Elan managed to find a corner for her to squeeze in, just big and dark enough for her to hide in. Outside, red lights blinked in an irregular time, but it was enough for her to see the people walking past by her hiding place without being seen.
All the ones passing here either had too sharp ears, too pointy nose, or horns that twist around their heads like thick branches. A handful of them even posses all of the above.
Demons, Elan thought to herself as she kept her eyes alert for any small signs of danger.
The last thing she remembered was a blinding light after that demon girl throw something. The next she knew is that she's waking up in an unfamiliar place with demons passing by her down a wide street. Adrenaline kicked into gear and next second she had run as far away from the main roads as possible.
The other priests would love to know where this place is, she thought, problem is that she couldn't even pinpoint which part of town she was in, or if she's still even in town. All the sights here were something she wasn't familiar with: the buildings looked like weird stacks of metal that would probably topple down in a high of breath, with how most of them tilts to the side. Large tubes snaked around these buildings, occasionally puffing out white smoke in random parts. The blinking neon lights reminded her of the casinos in the city, with the only difference being the customers that goes in an out of the buildings.
She held her handgun and placed her finger by the safety. She only had a very limited shots with her as she didn't bring any extra magazines, so she had to make sure that her shots count.
She needs to get out of this place. As of now, she's lucky that no one had noticed her presence, but she believes that it'll only be a matter of time. She took tentative steps from her corner and was almost sent flying when something came barreling to her direction.
"Fuck!" Elan flinched at the curse in reflex before her eyes moved. . . downwards to see who crashed into her.
The child looked to be around ten, with rat-nest hair and scrawny limbs. He hissed as he rubbed his sore nose before looking up to glare at her. His pure black pupils widened and pointed at her accusingly.
"Ah! You're--!"
A group turned from the corner the child came from, their greyish complexion and sharp black eyes telling Elan right away that they're pure demons.
She pulled her gun in front and shot. She may not be as good as Kyrie, but Elan can still wield her handgun well, her five shots hitting dead center and sending the demons in front of the group down. They gave a sharp howl after seeing their comrades fall and sprinted faster. The commotion sent the walking people into a frenzy as they all tried to move out of the way. Elan shot three more down before running.
She ran along the middle of the road, ducking past the frenzied crowd in hope to lose the pursuers. From the snarls that was closely following her, though, it seemed that her plan was not working so well. She quickly dart on a random alley, the demons following a few steps behind. She grabbed the end of the grappling wire in her device and, with a twirl and a well-aimed shot, threw the end to wrap around one of the large tubes. She clicked one of the mechanics of her gloves and soon she was pulled up in the air, landing on the odd protruding edges in the buildings and continued to move forward.
She parkoured along the buildings before foot missed her step and sent her falling into solid concrete. Her breath got caught in her chest at the painful landing, her head throbbing. She took a moment to level her breathing back to normal before carefully pulling herself up. She patted herself to see if there's any injury and walked towards the end of the alley.
She looked around feeling lost when she emerged. The blinking lights alternate between low red and warm light, and the place filled with sweet-smelling smoke that was too sweet. She could hear some high-pitched voices talking and trilling, long hairs draped in pale shoulders with unusual but beautifully-decorated clothes.
It took Elan a few minutes to realize where she was, the knowledge sending her whole face blushing. Her eyes darted around in a mix of embarrassment and nervousness, looking for an exit, but then she noticed the pursuers quickly gaining close ground and decided to dart towards the right, sending objects and powders up in the air and many of the women hissing and trying to grab and claw her. She threw 'I'm sorry!' left and right as she ducked, jumping towards a pile of silky red cloth in a corner. The strong and heady scent from the cloths made her head fuzzy, and her arms felt heavy as she covered her mouth and nose.
She remembered from her lessons that many demons, especially women, had learned to adapt through the changes of human society and learned the best ways to entice and seduce their victims. She shut her eyes as her body begins to heat up, quickly pulling herself out of her hiding place before it affects her even worse. Her sight swimming, she stumbled around blindly along the walls to make up from her shaking legs. Her knees lost their strength and sent her tumbling to the side and through a door. She thought she heard someone crying in surprise before her eyes shut down.
Consciousness is slow to come back. Elan groaned as she tried to pry her eyes open. It was a nice surprise when she noted that the pulsing headache was gone, and her nose filled with a soft and relaxing floral and herbal scent. She took a deep breath and sighed as she could feel the pain from her scrapes and injuries lessening.
