B3 — 33. After Effects

AuthorSME

POV:  Rachel Sung Park (Our Lunar Hare that's been on that wrath train)

Recap:  Scarlet and Rachel went on a rampage (mostly Rachel), and even paralyzed most of the human traffickers, breaking them to the point they were nearly delusional or their willpower was utterly shattered.  Scarlet feels like something's a bit off, but doesn't really question Rachel about the brutality, passing it off as Lunar Pride.

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Rachel’s glowing four-leaf clover irises quickly took in the cafe’s front entrance as Scarlet’s shadows left them.  From the knocked over tables, chairs, and left items, it was clear that there had been a rush to get to safety after the traffickers had started shooting.

There were two male cops standing guard at the front entrance, facing several cars with flashing lights; they were standing guard to keep the gathering throng away from the scene.  Rachel could hear on the ground reporters trying to set up, questions, and theories being thrown around.

More than one witness was mentioning how a glowing white-haired rabbit-girl and black-haired elf-girl went into the back before the shooting began.  It seemed the two boys that had taken an interest in them had decided to stay to catch them, risking the curfew the freckled boy’s father set.

Her ears twitched as she tracked everything; quite a few customers were rushing home after hearing the gunfire while a few others decided to linger, searching for information or trying to see how they could get their items back from inside.

Scarlet backed away, scanning the room before breathing out a long sigh, and dropping into a nearby seat; they were now on the darker side of the room.  “We're just waiting for Bree to show up?”

“Yup, Bree and Serah, but I suspect we’ll draw some other attention.”  Rachel glanced at the chair beside her, pulling her hair around to sit while listening to the police clear the basement.

“Lieutenant,” a female Sergeant muttered as they finished cuffing the man that had surrendered to Scarlet.  “Those two girls did all this?  The two Terrace and Ronnie mentioned were with the feds, and so fast?”

He didn’t respond for a moment, walking back a few steps to watch one of the SWAT members helping Ballesteros as he cried unintelligibly.  “They were Demi, Heather … and you saw the first guy?”

“Yeah,” Heather swallowed, her tone becoming hoarse.  “Bite marks, and he was so cold; the puncture wounds were somehow sealed, too.”

“All officers, be advised, we may have a Vampire on-site.  Radio it in, Robby.”

There was a short pause before a man said.  “Vampire.  Copy.”

Rachel’s focus returned to Scarlet as she smiled at her, completely unaware of the growing tension that made Rachel’s blood quicken.  “Well, don’t you seem pretty calm now … well, I mean, maybe not?  There are some strange emotions swirling inside you right now.  Umm,” her head turned to appraise the officers by the door, “should we be worried about being seen?”

“It doesn’t matter.”  Rachel’s full lips shifted to the left as she followed her gaze, whispering, “In the chaos, I see bliss.”

On the surface, she reflected a still pond, but below was a bonfire, crying to be fed.  It’s not enough … I need something more, but it’s over.  How do I curb this?  I need a distraction.

“Mhh?”  Scarlet brushed a loose lock of bangs behind her left ear, giving her a puzzled look.

Rachel sat back, closing her eyes while following the numberless string of cascading noises that filled her ears.

Her fingers closed into a fist on the table, and she placed her other hand over her left breast, feeling the soft beat of her calm heart.  The sound was doing little to shift the tide pulling her under; in fact, it amplified the sensation as her mask began to break.  Opening her eyes, she looked down at her trembling hand.

I get so focused when fighting that I lose track of the grand picture; it’s like a continually restructuring image, showing something new every second.  This mayhem I crave … I can claim to fight for a cause, but deep down, I doubt I believe in anything about this mission; I just want to fight, and I don’t think I’ll ever change.

Helping Zoe was good, and I know that a part of me wanted to, but that doesn’t mean I directed us to this point.  Not only that, but the pain I can cause and feel at peace … it’s astounding.

Her soft grin dropped slightly as she leaned against the table, supporting her head with the back of her hand to control the shakes; Scarlet’s blue irises were wandering around the space for something to distract herself with, at least partially aware of the emotions she was struggling with.

“So,” Rachel waited for Scarlet to focus on her before continuing, “are we going to talk about that cosplay comment?”

How much can I channel or push back?

