It was a typical summer evening. The sun has sunk below the horizon, and the gentle breeze blowing was slowly losing its warmth. The seaside city of Arc came alive as fluorescent, incandescent, and neon lights illuminated the buildings and streets. It became even livelier when more people, coming off from work or school, filled the streets.
"Out of the way, please!" A dark-haired young woman warned as she pedaled her bike through the bike lane. She took a quick glance at her watch. 6:12 PM, it flashed in its red LED glory.
"I'm late! I'm so dead." She muttered as she sped while deftly avoiding other bicycles. Most of the time, she leaves school early and arrives at her workplace on time. Today, she had to stay at school for an additional 2 hours because of detention.
"I swear those girls crossed the line. Tch. So immature." She pedaled furiously venting her anger on her bicycle.
"When I see them on Monday, I'll..." She drifted off and sighed. In her mind, she knew that, once again, she will never be able to do anything. She has been a target of the popular clique of girls in her class for no reason other than the fact that she rejected their invitation (quite politely) to hang out once. It started subtly with them taping notes on her back and escalated to the incident that caused her to be reprimanded severely a few hours ago.
Apparently, she stole the top student's wallet. Nobody believed her when she denied it, especially when the top student, also the head of the clique, was the one who found it in her bag.
She gritted her teeth when she recalled the disgusted looks on her classmates' faces.
"Just a few more months. I can do this."
Fourteen minutes later, her slender figure stood in front of a bustling diner. She quickly secured her bike and went inside through the employees' entrance. She then dashed towards her locker, nearly crashing into it, and changed out of her uniform in record time.
"Aria! How nice of you to join us." her colleague and close friend, Lei, announced as she entered the kitchen.
"Shut up, Lei," Aria chuckled.
"Let's get to work."
*****
In a corner of the same diner sat a tall young man, slowly eating his burger while looking at the screen of the smartphone in front of him. It showed a picture of a woman.
He discretely glanced around the area, then calmly whispered, "She's here."
"Watch her closely. Do not lose sight of her," came a static-tinged reply through the well-hidden earpiece on his right ear.
"If possible, I want her alive." It then added.
The young man's lip curled slightly. "I will do my best."
*****
"I'm finally done," Aria walked out of the diner toward where her bike was parked. It has been a rough day for her. She was exhausted from work yesterday she overslept and missed her first class this morning. It would have been worse if Laya did not inform her of the test in one of her afternoon classes.
A few minutes ago, her manager cornered her and lectured her about duties and responsibilities as well as the consequences of being late for work.
"Salary deduction..." Aria sighed, recalling the manager's lecture. As she unlocked her bike, she felt a gentle pat on her shoulder. She turned and saw Laya wearing a worried expression.
"You okay there?" Aya asked her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I'm fine, really." She managed a small smile. "I have to go. My sister texted me earlier, telling me to meet her at the supermarket after I get off from work. See you tomorrow." She waved at Laya and got on her bike.
"Take care. See you."
Aria rode leisurely towards the supermarket a few blocks away. Just as she arrived in front of the supermarket, a honey blond woman wearing office clothes exited the building carrying plastic bags filled with groceries in both hands.
"Hey, sis." Aria greeted as she approached Cassandra.
"Hey. You're late. Help me with these." Cassandra handed one of the plastic bags towards Aria, which she placed on the carrier on the front of her bicycle.
Aria was about to get on her bike when she noticed Cassandra was wearing a skirt. "Let me I guess. It's one of those days when we walk all the way home." Cassandra chuckled as looked down at her skirt.
"You always make it sound like we're going to walk several kilometers rather than just a few blocks."
"I don't know," Aria shrugged, "It's such a waste that I have a bike yet I don't get to use it because of someone-" she narrowed her eyes at Cassandra"-who doesn't want to get on it every time she's wearing a skirt."
"Oh, come on. It's not like this is the first time we did this. Let's go, kiddo."
Aria and Cassandra lived in an apartment complex located in a respectable residential area. It was quite late in the evening so there was nobody but them in the area. As they walked through the well-lit streets of their neighborhood in comfortable silence, Aria took note of their surroundings. She cannot help but reminisce about the times when they lived in the shady part of the city. She remembered when they had to go home while it was still bright out because the area where they lived becomes dangerous once the sunsets.
