Who: Dahlia Gillespie and an NPC What: Dahlia murders someone, beginning her plot against Lucien LaCroix When: Afternoon of Jan. 20 Where: A house in Los Angeles Rating/Warnings: Non-graphic death. Status: Narrative; complete
The man never knew what hit him. One moment he was standing in his kitchen, the next moment Dahlia had burst into the front door. He barely had time to say “What the hell?” before she was reciting a spell. Then he slipped to the floor, his eyes already becoming glassy. Dahlia removed a necklace from her neck and held it in front of the man. On the necklace, a crystal glowed briefly. The man’s eyes closed and his breathing stopped.
The man’s name was Michael Fredricks, but Dahlia had chosen him nearly at random, to be honest. Gyromancy had revealed to her that the demon Etharos could be raised by killing five people and using the energy from their deaths. She had constructed the necklace so that she could preserve the magical energy in the crystals.
And she needed demonic help to defeat LaCroix. A vampire was beyond her skills; she would admit that. But she would show LaCroix the consequences of his disgusting “romance” with Alessa. So she had found a victim alone in his home with an open door, just to keep things simple.
Michael Fredricks’ death had been quick and painless, and Dahlia felt no guilt. It had to be done, and who was he, anyway? She didn’t linger over the body, either, just walked out the back door and through the yard to go home. It was unlikely that anyone would find one man’s sudden death, apparently by natural causes, all that suspicious, even if they did see her in the area. Unless they knew black magic as well, and what was the chance of that?
Dahlia was very content as she walked home, the necklace with five crystals clutched in her hand. Now all she needed was four more people. She could take her time.