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Calamity's not the greatest about texting back, always, but...it's unusual for them to be this silent for this long. But tonight's the night they'd made plans to grab both Rena and Finley to talk shop, about the rats - specifically at the north 10th entrance to Hunting Park. It's only a few blocks away from their place, but far enough away that Finley won't see where they live.
At least, that's probably what their plan was.
Hard to tell now, 'cause they're late.
"What the fuck," Rena snarls, pacing back and forth. She whips out her phone and fires off what is probably her 100th text to them tonight. bug what the fuck if your mad at least tell me. She picks up a rock and throws it at a tree as hard as she can (without spending vitae). "Where are they?"
Finley had arrived on time, finding a bench nearby to sit on. Obfuscated, easily over looked, until Rena showed up. Then they waved and walked over to stand beside her. Then waited. And waited. They have their own phone out as well to fiddle with, anxiously checking the time. And also texting. "I... don't know," zhe murmurs, looking around.
"They pissed at me? I was figurin' they must a been pissed at me but unless they're turbo-pissed at me or you did something to piss 'em off, I dunno why they'd ditch you," Rena says, pacing quickly, her long legs taking her far with each step. She punches a tree, cracking some bark.
"I haven't even seen them in several days," Finley murmurs, shifting zher weight nervously between zher feet. Zhe flinches as Rena punches the tree, tugging nervously at the sleeve of zher coat--which they wear even with the weather getting warmer. "Do... you know where they live..?"
"Yeah, I think I do. They said they were stayin' with the guys..." Rena trails off, looking Finley up and down. "Huck, you got a setting that says anything other than Doogie Howser? I feel like you showin' up like this might not be great."
"Huh?" Finley blinks, looking lost. "Who's Doogie Howser...?"
"... Doogie Howser, MD? It was a show about a teen doctor. I'm saying you look like a young sweet nerd who mighta been played by a young Neil Patrick Harris. I forget who played 'im," Rena explains, still pacing. If you look up antsy in the dictionary, there's a picture of Rena right now. "What I'm tryin' to say is that they live with their gang and while a piece a shit like me fits right in, you look too... I dunno, dr. teddy bear."
"...Oh... Um... Would it help if I took the jacket off?" Zher brows crease with distress and apology.
"I mean. Maybe? Can you look scarier? Or at least angry instead of freaked?" Rena asks, looking zhem over. "I'd say take off the mask but I dunno if that'd have the right effect."
"Erm... yeah... I don't think so..." zhe murmurs. But zhe does slip off the coat, folding it in half then tucking it under one arm. Zhe blinks at Rena. "Better?" ...Zhe's wearing a kitty mask and a dinosaur print button up short sleeve shirt....
"Oh fucking hell." Rena unzips her duffle bag and pulls out a dirty shirt with sign language letters spelling FUCK YOU on it. "Put this on. It'll hide some of that." The shirt is overly large on Rena, so Finley will probably be swimming in it, unless they're broader than her. "'f anyone asks about the mask, you stole it from a nurse after she patched you up. And if you can hit threaten or hit things good, maybe do that. My rep can only do so much, since last time they saw me I was too high to spell my own name."
Finley takes the shirt and pulls it on over zher head, smoothing it down. Zhe glances down at it, then up at her. "...Okay. I... can also just be Obfuscated, if that's better...?"
"Up to you. I figure that they'd appreciate knowin' you were comin' to check up on 'em, if they're just shittin' their brains out or somethin'. Plus if they are sick, your Doogie Howser routine might help," Rena says, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Follow me and walk tall."
"Oh... Um, okay." Zhe bobs zher head, falling into step behind her and... trying to walk tall. it doesn't quite work.
The streets of Hunting Park are dark. Streetlights few and far between, and the ones that haven't been shattered by rocks or bullets are dim and flickery. One block, two blocks, three...and then there's a tag on the side of a corner store, in green paint.
‘’’B+F’’’
A little sloppy, but effective. A few green lines tag the next few buildings, like the tagger wasn't quite satisfied by the single announcement of the gang's territory. No one's on the street at this hour, and there's a single streetlight that struggles to illuminate the side street that the gang's dilapidated house sits on. The first floor of the place is covered in graffiti - someone's clearly been using the place to practice. No exterior lights on, and one of the lower windows is covered in plywood.
Rena walks up to the door and bangs on it loud as she can. "Yo, fuckers, it's Rena! Where's Bug?" She shouts, trying her hardest to not accidentally leave holes in the shitty door that is probably more termite than wood.
Finley looks over the graffiti as they pass, but doesn't comment. Zhe stops just behind Rena, looking anxiously to the door.
There's immediate movement from in the house, the sounds of a few someones scrambling up from wherever they happened to be collapsed for the evening, all their heartbeats spiking at the unexpected knock. A few seconds later there's click of the lock, then the deadbolt, and the door screeches open a few inches.
