routes as normal, but there was a edge to almost every action they did. Their boss was paranoid, and upping security everywhere, which meant something was coming. But they had no idea what to expect. They were all ready, though.

There was a sudden, loud knock at the door. It broke the silence, and two guards rushed the door, weapons drawn. The first guard readied his mace, and threw the door open. Standing there was a tall, crimson haired man with a smile on his face. The guard was taken aback by the appearance of the large man, but steeled himself. Tall and menacing or not, he was not to be allowed on the premise.

“Sir, I must ask you to leave!” the guard stated firmly.

“Wow, what a fancy place you have here!” Rhenakos said as he pushed his way inside nonchalantly. The guard seemed confused at the brazen action, and tried to get in front of Rhenakos to stop him again.

“Sir! I really must insist-”

“Oh, I must insist too!” Rhernakos said as he spun to meet the guard face forward. “I must insist that you go fuck yourself.” the guard stared at Rhenakos for a moment before it registered what he had said. The moment it dawned was the moment Rhenakos slammed his head into the guard’s, knocking him out instantly.

“Next.” Rhenakos turned to the second, who was now rushing him with a sword drawn. “Oh, such terrible form…” As the guard swung, Rhenakos dodged to the side and slammed his fist into his opponent’s stomach. At once, the guard vomited, and fell t the side. Clicking his tongue, Rhenakos shook his head and sighed. “I must say, I’m so very disappointed in all of you…” He looked around to find himself surrounded by guards. On the second floor, there were several more with arrows trained on the demon hunter.

“Surrender yourself!” the captain said as he presented himself in front of Rhenakos, sword drawn.

“You see,” Rhenakos said as he yawned. “This is why the guard industry is failing,” the hunter said as he glanced around. “There’s what….twenty of you?” He smirked. “In the time it’s taken you to surround me and have this half-assed scene, the fifteen of you have failed to take into account the many variables that go into such tactics of surrounding your foe. Now, the twelve of you really need to consider all avenues of the enemy, such as whether or not he’s tall and handsome, or a demonic entity, or even a fucking nutcase like I am. Now, the six of you should really pay more attention to the last, and most important detail…can you guess what that is, captain?”

The captain stared at Rhenakos in a mix of shock and disbelief and the drawn out, insane rant that had just transpired. “What in the hell are you even trying to say.”

The hunter rolled his eyes. “What an idiot…”

From behind the capitain, a blade slid across his throat, coating the floor in a spray of blood. “Says the king of idiots,” Lewis said as the body dropped. “Now…during all of that, the idiot guard over there never left his post. So…”

“Painting. That’s….a little cliche, isn’t it?” Rhenakos asked.

“Just bust the secret door down already, will you?” Lewis replied, getting impatient.

It didn’t take long for Rhenakos to kick the door down, and they descended into the torture chamber. Rhenakos went first, followed by Lewis, who was hiding in the taller man’s shadows. This was it…it had to be…

Hector had restrained a drugged Simone to the wall for a new different form of torture. Her wrists were tied to a singular hook as she was light enough that it didn’t need much support. “How much longer will this take?” Emil snapped. “We’ve been at this for literally fucking hours now.”

“Who knows,” Hector was laying out some various tools. “No one has lasted this long before even the other women caved.”

Simone was stirring and she drew a hard breath as she immediately looked up and attempted to move her wrists a bit. “You two sure are persistent.”

“Shouldn’t you panic? That’s the god damn normal thing to do,” Emil was still snapping. “Nothing about you is natural! You laughed at the torture and you even corrected Hector how to do it.”

“You shouldn’t half-ass trying to get your way… It doesn’t bode well at all and honestly, I’m growing bored of playing with you,” Simone said dryly. She could feel the pull once in a while. Her voice grew louder now as she felt the pull. “Besides didn’t you hire Lewis because I wasn’t natural?”

Emil twisted his frown even further as he grabbed one of the daggers and slammed it into where her womb would have been, “It’s all your fault for being so broken.”

Simone let out a chuckle through the pain, “I would be really careful who you fucking blame for how broken I am. You might not like the damn answer.” She spat at him and swung her feet hand putting the heel of her boot right back into his crotch for the second time.

Emil buckled over grabbing at himself as it was harder than the last time she had done it, “THAT’S IT HECTOR! Just fucking kill her and get it over with. She’s not worth the hassle.”

“It’s about fucking time,” Hector went to go grab a larger blade from the wall.

“I’m amused,” Simone chuckled.

“Why’s that?” Emil glared up at her.

“Because I broke you both before you could break me,” Simone was proud of herself but Lewis was so close she could taste him at this point.

As it turned out, Lewis and Rhenakos didn’t even need to sneak down. Their attention had been so focused on Simone, that neither of them noticed when the odd duo entered the room. Rhenakos took a seat as Simone kicked the shorter man straight in the crotch, and took a silent moment to admire her work. Lewis stood next to the hunter, arms crossed, waiting for the reaction.

“Oh,” Lewis said after clearing his throat. Hector had just noticed the other two in the room as he grabbed the blade off the wall. “By all means, please do try to kill her…I’d like to see you try.”

Hector stared at Rhenakos and Lewis, and then to his boss, Emil, who was paling.

“Where….where are all of the guards?” he asked, suddenly realizing what it meant for the assassin and the hunter to be down with them.

“That’s not relevant,” Rhenakos replied as he kicked up his feet on the small table, scattering the torture tools. “Go on…the man made a demand. Try and kill Simone here…”

Hector knew it was a trap, but moved quickly over to Simone, and swung the blade hard and fast, aiming to decapitate her. It was strange though, how light the blade had suddenly become. He was curious as to what had happened, looking down.

