The sun rose on Murphy's face, and he blinked, vaguely wondering why he was sleeping sitting up. He glanced around the room he was in, bleary eyed, then saw the girl watching them from the other corner of the room, bathed in shadow.
He gasped and sat up quickly, and his brother jerked awake as well, glancing quickly around. He stilled as his eyes landed on Animal, and they observed one another, curious eyes meeting distrustful ones.
Finally, she moved, coming slowly towards them.
"Need check injuries."
Murphy felt an urge to grab his gun and shoot her in the head before she took another step closer to them, but just nodded stiffly, keeping a wary eye on her.
Seeing his acquiescence, she moved more swiftly, kneeling at his side and lifting the shirt to check her stitches. The clothing was stiff with dried blood, and he made a face at the smell.
Growling to herself, Animal inspected the wound before dropping the shirt, apparently satisfied. She then moved to Connor, taking the bandage off his neck and looking at the bite there. She placed a fresh bandage on after cleaning it once again, then picked up the knee and felt it carefully, trying to feel around the swelling. Connor hissed with the pain, but was otherwise quiet, and she placed it back down again.
"You will be fine. When the swelling goes down more, I will bandage it to keep it from moving."
Walking back to her corner, she picked up the package of jerky from the night before and began gnawing on another piece, observing them curiously.
They just watched each other, and then Connor coughed to break the silence.
"I'm Connor. My brother's name is Murphy."
She growled to let them know she had heard them, but otherwise remained silent. Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two, and the study made them both feel awkward.
"What's your name?" Murphy tried, and flinched as her gaze focused sharply on him, though thankfully the light was coming from the wrong angle to reflect off her eyes.
"You know my name."
"What, Animal?" Murphy laughed, unable to contain himself. "You expect us to believe that's your name?"
"It's what they call me."
"Yes, but we want to know what your actual name is."
"I have no name. I use the ones I am given."
"Oh come on, you have to have a name", Connor insisted, and Animal growled angrily.
"I don't have a name anymore. I gave it up when I gave up my old life."
"So what exactly happened?" Connor asked, eager.
Animal snarled sharply once, then fell silent, refusing to answer. They stayed silent for a bit more, then Murphy changed the subject.
"So why did they call you Ghost up north?"
She stayed silent for a while, then grudgingly answered, "They feared my ability to hide. That, and the silver in my eyes made them believe I was a vengeful spirit attacking those who did wrong. Some idiot called me a ghost, and the name stuck."
She wrinkled her nose.
"I think I prefer it to Animal."
"So, do you want us to call you Ghost?"
"Call me what you will", she snarled suddenly, clearly fed-up with the conversation. They sat in silence for a long period of time, then twitched as Animal stood suddenly and walked out the door.
"Stay here, I'll be back by sunset."
She vanished, and the brothers could only look at each other as they sat.
"Oi, I wonder where she wants us to fucking piss."
Hours later, the building growing darker as the sun slid behind the skyscrapers beside them, they jumped when they heard footsteps coming into the room. Both had tried cleaning their shirts in the bucket of water, and the clothing was now dangling from protruding nails in the wall, drying. They had both eaten what food they were given, and both were hungry again.
Animal walked into the room, and barely spared their shirtless bodies a glance before gathering her things.
"We're moving to a different location."
Both brothers stiffened.
"Did someone find us?" Connor asked.
"No. This place will not work for cleaning injuries. I found a place with running water."
She threw her small black bag into a book bag, then walked over to the bin and began throwing food into it, packing up as much as she could fit into the one bag.
"What can we do?"
"Sit there until I am ready to go!" came the answering growl, and they both shut their mouths.
When Animal finished packing, she turned swiftly, yanking their shirts off the nails and throwing them at the two.
"Get dressed", she growled, and they hurriedly threw on their shirts before staggering to their feet. Connor heavily favored his right leg, and it pained Murphy to stand up all the way. Still, they followed her out the door, Connor using Murphy as a make-shift crutch. They followed her out the door, and into the filthy streets.