Scarlet’s lips parted, tongue poking out to play with her left fang, quickly looking away.  “Umm—what do you mean?  Shouldn’t we first come up with a plan for when they start questioning us, or the chaos I feel inside you?  Are you really okay?”

Rachel’s cheeks bunched to the side as she gave Scarlet a look.  Okay, clearly deflecting, but out of concern.  I may have been overthinking it before, but it was all very suspicious.  I poke fun at her deviant tendencies at stripping down guys with her eyes, literally, and suddenly she’s bringing up cosplay, connecting it with my brother and sister-in-law.  It’s just … a strange topic to jump to.  What was on her mind to ask that question?

I mean, her reaction is understandable; she’s already easy to embarrass and mix that with my assumption spells the poor girl tripping on her face.  Yet, the anime they were listening to when Alexa was telling her about her cosplay was obviously sexual by the sounds the characters made.  

She hid her internal breakdown behind an unconvinced frown.  Although, I suppose it’s kind of hard to tell … every anime they watched had sexual sounds.  Maybe I’m just projecting?  I can’t say there isn’t sexual tension between Anthony and me.  Oh … that’s something.

Rachel had to force herself from licking her lips, but her tail still gave an involuntary twitch.  How would I even take that if Scarlet did want both Alexa and Nam in that way?  Well … I guess if all parties were consenting … no, no, this is where my wandering mind takes me!

I’m more than likely blowing this way out of proportion, and embarrassing Scarlet way more than necessary.  I’m acting more like Maëlle … control, regain control, but it has to be me, not an ability.

Scarlet shifted in her seat, head dropping to the table as her hair bunched around her head.  “Mmmhhg!  Rachel … why are you putting these thoughts in my head?”

Yeah … maybe I’m the one with the problems right now.  This chaos is running through me; I need a way to channel it….  “No, nevermind.”  She forced a chuckle.  “It must have been my overactive imagination.”

Brushing back her long black hair to glare at her, Scarlet huffed out a long sigh, showing her red cheeks.  “Geez … I just wanted to know if your brother liked Alexa’s cosplay pictures.  She showed me a bunch of pictures she’s done, and I just wanted to know … nevermind.”

Rachel shook her head, releasing a long breath of her own; one of the officers had noticed them, nudging his partner.  “My bad, my bad.  Umm, honestly, I have no idea if he likes her cosplay.  It’s not like I had those kinds of conversations with Nam.  Are you thinking about dressing up with her?”

A lump dropped down Scarlet’s throat, and she sat up; her blush deepened slightly while releasing a low chuckle.  “Well, I—umm … it just looked like she had a lot of fun doing it.  Eh, are they going to…”

“Yeah,” Rachel mumbled, turning her attention to one of the officers as he entered through the closed door; a rush of crowd noises followed, drowning out most of the sounds in her mind, but her passive abilities quickly suppressed it.  “They think we snuck in another way.”

I need to respond to the police inquiries, and the possibilities of how this might go … but with how I’m feeling, this could turn out entirely different than what I initially planned.  I don’t think I can hold back much more.

“Hey, you two girls!”  He ran up to them with hard features.  “This area is under an active investigation; you’ll have to…”

Rachel suppressed a sigh, trying to release the pressure in her chest as Scarlet smiled at him, giving him the peace sign while saying, “It’s cool; we’re…”

Well, this isn’t going to go well; I didn’t tell her they were on alert for a Vampire.  I knew this would happen; so, why...  Her mind accelerated as the man locked up, skipping to a stop as he caught sight of her fangs.

“Wha … V-Vampire?”

“Hmm?”  Scarlet’s smile fell with confusion; blue eyes darting to her for an explanation.

“Call it in,” Rachel replied, still supporting her head against the table as a soft smile lifted her cheeks.

He swallowed before putting his hand on the butt of his pistol, strapped to his left side.  “I—umm…”  Clearing his throat, he asked, “Are you the Vampire that attacked the man here?”

Scarlet gave him an unconvincing grin.  “I—umm, huh?  Shoot … eh, shouldn’t have smiled,” she mumbled in a slight panic.

He cleared his throat, licked his lips, and opened up the coms while keeping his eyes on them.  “This is Officer Ware; I have eyes on a suspected Vampire.  Orders?”

“Eh … Rachel?”  Scarlet asked, chuckling before sucking in a breath, head snapping in her direction.

