"You've got to be the worst bait I've ever seen in my life," Alice said as Break bounced happily along ahead of everyone.

"I told you I was doing this for myself," Break called back. "I've been cooped up in that mansion for a week and I was bored. Besides, the chains don't usually come out till nightfall. Contractors prefer it so they're not to be seen."

All 4 of them had been there for 2 hours already and Alice had not even sensed a chain's presence. Gil was contently smoking a cigarette he had stopped to get and Oz was getting tired.

"You were right though," Alice said in Break's direction suddenly.

"Eh? About what?" he replied confused. Alice gave a little laugh and sighed.

"This place reeks of your chain," she said before adding "Let's stop for dinner."

Everyone nodded in agreement and ducked into a little diner across the street. The room was poorly lit, but this was expected for a restaurant on this side of the city. Everything was a bit run down which made it prime estate for chain and contractor attacks.

"Mmmmm. Meeeaaaattttt," Alice said as she chowed down on her dinner along with everyone else. Break followed suit eating a slice of cake after explaining that these were one of the "rare times Miss Sharon wasn't there to insist dessert comes after the meal."

Suddenly, Alice's eyes widened and her plate went crashing to the floor. Everyone looked startled and Oz had already jumped out of his seat.

"Alice what is it?" he asked joining her by her side.

"The chain! I smell it and it's close!" she said and everyone ran out the door onto the street.

"Which direction?" Gil yelled. Alice gave no reply but bolted off to the left signaling for all of them to follow.

They twisted through the city for what seemed like ages until the sounds of screaming reached their ears. They turned a corner onto a dark street, where they encountered an odd sight.

Two people stood far apart and one was screaming in what sounded like terrible pain. A girl clutched the screaming man's shirt collar in a deathly grip.

"What's going on here!" Oz yelled, confused by the sight of 3 humans and no chains.

The girl let go of the man's shirt and he fell to the ground as she whirled around. Oz jumped back when he saw her eyes. One normal blue, and one completely black. No whites at all.

"O-oh! Thank god you're here!" Said the girl who was clearly thrown off guard. "These men where attacking me! Thank god I knew self defense. They're both contractors you see!" She said as she cut open the shirt of the man on the ground, revealing his incuse.

"Don't worry!" said Oz confidently. "We're here to help!"

"Wait!" said the other man. "That's not true at all!"

"And how is that?" said Gil obviously not believing him.

"She…." He began. Suddenly the girl gave a cry and threw her knife at him, hitting him dead straight in the chest. He fell without saying a word as she screamed "LIAR! HE TRIED TO KILL ME! THAT DIRTY TWISTED CONTRACTOR WASTE!"

Oz ran to the now dead man and found no pulse. He lifted his shirt to reveal that this man too, was a contractor. Meanwhile Gil ran to the girl and pulled her away from the other man but he was also still. Gil looked him over and shouted to Oz "This one's not breathing!"

The girl sniffled and Gil brought her back to where Alice, Break and Oz were now standing.

"Are you ok?" Oz asked quietly, and as she nodded he sighed. "How about you come back with us? We were out trying to find an illegal contractor and some chain that have been killing people. I don't know if either of those guys were connected, but maybe you could tell us some stuff."

"I…I really can't," she said looking down. "I have to return to my uh, parents. Yeah that's it. If you want to talk I'll meet you here tomorrow, but now I just want to get home." Oz nodded in understanding.

"Alright, is noon ok? It's probably best to be here in the day."

"Sure, I'll be here," was all she said and she turned to leave.

Oz looked back to the others and sighed. "Looks like we just missed it, but maybe one of these guys was its contractor. I don't think it would come back tonight anyway."

Alice nodded and wrinkled her nose. "Yeah it was definitely here, and really not long ago at all. It stinks worse then your chain Break!" She said with a laugh that Break did not return.

"I think we should leave," Break said expressionless. "Now."

"Come on we didn't get to finish our dinner! I'm still hungry. Plus this chain can't be dumb enough to return to the same place right?"

"Don't ask questions, we really need to leave!" Break said as doomful finality crept into his voice.

"Alright, alright, jeez what's your issue?" Alice said as she turned and began to walk.

"Yes, indeed. What is your issue? And while we're at it, what is yours? …Alice," Said a familiar voice.