Chapter Text
A figure, dressed in black stood atop a roof, the white mask of their costume illuminated against the yellowish bulbs of the street lights. Holding their weapon of choice, which this time appeared to be a kitchen knife, they slid down the tiles and pointed their focus to a tall apartment building.
Nobody was around anymore, they were free.
Tonight would be the night they would be successful and that they would be free from their torment.
Their long, wavy, brown hair helped conceal their identity, but the full outfit was such an infamous sight that a poor passerby spotted the figure and screamed before attempting an escape.
The figure barrelled into the pedestrian and pinned him to the floor, knife threatening to enter his chest.
The man attempted to struggle against them and managed to move the knife out of the way, his arms trembling in fear and pain.
He anxiously attempted another escape with a threatening "I'll kill you!" But the figure was unfazed and stabbed the knife directly into his right tricep.
The figure watched as his eyes dilated and he began to tremble as the pain spread and he bled onto the concrete.
He screamed again and writhed and begged for mercy, he promised he wouldn't tell if they let him go, but the figure ignored his pleas. Tearing the knife out of his arm, the attacker teased their opponent by pointing the knife in different directions to watch him squirm underneath them...
...Before a disgusting, almost a ripping noise was heard as they plunged the knife into his jugular.
The adrenaline was thrown around the murderous figure's body as the poor man's blood was splattered onto their mask, staining it red as if it were bleeding itself.
He made a gargling scream as his body was ripped apart by the knife, every single one of his nerves set alight. He writhed like a rabid dog and, half-dead, tried to fight against the attacker as a last resort.
When his weakened fist reached their face, he only managed to knock the mask off before finally dying.
The body lay there, still. The red had stained everything around him.
The cool air hit the now exposed attacker and they ran a bloodied hand across their cheek. A newfound clarity hit them and they hurriedly fitted the mask back on.
The mouse was gone.
There was no need for this anymore.
Not for a long time.
And at the sound of another voice approaching, the attacker panicked and fled into a nearby wood, leaving the weapon behind in their frenzy.
☆☆☆☆☆
Sprinting out of the building, Cammy White ran towards the body with a loud "Sir!", unsure if he was still alive by this point, although internally she knew full well he was dead.
She almost skidded on her knees as she came to a quick halt and dropped beside the dead man, spotting the murder weapon immediately.
She pondered what to do with it, she didn't dare touch it. She frowned and knew that first thing to do would be to contact the rest of Delta Red.
A black piece of fabric that the man had ripped off during the struggle, most likely unnoticed by the attacker, lay between her and the body and found herself staring at it. Another piece of evidence connecting it to the one she already suspected.
She tapped the number as quickly as she could into her phone and hoped desperately that someone would pick up.
After 3 rings someone picked up.
"Who's calling?"
"Agent White, sir."
She heard a sigh. "You know by now not to call this number on your personal devices, it's dangerous."
"Yes, sir, I understand, but it's important-" She found herself pausing involuntarily and staring into the distance. Something was there still.
"Agent White? Agent White! Are you there?"
She swore she was staring directly at the figure clad in black, it's white mask glaring back at her, taunting her. It looked as if it's eyes were narrowing, locking in on her.
"Y-yeah... I'm here..."
"Talk to me then! What's going on?!"
The figure then disappeared, like a wisp of smoke and her eyes widened. A... hallucination?
"Nothing... Nothing, sir." She felt out of breath. She could feel the adrenaline running around her body. "As I was saying... There's been another body found. Well, I just found him. He's been killed in a similar style to a lot of Jack The Upper victims and I fear it may be connected to Jack-"
"What?! Tell me you're somewhere safe?!"
"I- uhm- I am, sir..." She lied, stood outside in the cold.
"Go secure the building, make sure everyone's inside and safe, we'll alert the authorities to make sure everything nearby is restricted. How long ago was the attack?"
"I'd say the attack took place about 5-7 minutes ago now."
"Right, so there's still the risk of Jack The Bastard being nearby... Thanks White, we'll discuss this more tomorrow."
"Thank you sir..." She thought. "This isn't really the most appropriate time to say goodnight, huh?"
"Oh well," She heard him chuckle "Goodnight Agent White, get as much rest as you can."
He was the first to hang up and she immediately began a sprint back to the building, not wanting to risk a run in with the notorious serial killer. First things first, she needed to assure everyone was safe. She considered using the emergency PA System, but it was pretty late at night and she feared causing distress among the older residents.
She would just have to do it manually and possibly rely on the help of word of mouth and maybe a quickly drawn up sign for the very top floors.