"Oh, are you awake?" a soft kind voice asked. Elan opened her eyes when she felt clothes shifting closely around her. Warm brown eyes were looking at her with a small relieved smile. "Your temperature cooled down half an hour ago, so I guessed you should be waking up soon. How are you feeling? Still dizzy?"
"I'm. . . feeling better," Elan replied as she tried to push into a sitting position. The woman helped her before grabbing a seat next to the bed.
"You were quite delirious when you stumbled into my door. You looked like you inhaled too much Red Nightshade powder, so your temperature's too high. Most demon women used the powder as rouges, but too much amount can cause death to humans in a few hours. It's a good thing that I still have some antidote to boil tea for you."
Elan looked around the room. It was small and sparsely decorated with only a few essential furnitures. There was a small boiler perched in a corner that was fashioned as a stove, as well, with a kettle on top. The bed she was in was a double, the covers soft in touch and in a surprising pastel color. There was a window close to the bed, and she could still the red low light blinking outside.
She cleared her throat, "Thank you for your help." She observed the woman in front of her, but she couldn't see anything different from her. "Um, excuse me for asking but, are you. . . human?"
The woman chuckled. "It's fine, and yes, I am a human. My name's Alora."
" My name's Elan. Have you been living here?"
"For many years now," the woman replied. She chuckled at the girl's reaction, "You look surprised."
"Well, this place is full of demons! How did you manage to survive here without being targeted?"
"I picked a thing or few," Alora smiled. "Having the skills to handle make-ups can bring a long way of ensuring your safety." The woman stood and fetched a large cup to give to Elan. "Here. We need to make sure to counter the powder's toxin in your body or you'll only get worst."
Elan thanked the woman and sniffed the tea. It smelled soothing and light, but she ended up spluttering before she even gulped her first sip. "Wow. This is, uh. . ."
Alora looked apologetic. "Demons have different diets than normal humans. I suggest taking it down in one go, if you can."
Elan grimaced but followed the suggestion, making sure to clamp her lips shut until all the liquid was gone. She still couldn't help the groan from slipping out. Alora only smiled in reply as she took the cup back.
The door opened and a small blur cling to the older woman's leg. "Mama, Mama! Those pasty idiots were chasing me again!"
"Jeo, language!" Alora replied before crouching down at eye-level with the child. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
The child shook his head and rubbed his nose as he let the woman fuss all over him. "I'm good. Mama, I was sooo fast that they can't even get close to me!"
Alora tutted, "You still shouldn't try to go and make them angry! What if one day they manage to capture you and then hurt you? Do you think Mama would not be scared and sad and cry about it?"
That caused a shift as the child quickly looked alarmed and apologetic. "No no! I'm sorry, I wouldn't do anything to make you sad!"
"Then promise me that you'll stop going down the bottom lairs and caused any troubles. I want you to stay as close to this district where I can easily find and see you. Is that clear?"
The child nodded and looked down the floor. Elan watched the whole exchange, recognizing the child.
The boy looked up, his eyes widening when he recognized Elan. "Ah! You were that girl earlier! The one I bumped into earlier while I was running!" Alora's eyes looked at her in surprise.
"Ehehe, uh yes, that's me." At the questioning look directed at her, Elan then started telling the older woman what happened after that and how she ended up in her door. She opted to not mention that she had shot eight of those demons before making an escape, and it seems that the kid didn't saw it, as well. By the end of it, Alora was looking down at Jeo in a scolding look.
"I'm sorry, it seems it was my son that got you into your present situation," the woman sighed. "But I'm thankful for you for saving my son. Heaven knows he always got himself into a lot trouble everyday, and it's always stressing me up." She got up and patted the child in the head. "Now, since this nice lady got poisoned because of your pursuers, make sure to give her your thanks and assist her while she's with us." The child obediently stood and thanked Elan, his black eyes round and earnest.
"Erm, it's really alright. Your mother helped me, too, so let's just call it even," Elan, feeling slightly embarrassed, replied. She then gave a small yawn.
Alora smiled, "You can stay with us for the night. You'll still need a few more cups to make sure that you're all clean and rested up. By noon, I imagine that you'll get back to feeling your legs again."
"Thank you. I appreciate it," Elan replied. She bit back a yawn as she felt her eyelids getting heavy.
Alora chuckled, "Drowsiness is a side-effect from the tea. You can go back and lie down on the bed. Dinner is going to be ready in a hour or so, we'll make sure to wake you up then."
Elan still had a lot of things she wants to ask about: where this place really is, how to leave, and how had she managed to live in this place for years with a young child--a son that's most probably a half-demon, ut the call to sleep was too hard for her to fight. A few seconds later, she had fallen in a dreamless sleep.