Sensing no living person around does not allow them to relax their guard at all, somehow making them even more vigilant.
Why lead them here if it isn't for an ambush? Have others been stationed around with masked scents? Have heart rates and noises been covered by magic? This whole deathly silence abandoned building thing just screams trap, but the four hardly pause before moving swiftly into the building.
As they enter the building, something unexpected awaits them.
There are no people, there is no ambush, there are no weapons ready to fire at them, there is no deadly gas, there is no injections of wolfs bane, there is no silver floor, there is just nothing, the building is as clean as a whistle. Everything cleaned out, even the cobwebs seem to be missing, looking unnaturally clean for a building of this age in the middle of nowhere. The floors look like they have been mopped, having a slight sheen to the bare concrete, the faintest fragrance of lemon cleaner in the air.
All that remains in the spotless building is 6 small rectangles on the ground and one hanging body, suspended from a roof truss, a white piece of paper is pinned to the clothing.
Lucas and Alexis look at the body and then look at each other. There is shock there, but it is hard to feel grief.
Hunter and Ava look at the body, having no idea who this is. Alexis just stares at the body that is hanging straight down, he hardly even has the stench of death yet, no physical signs of wounds but not the visible paleness of the other ones, even the eyelids are closed.
Lucas looks at the other two and then opens his mouth, saying a basic four emotionless words.
"It is Alexis’ father"
Alexis doesn't look like she is in shock, nor does she cry or howl, an almost indifferent look on her beautiful face like the corpse has nothing to do with her at all.
Hunter and Ava do not ask any questions, quickly moving on from the stunted words of condolence that get stuck in their throats as she looks at him like it is a random strangers body in front of her, maybe even less emotion than seeing a random stranger. Obviously, the body is not the showpiece. The other things are obviously the message to them.
Obviously, the murder of her father wasn't actually meant to hurt Alexis as she has zero feelings for the man, not even hatred, she feels nothing for the man that abandoned her mother all those years ago and the man that took her from Lucas after her mother's untimely demise.
Is it more just to prove that she could? That the witch could get to anyone?
People they don't even think of are not safe, that they have officially got a death toll on their hands, that just the mere practice of knowing the group is enough to get someone killed, not having to be cared about or loved in anyway.
Just killing to prove a point, just killing for nothing, Alexis will never grieve for the man. It is just the end of a life for absolutely nothing.
She wanted to kill the man many times, but as she looks at his hanging dead body she can't feel any joy, neither does she feel pain, it is just nothingness.
Lucas looks at John, he promised to kill the man on several occasions but ended up leaving him living because the whole idea of killing him once she got Alexis back was just pointless. They've had no contact, not a word, not a single exchange with the man since Lucas took Alexis away from her fathers home, back to her home, back to where she belonged. It's like he didn't even exist in their lives anymore.
All his money grubbing, all his alienating his only child boils down to nothing. Here he is, in the middle of nowhere and he has been killed in such a way, they can't do anything about it. They can't send them back to the humans, so he just disappears from the world, nothing left but a bunch of memories. Some people may have some good ones, but mostly just bad.
All he was, was a pointless member of society an oxygen thief, so Lucas will feel no sadness for the man that was meant to be his father-in-law, Alexis is now officially an orphan, but since she has felt that way since her mother's death, it matters little.
At this point, it does not particularly matter, there they feel no grief for the man, yet the body count is rising steadily with no sign of stopping. The increased frequency is actually worrying.
Alexis steps forward and unpins the white piece of paper from John's shirt.
Hunter doesn't ask about the lack of reaction from the pair. Some relationships cannot be explained in a few simple words, but it is obvious that there was no love or care there. They're not going to judge. Hunter killed his own father. Ava loves her father but is not sure if she might actually be the same if it was her mother hanging there. It is impossible to tell how she would react to the death of the woman that has given her very little love.
Alexis' slender fingers unfold the piece of paper. She pauses as her eyes sweep the words, before she links the entire group at once.
'If the soil is fertile enough, something strong and beautiful can grow from the weakest and greediest seed'
They looked at each other at a loss. In opal moon pack, the four look at each other. Cressida was close enough to join hands with Alina and hear the message. She looks at Alina.
"That was pinned to Alexis' father's dead body?"
Alina raises one eyebrow with a slightly confused look on her face as she nods her head.
"It is rather poetic, isn't it?"
"But I am just not following the witches train of thought here"
Jade places a hand over her stomach. She doesn't know a lot about Alexis’ past, they have had very little time to bond to that level, but she has heard that her father was not the best and was greedy.
'I think she is meaning that Alexis is strong and beautiful even though she came from the sperm of her father'
That is where most people's train of thought was heading towards, but after all the threats, why are there compliments now?
'She is erratic, almost unreadable'
'Almost? How could anyone follow the train of thought that is derailed more than it is railed'
Alexis looks at her fathers hanging corpse.
'So she killed this man in some weird way to compliment me?'
'I'm not sure. I can't see any other meaning, but I also don't see her purpose at all'
Hunter walks to the six rectangles on the ground, looking them over.
Five photographs and one blank, white, un processed photo.
Five photos all with two hanging bodies as their subject. He picks one up off the ground flipping it over. Words are scrolled over the back, he collects up the photographs with different words written on the back of each one, before looking at the blank white one.
It stands out so much compared to the other ones, he flips it over.
'To the one that values position over all else and the c*****e left behind'
Alexis rubs her hands over her face in harsh motion, sighing heavily.
'I'm way too tired for all this word play bullsh*t, what the hell is all this stuff even meant to mean?'
All that they feel like they have accomplished this whole time is had their minds warped and twisted, there has been no fighting, there is nothing that they can excel at. All of it making them feel unintelligent, but trying to understand the ramblings of a crazy person will never come easy to a sane person.
Hunter flicks through the photos again then reads what is on the back of each.
He looks at the last photo and then the blank one, reading both again. He shuts his eyes tightly.
‘We have to get back to the dawn pack. There is nothing to find here’
He places the photos and letter in a ziplock bag before shifting into his wolf, grabbing the bag and taking off. The others don’t question, they just shift following closely behind him. They have no interest in staying in this staged area, there is nothing that could possibly be found, it was too immaculate. They found what she wanted them to find and that was it.
Like the perfect crime scene, the homicidal maniac just provides the useless clues that will get them nowhere.
They are being played like puppets with no scissors to cut their strings.