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At the table, everyone eats breakfast quietly.
Apparently, I fell asleep and was carried upstairs by Colette while she was transformed; not much more was told to me.
But clearly, something else happened, because the way Colette and Dalia both avoid my eyes and each other's is not subtle in the slightest.
"So," I decide to talk about the job Yui mentioned. "About the job, who'll go to the city?"
Yui smugs and points at Colette. "Why don't you go with her, Lia?" The nickname seems to refer to Dalia, cute. "I'm sure you two have a **lot** to talk about."
**Whack!**
Colette's hand hits the table as she pushes herself to her feet, her breakfast untouched. "I have to go somewhere; leave the training for another day."
She walks towards me, extending her hand impatiently. "The letter."
"Oh, right." I nod my head, remembering about it and handing the letter over to her. "Are you going after the person from the letter?" I whisper so the others don't hear.
My question is left unanswered, which itself is a good answer. Without wasting more time, Colette leaves the house.
"Yui, accompany Olivia to the city." Dalia says this without looking at them.
"WHAT?" Yui rises from the table with a desperate expression on their face. "But you said..."
"I know what I said, but I need some time to process some information." Dalia finally looks at Yui, and my eyes catch a glimpse of an expression I haven't seen on her: tiredness.
Dalia starts to walk away, and as I move to reach her, she slaps my hand away. Her eyes still don't find mine, even as I search for hers.
"I'm sorry, I need to be alone right now." Dalia disappears behind the door to her room. The sound of a key turning is the last thing I hear from her.
Silence stretches around me. Yui grins and looks at the door with me. "That's the first time Lia has done something like this; she's not the type to hide."
Yui's words fall on deaf ears, my body starts moving on autopilot towards the outside.
Flora stops in front of me, her cold hands wrapping around my shoulders and bringing me into a hug. Yui prepares themselves for another comment.
Flamma flies in their direction, punching Yui's cheek. The way it does nothing because of her size would be comic if not for the situation.
"Have more compassion; can't you see when people suffer?" From Flamma's eyes, tiny tears start to flow, an angry expression on her face makes her red hair look like it's on fire, or like the fire itself.
I can feel the reason for her crying; it's because of my own feelings overflowing out of her, but I feel them being shared with Flora as well.
I break the hug, giving a small, grateful smile to Flora before moving to leave the house. I just need to occupy my head; that's it. Focus on the job.
Outside, the sun hides behind dark clouds, cold weather, and a heavy chance of rain.
"I'm sorry." Yui says with their head down. "I'll shut my mouth if you want."
I shake my head. "It's okay; I'm fine, really." Grabbing my phone, I search for JB's mission briefing. "I just need to focus on something else right now."
"Then let me tell you about the job." Yui says, It looks like they are determined to prove themselves. On their hand, their phone unlocks, with the briefing appearing on the screen.
"So, basically, the agency found some group of supernaturals operating in the city. Transforming teenagers into werewolves and using them to sell drugs at night, as the police can't catch them."
Yui puts a map on their phone of a nightclub. "We followed one of them to this club; our job is to disguise ourselves and enter the club at night, finding the head of the operation and calling JB."
I stop to process the information; on the surface, it looks easy, but remembering they are supernaturals raises the danger. "We will need clothes; we can't go to a club like this."
Even if my clothes are comfortable and practical, they are not what one would use at a party. If we really want to disguise ourselves, we will need to go fancy.
Yui grins, but this time it looks to be a proud gesture. "That's why I convinced Dalia to buy some clothes for the team; just follow me."
We arrive at a hotel, and I spot the club on the other side of the street.
The air around this place tastes expensive; all the white marble gives the place a feel of high society. I'm sure that even five years of working at the station wouldn't cover half the price of staying here for some days.
"Come on!" Yui grabs my hand, pulling me out of my own mind. "I still have to show you something before I do your makeup."
I guess it makes sense to use some to go to the club and all, but I'm not really a fan of makeup; it makes my skin itch, and I never seem to get the tone right.
It's interesting how Yui manages to act as if she belongs here; I couldn't even dream of it. My anxious head keeps reminding me that this is not a place I should be.
