The heroine wears black

From the top of the building, Helena laughed like a child, trying not to make any noise.

Aila shook her head with a simple smile and Blair had her hand covering her face.

Her expression was mysterious as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

Down below, now weak and injured after fighting with two, the young man was unilaterally beaten by the last man.

"I told you. Never trust the redheads and blondes, right? Have you ever seen a hero worry about makeup by any chance?"

Finding her own joke too funny to contain, her laughter only increased.

Aila found her words interesting because she felt a bit of experience and truth in them. Her thoughts sharpened along with her eyes and Blair asked the question she was itching not to ask.

"Right. You should trust our old lady's advice, after all, you've seen a lot of heroes, haven't you? Jesus was dark-skinned, then?"

"Pftt", Aila couldn't handle the tone and the question. She turned her face away but couldn't stop laughing.

She was sure Blair had an arrogant and victorious smile now, but she didn't turn around while Helena looked at her.

When she turned around, the two were taking advantage of the silence with their vicious smiles. A second fight was about to break out.

"There are already enough fights down there. Let's stop here and... Okay. It's almost over. Let's go before you take your frustration out on the villain."

Blair was the first to look away and agree. Her serious appearance didn't disguise the fear of having stepped on the cat's tail.

"Tsk. I guess I'll have to do it for her. You don't make fun of a lady's age", the last part was muttered spitefully.

Aila gave Blair a telepathic look.

'Apologize later.'

Her eyebrows and lips pursed.

'Right,' Aila was surprised.

'That was easy.'

Turning around, she turned her attention back to the alley.

"Huh, what happened? It's over now."

"You're the hero, after all," Blair commented playfully.

But they both felt something was wrong.

"It wasn't that," Helena's gaze was serious.

"The redhead had just fallen when the villain went to kick him. Then he fell too. Something..."

She couldn't finish her explanation.

At that moment, a loud bang happened down below. The young woman had disappeared and reappeared at the end of the alley, against a wall destroyed by the impact, over the body of another young man.

The injured young man seemed to have passed out and the girl, out of her mind.

Slowly, she lowered her face.

Closer, almost like a dog sniffing a dead prey.

The young man must have been alive since she couldn't hold back anymore. She lowered her face as she wrapped her arms around him. Her fangs had already come out and she looked thirsty.

When the trio got down, their young lady had lost all composure, with one arm supporting her body and the other sinking into the wall, she looked like a fusion of a monster in the body of a child who had been thirsty all her life.

Which she actually was.

"Help me stop her. The boy is going to die at this rate," Aila said asking for confirmation.

Helena was looking somewhere else.

A really dark corner of the alley distorted before their eyes. From there a woman in her early twenties came out.

Long, black hair reaching her waist. And a look that exuded contempt, coldness and terror. Those eyes were pointed at the young lady and the fallen young man.

When they looked again they realized what the situation really was.

There was a voracious animal attacking a human right there.

And the executioner had just arrived.

"Get her out of there," Helena moved before she could finish and with a spell she easily pushed the young woman away.

With another spell the beast with the strength to destroy that wall turned into a sleepy child. Except that its scarlet red mouth was frightening and the young man looked like he was on death's door, everything was normal.

Helena passed the young woman to Blair and when she turned to help the injured man, the woman was already there.

Crouched down, her expression covered, but exuding a deep coldness and frustration.

In that position anyone would seem more vulnerable, but to Helena, she only became more dangerous. The tension was almost electric, as if inviting the three of them to attack.

Their heads would probably roll before they could get there.

A cold wind blew past them. It was the young woman using ancient witchcraft.

The boy's body, once broken and bloody, floated in the air, his wounds closing in seconds, like a rag doll being patched together with invisible threads. Soon his breathing calmed down.

"A-Aila, call a new team. There's... There's a headquarters nearby, isn't there? In a few minutes..."

Her young lady had woken up at some point. While she was being supported, she began giving instructions in a calm but anxious tone. Everyone there could see the terror she was feeling.

Her eyes spoke volumes about the emotional mess inside.

'It was supposed to be a special moment for her... it's a very spiritual bond too. What a shame.'

"No," the huntress shook her head.

"A team is already on its way here. You'll wait for them while I take him."

The girl's eyes trembled. In her state it must have sounded like the greatest absurdity, her parting with a part of her soul. The beast seemed to want to be reborn.

"Then I'll go with you!"

The huntress didn't even bother to answer, as she stood up, her posture and calm returned. They could feel it. Almost like a cold blade on their necks.

"Have you ever heard of a murderer being taken with the victim," Helena was about to argue. "He's under the protection of the association. That's how I got here. Not even with all the laws... and your family's money, you won't get to him."

They tensed, their young lady seemed about to cry. At that moment her mentality wasn't in the right place, she really resembled a child, so Aila took the lead.

"Right," the huntress on the other side was a full-fledged adult and was already moving.

When she disappeared at the end of the alley, the girls put the trembling child to sleep. Her nails dug into her palms and her body was tense.

She had lost something precious.

Only later would they understand what the young woman was going through.

After all, what was supposed to be a relationship between prey and predator had become a bond that was too deep.

There were bonds, a future and stories from the past in that blood that connected them.