Daybreak

Chapter 1: Raining Secrets: Part 1

In a dim lit alleyway under a starless night sky, there's a faint sound of police sirens, as a hooded figure in a bright yellow jacket walks around the corner. They paused, darted their head back and forth to observe their surroundings, then lowered their hood to reveal a girl in her early twenties with a round face, long chestnut brown hair, and coffee colored eyes, she looked on edge. She reached for her phone, scrolled through her contacts and took one last look around the alley before making a call. The girl took a deep breath as the phone picked up. "This is Daybreak reporting from drop zone Blood Haven, requesting coordinates for handoff." The girl said in the most serious voice she could muster while restraining the urge to giggle.

"Okay first of all it's one in the God damn morning so I'm not in the mood for the whole super-vigilate/spy shit you're falling to pull off, secondly stop giving the streets stupid nicknames and tell me you actual location, Victoria," the girl on the other end deadpanned. Victoria's smile fell as she glanced over to the street sign and grimaced. "Corner of South Maple Avenue and Smith Street," she muttered. "Alright, just go a couple blocks west. You'll need a proper vantage point, your best option is a ro-" There was a loud clatter as Victoria scrambled up the fire escape. "Quiet V," she hissed. "Sorry," Victoria whispered back. "The whole point of a stakeout is to remain inconspicuous. You could get caught, arrested, hurt or killed."

"Relax Claire, you I can take a hit and this isn't technically illegal." Victoria stated, then she jumped over the gap between the buildings. She stumbled a bit, but she caught her balance before she could fall.  "True, but do you what is illegal? Breaking and entering, aggravated assault, participating in gang violence-" Victoria interrupted, counting the crimes with her fingers, "initiating gang violence, carjacking, impersonating an officer of the law, using an unregistered firearm while unlicensed, possessing harmful substances, et cetera. Man, that was one crazy Sunday." She jumped across another building.  Claire groaned, "what's wrong with you?" Victoria smirked, "I'm on Five Hour Energy, baby," she exclaimed with pride. Claire sighed, "how are you my older sister? Look just get the evidence so we can take it to the authorities so they can take these guys down and get all the credit. And please, for the love of God, be safe."

Victoria gave a sympathetic smile then it twisted to a cheeky grin, "you're right, wouldn't want to get a dislocated arm." Claire scoffed, "you're never gonna let me live that down. And for the record it hurt like hell." Victoria sat on the edge of the roof. "Hey, at least you're out of there.
No more underground fighting areas, right?" There was a moment of silence before Claire replied, "yeah." Beams of light shone past Victoria as three identical black cars with tinted windows parked in an old abandoned lot across the street. "Its happening," Victoria whispered with excitement. "Remember, identify the buyer, wait till after the exchange, ambush them, take the goods and any useful information, then get the hell out of there. We don't know what you're up against, so no unnecessary risk and do your best to NOT draw attention to yourself," Claire explained. Victoria rolled her eyes. "Fight fair/don't make a scene, got it. Going radio silent. Bye, I love you."

She hung up, then patiently watched and waited. A man in a sleek dark suit stepped out of the vehicle. He was bald, had an eye patch, and a stern expression. "How generic," she whispered to herself. The man appeared to be carrying a small bulletproof metal case. 'Probably not the money,' Victoria thought. Then many large men in matching attire and sunglasses, definitely bodyguards, emerged from the other two cars. They surveyed the area. Victoria dashed to the large generator to hide behind. She poked her head out and continued to observe. Then a shadowy figure in a non descriptive black hoodie with a tattered backpack walked towards them. Victoria furrowed her eyebrows, something wasn't right here. This human silhouette came alone while the bald guy has an excessive amount of muscle.she took out her phone to take pictures of the scene, "strange."

One of the bodyguards began to pat down the hooded stranger. Victoria grew impatient as she tapped her fingers against the generator. Hoodie and Baldie were talking now, though Victoria was too far away to hear anything. Hoodie held out the backpack they were carrying and opened it. Baldie looked inside, reached in, and pulled out a stack of cash. Victoria shot up and locked her eyes on the mysterious hooded buyer. He inspected the money before dropping it back in the bag. He quickly snatched the bag, then shoved the metal case into the buyer's gloved hands. He walked to his car as the hooded figure walked back through the shadows. Victoria followed the buyer, from the roof, to the same alley she was in before.

Victoria took a small step, leaning over the edge, preparing to strike her target before they reached open street. But then the hooded figure stopped and just stands there. Then just starts chuckling, "I know you're there." Victoria froze, should she run or attack now while she has the chance. The voice indicates that the hooded figure is male and he sounds almost familiar. He hadn't moved so Victoria took the opportunity to put on a yellow mask that covered the area around her eyes. Then she pulled up her hood and jumped down. Her opponent still didn't turn around. "You've lost your touch Monroe, I mean you couldn't make it any more obvious you were following me."

Victoria, now in a fighting stance, raised a brow in confusion. He'd mistaken her for someone called Monroe. He still hasn't turned around yet but continued talking, "look, I get you wanna help, and we both know our boss won't care, but we also know who'd flip his mind if you do this a-" He finally turned around, his face was concealed by tinted steampunk goggles and a gray bandana. He laughed nervously, "a-and you're not Ca-" Victoria ran towards him swinging a punch. He dodged and tried to counterattack, but she blocked it. "Give me that case," Victoria yelled. She went in for another hit, but he dodged again, this time jumping back to get enough distance between them. He reached behind him, possibly for a weapon. Now preoccupied, Victoria took this chance and charged straight towards him.

Victoria slammed him against the wall. She glared daggers at him, "I'm not going to repeat myself," she said in the most threatening tone possible. "Okay, okay, I know when I've been beat, I'll give you the case, just please don't kill me," he said quickly trying to remain calm, though clearly desperate and terrified. "I'm going to drop it in three, two..." he looked past Victoria's shoulder froze. "Oh my God, that guy just got stabbed!" Victoria darted her head behind her, but it was just a quiet, empty street. She turned back to the criminal only to met with an object striking her on the head. Everything went black.

Victoria woke up to water splashing on her face and the sound of rain. She was on some roof. She quickly readjusted her hood and sat up, her head was pounding. She looked around, well she couldn't see much,  there was no source of light for at least a mile. Victoria was in a daze trying to recollect what happened during the fight. "W-what happened? Where am I? What's with the blackout?" She clenched her head and groaned. Her eyes widened, she smelled something similar to rust. Blood. She trailed her hand down to her nose. Victoria gasped and her eyes flickered bright yellow as she came into contact with the partially dried substance that leaked from her nose. She panicked, the frantically pulled up her right sleeve of her jacket to reveal glowing yellow veins climbing up from the palm of her hand to her elbow. "SHIT, shit shit, shit, shit, shit!" She immediately stood up and ran.