Walking towards an elevator, Yui and I enter. There are a lot of buttons—twenty-three to be exact—but my surprise comes as they press the last one, the penthouse.
"Just how much money does the agency have?" I ask, not caring to hide how absurd I think this is.
Yui looks at the ceiling of the elevator before shrugging. "Don't know, but it's pretty cool, right?"
I nod my head. Yui's excitement starts to flow into me, and as the elevator reaches our destination, they rush me inside the penthouse.
The place looks like none other I have been before, with once again white marble painting the extremely clean floor and an open kitchen near the living room where two black leather couches surround a glass coffee table.
Tall mirror walls on my right, leading to an outside view of the city, and to my left, a staircase leading to a second floor, where an open room with what I believe is the biggest bed I've ever seen resides.
"Is this place rented, or does the agency own it?" I ask, watching Yui throw their shoes to the side with no care in the world, dry leaves, and mud falling from the bottom of them, dirtying the floor.
Yui raises an eyebrow, and after some seconds, they grin. "No, the agency doesn't have the need to buy places like this as they can just use their building.
But Lia thought it would be good to buy it, as it is close to the target." Yui walks upstairs and starts to grab something.
"Wait, how can she afford this?" The way Yui talks about it, as if it isn't impressive at all, makes me self-conscious of the few bucks in my wallet.
They return with some different articles of clothing, the pile in their arms big enough to rival Tina's wardrobe. "That's just what's happened when you work for the agency for so many centuries without spending a cent on anything but old books."
Centuries, It's easy to forget that they are not humans; Colette, Yui, and Dalia lived much more than I could ever. So it makes sense that Dalia is able to afford a place like this.
"Enough chitchat; time to dress you up." Yui grabs my shoulder and starts guiding me upstairs; it really pisses me off how easily they can grab me and just push me around, like Colette. The worst part is that I'm getting used to it.
Thinking about her, I hope she's okay. When I'm back at the house, I'll help her look into that letter.
Colette's POV
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What was I thinking? I shouldn't have brought the detective back to her room and stayed there.
Not a monster like me, I could have hurt her; if I had just lost control for a second, I can't say I would've been able to get it back.
But something inside of me chained me to her scent, her sleepy face, her fragile hands, and the way her bod-
**Slap**
The loud sound of me slapping my face makes the animals all around me run. I can't be thinking like this. I shouldn't have been able to in the first place; I locked this part of me far away when the incident happened, when I lost Camille.
As I reach the village, long-lost memories start to play in my head from the old, peaceful days.
A simple girl like me couldn't compete with the others; I was small and didn't had any standing features that made me attractive to others. Besides, no one would've wanted a fatherless girl—the daughter of a whore.
But Camille was different; she was smarter, she had never studied one day in her life, and she knew more than the chief of the village, the oldest and smartest man there was. Mother wanted her to go to the capital, marry a rich boy, and become something more.
I remember how she smiled at her, hiding behind those blue eyes a great rage—rage for the world and its rules. Camille wanted to be free, to travel the world, and to live. I remember the talk we had that night.
"When I get older, I'm going to disappear into the world." She said, spreading her arms out of the window as if trying to hug the moon and the stars. "And we can go together."
She turned her face toward me, her eyes shining with a million galaxies worth of dreams. "Explore all there's to explore; see all there is to see."
"I... I don't know if that would be a good idea." I hugged my knees, sitting beside her feet. "Wouldn't Mom be sad if we did?"
Camille's face turned into a frown. "She can rot for all I care; you and I are all that matter."
Harsh words, but not without reason. Mom always had a special place in my heart. She tried her best to give us the best life we could have, but the time she gave birth to Camille was different.
Mother didn't know how to do things, and so she didn't even try; instead, she chose to drown herself in a world of pleasure to escape responsibility, but on a winter night, when I was too young to remember, I became sick.
The only one in the house was Camille; there was no wood to keep the fireplace alive, and all the other villagers were asleep. The story told to me was that she carried me for a long distance into the night, found a doctor, and used the money she was stealing from mother to pay the man.
After that, Mother started to be more around, finally being pulled away from the shallow waters she dipped her head in. I couldn't fault Camille for her rage, but I wish she had allowed herself to be happy for some time, at least.
