Lady Luck

5

       "Stay where you fucking are, or I'll shoot!"

One hour earlier, the man known as Hoody found himself staring down the barrel of a pistol, gloved hands held in the air above his head. Everything about the gun-toting man's appearance set off alarm bells in his head: a black knitted cap, baggy clothes, bags under his eyes... No matter how he looked at it, this man was bad news. Based on the money wad-shaped bulge in his pants pocket, it was easy to assume Hoody had walked in on the aftermath of a drug deal.

Red veins were visible in the very corners of the shady-looking man's eyes as he slowly stepped towards Hoody, every movement wary and cautious. "Who the hell are you?" he snarled. Of course, Hoody didn't answer, just kept his hands in the air while discreetly glancing around. One of the good things about wearing masks: they can hide where one's eyes look. The fabric in his mask looked solid, but when placed directly against his eyes it was relatively easy to see through for the wearer. Scanning the room, his gaze came to a rest on a corner of the room where part of the wall had crumbled away, exposing some old, rusty pipes inside.

As Hoody stared at it intently, the man was clearly getting increasingly irritated at his silence. "Take off the mask," he growled, taking another step forward. Big mistake. Suddenly Hoody launched forward, ducking to the side so he was out of the gun's range and slamming his forearm against the man's wrists. Caught off-guard by the attack, the man's grip loosened and the gun went soaring through the air. By the time it landed Hoody had swept out his leg to knock the man off his feet, landing with an "oof".

The second his attacker lost his balance, Hoody was already dashing to the wall. Wrapping his hands around one of the pipes, he yanked hard and the rusted metal easily gave way, a decently-sized segment snapping off. The man had only just gotten up when Hoody lunged and slammed the corner of the pipe against the back of his head. Screaming in pain, he raced down the hall with Hoody in hot pursuit, a trail of blood splatters following them.

Chasing his former assailant through the building, Hoody's pace only picked up and he managed to swing at his back, earning another scream. Finally, as they turned a corner the man failed to notice some rubble on the floor and tripped, sliding into a large, open room. Not faltering in his pace, Hoody ran over and then swung the pipe down on the man's skull. A sickening crack filled the air and his neck quickly bent at the force of the blow, and Hoody struck him a few more times before finally stopping.

Panting heavily, he stares down at the glassy-eyed corpse in silence, exhausted from the effort required to kill him. Murder wasn't exactly something he was used to doing; fighting and scaring people, yes, but killing? That was new. He could still feel the tingling sensation reverberating up his arms with each strike dealt with the man's skull. As he stared at the body, his grip loosened and he let the pipe slide through his fingers, not flinching at the loud clatter it made.

What DID make him flinch was the scratching sound of something skidding across the hard floor behind him.

Instantly he spun around to find himself staring at a strange girl standing in the doorway of the room, watching him with wide (e/c) eyes. As they stared at each other Hoody's mind went to work, quickly assessing the girl's appearance. Smudged (s/c) skin, disheveled (h/c) hair, ragged and dirty clothes... Homeless, he decided. Given her eyes weren't bloodshot, she probably wasn't a druggie, and most likely just happened to be staying here and heard the scream.

Unlike the man, who was likely connected to a criminal organization, a single homeless girl posed no trouble. The most she could do was report him to the police, and given this city's police officers weren't too friendly to those in her situation, well... He was probably safe in that regard. Still, her presence would cause trouble. His best option would be to scare her away. With that in mind, he started walking towards her to try to rouse her from her shocked stupor. It worked, and when she turned and ran he quickly pursued her.

Now, one hour later, Hoody's body was mangled from falling through the floor, and that girl was on the ground clutching at her head as she cried out in pain.

Limping towards her, Hoody winced at the pain in his left ankle and right thigh, biting his lip as he did his best to ignore it. As he drew closer her convulsing stopped and she fell onto her side, and once he reached her side he found her eyes were closed. His frown matched his mask as he studied her, shaking her shoulders slightly. The only response he got was her head rolling to the side slightly, a small line of blood trickling down from her nose.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath as he carefully released her shoulders, turning her on her side so the blood wouldn't pool inside her nose. He knew exactly what was going on, he'd seen these symptoms before:

The Operator was nearby.

