Darkness Brings Terrible Things

[Yuki]

An internal battle raged through Yuki's mind over whether she should fight to stay, or whether she should simply leave the room. She stayed for a minute or so as she pondered this, and then the doctor turned around to face her. Yuki stared back, unemotional and unmoving as ever. He spoke to her in a gentle tone. Perhaps he was concerned for Teagan as well, or at least understood why she would be concerned. From what the doctor stated, it was unlikely Teagan would be awakening any time soon. Yuki looked at the door in thought, and then back at Teagan. She needed to find Aiden. She had planned on asking Teagan about the live feed cameras she had found in the tavern. Yuki knew nothing of these cameras, or where the feed would go. Aiden had never mentioned cameras in the tavern, and she figured Teagan would have an idea about it, since it was completely resonant of her ill pranking habits.

But if she would not wake up soon, Yuki was going to need to do this on her own. And aside from that, she would be no help at the hospita if she remained. True, she had medical knowledge, but it was no where near as extensive as the doctor's. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps it was more logical to return to the tavern. Of course, she was not going to rest, as he had suggested. She would spend day and night on the lookout for Aiden, and she would come the hospital periodically to check on the child as well, make sure her condition was still stable. Yuki looked up at the doctor, gave a slight nod, then exited the room.

It was going to be a long 72 hours.

[Miles]

It had been a strange amount of time since Teagan had appeared online. They must be off on a hunt, Miles mused to himself, sitting in front of his computer and scrolling through his collection of songs to ease his mind. With a few keystrokes he was playing an online game, lost in the world of the mythical creatures and bobbing his head along to the music. He slashed at an enemy, giving him just enough experience points to hit the next level. Feeling a small amount of happiness, he picked his new power-up but paused when a small notification popped up in the lower right hand corner of his screen: Teagan is now online.

Clicking the pop-up, the chat window opened and he quickly typed his opening statement into the box and sent it. Been working? he asked, obviously referring to hunting, but with so many ways to hack into computers they were careful about what they said and how they said it. He pulled up the feeds from the tavern, and his face slowly dissolving into a look of shock.

The tavern, from what he could see, what a mess. Half of the cameras were now either offline or destroyed. "What the..." he said quietly, and then pulled the chat window back open. What the heck happened to you? Yuki didn't spaz out, did she? He sat back in his chair, still assessing the damage of the tavern. He saw Lori in one of the frames, but other than that, no one else was there.

[Yuki]

During the taxi ride back to the tavern, Yuki debated her next course of action. She had to locate Aiden. How he had disappeared was vitally important, as it would provide a clue as to how to get him back, so deciphering this was her first step, which could be done with the live feed cameras. If they had been rigged throughout the tavern by Teagan, it was only logical to assume that their point of access would lie within the girl's room. But where? On her computer, perhaps? She bit her lip in thought, watching the scenery of Portland zoom past the window. And what were the odds that the camera caught what had happened to Aiden? She could not know, as she had no knowledge as to where or how the machines were set up. And what if Aiden was the one who had secretly set up the cameras? Would that mean that the control center for them would be in his room? Nearing the outskirts of the city, Yuki indicated the taxi driver to stop. Having him drop her off at a destroyed building would only prove suspicious. Reaching into her back pocket, she gave the driver his pay. Unfortunately, her emergency cash consisted of a hundred dollar bill, no smaller bills. She sighed, but it would have to do. "This is all I have," she said apathetically. "Don't ask. Just take it," she snapped, before he could say anything or give her a look of surprise. Not that he had any reason to protest.

When he had driven off, Yuki progressed down the road as quickly as she could. What on earth could have happened to Aiden? It wasn't as if it would have been easy to escape that...situation. Or that...creature. She gritted her teeth upon remembering that stupid, foul demon she had faced only a day ago. "Yaro," she muttered under her breath, kicking a rock from the path. ...No. No, now was not the time to think about the damned demon. She had to focus. Focus. As the tavern came into view, police and ambulance gone, in all of its wrecked glory, a somewhat sound plan formed in her head. The girl's room was her first destination. If that didn't work, then she would go to Aiden's room. The answer as to where to access that feed for the cameras had to be in that building somewhere.

