January of 2016. Annapolis, Maryland.
A lanky, dark haired gentleman prowls the fenced in yard at Don Renaldo's haven. The property has been quiet, save for the unannounced arrival of Bernito just moments earlier. He pauses in his uneventful patrol, watching the youngest of his compatriots toss snowballs at the Cerberus bear. Shaking his head, a smile on his face, he mumbles to himself. "Over-exuberant little turd."
The bear turns a head in the wraith's direction, looking just past him. Cuthbert spins around, on alert until Alain drops his obfuscate and almost runs into him.
"Hey man! Where've you.." Cuthbert trails off, taking in the expression on Alain's face. The blond wraith looks terrified, panting slightly despite his lack of a need for breath. Cuthbert puts his hands on his friend's shoulders, silently urging him to speak.
"I fucked up. I fucked up big time, 'Bert." Alain scrubs at his face with his hands. Before he can elaborate, both wraiths feel the pull of their mistress's summons. With only a brief glance of distress between them, they follow Jackie Boy, who is already barreling towards the haven.
They find their comrades and Karina in her room. She sits, legs crossed, typing a message onto her phone. The wraiths shift anxiously, all but Lt. Mann sharing similar inquisitive looks. She finishes typing, only to have her phone vibrate with yet another incoming message. She spares the briefest glances to the message before placing the phone on the desk beside her. Her cold blue eyes fall directly on Alain. She beckons him forward, and he complies apprehensively.
"What did you witness at Rosselini manor?"
Swallowing reflexively, Alain reports his observations. Karina listens, her expression never advancing past cold and emotionless. It isn't until the wraith stumbles on his words slightly, that she returns her gaze to him.
"After Renaldo disappeared, Mr. Rosselini departed from the Skinlands, and the Don and Tania headed towards...ah, they..."
The young girl's eyebrow arches up.
"They were beyond your sight, Alain. How would you assume they were headed anywhere?"
Alain's meager confidence fails him, and he drops his eyes, saying no more.
"What are you attempting to keep from my knowledge?" Karina uncrosses her legs, leaning forward slightly. "Do not make me ask again."
With herculean effort, Alain finishes his account.
"I followed the road I knew they would use to return to the haven. I did not conceal myself. Tania appeared, and I warned her that Bernito was also heading to the haven, and not to lead the Don back. I...I warned them both away."
The last word is barely out of his mouth before Karina unleashes her torment upon the wraith. Wracked with agony, Alain manages not to cry out, meeting the necromancer's eyes with the barest sense of defiance. Behind them, the other wraiths flinch, Jackie Boy falling back to cower against the stone faced Lieutenant. Still expressionless, Karina flicks a hand at Alain, almost carelessly. His gall is lost quickly, as she continues to assail him. He falls to his hands and knees, the struggle to retain his stability brutally apparent on his rounded features. Cuthbert twitches slightly, as if wanting to intervene. Several of the others commence an offensive stance, as if sensing an incoming change in the wraith on the ground. The sound of Karina's phone once more vibrating with a message is heard between Alain's agonized wails.
She turns from the wraith, allowing him brief reprieve as she glances at her phone. The message is from Tybalt, and something seems to ease in her expression as she peruses the text. Tucking the phone into the top of her dress she stands, looking down her nose at the sobbing, anguished Alain.
"I should end you. All of the times you have deliberately disobeyed my orders. It is not your fucking place to interfere. I should send you howling into the Nihil as a loathsome spectre." Her lip lifts in a snarl of disgust. "On your feet, filth."
Legs and body trembling, eyes on the floor, Alain climbs to his feet. Turning towards the desk, Karina removes a simple hunting knife from a drawer. She holds it by the blade, offering the handle away from her.
"Cuthbert, teach il tuo amico a lesson in obedience."
The dark haired wraith doesn't hesitate, taking the blade from Karina and approaching Alain. It isn't until he is faced away from the others, looking into his friend's pained gaze, that his own mild expression falters. He presses the knife point against the soft tissue under Alain's sternum, his hand shaking slightly. His voice is barely above a whisper as he speaks.
"I'm sorry, Al."
With that, he forces the knife in Alain's gut to the hilt.