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The Ghost of Roranapur - Chapter 4: The Vampire Twins Comen
🕑 Added 2024-12-17 14:00:08 +0000 UTCLast update was December 4th of last year...... I have no excuses 😳
Amara Chaisai leaned against the counter of the bar nursing her lemonade as she, Rock, and Revy sat together in the Yellow Flag.
The bar was more crowded than usual, and almost everyone inside was visibly carrying some sort of weapon on them, each person more tense and shifty than the last.
"Would you take a look... everyone in here is packing." Rock said as he watched someone walk past them while carrying a shotgun holstered to his back.
"Who wouldn't be? Some nutjob's out there thinks he's the fucking Punisher. Right now, Roanapur's like a pan full of popcorn on fire, all the kernels have been heated thorough, and anything could set it off." Revy replied.
For the last few days, the streets of Roanapur had been even more crowded than usual, and every person could feel the tension as they went about their business. Amara thought that Revy was right; the tension had to boil over at some point, and when it did, bodies would drop, and blood would rain down.
"Hey, did ya hear, Revy?" Bao the Bartender asked after hearing the conversation between the woman and Rock. "There's now a bounty on the killer's head!"
"How much?" Revy asked, taking another sip of her drink.
"Fifty grand. Not baht either, American dollars." Bao answered.
"Really?" Revy smirked, "That ain't half bad. I might just give it a shot. Do you know who the target is?"
"Nope. But if it's an outsider, you'll know."
"Yeah, an outsider would be easy to spot, this city isn't that big. At least that was the case with the Lovelace maid." Rock added, agreeing that the new killer had to be someone from outside the city.
"But the issue isn't if the target is an outsider or not, but who's hiding them, right? That's the only way to explain how they could've gone this long without anyone catching them, especially with a fifty-thousand-dollar bounty on their head." Amara said, speaking for the second time since they entered the bar.
"The kid's right; someone's got to be hiding them, but no one knows who, so everyone's suspicious." Revy said.
"Well, it doesn't matter much to me. I just don't want to be dragged into it." Bao muttered as she cleaned Revy's used shot glass.
The man did not care necessarily who the killer was, he just did not want any of Roanapur's craziness to destroy his bar and put his life in danger like it usually did.
Revy waved off the man's concerns, "You worry too much, Bao. This is neutral ground, no one's gonna try anything."
"YO TWO HANDS!" A loud and perky voice shouted, ringing through their ears despite the overall loudness of the bar.
It did not take long before a young Caucasian woman with waist length blonde hair, pale skin, and blue eyes, quickly sat down on the empty bar stool on Revy's left.
The woman wore angular pink sunglasses, a green miniskirt, and a pink tank top, both of which showed off her well-endowed figure. On her right arm she had a tattoo of a cross Moline crucifix with two human skulls facing away from the cross.
"I figured I'd find you here. What, business not doing too well, huh?" The woman said as leaned closer to Revy.
"Eda? What the fuck?!" Revy exclaimed as she tried to put as much space between her and Eda as she could.
Wait, isn't she the sister from the church?! Rock thought once it became clear where he had seen the blonde before.
"Well, well. I see you brought Romeo with you." Eda said in a sultry voice as she looked Rock up and down, "Hi there, how you've been? Why don't you ditch this wild boar and come drink with a real woman?"
"You know your night's night not complete until you bang a random stranger. Fuck off and don't call me a boar or I'll fucking kill you." Revy growled as Rock awkwardly took a sip of his drink in response to Eda's suggestion.
"Ooo, scary." Eda mocked, "You hear that, handsome? You never know when she's on the red; she's pretty irregular."
"That's it, bitch! Let's step outside you and me!" Revy yelled, the veins in her forehead visibly throbbing and her hands itching to grab her guns.
Eda ignored this as she turned her attention to the woman sitting next to Rock, "I didn't know you've been hanging around kids nowadays, Two Hands? I didn't take you for a babysitter."
