Elissa slipped into the building, walking up to her grandmother’s floor. She paused when she noticed a tall man waiting outside of her grandmother’s apartment. Her grip on the knife tightened as she drew nearer, slowing down. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” she demanded, trying appear tough. Her hood was still up, throwing shadow onto her innocent face, her hair mostly hidden. Her eyes, however, gave her away. They were nearly the same color as her grandmother’s.
Futuristic little red riding hood (O/O)
Dmitri's hood was still pulled up over his head, and he looked over at her, cocking his head. "Ah, hello. May I help you?" he asked. His face was shadowed, the only thing that showed was his mouth, his chin. He smiled inwardly. The granddaughter. She was older than he'd thought, judging by her height and voice. "As for who I am…" he shrugged a little bit. "Doesn't matter. I'm here watching out for someone."
“I’d love for you to move,” Elissa responded sarcastically, wondering if this guy was the “pack” her grandmother had mentioned. She held the knife, ready to fight, as if she had ever fought anyone besides her grandmother or a dummy. She studied this man with a more confident air than she felt. He seemed dangerous, to state the obvious, and Elissa’s anxiety tugged at her gut as if in warning.
He laughed, those large, sharpened fangs flashing slightly as he did. "I bet. Maybe you can help me out, yeah? What's your name, and what's your business here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Though, of course she couldn't see that. He cocked his head a little bit, stretching and crossing his arms. He wasn't worried about the knife. Sure, she probably could use it pretty damn well, but not well enough. Not against him.
“Doesn’t matter,” Elissa copied him, narrowing her eyes. “Just move out of the way and no one gets hurt.” She was a bit astonished at the even tone of her own voice, not wavering at all. She glared in what she hoped was a threatening manner, brandishing the knife. She swallowed, hoping that he would just leave, but highly doubting it.
He laughed again, low and threatening. "Yeah, like you're gonna stick me with that little knife." he replied. His voice carried a faint little accent to it, and he smiled slightly at her. "Real cute. Now then. Just tell me who or what you're looking for, and we can figure all this out."
(should the Pack kill her grandmother or no?)
(i was thinking yes)
“Why don’t you tell me why you’re acting like an asshole first? Move.” Elissa was trembling, praying that someone would interfere before she would get herself killed. If she could momentarily surprise him, she could get around him and get inside. “This is your last chance.” She internally steeled herself, coming up with a plan in her head. Distract him and slip inside. Because that would definitely work.
(alright)
"Got her." Jackal's voice hissed over the com. It was in his ear, so this girl wouldn't have heard it.
Dmitri's mouth twisted up in a faint smirk. Got her. The last remnants of his father's regime, of his father's Pack. Because the Pack was his now, not his father's. Those two little words were music in his ears. He pushed off the wall, looming over Elissa.
Elissa took in a surprised breath, caught off guard. “While that is moving, it’s not exactly what I had in mind,” Elissa added, trying to cover up her mounting fear. God, he is tall. And scary. Very scary.
Then she went for his lower stomach, hoping talk and small motions had sufficiently distracted him. She had done this before on the dummy a million times.
His left hand flashed out, caught the knife and twisted it up until her hand was stretched out into the air, useless. And then he was leaning in closer, a smirk on his face and those sharpened teeth flashing up close to her face. "Just what do you think you're doing, little girl?" he snarled.
Her eyes widened. “Well, the plan was to get you to leave me alone, but it doesn’t appear to be working,” she shot back, though this time her voice did quaver. Shit. She brought her knee up to his crotch this time, wrinkling her nose at his closeness. She had to escape. If Elissa couldn’t shake this guy, her grandmother might die on her watch.
He grunted slightly as her knee hit. "And that right there is why I wear a cup." he grumbled to himself, moving position and twisting her arm behind her back, her back pressed to his chest. She was near immobilized now, and it would be nearly impossible for her to escape this hold.
Elissa cursed internally, not seeing a way out this time. “What is your deal?!” she squeaked, swallowing to get her voice under control. “I mean, what is your deal?” She hoped he couldn’t hear her heart beating, because she felt it was so loud.
He laughed just a little bit. "I'm a busy man, miss. Now. If I can let you go without you accosting me, I will." he had no reason to harm her. Yet. He didn't want to have to, she seemed…spirited. "So. Can I let you go, or are you going to attack me again?"
“That depends what you’re going to go do,” Elissa responded. “Not accosting old women, I hope? Because if that’s the case, I won’t be making any promises.” This was Elissa’s mediocre strategy of getting information, and since she didn’t have a frame of reference, she hoped it worked.
(gtg now sorry)
He cocked his head slightly. "Me? I don't accost women. Well, unless they attack me first." he replied, shaking his head. He was still holding onto her, keeping her from moving and attacking him again. He knew that the others were waiting on him.
(see ya)
“You didn’t answer my question,” Elissa replied, still scowling. “An old woman lives here. I’m not leaving you alone unless you promise me you’re not here to hurt her.” She glared at him as if she was the one pinning him to the wall and not the other way around. She continued to try in vain to think of a way out of this.