Her eyes were always cold, her brain always thinking; the only one who knew the real Camille was me, the kindhearted and caring sister she didn't dare show others she was.
"Promise me something, Collie." She kneeled down beside me, the smile once splattered on her face now gone. "Promise me that if anything happens, you'll be free and that you'll love, explore, and make friends all over the world."
I remember not understanding why she asked me to promise that. "I promise, and you have to promise to never leave without me, or the god of promises will be really mad."
Extending my pinky brought the smile back to her face; she locked her's with mine. "I promise."
Her hands pulled me into her arms. "Now, it's time to sleep." She carried me to my bed. Sometimes it was easy to forget she was my sister and not my mother by the way she treated me, and that night, she slept with me, like always, embracing me with great love.
We were so tired that we didn't hear the first screams. We woke up when our mother climbed the stairs and knocked on the door. Camille got up and pulled me along with her, but upon opening that door, what we saw was impossible.
Mother was bleeding; her arm twisted impossibly, the bone sticking out and oozing blood. A cut crossed the middle of her chest, exposing her insides to the world to see, and even without having any knowledge of anatomy at the time, I knew something was missing from there: her heart.
She fell into the ground, splattering blood all over our feet, revealing in her shadows a tall figure stalking with its big, glowing red eyes. The sound of it eating something fleshy made Camille throw up, and I was too scared to even do that.
The creature, once done with its meal, strode forward, prepared to eat us too. But my body had other plans. My mother had gifted a knife to both me and Camille in case any strange man approached us while she was in the city working.
Mine was always with me, but Camille always thought of it as unnecessary, so she always left it in the kitchen. I raised the knife as the creature tried to grab me, and out of instinct, I closed my eyes. A laugh echoed soon after.
"Good." The creature laughed, its deep, growling voice making the house tremble. "A fighter, you have what it needs to undergo the transformation."
A speed no one human could imagine, sharp teeth sinking into my arm, a scream escaping me as my blood trickled onto the floor.
Camille punched the creature, which made it let go of my arm and focus on her. My body felt cold; I was too scared of what could happen, and when I got back to reality, Camille was bitten too.
Her neck was bleeding, and the sound of her choking on her own blood became forever embedded in my mind.
"Ru...n" I watched as life slowly left her eyes and body, and my own started succumbing to instinct. Running to the outside, villagers dead all over, blood, severed limbs, most burning, impregnating the air with its putrid smell.
I did as my sister asked, disappearing into the forest, where I experienced my first transformation.
The rest doesn't matter, and even if it did, I wouldn't want to remember. Looking up at the sky, it appears that some hours have passed.
In front of me was something I never wanted to see again: a little cross I made, the place where I buried my first kill, a tiny rabbit.
I don't know if I deserve the freedom my sister wished me, but I'll make sure to free her from whatever holds her down.
It's time to go back, my mind warns me. The afternoon comes quickly, and I have problems to solve, first starting with Dalia.
In front of Dalia's room.
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I do nothing to conceal my steps; it is best to confront things directly instead of giving excuses.
As I guide my hands to knock on the door, it opens by itself, emitting a familiar smell—Dalia's magic.
Inside, Dalia sits on her desk, a book in one hand and a teacup in the other. There is no noticeable expression on her face, but her fingernails are bitten and chewed off.
Dalia always had the tendency to break her nails when under stress, but it's a new feeling to be the one to have caused that, something I don't take pride in.
"I was expecting you." Dalia puts down her book and tea, moving her chair so her eyes are focused on me. No anger hides behind those gray irises.
"Dalia," I take a step forward; I can't be acting like a teenager here; I'm an adult, and I'll solve things in the best way possible if I can. "I won't dance around the subject."
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"I want you to give me permission to stand by your side and the detective's." Even as my voice comes out as composed, small spasms on my calf are as visible as day.
And Dalia picks up on that; her left-hand travels to her face, rubbing the bridge of her nose tiredly. "I wanted so much to scream at you, punch you, or anything..."
"But... I can't bring myself to it." Dalia returns her gaze to the book she was reading, her fingers tracing the leather spine of it. "I had some time to think of things, and Olivia."
