Chi no Kyoen

[darkheart]

It was unseasonably cold and foggy when Zaid left Signe's house. During the heavy rain of the evening, he had spent the evening the hours of thunder and lightning helping with the ornamentation of the scythe she was contracted to make, and the inlays of silver and gold were an interesting practice. She hadn't decided what the finished product would look like, however the making of the molds and the test smelting and pours had seemed a much more intricate and precise exercise than the stoking of the furnace and the dull pounding of the hammer for his steel practice. He was far less sweaty and sooty than previous evenings, so rather than the smell of ash and sweat in his nose the cool dampness of the air mixed with the smell of the city's smog was pleasantly different, though not wholly pleasant. Though the torrents had stopped a mere hour before, in the resultant opaque mist bathing the street, a flickering streetlight gave almost a strobe effect, making the shadows dance as the light squelch of his sneakers in the damp puddles seemed the only sound in an infinite corridor of yellowish white.

He was passing an alleyway when a strange sound caught his ears, causing him to pause his steps. He wasn't entirely certain what it was, but is was akin to the days he spent in the mountains as a boy where he would hike through the forest and the semi-iced snow would crunch beneath his feet with each step. It was a sound significantly out of place in the warm, humid climate of the city, which is probably why he stopped at all. There was a strange tingle at the back of his neck, causing his head to turn slowly to look down the length of the corridor without moving any other part of his body, much like a rabbit who had smelled a fox before seeing it - afraid to be noticed but unwilling not to locate the source of an inexplicable dread that seemed to fall down upon him like a two ton invisible weight.

The sight that greeted his eyes was somewhat indiscernable. In the shadows he saw what looked like a man leaning against the wall with a woman pressed up against him, locked in some sort of passionate embrace. Squinting, he wondered if this was some random hooker and john using the calm of the storm to enjoy themselves. Were it not for a sickly sweet smell of copper and salt that hit his nose, he would have likely pressed on with a shake of his head and a thought of what Atraya might be up to. That smell was familiar, though never as pungent, and he tried to place where he knew it from. As his mind worked on the details, he heard almost a snarl, and he swore it was from the woman and not the man. Taking a quiet step into the alleyway, he tried to see into the darkness as his hand, slightly shaking for an unknown reason, fumbled for his phone. The shadow of the woman's head shook back and forth like a wolf, then jerked back most unaturally, holding its position as she stared at the sky with her neck at a most unnatural angle.

Zaid raised his phone, flipping on the flashlight function, and as the alley lit up his eyes were greeted with the sight of a long haired Asian woman with long black hair in a light summer blouse of white and a tigerskin skirt standing over a man of some thirty years in a black t-shirt and skinny jeans. The Asian woman's hair was stringy and matted down, her shirt spattered in a brownish red from the blood that was pouring down her chin and neck from the large hunk of flesh that was in her mouth. To his horror, she was choking it down, forcing the entire wad down her throat without chewing, as if she couldn't gobble it up fast enough. His breath caught in his throat as his body froze, horrified by the sight but paralyzed in the fear and confusion of what he was witnessing. As the woman caught the light from her periphery, her head slowly lolled to the side to stare at him, smiling with blood red teeth and a gurgling chortle. Her eyes looked red, though Zaid couldn't tell if it was just the reflection of the light from her retinas, similar to the red eye that appeared at times in the photographs from old cameras. Dropping the man she had pinned to the wall, Zaid could see hunks of flesh had been ripped from his arms and shoulder, his ear was gone and a large section of his neck, presumably what the woman had just consumed, was missing with the dripping arterial spray splayed across the wall. Slowly looking down to his feet, Zaid saw blood mixed with the runoff water draining out of the alley to the street gutter staining the white rubber soles of his sneakers.

Looking upwards again, the woman laughed, then spoke - her mouth moving though the rest of her remained deathly still.

"Usagi wa ichi-bikide wanaku ni-biki."

