UNMASKED - ISSUE#1 (Isadora and Stormshadow)
Stormshadow checks the place. The studio, a one-piece apartment, was overturned. The desk had its drawers broken; the books were dragged from the bookshelf; Corner tables, lamps and smaller utensils are scattered across the floor... The carpet’s tapped and the floor’s scratched. The victim scanned the area after entering. The weird part is she went into the apartment even after she saw the mess. Took the shot right in the chest – she would have seen the murderer. Why didn't she run?
The ' 22 shot one, two, three, bullets, lodged in the wall and in a column. She missed. By a longshot. After she fell, she seems to have tried to reach the phone.
Upon the body, Isadora sees the scene, emerging in a fantasmagorical way, before her eyes. The victim entered the apartment. She used her key. The killer knew what he was doing, braking inside with proper tools. Isadora can't see his face. Not yet, anyway... The woman comes in. She looks at the overturned room, scans her surroundings. A deep, masculine, distorted voice addresses her: "Relax. I just want the address. Give me the address and I'll leave you alone. "
She reaches inside her purse, picks up her gun. "Who's there?" – she says, looking around. The voice came from somewhere, but from where? There's no hiding. Now, it's from the left.
"Come on, sweetie. Just give me what I want! Don’t wanna harm ya. "– the voice comes from no one.
She shoots. Once. Twice. Empty shots. "Damn!" – the voice responds. A flash, coming from a few steps ahead, to the right. She’s hit, she shoots once more in response. She gets the wall, and nothing else.
She falls. Sound of steps moving towards the door. The door closes itself.
"Damn, damn! Look what you made me do! "
She tries to scream for help. She’s too weak. She reaches for her purse, takes out the card she now holds in hand, clenching the gun with the other one. She drags herself towards the phone table, invisible steps following closely. She passes out: dead. The steps continue, from one side to another, unclaimed by anyone. The voice grunts and moans, searching the place a little more. In vain. The studio just falls into silence, with doors and windows still closed...
Stormshadow looks at the dead woman, the stretched hand and the broken body. If she wanted the phone, why didn't she drop the gun? And it is then that he realizes: just below the phone table, the floor seems to have a very subtle division, like that to form a hatch... Maybe she wanted to reach the compartment, not the phone.
Suddenly, both Isadora and Stormshadow feel as if they were being watched… Closely watched.