Even though it was daytime, and it should have been busy, there was no one on the streets in that area of the city, and rats ran rampant. Animal walked swiftly, hissing angrily at the rats that scampered across her path. She led them into the busier part of the city, and, keeping her eyes facing downward to keep the light away from them, led them through it. People here were too busy to spare them more than a glance, and no one asked why they were wearing bandages or questioned about the nasty-looking gash on the side of Animal's head.
Through that area of the city, she led them even further in, entering the housing section. Here, people gave them suspicious glances, but none stopped them as they continued, until Animal led them onto a nearly-abandoned street and climbed the porch of the last house.
Glancing around her, she slipped a straightened paperclip and a bobby pin through the lock, swiftly picking it. The door clicked open, and she ventured inside. The brothers glanced at each other, but followed, shutting the door behind them.
The house was empty, waiting to be sold. However, from the condition, it appeared it would be a while.
"Whose house is this?" Connor asked, and Animal glanced at him.
"Bank took it. We will stay here for a short time. Only until you are healed. Then we will leave this city."
"And how long do you think that will be?" Murphy questioned, lilting accent dripping with sarcasm.
"Five days, maybe. Then you will be able to walk well again."
"Gee, and I wonder whose fault it is that we have to wait that long."
Animal ignored him, and Murphy sank down on the soft carpet across from a low picture window, scowling at her. Connor sat down next to him, stretching out his leg, and they watched Animal pace through the house. She came back through a hallway, and gestured at them.
"Shirts."
"What?"
"Give me your shirts."
"Why?"
"So I can clean them!" she hissed irritably, and they looked at each other before pulling their shirts over their heads and tossing them to her. She tilted her head in interest as she caught a glance at the tattoos on their backs, but didn't say anything as she entered what seemed to be the bathroom again. They heard the sound of running water, presumably from a bathtub, listening when the water shut off. Animal walked back into the room, definitely shirtless.
"So where're our shirts?" Murphy asked.
"Soaking", was all she responded before heading into the kitchen, where he could see things like fresh meat and frying pans sitting on the table.
"Hey, where'd you get the food?"
A growl was his only response, and Connor threw one of the shoes he had taken off at him, missing.
"Will ya' stop bugging her? I'd like to eat, you know."
"Oh, shut up", Murphy responded, launching into a tiring but familiar argument while he could hear Animal growling softly in irritation at the noise they were making but not bothering.
Having nothing to do, the brothers watched Animal as she fried the steaks, and noticed her watching them in return. Connor and Murphy didn't trust her, but they couldn't yet figure out why she kept watching them. It was more like she was curious, interested as a child would be in a strange bug. Or maybe she was wondering why they hadn't killed her yet.
"Oi, are those steaks fucking done yet?" Murphy called out, and was answered by a furious snarl from the kitchen. Animal erupted from the room and lunged at him, pinning him to the wall by his neck before either he or his brother could react, snarling furiously in his face.
"I am NOT your slave. I work for you, and that is all. You are very lucky that I am feeding you."
She froze as a cold barrel was pressed into the back of her skull, and a click echoed throughout the empty room.
"Fucking let go of him before I blow your brains out", Connor said in a dangerous voice, low-pitched and seething. Animal released Murphy's neck, moving slowly and drawing her arm away. As soon as she was a good enough distance away, Connor drew the gun away from her head, placing the hammer back into its original position. They glared at each other before Animal turned away with a frustrated growl, stalking back into the kitchen. There was a series of crashes, and she came back out with two plates of steak, shoving them at Connor.
"Here", she hissed, then whirled away and sat down in the kitchen, snarling softly while she tore apart her own food. Connor took the plates and handed one to his brother, sitting down beside him.
"Well, now what? Not even here for a day and you've already pissed someone off."
"Oh, fucking shut it, will you!"
"Why should I? It's your fault!"
"Connor, I'm fucking warning you!"
"Oh, and just what are you going to do?"