Cursing under his breath some more, he quickly wiped away the blood on her nose and got up. Time to go. Ignoring the dull ache that consumed his body, he quickly left the room and made his way to the stairs. His legs hurt a bit as he rushed down the stairs, particularly his ankle and the gash in his thigh, but he didn't let it stop him. Nausea was already starting to rear its ugly head as he felt the all-too-familiar static start to edge into his mind, but he was at least a little used to it now and could push through it.

After what felt like hours he finally reached the ground floor and raced to the front door, sprinting out to safety. As he fled he cast a final glance at the decrepit building behind him, his mind flashing to the girl he'd left behind. So long, Lady Luck, he thought silently and then turned forward as he rushed away. Unknown to him, a tall, faceless figure stood in one of the windows, silently watching the yellow-hooded man flee.


~*~

I don't know what happened when I passed out. I don't even know how or why it happened. One moment I was talking to a masked killer, and then suddenly my mind filled with static and everything went black. When I woke up it was already dark outside, the only light in the room coming from the full moon outside the window. Everything felt hazy, like I was moving through water. It took a while for my mind to clear and all my memories to come back.

Slowly sitting up, I groaned as I glanced around the room, only to freeze. Towering above me was a tall, black-clad figure. As my head reflexively craned back I found myself staring at a white, blank surface in place of its face, seeming to glow in the darkness. For a few moments I just stared at it in shock, taking a few moments to take it in, but then I started staggering to my feet. "W-what the hell!?" I sputtered, trying to make sense of this... this thing. Because no matter how I looked at it, that thing wasn't human.

Static suddenly flickered across my vision as I stared at it, my sight becoming grainy like on old TV sets. A dull pain started growing in the back of my head, and I gave a small groan and clutched at my head as it gradually grew stronger. None of this helped the current haziness. But even with all that, my instincts were still pretty alert. Messed up as my common sense has become over the years, for once it was actually functioning right as a single word flashed through my mind:

Run.

With that thought I turned and fled the room, not daring to look back. The world seemed to spin around me as I ran down the hall, making me feel like I was about to fall over, but somehow I managed to keep my balance. More static flickered across my vision, to the point everything was blurry. "Oh, come on!" I groaned, closing my eyes and shaking my head.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in the room with the drug dealer's corpse.

Stunned, I skidded to a stop and just stood there in shock for a few moments, my jaw hanging open. "The hell?" I blurted, not really thinking. Two seconds ago, I was just in the fourth floor hall! How did I get here!? I wasn't even bothered by the corpse in front of me anymore, I just wanted to know how the hell I got here. As I stared around in confusion, though, the static started to edge into my mind again, making me freeze.

Oh right, there's a faceless monster upstairs... I should probably keep running.

With that in mind I glanced at the two doorways and then ran into the one on the opposite side of the room. Hazy as my mind was, I still knew the other hallway led to a giant hole in the floor, so for now my best bet was to go the opposite way. Weaving through the hall, I did my best to ignore the static and newly acquired vertigo. However, as I turned a corner the world seemed to flicker, and suddenly I was staring at the large pile of rubble.

That did not help my disorientation.

Shaking my head, I just changed direction and kept on running. I could think about this later, for now I had to keep moving. As I ran through the building, I kept finding myself suddenly flickering into other rooms of the building, but I did my best to ignore it. Disorienting as all the scenery change was, I knew I had to keep moving, and I just kept changing my course accordingly to my new surroundings.

Throughout it all the static kept filling my vision and mind, and I kept staggering due to my dizziness, but eventually, I somehow reached the front door. Without a second's hesitation I pushed it open and darted outside, and as I passed through it my mind suddenly cleared. No more static, no more headache, no more nausea or tilting surroundings, just a little grogginess. It was so sudden I nearly skidded to a stop in surprise, but I shook my head and pushed onward.

I just fled into the night, never once looking back.