With that she turned bodily, running down the alleyway towards Zaid. Startled, he took a few steps backward, tripping over his own feet to land on his butt. The woman would bound atop him, snarling and snapping her teeth as he brought his forearm up under her chin. He tried to keep her head away from him, his phone clattering away to plunge them into the darkness. He could feel the heat of her breath on his face and the slimy sensation as the clotting blood and drool from her mouth fell upon his neckline. Zaid worked his mouth to call for help, but his throat would make no sound in his terror. The rain would start to fall around them once more, making it hard to push away from her on the slippery ground. Leaning back, the woman would plunge forward again, this time biting deep into his arm and shaking her head back and forth to try to separate his flesh from tendon and bone. Crying out in pain, Zaid grabbed a small throwing knife from his pocket. Signe had given it to him to practice on his whetstone with so that he could become better at sharpening blades without scratching the finish. Frantically Zaid jabbed it at the woman in the darkness, feeling the mass of the woman's body and the warmth of her blood on his hands. He couldn't tell where he was stabbing, but in his fear he just kept doing it, even after the tip broke off as it contacted the ribs of her right side

The woman stopped biting and howled in pain, throwing her hands in the young man's face to claw at it with her long, manicured nails. After what seemed like an eternity, the onslaught slowed. The woman would sag atop him in pure dead weight. Crying and shaking, he just kept stabbing for a long few moments before the blade clattered to the ground. Trying to catch his breath, he slowly reached up, grabbing her shoulders and heaved her off himself. The pain in his left arm burned from the bite, though the mix of rain made the wetness of the blood pouring down it unable to be sensed in his state of shock. He slowly crawled over and grabbed his phone. His fingers were shaking so badly he couldn't even dial, so he stuffed it in his pocket, flashlight still on. Forcing himself to his feet, he stumbled down the street several blocks back to Signe's house, drops of blood mixing on the walk's rainwater in union with the falling drops. Reaching Signe's house he knocked weakly and repeatedly until she finally answered. Standing there wet from rain, blood and spit, he held pressure on the bite on his arm, his expression blank and distant. His lips worked, trying to speak.

"Sig...Signe...help...I....woman...killed her...I....help...."

The shock would become too much and his knees would give out from the retraction of adrenaline and blood loss, and he would just sob on his knees as the blood oozed from between his fingers.

"She was eating him, Signe....she was eating him. Who even does that?"

[Signe]

Signe heard the knock on her door, her brows furrowing as she looked up at the time and then to the window to note the weather. She'd stand as the pounding of her door grew more insistent and she knew in her gut something was wrong. The front door would swing open and she'd find Ziad there. Eyes grew wide as he muttered and sagged, she'd reach out to catch him before he heavily hit the ground.

Cold eyes darted around outside, determining he wasn't followed before dragging him inside and laying him on her floor.

"Lay still. What happened Zaid? Who was... eating someone? What did you see?"

She'd keep him talking as she put pressure on his wound. She'd hold her hand there firmly for a bit, listening as Zaid talked through his adrenaline addled experience. After a moment, she'd check. The blood had begun to clot but his shoulder looked as if a wild animal had attacked him. She'd tsk, knowing he couldn't just go to the hospital with this wound. Not without a lot of questions and Zaid would likely tell exactly what happened.

"Hold still..." She'd tell him again as she once more put pressure upon the wound. Valkyries back in the day where responsible for choosing who they took to Valhalla, Odin trusted them completely and did not interfere. They also had the ability to choose who lived and who died upon the battle field. Heroic stories of Vikings who lived through severe wounds were likely due to interference from Valkyrie who did not yet think they were ready. Signe then would call upon an ability she had not used in some time, actually healing Zaid's shoulder, muscles and skin knitting themselves back together as if it hadn't happened. It would be the only wound she would heal, as the scratches inflicted could be explained and weren't life threatening. Sometimes scars were a good thing.

"There." She'd sigh, releasing her hand and looking at his other wounds.

"I'm going to get some towels and bandages for your other wounds. We'll call Mora and we can check out these bodies. Hopefully before the police have to be called."

