Discovering Darah

The oldest among the men looked at Darah head to toe and asked Lyra. "Now now Miss Lyra. Is this your friend? No lies alright! " The man who was sitting next to her smiled. Lyra was silent, anger written in her eyes. They were purposefully doing this to mock her as her lips were taped up. On the other hand, Darah had attracted the attention of one of the men. He inched closer as he whispered something into her ear.

"It's getting a little hot isn't it? Why don't we get that top off of you? " 

Darah got so enraged by those disgusting words that she immediately punched him in the face, the man stepping back with a bloody nose. Lyra was shocked to see her guts but closed her eyes in fear because she knew these men wouldn't leave her alive. The very next second, she heard a loud scream which was muffled immediately. Then when Lyra opened her eyes again, Darah was on the ground, suffocating for breath. The man on top of her was kicking her repeatedly without a stop. He took Darah's phone which kept ringing and threw it on the ground, shredding it into pieces. 

"MMPH!! " Lyra screamed through her taped mouth, feeling helpless and angry at herself. It was all because of her that some poor girl was suffering now. These men were only after Aldric but now she has involved that girl too. 

"Miss Lyra. Your father had promised to come alone. But where? May I know? " The old man glared and ripped off the tape, hurting Lyra. She coughed and looked at him with exhausted eyes. 

"Are you really going to wait for him to come all the way from America? " Lyra spat. The old man was angry beyond words. He slapped her harshly and squeezed her cheeks. 

"That was not what you told me before. You sly bitch! " The man put the tape on her again. 

"Hurry! One of you get the car. We can't keep her here any longer. " The man ordered and one of them complied.

Darah was running out of strength to scream. No one was going to help her at this point…  In a final attempt to escape, she held the man who was kicking her tightly by his leg. The man stopped in confusion but screamed later when Darah bit him aggressively. She wasn't letting go no matter how hard he tried to push her. The pain was unbearable, drawing blood through his clothes. 

"You filthy piece of shit! How dare you! " Darah quickly got up from the floor but he caught hold of her pink jacket. In anger she slipped through it so that the stranger was left holding her jacket only as she ran. I have to get to someone. I have to! 

"Get her! She can't escape!! " The old man yelled in fear. Two of the men rushed after her and one of them stabbed her not too deep on her arm, sending a loud wail of help. 

"People will hear her. Get her back! " One of the men pulled her keeping a hand over her lips but to his surprise, Darah pulled out the plunged knife from her left arms and struck it straight over his chest. The man fell back on the ground, watching cautiously how the woman looked at him through eyes devoid of emotion. His shoulder was bleeding profusely. The other man who had just caught up to them advanced in anger but his voice vanished into thin air when a bright light glowed behind Darah, making her look suddenly like a goddess. 

Darah was out of this world, blinking in shock. She felt something sharp fly right past the stray strands of her hair and cut right into the man's skull. He fell dead right on spot, without a single noise other than a thud. She couldn't understand a single thing but the man whom she had stabbed was now crawling back in fear. Why is he afraid of me? He was angry only a few seconds before… 

"I-It's the devil they were talking about-" The man was whispering to himself as if he had gone mad. 

Looking ahead, Darah saw the woman whom they called Lyra walking towards them with a bunch of men in black attires. She was rescued... When? She turned behind to where the light was and saw a car and a silhouette approaching her with his face covered by a black mask. His long locks of hair was swaying side by side as he pulled out something from his black coat. Darah stepped back to a side in fear, not knowing what to do. The man on the ground was shaking in fear.

"Spare me. Please spare m-" Suddenly the man lying on the ground went quiet as the suppressed gun fired into his skull. Darah was panting in fear, blood on her hands and clothes. She looked at the dead body right in front of her and when the black attired man turned around, her mind lost it.

"Ryu! Please help her! She's badly hurt! " Lyra said, her eyes tearful as she tried to approach them. Her own hands were red and blood had clotted were they tied her tight with the ropes. Darah was confused and scared altogether. Will he kill me too? I saw him kill someone right in front of me. He won't spare me...

"Take the bodies away... " Ryu ordered the men as he kept his gaze fixed on the unknown girl. Her eyes were so familiar but he didn't know from where. As he walked closer to her shaking body, his mask slipped slowly from a side of his face, letting Darah see his prominent black tattoo that ran under his left eye... His face resembled that of a cold blooded monster with an angelic appearance. It scared her even more to stand so close to him.

"You... Why are you here? " Ryu's voice that sounded so cold before now seemed to be so full of warmth. Why is he coming near me? Why is he pulling out his hand towards me? 

Behind Ryu, someone else was watching Darah with the same curious eyes, except that he was in shock. 

Darah Chen…  What have you gotten yourself into… Devin thought to himself, trying his best to keep himself hidden under the mask. He felt a pang on his chest looking at her, her clothes ripped and blood all over her hands. 

"Darah… Isn't that your name? Don't be scared. Look at me. " Lyra called out from behind Devin but it was of no use. She was in shock. Ryu observed how she was looking at him with hostility. Her breathing was rigged and it looked like she would fall any second. And just like that as Darah stepped back one more time from Ryu, her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body failed. 

Ryu strode forward and held her quickly because he expected it from her stature. He noticed how the wound on her arm was causing blood to drip down profusely. He had never felt so much pity for a person before. She looked so frail… So little to him. He removed his coat immediately and wrapped it around her body and took her into his arms. 

"We cannot take her to the hospital." Luca, one of the men said. He was right. The hospital might get them entangled with the cops. Ryu was silent. 

"Well, do you suppose that she die!? " Lyra yelled, her eyes streaming with tears. Devin was equally concerned, wondering what to do. 

"Call Dr. Eliza. She can help. We don't want to get in trouble with the hospital. " Ryu said at last as he got into the car with Darah in his arms. Lyra felt horrible because somehow she felt like she got herself into this mess. So she followed Ryu and got into the back seat. What if Darah hadn't come, Lyra thought. 

"Ryu… Let me take care of her." Lyra said guilt ridden but Ryu seemed enough tired of her bullshit. He carefully placed the unconscious girl's head over his chest while softly pressing on her wound to lessen the blood flow. Lyra wiped her tears before she placed Darah's legs over her lap.