The sounds of Revy's growls grew while Amara rolled her eyes, "My name's Amara, the newest member of the Lagoon Company. I'm nineteen, not a kid. And I take it you're Eda; the slutty nun with a big mouth that Yolanda took in."
Eda blinked in response before smirking, "Ooo, looks like I touched a nerve. And how do you know Sister Yolanda? I've never seen you at the church before."
"Must have been before you joined." Amara shrugged.
Eda, seeing that she was not going to get anything else from Amara made the mental note to ask Yolanda later about how she knew the Lagoon Company's newest employee.
"Damnit! Just tell me what the fuck you're doing here, Eda?!" Revy yelled, annoyed that her peace was being interrupted by the other woman.
"Don't get your panties in a twist, Two Hands, I didn't come here to fight. I've got a story that might interest you, one that may be worth some money." Eda explained.
"You're talking about this bounty, aren't you?" Revy asked.
"You heard?"
Bao then stepped forward, "Actually, Revy and I were just talking about it. I doubt there's anyone left in the city who doesn't know about it."
"Aw, well that sucks! But at least I don't have to waste time explaining it. So, what the hell are we waiting for, let's go get it, some of the eager ones have already started. It goes without saying that the mafia are going to be involved, but there are freelancers coming too. From what I hear Yun brothers, Big One Emilio, Rory CK." Eda had told the group, catch all their interests.
Whoever this killer is has got to be a big deal if this many hitmen are coming to Roanapur just to take them out. Amara thought to herself, clenching her fists when the urge to grab her knives came over her.
"Whoa! It's like the Hitmen Olympics!" Bao exclaimed leaning closer to Revy and Eda.
"There're others too, like the 'master' himself, Green Tooth Johnny. What a fucking joke, he actually came in and ordered an elephant rifle from us. I don't know what the hell he was thinking." Eda added, shaking her head at the memory.
Revy barked out a laugh, "Someone must've told him he was up against a dinosaur or something. If he uses that, he's gonna be scraping this guy off the fucking ceiling."
"Better get our asses in gear if we want a chance at that money, fifty grand is too much to ignore."
"Yeah, no shit. So haven't you got any other information, Eda?"
Eda looked away from the others, "There's one thing I've just heard; early this morning the Caribbean bar on Blanc Street was completely destroyed. And I hear that Hotel Moscow is ready for war."
This caused the others to let out small gasps, staring at the blond in shock as she continued, "I guess one of their collectors was killed and Fry-Face is pissed."
"Then it looks like a mafia war is coming." Amara said, seeing the implication of what Eda's saying.
"Yeah, it looks like it." Revy said with a somber expression, but this soon changed into a smirk that formed on her face. "That's why you and I are gonna met Eda tomorrow so we can hunt this bastard down."
"Haha, yes!" Eda cheered, excited that she was able to convince Revy to help her, but the smile soon turned into a frown. "Wait, this means we're going to have the spilt the money three ways instead of two!"
"You don't have to worry about my share because I'm not joining you guys." Amara replied, quickly shutting down Revy's idea.
"Come on, kid! Why the fuck not?" Revy asked.
"Because I don't want to. Besides, ever since I joined this group my life has been put in danger far more than I would like." Amara argued, thinking back on the Nazis, Roberta, and the Protectors of the Islamic Front.
Granted, only Roberta proved to be a real threat to her life, and yet despite knowing it should not bother her, Amara could not help but rethink that night's events repeatedly.
She only lasted a few minutes against the killer housekeeper before the fight became Revy's and despite not losing, Amara knew that if it had been a true fight that Roberta would have beaten her.
At least the old man would be proud to know that I've given into my baser instincts... Amara thought to herself.
"Oh please! I saw the way your eyes lit up when blondie over here mentioned all the assassins that have come to town. Don't act like you don't want this." Revy argued.
"I found it interesting, because of how rare something like this is not because I want to take part." Amara said, growing more annoyed with the other woman.
"Sure." Revy drawled as she smirked at the younger woman, "Don't worry kid, you'll get a nice cut of the reward. A good five thousand dollars; that should be enough of an allowance for you."
