The peaceful Old Skies town becomes rifted and split after many residents go missing and wound up dead in alleyways. Nobody knows who to trust, or what's happening to them, and nobody knows what to do.
When news breaks of a survivor, everyone races...
A/N- let's get crackin! I have many people to thank, but notably, I want to thank my friends Temp, Rin and Choco for being my faithful beta-readers, especially Choco, who did the cover art in a quick time when we needed one ;;
Also a HUUUGE thanks to Sonzai for this chapter's piece, it's absolutely gorgeous and I'm absolutely in love with it
Enough me, time to get this fest started!
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Friday, October 28th, 2020
10:48pm
The broken pipes from the alleyway were dripping slowly, each drop filling the darkened autumn air with a brief popping noise before diluting into nothing. The alleyways were stained with these kinds of waters, these kinds of pipes, this atmosphere. It was like this on just about every street corner. Tucked away in shadows at the dusks of night and left hollow and untouched at the sign of day. A lot went down in there, but this alleyway in particular would set history.
A tall, hatted man with teal locks had slipped into the shadows of the night. There was almost no sign of light; any streetlight would only tickle the entrance of the alley, and a sliver of what was left of the moon was eclipsed by clouds. This didn't bother the man, matter of fact he liked it that way. He wanted to go somewhere private, somewhere he wouldn't be found.
He stumbled by a wall, lifting the brim of his hat to peek behind him, ensuring that he wasn't being followed. Once the coast was clear, he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and took a lighter that he had previously in his hands, using it to light the cig. He put the other end to his mouth and blew out a puff of smoke shortly after, letting out a small sigh. He leaned against one of the parallel alleyway walls next to a few dumpsters, continuing to huff smoke from the cigarette.
A ruffling was heard from the garbage bin across him, slightly to the back-end of the alley. He crooked his head in its direction immediately, straightening his posture, preparing himself if he had to make a dash out the alley. He looked both ways, confused, then went back to slumping on the wall. The ruffling had returned, and again the man had lifted his head to try and find where it was coming from. He'd be embarrassed if he was out here getting spooked by a couple rats...
It wasn't until he heard, seemingly, meowing from the bins. His mild annoyance turned into curiosity as he tilted his head to the side. A small, scrawny, tawny kitten had fallen out of the bin, landing with a small squeak, before regaining its footing and meowing at the man again. It took a few shaky steps forward, looking just as curious as the man.
"Scram, kit.." He whispered to it, blowing out another puff of smoke before throwing the cigarette onto the concrete floor and stomping it out.
The kit mewed at the man once more, before dragging out a yawn. Can't say no to a face like that...
He reluctantly marched forward to it, scoffing a small chuckle. He knelt down to it, reaching his hand out to it to scritch its chin.
It lightly purred for a bit, then reached up to try and bat at the top of his hat. He chuckled, continuing to fiddle with the seemingly playful kitten.
A low humm rose from the dumpsters behind the pair. The man was too occupied by the kit gnawing on his hat to hear much, but when he did, he zipped his head behind him. He was pretty far deep into the alleyway, it was hard to see, now that he thought about it.
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"I'mma get goin' now, kit. You find your mama now.. Hope she ain't in the trash either..." He chuckled, trying to take his hat from the kit.
It squealed a bit as it clung to the hat rim being lifted off the ground. He stood up, trying to pry the kitten off. The humm started to become louder, filling the dark space with a flat noise, one that was eerie to the man. He became a little panicked, trying again to get the kitten off his hat.
The kit hissed at him and scratched at him. It didn't hurt him, but it made him flinch and drop his hat on the floor.
"Hey, that would be my hat!" He said, a little annoyed and reached back down for it, the kit still hissing with its back arched.
He looked behind him once more. He could only see a tall, gleering figure towering over him, eclipsing the safety of the streetlamp on the opposite side, before he suddenly felt something take a heavy blow at the side of his head.
He huffed suddenly, his head hitting the ground roughly. He turned onto his belly, trying to regain his footing. He felt something stinging his neck, it felt strangely numb but it didn't take long for the pain to settle in.
He tried to scream, but no noise came from his mouth, instead, something scarlet flowed from it as he tried to cry for help. He clasped his hand over the wound, grimacing strongly in pain and continued to try and stand despite the injuries he had. He suddenly felt his arm being tugged upwards and what sounded like chuckling. The teal-haired man had tried to pull whatever was holding him away, even trying to kick it off. It showed no effect, however...
Another hand came to the man and suddenly began pulling at it, using all its might to try and tear it off. The unfortunate soul couldn't scream for help, all he could do was struggle with a seemingly immovable force. Everything started to fuzz from there. He tried to kick the force off once more, before feeling a sudden pressure on his chest, followed by a quick sharp pain, then numbness.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29TH, 2020 VICTIM NAME: GARCELLO STATUS: DECEASED COD: EXCESSIVE BLOOD LOSS DUE TO CHEST INJURY LOCATION: 104 27 PINE AV. *VICTIM WAS FOUND WITH NO LIMBS, A LARGE GASH TO THE NECK AND A BLOW TO THE CHEST
