Five minutes had passed, then ten, finally at the fifteen-minute mark, the explosions, and other nerve-wracking sounds from the fight in the distance had faded. Aiden must have reached the world of light by then, but the young man, with his heart in his throat ready to vomit, continued to run through the night.
The only thing in the distance were the symmetrical streetlamps that illuminated portions of the road and warehouses. More than once he may have passed by the same ones; he couldn't be certain, but just started to get that impression himself.
Continuing like this was not a viable option, to catch his breath, Aiden sought refuge under one of the streetlamps. Not even a minute came to pass when he heard the footsteps of someone approaching.
All the hairs on his body stood on end, as if they were about to take off, leaving him a perfectly bald. It was then that he realized that his small safe space under the light meant nothing. And had been foolish to top it, as he was even in the easiest place to find. Aiden felt like a mosquito that flew straight into the flames.
From the darkness, a figure emerged, crossing the wall of light, three posts in between where Aiden was. It was a girl with red hair in a white one-piece. He let out a sigh of relief, after all, she had tried to save him just now. Maybe he was mistaken at first and everything had been a misunderstanding; Aiden wanted to believe then and there.
He noticed that one side of the dress had been dyed red, and a large portion of it. The tips of her hair were charred, the base of the dress too, and her barefooted feet were completely black, covered in ash and dirt.
—So it's you… Wait, you're hurt! —Aiden said, still unaware of how dear much it would cost him.
The girl propelled herself towards Aiden; he just blinked, but the girl was falling over him. The weight easily overcame his tired legs.
With Aiden captured under her, Mina Neri's arms shivered with each friction, already gnawing at him. He tried to shake her to no avail; her strength was just that impressive. Exerting all his strength could not even loosen the grip. Without giving him time to call out for help, she rushed, thirsty, on his neck, the prominent and thin fangs.
There was not even three seconds of contact and the effects became apparent to both. Mina shook her body as if she were crossing through a mild seizure; Aiden, on the other hand, felt a piercing penetration a second and light head the next, dazed to numbness.
It was only three seconds, but for him, who experienced something entirely different from his attacker, it felt much more than that: Neck up, a warm and floating sensation, as if he was drugged. The rest of his body, however, was slowly invaded by a dreaded cold. Starting with the tips of the fingers in both arms, then the feet followed, his stomach felt upset, to say the least, and, frankly, he peed a little.
—Stop! Don't do this, please! —the young man pleaded—. HEEELLP!!!
—Ahgiiah! It doesn't feel so bad, does it? I think this could become a thing for us —she was present, but the seemed lost. The ecstasy in her voice was an unfamiliar element even for her—. At least I, for my part, am delighted. I have never lacked anything more than blood to recover, but this is the first time the effect's so fast. Sooo revitalizing! One bite and I already feel full of energy. Let's go for seconds… It feels so… Right… So good… As if something fits. Ah… Ouch!
The last expression was due to the sole of the shoe that had pounced into the vampire's face. She had appeared with her leg extended and exploding anger. It was Maika, who, because of a bad feeling—not for anything else, she would have sworn—, decided to escape from the hotel room.
She was heading to the dormitory of the careless boy when she felt the strong fluctuations of magic in the surroundings and finally managed to penetrate the barrier to found the horrific scene unfolding.
Aiden could not put words to what he felt at that moment, the joy, and relief were incomparable to anything he had felt in the past. He was about to call the name of his savior, when his intentions were cut off by the girl herself.
—MONSTER —heavy voice, and concentrated gaze; every fiber of Maika's body tensed to the breaking point—. Don't believe for a second that you will get out of here.
Aiden immediately noticed that something was wrong. He tried talking to her, but focused solely on the vampire, she ignored the rebel-haired boy. His words bounced off an icy wall, being melted from the inside in the worst way, sinking everything that the person named Maika Kerstin, or at least what Aiden knew of her, was.
Completely dominated by an inexplicable volcanic emotion, she materialized a silver pistol in the air and pulled the trigger without discretion; one, two, three, four, five… eleven and twelve times without rest at Mina Neri, who with her speed managed to dodge most of the shots. But Maika was not a novice, she cornered her and limited her options until, with the eleventh bullet, hit the target.
This penetrated the same side of the dress that was stained red with blood and imploded her right side, the sudden force made her fly out to a concrete wall near the sidewalk. The twelfth bullet, which should have been used to blow Mina's brains out, failed completely. Drawing the trajectory, it crossed where Mina had been before the small explosion inside of her. A highly uncommon error on Maika's part, which spoke volumes about her current state.
—Tch. Lucky bitch —she spat with disdain, then bit a piece off her wrist; with her foot and the spilled blood, drew an alchemical circle. Once complete, she gave a thunderous stomp to the drawing, and sparks, as if by ignition, detached, leaving a trail reminiscent of an electrical circuit.
Although it did not reach her directly, Mina crashed against the wall from the force of the explosion. Pieces of concrete fell irregularly and in large chunks. These chunks, as if time were running in reverse, stopped in midair and rose back up. Being transmuted, instead of reforming the wall, the matter arched around the red-haired girl, holding her in place.
It felt like an aboriginal coffin as she was trapped between the concrete; a very tight one. Aiden thought he heard, among all the noise of bending concrete, the unmistakable sound of eggs being pushed to the breaking point.
Maika almost imperceptibly switched the gun's magazine. She dropped the empty one and exchanged it midair for a new one, grabbed it with her other hand and, with a subtle push, fitted it into the gun. So far, she had not spared any resources, and, having the advantage, she would not allow herself to relax for a second. From beginning to end, she was all in, and this was the result.
—Maika…—pleaded Aiden. His words falling on deaf ears.
She didn't care if her opponent was injured, dying, sleeping, with their family, etc. Maika would fulfill her duty. The time she doubted, an innocent boy was caught up in it, and almost lost his life. The most painful thing for her was, however, that the boy had come to be of this world.
If she was fighting anything now, it was the desire to toy with her prey, to torment that thing, to get information; to appease the sadistic ghost that had possessed her.
—What a great show.
Even Maika hadn't noticed the moment when the tall man in priest attire, and the little nun, appeared before announcing: "I couldn't ask for a better halftime, but the show must go on."