THE DEVIL'S FIRE // MURDER

[GABRIEL]

[align=center][div style="width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-size: 9.4pt; line-height: 1.4;"]This was...shit. Everything was shit lately, and Gabe was so tired, but the headache, the exhaustion, the constant concern of waking up to yet another Sunhaven member standing in the corridor- none of it mattered right now, with Lazarus surrounded by people, standing in the middle of a murder scene, looking so like he had when Gabriel first found him: terrified, cornered, and prepared to fight to the death. He ached for him. Moon Gabe could trust, but the other two -and the poor, bewildered child- did not know Lazarus as well. Naturally, Gabe knew him best, but the worst aspect of this was the accuracy, the similarities. The fire. The struggle over food. The way the victim's throat was torn, like there'd been taste involved rather than pure, single-minded murder, because living on the streets was hard, even harder when the big dogs on the block would feed them to each other for entertainment. Laz did what he had to for survival, and he was improving, Gabe knew it, but it was surreal to see this for what it was.

"Mijo, todo va estar bien. Te creo." If Lazarus said he didn't, then he didn't. Simple as that. "Ven aquí. Déjame ayudarte."

//of course it makes sense you dingus

[align=right][i]——INFO