[darkheart]

Zaid would swallow hard as he tried to take deep, slow breaths to get control of his mind and body. He would move his legs into the lotus position as his grandmother had once taught him and close his eyes. Holding pressure on his arm, he would feel the flow of energy in his body and try to connect with the world around him. He could feel the steadiness of the earth, the capriciousness of the air, the life energy of Signe and the anchor of his own body. As Signe went for towels and bandages, she might even sense a faint hum around her, though it would not come from Zaid himself. The air would vibrate as a deep baritone, barely above a whisper, would cause the whole house to resonate as if a thousand monks from centuries ago had shaken the foundation of their temple with a chant that had gone out into the universe, bouncing back off a star and the single note was finally returning to earth. He could feel the blockage the fear and adrenaline had caused in his chakra, and with the power of his mind he would unravel it, allowing him to connect the energy within once more. After a moment, he would open his eyes with a bright, cheery smile and the very core of Signe's being would feel a strange mix of physical hunger, lust, joy, calm, excitement and peace. It would fade as quickly as it set in, leaving her to feel normal, if not slightly more alive. Looking to his shoulder, he'd perk up with an almost boyish curiosity.

"Hey...did you do that? You can do that? Man, you should be a doctor, not a blacksmith! For real! Now, um....what was I talking about?"

He would catch Signe with a first aid kit, and he would bounce over and take it from her, opening it on the same table that they had shared beers around a few nights back. Pulling out gauze, antibiotic ointment and some surgical glue, he nodded appreciatively at the quality of the supplies as he started to use what Landyn had taught him about medicine. While he was mostly a hematologist, Zaid had sought to learn much from Landyn and Dr. K. that could have practical application. As he began to clean himself up, he spoke idly to Signe in his normal, easy way as if nothing in the world had even bothered him tonight.

"So yeah, I was walking home and about six blocks up I thought two people were bumping uglies in the alley. Turns out this Asian chick was eating this dude! I mean, full on wolfing chunks of him down. My dumb ass went into the alley like a moth to a flame and she totally tried to eat me too! Can you believe it? Seriously whack, man! Ohhhh....shit. We gotta go clean the scene. I used that knife you gave me to practice on and totally stabbed the shit out of her, Sig! She was like, GRRRR! And I went all stabby stab! I might have screamed, but I didn't piss myself at least! Not bad for a thin Indian kid from the borough, eh? You must be rubbing off on me or something!"

He'd tool away at his arms, and once properly cleaned and bandaged, he'd clean the table up. Moving to her closet, he'd pull out a bag he kept at her house for when he had to bounce between jobs so he could at least change clothes and not be sweat and soot soaked for his next thing. Stripping his bloodied clothes, he'd dress in fresh clothes and then take the bloodied garb to the forge and toss them in to burn them. Who knew if that lady's blood was contaminated, right? Cracking his neck, he texted Dr. K. the address to meet them at, followed by a brief message.

Yo Dr. K. - some chick tried to eat me, and not in a good way. Got a pair of fresh ones here - come meet Signe and I - more weird shit is going on.

He'd punch Signe in the shoulder, then motion for her to follow him.

"C'mon, boss! I'll show you the damage!"

*~*~*~*

They'd arrive on the scene and the bodies had been undisturbed. Pulling his phone back out with the flashlight on, he'd look around and found where the knife had skittered across the pavement near a dumpster. Picking it up, he frowned heavily.

"Awww shit, Signe. I chipped the tip on our canabalistic corpse. You're gonna make me re-forge it, aren't you?"

[Mora Kaiyroan]

Mora was on her couch wearing her favorite Pearl Jam shirt and some baggy heavy duty sweat pants. She'd litterally just gotten hom from her shift, passing the reins over to Landyn for the evening. It'd been raining pretty hard when she'd gotten home, and rode the elevator up from the parking garage. For once it was behaving. Which was a relief because she wasn't in the mood for the stairs that evening. Besides her walk from the office to the car had left her soaked.