“My arms are gone…” Hector seemed more surprised than anything. “What…happened to them?” He looked to Duke Emil, and then to Lewis. “What did you do…?”

The assassin was smiling. “Oh dear…I let my dagger slip…apologies.” He walked up to Simone, past Emil, and helped her down off the hook, cutting off her restraints. He stared at her awkwardly for a moment, trying to find something witty to say like Rhenakos had been doing the entire time. “Er…I missed you…”

“Get a fucking room,” Rhenakos replied.

Simone smirked a bit as she noticed Lewis. Right on time as usual. She noticed Rhenakos was with him as well. Though no words left her lips as she watched Hector lose his arms and Emil was slowly backing off. “I told you didn’t I?” She looked towards Emil. “He’s going to kill everyone in this house. I warned you but nooo Simone doesn’t ever know what the hell she is talking about,” she said it all dramatic as Lewis lifted her off the hook.

His line caught her off guard and she smiled up at him. “I missed you too.” She even had the stomach for ignoring Rhenakos. “Now,” She grabbed the dagger embedded in her and pulled it out. “What to do… about you two.”

She was tapping the bloodied dagger on the palm of her hand and glaring at Emil the whole time. “Rhen, his father was here. You should probably go get him before he runs off and causes a whole slew of problems. He’s a real asshole.”

Once Rhenakos was gone Simone threw the dagger barely missing Emil. She was going over to the torture tools and she was humming, “I told you… Didn’t I? That you have to hold the pliers a certain way~” All the blood had gone from Emil’s face.

“Come on Simone, you know that I was just angry. I would never,” he was reverting back to a coward but Simone just smiled at him.

“You see, I liked my nails. I had them done recently~ And now… I’m missing quite a few of them.” She held up her bloodied hand and showed Lewis. “See? Now, fair is fair. An eye for an eye,” she was talking in a very sweet voice as she showed Emil down into a chair. He was so scared he didn’t dare move as Simone started to rip his nail out.

The screams were well worth it. “Oh, right. Before I forget.” The drug was almost all the way out of her system as she walked over to Hector and grabbed his bloodied arm stumps. He started to scream as she cauterized the wound.

“Ma-magic…” Emil was horrified. “You weren’t capable of it before.”

“No, dipshit I wasn’t. Lewis did kill me. He killed me quite a few times… Let me tell you a little secret,” she leaned down to him once she was done with Hector. “I can’t die easily. Cursed at first. Lewis brought me back because unlike you he actually gives a shit about me whether I can bear a child or not.” She slapped Emil hard across the face.

“So… What should we do with them?” She dropped the pliers casually.

Rhenakos sighed, “More work?” He stood up, and stretched. “Fine, fine…just…don’t make too much of a mess. I’m not helping clean up.” The hunter made his way back through the secret entrance, and went on his merry way.

Lewis watched with satisfaction as Simone enacted the first step of her revenge. Hearing his screams as she ripped out one of his nails was like sweet music to his ears. He was glad to have her back, and furious that she had been hurt. “What to do, what to do…” the assassin asked, crouching down to look at Emil at eye level.

“You know…I once read in a book that, in dire times, they used to replace body parts with those of the dead. Sometimes it was a success, but most of the time the body rejected it. Of course, this was without the use of magic or even medicine…no, the times were desperate. I’ve always been curious though…what it would be like.” He glanced to Hector, and then back to Emil.

“Emil…did you know that violence can be such a turn on?” He stood up, and pulled out a dagger, slamming it into the man’s hand. He cried out in agony, squirming in the chair, and Lewis shivered, smiling. “Oh my…I can barely resist it…” He looked to Simone, who despite her appearance, was glowing in his eyes.

“It’s going to be a long night…”

“There won’t be much to clean up when we’re done,” she said it as if it was a reassuring thought.

There was a smirk produced by Simone as she slammed the dagger that Emil had stabbed her with into his other hand, “Yeah, it will be.” She looked like she was calculating the time in her head. “How long~ How long have I been here~ I want to give equal pay.” She wrapped her arms around Lewis’s waist as she got her blood all over him. Her wound had luckily closed thanks to her magic being back.

“They took such valuable time from us~” She pouted towards Lewis and looked towards Emil as she kissed Lewis’s shoulder. Her eyes were burning with hatred now. She was clearly thinking of how to proceed. “You cut and I’ll cauterize. We’ll make beautiful art together~” She had her lips to Lewis’s ear as she sang it out. “I can heal too~ We can keep this going for however long you want until you think we’ve made them pay enough.”

Emil whimpered for a moment, “Simone, please. Did I not give you the best life I could.”

“It was alright. Tad boring for my taste personally,” Simone shrugged a bit. “You have no one to blame but yourself. Though I have to thank you. Without your rash decision making I wouldn’t have found my soulmate.” There was a smile on her face as she kissed Lewis’s neck. “Now~ What should we start with? The arms mayhaps? We already cut Hector’s off. It would be a shame to waste them.”

She held up a finger and the dark flame spawned, “I should warn you Emil. When people see me as a bird they feel uncomfortable… Do you know why?”

Emil couldn’t think straight. “A bird?”

“Yes, you see I was brought back as a phoenix of the night. Do you know what they stand for and why people shiver when they see them?” She had looked much into her race since she became one. The details she had found made her realize why Angela chose this bred of phoenix for her.

“N-no,” Emil shook her head but he kept his eyes on her.

“I am a bad omen,” Simone said it amused. “Bad luck. Death follows.” She wondered if Lewis believed all of it and she took his hand idly almost not noticing that she had done so as she was burning a glare into Emil. “We should make haste~ Hector’s arms won’t be any good to us soon enough~”

So they started to saw apart their victims in the name of revenge.