As she walked through the door of the tavern, she stepped over the rubble blocking her path to the stairs. What a mess. The door to Teagan's room creaked as she opened it, and even though the place was completely abandoned, Yuki couldn't help but be cautious. If that demon did indeed decide to return, she would not be caught off guard. She was always ready for battle. However, she made it to Teagan's computer without incident, and her tensed muscles began to relax a little. As she pushed the switch to turn the thing on, the monitor hummed to life. Finally at the start-up screen, her eyes scanned the applications and shortcuts on her desktop for something, anything. But the girl had so many, and several files had obscure names, which made it difficult to know which button to click. Hardly minutes into her searching, a chat window presented itself on the screen from someone named "Miles." Was this a friend of her from school?

Been working? he wrote in an instant message to her. Yuki furrowed her eyebrows. Was work the excuse Teagan had told her friends regarding her leave? No matter. Ignoring the message, she continued her search through Teagan's computer, but another message interrupted her. What the heck happened to you? Yuki didn't spaz out, did she? At this, Yuki's stare froze at the computer screen. Spaz? The insolent thing! As if she would ever cause unnecessary damage to her own home! Wait...how did he know about her?! And how did he know what the tavern looked like at that very moment in time?! ...He somehow had access to a feed from the tavern. That had to be it. But...not a feed into Teagan's room. Or else he would know that the person at the computer screen was indeed Yuki and not the girl. But if he could view the tavern, perhaps he knew about the camera functions set up there as well.

Moving her fingers swiftly over the keyboard, Yuki typed a message in return. There was no point in faking who she was. She couldn't ask this person, Miles, how to access something Teagan would obviously know how. The girl was forgetful, but not completely idiotic. No...she would reveal herself as Yuki, but would have to approach the question she desired to ask carefully. Whoever this was, he likely was unaware of the supernatural, and if he somehow became privy as to what had happened at the tavern...well, that would expose him to a world that Yuki had no desire to plunge him into.

This -is- Yuki. Who are you, how do you know about me, and how are you aware of this building's condition?

[Miles]

Jeez, what was taking Teagan so long to answer? Usually she was pretty fast and eager to talk, at least most of the time. He frowned at the screen while he waited for an answer, his eyes waiting for the line that would indicate she was typing. Nothing. Well this was boring. He pulled his game back open and started playing again, figuring that Teagan had just returned after say, maybe, a night at the police station or something.

He had just finished killing an orc when the small window on the bottom bar lit up, indicating that she had finally messaged him. What he read, though, wasn't nearly what he expected. Yuki? How had she even gotten on Teagan's computer? Surely the girl would have put a password on it with her personality and habits, right? No matter, it was strange still that Teagan hadn't said anything about his initiation into the world of hunting.

This is Miles Rook. I'm a hunter, like you, and I have access to Teagan's cameras...or at least, the ones that are still functioning. What happened to the tavern?

[Yuki]

Staring at the screen as it indicated that Miles "was typing," she wondered what the excuse would be from this male individual. This ought to be good.

...And it was.

How do I know I can trust you? Surely, you do not expect me to reveal everything to a mere stranger. She paused after hitting the enter key, looking over his name. Wait... Are you by any chance related to Deacon and Arthur Rook? she added a couple seconds after. It was too much of a coincidence. Another hunter with the last name Rook? He had to be related. And if he was, then that meant they were truly on the same side. ...How had Teagan gotten in contact with someone such as this? Had they ever even met before? If he was part of the Rook family, it wasn't like Teagan could've met him. The only Rooks they had met during their brief time at the Wesson were Deacon and Art. So how...? Ah. nevermind, Yuki thought to herself. She would just ask Teagan later. From cameras to strangers calling themselves hunters, the girl was going to have a lot to explain.

