#nightmonsterstarter

The dark is thick and traitorous, and comforting all the while. In the same way that they feel the core of them grow still in the center of chaos, the same way that their gut guides each step forward as if in a trance, Kenna becomes the hunt. The night magnifies the senses, and every nerve ending hums with life. They know this dance. They know it well, and they also know in the marrow of their bones that there is more than one Night Monster out tonight.

Guilt is a funny thing. You can cut it to pieces, hold each shard to the light to see how it ticks and it will always elude you. There is no rhyme nor reason to what makes the heart shudder; Kenna knows. They have seen horrible things, sights that can make the human soul shrivel up and fall to the wind. For Kenna, it is all matter of fact. Blood is just blood, and the screams of the captured cannot compare to the silence of their sister.

Sliding in and out through Million’s Square, Kenna’s focus is razor-sharp. They’ve ventured further away from Ujin — if only to be spared the rot of him, which they still find repulsive. He is only a stone’s throw behind them, but even that is enough. They find pleasure in small victories, and this surely counts.

A heartbeat later, they’re grateful Ujin is behind. He always finds a way to ruin this part: the glorious blip of a moment when Kenna, at last, beholds their target. Their lips part to utter a prayer, the same one they cast each time a Night Monster falls into their lap: be spared as Tanna was not.

Under the cover of darkness, Jin is the image of a Madhouse Renegade on the hunt for blood. But the truth is far from the devious portrait of dangerous rebel. In Jin’s eyes, they were doing good for the people, fighting for what’s right and for the amendments to the state that the government must implement. And one of those things on the top of their list of ameliorations to the human condition is the right to live, both humans and night monsters. 

It is with that thought that Jin stalks even the laneways of Sinner’s District using their keen sense of hearing to lead them on or hide when necessary. They look at the time and see that hours have passed and sunrise is just that much closer. They cannot—will not relent, especially not now as they catch sight of a broken light pole. An indication that the stray night monster is close, they hope against all hope.

But there is no other trail they can follow at the feet of the pole. Still, just as they decide to move on, they hear a dissonant sound coming from the restrooms nearby, a brassy noise like someone hitting a door. Jin’s eyes light at the thought of finally finding them, finally calling the race as they enter the small structure. “Hello?” they call out, hastily opening each stall until they hit one with a woman squatting over a toilet scrolling through her phone. “What the actual fuck?!”