It was supposed to be a routine hit. Just get in, eliminate the target silently, then get out. He had done it countless times before, and would do it countless times again. So when Jack discovered he was not the only person on this case, it naturally ruffled his feathers. He had no love for Katharine Hudson and was determined to put this Ethan Arc down in front of her eyes. Hunters could never measure up and compete with a true assassin. The second thing that annoyed him was the fact that if she was here, then people believed that this guy was some kind of supernatural or magically inclined individual. This was of course bull-dust and baloney to Jack, If it is made of flesh, a knife across the throat, through the head, through the heard or through the eyes would kill it. A universal truth, at least in Jacks eyes.

Jack watched from the rafters of the small house. He had his twin short swords Shadow and Shade drawn. Jump down, use his body to break the fall, and sink the swords so far into his eyes that he would be dead within a second. That was the plan. A routine hit. A birds-eyes assassination. Ethan was reading a big thick book. Probably a Lord of the Rings or something by Bryce Courtney. Jack did not know where Katharine was at the minute, nor did he care. As long as she didn't screw things up for him, then she could be privy to the kill. Better the silent knives than the unwieldy and noisy shot-gun. No tact at all.

In a single motion, Jack jumped and prepared for impact. Take them by surprise and kill them before they can comprehend. Just a routine hit. But tonight would be far from routine. As he should have landed on this Ethan, he was instead send flying into the wall opposite the reading man, Sitting up, Jack rubbed his head as Ethan laughed.
"You really think I wouldn't have protective measures in place?"
Jack went to stand and rush his target. But as he stood, he saw Ethan hold out a hand.
"Begone."

It was akin to black fire. It felt like fire anyway. Jack was sent flying back into the wall, making the hole deeper. He felt is conciousness fade, and a whisper in his mind, not unlike his own.
This is not the end for us. I will protect you...

Everything about the whole situation was wrong. Katharine knew it even before she set foot in the small house belonging to Ethan Arc. Ethan Arc. A deceptively common name for a not-so-common man. In fact, everything about the whole deal was just... too common. Too normal. Ethan Arc was a monster, but he knew how to hide it well.

It had taken months. Months and months of careful investigation. Of picking up clues and following a scattered trail that stopped and started with no warning. It had taken hours and hours or painstaking research, staking out dives and weaselling information from the few of his minions she had managed to catch. It had taken some time more to make certain that the information was right. After all, Ethan Arc was just... too normal. Still, her months of surveillance, her careful casebuilding, had lead to one conclusion.

Still, even now, with the cross-hairs of her investigation narrowed in squarely upon the man, she wasn't certain how to act. Was he as mere a man as he seemed, the answer would have been simple. A shot through the heart or head, a slitting of the throat... It was as easy as it was despicable. Katherine did not kill humans. Only the blood of the supernatural would spill through her fingers. She did not kill the innocent. Ethan Arc, however, was neither. He was a mage, a dabbler in dark magic. No, not a mere dabbler. A master. And mere bullets or knives would not be sufficient.

However, it seemed she was not given the chance to consider her best option. Nobody less than the snake that was Jack the shadow had slipped into the house. She had known he was in the area. Word tended to travel in the small bars she tended to frequent. When she found out who he had been enquiring about, her heart had frozen. What did that weasel think he was doing? Of course, the warning she had tossed his way hadn't been heeded. And now, he was forcing her hand.

“Goddamnit.” She cursed as the man made his entrance. She had no choice. If that fool attacked, Ethan knew people were on to him. He'd disappear again. Probably take on a new name. Would become another random face in the crowd. She'd have to hunt for months again to get back on his trail. She could not afford that. Not now. Not again. She had to risk it.

“You fucking idiot.” She once again cursed as she stepped out of her car, jogging the small distance to the house. Her hands fell across hips and arms, checking all her usual weapons were in place. Guns. Throwing knives. The usual demon repellents. Ol' Faithful had to stay behind. In such a rural area, the weapon would cause too much attention. But damnit if she didn't want to shove it up a certain asshole's asshole. He was ruining everything.

A loud thump sounded from inside, of something meaty hitting something solid. A voice spoke. Not Jack. He had made his move, and failed. All she could hope for was that Ethan was distracted enough for her to strike true. She did not like her chances.

Darkness. That was all Jack could see. It felt like his eyes were open, yet nothing but pitch met his gaze. He took a step forward, or was he floating? Looking down, Jack saw that he couldn't even see his body. That it struck him. It wasn't that it was so dark he couldn't see anything, it that he was so dark that he blended in with the inky depths. The darkness was him. He blended and camouflaged perfectly with the surroundings. It didn't feel like anything. He didn't feel anything. All there was was him floating and the darkness embracing him.

Unbeknownst to Jack, this was all taking place in his mind, and he would have no memory or recollection of what came next. In the material world, Ethan was laughing, throwing stuff into a bag, his back to Jack, his right side to the front door. So sure of his magick, that Ethan didn't notice Jacks body twitched, or little black sparks flitting across the surface. He didn't notice the shadow cast by Jacks body moving, writhing, contorting, twisting as if listening to a frantic beat. He didn't notice as the body of Jack slowly and silently rose to its feet, eyes shrouded in black. The writhing shadow jumped forward, racing across the floor like a bullet train. By the time Ethan turned and saw the shadowy abomination of Jacks body, it was too late. The shadow leapt up from the floor, and slammed into the dark mage. Landing on Ethans face, the shadow continued as if flesh was a non-entity. With a twisted shriek that could have roused the dead from eternal slumber, the mage clawed at his face, grabbing and ripping off the shadow with a dark flame encrusted hand. Throwing it on the floor, he turned and burst through the back door, running as fast as he could.