[Miles]

Miles quirked an eyebrow up at Yuki's response. How was he supposed to answer that? He had hoped that their first meeting would be in person and smoother, but now...anything he typed in response to her question would sound suspicious. He took a minute to think about an appropriate answer, and finally settled on multiple answers. Salt wards of demons and ghosts. Silver to kill shifters and werewolves. You behead vampires, you don't stake them. I live at The Wesson in Keystone, South Dakota with--he stopped, reading her next question.

For the first time since assuming it, he paused in deciding how to introduce his persona. Should he go along with the Rook identity, or explain his story in very, very brief terms? More or less, I think we all like to think we aren't related at times, Miles sent, being vague enough to change the topic.

Why are you on Teagan's computer? Is she okay? Miles could see the state of the bar downstairs, so he knew that something bad went down, he now wished he could have seen it while it was happening. Finally it clicked about the time--it was Halloween. Supernatural Day tenfold, which meant that whatever happened was related to their world...unless there was a gang fight or something in the tavern.

[Yuki]

Her eyes lingered upon the screen as she read the list of how to kill specific creatures. Miles' status as a hunter was certainly certified after that, so Yuki's fear of bringing him into the world of the supernatural could be dispelled. With that hurdle avoided, her facial expression took that of a blank stare as she read over his response to her inquiry over his relation with the Rooks. She couldn't really argue with what he had said. It was painstakingly easy to understand why someone wouldn't want to be related to them...and by them, I mean Deacon, she amended to herself, recalling the man's little "nickname" for her. She had to suppress her anger before continuing to type and took deep breaths to calm herself. That man was going to pay for his behavior one day if she ever saw him again.

Fine, she typed, hesitating before continuing further. How far could she trust him, and with how much information? It was clear he was a hunter, and that he was in some way connected with the Rooks. Much was still shady about him though. How did Teagan meet him? Why was he communicating with her? How old was he? How much experience did he have as a hunter? Why hadn't she ever heard of him during her time in Keystone? How and why did he have access to video feed at the Crossroad's Tavern?

But even with all those questions left unanswered...he was the only one who could help her. The only one who could assist her in accessing the cameras, the one who could help her find Aiden. And time was ticking. She breathed deeply, then let her fingers do the communicating as they rapidly hit the keys.

The tavern was attacked yesterday. Invaded, rather. The demon leader ran away, but not before inflicting heavy damage to both the residence and those residing within it. Teagan is currently in the hospital. Yuki paused. She wouldn't go into any details. If this person was indeed the girl's friend, there was no need to unnecessarily worry him. She needed him to focus on another matter, and aside from that, Teagan was Yuki's concern for the time being. No need to get other people involved. With that in mind, she continued. Though she did have surgery performed overnight, she will be fine in a matter of three days. I myself returned to the tavern after making sure of it. As to why I am on the girl's computer, I actually have a request.

Yuki wasn't sure how to approach this. She supposed bluntly would be the best manner, though it would be difficult for her to explain that she had not noticed Aiden's disappearance. She hoped Miles would simply skip straight to aiding her instead of asking questions over the situation.

You see, midst the fight yesterday, our faction leader somehow disappeared. I had thought that he would return somewhat promptly, but it has almost been 24 hours, and I have not heard a word from him. After the battle, I spotted a camera in the rubble and assumed Teagan had set it up. Knowing this, I have decided to investigate her computer in search of a point of access to see when and how he vanished, and where he ran off to, or why. However, Yuki wrote, I can't seem to find any such control center. Since you have access to the tavern's cameras, I am assuming you can check recordings from yesterday, can you not?

He had to be able to. He just had to be. Perhaps he was the one who had rigged the tavern with cameras, or maybe Deacon had put him up to it. Maybe he was in a strange legion with Teagan in her whole pranking business. Maybe he was just like her in that sense. In which case, Yuki would not be able to help but label him unreliable. But what choice did she have?

If you are able to gain video information from yesterday, it is of utter importance that you do so and subsequently send me what you find.