Amara only rolled her eyes before asking Bao to refill her glass, knowing that continuing to argue with Revy would be pointless.
Revy smirked, seeing this as a win. In her mind, Amara may have acted like she did not care, like she was above everything, but Revy knew the truth, she had known it since she first met Amara.
Amara Chaisai could not have survived in Roanapur for as long as she had if she were not just as twisted and broken as everyone else who lived there.
And Revy could see that the two of them were similar; both reveling in the chaos they created, both taking pride in their skills and knowing that there were few who could match them.
She would not have tolerated Amara's presence in the Lagoon company if this were not the case.
~X~
The Next Day
"Damn." Was the first thing everyone heard once the door to the break room opened.
"So, what's going on out there? Has anyone managed to catch the fish yet?" Revy asked once Dutch had entered the room.
It had been raining for most of the day, so as the man walked in, he grabbed a towel to dry off his soaked body.
"Nope, and it ain't getting any better." Dutch replied, "One mistake and we're all fucked, I'm talking a real shitstorm. Balalaika is planning on using the services of the Visontoniki."
"The Visontoniki?" Rock asked, wanting to be sure he heard the other man correctly.
"Crazy bitch!" Revy said as she sat up, "Does she want to rip the whole city apart?"
"With her at the head, each and every one of them functioned as a killing machine. They're all former paratroopers from the Soviet war in Afghanistan, with enough training to win World War III." Rock remembering the large group of men that constantly surrounded the head of Hotel Moscow.
He thought back to when Balalaika appeared with her men during the situation with Roberta, they were well trained, sneaking up on them with none of them noticing.
Revy scoffed as she looked back at Rock, "That's what makes them different from all the others; they're disciplined, unified, and show no mercy."
Dutch took a seat, silently thanking Benny for the beer he handed him, "I'll tell you one thing; I stay the fuck away when those guys are pissed off, a two-hundred-mile radius at least."
"Does this phantom killer have any idea what he's dealing with?" Rock asked aloud, not seeing how anyone, no matter how skilled could stand against ex-Russian soldiers.
"Obviously not since they're still in town." Amara scoffed, "They must either be pretty confident in their abilities, fucking insane, or both."
"It's rare even in this place but you come across them now and again; seeds of pure evil, nothing but trouble, even amongst the garbage of the underworld they're considered outsiders." Dutch said, explained the type of creature that Roanapur was now dealing with. "Usually these types will go wild, cause a lot of damage, and wind-up dead. But every so often you get one with instincts like a beast and a sharp mind and they manage to survive. Being unhinged is the only way these people know how to live, and they leave nothing but death and destruction behind in their wake."
"The one thing they all have in common is hate, people like that hate everything and everyone. If you ask me their real problem is that they're so full of hate, they're at a point where they can't even remember what they hate and why they hated it to begin with." Revy added on, closing her eyes before she continued. "In the end they suck everything around them in before going out in a blaze of glory."
Amara could not help but feel that Revy was speaking from personal experience, the look in her eyes being far too emotive for the older woman to just be speaking regularly.
The phone soon began ringing and as the closest one to it, Amara decided to answer it while the others continued the conversation.
"Hello?" Amara said as she pressed the landline against her ear, moving to stand in the hallway so she could hear better.
The young woman heard a raspy chuckle from the other end that sent shivers down her spine. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the cute new recruit."
"Mi-miss Balalaika!" Amara exclaimed, not expecting to hear the other woman through the line.
Balalaika laughed again and Amara was sure that if the woman would continue to laugh like this whenever she spoke, then she was perfectly fine with continuing to make a fool out of herself.
"As much as I enjoy hearing your voice again, my dear, the reason I called is because I have few questions that I need to ask your friend Rock."
"Of course! I'll give him the phone." Amara replied, silently thanking whatever high power existed that she did not stutter this time.
"Thank you, mалышка." Balalaika said to Amara, smirking when she heard Amara's choking gasp.