"She is incredible, isn't she? The way she can make creatures like us regain our connection with our human side is almost magical.
Since she got into my life, I've been feeling things I never felt before—things I deemed impossible after so many years. But here I am, or rather, here we are.
You feel it too, right?" Dalia's eyes focus on mine, and the feeling that my answer right now is going to change the path forward manages to make my shoulder feel heavy.
"I do." I nod my head, taking another step forward. "I had many years to explore the world and meet people, and still, I was empty."
"But I notice that my freedom is useless if I can't have someone to share it with." My feet guided me so far that I find myself standing right in front of Dalia, my eyes glowing yellow as my words become fueled by feelings.
"Even if I'm a monster, I want to be one able to protect what I have. Yui, you, the detective—" Dalia's finger stops on my lips, stopping my words.
A smile rests on her face, the tiredness from before still visible but greatly diminished. "That's all I need to hear; hold the rest for when we have this talk with Olivia."
"And besides, all that I care about is that she's safe, so if she has more love in her heart to share, I won't put myself in its way."
On my lungs, the breath I didn't notice I was holding escapes me, finally letting my muscles relax. "Thank you."
Dalia, rising from her chair, wraps her hands around my shoulders, but because of my height, I have to bend slightly and awkwardly to return it, something I never felt for a long time.
After the hug is done, the movement of Dalia sitting back on her chair makes my eyes fall to a file on her table.
"What's this?" I ask, my hands already grabbing it.
"It's the report about the mission I was on with Yui," Dalia says, returning her focus to her tea. On her fingers, a small flame is heating the cold tea. "It's still incomplete."
Reading through the file, it's strange. Werewolves? But even in the forest, I didn't capture the scent of a pack in the city.
A clip holds a photo of a woman; on the file, she's described as the possible leader of it all. Black hair painted blue at the ends, tattoos on her hips and neck, and sunglasses atop her head.
Her face is familiar, and it doesn't take much time for my body to shutter in recognition, my face becoming serious again.
"Where are Yui and the detective?" I ask, my tone making Dalia grab her phone and check hurriedly.
"Yui sent a message earlier saying they are going to the club where the target is; why?"
Dammit, the detective is carrying my scent with her; even if partially, 'she' will pick it up, meaning that the detective will be in danger. "We need to go, now."
"Dress yourself and meet me at the door," Dalia says, grabbing a dress and quickly rushing to the bathroom. I don't stay far behind, running to my room and grabbing something to use—something practical yet nice to the eyes.
Finding it, I quickly start dressing myself. It's time to go save them and, on the side, finally find the one I was looking for.
Back to the detective's POV
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Standing in front of the wardrobe mirror door, I check the cable knit sweater dress I just put on, noticing how it only covers the upper part of my thigh, making me feel a little too exposed.
Compared to the other clothes Yui and Dalia bought, this one is the most comfortable. Between the cocktails and lace dresses, I prefer to use something that isn't so out of my usual grounds.
But still, I feel that the dress hugs my body a little too much, and looking at Yui, it seems that it was on point with what they wanted.
"Wow!" Yui exclaims with a sharp grin. "I didn't think you would be able to pull it out, but it seems you were hiding something nice under your hoodie."
Raising an eyebrow, I start looking at the sides and back. "I don't know; I feel wrong somehow." And it's true, I'm so used to wearing clothes that make me blend in that using something that makes me stand out this much seems a little overkill.
"I might have something to help," Yui says, opening the wardrobe. All the clothes I've seen to this point seem to be new or recently bought, probably from yesterday when Dalia purchased the penthouse.
"Here," Yui grabs from a small old leather backpack an aviator jacket. If my memory is right, I saw this backpack in the house before, near the sofa in the living room, but I didn't give it too much thought. "Put it on and tell me if it feels better."
I nod, grabbing the jacket from Yui's hand and putting it on, the fluffy material on the collar smelling strongly of Yui. It's not a bad smell; actually, it's kind of good. Looking at it in the mirror, I see clear marks of usage and time, all giving me the feeling that this is important to them.