“It’s fine,” she responded in a sweet tone.  “He’s scared, but he won’t shoot without orders.”

She heard the Lieutenant and the female officer run back down the basement hallway.  “Ware, keep them there; the rest of you, continue to care for the injured until the ambulance comes, and get those girls out of those crates!  Give me an update on their condition when you can.”

The officer by the door cleared his throat.  “Sir, the Press keep trying to push the boundary up a little.”

“Deal with it!  Not one word gets out, and clear a way for the emergency vehicles to get through.”

Rachel gave the officer in front of them a passive smile as he said, “Stay still, and don’t move.”

“Or?”

“Rachel…”

Ware licked his lips, and sweat gathered at his forehead; the nervous man’s focus darted between them as he backed up two steps, grip tightening around the holstered weapon.

She closed her eyes, ears twitching while listening to the symphony of every muscle twitch in the officer’s body.  “Just a bit of fun, Scarlet; consider it foreplay.”

“Foreplay?”  She squeaked, arms tightening around her belly.

A delicious uncomfortable silence followed, ended by the Lieutenant and Heather’s entry.  They caught their breath before walking up to them.  “What the hell was that?”  He asked, nose twisted with rage.

“Excuse me?”  Rachel asked with a soft smile before Scarlet could respond.

His head shifted in her direction, blood pumping through his thunderous heart.  “The brutality … the state those men are in.”

He paused as she opened her eyes, large glowing red irises framed by pink four-leaf clovers centered on him with amusement.  “They were going to try and drug us, just like Officer Morrow.  By the way, did Ballesteros tell you how he likes to sample the girls he traffics?  The humiliation, brutality, and trauma … it’s quite a horrific experience.”

The Lieutenant licked the inside of his teeth, nose twitching as he turned to both officers, motioning for them to turn off their body cameras.  Rachel and Scarlet watched them without interruption; once they’d finished the action, he continued.  “No, he can’t get a proper sentence out after one of you paralyzed him; what happened?”

Not addressing his statement, Rachel shifted the direction of the conversation.  “Oh?  Are you worried about Officer Morrow after hearing that?”

“Of course we are,” Heather growled.

“Wonderful!”  The bright smile that brightened her face seemed to catch them off-guard.  “You’ll be relieved to hear that he hadn’t quite gotten to Rosie yet.  Poor Jasmine, Janiyah, Eliza, and Jessica, though; they weren’t quite so lucky to escape his oily body.”

Heather’s brow creased, muscles tightening.  “That’s … how do you know our nickname for Rosanna, and everything he … your ears...”

“Hear a lot,” Rachel finished, stretching her arms to the side while addressing the Lieutenant.  “Could you tone down the judgment, Lieutenant Bright?”

“Judgment?”  Bright grunted.  “Do you know what the news will call this?  The worst case of police brutality in American history!  My men will get thrown through hell when this gets out, and if they hear the MPD is working with a Vampire.”  He shot a glare at Scarlet.  “You can’t tell me you don’t know the heat that’s already being thrown at the police, and we get little to no support from the news, public, or union!”

“Don’t you work with the feds?”  Heather mumbled.  “How can you justify this?”

“This is a shitshow!”  Bright yelled.

Rachel’s ears fell to the left; her smile hadn’t fallen.  Their spiteful expression stoked the roaring flames inside her chest.  “You’re worried about framing?  Oh, I’ve already planned for that, and no, my friend here wasn’t the one that did that to those men … I was.”

“What?”  The officers glanced at each other, shivers running down their spines

Leaning back in her seat, Rachel crossed her legs, focusing on Bright.  “There are cameras in the other room; they don’t have audio, and you’ll find them firing first before I intercept them.  Although, you won’t find too much footage afterward, as they were promptly destroyed in the fight.”

“I found the most dangerous person of the bunch and dealt with him first.  I assure you; all the evidence will point to self-defense, and I had to use deadly force to protect myself after I called them out on their plan to use us as sex slaves.”

Bright opened his mouth to protest, but Rachel didn’t allow him room.  “I understand that doesn’t help your case with the public.  The reporters will focus on the first things they hear, which is why the most important bits should be given and the narrative directed.  Let’s face it, reporting isn’t the boring state of facts it used to be, but opinion pieces.  There’s always a biased, rage-bait spin these days because it sells.  Allow me to handle it for you; I know the perfect person on-site.”