But now she had just put on a scary movie, reheated some chinese takeout and had just settled down when her phone buzzed. She'd use her chopsticks to shovel some food into her mouth before she looked down at the Text. The first time she read it, she almost choked on her food. At Zaids 'I almost gotten eaten by a chick and not in a good way.' Her mind and how it was Zaid immediately thought that maybe his girlfriend got a little to rough in delicate places. But as she continued to read the text her face would grow more somber. With a heavy sigh she'd text him back. 

[see you in 10.]

She'd turn off the movie and slip on a pair of rain boots, opting for a hoodie and a rain coat, she'd lock her apartment taking the stairs 2 at a time all the way down to the garage. Before she'd follow her gps's directions to the address that Zaid had texted to her. It was oddly close to Signes house. Mora wondered if that was a detail worth noting. She'd noted it anyways for herself. Because things were getting more dangerous for not just herself but her staff and associates as well. There were only a handful of ideas that came to Mora's mind as she rolled Zaids text over in his brain. Either it was just a cannibal high on some kind of drug or just some tweaker on bath salts tried to eat him. A zombie. Which was unlikely, because that would mean there was another necromancer in town and she'd have felt their resurrecting the corpse and releasing it. Or...it was what she feared it was and had withheld from her staff. As they hadn't had an appropriate time to discuss what it was that had happened.

She'd roll up not far from the scene and get out pulling the strings of the hood on her rain coat she'd approach Signe and Zaid as they were there waiting for her. She'd barely gotten out of the car when she caught the smell. It was the same smell as their most recent corspe. Mora felt her stomach knot up.  Her pace would slow as she approached covering her nose against the stentch that the rain couldn't wash away. 

She'd glance over at Zaid seeing the scratches on his face and his arm bandaged up. Concern would instantly rinse the facial expression of her reaction to the growing stench that perhaps only she could smell. 'You ok? Doesn't look like she got you too bad....but...' She hesitated. He might be contanimiated from the bodily fluid exchange from mouth to flesh. And not in a treatable human doctor kind of way. If only she knew a witch in these parts. She'd be able to give them something, to clean out his blood of any remaining contamenants before they settled in and took hold of its new host.

It was then she'd see the first corpse. The 'chick' who'd tried to eat Zaid for dinner. She'd note the blood and remnants of human flesh in her mouth and the odd angle at which her head seemed to rest as if it was its natural position in death. A frown would cross her face. And her normally pale face was white as a sheet. The air around them growing even colder than the rain had made it. And the coldness was radiating off her.

'Fuck.' She said. 'I was afraid this was what we were dealing with' She finally said. A heavy sigh passing her lifts leaving her shoulders slumped. She was walking in unfamiliar territory. And it was absolutely terrifying. Because she didn't know if she would be able to remain in control or if she too would fall into the darkness. 

[Signe]

Signe listened, stone faced, as Zaid explained what it was that had happened. She had seen quite a few creatures in LA, but none that would so openly kill in a manner Zaid was describing. Could it have been a frenzied werewolf? A vampire? She wasn't sure.

She'd stand, just shaking her head as Zaid practically beamed that he protected himself. She'd ruffle his hair as he went about fixing himself with the med kit.

"I am glad you had the knife on you. It could have been a different story."

This was why she insisted her pacifist of an assistant at least learn how to defend himself. Gods willing he wouldn't have needed to use it, but on a night like tonight it came in handy. And where was his protector Djinn she wondered. No matter.

"C'mon, boss! I'll show you the damage!"

After awhile he'd slug her on the arm when he was ready to go. She'd hop in the Jeep with Zaid, making their way the six blocks to where he indicated. She'd hop out of the Jeep, walking her way to the bodies and case the scene as Zaid hopped away to find his midding knife.

"You guessed it. Reforge until it's stronger."

She'd quip at his remark about reforging the knife, though her cool blue eyes remained upon the creature that lay before her. It was dead. Truly and utterly dead. The soul of the woman it had been passing on before they arrived. Perhaps even before Zaid had killed her.

After a moment, Mora arrived. She'd hang back as she too examined Zaid, watching the woman as she reacted to the scene. She'd walk closer, watching as ice crystals began to form in the puddle Mora stood in.

