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The man took a step towards Mae, and she took a step back.
He took another step, and she found herself with her back to a dead-end wall.
There was nowhere to go.
Mae started sweating out of sheer terror, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to escape this man right now.
At that realization, her legs started to tremble and give way.
"Now, now, don't worry, girl." The man said, as he closed the distance to her, and wiped a bead of sweat off Mae's face, and Mae twitched off contact.
"You're afraid, and shaking, like a little kitten. How cute is that?" He said, his voice dripping with the ego of having power over someone. The full moon out that day, which was up high, painted an ominous glow on him.
"S-stop-" Mae's voice wavered and disappeared as she tried to say something, but she couldn't form any coherent sentences. She just froze as the man came within inches of her face, rubbing his hands on her tender lips.
He leaned in and lifted a piece of Mae's (long) hair to his lips. Kissing it, he took in her scent.
"Damn, you smell amazing girl, looks like I'm in for a treat tonight." He smiled widely as his eyes blazed with some unknown emotion.
The difference in physical builds was massive. There was no way out of this.
A chill went through Mae as she stared at the crazy man. "Le..Let go..."
Mae just stood there in terror a massive arm tightly wrapped around her waist, and despite her resistance, she couldn't set herself free. "G-gah let me go!" She screamed but to no avail.
Her voice was being drowned by the noise of the city. To an average citizen, that was just another scream in the veil of noise that had become familiar to the city, especially at night.
His other free hand slowly traveled down from her hair, and Mae felt a chill on her right shoulder.
"M-my dress!?" She thought, and as she turned, the man had pulled down her shoulder strap.
"P-please, I'm begging you," Mae said, tears in her eyes, pleading helplessly to this animal. The plea fell on deaf ears.
Mae's mind flashed back to Mrs. Evelyn's words.
"A girl like you aimlessly roaming this world terrifies me."
Mae just missed Trudid's serene landscape so much, she wanted to go back there.
Just then, the man fell silent as an eerie whistle pierced the alley, and the hair on Mae's back stood up.
The melody of the whistle was eerie, but it also sounded beautiful.
"Who is it?" The man asked, and Mae could sense the tension in his voice. Both of their eyes were drawn to a dark section of the alley, from where the sound seemed to be originating.
A boot stepped out of the shadows, the sound of the boot meeting the floor echoing across the alley as the entire town's noise seemed to be drowned out for them.
A soft orange glow was visible from the region of his face, and right above that, were two piercing blue eyes that glowed in the dark. The same pair of eyes that Mae had met at the exhibit.
The man finally stepped out of the shadows and was clad in a black leather suit, smoking a cigarette. When he stepped into the moonlight though, the suit revealed itself to be the darkest shade of blue.
He continued walking up to the man who was holding Mae, and he was shocked by his lack of fear or even respect.
It was a type of walk that didn't even recognize this man as a threat.
"What's the big idea, punk? Get lost!" The man screamed, his eyes wide as the confidence in the guy's stride could mean only one thing: He's strong.
Without hesitation, the man tightened his fist. "Oraaaaaaa!" The man released and made his way over to the man in the suit at a terrifying speed, and he threw a haymaker.
*fwip*
with the hand that held the cigarette between the index and middle fingers, he easily deflected the oncoming punch and sent him running and crashing into a couple of garbage cans nearby, before bringing the cigarette back to his mouth and taking another puff.
"It's so hot tonight, isn't it?" He turned to Mae and asked, a small smile on his face, as he adjusted his suit's bow, which was white.
Mae was just shocked and wasn't in a state to speak, so she just nodded.
"I know right?? Haahahahahaha" The man burst into laughter, at which point the delinquent got up again, this time running at him with a metal lid in hand.
Mae pointed in terror, but the man had his back on him and seemed to be completely ignorant of his approach.
"W-watch out!" Mae finally mouthed those words.
"For what?" He casually asked as he flicked the cigarette butt which was still glowing in the direction of the charging pervert.
Mae watched in awe, as the cigarette suddenly turned into a wall of flames, blocking the path, and sending him flying back. Mae wasn't even close and she could feel the heat.
The cigarette butt then hit the floor, and the entire alley burst into flames, as the mysterious man now turned to the downed delinquent, a devious smile on his face.
"J-Just who the hell are you?!" The man asked, groaning as the flames had burnt the skin on his face.
"Someone of no consequence. You can call me Ayden though." The man in the suit said with a cold voice, as he pulled out another cigarette and lit it up. Surprisingly, imbuing magic into cigarettes while I took a puff worked like a charm, you know?" He said, a small giggle escaping his mouth.
Mae was more terrified of this man than anything else. If people like him existed in the city, how could she even live?
She couldn't even defend when it was needed the most.
The smile on Ayden's face quickly disappeared, and was replaced with a grim expression. He stood in front of the delinquent, with the soft moonlight from the sky, and the burning alley giving him an otherworldly illumination.
Mae couldn't help but notice his uncanny presence as one of a grim reaper. Someone who takes lives.
"Delinquents like you who lay their hand on innocent women, must die." He said in a cold voice, as he raised his hand.
With a single swipe, all Mae could see, was the delinquent's head flying off into the night sky, and a fountain of blood erupting in front of them.
Blood now stained on his dress, he turned around and asked Mae in a gentle voice again "Are you doing okay?"