“That’s it, huh?”  Bright worked around his jaw as the two other officers gave him worried looks.  Rubbing his five-o’clock shadow, he cleared his throat.  “Like you said, it’s all about the spin.  How do I know you won’t just throw us six-feet under?” 

Scarlet was doing her best to shrink into her seat, clearly out of her element.

Rachel folded her hands in her lap, showing an innocent expression while tilting her head.  “I understand I’m asking a lot of you and your men, but in my humble opinion, you don’t have many options; this was your OP.  Some FBI agents are coming to join us, and they’re trying to get through traffic at the moment with their GPS; they’ll be here shortly.”

Bright shook his head.  “We need to compile a full report from you.”

“Totally understandable,” Rachel nodded.  “However, I can have it written in moments once I have a pen and paper.  We wouldn’t want it in pencil; what if someone decided to shift things around?”  She chuckled.

He growled lowly, glaring at her.  “I can’t trust you.”

“Of course, not after how shady we look,” Rachel replied with an impish grin, ears leaning forward a little.  “Welcome to the new world, Lieutenant.  So, have Sergeant Heather Pierce join me until I cool the situation down; it won’t take long.  All I need to say are a few trigger words to the right reporter, and all the headlines will follow, bouncing around the Twitter voice box circles.  It’s not about evidence, but accusations.”

Heather’s muscles tightened as she folded her arms under her breasts, thighs tensing as she shifted her feet to face him.  “You can’t be serious?  She’s obviously playing us!  She didn’t even beat an eyelash when admitting to utterly shattering those men.”

Bright sighed, biting his lower lip before scratching the back of his neck.  “I don’t like it either, but they’ve been cleared by not only an Assistant Director of the FBI but the Captain’s name is attached to this operation.  We can’t leave this situation without getting our hands dirty.”

Rachel got to her feet, making everyone lock eyes on her; she stretched her arms and hips without a hint of shyness.  “Oh, you’re heroes!  Hold your head high, and I’m glad all this worked out.  Every second counts; so, I’m going to have to work fast, which means this needs to be cut short.”

“Wait,” Bright rolled his shoulders around, giving her a distasteful glare.  “Why did you do it … did you really have no other choice?  You don’t have a scratch; seems you had everything perfectly under control.”

Her smile turned sad.  “I tried hard, you can’t say I didn’t care, but that stare you’re embracing … I can hear you trembling inside, just standing in front of us.  You think, oh, it’s such a disaster, and who are these monsters?  Poor little us.  Panic sets in under pressure; I know you know what I’m talking about,” she giggled. “even if you’re trained to handle stressful situations.”

“So, you just panicked and completely crushed them?”  Heather demanded.

Rachel licked her lips, glowing red eyes sliding to the woman.  “Was I talking about us?”  She asked with a thoughtful expression.

“You…”  Heather paused, working through her statement, but Rachel pressed forward with the discussion, clasping her hands behind her back while addressing Bright.

“I saved the hostages, handled the armed and dangerous human traffickers, and did it without a single casualty; you don’t quite understand how hard I tried.  At least these ones lived, unlike the gang that terrorized South Beach.”

All three of their eyes widened as she walked around them.  “Get the paperwork ready, Officer Ware; once I finish up with this little business, then I’ll be back to fill out my report.”

“W-Where are you going?”  Heather demanded as Scarlet lurched forward, darting to Rachel’s left side while trying to hide from the officers.

“To meet up with my FBI friends, what else?”  Rachel replied, turning halfway to the door to give her an expectant stare.  “Well, Sergeant Pierce … coming?”

“Damn you,” Pierce growled but paused as Bright held up a hand.

“Let’s be done with this charade.  What’s your name, and were you always this flippant and scheming?  Although, I can’t say I’m surprised if you’re working with the feds.”

Rachel smirked, feeling the rush returning to her pulse.  “My name is Rachel, and I can’t really give you many details about myself without the proper clearance.  Am I dangerous?  Well, I’m not sweet; yes, most definitely dangerous, but to who?  That’s the question.  I can tell you right now that this will strike at more than one criminal’s heart, and I highly doubt they’ll try to file any charges; I mean, what evidence will they use, and I still hear one babbling about a white war goddess?”  She giggled.

