Since she have issues balancing her work and training, Ashnah submitted her resignation letter for her current work in order for her to concentrate on her training. She'll be receiving a specified amount for her monthly salary from the organization for being part of it; so she'll have no problem with her financials by the time she'll received her last pay from her previous work .
"Heyaaaa, Aaash!" It was Monette. There's only a small number of females who joined the organization.
As per their conversation with Cale, who occasionally joined them during their breaks, men of their organization prefer women who works under their organization to avoid lying from their partners. Their organization does not permit relaying the nature of their org as well as the capabilities of the person involved to the outsiders. This is to avoid leaking the information of their plans and missions to their enemies, as their enemies could be cloaking themselves as a gifted warrior's beloved.
These people are called the Drifters. Drifters are also gifted warriors who have been led astray or who have conscioulsly made a pact with a demon or the devil himself. That already happened once years ago. That is why the organization had become stricter since then.
"Hey, Monette," she waved back. Monette jumped at her as soon as she was just an arm's length, hugging Ashnah tightly like they have not seen each other for a year.
"Hey, scrawny prawn," Norze pointed out. "Stop doing that to Ashnah."
"Don't be too envious, Norze. It's good to be a female. I can embrace Ashnah as much as I can," she stuck her tongue out towards him.
"Monette is just being a child, Norze," she said.
"Whatever," he said, annoyed.
"You know what, you two probably are meant for each other," Ashnah teased.
"What?!" They answered in unison, both gaping at her like it's the most ridiculous thing in the world.
"See? You got the same vibes," Ashnah chuckled.
"Stop doing that, Ash. Who would like a flagpole like him?"
"I'm lean, squirk. I'm not even too tall; you're just a total midget," he smirked as he looked down on her.
"Come on, kids, don't let your mom have a hard time controlling you," It was Cale. He winked at Ashnah briefly.
"Who are you saying kids? Mom? And you're what? Our dad?" Monette acted like puking.
"Isn't it obvious?" His sunny smile is still plastered on his face like no one could ever take it off.
"That's one gross thing to say, Cale," Monette
"Stop making the situation awkward, Cale," said Norze. He has never been comfortable with Cale around. Despite that, he still hangs around them.
Ashnah pushed her embarrassment aside. For her, Cale is just too flirty for her taste. However, it does not mean he could not make her heart flutter like how it is right now. Though she managed to calm it down.
"You should calm yourselves, kids," she laughed to ease the tension. "How was your mission?"
"That's how a sweetheart should be to her darling," Cale answered.
Ashnah rolled her eyes. 'And here I am, trying to ease the tension.'
"Cale, I'm gonna puke, like seriously?" Monette said.
"Cale, please be serious," Ashnah pleaded.
"Alright, alright. Ms. Guenevista have assigned missions for the newbies. Just the simple ones to test our capabilities." He handed them the stapled bondpapers. As soon as they finished reading them, they turned to ashes.
"What the---?"
"How---what if we can't remember the details?"
Ashnah was speechless for a moment.
"Relax," Cale said nonchalantly. "If you develop your spiritual gift, you'll be able to tell that the spirit scroll embedded on the paper that was just burned is currently in front of you.
"So, we need to open our spiritual eye?" Ashnah asked.
"Let me explain it thoroughly. There are levels of opening of the spiritual eye before we can say it is fully opened. It is also difficult to distinguish each dimension when our spiritual eye is fully opened. That's why it is not highly adviseable to open your spiritual eyes fully."
"So, which level should we have so we can see the content of the scroll?" Monette asked, her focused steady.
"All that you need is concerntrate your spiritual aura towards your eyes," Cale explained.
All of them listened carefully for this explanation, even the awkward Norze.
Seeing how they can't grasped how to do it, Cale thought of a way to guide them. "Let me help you see what it feels like." One by one he held their hands, Monette first and Norze. He instructed them further as to what they need to do to activate their spiritual eye.
"Oh, I can see it!" Monette exclaimed excitedly.
Norze though does not want to admit it, he was impressed as he got the gist of how to control the spiritual energy.
"Let me hold your hands," Cale said to Ashnah with that wolfish grin.
