Darius was silent for a long time, not a word came from him on the phone until all you could hear was a deep sigh from him. Finally, after a long wait, he spoke. "What if this thing is following her? First she saw a hand on her window at home, and now these... as you said, red eyes. Maybe I should have taken her with me? What if something happens to both of you and not just her?"

Miss Firescout looked briefly over at Leonie, who had meanwhile sat down on the couch in the living room with Spike. She took a deep breath and then turned back to the police chief on the phone. "It's alright. I'll protect us both. Besides, it might not have been a good idea for her to stay with you. Firstly, you need rest from your work and not someone else to look after in the evening, and secondly... no matter what that thing is out there, I know how to defend her and myself. You know me", she said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "I just want you to find out who's after her and why. Or what this thing even is. And... next time I call, you know it's going to be an emergency if I can't handle this thing".

"So you won't call anymore unless it's an absolute emergency that you can't handle? But otherwise we'll keep writing to stay in touch, right?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, but it's easier for me this way. If everything's okay or I want to update you, I'll write to you. Otherwise... as soon as I call you, it's an emergency and you need to get here right away. I hope that's okay with you, Darius..."

"Sure. As long as it keeps you both safe, that's fine with me. Keep me informed", said the police chief and hung up.

Rain sighed as she put her mobile phone back on the table and stared into space. "He sounded pretty annoyed... Maybe he's just overwhelmed by the situation. But I can understand that", she thought to herself. "Maybe I should help him and find out a bit more about this figure- no. That's too risky. I'm not stupid or anything!"

The woman looked over at the girl again, who was still sitting on the couch with her puppy. She looked really scared... Who could blame her after having two eyes watching her through the window in the middle of the night? Nobody.

Rain sat down next to her and gave her a little hug. "Hey, Leonie. Do you want to stay awake a little longer? I'll stay with you. My papers can wait a little longer. And... if you don't want to be hugged, then say so. I'm not forcing you to do anything".

"E-everything is fine. To be honest, a hug is even nicer now than anything else. Thank you", the girl said and hugged the woman too. Miss Firescout always thought of her more as her daughter, whom she had lost when she disappeared without a trace. She nodded and continued to hug her.

After a whole hour, Leonie and Spike had finally calmed down again. The puppy had fallen asleep on the couch, and the girl had even fallen asleep in Rain's arms. The woman didn't seem to mind, however, because she let her sleep in peace. She knew that the girl had already been through too much, was tired and scared.

The rest of the night passed fairly quietly, with Rain spending the remaining hours hugging Leonie's still sleeping body and staring out of the window, and Spike curled up on the couch snoring. The strange figure from the window hadn't reappeared. However, that was anything but certain... The unknown figure could reappear at any time. Miss Firescout knew this and was deliberately very careful. She didn't want the girl to get hurt.

...

The sun slowly rose on the horizon and bathed the still snow-covered winter landscape in a beautiful orange-yellow light. The rays of the gigantic star shone into the town and through the windows into the houses. When Leonie opened her eyes, she found herself in the arms of the lovely woman. It seemed as if Rain had actually been awake all night to ensure her safety and her well-being. The woman smiled when she saw the girl wake up and look up at her. "Good morning".

"Morning...", Leonie said sleepily as she slowly woke up completely, stretched and slowly sat up on the couch. Spike was still asleep, the little puppy was still extremely tired from the middle of the night.

"I hope you were at least able to get some rest. Are you hungry? Would you like some breakfast? Don't be afraid to ask, I'll be happy to take care of you". Rain smiled warmly and spoke to her in a soft and calm voice. Even though she hadn't known her that long, she couldn't deny that Leonie was already like a daughter to her. She had already taken her to her heart.

"To be honest, breakfast would be just the thing right now! I'm really hungry", Leonie replied. The woman nodded and smiled before getting up from the couch and going into the kitchen. However, the little golden retriever was still so deeply asleep that he was unaware of his surroundings. His soft snoring and curled up body were cute enough to elicit a soft "aww" from the girl. She stroked the puppy and looked at his sleeping form, while Rain was making breakfast in the kitchen.

Miss Firescout came back into the living room and placed a plate with a fried egg, some bacon and crispy toast on the table. Leonie thanked her politely and began to eat. The woman nodded briefly and looked away. A few memories came back to her and she thought of her daughter...

...

Darius was sitting at his desk at home, finishing a few documents he had brought home from work the day before. He couldn't stop thinking about Rain and Leonie's safety - and Spike, of course. Despite everything, he remained professional and in his right mind. Panic and fear would not help him. There was enough to do and he had enough problems to deal with. Finding Bryan, catching up on the sick employees' work, finding out who this mysterious figure was that was stalking Leonie, and keeping her and Rain safe at the same time. He was a well-trained police chief, but even for him it was getting too much. He had to proceed logically and carefully. Each step could have either good or bad consequences.

"Damn...", he thought, "I can't do all this on my own. But I don't want the whole town to know about everything now either. Shit, what am I going to do? Every step I take could have fatal consequences. I don't want to put anyone else in unnecessary danger... No. I have to take care of the work of the sick colleagues and at the same time find out more about this strange figure who is following Leonie. And the other police officers who are available must definitely try to find Bryan. I hope it works like this and there are no further complications..."

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The police chief sent a short message to the station before he took care of the records of the sick employees. It would probably take forever, but Darius wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible so that he could get back to the problem with Raine, Leonie and Spike. He was determined to protect the three of them, whatever the cost.

When he had finally finished after what seemed like hours, he filed the documents in the correct folders and went to his laptop. He searched the Internet to see if there had ever been a report from a person who had seen this figure before. Unfortunately, he found nothing. "No way! Did this thing suddenly crawl out of the underground or where did this stalking figure suddenly come from?", he cursed to himself as he continued to search the internet. However, he found no answers. Nevertheless, the police chief refused to give up. He was stubborn and determined to keep his friend, the girl and the little puppy safe.