"Mora..." She'd approach, motioning to the ground as the Necromancer likely didn't realize she was radiating the effect.

"What is it you think we are dealing with?"

[darkheart]

Zaid would chuckle and wink at Mora.

"I'm all good, Doc. Shock wore off with a little meditation and chi cleansing and Signe helped me patch myself up. I'll live. I do have a particular craving for brains though."

He'd put limp arms out in front of himself with a 'Nyarrrrgh' and stumble over to sniff Signe, then shrug.

"Nope, guess I'm going hungry tonight."

Moving over to the woman's corpse, he'd pull out a kit from Albright Industries and gather some blood and hair specimens from her. With any luck, he could figure out if there were supernatural elements to it and deduce the origin. If it was new, he'd add it to his machine's database and records for future use. He chuckled as he looked the pair over. Clearly whatever chi he had employed had removed most of his emotions and left him with humor and joy, almost inappropriately.

"My guess, Signe, is that this is - or was - an Oni. Females are rare, but they do exist. Funny thing - did you know that Oni are to Japanese what Yaksha and Rakasha are to the Hindi? Turns out the Buddhists syncretized them - funny how we all have our interpretations of the supernatural, but we bend them to our own cultural norms. Anywho - Oni are canibals, pretty damn strong and the females are born of grief or spurned love. I'm guessing our missy here was not at all happy with her lover. But that's all speculation. The question is, if this is an Oni - what in the HELL is it doing here? What is with this city all of a sudden. I used the think the Crips were the worst thing on these streets. Now we got murder monsters all over the place. One thing is for sure, I haven't seen any of our victims or aggressors at the Reverie. Whatever's going on here is not mainstream monster culture. That's for sure. Eh...Doctor K...you alright? You look a little pale...well, paler than usual. What's going on? I know I got a little excited and jumped the shark on Signe's question, but you look...um...I'm gonna shut up now and let you answer. Yep...shutting up....now....definitely...quiet...."

[Mora Kaiyroan]

Mora would numbly listen to Zaid ramble on about the Oni. A trickle of fear making its way down her spine. They were definitely out of her zone of knowledge. She looked down at the corpse suddenly silent she heard signe and glanced down. Shit. She would tak a deep breath pulling herself together, the coldness receding back towards her. No longer radiating out. He was right it was an Oni. But they weren’t just cannibals. They were Japanese demons. Her mind flashed back to the last body and the reaction and what it had looked like during the beginning of the autopsy. And now this. She felt like her chest was heavy with free weights holding it down making it hard to breathe. Finally she would let out a heavy breath. She knew they were both waiting in anticipation of what she was going to say.



She felt herself trembling she couldn’t speak. The fear was growing a bit stronger. Did zaid not realize how serious this was? They had at least one oni running around the city plus god only knew how many more like the corpse they’d just creamated. She’d Shake her head thinking only in her head not vocalizing to them her thoughts, she’d go to her car removing the axe that signe had given her. She’d carry it back her boots splashing against the wet pavement. Without a word she’d use the axe to take a swing separating the head from the body. She still felt the tightness in her chest and she would look up at them, blood splatter on her own face.



‘We couldn’t bring this back to the morgue. And I’m not taking any more chances’ She’d say quietly. She looked up at the two of them her sea colored eyes dark and serious. ‘Oni’s are Japanese Demons.’ She’d say almost numbly adding to Zaids ramble.



‘I believe our last corpse was also a demon. Of what decent I have no idea…’ her jaw would work for a moment before firmly shutting as she looked down at the decapitated body.



‘Two demons, of different breeds roaming LA. A city this large can’t possibly only have two. There must be others.’ She reasoned out loud. ‘But the real question is…what is drawing them here?’



She seemed to shake her a bit bringing her attention back to the body. ‘I have a storage unit on the edge of town that has…old memorabilia from my early days as a coroner, I’ve become a collector of the old but still practical. We can bring it there to examine. I feel its best if we three keep this to ourselves.’