And Yui was right; it's a little better to be wearing this on top of the dress; it makes me feel a little more like me instead of someone desperate for attention. "Thanks; now it feels more comfortable."
"Good, just remember to give me back tomorrow." Yui rises from the edge of the bed where they are sitting and stretches their arms high up, groaning with laziness.
Looking at them, they seem completely different from before. The usual look, composed of different colors of flannel shirts, is now a tuxedo set with a cute black bow tie.
On the torso, arms, and pants, flowers ranging from blue, orange, and red stand out. It seems to be knitted on the material in such a way that it almost seems real. I can't even imagine how much it costs, but I can say it really fits them.
Yui joins my side. I notice that the bow tie is slightly wrong, and it looks a little too tight. Moving behind them, I undo the knot in it and start properly adjusting it so it's right, earning a surprised sound from Yui, followed by what I assume is a purr.
"Thank you." Yui's eyes lock on mine in the mirror. I get the feeling when I look too deep into those irises of sadness mixed with a tiny part of happiness, prompting me to put a comforting hand on top of their messy hair.
Something interesting—the fact that Yui, as a vampire, can see themselves in the mirror—had caught my attention earlier, but upon asking, they told me that the reason they can see themselves in the mirror is that nowadays, they don't have a layer of silver behind them anymore.
But backening my attention to them, I put a small smile on my lips. "You okay?" I ask, gently putting some wild strands of their hair in place.
Yui quickly nods their head, grinning awkwardly. "You noticed, huh?" They tilt their head so I can reach a strand near their ear. "I'm fine; don't worry about it."
"My job is to worry about things and about people, including you." I finally fix their hair and take a step away to double-check if their outfit doesn't have any wrinkles. "So if you need someone to talk to someday, I'll be here."
Yui's eyes widen, and they look at my face for a solid thirty seconds before nodding their head and walking to the stairs. "It's best if we go now; I don't want to get there when the bar is full."
And with that, me and Yui exit the penthouse, using the elevator to get to the bottom floor, and with an anxious feeling in my gut and Yui hugging my arm, we walk to the club.
I'm welcomed by loud music, blinding lights, and the sound of people all around me, overwhelming my senses a little. This makes sense, as going to a club is not my type of Friday night; I'm more of a Netflix and chill person.
We stay in line to get inside for some minutes, and when we get to the door, one of the two bouncers standing on each side of the door raises his hand to stop us.
"I'll need to see some ID." The big man says, His hands are big enough that if he wanted, he could grab my face entirely without a problem.
I nod my head, but as I move my hand to grab my wallet, the man shakes his head. "Not yours; I need his."
The bouncer looks at Yui, who raises a finger and points at themselves, their mouth moving, and asks a silent question: 'Me?'. I guess it makes sense; Yui looks young enough to be confused as a teenager, and without noticing, I nod my head to myself, making Yui notice my obvious thinking.
"Not you too; I'm an adult." Yui quickly grabs their ID and hands it to the bouncer, who looks really close to it, even shining some light to make sure it's not fake.
And after confirming it isn't, he gives the ID back. Yui frowns and looks at the man. "Can we go now, or do you need some birth certificates too?" It's easy to notice that it is a delicate matter to Yui, but I'm unable to contain my laughter at how cute they are acting.
The bouncer starts sweating, and he quickly opens the door. "Go right ahead."
Yui humphs before pulling me by the arm and bringing me inside with them. If the noises were loud outside, inside they are hell.
Yui screams something that I can't hear because of the loud music, and for a moment, they stop and start searching for something in their pockets. They grab what seems to be an earpiece and put it on my ear without giving me any warnings.
"I said that," Yui's voice start coming from the earpiece, and looking closer, I see they put one on them too. "From what Dalia and I saw yesterday, the target seems to have an office room on the second floor."
They point at the upper area, where, looking with attention, I see a lot of businessmen wearing work clothes and drinking expensive wine with some girls who look to be working for the club.
On the balcony upstairs, a pale woman wearing some casual clothing paired with a sheepskin coat locks her blue eyes on mine, a small smile appearing on her face before she pushes herself away from the railing and disappears into the crowd upstairs.
"Do we have a description of the target?" I ask, and Yui starts to walk to the bar, leading me on.
