The bread on the counter would get hard after a few hours, the little girl hadn't put it in plastic like her mother taught her years ago. She wanted to get back quickly. Her innocent parents were angry! She could make a difference! But no. The two old people who always gave her chocolates. Now they had her tied up. From a piece of furniture she could see the store but she couldn't speak. A cloth kept her from talking. She prayed that her parents could find her. She had left home a long time ago. So long that the scary night had come in through the door. Fighting against the lamps. Although it wasn't as scary as the smiling old couple. She heard them — whispering — they were going to sacrifice her. Their god wanted fresh blood and she came alone. Her saviors! Oh! They wouldn't arrive. They'd been arguing for hours and hadn't paid attention to the clock. The hour of her death was near… and her savior arrived.
Just when they got up a bit hurriedly to lower the curtain, a thin man came in quickly. He didn't say anything, just pointed to his bag of bread.
"How much..."
"Cold bread: 10 pesos..."
"But I don't have..."
"Take it, pay tomorrow."
The little girl wanted to scream as much as she could. She tried to move but she was well tied. What she didn't expect was that the moment they turned to the cash register, that savior pulled out a knife and with one slash cut the woman's throat. The man tried to move but he was heavy, slow, hardly a challenge. Even his raspy voice affected his ability to call for help. Another slash and he fell silent but you could still hear a gurgling and the voice of her savior.
"Yes. There could be a camera... Of course! They're demons! They can't hide from justice, no one can. Even if all humans are possessed. I will bring vengeance for all who died at the hands of evil. I'm scared. Yes. I'm very scared but it doesn't matter. If I've lived these weeks it's because of my mission. To have more achievements. To create the legend that will terrorize these beasts in future generations. Yes. That will be enough."
That's how the police found her in the morning. Well, first it was the neighbor from the 4th floor. She was passing by for whatever was left for lunch and saw her there, blue from the cold. Though to tell the truth, she didn't see her. The massacre on the store floor sent her running out screaming. By the time the police arrived, the sun was high. The only thing the minor noticed was some sheets and a calm voice asking over and over about what she saw. There she told them about her hero and savior.
The television was on a couple of days later. The girl listened carefully. No cartoons. No soap operas even though her mother always put them on. A very serious man talked about horrible crimes plaguing the streets of the area. They warned people not to go out. That scared the girl a little. She still wasn't comfortable in the shadows but they scared her less now. That's where her savior lived.
"In our city plagued by criminals, a street vigilante has done a couple of deeds which, as terrifying as they are, have brought some peace to the southern area of the capital. Despite his methods, no one complains about the results. Listen to this:"
Two murderous cultists, 70 years old.
A drug dealer who ventured into the streets like an old man concerned about others, while asking if they were okay and offering them what he sold. Often sending people to the hospital with his adulterated drugs.
A couple of criminals who roamed the street, giving some relief to this society where death and delinquency coexist while the government does nothing...
The device fell silent. Through the door came delicious aromas. The door opened and the father entered. In his hands, some bags with breakfast and drinks.
"Darling, don't tell me some idiot fell asleep at the bar."
"Yes. He was well loaded. The bad thing is that the money was in a pocket inside his shirt."
"Didn't he notice when you were checking him?"
"I gave him some painkillers with these muscles, I'm sure he won't notice, although maybe a few less teeth."
"Well! Time for breakfast! Remember, daughter: better them cry in their house than us cry in ours."
There, the poor thing began to suspect that her parents weren't themselves anymore. Since when did she see them steal, lie — to others and to each other too —. They hit. They hit her — and each other too —. Even while she was in the hospital they took her out to avoid paying. Even though it was free. That's what the nurses told her. She also heard them talk about her marks. Those she had on her back. When she scrubbed in the tub you could feel the edges. Was it the iron or the clothes hanger? No. Definitely the iron. The ones on her arms were the metal hanger… Her whole body was marked. She was sure it could be because of the demons.