She’d take a deep breath, she felt like Zaid bouncing all over the place with her thoughts and concentration. ‘Are there any other bodies Zaid? Or were you her only snack?’

[Signe]

Signe watched as Mora turned to walk back to her car, pulling out the axe Signe had gifted her. The Valkyrie watched curiously as the death touched woman raised it high above her head and brought it down upon the neck of the Oni. Sig would only turn her face to somewhat avoid direct blood spatter. Other than this she would just cross her arms. That was one way to deal with the issue.

"There is another body." She'd indicate with her head, motioning towards the back of the ally before turning on her heel and walking back. Sig leaned down, patting down the man's pants until she found the wallet with his ID. Seemed a normal enough guy that Sig could tell. Library card. Metro pass. Driver's license. Picture of what appeared to be him with his parents as a younger boy. She wondered if the soul was still around like the guy at the coroner's office Mora was dealing with. She didn't want to interfere if his soul was claimed by another. She wasn't called for this one.

She'd hand the wallet to Mora.

"I have a couple of tarps in the back of the Jeep. We can take the Oni to your storage unit. What about this one. Dog mauling? Or missing person?"

She'd look up to Zaid, then to Mora as she posed her question. She wasn't totally heartless, but a decision had to be made.

[darkheart]

Zaid would blink quietly as the head was separated and rolled down the alleyway. Listening to the women talk, he sighed heavily and figured it was going to have to be him. Moving to the dumpster, he would open a bag of trash and empty it, taking the plastic sack and wander down the alleyway and stoop to pick up the severed woman's head with a grimmace, then shove it into the sack and tie it off. He wasn't worried about contamination of evidence - he knew what - who - had killed her and how. Standing straight, he turned and was about to walk back when he caught something strange. Dropping the head sack unceremoniously, he pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight. There, on the wall of the alleyway was a series of symbols written in dried blood. Turning on the camera, he clicked a few pictures of the segments that had not been damaged by the rainfall. Turning off the light, he blew up the pictures on his phone, leaning down to pick up the sack and wander back.

The Oni body was wrapped up by now and loaded into the back of the vehicle. Tossing the head in the back like a bag of lettuce, he moved over to Mora and showed her.

"Uh...is it me, or do these look like the markings etched into the boned of the Mothman that blew up in the morgue? It doesn't look like Kanji or anything Japanese to me. I haven't any idea what it says or means. Signe - you've been around the block for a while...any of this look like anything to you? Found it on the wall down on the other end of the alleyway."

[Mora Kaiyroan]

Mora would follow signe over to the 2nd body. She’d take the wallet from Signe and glance at its contents. A frown formed on her face as she gazed down at the second body.Looking at the damage down to his arm and neck. She noted his ear was missing as well. Missing person or Dog attack. ‘Perhaps both’ She’d say in a hollow voice. ‘I’d say it’d take a couple of days for someone like him to be reported missing. Men who use hookers in alley ways tend to be more sleezy than the ones who bother with hotels.’ She said with disgust. ‘We will have to torch this, since you and I have both touched it without gloves. And it will only help sell the missing person story. An unidentified male mauled to death by a stray dog. Perhaps a rabid dog. They only last about a week once infected.’ She’d say spinning the story for when this corpse showed up on their table.



‘Or a robbery turned bad, maybe he ‘owed’ someone money and they had the dog eat him in penance…there are enough sickos in the world that is a possibility too. Taking away his identy would make it harder to track potential enemies…’ She’d close her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Before wrapping up the oni’s body with Signes help and loading it up.



Her jaw would clench as she was racking her brain on what the right answer was. She’d pause her racing thoughts to look at Zaids pictures with a concentrated look. ‘It does look similar.’ she’d note, that Zaid was right. She tilted her head looking at the markings, her brain went back to the oni, as zaid mentioned it wasn’t japanese. ‘No its definitely not Japanese….it looks old. Really old. Like a dead language of some kind. Which would make sense now that we’ve got a better idea of what we’re dealing with. We’d need to find someone who specializes in ancient languages and see if they can translate it for us.’