"Rock, it's for you. Miss Balalaika wants to speak to you." Amara said as she reentered the room.
"She does?" Rock asked as he walked over to Amara and took the phone from her.
With that, Amara sat down next to Revy on the couch before slumping over onto her side.
"The fucks wrong with you?" Revy asked, noticing the difference in Amara's body language, but Amara did not respond, too caught up within her own thoughts.
I don't know that much Russian, but I know the word she used means baby! But it also means a young child so was that a term of endearment or was she just teasing me again?! Wait, why do I care? I mean why would someone like her ever be interested in me? But damn do I want her to be!
"Bună seara? It has a nuance of Italian... hmm." Rock said in response to Balalaika's question.
"I thought you might have recognized it from your job." Balalaika said, "Excuse me for bringing up the past. It doesn't ring a bell, does it?"
Rock scratched the back of his head, "Bună seara, bună seara..."
"What about the phrase, 'Sora mai mare'?"
"I remember this European guy who taught me something like that, but I'm having difficulty remembering. Hmmm." It was annoying him because Rock knew that he knew what the phrases meant but what they meant was not coming to mind.
As this was going on Revy waved around the magazine she picked up and began loudly speaking, "Hey, Benny! Check out this article, Hollywood's completely out of ideas. I mean, Francis Ford Coppola? What they need is a someone from Hammer Films!"
Rock glowered at the pair, "Hey, Revy! I'm trying to think so could you keep it-"
His eyes then widened as he looked at the article Revy was trying to show Benny. It was a review for Bram Stoker's Dracula, a film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on Bram Stoker's eighteen nighty-seven book, Dracula.
What caught his eye was the image the article provided of Gary Oldman as Dracula looming over the lead actress, Winona Rider.
"Rock? You good?" Amara asked as Rock continued to stare at the picture.
"It's Romanian!" Rock exclaimed into the phone, "And 'sora mai mare' means big sister, and I think 'bună seara' means good evening."
"Thank you, Rock. I'll be sure to return the favor sometime." Balalaika told him before the line dropped.
"Sis just called you to translate some words for her?" Revy asked.
"Yeah, she only said she needed to know the phrases for something important." Rock responded.
"It might be for the killer." Amara said aloud.
Revy turned to face her, "Why would you some Romanian words be important about the killer?"
Amara shrugged, "Romania didn't prosper when the communist leadership there ended years ago, and it only got worse when the Soviet Union fell. So, it wouldn't surprise me if all the bloodshed there led some people to kill whether to survive or because they became deeply disturbed."
"And a Romanian killer would standout, especially here in Thailand. Knowing their nationality would make it easier to find out who they are." Dutch said, realizing the point of what Amara was saying.
"I get it now; there's no way Sis would let go of one of her properties and her men being attacked." Revy said.
This, along with the deployment of the Visontoniki, led everyone in the room to see just how serious things were becoming in the city.
And the next few days would tell all Roanapur just how destructive and blood thirsty the upcoming battle would be.
~X~
At the edge of the shipping yard, Balalaika leaned against a shipping container, ignoring the falling rain as she waited for her accomplice.
After a few minutes, a car pulled up a few yards away and Mr. Chang stepped out. Calmly, the man walked towards Balalaika, walking past her, and stopping on her right side. Mr. Chang shoved his hands into his pockets as he too leaned against the container.
"Did you come alone, Chang?" Balalaika said to the man in greeting.
"Yes, this is a delicate matter. Welcome to our 'date,' such as it is." Chang replied.
"One cannot discuss the cinema while reeking of blood, you know. Chang, I found out who they are."
Chang tilted his head back, "I see. This should be interesting. How did you find out?"
"Ultimately it was in a video from Rowan's collection." Balalaika answered.
"Rowan?" Chang asked, looking to where Balalaika's car was sitting, through the tinted windows he could see the man in question cowering the back seat while the driver ignored him. "He looks terrified."
Balalaika rolled her eyes, "Believe me, he only fears not being able to whip it out; how pathetic."
