"How have you been, my dear Selina?"
At that moment, Selina felt the previous owner's will of her body surging back. Emotions raved in a tempestuous storm of memories as it drown her.
Subconsciously, she wanted to run. Her feet staggered back.
She was just a secretary, an ordinary woman. Why hadn't she run when she had the chance?
It was foolish... It was stupid...
She had no relations with the world's matter whatsoever. Selina was supposed to die, she was supposed to be in Earth counting digits in a computer to pass on to the manager.
And yet...
Selina's eyes became blurry. Her face forming a drop.
But she held. She knew better than revealing vulnerability.
With a smile, forced yet welcoming, she said. "I'm fine..."
Selina clenched her hands, gripped a crease of her dress before adding with composure. "How kind of you to visit..."
Hearing this, Deimsfel smiled faintly under the moonlight. His tone tinged with mockery. "Of course I had to visit. After all, you're my wife."
Selina, under her pleasant smile, her teeth met in a hard friction. How disturbing it is to be referred as a wife to a man who's the caused of her hometown being massacred.
She continued her facade as she replied. "How sweet of you..."
Her body wanted to retract, but in doing so risks the surrounding neighborhood.
In the dark, amidst the coursing light of the outside, behind the windows and concealed from the streets.
Crimson eyes glowed like predators, lurking to hunt.
There were a total of sixteen eyes. This implies that there eight vampires accompanying the count.
"I miss you. So how about we return?" Deimsfel smiled warmly, eerily.
This sent shivers down her spine. Her hair stand on ends.
Selina fixed her poise. Turned to face the arched path and replied in a polite tone. "I'm sorry for the troubles but..."
She paused for a moment. She knew that even if she denied, they would forcibly retrieve her, resulting to another ritual.
But if ever she was about to reach that point, she would rather prevent it from occuring than remain.
With this in mind. She decided that choices won't matter now.
Selina resumed. "I won't be coming with you.
"Consider this an annulment..."
Deimsfel went silent. Lips curling into a smile more prominent than the previous.
Intrigued, he said in a jester. "But annulments won't take effect without the other spouse's consent. Right?"
Chains erupted from the cold veil of the shadows.
Their grasps held Selina by the wrist.
Agh!
The chains were multiple, her hand grew pale as the cuffs held tightly on to her.
Darkness loomed closer from the bright illumination. Selina was then reminded of her situation back in the Ivory's manor. As Linda she was unaware, but as Selina, all traces of the man in front of her leads to a possible lost of control.
The emotions casts like tidal, but refrained. Selina held her breath as she again, looked at the man, the source of Milo's disaster. "Alright... Then, let me get your consent."
She smiled.
The next moment, her feet shot forward to the arched path.
It wasn't to pounce on the man, it was futile. Instead, she proceeded with herself, her feet triggered the string.
Though the string didn't do much, it made a huge movement from the lid. The short rope of the rocket ignited extensively.
Beforehand, she had considered the time it would take for the rope to reach the rocket, because of this, she cut it off and lubricated it with an oil.
The fire burned the rope and it was led to the body by it.
Deimsfel quickly reacted.
Swarms of bats resembling plagues cornered him, producing velvet wings formed by dense shadows.
By this split second, the cuffs made of darkness melted from Selina's wrist.
Deimsfel didn't managed to handle her and himself in time!
Then, without wasting a moment, Selina threw her body to the side, behind of the arched path.
Bam!
At that instance, light burst throughout the room, inducing the serene scape with sparks of flashing colors.
Crackling sounds of blistering lights rose from the show's aftermath.
Recovering from her fall, Selina felt her hands shivering and struggling to compose.
With a held breath, she restrained it and attempted to move. Her eyes darted to the kitchen.
The living room isn't the only area of the house that has an entrance to the alley!
Selina rose from her fall and dashed to the kitchen.
There she saw the glistening utensils with silver luster. On the counter, where the stove is located, was a knife, long and piercing.
The vampires are agile, capable of fast maneuvers. Her amateur marksmanship couldn't graze those suspended beings, so inaccuracies are certain.
So considering the distance, her only choice was to brace for a close combat, that way her inaccuracies would be covered by the closeness of the enemy.
Her hand took the knife, nested on the counter and sheathed it to her crudely made gun-holster, taking the revolver out.
The chamber has a maximum of eight rounds and a same number of foes. Careless shooting won't be in the equation.
She has to be certain that the distance between herself and the vampire retrieving her would be enough to make a strike.
Her hand shot for the door knob and opened.
Arriving in the route she had planned.
The first checkpoint, where she had hidden a rocket, remain a few seconds across the alleyway.
Under the pallid glow of the moonlight, rustles of steps resounded across the empty path.
After a few seconds, Selina reached an area where she hid the rocket, retrieved it and from there resumed her pace once more.
With the rocket in hand and a revolver, she took out the match of box from her dress, took out one of its contents and readied.
The darkness grew denser. Plagues of bats swarmed her residence and broke every window in the first floor.
It then rushed onto the alleyway. It saw Selina, her glistening silver hair sways along with her running.
Seeing the deathly swarms. Selina swapped her revolver with the knife. Used its sharp edge to tore the fabric of her dress, revealing a trouser underneath.
Ever since she escaped Tingen, she had developed a habit of wearing another piece of clothing under her dress. Precaution for what ifs that might come.
...
Within Selina's residence.
Deimsfel sat leisurely on the sofa, amidst the howling storm of dark plague, he remained calm.
Transparent strings grows from his limbs as it quickly disappeared.
The next second, multiple vermin crawled out of the paleness of his skin.
His whole body revealed multiple flesh tendrils, writhing and contorting in its wake.
