Pre-s: To any who is re-reading this story from during the time it was named "The Art of Death & Seduction",

some chapters have been editted. Not much, but yeah, the changes are there.

I: First Kill

By: Faie- Paul

The luminescent glow of the night moon filtered through the algae that were growing uninhibitedly across the shattered panes of the glass windows. From time to time, a lone car would drive by, disrupting the dark shadows that were cast down upon the cracked pavement outside the old abandoned building. The night was young and yet, in the suburbs of the city, where the area comprised of only abandoned infrastructure lining the roads and hardly anything was working, all that surrounded her was inky darkness.

A lone figure made her way across the empty street, the soft pattering of her footsteps echoing throughout the silence of the night. Her dark overcoat was wrapped tightly around her lean build and dark shades perched high on the bridge of her nose. Any physical feature that could be used against her was shielded away, except for her full lips that carved a grim expression across her face. She radiated a sense of mysteriousness, and she knew it. It was absolutely dire that she blends in with the surroundings, camouflaged away from prying eyes.

Turning a sharp corner, the female swerved into an old dilapidated building. She gave her new environment a quick once- over, wrinkling her pert nose up in disgust as she regarded the gaudy paintings that hung along the walls in disdain. Cheap canvases that exhibited careless sloshes of the brush and a mismatched combination of shades ranging from the dullest of grey to the glaring glow of yellow that bespoke the morning sun, probably purchased at the local convenience stall and displayed just for show.

A ceiling light swayed dangerously above her head and the dim, flickering light cast ominous shadows of her slight form against the wall. Fading paint was peeling off the ceiling, and there were signs of rodents everywhere, from small holes driven through the crevices of the walls to tiny, leftover morsels of food littering the worn carpet. Pitiful, she thought, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth, how the high and mighty have fallen.

Not wanting to waste any more of her precious time, she strode swiftly along the narrow hallway only to stop abruptly in front of the second door to last. She had contemplated kicking the door down, an easy feat to accomplish with her toned physique; still…a man did deserve some courtesy, even in the last few moments of his pitiful life. Giving the rotting plank of wood before her two sharp knocks, she waited.

Seconds later, the door swung open to reveal a pudgy, middle- aged male with only a pale beige towel wrapped loosely around his waist. A thick layer of golden hair sprouted from all over his chest and his stomach pooched over the rim of the thin cloth. A look of shock was plastered all over his face.

Reaching his thick, stubby fingers out, he gently rubbed over the smooth skin of the girl's cheeks with its wrinkled nubs. The disbelieving expression plastered on his aging on his face

deepened several tones as his cracked lips quivered slightly. She could almost hear his heart thud loudly in his chest, drumming out a rhythm of growing anxiety.

"What…how are you still? But that car accident..." His thick, phlegmy voice filled the air, coupled with choked sobs. The girl spoke for the first time, her soft voice the exact likeness of his recently deceased daughter. "I won't die, father. Not without you by my side. We'll be together right? Forever and ever…"

With that, the female whipped out a 9mm Glock and fired it once, a point blank shot aimed right at his chubby chest. The man's face immediately contorted to one of sudden fear. His large hand clamped down tightly on her thin shoulders, his fingers tangling themselves among her red tresses that were draped over her slight shoulders.

Within seconds, the older male's pupils dilated and rolled back in its sockets as he dropped heavily onto the carpeted floor with a resounding "thud." Said body twitched pitifully for a few moments as life was sucked out of him with each passing second. Death finally claimed him into its dark abyss of nothingness and his whole body went utterly limp.

Just at that split second, a car veered by outside the apartment block and the sudden dimming of light emanating from the street lamp along the road cast a shadow against the dusty curtains; a dimming that swept over his body and bathed him in a dark light. The girl almost laughed. She had never been one of religion but the scene had seemed almost symbolic. Tucking the murder weapon safely back into its holster strapped tightly along her thin waist, she bid the place a silent goodbye.

Striding back across the street, she climbed into the sleek body of her Chrysler Crossfire and arranged herself into a comfortable position on the upholstered leather seat. Revving up the engine, her baby of a vehicle roared to life and sped off into the dark of the night.

The vehicle made a sharp turn into the empty slot situated at the far end of the car park and Cagalli stepped out, walking swiftly towards the elevator that stood at the opposite end of the level. She was feeling restless tonight and to top it off with the cherry on top, a terrible headache kept threatening to split her head down the middle. She moaned inwardly, perhaps she should have denied the order that had come her way that afternoon, the aftereffect it had on her head was simply unbearable.

Clutching the disposable grocery bag in her clenched fist, she combed her free hand through her wild golden locks, pushing a few rebellious strands of hair away from her face. Cagalli's trainers tapped an impatient beat on the cracked concrete as she waited for the elevator to slowly make its descent into the lower floors of the basement.

The loud "ding!" of the bell signaled her stop to alight and Cagalli mentally cursed the lift operator who had recently replaced the lift's electronic bell with one of a shriller ring. "Better to hear it with, my dear," was his comment, when he waved off her complaint that the bell was simply too loud and was disrupting her daily meditation at dawn.

"Keh. I swear, if one day that bell drives me nuts, you're the first one I'm coming to, and I'll bet that the bell would ring its loudest when broken over your good-for-nothing head. Just how you like it." She had cursed under her breath when stomping back to her loft; and the man still had the impertinence to yell "Don't stomp, dearie! You'll disturb the neighbours downstairs!" Cagalli had wanted nothing more than to wrangle the last breath out of him at that moment.

