Mogget: Much thanks! :) Here's the next chapter, hope you like.

EvilTC: I know how you feel. I'm incredibly flattered that you're junkying over our fic. ^^

Airlia de Lioncourt: thanks chica.

Warning: Pretty detailed murder here folks. Be warned, go on to where there are dragons (or at least Flame in a bad mood at your own peril.

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The Inferno

Chapter 3: Laughing at Death.

The news reporter shuffled her papers. "It is reported that fifteen Washington police officers, twenty fire-fighters and four paramedics were killed in an arson attack on the lower east dock land area this morning." The screen flashed to pictures of some of those people who had lost their lives. "It is not known who the culprits are, but police have a number of leads on the gang responsible. This is the highest mortality rate for the emergency services in Washington for the last twenty years. In fact the emergency service staff are threatening strikes if they are not given pay rises by the end of the week. The police say that with the increase of gang related activity on the streets they wish to be appreciated for the many risks they take each day to prevent any harm from befalling Washington residents." The reporter gave the camera solemn look before continuing. "And in other news..."

Cassia killed the T.V. It infuriated her that they could lie this way. Inside her mind the flames started burning the human cops, the ones they were supposed to save, and just as quickly she shoved it back to where it belonged. The deep dark recesses of her mind, which seemed to have been growing disturbingly larger of late. Cassia rummaged through the green first aid kit, which she had retrieved from the kitchen, she opened the antiseptic bottle poured some onto a swathe of bandages. She bit down on the hilt of her dagger and thrust the bandages onto the largest slashes down her arm. She repeated the process with her other lacerations and then bandaged them with some fresh dressings. Baring down on the daggers hilt had been necessary since god damn antiseptics stung like bitch. Cassia pulled her partially shredded shirt back on and stared at the plain blue walls of the Maguires Parlour.

She jumped as her cell phone rang. She could face down vampires, and had nightmares that would scare Freddie Krueger, but her mobile vibrating in her pocket... well, she hadn't gotten used to it yet. You've had the thing for three years she snapped at herself as she answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Edwards. It's Casey." There was a pause. "We heard about Jonathan." Casey Mcpherse, one of the head chairmen of the Inferno replied. "How are you doing? Are you doing okay?" Mcpherse making small talk, that's unheard of. Cassia muttered to herself sardonically.

"What is it Casey? It's been a hell of a night. And you don't call me to make small talk." Cassia said, running a hand through her long tousled curls.

"The word on the street is that the Council have a hit out on us and they have some of their elite assassins on our asses." Casey informed her, the girl on the other side of the phone was patient but at the same time she was nervous, the tone of her voice told Cassia that something had the Unflappable one was flapped. "If they have Jonathan they could have our locations so I was told to call you and tell you to get the hell out of Washington. Screw your foster family, screw everything just get the hell out!" And with those last few words the line went dead. Cassia gripped the phone listening to the whirr of the hang up signal. She sat quietly for at least ten minutes listening to its continuos whirr and then she bolted up the stairs to the room she slept in. Cassia salvaged her emergency bag of clothes and weapons from under her bed, pulled on a pair of clean jeans and a red sweater and left the Maguire house for good, unseen and deeply unhappy.

Maria scrabbled out of the cool air-conditioned interior of the car and started sprinting up the drive. Gravel sprayed behind her as her feet in their sandals slapped down. She didn't like the way her legs wobbled, or the sweat that started to trickle down her back under the sun. For an eight-year-old she was said to be fastidious. Her black hair gleamed in the over bright sun.

After two days away she betted that Cassia had reclaimed all of her CD's. She pouted, it would be a challenge to get them back...

She had walked to the door without realising it. "Hey! Nana! The door's open!"

"Cassia must have..." Robert sighed, shaking his head.

"What are we going to do with her?"

Maria didn't want to hear the 'Cassia Solution' again, so she went inside, the walls and air conditioning muffling the sounds of her grandparents' plaintive voices. "Cassia?" She yelled. Maybe she'd run away again... she was always doing that and Maria didn't understand why. Cassia didn't have a boyfriend, unless that lad that occasionally came around asking for Cassia was he.

"Cassia?!" She yelped as hands picked her up by her thin shoulders. "That hurts!" She was starting to get into full whine. Cassia always took the warning and let Maria have her way when she started that. She stared down at the tiled floor, a deep, tasteful blue, or she had heard them described as such.

That's when she heard her grandparents scream. Her Granddad yelling her Nana's name.

"Cassia?" she asked, and this time her voice was small. Tiny was how she felt suspended so far off the floor. She should have noticed that Cassia was not this tall.

"Shut up, little rat."

Never in her eight years of life had she heard such a distilled yet hate filled voice. She didn't even dare whimper, as sharp, jagged black rushed up to meet her.

The voice was the first thing Maria could decipher from the endless blackness. It was smooth like black ice. "I'm going to tell you a secret. But once you know, you can not live. It's the greatest secret of all time..." and the voice laughed here. Mockingly, filled with something fattening yet distasteful. "All you've ever learnt is a lie. There are such things as magic, dragons, witches, vampires, werewolves, ghouls and pure evil. Can you tell me why we hid from you stupid vermin? Because you would try to destroy that which is greater than you."

She managed to open her eyes. And screamed, one long piteous scream as cold blue/green eyes glinted down at her.

"Already screaming little rat? This will really make you scream."

She couldn't tell what colour his hair was, what clothes he was wearing, or what he held in his hands. Just that his eyes where cold, like aqua fish scales glimmering under the cool sea.

Her concentration was broken, agony, such agony she'd never experienced. She looked down in horror, and saw her knee, crushed to pulp under his fist. Her breath was lost in sobbing, gasping breaths. Bile rose to her throat. Why was he doing this? Tears streamed down her cheeks as her second knee joined the first, in a quick snap of throbbing pain.

"Now what shall we do now?" Flame quirked his mouth, savouring her pain. Time for another favourite of his. He slowly ripped her fingers out of the joint, and then took a knife to her digests, relishing every moment of her pain. It was almost cute the way her face scrunched up. He started laughing as she squeaked, her voice nearly worn out when he crushed her pelvis, the same as her knees.

"Nana..." she seemed to breathe.

Time to bring the rest of the vermin in.

He drew his second favourite knife, in preparation for the older folk. He grinned. "See, here's you grand daughter. Hardly harmed at all, and more or less alive as promised."

"Maria!" Nana's voice was anguished. Maria herself couldn't form words. Why should she? Maybe they wanted this to happen. They seemed to be making enough noise. Noises that where formless and distant.

Flame grinned as he 'slice and diced' the old women's legs. It wasn't something he normally did, but the warm blood flowing was good. Even better was her hubby, having a first class view. The worst was yet to come. He picked up bits of her flesh and made him eat it. The mind control was enough to prevent the vermin gagging, but not too much, so he knew exactly what was happening. Smiling to himself he added fingers to the feast.

Watching their tortured expressions was almost funny. He sat back and looked coolly with disdain at the vermin. They where already broken. Really spoiled a guy's fun that did.

He drew his favourite knife. He kept it down his back, since the knife was almost a sword lengthwise. He raised it above his head and started to put them out of their misery. The knife whistled down as he systematically started to hack at the flesh below him.

When he was finished he carefully washed the blood off his knife, and put it back in the sheath. The blood on him didn't matter.

The last, thin pitiful wail came to a wheezing end. And all other breathing stopped. Flame was the only one left alive in the room. As it should be.