[ Voice - 006 ]
[ According to rumor, something was off about one of the brothels in Dismas. ]
[ You know, the kind of something that wasn't top clothing and undergarments. Or, not entirely that, at least. ]
[ Off. ]
[ Like a light switch. The lights were off when he had arrived. The atmosphere felt off, too. It was as though somehow the underground populace knew something was wrong, and everyone divided around the building, keeping away from it, maybe...afraid that they might catch something. Catch the offness that oozed from every dark-lit orifice of the brothel. ]
[ He'd opened the door quietly, and had slipped inside. Nobody greeted him, but there was somebody sitting in a large leather chair toward the back. His lips had parted, words nesting on the edge of his tongue...stifled when he had caught something gleaming in her mouth. The something trickled to the floor with a clang. ]
[ Ivories. ]
[ They shone bright in the lone light...just like the blood pooling down the woman's front from wounds in her throat. ]
[ Severed artery. ]
[ And that's when he had heard it, a scream from above that echoed down the stairs, pierced the silence. Before the doubt and worry could have come together, twisting Kunsel's insides around like crippled things in a blender, he found himself racing toward that sound. ]
[ His boots hit each step heavily. He'd called out in hopes of...what? Scaring off an attacker. Letting a victim know help was there, that it'd be okay? ]
[ Yeah, something like that. ]
[ And moment later he had stood before an open door on the upper level, an awful scent leaking out from within. A girl's back was to him, and he reached out for her. She turned, struck him with a fist that rebounded off his helmet. Another cry out, from the girl, and Kunsel had to throw his hands up in the air and assure the woman that it was okay, that he was there to help, that she'd be... ]
[ The mess behind her had come into view. An elaborate scene, decorated with ribbons of thick intestines draped from the chandelier, and blood painting the walls, the floor, lips in vivid rouge, flakes of gore hanging from open wounds... ]
[ He'd emptied his stomach twice. Maybe that's why the surviving girl finally decided to trust him? ]
[ Either way, as soon as he had been able to see straight again, he'd escorted her downstairs, put a sheet over the hostess in the armchair, and tried to get the young woman still alive to tell him as much as she remembered. Some of it had made sense, but a great deal of it was panic-stricken and drowned out by sobs. ]
[ Kunsel pulled out his Forge and flipped on the audio option. ]
I need...somebody. A doctor, a medic, I don't care...somebody's gotta get here. Fast, preferably.
[ His voice is strained, and it's evident that he's barely holding it together, and doing so only for the girl that he's sitting with, whose sobs and gasps can be heard in the background. The occasional curse word and, Wh-what if he comes back?! also heard. ]
The brothel nearest the Arena was...everything is...just hurry.
Please, hurry!
[ And to the girl again, before the feed is disconnected... ]
It's gonna be alright, I promise. I'm not gonna leave you alone, and help's on the way. We'll have a doctor look at that hand of yours...
[ You know, the kind of something that wasn't top clothing and undergarments. Or, not entirely that, at least. ]
[ Off. ]
[ Like a light switch. The lights were off when he had arrived. The atmosphere felt off, too. It was as though somehow the underground populace knew something was wrong, and everyone divided around the building, keeping away from it, maybe...afraid that they might catch something. Catch the offness that oozed from every dark-lit orifice of the brothel. ]
[ He'd opened the door quietly, and had slipped inside. Nobody greeted him, but there was somebody sitting in a large leather chair toward the back. His lips had parted, words nesting on the edge of his tongue...stifled when he had caught something gleaming in her mouth. The something trickled to the floor with a clang. ]
[ Ivories. ]
[ They shone bright in the lone light...just like the blood pooling down the woman's front from wounds in her throat. ]
[ Severed artery. ]
[ And that's when he had heard it, a scream from above that echoed down the stairs, pierced the silence. Before the doubt and worry could have come together, twisting Kunsel's insides around like crippled things in a blender, he found himself racing toward that sound. ]
[ His boots hit each step heavily. He'd called out in hopes of...what? Scaring off an attacker. Letting a victim know help was there, that it'd be okay? ]
[ Yeah, something like that. ]
[ And moment later he had stood before an open door on the upper level, an awful scent leaking out from within. A girl's back was to him, and he reached out for her. She turned, struck him with a fist that rebounded off his helmet. Another cry out, from the girl, and Kunsel had to throw his hands up in the air and assure the woman that it was okay, that he was there to help, that she'd be... ]
[ The mess behind her had come into view. An elaborate scene, decorated with ribbons of thick intestines draped from the chandelier, and blood painting the walls, the floor, lips in vivid rouge, flakes of gore hanging from open wounds... ]
[ He'd emptied his stomach twice. Maybe that's why the surviving girl finally decided to trust him? ]
[ Either way, as soon as he had been able to see straight again, he'd escorted her downstairs, put a sheet over the hostess in the armchair, and tried to get the young woman still alive to tell him as much as she remembered. Some of it had made sense, but a great deal of it was panic-stricken and drowned out by sobs. ]
[ Kunsel pulled out his Forge and flipped on the audio option. ]
I need...somebody. A doctor, a medic, I don't care...somebody's gotta get here. Fast, preferably.
[ His voice is strained, and it's evident that he's barely holding it together, and doing so only for the girl that he's sitting with, whose sobs and gasps can be heard in the background. The occasional curse word and, Wh-what if he comes back?! also heard. ]
The brothel nearest the Arena was...everything is...just hurry.
Please, hurry!
[ And to the girl again, before the feed is disconnected... ]
It's gonna be alright, I promise. I'm not gonna leave you alone, and help's on the way. We'll have a doctor look at that hand of yours...