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Chapter 1: Follow-up Call

One-two. One-two. One-two. Left jab-right hook. Distract-Stagger-Draw the knife. Many idiots willing to get into fist fights against someone smaller than them. Not even the psychos want to punch against a knife, even against someone half their size.

One-two. One-two. One-

Riley snapped to the side halfway through her punch, noticing some motion in the corner of her eye, drawing out her switchblade at the-

Nothing. There was nothing there. Again.

She punched the bag with all her strength in anger, the half frozen pleather flaking just a bit more in return, the whole thing barely even bulging.

She sat down against the wall of the concrete alcove, looking out at the orphanage's courtyard, a layer of fresh snow accumulating on the muddy dirt. Of course, this prestigious institution wasn't "an orphanage", as the administration constantly reminded both the kids living in there and the prospective parents. It was, of course, the "Oakwood Child Care Center", or something to that effect. even trying to recall it made Riley gag at the pretense of it all.

"Child fucking Care center my ass..." She muttered to herself as she watched the pearly snow slowly accumulate, hidden in the small alcove. The name was even more bitterly ironic in that it didn't just not care about its occupants, cracked walls and broken armature being proof of that plenty. It was, more than anything, a house for children that *nobody* cared about, in all meanings of the word.

Not even themselves.

A loud noise interrupted her brooding as a wolf boy was thrown onto the snow from a doorway opposite to her, yielping in pain, followed up by a muscly human walking out, looking mighty pissed at him.

"Come on fur rug, where's my fucking money~" He harassed, stomping on the boy's back, pushing his head even deeper into the snow.

Riley stood up and approached the two, readying the switchblade in her pocket as she neared the bully.

"Fuck off Bruce." She barked at the human, interrupting his punishment and making him laugh.

"Or *what*, chickpea? You're gonna tickle me to-" He taunted, his expression quickly washing from his mug as Riley showed off her knife, going from cruelly joyful to frustrated.

"Don't make me repeat myself." Riley responded grimly, knife ready to stab, and stab to kill.

"I'm gotta get him one day either way, gonna skin his furry ass and splay it in front of this place, and then do the same to you if you keep getting in my way." He threatened as he backed off, walking backwards, keeping his eyes on Riley's knife.

"You're too dumb to make out an ass from a face anyway, judging by your blathering. Out of my sight." Bruce obliged, running off into the depths of the concrete jungle of the orphanage.

Riley sighed and reached down to help the pained wolf boy up, swiping the snow from his fur and clothes as he looked up at her in disbelief.

"Scatter." She sent him off, not particularly fond of the anthro folk herself, just not too willing to become a silent accomplice to another murder.

There's enough of those already.

She shuddered off the snow as she walked back inside, some of the cold managing to bite through her worn jacket. Great, now she had to try to find a spot on the heaters, else there was no way in hell this rag would dry on its own.

As she made her way over to the cafeteria for lunch, her steps making the tiled wood creak, she heard a gruff voice coming from its direction, sounding mighty annoyed. Probably something broke again and the fatass is trying to blame it on everyone within earshot.