Murphy didn't even bother replying, instead throwing himself at his brother, wrestling him. They rolled around on the floor, but their injuries caused them to stop, hissing with pain. They glared at each other, then Connor huffed and went to the other side of the room, taking his food with him. They spent the rest of the night exchanging glares, and when they finally went to sleep, they still had not reconciled with each other. However, each knew that in the morning everything would be fine. It always was for them.
As Murphy lay down, he realized Animal still hadn't come out of the kitchen.
Animal did not like him. The taller one, Connor, was not as bad as his brother. But the one named Murphy was infuriating. They both were, but he was the worst. Treating her like a slave. Just who did he think he was?
She sighed loudly as she lay curled up on the tile in the kitchen. She hadn't even left the room since Murphy had treated her like a slave. And when she had tried giving him a warning, she had been threatened in turn by Connor. Ptah, how confusing these two were! They were worse than jackdaws!
She sighed again and curled up tighter. If she hadn't have made that deal with them, she would have been gone already. How anyone could stand those two was beyond her. But, when she had heard them discussing her fate in the ally that night, she was able to understand the few words of Spanish. They had mentioned something about old friends they had worked with. But what had happened to them?
Feeling slightly disconcerted with this new revelation, she slept.
The sun rose once again in Murphy's face, and he yawned and stretched out as well as he could, wincing at the tug of stitches. He automatically glanced toward his brother, and once satisfied he was alright, glanced around for Animal, thinking she would be watching them again. However, the remainder of the room was empty, and he could still hear quiet breaths coming from the kitchen where she had slept last night.
Feeling thirsty, he stumbled to his feet, trying to stifle another yawn. Failing, he shuffled into the bathroom, cupping his hands to drink from the faucet.
He spotted the shirts drying on the remains of the shower rack, and vaguely wondered when she had woken up to hang them. He didn't remember her getting up during the night, so that could only mean she had walked through the room while they were sleeping and defenseless.
He felt uneasy at this prospect. She could have killed the both of them while they slept time and time again. Thank God she kept her promises.
Clutching the rosary around his neck, he muttered a quick prayer of thanks. So far they had been lucky with the beast called Animal, and they needed all the luck they could get. Maybe this was a sign from the Lord that they should continue their mission of eradicating the slovenly filth from the world. Now that he thought about it, the worst of their luck had been before they had made the pact with Animal to work together.
He shuffled uneasily. Maybe the Lord had just wanted them to work with the Animal. Because they had intended to continue before they had even heard of her, but it was only until they had made that pact that their luck turned around. If he thought about it, she did bring some useful skills to their little group. She was an excellent 'hunter', she knew how to take care of injuries, and she had ways of learning that he still couldn't fully understand. Before, their attacks had just been random assaults on the people they had targeted, and little had been known about what they were doing before they went in. Almost every plan of theirs had failed. Yet, she had known about them the instant they had entered the city, according to her, and had calculated a perfect attack plan that had had only one small flaw. Maybe meeting her was a sign that they should work with her, to exterminate the vermin of the cities more effectively.
Still pondering this, he ventured back into the room where his brother still slept, looking uneasily toward the kitchen. There was no sound of breathing from the kitchen, but Murphy didn't dare look to see where she was. For all he knew, she could have been one of the Lord's angels herself, sent down to assist them in their deed. Or maybe she was a demon, bent only on killing. Either way, he knew she wasn't natural.
And as much as he hated to admit it, he was frightened.
Animal sat in silence, listening to the world around her. She had not yet woken enough to have thoughts running through her head, and her mind was the peaceful blankness of a wild creature.
She listened as the shorter one left the room-with-running-water, and ventured back into the sleeping room. He was oddly silent, his footfalls telling her he was thinking deeply. She did not know these things in thoughts, however. It was feelings she 'thought' in now, and she 'felt' that he was deep in thought. She also 'felt' that at this moment, he was weak prey, limping, crippled, and distracted.