With a flick of his finger, flames engulfed him, leaving no traces of his presence.
...
Selina returned her knife back to the gun holster, and replaced with her revolver.
She forgot to cut the rockets that she had laid before to lessen the need for their timers. So by now, she had already lit the first rocket early.
Chains erupted from the darkness, aiming for her almost immediately.
But just before it reached her arms. The rocket's plume was about to meet the body.
Selina quickly threw the rocket at the advancing darkness. The explosive, supposed to wait until it reached a height, launched towards the plague of bats.
Bam!
The alleyway lit with brilliant colors, flashing works purged the looming darkness.
Amidst the city scape. Quiet and serene, burst forth a work full of light!
Selina didn't reduced her pace, her eyes fixed at the path ahead.
The plague of bats was reactive enough to outmaneuver the flashing lights. Some turned into humans, extended with large wings, while others remained as a swarm.
1... 2!
Selina got a hold of another rocket and lit it again with a match.
Another errie celebration exploded from a region of the city.
By this time, multiple residence have already caught on with the subsequent fireworks.
Illuminating the sky in a bright and color show.
One of the Rose School of Thought members that had turned back dashed to Selina, retracting his wings.
Shackles shot from the darkness. Surrounding Selina as she ran.
At this moment, Selina turned her body, cocked the revolver, and pointed at the monster.
The distance was close enough!
Bang!
Her bullet shot from the chamber, accelerated towards the winged human.
From a split second, the man's fingers grew a dark-blood, long nails and tried to shield himself from the close ranged bullet.
But he failed to deflect!
The bullet pierced his abdomen.
"Arrgh!" The man let out a grunt as he attempted to retract him from the woman.
But Selina didn't let him. She raised her revolver and with a turn, pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Her hand was shivering from the recoil. But the bullet missed the vampire.
There are now six bullets left!
Selina! Stop being careless! She screamed inwardly.
But regardless, she noticed that the others were now wary of her.
The fact that they can't harm her due to her significance and her resistance. The task have become much harder.
At least it made a beneficial effect... Selina added.
Realizing that they can't take her with saintly act, force will be added in the conclusion.
Their nails grew to large claws made of darkness tinged with crimson.
Multitude of colors bloomed on the sky. Rising bright horizons across the cityscape.
Occasional, often, the intervals for the explosion are random yet they exude the reminisce of childness and awe from every onlookers.
It was beautiful, it was joyful, it was lethal.
The disturbed civilians residing in their houses have each thought of the circus, while others thought of how generous it is for the people to suddenly raise a celebratory show.
But it somehow failed to attract the officials.
Bang!
One of the vampires managed to close with Selina, but once again, she managed to react timely.
Her hand holding both the revolver and the brown, small box clenched tightly as she reached for another match to lit the rocket.
1... 2...
Bam!
The alleyway experienced a burst of flickering lights.
This subsequent action of Selina kept the advance of the monsters at bay.
But from the shadows of her feet.
A chain erupted in its wake!
The cuff grabbed Selina, prompting her to fall.
Ahh!
The distance between her and the flying humans aren't far from each!
Selina grit her teeth, and pulled her knife, pointing it to her soft skin.
She was attempting to skin herself!
The cuffs made of darkness have already solidified, suggesting that the beyonder who had summoned it lost their control over its state. At least, that's what she thought.
But upon contacting the knife with her skin, she realized that she had reached the fifteenth rocket, placed beside a bin near from where she is.
The rocket had a surface stained with dirt and rust, suggesting its hazardous state when in reality, a concealment in plain sight.
Selina threw herself, landed on the ground, but her palm managed to reach the rocket!
The vampires and the swarm of black plague was nearing!
Her hand quickly took out a match, struck it with the box's lighter, and a plume lit from its tip.
Pssst...
The rope, which had been cut by Selina using the knife have quickly dissipated. It led the fire into its body.
Selina immediately threw the rocket. And from the close distance, the rocket burst into a stream of colors, surrounding lighted by the firework.
Bam!
This made Selina shield herself with an arm as she forced her body to move. Striding off once more.
The looming monsters reacted timely and managed to evade the explosion, only experiencing a slight distortion from the light's lingering presence.
As she ran with all her might. At a distance, she finally saw the paths branching off from the linear lane of Daffodil Street.
She's now at the edge of the street!
I'm almost there... Selina encouraged, her breath pacing with her heart.
The race is almost over!
She had them revealed, she had herself as a bait!
With the layout imprinted into her like the back of her hands. Selina managed to quickly outmaneuver the opposing beyonders with consistent shows of fireworks and decoyed gun shots as she cannot afford another waste of bullets.
At this moment, she finally reached the Red Moonlight Street. Now with only four more rockets hidden, referred by her as checkpoints.
The dark plague of swarms and the Rose School of Thought members still continued their advances.
Another vampire closed its distance from her, once more Selina noticed the strong sound produces by their wings and turned her body.
Bang!
A bullet shot from Selina's revolver, hitting the vampire in the wings. But the damage recovered quickly as dark bats appeared to replace it.
But for a split second, for Selina, this was enough.
She managed to get a hold of the last third rocket, and with another gunshot, she lit the rope and pointed it to the beyonder.
Pssst... Bam!
The rocket slipped and escaped her hand, burst forth onto the flying human, then a loud and bright flashes painted the alley with colors.
This continued until a single rocket left. Selina used it once more and finally, she saw the Saint Selena Cathedral.
Its grand exterior that depicts the gothic architecture of Earth exudes serene presence and tranquility upon its visitors.
But on the entrance, the door met to welcome the arriving believers...
Was closed at the moment.