Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. Everything else belongs to Laurell K. Hamilton, Jim Butcher, J.K. Rowling, their publishing companies, and the creators of Charmed, Angel, and Elektra.
Rating: R for some bad words
The Rats� Nest hotel was a run down building. It sat in the darkest corner of the worst side of the riverfront. There were homeless people littering the alleyways, while drug dealers and prostitutes did most of their deals on the inside of the inn. As you go inside there was a double pane glass window on the right. The window housed a speaker and a drawer that pulls out for the tenants to put their money and pick up their keys. The walls are in need of paint and the carpets were stained with blood. The stench in the air was foul from to many bodies being left in their rooms dead for to long. Straight back is a set of stairs that goes to the second floor and the hotel rooms. A man in his late sixties stood behind the double pane glass working on paperwork. He was bald, stooped over and missing his teeth. His eyes were a cloudless gray, while a scar ran down the left side of his face. He needed a cane to get around these day�s and it seems something on his body was failing him every time he turned around. He was fumbling through his papers when he noticed the time. The clock on the wall said a quarter till ten. He cussed under his breath and went for the phone. Picking it up he rang room 12. The occupant wanted a wake up call.
The man shuddered thinking what would happen if he was late waking up the assassin. He knew their type by the way they dressed, walked, and looked. When the assassin came in yesterday, they were wearing all black with no parts of their body showing except soulless eyes. The figure only took time to check in, then left again. It was almost three in the morning when they returned.
The phone rang six times before someone answered it with a rough voice, �This better be fucking important or so help me I�ll blow your fucking balls off.�
The little man tried to find his voice and when he did it croaked, �You asked for a wake up call.�
�Oh,� said the voice on the other line, then the phone went dead.
The attendant should have been upset that he wasn�t thanked or got an apology, but he was used to being treated like dirt by his customers. He got that all the time from neighboring rivals, so he just brushed it off and went on with his work.
Upstairs a woman turned over to glance at the small clock on the broken nightstand. She cursed under her breath and threw the covers off. The woman stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. Turning on the facets in the shower, she adjusted the temperature to fit her taste. The room was small with a twin bed, one nightstand, a small closet, and a tiny bathroom. The wallpaper on the walls was peeling off and the shaggy brown carpet had been torn in several areas. The bathroom was in bad shape where the walls were mildewed, the pipes were leaking and the toilet wouldn�t flush properly. The sink was broken and the tub had seen better days.
The woman had no past, all she knew was what people have told her and that wasn�t much. No one knew her true identity; they only know her as Silverfire. She had been moving around a lot, doing odd jobs for people that require her services. They�ve never met each other in person; the closest contact was through phone calls and e-mails.
Today she had a new assignment and she was running late. Stepping into the shower, she let the warm water roll over her like a lovers kiss. The water massaged her aching muscles, while she leaned against the shower wall and sighed in relief. Once her body adjusted to the temperature, she grabbed the small bottle of shampoo and washed her hair, then rinsed it out. She didn�t have time for conditioner, so she just went for the soap to finish her shower. During a quick rinse, the woman reached down and turned off the water. Pulling the curtain backing and stepping out of the tub, she grabbed for a towel and began to dry off. The woman headed for the closet and began going through her clothes. Once she picked out what to wear, the woman turned to look at herself in the closet mirror. Scrunching up her nose, she slammed the closet door hard causing the mirror to shake.
She quickly dressed in a black spaghetti strap shirt that had no back. The only way it stayed up was with two strings that tied in the back. Silverfire pulled on a black thong and a pair of tight black jeans. Her shoes were three inch spiked heals, that gave her a few more inches in height. Adding a few select pieces of jewelry, she looked at herself once in the mirror before grabbing her purse and heading out the door. The clock on the stand had read a quarter till eleven and if she didn�t hurry she was going to be late. It will take her at least an hour to get across town to her destination.
Heading down the hall to the staircase, Silverfire noticed a man had a woman pushed up against the wall by the throat. He was yelling at her and she was crying. Silverfire kept moving giving the man no reason to turn on her. She was late as it was and their fight was none of her business. Taking the last step she crossed the small lobby and out the door, where the stench of the garbage hit her senses. Cursing under her breath put her hand up to block the aroma of dead people and sewer rats.
The inn sat so far back in the riverfront that barely any light reached it. Silverfire glanced around at the run down buildings and it�s people and wrinkled her nose. She wouldn�t have bothered with staying her if she wasn�t undercover. Turning left, she headed for the streets away from the inn. It brought her out on 1st street by some train tracks and a few markets. Heading north, she kept an eye on everything and everyone around her. Silverfire knew what kind of people lurked in the fish markets and wasn�t going to be caught off guard by them. The sun was shining high and it was humid. It was mid August and Indian summer was a bitch. More people have been rushed to the emergency room or died from heat stroke. Normal people would have taken the bus in this weather, but Silverfire wanted the exercise, so she decided to walk. A tingle ran down her back and she smiled to herself while thinking, �This was going to be an interesting day.