"Regardless, the content I requested of him was child pornography and snuff films starring a pair of Romanian twins. Then after searching through two hundred fifty pornographic videos, I hit the jackpot; a pair of twins named Hansel and Gretal." Balalaika's eyes remained cold and impassive as she spoke, "After the coup d'état in Romania, the state institutions lapsed into poverty and many children were sold on the black market. These were known as Ceausescu's orphans, used as toys by hardcore pornographers, before becoming pig food. So why didn't these two share a similar fate?"
Chang did not respond to the rhetorical question, continuing to smoke as he waited for the woman to speak again.
"The reason is because they were to perform killings for fun, to ensure their survival. They must have desperately performed killings night after night for the pornographers. And gradually, the two learned to enjoy it, turning from the blue sky, they descended into a black pit, they chose to live as marionettes for their masters." Balalaika finished, continuing to face forward.
Chang took off his sunglasses, "Hmph. That's quite the ghastly story, how typical of our world." Chang then looked down at the glasses in his hand, "I've walked through my fair share of shit, but this is something else entirely. Still, words like ethics and justice don't sit well with me, you sound like one of those fools who randomly spouts out those words. Feeling sympathy for those brats is like petitioning an arms dealer for peace."
Balalaika pulled out an envelope from within her coat and handed it to Mr. Chang, "I've told you everything I know. And it's not justice we need; it's trust and profit. Everything after Rowan was easy, we just need to check the tape distribution route."
Chang opened the envelope, reading its contents, "...I see. So, you have a solid alibi absolving you of the killings."
"This is only for show, after all, we must have proper decorum. Besides, it was your group that endured most of the attack. Whatever the circumstances, I shall assume full responsibility."
Chang put his sunglasses back on, "The real question here, Balalaika, is... what do you want from me?"
"Well," Balalaika took a long drag of her cigarette, "Don't you think it's time we changed the color of these streets?"
"These meetings mean nothing; are we going to war again?" Chang said plainly, growing tired of the game they were playing.
"I want you to say that the war we are fighting is one and the same, that we have similar reasons and motives."
Chang turned his head to Balalaika, "A just war, you mean? I didn't peg you as the type to live on such flowery words."
Balalaika pushed herself off the shipping container as she stepped forward, "You think I am using justice as an excuse? I don't give a shit if it's just or not."
Chang scratched his head, "Hmm. So that's what you mean."
Balalaika smiled, "Whatever happens next is your call. Either we pull together or forget the whole thing."
Chang thought about this for a moment, grinning when he made his choice. "Well then... There's no need for me to take this matter to Hong Kong. What's most revered in our world is brute force, and brute force alone. We'll do this our way with only one rule."
Balalaika gave him an appraising look, "It's been a while since I've seen you as a shooter. I'm looking forward to it, baby."
"I hate resorting to firepower, but... but as it stands, I'm in a serious predicament." Chang said as he started to walk away, "Oh, and don't call me baby, it's such a lewd term. Tell me when you're going to move so we can strike together. Bye."
Balalaika pulled out her phone, "I suppose I will have to start calling someone else baby now. She has given me a better reaction than him anyway."
Balalaika thumbed the buttons on her cellphone, pressing the call button when she reached the name she was looking for.
Only one ring was heard before she heard Boris' voice, "Kapitain."
"Sergeant... Chang and I have agreed on a course of action. The Triad are now our allies in battle. Get word to our comrades. We have been preparing for this since 1905; we shall execute plan 217, case five."
Boris' eyes widened, "Executing a snatch mission in a combat zone?"
"Da." Balalaika replied, "It'll be chaos, the whole town will be a carnival."
"All the better that it's in a busy area, Captain. We don't want anyone to hear the gunshots."
Balalaika began to smirk as she walked towards her car, "Indeed, Boris. We'll have one hell of a war on our hands. Let's pull out the big guns for this one."
~X~
"What the hell is going on?!" A man shouted at the group of men standing in front of him, slamming his fist against his table.
