she had never seen gavin merlino before, only his photo in the news. it was chilling. she scarcely remembered a meek ”thankyou” to ellis before the door shut behind her, and she was terrifyingly alone with the underboss—except for his red-eyed deity looming out the window.

what was that feeling? she couldn’t pull her eyes off of it... it felt like she was swimming in hot water, pulled right into its horrifying stare...

when her eyes were finally able to peel off the shadow lugia and find gavin again, she was clearly rattled. she could hide nothing in the deep breath she had to take.

”no, sir. my name is nina larson.”

she tried her best not to crumble under a powerful PRESSURE she wasn’t totally aware of.

”i was attacked by a man during a delivery. it was a setup. he said that all rockets deserve to die.” another soft, stabilizing breath before she concluded shortly, ”i was told i should come here and tell you.” certainly, it had not been her idea.

Cillian Quinn

she watched the exchange in silence, gaze passing between the underboss and the terrifying creature outside of his office window. feeling the PRESSURE lift, she had to wonder if she hadn’t been imagining it. her brow furrowed for the smallest moment, inquisitive before it smoothed out again. she didn’t voice her obvious question.

a name? shit. she shouldn’t come here with something to give them. she looked like a liability, she figured. the look in her two-toned eyes gave away enough of her fear.

”no.” for a moment, she felt her throat dry and she was unable to speak further. with another breath, she pulled from a painful memory. ”but i know the names of his bears. he called the beartic artica, and the pangoro was mori.”

Cillian Quinn

she nodded the trace of an mhm slipped from lips that decided last-second to stay quiet.

then, he was rattling off a plan. they were going to go after this man, and they were going to take care of him so this didn’t happen again. that sounded good, right? she blinked at him, in a little bit of a daze at the thought before nodding again. realizing he was asking her a question.

”uh—yeah. i’ll be there.”

wait, what?

she didn’t dare correct her slip, too shocked, and too self-conscious. she figured she could not afford to look any more rattled.

Cillian Quinn

that’s settled, then.

this was it. she was going to sit in on a murder. if there was any doubt before, she was now sure. she was past the point of no return.

when faced with his question, she wasn’t sure how to answer. was it a test? might it be better to say ’yes, let me prove myself’?

she swallowed.

”um... no. no preferences.”

say something else, nina. say something else. her heart pounded.

”actually, i want him to suffer.”

Cillian Quinn

the way the underboss’ voice softened was unexpected. for the first time in a while, she felt... safe? so many of the others had offered her little but tough lessons so far. any ounce of compassion was a relief.

the venom sounded horrific. at first, it was perfect. but... it wouldn’t kill. they would do it a different way. presumably, much more violent. oh, gods. she was going to witness her first murder, and it was going to be utterly brutal.

she stared at the vial, acknowledging weakly, ”okay.”

how many horror films had she seen? most that she could find. surely, nothing compared to the real thing.

she’d be contacted when they tracked him down.

she echoed, ”okay.”

that was it, then?

Cillian Quinn