The moment that she heard her name from her side, she immediately felt relief at the familiar baritone voice.
"Hu...gh"
Leticia's voice was trembling and her words cracked. It was because she saw Hugh's body bath in blood like the one standing in front of her cloth in black.
She unconsciously swallowed a lump in her throat that was making it hard to breathe. Leticia doesn't know how she should react to this situation, if she should scream, run away, or just stand there just as she is doing now.
Hugh who saw Leticia's body lightly trembled as she stood there like a statue and with her golden eyes that shook as if telling him to explain the situation that was happening in front of her.
He dropped the foot of the corpse that Hugh was dragging and decided to approach her. He knew that Leticia must have been confused as to what was happening the moment she stepped in her house.
Hugh knew that Leticia had a schedule that she always followed and that was why he knew the time when Leticia would get home. However the sudden ambush caught him off guard.
He tried to finish them off as soon as possible but the numbers of the assassins that found him was not a number that could be done in a few minutes.
"Mike…" Hugh called the man that was clothed in all black and was standing in the middle of the garden.
Mike turned his head to acknowledge his commander's call.
"Get out of here and take care of "that"."
Hugh said as one of the assassins fled the moment that he realized that the situation leaned towards their end.'That assassin must be the one to report to their master when something like this happened.' he thought.
"Yes, Sir." Mike answered as he realized what his commander thought.
But before he leaves, Mike glanced at the lady and saw an expression of surprise, fear and devastation all over her face.
He tilted his head and felt sorry for the Miss as he saw how she stood there frozen in shock.
'Well, it's no surprise to feel that way since she saw something that she should not have.' Mike thought to himself then he squinted his eyes as if he recalled something.
'But why do I feel that I saw her face somewhere?' Mike was trying hard to search for his memories and as if a lightning struck his brain he recalled what his commander called the woman.
'He called her name as Leticia, right? Is she the famous beauty of Oakland? Wait…' Mike's eyes became wide open as he realized something. It was as if a cold water was poured in his body.
'The commander called the Miss without honorifics?! Is this real?! … and they called each other's names?! What the hell happened in the meantime that he was hiding here?!''
Mike's mind was going on a rollercoaster ride with assumptions. However, it was cut short when he felt someone's sharp gaze.
Gulp!
Mike saw his Commander looking at him with a deadly stare that sent shivers throughout his spine and that seemed to be telling him to disappear and catch the assassin or else he will be the first to vanish and depart from this world.
He closed his eyes accepting the fact that his commander was someone who got a name for himself as the Grim Reaper of the battlefield.
'I should leave before he kills me.'
***
Leticia saw the man clothed in black bow his head towards Hugh before he left the scene and entered the forest that was not far from her house.
The moment that Leticia realized that the man with a scary face was someone Hugh knew and seemed to be his companion, she was relieved.
However, because she was in a situation that just made her whole existence in danger, Leticia couldn't help but heightened her senses and was on alert mode.
"Hugh… what the hell is happening here?" She asked in determination but her voice still quiver.
"Leticia… let me explain."
"That's right… I need an explanation of what this is!" She screamed.
"I'll explain Leticia, please just calm down first." Hugh tried her best to make his voice soothing to make her feel that he's not someone that would harm her.
But contrary to his expectation, Leticia reacted the opposite.
"Calm down?! Calm down, Hugh?! Are you right on your head? You expect me to calm down in this situation when all I see is my garden decorated with limbs, half cut bodies, and instead of clear water was now showered in blood?!"
Hugh knew that she's in a state of shock. It was to be expected since even now the iron smells lingered in the air and corpses of the slain assassins were lying near her feet. He knew that she would need an explanation before she could trust him again.
Hugh shut his mouth. He knew that he had caused a lot of problems to her since the moment that he collapsed in her garden.
He decided to approach her slowly but Leticia unconsciously stepped back the moment he moved which made Hugh stop too.
He raised both his hands in the air as a means of not harming her. Hugh thought that with this gesture she would feel a little bit of his sincerity that he's not someone to harm his benefactor who saved his life.
Leticia who watched his action scowled at him. And realize what Hugh was trying to convey.
"Fine… I'll calm down and hear you out but first… do something with these…" she said as she gestured at the corpses that scattered in her garden as she massaged her temple that was impending with headache.
"Alright… Go inside first and just give me ten minutes, I'll follow you inside then."
"Ten minutes? Would that be enough?"
"Ten minutes is plenty…"
Leticia narrowed her brows as she became baffled how he would fit ten minutes into doing all the digging and gathering the corpses but then decided to let the thought pass.
'Ignorance is bliss…' she thought before she turned around and entered the back door of her house.
***
Hugh saw her step inside the house and the glass window shone as the lights turned on and cast a shadow that reflected the interior.
He then recalled how Leticia coped up with the situation and calmed herself down faster than the people that also witnessed such scenes.
It was never easy for anyone to see something gruesome and not pass out at soon as they saw the corpses but Leticia immediately gained her composure. It was impressive if Hugh thought about it.
"I should clean this up before she gets angry again…'
***
As soon as Leticia stepped inside the house and closed the door she immediately felt her senses that were alert earlier come back to normal.
However, she still felt out of breath and so she stood still and tried to calm her nerves down.
After the house illuminated a small portion of the house per instruction of Hugh as a safety precaution, she plopped down on the sofa and leaned her head.
She then mumbled, "What the hell is with this situation?"
She was happy when she thought about coming home to cook for the first time after so long since Hugh became assigned to that chore.
But what welcomed her was a situation that she could never dream of happening to her.
"If this was a movie, I want it to end! I want to get out! Why do I need to experiencing it firsthand, I don't need it…" She sighs before she continued her complain. "I thought living in this peaceful town would guarantee a peaceful life too. Who would have thought that I would experience this?!"
A flash of the scene entered her mind as she closed her eyes. She felt shivers when she recalled it and immediately opened her eyes.
She wanted it to be a dream. It could also be a nightmare.
However, Leticia knew that even if she wished it to be one, the vivid odor of the iron was mixed in the air that even now she could smell and the cold sweat on her forehead and back insisted that it was real.
At that moment, a blue light suddenly erupted and illuminated the back garden.
Leticia narrowed her brows and squinted her eyes before it widened until the whites in her eyeball became visible as realization and shock hit her.
'Don't tell me...'