Ashnah, though suspicious of his intentions, held out her hand so she could learn what they have discussed. She felt a familiar warmth crept beneath her skin, giving her goosebumps as it passes through. She felt scared but Cale held her hand tighter.
"Give it sometime to settle," he instructed.
Goosebumps followed wherever the spiritual energy went inside her body. It was just running around with no direction. She felt it clashed something inside of her.
"Ashnah, command it with your will. It seemed to collide with your own spiritual power. Will it to coordinate with your own spiritual energy," Cale instructed.
Ashnah, breathe heavily as she tried to control the tumult inside of her. She feels like swimming in the middle of a river, which current is running in different directions. The energies are overwhelming. She imagind grabbing both of the current and pulled them together. It was chaos at first and she felt her sweat formed and trickled on her skin as she focused more on fusing the two.
"You can do it, Ash," Cale encouraged.
She was able to combine both of the current of energies until they flowed in unison inside her. Only then was she able to slowly release her breath.
"Now, concentrate the activated energy towards your eyes."
She did so and her happiness over her small accomlishment overflowed as she saw what Cale was talking about. She turned to Cale. "I can see it!"
Cale beamed at her, proud of her small accomplishment. "That's it."
***
Their mission is to stop the demon-infected stalker. As per the report, the stalker is after voluptuous girls with wavy hair. So far, he had only stalked his targets. He had never done anything else except for that. It was already seven o'clock in the evening. They have prepared the setting. Since Ashnah has the most natural features that the stalker want to have, she'll take the role of a bait for their mission.
Everyone was on their own hiding station, waiting for the right time to come out and start entraping the demonic spirit.
Ashnah tried to relax. It's just that she does feel anxious about this mission. Her stomach keeps churning like something bad is bound to happen. She sucked the air harshly and released it in one go. Taking one last glance on the powder mirror she has, she puckered her lips and kept the mirror to her bag. She's currently in the narrow alley. Standing on the bushes near the lightpole is Cale. Monette is disguising herself as an old beggar just near the entrance of the alley. While Norze is on the roof of the nearest house just towering her.
"Everything is okay. Everything is going to be fine," she said, calming herself. She's wearing a short denim skirt in navy blue that was barely reaching the half of her thighs. And a see through bonnet blouse that reveals her sportsbra inside. She's wearing a wedge sneakers instead of stilleto heels to keep her blance when she needs to move around during the entrapment.
It was nearly an hour, and she's nearly freezing in the cold when she felt a chill ran down her spine. What was that?
The moonlight suddenly grew dark. Wrap? Did it already started? But I didn't received the signal.
She felt a heavy presence that just entered the wrap. She was profusedly sweating for unknown reason.
"My, my, my. What a good catch you are, little babe. Newbies at the academy, huh?" That sent insane shivers on her whole body. When she attempted to look at the newcomer, she felt her stomache churned.
The man in the coat has the eyes of a psycho, grinning like crazy with his tongue stucked to one side of his mouth like he's was consuming an invisible lollipop.
"W-Who--?" her shivering stopped her from muttering another word.
He wrapped his fingers on her cheeks, squizing her. "Non, non, darling. You know who I am, you're husband, right?" But then the pyscho remembered something. He reached for his pocket and pulled out a photograph. His gaze went back and forth from Ashnah to the photograph. He clucked his tongue in disappointment.
Her body froze. She tried swallowing the lump on her throat. W-what can I do? She tried to calm herself down. She needs to think. She needs to buy time for her comrades to come and get her. As per Fina, she connects to the infected soul through her sympathy for their siutation. However, she have no idea how it really works out. And unlike the previous enemies, she cannot see anything that she might be able to connect with the strange man. 'Could this be perhaps a...drifter?'
He was oozing with danger. His perverse aura is telling her so.
She gathered her strength. And with the strength, she pushed him hard and ran away as fast as she could. She heard his laughter echoed everywhere.
"You won't be able to go anywhere, sweetie," he screamed. He suddenly appeared right in front of her. "Told you so, sweetheart!" He clasped her face with just his right hand. That was the last thing that Ashnah remembered before everything turned pitch black.