[Miles]

Miles figured that by listing off things only hunters or well-educated people would know about the supernatural realm, she would believe him, and it appeared she did, although she wasn't very verbose or apologetic about her accusation. He shrugged it off, though, because this was Yuki they were talking about and Miles had heard plenty of stories from Teagan about her. He wasn't giving her any slack for it though, Yuki still should have apologized to him.

What he read caused his head to tilt to the side a little while he tried to comprehend it. The tavern had been attacked? He swore Teagan said the place was outfitted to prevent that...but judging by the wreckage those precautions might've been torn away at the start of the battle, maybe? Wait a second, she's in the hospital?! he sent, not really caring that he wasn't supposed to worry. What happened to her? He wanted to know, yet for some reason he didn't think that Yuki was going to tell him.

Or he could find out anyway. She wanted him to access the footage. With a few keystrokes he pulled up the feed on his own computer, and rewound it back to that night around nine o' clock. Nothing. He jumped time and landed what he guessed was right after the fight started. A horde of demons were invading the bar, and Yuki, Teagan, and Aiden were geared up for battle.

And the fight didn't go well. They were able to hold their ground, but they were still losing. Eventually one lone demon appeared and totally owned Aiden and Teagan...and holy crap, Teagan! Miles' jaw dropped slightly as he watched it, and for a moment he totally forgot about looking for what happened to Aiden. He had to rewind once the video was over back to where Aiden flew over the bar. After a few minutes, a man covered with tribal looking tattoos was seen dragging Aiden out of frame, and the next camera that should have caught it was blown out.

He isolated the clip and sent it over to Yuki on Teagan's computer, just through the instant messenger. Tattoo guy look familiar? The feed was in black and white so there was no way to tell that the tattoos were glowing blue. There's your guy.

[Yuki]

Ignoring Miles' question over what had happened to Teagan, Yuki had jumped straight ahead to her demand for the footage from the camera. She didn't particularly want to relive that scene for him, nor did she want him to worry over her, but fortunately for her, he didn't press for more information. It did take him a bit of time to send her the file, once he had accessed it, though he did eventually pull through. Still, if she had known how to access the feed, she would have found it much faster.

Her hazel eyes froze on the screen as she witnessed the battle. It had occurred at a point when her own focus had been turned to Teagan. A tattooed man appeared in the frame, and then dragged Aiden out. She repeatedly rewound the scene, zooming in on the figure to get a better glimpse of him. As she did, Yuki searched through a visual of books in her mind. That...man. He did not look like a demon, yet it was apparent that he was not a normal human being, as he appeared unaffected by the supernatural creatures around him. Was he a hunter? ...But he looked so strange. If only she could have seen what happened after that frame. Where did he drag Aiden off too? And how did she not notice? Whoever that was, his countenance was a little hard to miss. The tattoos--their design looked as if they originated from India. Their intricacy was admirable, but did they mean anything?

Indian tattoos...henna markings, if she was not mistaken. She bit her lip in thought. So a man covered in henna tattoos had come and taken Aiden away? Brilliant.

I do not recognize that man, she typed, unsure of what to do next. If anything, this only confirmed her already practically confirmed theory that Aiden had left the tavern unwillingly. Now it was clear that he was taken. What did that man want with him? No...if he was a hunter, he would have stayed to help out. This...thing was not on their side.

"Kuso!" she hissed, pounding her fist on Teagan's desk. She let her head rest on her hands as she tugged at her hair in frustration and squeezed her eyes shut as if it would help her remember something. "I know I've read something about this," she muttered to herself. Henna...India...Arabia....wasn't a hunter, had to be a creature...supernatural beings in India....Hindu...Vishna...cosmic trinity....demigods...feeding on--

DJINN she both typed and said aloud. That's what he looked like! That man looked exactly like a picture she had seen of a djinn in one of Aiden's books!

Wait...a Djinn. Damn it, she thought to herself. The words sprawled across the page she had read came to her as if she had only read it minutes ago. "A silver knife dipped in lamb's blood." She could go to a butcher's and get the lamb, she supposed. But how was she going to find Aiden? She wouldn't know where to start looking for a djinn.

