Six knew there were still people in the hideout. There was no doubt about it that the handful of guards that he and his men had taken out were all that was there. Their leader had likely turned tail and fled, but leaders always left followers behind.
Six kept his pistol drawn, his steely gaze level as he moved through the old building. It looked like it was some sort of school, once. Classrooms and worn painted walls where metal lockers once stood, perhaps decades ago. The demon's tail twitched, a pointed ear perking slightly at the sound of shuffling in the classroom he'd just passed. He turned on his heel and stared.
He didn't need to take two steps before he was met face to face with a person, leaping out from behind the door, broomstick in hand, jabbing forward with impressive, but clearly frantic speed. Six dodged with a sharp intake of breath, feeling the wood brush his neck, and grabbed the broom with his free hand. His eyes flashed as he met the person's eyes--a woman, he thought, with thin wrists and a haggard face, eyes hollow with acceptance of fate but posture screaming for a fight. Six slowly lowered the broomstick, forcibly, and tucked his gun into his jacket. The woman's expression changed, slowly lowering the broomstick. Stepping a bit out of the darkness, her sandy brown hair--dyed--caught the dim light of the flickering overhead fluorescents. "Are they dead?" she spoke, slow and croaky, like she hadn't used her voice in a bit. Six blinked at her question, and slowly nodded--nodding quicker when she continued, "Suichi and his men? The ones with the scarab tattoos."
"All the ones in front, save for Suichi himself. He turned tail and ran." Six didn't smile, but offered a kinder, quieter look as the woman seemed to exhale with relief. "I take it you're not here by choice."
The woman met Six's stare for a few moments, eyeing his horns, his charcoal skin, and finally gave a wry smile of her own. "Are you?" she offered back, and with that, nodded to him in a small bow. "I'll remember this," she murmured.
Six opened his mouth to ask what, exactly, she meant by either of her statements, but the woman was already hurrying away, and the idea of raising his voice in a hideout that may still hold attackers. He wasn't sure who that had been, but he hoped that she'd make it out safely.
Lucain Soft Sand
Alexander/Veronica