The shadow circled, and rejoined Jacks body. Slowly the darkness over his eyes dissipated, and the shadow resumed normal shadowesque functions. Once more in his mind, Jack slumped to the floor. Holding a hand in front of him, he watched as dark flames flicked over his fingers.
"What...?"

Surveying the scene before him, his hand dropped to his side. Mouth open, he looked around.
"Who? What?"
Without knowing anything, Jack knew he had been the one to do this. A sound caught his attention, and looking up, he saw the figure of Katharine in the doorway. How much had she seen? Could she help? Or were things about to get complicated? Jack thought of all of these as he stumbled to his feet.
"So...I think he got away..."

Well, she certainly hadn't seen that coming. Like she had hoped, Ethan had been distracted when she slowly made her way into the house. He hadn't heard her quietly tiptoeing through the hallway, nor had he seen her catch a glimpse of the room through the clever use of mirrors. Perhaps it was her lucky day. With a last check of her gun -only a fool would rush into battle without making sure their weapon would work-, she moved to take aim. A single bullet to the brain could do the trick, if it was not stopped by magic. Which was the tricky part. Getting it to hit. Though her aim was great, it could be meaningless if the mage merely shielded himself.

She was putting her hope in her bullet of choice: A rather unique projectile out of pure ice, shaped out holy water. Whether it would work or not was the question: The flowing element of water was supposedly not as easy to influence than the solid, harsh metal. The blessing upon it warded against evil and dark magic. And frozen into a projectile, hopefully it would be unstoppable. She hoped that it would work. It had taken a darn long time to work out the mechanics. After all, ice in a normal gun would've melted or shattered. A modified air-gun eventually had led to her salvation. Still, for her own sake, to aim for the eye was the best bet in lethality.

However, she was stopped in her tracks by the vision in the room, crawling shadows seeming to attack the dark mage. For a moment, she was stunned. The mage was attacking himself? That made no sense whatsoever. With a cry, the mage peeled of the shadow, then burst through the door on the opposing side of the room. It wasn't until the shadow moved towards Jack and seeped back to him, that a certain realization hit.

“He did. But you won't.” The girl spoke coolly upon Jack's words, her gun raising towards the man. She didn't need an explanation. Her eyes had seen enough. He was a monster.

Jack held up his shaky hands, flinching slightly at the black flames still tracing their way across his fingers.
"Hold up there quick-draw."
On legs that threatened to give out underneath him, Jack stood up, using the nearby shelves to support himself. He looked Katharine in the eyes.
"All I know is that one moment I am jumping in for the kill - in spectacular fashion may I add - and the next I am in the wall. When I came to, Ethan was writhing and screaming, then bolted out the back door."
Jack threw his right hand out in front of him.
"And this shit is kind of freaking me out right now. There is no electricity source in that wall. I was not electrocuted. Why the hell am I covered in these...things!"

Jack breathed deeply. Losing his cool now wouldn't achieve anything. And Katharine was twitchy enough as it was. No need to egg her on. He lowered his hand, as a sign he was not aggressive.
"Now, I don't believe in any of that magic mumbo-jumbo. But something is obviously happening that I can't explain."
As he spoke, Jack found that his strength was returning slowly.
"Now, you can either help me rummage through this stuff and find out where he went and what the fuck is happening to me, or continue gawking."
In a show of what he hoped would be construed as good faith, he began to turn, showing that he did not see, or want, her to be a threat. Really though, his heart was beating in his throat.

The wood of the wall beside the man splintered with a loud crack, a mere inch from where the man's head had headed. Despite the misleadingly named silencer, the gunshot still held quite the bite to it. Though it was not deafening, it certainly wasn't soundless.

“Not so quick, freak.” Her voice was like ice, cool, clear and without the slightest hint of emotion. “One more movement, and the next one will be between your eyes.”

Her gun trailed the man, cold dark eyes following even the slightest twitch of the man's movements. There was little doubt that the girl was not joking around.

“You fucked up big time, Jacky-boy. And still you're pig-headed enough to deny what you see with your own eyes.” The girl scoffed, a sneer etched upon her lips. Even with the shadows that leaked from his very own limbs, he could not accept that “magic” as he called it, existed. How blind and stupid did one have to be?

“But worst of all, you didn't just fuck yourself over. You fucked me over. I've been tracking this guy for weeks, and you come barging in and do something stupid. Give me one good reason I shouldn't just blow your fucking freak head off your shoulders right this fucking second.” The girl swore. Anger seeped into her words. There was no denying she was pissed off. Really, part of her wasn't sure why she hadn't just aimed the first bullet straight through his skull. It wasn't like he was of any use of her, even if he hadn't turned into some kind of plague upon mankind. His character certainly wasn't a saving grace, either.