He was an adult Italian man with a tall build, tan skin, short blond cropped hair, and small light brown eyes, he wore a tan overcoat with a dark green necktie and dress shirt.
This man was Verrocchio, the head of the Thai branch of Cosa Nostra, or as it was more commonly known the Sicilian Mafia.
"Damnit! I told them to hurry up and kill that she-wolf and go racking up a body count!" Verrocchio exclaimed, Balalaika still being alive.
"Boss." A young skinny Italian man with brown hair and pale skin, wearing brown suit with a moss green dress shirt stepped forward, sweating as he gulped and steeled his resolve.
"Why don't we put an end to this? We're okay right now. Let's just quietly dispose of those kids, they're wreaking havoc all over town, we can deal with this ourselves."
Verrocchio walked around his desk and grabbed the younger man by the collar of his shirt, "...Moretti. An underling like you should watch his mouth around his boss. Where the hell is your respect for your leader? Did you lose it somewhere? Huh?"
Verrocchio immediately punched Moretti in the face, sending him falling backwards. When he hit the floor, Verrocchio quickly descended upon him, slamming Moretti's head onto the floor before kicking him repeatedly. "Why do you think I bought those damn brats in the first place?! I kept it secret from the other bosses, I wanted to show this pathetic town just how powerful I am! Now I'm stuck in this town, and they've gone berserk on me!"
Verrocchio grabbed Moretti by his shirt again, bringing the younger man's bloodied and swollen face closer to his, "Listen up, you son of a bitch! If we don't do something now, I'll become food for the seagulls at the next cupola!"
Another man from the crowd stepped forward, keeping his gaze on the floor, "Uh. Uh... Boss?"
"I'm busy, asshole." Verrocchio said, keeping his gaze on Moretti, raising his fist with the intent to continue beating him.
"Well, uh... the twins... they're here." The grunt stammered.
Verrocchio's head snapped upwards, "What?!"
As he looked up, Verrocchio watched as the infamous twins entered the room.
Said twins, looked identical with their ashen white hair, grey eyes, sharp canine teeth, pale skin, skinny hair, and their black gothic attire. The difference between them was in the lengths of their hair, one was dressed as a girl and the other a boy, and their weapons; the boy held a battle axe, and the girl was holding a M1918A2 BAR gun that was wrapped, covered in its entirety with a blanket.
Verrocchio looked at the pair with a nervous but angry expression, "I… I thought I told y-you to never come here, so what do you want?"
"We've been talking, and we've come to a decision. Haven't we, brother?" The girl, Gretel said with a gentle smile.
The boy, Hänsel, had the same smile, "Yes, Borscht is our main dish, but we'd like macaroni as an appetizer. So, we'll start here."
Verrocchio gritted his teeth, "Don't. Fuck. With Me! You hear me?!"
He then pulled out his gun, causing his men to do the same. "You little shits! I'll fill you full of lead!"
Gretel ripped the blanket off her gun, throwing in front of her and Hänsel, obscuring the view of Verrocchio and his men.
As this was happening, a black car arrived in front of the building, and Mr. Chang and his men stepped out of the vehicle.
Gunshots could be heard and seen from inside but none of the men did anything in response, waiting for their boss to give the order to advance.
From the side of the building a man in a suit with a gun in his hands walked quickly in Chang's direction. "Mr. Chang, we have secured the perimeter. We await your instruction."
Chang remained silent for a few seconds before talking to the bodyguard on his left, "Cho."
Cho turned to Chang, standing straighter, "Yes, sir!"
Chang looked up at the windows in the front of the building, his head tilting slightly, "Oh, you'd better duck and cover."
Cho looked confused, "Sir?"
Suddenly the windows exploded in a shower of broken glass and a body was seen flying out of them, falling with great speed before landing on top of the car in a bloody and broken heap.
His man jumped, staring at the destroyed car and the dead body on top of it in shock and horror while Chang sighed and readjusted his sunglasses, "Looks like this job... just become a manhunt."
He then turned to face his men, "Get in touch with Hotel Moscow. I want some damn gratitude for our efforts here."
