The windows blew out of the office building in a burst of flame, smoke spiraling up from the roof as the dangerous contents burned away. The men and women who had worked in there only a few minutes ago watched dumfounded as the building burned away, silently questioning how any of this could be possible. Then she walked out from the fire, and they knew. Jess Drake wore her long black jacket and matching gloves, dark sunglasses shading her eyes as she walked over to the manager. The man was nearly quaking with fear as the black haired woman snagged him by the collar to stop him from running away. "Do you know why I'm here?" she asked him with a deadly sort of calm. "No," he got out, but the panic in his eyes told the tale. "I know about your little drug operation here," Jess said coldly, tossing him to the ground and watching him cower there at her feet. "I'm going to assume you're new here," she said, "and didn't know the rules." Her voice was ice cold, "This territory is under my protection, and not you, the Lady or anyone else gets to operate here." Blam! Blam! Blam! From the side bullets rang out, punching into the leather coat that Jess wore, jerking the young woman around. Then shockingly the bullets dropped to the ground, stopped cold by the leather even as Jess turned to him, eyes glowing faintly blue. "St.. st.. stay back," he managed to get out past his fear, raising his gun again but before he could fire Jess was on the move. "How dare you!" there was rage in Jess' voice as she slapped the gun out of his hand, grabbing him by the tie. Her hand clamped on his face as she began to chant, harsh, grating words that seemed to tear at the air around them. "AEIIII!" Smoke curled around her fingers as she let the screaming gunman go, watching him claw at his now badly scarred face. Jess looked at the shocked figures, studying them as if wanting to be sure she had actually made her point, then she nodded. "You might want to take him to a hospital," she said as she turned to walk away. "Who...." the manager trailed off. "Drake," Jess answered softly, "spread the word around." None of it had made it into the papers, of course, the all important secrecy was always maintained about the supernatural, but the local rumor mill was another story. It didn't take long for the story to spread in the community, and even less time for a certain person to hear about it and head down to the tattoo parlor. Hunter pushed the front door to the business open, smiling wryly as she listened to the cheery sound of the bell even as she looked around her warily. "Is it safe to come in?" the lanky blonde called out, her buzz-cut and clothing making her look even more butch than she normally did. Her jeans and t-shirt helped her radiate a healthy sensuality, and that along with her succubus nature made her nearly irresistible. "Depends," Jess emerged from the back room and gave Hunter a deliberately blank look, "are you getting me in more trouble?" Hunter fought to conceal a wince. She had brought Alice over to the Daughters of Artemis in the honest hope of helping her and Jess make up, but instead she had just made things worse. Elizabeth, Jess' other lover, had been coming on to her at the time, and Alice had, understandably, been shocked. Shocked, and ultimately furious. "I'm sorry," Jess softened her tone, "that was low." "Hell," Hunter conceded, "I should have at least called ahead to see if Elizabeth was there, I know she likes the Daughters." "And maybe I should have been telling Elizabeth to keep her hands to herself," Jess shrugged uncomfortable. Changing the subject she asked, "What's up?" 'Doesn't want to talk about it,' Hunter noted worriedly. "I heard about last night," she noted, "that was pretty hard-core." "And?" Jess raised an eyebrow. Hunter smiled grimly, "Think you might be overcompensating a little?" Jess hesitated a moment then met Hunter's eyes. "I took on a responsibility when I kicked the Lady's people out of this area," she said, "an' I've been letting that slip for a while." "So know you're becoming Batman?" Hunter said mockingly. "No," Jess answered tersely, "but scaring the shit out of dealers and that ilk works." Hunter had to concede that point, at least. "Going out again regularly?" she asked. "I doubt I'll need to," Jess shrugged, "last night should scare the shit out of anyone who was thinking of setting up shop here." She looked down at the counter she leaned on and finally asked, "How's Alice been doing?" "Somewhere in between pissed off and depressed," Hunter answered promptly. She was about to say more when the doorbell ringed, a figure striding inside. Clearly a young woman she oddly had almost silvery hair, her face quite delicately featured. Carrying herself with grace she walked inside, her short skirt tight against long legs, stockings faintly hissing together. Ignoring Hunter she went right to Jess, setting a purse down on the counter. "Are you the proprietor?" she asked with a smoky voice. "Yes, I am," Jess answered even as she gave Hunter a look and the other woman left reluctantly, studying the lady with hungry eyes. 'Wonder if she's more trouble?' Hunter mused as she walked away, part of her wishing she was back in the tattoo parlor with the mystery lady. Then she shook her head and walked on, deciding it was none of her business. Back in the shop the young lady studied Jess with her green eyes before nodding slightly. "My name is Sara," she said, "and I have a commission for you." "Oh?" Jess looked at her curiously. 'A commission,' she silently mused, 'that's an interesting choice of words.' Sara smoothly removed her coat, revealing the top of the strapless blue dress she wore as well as the scar that marked her neck. "I want you to incorporate the scar into a tattoo for me," she explained softly, the red mark bold on pale skin. Jess reached out to cautiously touch the healed wound, tracing it up and down. "How did you get it?" she asked eve as she began to think of possible designs. "Does it matter?" Sara asked, shuddering faintly as Jess touched her. Seeing her reaction Jess drew her hand back as she though, 'If she's that sensitive to touch, her getting tattooed is going to be much worse than normal.' Aloud she remarked, "I'd rather not choose a design that reminds you of how you were hurt." "I was bit," Sara conceded, "by a man I was dating." "A vampire," Jess noted as she went to grab a sketch pad, a pencil soon flying over the page as she put thoughts to paper. "So the stories are true, you do believe in this sort of thing," Sara remarked. She sighed softly,. "The police didn't believe me entirely, but they arrested him for assault." "Then daylight came and he was in the cell," Jess nodded knowingly. "He burst into flame," Sara sounded almost glad, "it consumed him in seconds." She smiled grimly, "The police never even tried to explain away that." "So how did you hear about me?" Jess asked as she carefully took a brush to splash color onto one of her sketches. "The coroner Dr. Delafield mentioned you," Sara said as she watched Jess create a image so vividly, "she said you had some experience with this." "Occasionally," Jess agreed. She held out the sketch, the image of some dark goddess standing ready for battle, the scar forming part of her shape, "What do you think?" "It's lovely," Sara breathed. Gently Jess took her hand and drew her towards the back room, "Then let's get to work."
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