Heather cursed again as Bright nudged his head for her to follow after them.

Scarlet’s nervous blue eyes shifted to her before glancing back at the flustered woman.  “This is a bit too … odd, Rachel,” she mumbled.  “You’re usually a lot more charming and … well, you’re convincing, but in a different way.  What’s going on?”

A soft hum rumbled in Rachel’s throat, feeling the mayhem of the fight still coursing through her veins.  “How would I describe what I’m feeling inside right now, well you know, but to put it simply … chaos organizes me; this feeling burns inside my mind.”

Rachel left through the front door, Scarlet close by her side, and Heather rushing to catch up as she briskly walked across the street.  More officers were arriving to help with the perimeter, and there were plenty of shouts, but the noises quickly started to settle down as they caught sight of her.

Without breaking stride, she walked into the throng past an officer.  People parted, allowing her to move by as Scarlet and Heather followed the open path.

“Rachel … are we going to meet Bree and Serah?”

“Mhm, and they’re right … oh, they’re following their GPS down the wrong alley.  One sec, let’s cut in over here.  Eh, Scarlet, can you go grab them?  They’re at the end of the street, a building to my right.  That way…”

Scarlet followed her finger, eyes going void black with red halos as she tried searching for the women.  “Oh, yeah … they look adorable!  Wait…”  Scarlet’s face broke with horror.  “Did we take them away from a date?  We’re terrible!  Ugh … give me a second, and they look a bit annoyed.”

Rachel gave her a forced smile before shadows surrounded Scarlet.

Heather jumped back with a few people that were eyeing them curiously.  “What the…”

“Nothing big,” Rachel shrugged, giving the Sergeant a smirk.  “Just teleporting through shadows.”

“The … freakin’ what?”  She stumbled with her words, trying to wrap her head around the concept, but before she had a chance, Scarlet reappeared beside her with the two disgruntled FBI agents.

Bree was wearing a black spaghetti-strap dress that showed a decent amount of cleavage, and her feet were wrapped in high black heels.  A silver necklace was around her neck with a matching bracelet, and her hair was swept back and straightened.  She had a matching small black purse dangling off her left shoulder.

Serah had a black form-fitting, long-sleeve dress with white stripes running down its length to her bare thighs, and her feet were covered in black boots with open toes.

“I’m so sorry!”  Scarlet pleaded.  “You two were on dates, weren’t you…”

“Eh … the teleportation was cool.”  Bree tried to shrug it off with a half-smile.  “Yeah … umm, so Jonas proposed to me tonight; he made the dinner himself, but I only got a few bites.”

“Oh my,” Scarlet’s fangs pressed against her bottom lip; she seemed torn between horror and excitement.  “That’s … I’m so … wow…”

“Yeah,” she mumbled, holding up her hand to show a small diamond ring with a forced smile.  “I said, yes.”

“Right,” Serah smiled at her before glaring at Rachel.  “The few bites we had were amazing, and the strange magical wine was … it was good; so, umm, why are you pulling us away from the best wine I’ve tasted in my life?  Oh, and I also had to leave my first date in six months at the table.  So there’s that, too.”

Rachel cleared her throat, noting Heather had taken a step back, likely still trying to process everything.  “Congratulations, Bree.”  Her ears tilted to the right as she gave the agent a forced smile.  “It may shock you, but I didn’t know that tender bit of information.  I’m sorry this cut into such a personal moment.  I’ll be quick, then.

“Well, first, we’re going to get us a change of clothes.  We need to be seen in our Tempest brand; it will help with a lot of publicity.  You’ll need to front us with a bit of cash, but we’re sponsored; we can pay it back once we contact the company.

“Second, we’re going to leak some stuff to some reporters.

“Third, Scarlet and I will write a report.

“Finally, the four of us will go give an account to David.  Hopefully, this will only take an hour or two of your time, and maybe we can get you swapped out.”

Bree, Serah, Heather, and Scarlet all gave her a lifted eyebrow.

“Come by that again,” Heather mumbled.  “You want to first go shopping?”

Rachel shrugged.  “I explained why.”

“Okay,” Serah groaned.  “Well, this is taking me back to the first time I met you.”

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