"Rena?" The young man peering suspiciously through the opening is pale enough he practically glows in the dark - and if Rena ever bought from B+F, she would've bought from him.
"The fuck whaddaya mean where's Bug? Don't fuckin -" he pulls away from the door. "Guys, 's just Rena!" He shouts into the rest of the house, before turning back to her.
Finley blinks past Rena at the man, eyes a little wide, but... zhe says nothing, letting Rena do the shouting talking.
"I meant. Where's Bug? They haven't gotten back to me about shit that I need to talk to them about. Stop fuckin' around and give me a straight fuckin' answer," Rena growls, slamming her fist on the side of the house.
"Jesus, calm down, stop shoutin'..." He trails off as he sees Finley, and jerks back a little. "Who the fuck're you? You makin' friends, Rena?"
"You know me, Miss Congeniality." Rena snarks. "Now, you gonna answer my question or are you too fuckin' stupid ta know what a location is?"
Finley looks nervously towards Rena, then back to the man, awkwardly lifting a hand to a little wave. "Hi..."
"Wanna know who your friend is - don't let strangers into the house -" He's interrupted by a shove.
"Let her the fuck in, dude, you're so paranoid." The voice is a little muffled. "I'm gettin' worried about 'em, too, maybe she knows somethin'..."
The pale guy huffs and rolls his eyes, and holds up a 'one second' hand before closing the door and undoing the chain lock. Then the door screeches open again, and the guy - Rena might remember his name as Ty, but then again she might not - gestures the two of them inside.
The house is gutted - the interior walls are mostly just framing, wiring and pipes exposed, and it looks like the gang spends the majority of the time on the ground floor, based on the mismatched furniture and detritus - not to mention the presence of all four of "the guys". Though one of them barely looks up from where he's sprawled on a busted up couch, clearly high off his ass.
"Surprised Calamity's talkin' to you, after you fucked off for so long..." Ty scoffs at Rena and gestures her and Finley over to a scratched-up table. "You know 'em too?" This is said at Finley, as he gives them a very suspicious look.
Finley follows Rena inside, looking around with a brief flash of distress. Calamity lives here!? But zhe tries to push it aside as zhe looks back to Ty, nodding faintly. "Mm... Y-yeah. I know Calamity. Um. I stole this mask from a nurse," zhe adds abruptly, pointing to the mask. Emphasizing stole a little too much, because that's what makes you a badass criminal, right? Then a beat pause. "Wait... they're not here...?"
"Yeah, your mom and I were on a romantic getaway. I'm a gentle lover," Rena says, doing her best to let the delivery of that burn land before starting back up. Rena isn't blushed, but she didn't look that hot the last time the guys saw her either. After a glare at Finley, she asks, "y'all haven't seen 'em either?"
A scoff at Finley's attempt at badassery, and another at Rena's joke, and the white guy sits on the table, gesturing for Finley and Rena to take the two seats. A stool and a wooden chair with no back. "Haven't seen Bug'n like...what...?" he looks to the other young man who's followed them over. He's in his late 20s maybe, with stick straight black hair and warm tan skin. His eyebrows are creased in concern, and he crosses his arms as he leans against one of the exterior walls.
"Too long. None of us keep track'a all our comings and goings, but...we all check in, y'know? Honestly you showin' up made me hope they'd fucked off with you for a while. 'Cause...sure as hell ain't with us. They text either of you?" He pulls out a shitty flip phone as he speaks.
Finley is definitely looking distressed at this point, hands fidgeting as they sit. "Not for... a couple days... Where did you see them last...?"
"Round three days for me. Figured they mighta just been pissed at me so I wasn't worried. Feel like a fuckin' idiot now," Rena says, perching on the stool. "They ain't usin', are they?"
The dark haired man's frown deepens. "Here, a few nights ago. Sent me a photo a few hours later, figured it was an accident...they better fuckin' not be, I'd kick their ass. Ain't gonna let 'em destroy their life like that." He finds what he's looking for on the phone, and shows it to the two of them.
Flip phone cameras aren't very good at the best of times, and this photo...is blurry as all hell. At first glance, just some greens and greys.
Finley takes the phone and squints at it, trying to see if its anything familiar.
Rena also squints at it. Trying to pretend she isn't nearsighted is really kicking her in the ass tonight.
Finley's distress shifts to alarm after a moment. They shove the phone back then pull out their own to tap quickly at the screen--appearing to do a google search.
"No idea what in hell it is, but..." He sighs and leans against the table. "Like I said, thought they just sent it by accident. But 'f none'a youse have seen 'em, either...what?" He looks at Finley with concern.
Rena's squinting ends when Finley has some idea of a clue. Better to leave this to people who can see shit fine. "There's some shit out there at night," Rena says, chewing on her lip. "We're lucky? It's some gang giving you shit and they'll return him for some money. Unlucky? There's some fucked up shit."