Dragging her weary body through the unlit hallways of her apartment loft, she plopped down heavily onto the soft sheets layering her bed, the silken fabric cold against her exposed skin. Cagalli clutched her down pillow tightly to her chest and buried her face in its exquisite softness. A gentle breeze drifted through the gap between the sliding window panes left ajar from the morning and its cold fingers caressed her cheeks intimately, not unlike a lover's.

An audible moan escaped her lips as she silently contemplated pulling herself out of the haven of her bed to pop a few aspirins for the pounding ache in her head. A sharp pain shot through the side of her head again and Cagalli moaned again. "Damn, even thinking's too hard for me now." Curling herself up under the silken sheets that were messily thrown over her body, Cagalli was utterly grateful when her weariness took over and sleep had claimed her into its warm embrace.

As soon the trio of men stepped out of the safety of the dingy elevator and onto the worn carpeted floor, their nostrils were attacked by a cadaverous odour that sourced from the far end of the level. Above them, the already dim light flickered dangerously, threatening to fuse any moment. Instinctively, they brought their hands up to pinch their noses, barring out the stench as they reluctantly made their way towards the end of the hall and the horror that was about to unfold before their very eyes.

With every step that they took, the smell got fouler and fouler until it was almost suffocating them. As if fate was acting against then, a loud fizzing sound filled the air and the lights above their heads flickered pitifully one last time before going out permanently. Flicking on their handheld torches, they gave the narrow walls of the apartment level a quick once over, sighing at the derelict condition that the furnishings were in.

An odd squeaking sound emanating from the darkness up front caught the attention of one of the men but he waved it off as someone fumbling clumsily about in their apartment in total darkness. The squeaks steadily grew louder as they approached warily, a hint of chaos tinted over them. It was soon joined by a noise that sounded a lot like SOMETHING was scampering about on the flooring just up ahead. That caught the men's attention. Directing the narrow beams of the light at the darkness in front of them, their eyes widened upon the sudden discovery that they were not alone.

Mice. Hundreds of grey, furry rodents scurried hurriedly about the landing, flooding the narrow space that was the hallway. One of them men cursed under his breath as they gingerly paved their way forward, none too happy on the new revelation they had, unfortunately, chanced upon. Not to mention that the poignant stench had severely worsened such that their nostrils flared painfully and their eyes stung and started to water. As they carefully weaved between the sea of scampering rodents, the luminescent glow of a torches swept briefly over a foreign object that lay motionless against the wall that partitioned the building off from the next.

His curiosity piqued, the young cop brought his torch up and as soon as the light penetrated the darkness that had encompassed the object, a startled gasp escaped his mouth and all thoughts fled from his mind. The torch slipped from his sweaty fist and dropped headlong towards the ground, earning a few indignant squeaks from the angry animals below as they scurried away in all directions in order to avoid the falling object.

"Cole? You okay man?" His partners gripped his shoulders gently as they shook him, but the only reaction they got was silent - the frozen expression on Cole's face that bespoke apparent fear. His expression was more than sufficient to curdle fear in their hearts, an ominous feeling tightening in their chests. Gulping loudly, they turned around, their hearts thudding out a beat of increasing fear.

The meager beams of light cut a path through the gloom and revealed everything in its way. From the distasteful caricatures to the hordes of mice that filled that emptiness on the floor and lastly, the still form of a human male recumbent on the worn carpet, his body barely visible beneath the mass of scurrying rodents. The sickeningly acrid stench from before? None other than the scent of death.

The men retched at the sight of his mangled body, as numerous hungry mice swarmed over his

naked chest, pausing occasionally to nibble feverishly at the flesh that made up the male's torso and it seemed as though they had done their work thoroughly enough. Sizeable chunks of flesh had seemingly disappeared from his body and clumps of maggots could be seen wriggling around helplessly on the exposed flesh, which had already commenced decaying under their action.

Steeling himself, officer Anderson squatted down low enough just enough to avoid the hordes of mice that scurried incessantly under his feet. With a forceful sweep of his free arm, he sent mice scattering in all directions as they hurriedly scampered away to safety. Willing his arm to move, he brought the slight beam of light to the man's face.

The male's countenance was stilled into one of terror and shock. His mouth was agape, revealing two rows of yellowing teeth and a gold implant at the top left corner, just beside his incisor. His lips were already tinted with a slight bluish hue and had shriveled, dry and cracked, his face a sickly yellow in waning. His eyes, sunken back into their sockets, their irises a glassy shade, reflecting trepidation in its highest degree, borne of imminent death.

Raising a quavering hand, Anderson slid his sweaty palm over the victim's face, gently bringing his eyelids down to a shut, his face cold to the touch. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, Anderson felt a cold chill travel down his spine as he tried, and failed, to swallow down the growing disgust in his throat. Feeling a gentle tap on his shoulder and without turning around, he nodded his head, once, twice.

"Sanders to headquarters, victim's identity confirmed. Please dispatch the medical examiners and an ambulance to the crime scene, immediately." Turning his torso around, Sanders glanced at the squat form of his partner, he prodded him softly with the base of the torchlight, a signal for them to get their asses out of this stink hole and to wait for the forensics team to arrive.

Anderson gave the corpse one final over the shoulder glimpse before stepping onto the rusty metal grilling of the old fire-escape. Whoever did this, obviously did had naught a care for the authorities…and he'd pay for that.