Is there any other footage aside from what you have sent me? Yuki inquired. Perhaps Miles could attain something that would show her where the djinn had taken Aiden, or at least provide her with a clue.

[Miles]

Dijinn? What the heck was that? He had certainly not read anything about something called a dijinn, so he couldn't help there. Or was that the name of the guy? Nah, couldn't be, that wasn't a name for a person, more like a thing. He paused the frame on the man, staring at him intently before his eyes drifted over to Teagan, who was being completely obliterated by the demon. That particular frame froze her with a look of pain on her face, so he jumped a few frames and let her rest.

Hold on, he sent, before she asked for more footage. That was already his thought process, and he pulled open smaller windows with the other feeds. His computer whirred with all the activity, but he ignored it; it was built to last. His eyes scanned over each window, and eventually the feed showing the parking lot showed the dijinn carrying Aiden over his shoulder into a truck.

Portland Meat Factory? Miles sent after reading the logo on the truck. He frowned again, and paused the frame when the truck was pulling out. Standing, he walked over to his door and locked it, because if Art or Deacon saw what he was about to pull up on his computer, they would have to realize it was very, very illegal.

How he got the software, he would never say, but the police-style information running system popped up on the screen and he ran the plate. The truck was registered to the company, yes, and after a second he ran the company name in a simple web-browser. What he saw made him frown.

He sent Yuki the address, and then added The place closed down ten years ago, but the crews never finished clearing it out before demolition. Its just vacant, locked up. The guy also has a nasty scar on his back, if that helps.

After a moment, he clicked in the chat again. I hope you find him, he sent, staring at the computer and deciding if he should inform Art and Deacon of what happened.

[Yuki]

Writing down the address on a scrap piece of paper on her desk, Yuki alreahad already formulated a plan: she would bring a knife, take a taxi down to a butcher's shop, buy lamb, and then walk the rest of the way to the meat factory. She couldn't take a car there, seeing as the whereabouts of the keys were currently unknown. They could have still been on Aiden's person, or they could have been buried somewhere under the rubble that now scattered the tavern. Either way, there was no time to look for them.

She paused briefly as Miles typed more information concerning the djinn. I hope so too, she sent, then grabbed a knife, a gun (just in case), and ran outside the tavern to call a taxi.

When she arrived at her destination, Yuki approached the building cautiously. As Miles had said, it appeared that all entrances were locked, but it would not be diffcult to enter, not any more than breaking into any other place. It was likely that the djinn was not expecting anyone to discover its hideout, but even so, she was not going to barge into the building blindly. If all went as planned, she would attack it from behind before he even suspected a thing. After pulling some technical maneuvers and successully infiltrating the premises, Yuki stepped onto the creaky floor, attempting to be as light on her feet as she could possibly be. The djinn was in there somewhere, and so was Aiden.

And she was going to get him back.

[Aiden]

It was almost poetic how the dijinn had slipped into the carnage that was The Crossroad's Tavern the previous night and drag the human out. For years the dijinn had been careful about it's not-so-humble abodes and their locations, who it fed on, and how it got its hands on them. Four years ago, the Hunter had come through with intent to kill the dijinn, with the older man. The long scar on the dijinn's back was proof of the battle that it just barely escaped.

And imagine its surprise when the human chose to remain in Portland after the death of the older Hunter. At first, the dijinn was sure the human would come for him, but when he never did, and when the dijinn finally had full mobility once more, it became a game of waiting and watching. One day, the dijinn would have his revenge on the human, and it wouldn't be granting him a mental paradise--oh no.

The dijinn had been unaware of the cameras that were installed in the tavern when he slipped in amongst the horde of demons. He stood there, biding his time, before he watched the human take a tumble over the counter. Within seconds, the dijinn was dragging him out, hidden by the mass amount of bodies in the room. Into the truck, and off to the meat factory with the others.

Luckily for the dijinn, the Hunter was already knocked out, so that saved the trouble of forcing the human to stop squirming--squirming was so undignified. It laid the human on a cot and jabbed the needle for the IV into the human's arm, watching with joy as the color of dark crimson flooded the previously clear tube. Finally, revenge was its own.