"I'msorrywegottago," Finley blurts out in a rush, lurching to zher feet after zhe finds what they're looking for--grabbing Rena's arm to haul up and towards the door.
"You find somethin'?" He squints at the picture again, and then closes the phone with a snap and shoves it back in his pocket.
"Hands off," Rena growls, breaking free of their grasp, "you don't get to drag me around like that." She lets out a long breath. "But 'parently time is of the essence. See you around, Ty. I'm going to bring 'em back safe and sound." She stands up, hands in her pockets and follows after.
Finley shrinks back from Rena when she growls, eyes wide with upset and fear that isn't completely directed at her. Zhe looks to Ty anxiously, then just turns to hurry out of the house.
"You better." Ty cracks a small grin at her, but he overall looks pretty worried. "Now we gotta start missing 'em and shit, 'f somethin' actually happened." A sigh, and he rubs his hands with his face. "See y'around, Rena. Lemme know 'f you need a hook up, not much's changed in a year."
The dark haired man is still frowning, and he pushes away from the table to lead them to the door. Or gesture, given that Finley's already gone. "Keep in touch, Rena."
"Don't tell bug I'm still usin'," Rena says, giving him a nod as she follows zhem out.
The second they're outside, Rena cocks her head. "You have to take a piss or you find out somethin' important?"
It is a good thing that Finley isn't currently Blushed, because zhe would very likely be bursting into tears or hyperventilating. Or both. Being unBlushed, instead zhe just looks very, very panicked, and at a complete loss of how to deal with it. "It--it was a picture of a tombstone and a sign for Odd Fellows Cemetery and--it looked like they were being carried and there was a hole and I think the rats got them, Rena," zhe stutters out hurriedly.
"Okay," Rena says, suddenly sounding very calm. "Okay, okay, okay." Each okay is progressively less okay as she walks over to a vacant near by (or at least was vacant a year ago). "Okay, okay, okay, okay." And then she screams- no, roars, and goes to punch in a fucking wall.
Finley has... the opposite reaction, really. Especially as Rena roars and the wall likely... comes crumbling down. Zhe scurries back several feet, eyes wide, then... just crouches on the dirty concrete and buries zher face into zher hands, starting to rock back and forth.
Rena snaps. She's Frenzied before but this is her first honest to god Rage Frenzy. She lets out a bestial howl and turns to Finley. Looking at them just fills her mind with how she wasn't there to protect Calamity and how they didn't even try. Why the fuck were they even involved with the rats?
She rushes at Finley, moving fast enough that it's hard to get a bead on her.
Finley was already struggling to control zhemself, rocking on the ground as zher Beast roared inside them. Any hope of staving it off was lost as Rena turned, zher hands dropping to look up at her as she rushes over, eyes wide and maddened.
Zhe's on the ground before zhe can even react, skidding a couple feet from the force--the mask knocked off as well. Zhe lets out a strangled screech in pain, alarm, and rage--zher Beast-controlled brain not... realizing that getting up is a very bad idea right now. Zhe scrambles fingers clawing the concrete as zhe shoves up to zher feet, baring the rows of sharp, misshapen teeth at Rena.
Get up. Get up. I dare you. Get up! Is what Rena would say if this was a fight she was doing in the ring. Or on the street. Or anything that wasn't two predators rushing at each other. So instead she just lets out a decidedly inhuman yell, tearing into zhem with a quick elbow to the neck as they stand. Before she rips into them again, her mind empty but for thoughts of how they both deserve to die far more than Bug does.
Finley throws zhemself at her in return, trying to get zher hands on her, snapping those teeth dangerously close to her shoulder--just as Rena swings in and lands the devastating blow to zher stomach. Finley lets out a strangled grunt, doubling over as... some very, very vital organs are... basically obliterated. Gravity takes over as zher body just... turns off, falling face first into the dirty concrete and going deathly still.
Which is a relief to her Beast. Zhe should die. If zhe dies, it's vengeance for Calamity, right? The violence is sweet and satisfying.
Rena blinks, coming back down. She feels like she should be taking massive panting breaths with how much excertion she just put in but this all comes as a stark reminder that no matter how much she walks around, she's still dead. "Oh fuck." She says, looking at the body in front of her. She wants to cry or vomit or both but those are autonomic responses not coming to her. "Oh fuck." Is she saying that or is just her body? "Oh fuck." Whoever is saying that should really stop before the cops come. She feels herself bend down to scoop up Finley and then take off running.
She's doing a very bad job of hiding herself, anyone watching sees a unhealthily thin junkie running at professional runner speeds with a dead body slung on her shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Occasionally, when in areas with less light or people, she celerities her speed up to it's full extent, in her attempt to get to her nearest hidey-hole. She finally gets to one, an abandoned convenience store where she sits down Finley in what used to be the bathroom before sending out a massive flurry of texts to everyone she knows. Even the people she doesn't want to know about this. Someone has to help.
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