...

Leonie had just finished her breakfast when her phone started ringing. She took it out of her pocket and saw that it was her little brother. She immediately answered the call. "Hey, Finn!" she said. Meanwhile, Miss Firescout took the empty plate and went back into the kitchen.

"Hey, dear sister. Nice to hear your voice... I hope you're okay, right? I hope you're safe and didn't get a scratch or anything, right...?", Finn replied slightly nervously. Even though he was a year younger than her, he was immediately worried about every little thing.

"No, I'm fine. Don't worry, little bro. I'm safe here with Miss Firescout. She's a friend of Darius, the police chief. She's nice and looks after me. Oh, and the little puppy I found too, of course", she told him, giggling a little. Finn breathed a sigh of relief and laughed a little with her on the phone.

They both calmed down a little from their short break to laugh and Finn spoke again. "As long as no one hurts you, I'm reassured. I don't want anything to happen to you, big sis. And... if anything happens, if you're scared or need me, please call me, okay?"

"I promise you that. How are your friends? Elliot and Sandro? Are you still annoying the neighbor kid in your foster home?" the girl asked curiously. She wanted to tease him a little, but above all she wanted to know how he was doing at the moment.

The boy couldn't help but laugh. "Yes... But just for fun! It has to be from time to time. Besides, he annoys the hell out of us all the time. So we can be annoying too, can't we?"

"Okay, okay. Fair point. Just don't annoy him too much! Do you understand me, Finn Jan Fox?", Leonie replied to annoy him a little. She knew that Finn hated it when people called him by his full name.

"Yes, yes, I got it. Well, I'll go back to the others. We'll talk again later or tomorrow, Leonie Mirabelle Fox", said the boy, pouting annoyed. The girl just laughed before they both said goodbye and hung up.

Rain came back from the kitchen and sat next to Leonie on the couch again. "Was that your brother? Forgive me, I heard you two talking a bit...", she asked, slightly hesitant. She didn't really want to invade their personal space, but her curiosity got the better of her.

The girl just smiled kindly. "Oh, no problem. Everything's fine. And yes, that was my little brother Finn. We annoy each other all the time, but we also look after the other one and are there for each other in an emergency", she explained to the woman, who nodded in understanding.

"I'm glad to hear that. Not many siblings have a good relationship with each other. That's why it's nice to hear that you and your brother get on so well", said Miss Firescout, smiling. Spike had woken up in the meantime and stretched before crawling over to both of them to be stroked.

...

The air in the forest was icy cold. The wind blew gently over the leafless branches of the trees, the snow still covered the forest floor and the sun cast its weak morning rays into the winter landscape. Levi Kobe Harrison, a slightly older high school student and the biggest asshole in the whole school, walked aimlessly across the snowy ground of the winter forest. His parents never really cared about him and also didn't care that he had just run away. His father had already spent three years in prison, but he hadn't changed a bit after that.

"Stupid sons of bitches. They can all kiss my ass. I'm never going back, I'm going to stay with my buddies. At least they understand me," he grumbled to himself in an extremely annoyed tone. He was fed up with constantly being told off or blamed for things that hadn't even happened.

Suddenly he saw a small movement coming from a bush. He stopped and became as still as a stature before slowly but surely walking towards the bush. "Who the hell is there? Show yourself, you coward. I swear, if you're just one of those retarded kids who play pranks all the time, I'll wring your neck!" he threatened. Levi didn't make empty promises, because his actions had often gotten him into trouble. Everyone who got on his nerves had at least one black eye or a sprained arm.

But this time it was different. Despite the fact that the boy tried to look as threatening as ever, he was a little afraid. As soon as he got close enough to the bush, a figure his size rose out of the branches. An unknown figure wearing a dark red hoodie, dark blue jeans, black boots, black gloves and a white mask with a smile sewn onto it... The gloves and the mask were slightly smeared with blood...

"What the fuck... Who are you?!", Levi shouted at the figure as he took slow steps backwards. The figure tilted his head a little to the side and stared at the boy through the eye holes in the mask, which were covered with a thin, black fabric. However, the creature's red-colored eyes were still clearly visible through the material. Step by step, the mysterious figure walked towards the student, whereupon the boy immediately backed up. Fear rose in him and he had never felt so intimidated and helpless in his life.

Suddenly, the masked figure drew a bloodstained knife and leapt at him out of nowhere. Levi's quick instincts helped him narrowly avoid the sharp blade. He rolled across the snow, immediately picked himself up and ran as fast as he could across the snowy ground of the forest. The figure watched him run away for a moment before following him. The boy used shortcuts and obstacles in an attempt to get rid of the figure. It was no use. The pursuer was too fast and apparently he knew the forest and its obstacles like the back of his hand.

Levi didn't want to give up just yet, however, and his fear and adrenaline drove him to run further and further. The assassin became more and more dangerous. The masked stranger threw his knife at Levi with deadly accuracy. The boy looked back and saw the knife flying, time slowing down. He thought this was the end of him when a slightly older man jumped out of the bushes and blocked the knife with a wooden plank. He drew his pistol and fired at the figure, which immediately disappeared into the depths of the forest.

The student breathed a sigh of relief and caught his breath before looking at the man. "Bloody hell... Thank you, Xavier. I swear to you, I've never been so scared..."

"It's okay", the slightly darker-skinned man replied as he put his hand on Levi's shoulder. "Come on, let's go to our hideout. Aiden and the others are already waiting for you. We got your message when you ran away from home. Good thing you run so loud when you're panicking or I never would have thought a killer was chasing you", he said with a serious look. The boy nodded and ran alongside him.