She’d look down at the 2nd corpse. ‘Now what to do with you.’ She said squatting down to get a closer look at the wounds. ‘Only thing that concerns me is these markings, Forensics is likely to spot them, and make whatever responding officer find the dead suspicious. Knowing our luck its likely going to be frank or his partner. They seem to revel in odd cases.’ She’d stand up again looking at signe.



‘Is there room for 2 bodies? I’m not certain we should leave him here for someone to find…could drop him in the ocean somewhere, would be a long time before he washed up on shore and his injuries would be less defined by the time he washed ashore.’



She’d glance at her co-conspiritors to see if they had any suggestions or criticism of her dark elusive ways of handling the situation, that would draw the least amount of attention as possible to the clear and present danger they now faced.

[Signe]

Signe took Zaid's phone from his hand, glancing at the picture he took of the blood drawn lettering on the alley walls. Her brows furrowed and she'd reach up to pinch the brow of her nose, turning the phone to try and get another angle before actually looking down the alley and handing his phone back. She had been alive for a very long time and her memory wasn't perfect. She recognized it. She knew she had seen it before, but she could not read it.

"Is this not.... maybe Greek? Coptic? I... I'm not sure. I cannot read this."

She'd shrug. This did not seem an immediate concern to her. Clearing the scene was more pressing.

"I will grab another tarp and wrap up this second body. You two take pictures and samples and.... whatever it is you do."

And Sig would leave them to it, moving back to the Jeep to pull out another tarp, taking a moment to observe their surroundings to make sure they were still not being observed. Within a few moments, the second body would be wrapped and packed.

"Where are we going?"

[Mora Kaiyroan]

Mora would go back to her car to retrieve her spare ME kit. After years of being in the field, she’d learned to keep an extra bag on hand, one never knew when one was going to be called in or under what circumstances.



She’d glove up opening her bag to Zaid to help himself to whatever materials he’d need to help her collect, bag and tag specimes of the scene from the various blood splatter to possible traces of DNA. Mora left photos up to Zaid, he had a better eye for it than she and she was comfortable enough with him taking the lead on that. It was odd how they worked so smoothly together, almost like they’d been working together for years.



The freedom to breathe and the casualness of the situation allowed for mora to be more ‘relaxed’. After all they were all who they were now. They weren’t boss and mentee. She’d nod once they’d done collection and concealment to Signe. She’d give her the address and the storage unit number to meet her at.



It was on the outskirts out town in the warehouse district. One of those garage outside entry type of storage units that waited for them. Quietly almost patiently as if fate some how dictated that Mora would in fact have need of her relic autopsy table and other nicknacks she’d collected as they’d grown obsolete. Never once dreaming she’d need them for this very situation.



Mora would park her car to the side of the unit next to hers so she could get out and open the unit for Zaid and Signe. It was deceptive in size. From the outside it looked small and barely big enough to fit a full size sedan, but once inside it was clear it was big enough to be an ungrounded lab setup. And perhaps subconsciously that is what Mora had been putting together all along with her collecting of old expired equipment.



She’d glance at Signe and said as she shoved the door up. ‘Don’t Judge me.’ She’d mutter. Basically stating don’t judge me for my weird creepy stash away autopsy lab. But given the situation the three of them now found themselves completely involved in. Judgement seemed like the least of Mora’s worries. She’d flip a switch on turning on the lights before entering clearing some things off the table to make room for the body. Her mind growing blank and clinical almost surgical. But at least it was her and Zaid who had the misfortune of being involved. She could only imagine how much of a mental break down something of this level would give Frank. And well…there was Landyn. Where he stood on things Mora lay undecided. But he was neither here nor there at that present moment. And they had bigger things to worry about. Like they had a dead, now headless demon to dissect. Which made her forget that she had all kinds of oddities of the freakish nature in the storage unit as well that if Zaid got curious he and signe both might find themselves momentarily distracted.