"Yeah, a young woman with blue tattoos, and that's all I can remember." Yui and I reach the bar. I watch as they order a drink and rest their back at the counter. "But I'll go after her; I need you to stay here and wait for me."
As I open my mouth to protest, Yui puts the drink they ordered in my hand and shushes me. "Remember, you're human and I'm not; even though I wanted you to go with me, I won't risk it."
Yui takes a step away and disappears in a quick motion, almost like the wind itself. I can only see a shadow of them on the second floor for a single frame before it's gone.
I sit on the stool chair and start sipping on the drink, grabbing the phone from the jacket and pulling it out, checking Dalia's number in it.
After pondering whether I should message her or not, I reach the conclusion that it is better not to; whatever's going on with her, she needs time alone. A sigh escapes me. I'm really alone in a club, huh?
Putting my phone back in the jacket, I feel the sword inside it. Strange, I'm pretty sure I left it at home because having it with me would be suspicious.
'It would be a lot more useful if I had a way to conceal it' I think, and to my surprise, as if reading my mind, the sword glows, making me close the jacket to not let it call the attention of anyone.
A stinging pain in my finger goes away as soon as it starts, and a tattoo-like mark of a sword now stands on my index finger. I feel in my head that if I need it, it will come for me. Magic never fails to make me uncomfortable.
And still about magic, Flamma said that when she's in the city, she tends to be more sleepy as the forest gives the faes their energy. That's why I told her to go back to the cabin and wait for me, and after a lot of convincing, I managed to do that, kind of regretting it now.
At least if she were here, I would have someone to talk to.
"Is this spot taken?" A woman asks, and when I look at her, I see the same blue eyes as before.
I shake my head. "No, feel free to take it if you want."
The woman laughs before sitting by my side. "I just wanted to sit here, thanks."
My eyes, out of instinct, study the woman up and down. Looking closer, her eyes are more cyan than blue, her hair ends are painted the same color, and her nails are as well. A sunglass atop her head, cyan triangle earrings.
She is an exquisite woman, with all parts of her clothing seemingly carefully crafted to give her a certain vibe. The vibe of a free-spirited type of girl.
"What's a pretty girl like you doing all alone here?" The woman asks seductively, looking around the bar and seeing that it's mostly empty.
Oh, so she's that 'type' of person; as I'm here, I'll bite. "I could ask you the same: of all the people here, you chose to come to me." I don't hide my suspicion, nor do I soften my voice. "Why?"
The woman laughs, wiping a tear from her eye. "Sorry. Your question caught me off guard, but if you need to know why, it's very simple."
"You see everyone around us." She points at the people on the dance floor. "All so desperate to get laid, to drown in pleasure even for one night. They are the types I hate the most.
But you," She snaps her fingers, and the bartender comes, handing her a drink. She must come here frequently; after all, she was on the second floor. "You are not looking for any of that, are you?"
"Strange question coming from someone who dresses like one of those 'types' right there." I look at the woman and rest my back against the counter. "But yes, you're right."
The woman grins, her teeth strangely sharp from up close. "Looks can deceive; you're the perfect example."
"Answer me this." The woman shifts closer to me. "Would you like to hear a tale?"
I nod my head, and the air around us feels somehow heavier.
"There was once a girl who lived in poverty; the girl just wished to be free.
But one night, a monster came; it snatched the girl from its sister and named her part of its 'family'."
The woman grabs her drink and gulps it down. On her face, there is an expression of disgust.
"The girl cried for two hundred nights, wishing only to see her sister one day; however, the girl was not the same anymore.
She became a monster, just like the one who took her sister away."
"That's a somber tale," I say, shifting on the stool and stopping her hand as she raises it to order another one. "But why tell me?"
The woman looks at my hand and back at me, laughing once again. "Because you smell like Collie, and I know for a fact she's in the city."
Cold sweat starts running through my hand as the woman once again grins, but this time darkly.
On my ear, Yui talks. "Detective, I see you from up here; the woman you're with is-"
I already know that, and before I can get up from the chair, she hits my neck. My vision darkens, and I find myself falling into her arms, the woman hugging me and looks at Yui before disappearing.
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