And it felt that way. For hours, the blood of the human served as a satisfying treat to the dijinn, despite its strange taste. It was all going according to plan until he heard creaking from a far part of the factory; when a building was abandoned, you heard it all.

Head snapping in the direction, the blue aura emanating from the dijinn dimmed when it slipped into the darkness. It silently floated through the halls, eventually coming upon one lone girl, unaware that she was holding the dijinn's only weakness in front of her. From behind, he carefully came upon her, and rather than sending her into a sleep and using her, it decided on another course of action. It picked up a metal bar from nearby, and zeroed in on the girl's head.

It knew who she was; it was the decently talented fighter from the tavern, one of the human's friends. If it let her live, she would just regroup with the other female and come back. But if she was dead, well, things would be a lot easier. He raised the bar, poised to swing, but froze and slipped back into the shadows when another sound was heard.

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"Uuunngh," was the only sound that Aiden could muster at the moment. His head throbbed, there was pain in his arm, and his body was doused in a cold sweat. It took him a minute to realize he wasn't in his room, and when he sat up too abruptly, his head spun and his vision burned white hot. He took a few deep breaths, trying to ensure he didn't pass out, and when things finally settled, he glanced around. There was an IV haphazardly jammed into his arm, and there was a lot of blood in the bag on the ground. "That is not good," he said dryly, attempting to ignore the searing pain in his head, where he had been hit in the tavern.

He slowly edged off of the bed, grabbed a nearby towel, and pressed it to his arm after pulling the IV out with a hiss of pain. He shuffled out of the room, his body weak, and looked around. What the heck had happened? Where was he, and why wasn't he in the tavern? His free hand went for his phone, but it was missing. Naturally, he thought, but even thinking hurt.

He heard footsteps ahead and froze before slipping into a shadow behind a small inlet of the wall. He pressed his back against it and tried to steady his breathing, glancing around the corner and trying to remain hidden. He could make out a shape, but it wasn't distinguishable enough until it was virtually right next to him. He swung out, regretting it as his head spun, and looked at his foe.

"Yuki?"

He coughed into his forearm and looked back at her. She looked like an absolute wreck. But if Yuki was here, did that mean Teagan was too? "Where's--Yuki behind you!" The figure behind Yuki rose the metal bar, and in a glint of light, the bar collided with Yuki's upper arm. Aiden moved to attempt....something in his state, but ended up just heaving forward and grabbing one knee with his free hand. It was the dijinn, he could tell that much from the scar on its back.

And in Yuki's hand was the blade.

And Aiden was useless.

And the dijinn struck Yuki with the bar again.

His eyes closed at he attempted to remain upright and conscious, and when they opened again, the bar was flying through the air, this time on a path to collide with Yuki's neck, at a speed and with force that would surely render her useless if she was lucky enough not to die from the hit. If she was anything like she bragged about, he hoped he would see it now before things got bad.

He had just pulled himself out of the dijinn's Hell, and he was not going back.

[Yuki]

Everything was dark, the only light shimmering through the building consisting of the sunlight making its way though the dusty and shattered window panes. A chill ran through Yuki's spine as she walked through the halls of the meat factory. The faint smell of blood lingered in the musty air, and she hoped that the odor was of the products that had once been processed there, and not from anything the djinn had to done to any of its victims...or to Aiden. ...No, it's Aiden. He has to still be alive, she firmly told herself. There was no way he would let a supernatural creature ever get the best of him. He was too much of an experienced a hunter. This was his life. She would just have to have faith in her faction leader, and hope that she wasn't too late.

As hard as she tried to not make noise, the walls of the building silently echoed her every footstep. Anyone could have heard a pin drop in the middle of the empty factory, even from a different room. The element of surprise would be difficult to maintain at this rate. She didn't even know where to start looking. The place wasn't huge, but it wasn't a small building either. The hallways made the layout somewhat annoying to navigate, but not impossible. If only she could call out Aiden's name. Not that there was any guarantee that he would respond, but if he did, it would make finding him a lot easier.