As she rose into a hunting stance, the feeling that he was not prey, but a pack-mate stopped her from continuing her hunt. After sniffing the air a few times, useless because of her weak human nose but habitual, she settled back down onto the floor, yawning. That was when the first thought of her day ran through her mind.
'Hungry.'
Vaguely mourning the loss of peace the absence of thoughts gave her, she rose and went to get food.
Murphy twitched but watched Animal carefully as she walked swiftly through the room, her mind obviously on other matters. She left the house swiftly, barely sparing the two of them a glance, and then he was left alone with his sleeping brother.
He wondered at the odd expression on her face when she had walked by. She seemed…. contemplative. An odd expression for her. An odd expression for anyone, really.
"Morning."
He turned and returned the greeting to his brother, who had finally woken up.
"Mornin'. Animal left, and I have no idea where she went."
"There's more important things to think of in life than what her twisted mind is thinking. Now help me up so we can find some food."
Murphy chuckled and rose to help his brother rise to his feet, heaving him up.
"Uff, you need to go on a fucking diet. Maybe you should skip breakfast."
"Oh, fuck you!"
Connor hobbled into the kitchen, where he sat down on one of the two chairs in the kitchen. The entire house they were in was sparsely decorated, waiting to be sold. It was quite depressing, actually.
Murphy sat in the lone remaining chair, and the both of them were quiet as they woke up.
"I was thinking-"
"Stop right there."
"What?"
"Anything that comes out of your mouth that starts with the words 'I was thinking' normally ends up almost killing us."
"That was only once!"
"And I don't want to fucking repeat the experience."
"Oh, fuck you! What I WAS going to say is that we should head back to Boston soon. We don't need to be fully healed in order to rent a car and drive. Besides, I know a few places we can stay there that are in better condition than this place."
"You mean the back room of the pub?"
"Considering he still has one."
They were quiet for a brief moment, reminiscing in the memory of their dear friend Doc, who they had known before the 'Saints' business started up.
"If not, we can always find somewhere else. I wonder if Romeo's uncle would let us stay?"
"Who knows? Do you want to leave or not?"
"Definitely. I don't know what it is, but the people in this God-damned state don't seem to like us too much."
"New Yorker's are always like that. We have a mistrust of strangers, and tend to be private. City people are no different than where I'm from."
They both yelped and jumped out of their seats, whirling to see Animal standing behind them. She was holding a few shopping bags, and the light from the curtain-less windows was reflecting off her eyes.
"Where the fuck did you come from?"
"Door."
She gestured vaguely behind her, then walked past them into the kitchen, setting down her plastic bags on the table. They both moved swiftly out of her way, hearts still pounding.
"How the fuck did you get in without us hearing you?"
"Not hard", was her only reply, leaving the brothers to decipher the cryptic words.
"Where did you go?" Connor questioned as soon as he calmed down.
"Getting food. I was hungry."
He shut up at the plain response, and watched as she pulled milk, bowls, and a box of cereal out of the bags.
"Where did you get the food?" Murphy asked, and Animal shot him an odd look.
"Store...", she said slowly, and Connor unsuccessfully tried to stifle a laugh, a wheezing choke coming from his mouth.
"Shut the fuck up, Connor!"
Animal didn't quite seem to get the joke she had said, and only looked at them both oddly before pulling bowls out of another bag and making herself a bowl of cereal. Finished, she popped the cap back on the milk and sat down in a chair, picking up a spoon and staring off blankly while she ate.
Shrugging at each other, they both made their own bowls and leaned against the counter while they ate instead of sitting at the table. They watched Animal until she had finished devouring her food before speaking up.
"We're leaving for Boston today", Connor informed her, watching her reaction carefully. Animal only growled noncommittingly.
"Figured as much. How are you planning on returning?"
"Same way we got here. We'll rent a vehicle and drive down."
There was silence.
"Ya' can drive, right?" Murphy suddenly asked, and was startled to see Animal quickly shift her eyes away.
"...No."