Trekking up the stairs to the first floor, she began warning people of the situation, a lot of them looked at her like she was insane.
Well, she did look fairly frazzled with those dark rings under her eyes and the messy blonde hair falling down her back.
She eventually decided against and slightly selfishly decided to draw up a quick warning, stuck it on the glass by the doors and the doors to the stairs by each floor.
But she figured Anne would listen to her, so she went up to her and Anne's floor and knocked gently. She wouldn't be surprised if the redheaded girl didn't open the door, it was pretty late.
About 20 seconds passed. No response.
But she still stood there.
Another minute.
Still there.
And however long after that, she stood by her door, knowing she'd appear at any moment. Although, she was caught off guard by Anne stumbling through the stairwell doors and nearly crashing into Cammy at top speed as she made what appeared to be an attempt to escape of something.
Cammy caught her and only just caught herself from falling. "Anne!"
The woman in question looked frantic. "...Let me in." She was hyperventilating. Anne shakily placed her key in the slot.
"What's going on?" She held the girl's shoulders, she looked half dead.
"Cammy, please-" Anne shook the grip and almost fell through the entrance.
Cammy knew there was something up and she needed to keep her neighbour safe, so she followed her into the flat, anxiously watching her slip off her coat and drop it to the floor before collapsing onto the sofa.
"Anne-"
"You need to go... There'll be more for them to kill if they find me..." Her eyes were shifting, clearly paranoid.
"What do you mean? Were you attacked? Who's they?
Anne looked at her, her brown eyes hollow of all emotion except fear.
Cammy bent down to pick up her friend's coat and realised it was damp. Where had she been to do that? She also noticed a small patch of blood by a tear on the left arm, that had revealed the white material internal that had become a dirty red through the injury.
She looked at Anne and back at the coat before wandering to hang her jacket up for her.
The redhead appeared to have calmed down a little by now and was now wincing, clearly the adrenaline from the previous situation was dispersing, leaving the pain to finally register and set in. Upon noticing the red patch on the coat arm, she frantically checked for the cut and got up to go find a bandage.
Once again, Cammy stopped her and insisted she do the work for her, as Anne was way too out of it.
She sat Anne back down on the sofa and the blonde cleaned the wound as gently as she could and made sure to stop it the bleeding as well as possible before wrapping the bandage around the her friend's arm.
The agent couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she must've had a real scare. It was oddly out of character for the girl.
She tried to make the bandage as comfortable as possible, but also knew it might needed to be done up properly to avoid any problems.
Cammy checked over the rest of Anne's body to make sure there weren't any more nasty cuts and only found one or two grazes on her legs, which didn't look too bad. She offered to help her with those top, but Anne said she just needed to let the air get to them, maybe a wet paper towel if she could get back up later.
Anne grabbed the blonde's hands and thanked her, clearly she was beginning to calm down. Cammy decided she wouldn't need to stay with her for the night, the girl would most likely be OK on her own, although in the morning she'd check up on her, just in case.
Her friend looked up at her and smiled, slowly pulling her hands back into her lap.
However, she found her touch lingering, as if it were dangerous to let Cammy go.
"Again, thank you, Cammy..." Anne whispered, giving her cheek a light kiss.
Cammy felt her face heat up, she still hadn't gotten used to Anne's way of giving thanks, even if she did do it to everyone.
She noticed Anne moving back in for another kiss and Cammy turned her head curiously, nearly allowing their lips to touch.
Both backed away and Cammy awkwardly got up. She couldn't do it. Not when Anne was vulnerable like that.
"I'm gonna head back now... Get some rest, I'll check on you in the morning."
Anne nodded. "Goodnight, Cammy."
Cammy shut the door to Anne's apartment and wistfully gazed at her before it closed all the way with a click.
She rested her forehead against the wood and prayed her friend would be alright until morning. But with that done with for the moment, she went back to her own home, flopping into her bed moments after locking the front door.
She brought the covers close to her and tried resting again, although the nagging fear of that supposed hallucination she had earlier kept her wide awake. What made it worse was the notion Anne might be at risk, she had no clue what had happened to her earlier that night, but the cuts said that she had gotten into some sort of fight or attack or maybe even just frightened herself.
But Cammy quickly shrugged off the last idea, Anne had definitely gotten herself into a dangerous situation and considering she must've been nearby during the attack, it wouldn't be too mad to assume it was the same attacker.
The blonde grabbed a spare pillow and hugged it, she hated feeling nervous like this, it was like being a new operative all over again.
She could only hope.
She clutched the fabric tighter and shut her eyes, resting her chin on the top of the pillow, and tried to fall asleep, eventually getting her well earned rest.