As the days passed, the news continued on the screen. The number of dead demons — disgusting social outcasts —. Even a transportation company that was in charge of moving contraband in and out. Embezzlement of funds. Everything sounded so bad in the little girl's ears — only for her this was very hard —. She only saw people like herself. She couldn't see those demons. Not even the ones disguised as old people who almost killed her. It was very sad for her.
The parents had another lucky day a couple of weeks later. It arrived in a cardboard box with holes — inside a small squeak sounded —. When opening the box, the girl saw lentil-sized eyes, black, tiny, a pink ball that had shit the floor of the little box.
"We've seen you sad, mija. So here's a chicken."
"Don't be stupid! It's a fairy... yes. One of those things. Take care of it and you'll see it grows big and very grateful."
"But it's just going to be a damn chick..."
"Ugh! fine, do you want fantasy?"
"It's a damn fairy and if you don't take care of it, your innocence will die."
The girl didn't understand. What she knew was that a pink, warm thing was in her hands. She went out to look for food for it — For the first time in days she didn't look for demons —.
When she returned from school she looked for the little fairy. It was her second week with it. She looked for it a lot because the news revealed they had caught her savior. She sought comfort from that pink little thing that went "cheep, cheep, cheep." She needed it. She wasn't as strong as him. They read his diary on the screen: Such horrendous demons he saw and hunted. When his photo came out, he wasn't a brave and muscular knight — he was thin and his gaze was lost. His white clothes had yellow and brown stains —. The girl hoped they wouldn't punish him like when it happened to her. It still hurt when she bent her arm. After a few minutes of searching, there was nothing among the boxes of trash and clothes. But she didn't get discouraged. She looked calmly. Lifting piles of clothes or pushing aside beer bottles. Scaring away cockroaches and insects. Her dad told her mockingly that when the creature grew up, it would take care of cleaning the whole nest of insects because her mother didn't know how to do anything.
Finally she heard it when she went out to the dirt behind the house — it was a very faint "cheep" and she found it —. In the mouth of the neighbor's cat — it wasn't pink — what was left was red. There she saw everything the same color. Without thinking, she grabbed the creature by the neck and squeezed — she didn't care about anything — but that demon wasn't going to leave like that. She failed. That's where the other demon pretending to be her mother found her. Her hands didn't have enough strength. The animal used its claws and traced deep marks on her arms. Even when they put alcohol on them — and hit her a little — she didn't cry. She had learned her lesson. Her fairy taught her before leaving.
Silently she followed the news. How he made one last attempt to face the demons. The policeman who had shot him. How that detective now faced charges from the people who claimed her savior was insane. But she knew the truth — she knew it that same morning when she saw the video on TV, the footage from the hospital entrance camera showing the shooting.
Her plate had egg, sausage, and ketchup, it was the height of her mother's cooking skills. It was clear her dad hadn't caught another victim.
"Stop poking your food! It's disgusting."
Drip!
"For now it's the only thing I can poke."
Drip!
"Do you know what happens to little girls who misbehave? The butcher from TV comes at night and torments them!"
That's what she hoped for. She wanted to ask him so many things. There was so much to learn if she wanted to continue her battle against the demons — at least one thing had improved —. The dripping she heard came from the hole that was forming in her mother's chin as she sucked on something. Now she saw it clearly: a finger! Before, she had thought it was a cigarette. Just like the diary they read on the news said. That demon's face was finally revealing itself in the proper color. Even as she watched her, a piece of meat fell to the floor. That explained the insects — they came to eat what these demons left behind —. At least they didn't seem determined to kill her. Yet. So she had time. She got up to go to her piece of blanket where she slept. She hoped he would come in her dreams. He would teach her — maybe she should learn to read —. It's likely that as a mockery, what his achievement diary said she would be able to see. Oh, yes! She was convinced of the path forward.
"You left sausage there... Eat it or I'll shove it in your mouth with all your teeth!"
The impact of the fork was decisive. The sausage disappeared into her mouth even with the taste of worms and rot — she wouldn't let them see that she also knew —. She directed a smile smeared with sausage at them.
"Don't worry... Ma. Now I see them! The night doesn't scare me anymore."