But if she did, the djinn would tag along, and she had no desire to fight without at least attempting to strike him before he had a chance to notice her presence. After the events of the previous night, she was not exactly a picture of health. Of course, her body had been taught to withstand the harsher elements of the earth, but ambushes by hordes of demons and a subsequent clash with their leader was not within her classification of training. To make matters worse, she had been up all night with little to no sleep. Aware of these physical disabilities, she nonetheless moved forward. She did not have time to wait for her injuries to heal, not when a life was at stake.

A shuffling sound came from up ahead, and Yuki froze, her hand on the knife. Squinting her eyes, she peered through the darkness in hopes of catching a glimpse of whatever was up ahead, but to no avail. It could have simply been a rodent excavating the floor. But when you were aware of the supernatural, suddenly rats became a remote and foolishly optimistic hope. She stifled her breathing so as to remain quiet, but the next sound she heard was unexpected.

"Yuki?"

Her grasp on the knife still held tight, and a part of her was also ready to immediately pull out her gun. It was second nature, even though another part of of her was also telling her that it was safe--it was Aiden.

Suppressing the urge to shoot at what she had originally thought would be the enemy, she gave a short sigh of relief, which ended up being released as more of a scoff. "If you are able to walk, why have you remained--" she begun, speaking speaking simultaneously with him, but before either of the two could finish their impending questions, Yuki heard movement behind her--rapid movement. but she had caught the noise much too late.

Something heavy hit her arm, and she felt herseulf flung backwards by a jolting strike. She stumbled slightly from the impact of the hit, but maintained her footing like any good martial artist would. She squinted in an attempt to ignore the pain that now seared through her veins. It felt as if she had a gigantic bruise, though she was sure the injury was much worse, especially since she was still wounded from the day before, and she could feel the trickle of cold blood against her skin.

The enemy stood before her, the intricacy of his tattoos even more obvious in person. She caught a glance of the scar, just as Miles had noted, and turned her head around quickly to see if her faction leader was still there. Something was wrong with him. She knew that he had most likely been injured in some shape or form, but it was more than that--it was like he was drugged. He wouldn't be able to assist her in this battle. She had to do this on her own.

No matter. She just had to focus. Her concentration once again fixed on her opponent, her fingers clenched the blade of the knife, and she wondered in the djinn had noticed her possession of the weapon. The one big disadvantage for her was the partial darkness of the place. Sectors of the building were completely engulfed in black, while others were lucky enough to catch a bit of the light from outside. At times, she could completely lose sight of him. There was that, and the fact that he possessed a metal bar. One hit in the right place, and that could easily knock her out. She had to be careful.

Here it goes, she thought to herself. Yuki swung at him with her knife, aiming for his chest, but he was a quick opponent. He dodged her blow, and escaped into a pocket of darkness.

"Kuso!"

Not a minute before the word passed her lips was she struck against by the bar, this time on her other arm and her jaw as well. The unsuspecting blow twisted her around involuntarily. She coughed, spitting out a bit of blood in her mouth that was the result of the strike to her gum, the tast staining her tongue. She needed time. Even though she knew that a gun wouldn't hurt him...surely it would at least buy her a couple seconds. In one swift movement, she retrieved it from its place on her skirt and fired.

She didn't have much time. She just had to get him in a position where she could strike him from behind, because up front he would always be able to block her attacks, unless she somehow pinned him down. That metal bar was problematic. She couldn't attack him forwardly if he was going to swing at her. She needed for him to dispose of it, if only for just a couple minutes.

An idea rapidly started forming in her mind, and she backed away as far as possible from the djinn. When out of reaching distance, an opponent would either try and close the gap of space, or--if he held something akin to a metal bar--he would throw his weapon, very much like a spear or a boomerang. It was instinct. And it was a good move as well, often not foreseen by the foe, more so when the weapon is not designed for throwing.