*********
The sound of the droplets of water awaken Ashnah's consiousness. There was a thick smell of blood in the air. She blinked thrice, trying to adjust her eyes to the darkness around her. When her eyes were able to adjust and able to see the surroundings slowly, the scenery left her gaping. She felt her hair stood in trepidation. The room was full of bedbunks. And the bedbunks were turned into cages with a thin cushion on its flooring and wooden railings. There are girls in each cage. There are still some cages that were empty--. She almost puked upon realizing what the dark smudges on the cage are. Blood. And a hefty amount of it. Her breath quickened. Tears began forming on her eyes. 'How did I get in here? When will they come find me?' Thinking about her comrades, she scanned the area checking if one of the cages have her colleagues in it. But she see none of them. That sent some sort of relief to her chest. At the same time, she was able to check the surroudings more. There are no windows. She heard the creaking of metals from above. It was becoming clearer as it gets nearer. Unlocking of heavy metal padlocks. A familiar laugh.
'Am I going to die here?' She tried to grasp any positive thoughts in her brain but she saw none. Would begging do her well? Footsteps draw in. A pair of feet finally stopped just in front of her cage. 'No begging will bend the will of this crazy jerk.' That's what she realized upon looking at his smiling face.
"How are you hanging there, princess?" he said with a slight chuckle at the end. "Count yourself lucky, our master doesn't want you dead." His eyes grew wider realizing what he just said, "Oh, my, oh my! You just made me spill the beans!" He clasped his hands together, excitement raced on his eyes. "I wonder how he's going to punish me!" With laughter he got up, leaving Ashnah shaking in fear.
'No, this is not the time to be frightened.' She said to herself, praying that could help calm her down. 'He said so himself that whoever his master is, he won't want me dead. So he must want something from me.' Ashnah satisfied herself with the thought that it might not be her time yet.
"But, but, but!" The crazy guy went back to her. "He did not stated that I can't do you harm!" He exclaimed. He excitedly ran to his toolbox, trying to find something from it.
Ashnah's felt her strength weakening. 'Please, someone, please! Hurry!' Tears trickled down her face. She did not want to show any weakness but her fear has conquered her heart at the moment. She curled herself and embraced her knees.
"No one's gonna get you! None's gonna get you!" The psycho keeps on chanting. Then he laughed crazily.
'No, they're going to be here. They're going to rescue me.' She refused to succumb entirely to her fear. She fisted her shaking palms and tried again to calm herself.
She heard an old alarm clock rang somewhere. Then something was smacked down. The alarm died down. He went back again to her cage. He sighed heavily. "It's a pity that I have something scheduled to do. I would really like to cut some of your long slender, lazy fingers." He clacked his tongue and shook his head, with an obvious disappointment. "But you better watch out and better not cry cause I'm coming to town!"
He walked towards someone else's cage. It was a teenage girl. The girl screamed out of fear. The more she screamed the more the psycho laughs. "That's it! That's it!"
Ashnah began shaking again. She pushed her palms against her ears to block out the screaming of the girl. "Please stop!"
The door banged open. Ashnah's eyes were hopeful when her eyes met the familiar edgy ones. "Cale!"
She didn't know what happened. Cale just stood meters away from the psycho. The psycho just flew in the air and was thrown on the cemented wall. Cale hurried to her cage and yanked it effortlessly. She crawled towards the entrance. He pulled her over and took her to his arms. His warmth gradually made Ashnah tear up. Fear welled up on her and she bursted in tears.
"Shh," Cale caressed her back. "It's okay, you're safe."
People burst inside the dark room with their flashlights and guns. The unconscious psycho was taken. Monette was teary eyed when she reached them. Norze was furious and worried at the same time. They gave enough space for her to breathe.
"No questions at the moment," Cale firmly said. His usual playful face is now stern with rage. He lifted her on her arms and walked out of the horrible area.
Ashnah felt exhaustion settled down on her core. Her eyes dropped until darkness took her.
"Ash!" She heard Monette.
"She's just exhausted. Let her rest. We'll talk to her when she wakes up."