Chapter 1: In Which It's Gory

"Wow, they really did a number on him, by the looks of it he wasn't an easy one either" Vincent commented looking around the basement room of the bungalow. The room was lit up with a single yellow bulb hanging over the wooden chair in the middle where there was a man in seemingly his forties, tied to the chair, a very dead man with his head hanging down limply, bullet holes through and through visible from each side of his temple. "Got that right" Ashton mumbled looking around the floor which was crimson with his blood and he could see plied off toenails and a few fingers floating around in the blood. "Let's get to work" Ashton said going towards the huge duffel bags with their gear in it. They got their protective suits along with the non-porous gloves and chemical spill boots. They looked like people from CDC taking precaution against a highly infectious but in this case the stakes were higher if not the same cause they can't leave behind any kind of evidence that would connect the crime to the Takahashi mafia family or themselves, either way it would result in their deaths. Vincent inched the putty knife towards Ashton which was used to scrape the blood from in between cracks, the hardest job in their opinion. "Alright, alright I guess it's my turn" Vincent grumbled pulling the knife back as Ashton gave him the 'you and I both know it's your turn to do the scut work' look. Ashton spilled the enzyme solvent over the floor in order to liquefy any dried blood and picking up a mop he started soaking up the blood off the floor into a basket. After all the scrubbing, clean and bleaching of the floor, the walls as well as the ceiling they got the industrial deodorizers to break through the chemical smells of bleach and solvents. They carried the body bag with the body out to the awaiting van with the guards and loaded it in next they disposed of their cleaning equipment, as well as their suits into the industrial barrels. It was a repeat process, the professional cleaning equipment cost thousands of dollars alone but it wasn't their problem since the bosses upstairs paid for all that as well as their services. The business was dirty, gory and dangerous but Ashton was used to it, he was born into it and even after all that blood and gore he had an appetite for a nice hot dog, maybe he was just that numb inside. "Grandma, did you take your iron supplements?" Sora asked as she threw on her little bag sideways around her neck along with a silk scarf. "Yes dear, I did" her voice sounded from the kitchen. Sora headed over to the kitchen where her grandmother, frail looking but at times actually stronger than Sora herself, both emotionally and physically, the woman who basically raised her stood over at the stove, no doubt cooking something delicious for them. "Alright then, I am heading out for a while for some ice cream" she informed, giving her grandmother a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out already halfway to the door, she gave her dog mocha a little belly rub as he came rolling at her feet. He wanted to go out for a walk with her but she had already taken him out earlier in the morning for a walk, plus they wouldn't allow him inside the ice cream shop. "Well, Okay but be back by six, the pot roast would be out hot and don't eat any other street food, doesn't suit you well, i don't know when you'll learn your lesson regarding that, just ice cream darling" she said, her tone firm. It was true, as much as Sora loved street food, she caught food poisoning easy but she never could resist, although she would try this time. "Sure grandma, bye!" she said heading out the door closing it behind her, making sure mocha wasn't following her out, he was sneaky like that. Even though Sora had a mini Vitz, she preferred to ride her bike, she liked the open air and the exercise. She owned a bookstore downtown but she had her own employees working there for her and handling the store so she didn't really have to always go in, only when she wanted to. She pedaled her bike all the way to the park where the ice cream truck usually stood. Braking her bike in front of a lamp post on the side she swung her legs off of it and secured the chains lock around the lampost before taking her helmet off and hanging it over the manual braking handles. She made her way over to where the ice cream truck was parked on the curb and waited in the line for her turn. She could never get over her child-like excitement waiting in the line of the ice cream truck, it just never got old. She noticed the bob of red curly hair on the child in front of her and a grin spread across her face as she recognized the kid right away. "Hey Sam! how did the science project go?" she called out to the kid gaining his atention making him turn around and look at her. When he saw Sora behind him, a toothy grin graced his freckled dimply face. "It went great! the volcano erupted so big it made the teacher so happy she gave me an A and a gold star" he told her excitedly. A while back Sora had helped the kid with his science project when she found him sulking in the park instead of playing with the other kids so her being her, she helped the kid out. Turns out, the volcano of his science project wouldn't erupt, he had forgotten to add enough baking soda, it was an easy fix. "That's awesome, good job champ" she complimented ruffling his hair playfully. It was Sam's turn but Sora paid for his bubblegum ice lolly saying it was a treat from her for a job well done on the science project he did and the little boy hugged her around the legs before skipping along with his other friends to apparently play tag. Sora paid for her double scoop caramel cone too as she headed towards the wooden bench where a tall, burly man sat in peace eating his hot dog. Sora took a look at him and he looked so unapproachable with his intimidating built, his sharp features which she had to admit were pretty handsome and his dark clothing. However, all the other benches were filled with soccer moms chatting with each other while their children played so she walked over to the bench with her ice cream and sat at the other end of it. The man didn't even pay any attention to her or acknowledge her whatsoever. As she started to eat and enjoy her delicious caramel cone, her eyes widened when she saw a football come right at her with full velocity and she just sat there too stunned to react, waiting for the impact as the ball inched closer in her sight with every passing millisecond, however, the impact never came as the man sitting beside her brought his big rough hand in front of her face, throwing the ball away and shielding her from its impact. She let out a big sigh of relief. That would've most probably broken her nose. "Thank you, that was so close" she said looking at him. He just gave her a curt nod of acknowledgment before going back to his hot dog as if the previous events never took place. Sora wanted to say something but by the looks of it he really didn't wanna make any conversation with anyone so deciding not to pester him, she sat there and ate her cone in silence.