After a few moments, one of his men returned, "Boss, we received a message from Hotel Moscow. 'Situation, critical! Retreat!'"
Chang hummed, "How prudent of her, but it's a bit too late for that. Oh, and Cho, duck."
Cho blinked as he watched Chang pull back his trench coat, pulling his guns out from his holsters and aiming them at the doors.
Said doors swung open, and a barrage of bullets began to fly in their direction.
Chang returned fire briefly before throwing himself over the car's hood behind him, using it as cover.
His men, including Cho, were not as lucky as him and were stuck down mercilessly, their bodies being ripped apart by gunfire before hitting the ground.
"Got them! You're good at this!" Gretel exclaimed once she stopped firing.
"Why, thank you, young lady." Chang retorted sarcastically.
"Unfortunately, I won't have time to deal with today." Gretel smirked before she and Hänsel ran down the street. "Maybe next time!"
Chang gritted his teeth, "Why doesn't that put me at ease?"
As the children disappeared, Chang could hear police sirens getting closer to him.
As the police cars surrounded him, Chang allowed himself to relax, taking a drag of his cigarette, knowing that this situation was now completely in Hotel Moscow's hands.
~X~
Amara yawned as she leaned against the wall, standing behind Revy and Eda as she looked around at the mercenaries in the room with them.
This building, along with most along on the street were filled to the brim with killers looking to win the bounty that was placed on the Romanian twins' heads.
When Eda had sent word to Revy, the older woman had all but drug Amara to main street and now they were waiting for their prey.
"Doesn't this seem kind of strange?" Amara asked allowed.
Rely raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about, kid?"
"I mean this whole situation. Why would the killers be going down such a public road to escape the cops? It would be an obvious trap to any professional." Amara explained, "And then there's Hotel Moscow not doing anything."
"Balalaika and her boys were looking for clues earlier about these fuckers, that seems like something to me."
Eda shook her head, and she leaned closer to them, "No, she right. Out of everyone in this town, Balalaika wants revenge the most. But look around, she's nowhere in sight."
Revy began to think about what she knew about Balalaika. "You're right; Balalaika would Wan to do this herself."
"Exactly, if this was where it was really going to go down, then we would've been kicked out of the area by now. So, the real question should be where would those twins go?"
Amara leaned her head back, "If they attacked Hotel Moscow to begin with, then Balalaika must be their target. Those men they killed would've just been a way of getting her attention. And if she deployed her Visontoniki, then she must be using them to lead the twins to her, so she can kill them herself."
Revy pulled her guns, racking the slides of them. "But the thing about soldiers is, they're pragmatic, they won't act on speculation. So those brats will find a blind spot."
Eda racked the slides of her own gun, "These idiots here must think this is a deer hunt in Montana or something. But these are no deer; theses twins are coyotes; they won't be easy prey."
Revy agreed with the sentiment, "Yeah, if they were stupid enough to fall for a trap like this, they would be rotting under a tombstone right now."
Eda smirked, "You know, for someone with no education, you catch on quick, Revy. So, what do you think? What's the fastest route from here to Hotel Moscow? We're going to have to use back streets."
Revy's expression darkened; her anger evident. "We'll cut through Charlkwan Market, and then it's straight down Sattnum Street. But more importantly, last time I checked, you had no education either, you fucking whore."
Amara tiredly sighed and pushed herself off the wall. "Are you two going to keep insulting each other or are going to get our reward?"
Revy huffed, "I thought you didn't care about finding the little shits?"
"Well, I showed up tonight, might as well make sure my time hasn't gone to waste." Amara said as she walked through the door.
Revy smirked as she and Eda followed the younger woman.
As the trio if women were running through the backstreets of Roanapur, the black sedan that the rest of the mercenaries crowding Main Street were waiting for, finally sped onto the street, driving around erratically.
"There it is! That's the car!" one man shouted, causing everyone else to pick up their guns and aim at the sedan.
"There's no mistaking it; a black sedan, Japanese make."
"Are the twins inside?"
