Duel and Deception.

Chapter 1: In with a bang

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Gentle padding of a fiery fox echoed around the misty and dead streets, her pointy ears perked up. Fog blinded the sighted and darkness accompanied it. The thick fur brushed along the rough, rusty brick walls as the fiend carefully moved, its pinkish nose pointed heaven-ward as it whiffed the scent of smoke; like a child discovering a new aroma for the first time. She tread carefully around broken glass, tossed out paint cans and other rubbish before stumbling upon the faint red crackling of a fire, the vermillion red doused the walls in thick light, flickering randomly. 

A stench of potent metal hung in the air, mixing and binding with the musty smell of thick smog and embers of the fire. A pearly crescent moon barely peaked down on the dying fire from behind grey clouds. The fox trotted further, slipping past the half walls and crates that lined the high walls, past people donning dark clothes and mumbled chants, past the drawn blades and loaded handguns. It came to an abrupt halt. The unpredictable fury-filled flames billowed dangerously before her. The fox's eyes darted around the scene before landing on an interesting face; lit half by the silver moonlight and half by the scarlet breath. 

Silver strands of hair framed dangerous, wild grey eyes that fit snuggly into a sharp and bony face. Ethereal yet eerie. The figure's body hugged tightly by a bottle-green dress that traced over her curvy frame. It tugged in all the right places, even as her arms swiftly moved into an overhead position. The glitter of shiny metal reflected in her palms... What was it? The object slammed down, the fox felt too heavy, too slow to move. A sly smile slithered across the woman's sculpted face as the chants grew louder.

'Blood. Blood. Blood.'

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Like the idiot he is, James got himself shot.

Coffee-coloured hair flopped in front of his face as he slumped against the old desk, in order to staunch the thick flow of blood from a gunshot wound. Rather clumsily, he pushed himself off the desk and stumbled towards a tall wooden cabinet. His slick leather-gloved hands fumbled over the silvery knob before jerking it open and searching through its contents. Eventually pulling out a dusty first aid kit.  

After managing to stop the bleeding with a bandage and some medical tape, he slid another magazine into his handgun, a Kimber 19. James paused momentarily and let out a muffled sigh, the pain throbbing in his side like white flames. He quietly propped himself up on the dusty, paper-filled desk and strived to ignore it. 

It reminded him of his own office, forever drowning in stray paperwork and documents. 

Heavy thuds for footsteps caused him to automatically aim the gun at the doorway - before a bullet whizzed past him and forcefully slammed into the drywall, leaving a loud high-pitched buzzing in his ears and a finger-sized hole in the wall beside him. James, without hesitating, ducked behind the desk as the figure reloaded their gun. 

He sprinted - or stumbled rather - to cover behind another wall to the right, barely missing another two fired shots that blasted into a broken bookshelf. 

Another gunshot pummelled into the side of the wall, taking out a relatively large chunk of it. As the person reloaded their gun, James fired repeatedly at their arms, aiming for non vitals before getting yanked back and struck in the nose by an unknown assailant's fist. He violently shoved them back, causing them to trip over a broken wall and fall through a hole in the wooden floor - followed with a cry and then a loud thud. 

Spinning on his heel, he was greeted with the barrel of a gun. Instantly, he shoved the barrel to the left, a shot ringing out and the bullet skidded into the floorboards. James stepped forward and headbutted them, then grabbed them by the scruff of their collar. Before he could disarm them, they withdrew a knife and jammed it into his arm - causing him to grunt loudly in pain. Blood trickled down his arm like an oil spill as they yanked it out.