So when she caught site of the metal bar approaching her at an alarming speed, she couldn't help but smirk. It had worked. Now she just had to time this properly. The speed of the attack was quick, but Yuki's battle-ready mind worked in slow motion, seeing every action play out in front of her, step-by-step. Dodge under, let the bar strike the wall, while he's distracted, charge forward, use the noise of the crash behind to your advantage, aim for the upper chest, and kill.

The body before her crumpled to the ground, and the blue aura it had once held faded into nothing.

The deed was done.

[Aiden]

In the minutes that transpired after slumping against the wall, Aiden was vaguely aware of how Yuki had dealt with the dijinn. It had been either luck or tactics, and knowing Yuki it was probably the latter. Still, he felt like he couldn't move without falling over, so he remained as still as he could, holding the rag like a clamp over his wound. It was slick, and he needed to be bandaged up. Hopefully Yuki had brought the Camaro so he could get to the first aid kit.

An idea struck him when he realized that shots had been fired before. If Yuki had shot her gun, that usually meant that the others came to join her from wherever they were. So where was Teagan? His brow crinkled as he tried to listen for footsteps, but he only heard their own.

"Yuki, where is Teagan?" he finally got out, pushing himself off of the wall and standing there, very pale. "I need to sit down, and wrap this up. I've probably lost too much blood to be moving around," he added, looking at the body of the dijinn below them. It was the one from years ago, with Malcolm. It had a beef with Aiden for that long? It would certainly explain why his alternate life wasn't pleasant.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I'm sure they need help at the tavern," he said, shuffling towards Yuki.

[Yuki]

With the djinn dead, Yuki turned around to face her faction leader. A strange wave of sympathetic comradeship took over, and she immediately went to Aiden's side to assist him. His skin felt cold against hers, and he looked completely drained of color. Her eyes zoned over to the wound on his arm. Whatever the djinn had done to him, Aiden had lost too much blood. He needed hydration quick, and rest as well. With a blood supply that low, he could easily pass out. They need to get out of that factory.

Her heart unexpectedly sank a little when he asked for Teagan, and she hesitated to respond. That's right, she thought to herself. He didn't see what happened to her... Even so...it shouldn't have been that hard for her to tell him. The girl was hospitalized due to injury. She was going to make a recovery anyhow, the doctor had said so himself. But something held Yuki back, and she averted her gaze from Aiden's interrogative eyes, instead focusing on trying to find the way out. Was it guilt? Or did she not want to worry him? "I'll explain everything once we get outside," she muttered.

Retracing her steps to the entrance of the factory, Yuki decided that she would call Lori to come pick them up. A taxi ride back to the tavern was out of the question, not with the state of injury the two faced. If Lori came, she would be able to bring medical aid as well. Until then...what would she tell Aiden? He had to know. She knew he was probably wondering where the girl was, or why she hadn't assisted her in the fight against the djinn. ...But it wasn't easy to tell her faction leader that a member of his team had almost died.

Outside, she instructed Aiden to rest on a rusting, yet somewhat stable bench near the building, and made a quick phone call to Lori, giving her directions to their current location. Upon the click of her cellphone, she took a seat on the bench, knowing well that their was no avoiding the topic.

"Teagan is in the hospital," she said without looking at him. Yuki closed here eyes, recalling the fight from the night before. "Back at the tavern...in the end, the leader of the demons ran away, but he didn't leave before almost killing her. The girl's condition was critical, but it is stabilizing." And it's my fault this happened to her, she thought to herself. No, no...now's not the time to think like this. Forcing her guilt to the back of her mind, a sudden exhaustion swept over Yuki, the result of an almost continuous day of battling the supernatural and sleep deprivation. She put her head back on the bench, and opened her eyes to look up at the sky. How much time was left now? The position of the sun...it was almost evening. Likely around 4:00 or 5:00 p.m. "At this point, there must still be a minimum of 48 hours left before she'll wake up."

As tired as Yuki was, she wouldn't fall asleep. Aiden's wounds were not yet treated, and she still wanted to visit Teagan in the hospital before it closed.