The girl was walking towards the abandoned district. Aiden thought about it for a moment and decided to follow her only until he reached her and ask what she was doing in that dangerous place. Maybe, as she was new in the city, she felt curious about the mysterious district.

He convinced himself that as her senior in the strange city, he had the obligation to take care of Maika.

Perhaps the girl's behavior was somehow linked to strange rumors of people disappearing, he thought; something that the director had mentioned during the speech. Possibly older students were intimidating the new ones to have a test of valor, or worse, in some of those old buildings, dangerous people were dealing with drugs. Aiden's imagination flew freely in the nebula of fantasies and hormones that was his head.

He followed her as carefully as he could, waiting for an opportunity to interact with her. He just wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to her, if he saw her in a dangerous situation, he would take her out of there and that's it.

A security fence blocked the way, preventing anyone from entering, and if anyone tried to jump it, an alarm would sound. Not only security teams with drones and robots, but the police would also receive an alert, so despite the crazy ideas in his mind, Aiden was not distressed enough to loss his cool.

Facing the fence, Maika held her phone to her ear for a moment before putting it away, then she jumped over the fence without any problem nor alarm.

With every passing second, the situation became more suspicious. Whatever she did, deactivated the fence so that the alarm would not sound. At least that's what the tousle-haired young man was sure of.

A warm sensation ran from his stomach to his chest as he also jumped over the fence.

Aiden felt a little uncomfortable following Maika like that, but at the same time he was worried about her and wanted to make sure she was safe. Although he couldn't help but feel a certain tension as he ventured into the abandoned district, he did it anyway.

He had been following Maika for a while now, they had gotten quite deep into the area. The dilapidated buildings and the empty air made his hair stand on end. If anyone else saw him, it would definitely be a problem to explain, but in his current state he couldn't care less.

Maika was a few meters ahead of him when she turned around a corner, Aiden was about to catch up to her once and for all, but first he leaned against the building's corner before taking a brief look.

However, contrary to his desire, he did exactly the opposite.

—Ahh? I shouldn't be here. I should go back to my dormitory —these were the words that came out of Aiden's mouth, and he began to walk back the way he came.

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The moment Maika turned the corner, she threw three pieces of paper into the air that ignited instantly. The letters they contained, as if they had a life of their own, scattered and disappeared like small insects, each taking a strange direction disappearing into the sky to fall who knows where.

—Even if it's just as a precaution, this level should be enough —said the girl, whose innocent gaze turned into that of a hunter.

The barrier that she spoke of was actually something elementary that served to keep people away. If someone was nearby, as in Aiden's case, they would suddenly feel the need to go somewhere else or be afraid to approach.

—The effects can vary from person to person, but I doubt there's anyone else in that place to begin with. Yes, my spell should be enough to keep intruders away. Why don't we get started?

What she was referring to, whatever it was that the girl did, the “spell” as she called it, as a special bonus was configured to isolate sound within the barrier.

With her school bag in one hand and her weapon in the other, which had appeared at some point, Maika set off towards an uncertain world.

Reacting to her presence, from a fourth or fifth floor of one of the buildings, an explosion sent pieces of a wall flying. A human figure jumped out from there towards the old street, standing a few meters in front of her, covering half of its face with one hand.

—And your friends? Didn't want to come out and play? —Maika reaffirmed the grip on her weapon and continued—. What a disappointment.

The creature made a sudden movement with both arms and inexplicably propelled itself forward towards Maika, who raised her gun and began running diagonally, even before the monster charged her.

Skillfully, she predicted its movements, but she did not stop at evasion, the hunter responded to the attack with shots from her pistol.

The noise caused by the bullets flooded every alleyway with its heavy reverberation for a few moments and again everything was silent except for a voice.

—Where is your creator hiding? Tell me now!

—WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME, HUH? YOU'RE JUST A HUMAN!!

—And you are nothing more than a sick experiment that needs humans to survive while you continue to become more and more repugnant —anger and resentment were written on Maika's face—. This isn't getting me anywhere; so, sorry.

With her other hand, the one that had previously held her bag which she must have thrown at some point, she changed the cartridge in the weapon, which also materialized in midair as the old man fell and faded away.

With the same hand, she held the barrel of the weapon, pulled it back, and it made a sound indicating that it was once again loaded and ready to be used.

—WRAAHHHRGG!!!

'BANG'.

Once again, the deafening noise of the weapon broke the silence of the peaceful night that surrounded the creepy creaking of the creature, as well as filling the void in someone's heart that night.