"Ugh! I can't tell with those tinted windows!"
Suddenly a man with a rocket launched jumped forward with a wild grin on his face. "I'm not waiting to find out! Let's blast that thing away!"
He then fired the rocket at where the car was driving to, causing an explosion at its front and turning the car onto its side. Due to the speed at which the car was driving, it was still speeding forward despite no longer having its wheels on the ground, a trail of sparks could be seen coming from underneath it.
This created a chain reaction where all the mercenaries began to open fire on the sedan, filling it with bullets.
The car then flipped, spinning in the air for a few moments before smashing into a nearby tree, the roof of the car resting against it.
Silence filled the street as everyone watched the destroyed car, waiting for any signs of life.
"Did, did we get them?" Someone asked.
The passenger door of the car opened as what looked to be Gretel's body fell against it.
The girl was slumped over, lying on her stomach as blood dripped from her limbs and onto the pavement.
The mercenaries watched in shock as the girl's hair fell off her head and onto the floor, revealing itself to be a wing. And once the wing fell, they saw that the corpse had short black hair and brown skin.
"They aren't white! We got the wrong ones!"
"Hey, pull the car around! C'mon you fuckers! We got to go smoke those bastards out!"
Soon the mercenaries were scrambling past each other, running into the streets and to any vehicles they had, knowing that the twins had to still be somewhere in the city.
~X~
"I'm glad we decided to do that, sora mai mare." Hänsel told his sister as they went through the dark alley. "And since it only caught five hundred baht, we didn't have to spend much money."
"That's true." Gretel smiled, "But I do feel kind of bad for them, they said they were orphans."
Hänsel stopped running as he turned to face his sister, still smiling all the while. "That's not our fault, it's kill or be killed, remember? That's the only rule that exists in this world."
"You're right, fratele mai mic."
"Exactly, sister. So come on," Hänsel said as they resumed running. "Let's go kill, let's keep killing."
But the twins did not get far before they saw someone stick a machine gun out from behind a corner and shoot at them, causing them to run into another alley to avoid being hit.
Unknown to the pair, they were now being purposely led to their deaths, having long since been caught in her trap.
The Visontoniki were explicitly not going for lethal shots, making sure to aim for places that were avoidable and not enough to give away their intentions as the twins ran from them.
But a louder and single gunshot rang out, a bullet flew past Hänsel's ear, hitting the wall behind them with a thud. It was clear that this bullet did not come from the men who were previously chasing them, and this was confirmed when a blonde woman pointing a smoking gun at them, emerged from the shadows.
"Don't move, you damn brats." Eda grinned, "You'll find yourselves in trouble roaming the streets this late at night. Especially when the whole damn town is out on a manhunt. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you might want to say your fucking prayers."
Gretal like her brother was unfazed by Eda's presence, continuing to smile as she walked towards the woman.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Eda shouted, moving her arm to point her gun directly at the girl's face.
Gretal ignored this, causing Eda to take a step back, unnerved by Gretal's demeanor. "Can I ask you a question? What's the bounty being offered on our heads?"
Eda growled, "Eighty thousand. Now stop moving!"
"Wow, that's pretty good. Then there's something I'd like to discuss with you." Gretal replied as she reached down into her bag and pulled out a large fistful of banded cash and held them in front of her mouth. "This is the money we took from Verrocchio's office. We'd gladly kill you for it, but we have other things to do. So how about it? A hundred thousand to pretend you didn't see us?"
Eda did not falter, "Heh? You've got to be kidding me? Do I look like a messenger to you? I'm not about to be used by some kid."
"Fine. The how about A hundred and fifty thousand?" Gretal asked as she threw the money in her hands into the air.
A hundred and fifty thousand? Eda began to shake, "Ah... Um... Well, uh..." She then threw her head back and shouted, "What do we do, Revy? Amara?!"
From the scaffolding above, Revy racked her slides, "What are you hesitating for, Eda? Eighty grand, a hundred and fifty grand, and their lives? Why don't we just take them all?!"