Aria watched her sister in her peripheral vision. Cassandra, too, was no longer wary of their surroundings. She used to be on guard, anxiously looking around, whenever they leave the house. She never let the young Aria wander out of her sight then.
Aria felt grateful that that time has long passed. She and her sister do not have to worry about their safety as much as they did back then. She was glad that her sister is finally learning to take care of herself, as she has always put Aria's needs before her then.
They were close to their building when they heard the sound of footsteps approaching from behind them. They both turned and saw a shorthaired petite woman appear from the corner of the street, and dash towards them. The woman noticed them a little too late. She tried to change her direction but her momentum prevented it. Without thinking, Aria let go of her bicycle and pushed Cassandra out of the woman's way.
The woman crashed against Aria. She landed on her back and hit her head.
"Aria!" She saw her sister approaching in her peripheral vision. Cassandra kneeled and helped her sit up. "Are you okay?" she examined Aria's face.
"I-I'm fine, sis. What about the woman?" She craned her neck to look around. She felt relieved when saw that the woman has managed to stand by herself. But, when she saw the groceries spilled out of the plastic bag, most of them ruined, her face crumpled. She clenched her teeth in frustration and pushed herself up.
"What's wrong, kiddo?" Aria's tensed jaw told Cassandra that something was wrong. Cassandra followed Aria's gaze and saw the groceries.
"It's okay, Aria." Cassandra rubbed her back. She smiled at her sister and patted her left cheek. "Don't worry about it."
They saw the woman walking towards them, looking scared and apologetic at the same time. Aria recognized the woman as one of the customers she served in the fast-food diner earlier. She made her way towards the woman, wanting to ask her why she was running when from the corner of the street, appeared a tall young man.
"Hey, you." He spoke in a calm yet authoritative voice as he pointed toward the woman.
Aria saw the woman shiver with fear. Without a second thought, she pulled the woman behind her. She lowered her body, widened her stance and raised both of her arms with both her fists clenched tightly.
"Get out of the way." The man threatened as he took deliberate steps toward them.
"No!" Aria shouted. The man's eyebrows furrowed.
"Get away from her if you don't want to die," He kept his gaze trained on Aria, "you, too." He pointed at Cassandra who was standing behind Aria and the woman. Cassandra frowned and instead of stepping away, she stepped forward, stopping beside Aria.
"I won't!" She screamed at the young man as she lowered her body even more, ready to pounce if the man ever approaches. "Hey, you-" she turned to tell the woman to run but she was taken aback by what she saw.
In the woman's place, stood a humanoid figure with deathly pale skin and horribly disfigured face. Her hollowed eye sockets and gaping mouth lined with rows of sharp uneven teeth that extended from ear to ear made Aria's hair rise.
"Get away from her!" The young man shouted. Aria wanted to, but she was paralyzed with fear at the sight of the creature.
The creature opened its maw wider that Aria's head, and from its mouth left a bloodcurdling shriek. Aria saw Cassandra faint then she felt a strong force crash through her. She tasted blood in her mouth and felt the strength drain out of her body. She collapsed on to the ground.
The last thing she saw was the young man who appeared in front of the creature in an instant. "Run…" Aria wanted to warn him but she lost consciousness.
*****
"I've managed to stop the target," The young man looked down to the slowly disintegrating pieces of flesh that used to be the creature. His eyebrows furrowed and his lips curled in disgust. He has seen this happen a lot of times ever since he started working for Cerberus, but it still bothered him every single time. He did not like killing creatures like these. He did not like killing at all, but he had to do it to save lives. He took a clean handkerchief and wiped his sooty hands on it.
"As expected from the Jules Frey." The young man heard the static-tinged voice say. "So, Frey, do you need help in bringing it in?"
"I'm afraid, that's no longer possible," Frey turned towards where the two young women lay. The guilt that has been weighing him down for years felt heavier.
"I killed the Banshee after it attacked and killed two women with a spiritual attack."
The dark-haired woman's body started convulsing violently. A moment later, then the blond one followed.
"No! How is this possible?" Frey briskly walked where the young women lay.
"What happened, Frey?"
"Both victims are alive. They are awakening."
"Shit!" The line went silent for a few seconds. "The reinforcements will arrive in ten minutes at most. Can you hold out?"
"I can delay the awakening just about that long." Frey closed his eyes and concentrated. In a moment, he and the women were enveloped by shadows.