"I would not hurt an old woman in her own home." he said, looking down at her with the faintest little smirk. "I would like to be on my way, which means I need to release you. Unless you'd like me to drag you with me? Because I assure you, you would not like where it is that I am going."
Elissa glared at him for a moment, not trusting what he said one bit. But maybe he wasn’t here for her grandmother? She knew as soon as the thought popped into her head it wasn’t true. But if he let her go, she could check the apartment and then look for her grandmother. It was better than him dragging her with him as a hostage, she supposed, because at least this way she would have a chance to save her grandmother, however slight.
“Leave then, you piece of shit,” she snapped, defiant to the end. She was done talking to this confusing guy. She needed to check the apartment.
He looked at her. "You still haven't answered my question. If I let you go, are you going to attack me again? If the answer is yes, then obviously I cannot release you." he still had the hood pulled over his head, which meant all she could see was his mouth moving, and glints of those sharpened teeth, the markers of the Wolf.
“I won’t attack you again,” she forced out, her adrenaline spiking again with her desperation to get inside the apartment. “Now let me go.” She glanced over at the apartment quickly before forcing herself to look back at this mystery guy. He seemed oddly familiar, but she couldn’t place why.
He let go of her, taking a few steps away from her and away from the apartment. "Good luck with your granny, girlie." he said in a low voice, almost a growl, and then he was walking away from her, long legs carrying him down the hall and then down the stairs as he headed out of the building.
Elissa barely paused to give his receding form the finger before getting her key to her grandmother’s apartment from her pocket and letting herself in. Already, the apartment felt like a ghost town and Elissa cursed. She glanced around, searching every corner for some sign of life, though there were indeed signs of a struggle. Or at least, they appeared that way. A chair tipped over, a lamp still on, a glass of water spilled on the floor. Elissa hoped it was just the clumsiness that was slowly befalling the once nimble woman.
“Granny?” Elissa called, checking for certain that no one was here as she went through the small apartment a second time. “Granny?”
The man, whoever he was, must surely have done something to her. It was the only reason he would let Elissa go free like that. She quickly got out her phone to check for any more calls, but there were none. She decided, instead, to call the police.
“My grandmother is gone,” she said the moment the call connected. “She left a message about some pack, and there was an odd man outside her apartment.” She went on to describe the whole incident, adding the apartment building and number before hanging up. Now was the hard part—attempting to track down these guys, though Elissa doubted that she would have any luck going after who she now realized was the Wolf and his pack. A gang of notorious criminals. Perfect.
Once he was outside the building, Dmitri was running. Sure, it had been a risk to leave the girl alive, but who cared? It wouldn't do much, in the end. The cops couldn't do anything about the Pack. They'd tried, but once you got to West Street and 56th, it was known well enough that that part of the city was his. That there, his word was law, and even the cops couldn't penetrate that. Sure, this area wasn't within those bounds, but it didn't matter.
"On my way." he told Crow, Jackal, and Fox. "Meet me back in the execution site." They weren't bringing the old woman back to their home. No, she'd be left in Deadman's Alley, where the Pack left most of its victims. Examples, to show people what happened when you crossed them.
Elissa cursed again as she got down to the street. From the window, she thought she’d seen the guy go this way, but she had completely lost track of him. She really should have paid more attention to her grandmother’s lessons about finding people who don’t want to be found instead of just the self defense stuff and the cursing. Her father, of course, was largely oblivious to most of this, but she would be in huge trouble when he woke up and found what had happened.
That gave Elissa pause only briefly. Surely her grandmother’s life was more important than getting a good night’s sleep. She frowned, trying to narrow down her options. Wasn’t there some sort of place that the Pack always went? A place where you’ll get yourself killed, a part of her mind warned as Elissa pulled out her phone to search, ducking into an alleyway.
Elissa gasped as she saw a few news stories about the Pack’s victims—which they all left in Dead Man’s Alley. She quickly typed that into her phone, but of course nothing else helpful came up. Where wad the infamous alleyway? Surely there was an address somewhere.
Of course there was an address for Deadman's Alley. Most people knew where it was. It was in the edges of the Pack's territory. The police came in and cleaned it up when they could; the Pack didn't chase them off for that. Once people were dead, neither the Wolf nor those in his employ gave a shit about the bodies they left there.
The Wolf himself was still jogging back towards the Pack, his hood pulled up over his head.
Elissa smiled grimly as she managed to find an address. She had somehow overlooked it the first time, but didn't have time to waste. She tucked it back into her backpack and hurried as fast as she could straight for Deadman's Alley. She was practically running, pushing people out of her way. Despite her brisk pace, she had a sinking feeling that she was going to be too late.
She pushed the thought out of her mind as she neared the alley, rushing into it, unsure what she would find.
(should she be too late, early, or right on time to see them kill the grandma? Unless you'd rather that she somehow save her grandmother or something??)
(i was thinking right on time bc i love making my characters suffer for some reason lol)
(or too late, either works)