"What do ya' mean, you can't drive? How old are ya'?" Connor asked in disbelief, which shifted into stunned silence as she actually seemed to have to think about it. Tapping her fingers on the table, she counted silently to herself before answering.
"Twenty-two... I think."
"WHAT?" both brothers shouted simultaneously, and Animal winced at the volume of the shouts.
"What the fuck do ya' mean, 'you think'?" Murphy demanded while Connor shouted, "There's no way you're only twenty-two!"
She cringed and covered her ears with her hands, half-closing her eyes in pain at the shouts.
"There's no way you're fucking twenty-two."
"Ya' would have had to be seventeen when ya' started. Ya' HAVE been doing this for five years, haven't ya'?"
"Stop screaming!"
They both snapped their mouths shut, then looked oddly at her.
"Yes, I'm only twenty-two. Yes, I have been killing for five years. And YES, I was seventeen when I started. If you ever scream at me again I will have to add you to my list of kills. Got it?"
They both stared at her for a little while longer.
"Holy shit, someone woke up on the wrong side of the floor this morning."
Connor burst into laughter at Murphy's remark while Animal snarled furiously at him, seething. Her hands clenched and unclenched, as if wishing a knife would appear in her fingers so she could bury it in their hearts. As if realizing the hope was futile, she ended her growl abruptly and stalked past them, shoving her way forcefully past the laughing Connor. Murphy joined his brother in laughing.
"Good one, Murph! Absolutely brilliant!"
Murphy was too busy laughing to graciously accept the praise. They were both still chuckling when Animal stalked in again, throwing their shirts in their faces before growling and exiting again. This brought on a fresh wave of laughter, and as a result, it was at least ten minutes before they were actually able to do something productive.
Connor was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs with his leg propped up on the other while Animal bound his leg to stabilize the knee. Murphy leaned against the counter and watched, a small half-smile still on his face as Animal grumbled to herself. He had already had his stitches inspected, and had to admit it was much better than the home-cauterization they used to do to their wounds.
"Hey, how did you learn to do stitches and shit like that?" he asked, and Connor looked at Animal expectantly.
"My dad didn't like taking care of us when we got hurt. We never had Band-Aids in the house. Instead, he taught us to take care of our own wounds. I remember walking on a sprained ankle for a day before he finally admitted something was wrong and took me to the hospital. By that time, the tendon had torn completely. The staff was amazed I had been able to move my ankle at all, let alone walk on it."
She paused to finish wrapping Connor's knee, pinning the wrap so that it didn't unravel.
"I've always had a knack for healing, I guess. Even then, though, I didn't learn how to do stitches until after I started killing. I had the theory, but it took actual practice before I was able to do anything that even resembled stitches."
"How did you keep getting hurt to need the practice?" Connor questioned.
"I don't attack like you do. I've never had a taste for guns and such. I prefer knives and close-combat. As of such, I was injured often."
"Why don't you like guns?"
She only shrugged as she packed her things, which they took to mean an 'I don't know'. Something dawned on Murphy.
"Wait, how many have you actually killed? The news estimates thirty-eight."
"Forty-three in the cities, twenty-seven in the northern towns."
"Holy shit! Seventy?"
She shrugged again.
"No wonder everyone's so desperate to catch you. Fuck, and they thought we were bad!" Connor growled, and Murphy nodded in agreement.
"No one likes to think a little girl could do that much."
"Yeah, imagine what the news would be. 'Animal, the murderer of over seventy people, has finally been caught. Contrary to popular belief, it has turned out that Animal is actually a twenty-two year old woman. How she was able to able to avoid police capture for this long is unknown, but the real question is: how were the police outsmarted for five years by this young girl?'" Murphy mocked, making his voice high-pitched to imitate a newscaster. Connor snorted, and Murphy was amazed to see Animal crack a wide grin. Huh, maybe she wasn't that bad.
Shaking her head, she walked to the door, pack in hand. Pausing, she turned back to look at them.
"Ready to leave?"