Marilla - Mary's Mom

  The mother of Mary, A widow who looks after her only child after the passing of her husband, she tries to give Mary freedom whenever she can.

  She works as a manager at a local grocery to help support her daughter, though its not a particularly exciting job.

  Her days were unremarkable up until she someone tried to rob her home, an occurrence she never could have imagined.

  She now has to deal with the mysterious murder of the robber and the severe injuries of her daughter, so at the current time it appears her near-future will be full of complications.

  Unnamed Intruder - Professional Thief

  The one who unintentionally instigated Mary's situation, he was a professional robber who ended up suffering misfortune from his actions.

  Though his skill in forced entry was excellent from countless robberies he had performed in the past, he never could have imagined the strange consequences he would endure for his actions in harming Mary.

  It appeared even in his final moments he felt little guilt for his actions, displaying not a single drop of acknowledgement for his actions or their consequences when he was finally dragged to his death. Never having learned that the girl he was planning to throw in the path of the monster was in fact its creator(?).

  Incidentally, the reason he had chosen to rob Mary's home was because they were in a secluded enough part of town, and he felt comfortable enough he could escape, nothing more and nothing less to it. A decision that would result in his untimely but perhaps not undeserved fate.

  Mary/Karla - Protagonist

  In her past life, Karla was was a mage that served her home city, when one day a mysterious invading army appeared. Coming to her home city's defense, she acted as one of its defenders to her last dying breath.

  Unfortunately, she was not among the lucky, being one of the first to die in the defense of its walls, the city facing a threat it was not prepared for.

  In her current life Mary was a senior in high school, having just spent the day before the robbery, goofing off and connecting with school friends.

  Killing the unnamed robber was the first time she killed someone in this life, though due to the potent corroding influence of her previous life, this has for now protected her mind against the act of killing.

  But the sadism displayed by her strange summon has made her momentarily relive her own death, so at the current time she is definitely not fond of the summon.

  She has no clue where things will go, now that two different sets of memories are crammed in her mind, each with different sets of priorities.

  But she has ended up finding the entire experience equals part frightening and part awesome.

  Whenever she wakes, she will be learning who she will be from now on and trying to make sense of the world she has now found herself in.

  Within a dark smothered room, a phone lights up with a blinding shine to pierce the darkness, it’s ringtone following suit as it vaporizes the silence with its persistent ring

  Ring, Rinnng, Rinnnng!

  Somewhere in the pitch dark living room, a form softly lurched, covered by a blanket, trying to cover their head with pillows, to ignore their phone begging for attention from its owner.

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  All the windows had dark blinds smothering the last rays of light from outside the fortified house.

  But that was not enough, as the phone’s light alone illuminated the room enough to annoy the light sleeper. As before long, grumbling can be heard from beneath the mountain of pillows, the man forced to finally sit up and pay attention to whoever was calling him so late in the day.

  The man kept grumbling as his rumpled agent outfit was lit up in his phones light, his blanket falling along with the pillows to the floor, as he grabbed his phone without care as he answered the phone call.

  Immediately, a spirited young lady spoke through the phone, her voice tinged with hints of irritation. “Hello hello? Are you there agent Nebel? Did you stare at the wall during the night again and lose hours of sleep?”

  The man deeply sighs before responding to the Branch Chief and his far and above direct superior. “I am not going to answer that. So what is it you needed to call me for at six in the afternoon? Is there another rogue vampire eating the local orphanage again?”

  Many could be forgiven for thinking Nebel was some kind of smoker, with his raspy voice sounding like he put ten cigs away a day, tiredness and duty warring in that space of smog.

  “Ha-ha, very funny comment Nebel. But to cut the crap and move forward, I have been calling you for quite a while, as a new development has just occurred in an otherwise mundane case.” Her tone sliding into seriousness and a hint of grim as she delivers her following words.

  Nebel listened tentatively while kicking the blankets and pillows beneath the couch, to be handled later when he got back to wash them.

  “It appears that a mundane robber had been killed in quite a unique way, I will send over the full reports that could be gathered in a bit. But let’s just say, there are signs that hemomancy might have been at play.”

  Nebel's eyes narrowed at the term used, as a tinge of blue smoke began leaking from his open mouth, his manifest leaking softly for a moment before he turned it back off. His mouth grimaced as he responded with another sigh.

  “Since you are being so coy about it, I imagine my job then isn't to punish the Cognizant responsible yet, but identify first who it is.” If his boss had already known who it was, she wouldn't have needed to fill his phone with incessant calling. They would have already had a perp in the station to warn and punish.

  Though depending on how the Branch Chief felt, maybe even hire them? Doubtful on that though, Branch Chief tortured the last killer cognizant in the area.

  His phone chiming in his boss’s voice, “Correct. None of the current local cognizants use hemomancy so whoever this is, it might be either a cognizant visiting the area, or even a newly unveiled one, in which case, some…’educational’ training is in order for the chick on this side.”

  His mouth twitched at the implication, that side of the job always leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. But he wasn't going to rebuke her, some level of ruthlessness was just part n parcel in living on this side of the veil. Opening some of his black blinds up a few notches, he dressed himself into his proper work attire, fixing as many of the rumples in the outfit as he could, while washing up and getting his house in order.

  “I would have sent Junior or Diego to assist, but they are both handling separate investigations as well, so you will have to make due with your skillset to get things done. Our budget this month is already pretty crap as it is, so I expect you to not get caught or hurt. Is that clear?”

  “...Sure.” Now searching for his car keys, as he grabs his phone from the living room, listening to her monologue with the grace of a tired badger.

  “The goal of this investigation is very simple: Investigate and figure out if it's a newly unveiled or just a cognizant strolling in, we need to know which it is. Along with that, get a positive ID out of them, even if it turns out the robber was killed in self-defense, they need to be tagged for future incidents.”

  “Yes, yes. Make sure that whoever decided to paint a hallway in blood is tagged for killing symbology. Can’t have that go under radar, I am aware.”

  Getting a tad snippy, genuinely thankful his boss allowed that bit of grace from her workers, meant he didn't need to sound like a peppy dog.

  Digging around in his cabinet for his ‘authentic’ authority badges, making sure he had the correct selection while his boss continued speaking over the phone. Placing them in pockets for ready access.

  “I will be sending you the street address on your phone, along with what information is already in circulation from the case. Make your own decisions on how to handle the investigation from there. The only caveat I expect is that you prioritize your safety above all else.” An edge of concern creeped into her voice while I was heading out of my house, a secluded house at the edge of town.

  “Fine, fine. I will figure out the details when I get there. Though you didn't need to ask me to focus on survival, I kind of already would prefer to be alive to enjoy more naps.” Remarking with a hint of confusion while Nebel locked up the house and stepped to the side of his lawn, heading to his car.

  “I needed to make it clear that survival matters more than fine details, as long as you get a rough idea of who it is, its progress. But if the situation does remain favorable, make sure it's handled quietly. We don’t need anyone causing scenes in the United Nations at this current time, unless it can’t be helped. That will be all from me."

  Nebel glances around his perimeter, once, twice before opening his car and entering.

  “Understood, I will be driving now. I'll call back later, bye Boss.” Click, as Nebel places his phone back in his pocket and makes sure he has his seatbelt on, before turning on the car and driving out of his house’s driveway.

  Driving towards Mary’s house, the scene of the crime.