DAYWALKER | n.romanoff

ONE

CHAPTER ONE
' YOU'RE ALWAYS HERE
FOR ME. '

Ash drifted around the corner before she did. In a blur of darkness, the embers of the cigarette which hung between her lips reflected in the dark bronze helmet masking her face. Leisurely, she moved down the clinical hallway, with no windows and only the artificial, buzzing lights to show her way.

Over a black balaclava, the helmet covered her face and finished under her nose, leaving her jaw free but shielded by the fabric. The metal curled into tusks like a wild boar and framed her jawline. Her grey eyes flickered over her environment through the eyeholes, their colour accentuated by the darkness she wore. A coat reaching her mid-thigh swayed with the movement of her hips. White fabric weaved around the buttons of her jacket, and it fell into a tailored tailcoat at the bottom.

Strapped across her back were two long swords and daggers hung along her belt with their silvery blades hidden by black sheaths.

A shadow shot past her line of sight, and then two more followed, the three twirling together in a dance.

God, this place is dull.

We're doing it a favour by destroying it.

I think a feature wall would really-

The Blade hushed them, and the sound echoed down the hallway. Her fist clenched at her side at the sudden disturbance, even by her hand.

See, the dullness is getting to her.

She reached the end of the corridor and looked along the walls before lifting a hand to trace them and exhaling a puff of smoke. The white pooled in front of her face, and after throwing the cigarette to the ground, she walked through the fumes. Her lips parted, and she slipped a tiny disk between her teeth. She crouched and pulled a panel away from the wall.

After a short roll of her shoulders, she dragged back her elbow and smashed it against the box. A litter of delicate, diaphanous sparks flared from the crumbled device. Brushing off her sleeve, she plucked the disk from her teeth and placed it inside the crushed box.

Once more, a shadow shot past her and twirled around her torso. It then curled upwards, the shadow morphing into a face with dead eyes and a mouth that dripped blood.

Someone's coming.

The quiet thump of footsteps met her ears, and she slowly pushed herself to stand. Her fist clenched at her side once and again before she reached back to release one of the swords from their sheaths.

It had intricate vines carved into the handle that swirled around a snarling bore and along similarly designed handguards. The actual edge was long, the mirror-like metal reflecting the harsh light furiously. The Blade twirled it within her hands before stopping and pressing herself against the wall.

Quiet hissing tickled her ears and created pressure in the back of her head. Her shoulders tensed before they dropped just as quickly. The hissing turned into whispering, but there were so many voices their words were intelligible.

A soldier, clad in armour and a long machine gun, rounded the corner. Without giving them a chance to react, she pounced forward and swiped her sword. The shattering of the visor harmonised with the splat of their head on the ground. Immediately after, the body crumbled in a heap, and the pool of blood steadily grew around it.

With a final glance at the hole in the wall, the Blade wiped the blood off her sword against the fabric of her elbow and then replaced it into the sheath. Her quick pace suddenly stopped. The click of a gun was deafening in the hallway, and her head tilted to the side.