((Author's Note: Call me odd, but I've made sure every bit of typing I do on this thing is done while listening to Rasputina. If you haven't yet, give them a listen. Cello rock and a sweet, angelic female voice singing about all kinds of spooky, macabre things. Anyway, I digress. What I wanted to say is that like everything else I post here--except for that Paranoia Agent fic and some of my poems--I've posted this all raw, so to speak. That means I haven't done any editing at ALL, save for a bit of necessary formatting so the fics are readable. The first couple chapters of this thing have gotten off to a weird start, I know, but I should be able to iron out the wrinkles within the next couple chapters and settle back into my typing groove. By the way, for a really, REALLY screwed-up song by Rasputina, listen to Dwarfstar. That is some creepy singy-spoken wordstuffs. But whatever. Take care, mes amis, and do enjoy. ::Raven:: ))

--Two: A Night Out--

Emily regretfully ditched her white Mary Jane shoes in favor of some black combat boots. The Mary Janes may have been easier to sneak around in, but she didn't want to get them dirty.

Even though the new boots felt odd, too heavy on her feet, she found herself smiling. Since she'd started working on her Oddisee, she'd had absolutely no time to go out roaming. And this would be the first time in a long time that she brought NeeChee along.

"Anyone interesting at the park lately?" she asked him as they scurried along rooftops in the last fading rays of sunlight.

NeeChee hadn't seen anything for awhile. But the park was a popular spot for teenagers to stage amorous encounters during their notorious "dinner and a movie" dates, and Emily pointed out that since it was a Saturday, they might be able to find something. They altered their course to bring them into the heart of the park, and they reached the copse of trees that marked the spot just after the city clock struck ten.

"Think we'll see anyone yet?" Emily asked once they'd settled into the tallest tree.

NeeChee noted that the official curfew on Saturdays was midnight for minors. Chances were no couples would think to stop by for another hour or so.

"So what do we do now?"

NeeChee voted to go to the all-night coffee house on the next block. Sitting in that tree was getting boring, so Emily seconded the motion and they vacated the park in record time. NeeChee caught a dove that was fluttering around and irritating them on the way. Emily looked away while he broke its neck and proceeded to tear it to shreds. You wouldn't think so, but NeeChee was quite the ferocious little kitty.

Emily got tired of the crunching and ordered him to drop the bird. He complied, and the carcass fell to the sidewalk and was brushed into the grass by NeeChee's tail.

"What'll it be, Em?" called the girl behind the counter as Emily and NeeChee entered the cafe a few minutes later. "The usual?"

"Yeah," she answered warmly, taking her usual seat in the back corner of the establishment. "And get NeeChee a cup of your strongest stuff."

NeeChee hissed, and Emily told the girl to add a bowl of hot milk to the order. Honestly. There was just no pleasing some people.

"Haven't seen you around for awhile, kiddo," announced the girl from the counter when she brought the order over. "You get into some trouble, Em?"

"No, just busy." Emily took a sip of her coffee. She knew the girl--Mimi--was getting paid to be nice to the customers, but she couldn't help feeling like Mimi was being honest when she smiled at her.

"Schoolwork?"

"No, a personal project." Emily smiled at her and was slightly disappointed with the amount of creepy that crept into the expression. "I'm actually just taking a break right now. The walls were starting to close in on me. But after I get a breather, I'm going straight back to work."

"Good to hear you're keeping yourself out of trouble," sighed Mimi. "You know, I was so wild when I was your age, I'm amazed I didn't get myself killed."

They went on talking like that for awhile, longer than it took for NeeChee to finish his drinks. And NeeChee took great delight in taking his time. At last, he gave Emily a poke with his claw and got her to notice that it was now half past eleven. She paid for their drinks and took a gracious exit, promising to come back soon.

"God, you're awfully cranky tonight," she muttered, rubbing at her arm where NeeChee had punctured the skin. "And please don't start with that 'God is dead' crap. We all know, believe me. Now let's just get back to the park and have some real fun, okay?"

To the pair's delight, a couple was already necking on a bench near the copse of trees when they got to the park. Emily hid in the shadows and sent NeeChee out as a scout. She waited with bated breath for his status report and his thoughts on the proper action plan.