[darkheart]

Zaid might have been many things, but a multilinguist he was not. He shrugged at Signe and continued snapping pictures. Perhaps he could visit the anthropology department at the college later and see if anyone recognized whatever this was. Moving to Mora's side, he gloved up and helped move the body and scrub the scene of their presence. He did a sweep to ensure no small piece of evidence had been mistakenly left behind, though he figured that he and Dr. K. would be the ones called to the scene later and they would swing the evidence anyway they wished if it came down to it. Detectives loved a good mystery, but when it came to bodies and theories no one messed with the ME department. It would mean they had to get their hands dirty, and most people didn't like dealing with the aftermath of corpses. They preferred their clean, concise reports and took them as gospel in their ignorance anyway.

Pulling up at the off site storage lab, Zaid let out a low whistle. Sure, most of the equipment was ancient by his standards, but the accumulation was more than he could afford - even between his multiple jobs. Doc had to have some serious cash stashed away - more than he could make in a few lifetimes. Perhaps she came from old money. That or she'd have to be over a hundred years old. He chuckled at the absurdity of that thought, and of the mental image of Frank humping a mummy. Coughing into his hand, he waited until everything was inside and then shut the outer doors. They didn't need any Lookie-loos for what came next. There were plenty of boxes lying around the outer walls of the unit, and they somehow sent him interesting vibes, but out of respect for Mora, he wouldn't pry. It would be like being invited over to dinner and then rummaging through someone's medicine cabinet - a violation of hospitality and privacy at the expense of curiosity.

He'd quickly text some of the grad students he knew in the Humanities and Anthropology departments with pictures of the writing, then hand the phone to Signe in case they texted back. Perhaps someone was pulling an all nighter and could at least give them a clue as to what they were dealing with, especially because a mental break and a chance to show off was carrot enough for most post-grad students anyway.

"Alright Doc - what's the plan?"

[Signe]

Signe pulled up to the storage unit, speaking aloud to seemingly no one to alert her if anyone approaches before stepping out of the Jeep. She'd swing open the door and heft one of the bodies easily over her shoulder just as the door to the unit was rolled up. Zaid whistled and Signe poked her head around curiously to observe what was going on. Inside was decades worth of obsolete medical equipment. Knowing how old Mora truly was it was no surprise to the Valkyrie she had amassed such a collection. What did cause a small smile to quirk to her lips was Zaid's wide eyed reaction to the treasures.

Both bodies were well wrapped and sealed with duct tape. It would be no issue for the woman to carry them both inside.

"Zaid. Please get the head out of the Jeep and lock it please."

She'd ask as she passed by the kid and further into the unit. More than one table was within the building, but only one of them looked as if it was ready to be used. Making the assumption she'd load the wrapped bodies upon the examining table.

"I will help however you need me. But I feel like this is your wheelhouse."

[Mora Kaiyroan]

Mora needed a moment to ground herself. She felt energized by the dead bodies in the unit. Well at least the human one. It was fresh and was still humming with energy telling Mora that the soul was still there and hadn't moved on just yet. Which mean reanimated this corpse would be a cake walk and getting some answers to questions would finally be possible in a fashion that had not been made available to them before. 

For a momet she'd take a deep breath and close her eyes trying to organize her thoughts and how to direct her 'team.' Because weather they'd planned it or not, but Signe and Zaid were now her side crew. She heard signe request Zaid do something with the head and stepped out of her thoughts. 'Theres a wooden lead box on the 3rd self closest to the door it will have some inscriptions and sigils on it, the head will be safe if that.' she'd tell Zaid, as she turned to disappear around a corner the sound of movements heard as she opened boxes looking for her spare scrubs. Finding them she'd come back and offer a set of anicent scrubs to both signe and Zaid. So close to the fresh body she shivered slightly. An odd smile on her face.

'It might be my wheel house, but I think we're gonna get lucky today....I can still feel our victim...he's still fresh enough I can bring him back memory in take...well... limited memory but at least enough we can find out more about his final moments....'

She'd take a scaple cutting away at the ducttape of the victim, determined to take advantage of their window of oppurtunity.