As she'd suspected, the male was making all kinds of promises to the female in order to have his way with her. Emily, after a brief consul with NeeChee, decided to intervene before anything grotesque went down. She crept up to the bench and circled round to the front, made brazen by the obvious fact that the lovers were too busy to notice her. She grinned.

"He's lying, you know," she announced coolly.

The pair gave a unified yelp of surprise and tore away from each other. The female clutched some dark item of clothing over her chest while the male made some motion toward his waist. Emily spotted a silvery square next to him and laughed.

"Oh, God. He didn't already, did he?" she snorted, motioning to the unopened metallic packet. "Because you know you'll end up pregnant and HIV-positive."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" snapped the male, swiping the foil square off of the bench. "Where do you get off busting in on people like that?"

"I don't think walking up to you in a public park would qualify as 'busting in,'" laughed Emily before she turned to the female. "You should go on home. This guy is going to be nothing but trouble for you."

She nodded and hurried off, tugging her shirt back on as she disappeared into the night. Emily waited until she was sure the girl had gone. Then she gave NeeChee the signal, and he dove for the boy's calves.

Emily laughed and stuffed a rag in the teen's mouth to stop his screaming. When Emily sees red, you see black and blue popped into her head, a silly little phrase from one of her books. Well, it was fitting. She gave him a nice little rabbit punch to the head, and he collapsed.

"Did you take care of the muscle?" she asked.

NeeChee licked his lips and assured her that the boy wouldn't be walking anytime soon. It was a shame that there was so much blood; the ground would absorb it with the help of a passing rain cloud, but anyone coming by in the next couple hours might find the stains odd. But Emily couldn't concern herself with that. She hefted the boy over her shoulder and trotted off towards home.

XEXSXPX

When the boy woke up, he was strapped into a chair in Emily's basement. Leaky pipes dripped water and steam onto the floor around him, and the skittering scuttling sounds of insects and spiders pressed in on all sides. Besides all that, it was pitch-black and he could hear someone breathing in front of him.

Suddenly, a bight light switched on and shone directly in his face. He squirmed frantically against his restraints but found to his horror that his legs were not responding to his orders. A flash of silver, and then the face of that creepy cat-girl came into view.

"Funny, isn't it?" she murmured, wielding a knife like the bow of a violin. "Your muscles won't let you kick. Then again, that's hardly a surprise, since I had NeeChee rip them apart. I'd imagine you'll be permanently crippled."

The boy tried to scream. But he found to his shock that, despite the lack of a gag, his efforts produced only a hollow rasp. He turned back to face Emily's dreamy gaze with tears in his eyes.

"Oh, that?" Emily giggled. "I also went and cut your vocal chords while you were out. It's a simple procedure, really. Sadistic pet owners do the same thing to keep their dogs from barking."

The boy was sobbing now, but Emily took no notice. She ran a finger along the edge of the knife and smiled at the thin line of blood that formed on her skin. Perfectly sharpened.

"Miles, is the Soul-OMatic ready?" she called into the darkness, and her smile widened when the reply was in the affirmative. "Now make sure to catch this one; I don't have the energy to get another tonight."

She stabbed the boy, of course. All you really need to stab someone is a pointy object, but Emily liked to make sure she could do some slicing in the abdomen. You know, just to liven things up a little. The teen made a terrible fuss, squirming about and doing that horrible raspy choke of his. When she tired of this, Emily put the knife through his skull to shut him up.

The blood trickled down the drains in the floor and ran to another room below. Once the flow of red subsided, though, the interesting bit began. Silvery wisps of what looked like fog emanated from the boy's wounds, most heavily concentrated in the chest. Emily sat back, breathing hard, and watched the wisps form a rough egg shape over the corpse. This was the critical moment.

Miles hopped into view, a machine that resembled a water pistol with a glass jar in place of its water tank in his paws. He managed to squeeze the trigger, and the egg of mist rushed into the machine and reappeared in the glass jar. Miles sealed the jar and removed it to present its contents to Emily.

"Very good," she murmured weakly, stroking him behind the ears. "All of you did very well. Tell Sabbath and Mystery to get the zonsters on cleaning up this carcass. I need to get some rest."

Emily shuffled her way up to the attic and pushed open the door to her room. Disregarding the cages of protesting pests on her desk and the caterwauling of the damned in her closet, she collapsed on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Killing people really takes a lot out of a girl...