The waitress was the first to stand up. There were scratches all over her body and branch marks on her skin. Her hair now swung freely, and her work uniform was unrecognizable. She wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, tasting the strange flavor of blood. Then, she found the boy still on the ground.
"Are you okay?" she asked with a sincere voice.
Damian got up on his knees, looking disheveled. He was also breathing heavily.
"No, I'm not okay. I...," he stopped to swallow, "What is all this?! Why is this happening to me? Why does that thing want to kill me?! My brother is involved too, and you..."
The waitress looked him over, furrowing her brow. Again, she approached him, crouching down.
"First, you need to control your emotions and realize the situation. Why don't you just deal with what's happening right now? For instance, he marked you."
Damian turned his chin to where the girl pointed, realizing a mark on his neck. It had the shape of a hand.
"But what is this?!"
"It means you can't escape from him anymore. He will find you wherever you go. Now, he needs to be killed," she said matter-of-factly. Damian listened to her, paralyzed. "Of course, this wouldn't have happened if you had run when I told you to."
"What did you want? I can't think straight!"
"Try to start thinking straight and feel the weight of your life! Lamenting when you should have run did not help at all," she raised her voice but softened her expression afterward. "For now, don't be so desperate. He won't kill you. I won't let him."
Damian looked directly into her eyes.
"Are you thinking of facing him alone? That thing just killed two men a while ago! An axe flew and hit them directly! They died, without even..."
"Yeah, I saw," her face twisted in sorrow. "I can face him. I'm just at a disadvantage, but it's something I can turn around quickly."
"Waitress, are you hearing yourself?" Damian asked incredulously.
The girl finally stood up hopefully. The two heard the voice of the hybrid approaching where they were. The rain, which hinted at his appearance, came down heavily this time.
"There's something I know about Halvinas, the hybrid beings. They need time to regenerate; it's challenging to kill them, but not impossible. Stay behind me, okay? Try to stay out of his sight."
"This won't work, we're going to die," Damian moved his mouth desperately. The hybrid was humming through the trees. The waitress took off her uniform vest and threw it away.
"Is this your way of cheering for me?"
"And is there anything I can do?"
"Just wait. Watch the moment and find an opening. I need to catch him off guard."
Damian moved away, using the shadows as a hiding place. He couldn't tell if the rainwater helped or hindered. He observed as the girl turned her single spear into a two-handed weapon.
"She split it?"
"There's no use trying to hide it from me! I know exactly where he is!" The voice that would haunt Damian for a long time was heard.
"I'm not trying to hide it; I just want him to avoid looking at you. Your appearance is frightening," the waitress said boldly.
"Who do you think you are?" The girl managed to irritate him, making him emerge from the shadows in a direct attack.
"You won't want to know," she replied, seeing the creature coming towards her.
The sound of the two blades meeting irritated Damian's eardrums. The hybrid now attacked angrily, without direction. The girl more accepted the blows than received them. The spear, split in two, was now much more efficient against the axe than before. The boy hidden behind the trees was impressed with her movements. She endured all the pressure from the hybrid, who seemed stronger all the time. However, it was as if the waitress was different. Something about her was out of the ordinary—the way she acted, the confidence she carried; everything leaned in favor of the girl.
Still, the other carried a murderous and malevolent instinct, willing to use any means to win. That was worrying; Damian feared more for the girl than for himself. After all, she was defending him, wasn't she? What would become of him if something happened to the waitress?
Damian barely blinked, and his thoughts were brought back to reality. The axe cut through her, revealing the skin on her belly. The wound disturbed her to the point of being caught again by the hybrid. The waitress used one of the spears to block the blow, but the opponent still hit her with a kick to the already injured stomach.
Damian clenched the tree trunk, moved by the scene. Damn, what now?
The hybrid continued while the girl fell to her knees on the wet ground. But it wasn't enough to stop her. Even on the ground, under the rain, she still held onto his axes, crossing the blades against each other. The waitress was panting, and Damian imagined that if she had a plan, she should introduce it at that exact moment, or everything would be lost.
"Just wait." He remembered her words as he watched her on the ground. "See the moment."
What should he do? He would surely die if he tried to fight. Nothing assured him. However, he only had the girl for help. As he saw her being pushed to the ground, he realized the danger. If something happened, and it was about to, there would be no way out.
Damian emerged from the darkness, roaring against the wind.
"It's me you want, isn't it?! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!"
The waitress widened her eyes, and the Hybrid seemed to enjoy that.
"Just a second, I'll get to you."
"Wait..." The girl on the ground lost consciousness as she hesitated. The hybrid didn't use the axe, but his closed fist.
Damian lost even more brightness in his eyes as he saw the creature that ruined his afternoon walking towards him.
"I wonder," he said sadistically, grabbing Damian by the neck with one arm. The boy kicked his feet in the air. "What will his reaction be when he finds out that I ripped the little brother's head off?"
Damian's eyes gleamed vividly, bathed by the rainwater.
"He? My brother? Is he alive?" he spoke between shallow breaths.
"What a magnificent night it will be!" The hybrid exasperated, using the axe with the other hand. He aimed for the boy's throat.
Damian closed his eyes, not praying this time, being released on the ground afterward. When he opened his eyes again, he found a broken forearm. His stomach churned as he saw a puddle of green blood forming on the ground. The hybrid stared at the right side of his armless body, wicked.
"Go!" Damian's heart relaxed as he heard the girl's voice. He promptly obeyed.
The creature also reacted. Roared, consumed by anger. The boy ran away, fearing that the hybrid would use the axe again. However, the creature didn't say what it thought. The chain on the enemy's belt, acting on its own, flew directly at Damian's leg. The boy was caught feeling a weight on his ankle, falling to the ground. The chain wrapped around his shin like a long snake.
The hybrid made his own axe fly towards the girl, meters away from him. Still on the ground, she dodged almost losing something important, her head. The insane creature, acting clever, searched for the half of the spear still lying there, the part responsible for tearing off his right arm. When trying to pick it up, he felt unexpected pressure. The half-spear repelled him, igniting his hand.
He let go disappointed, turning his head to the girl.
"A blood oath?!"
"I have my tricks too," she affirmed, hearing the boy's struggle against the living chain.
Damian could see his leg starting to disappear. No, he thought desperately.
The waitress called back the other half of the spear, uniting them again. The axe couldn't return in time because she planted her powerful weapon in the wet ground, creating a stealthy barrier that prevented the weapon from returning to its owner.
"No, you damned!" The hybrid advanced without an arm. She spun her body along with the spear in a sharp dance, covering the creature. She didn't hesitate in the following seconds, not giving him a chance to defend. She made him fall and lie on his back, panting.
"Let him go! Call the chain!" she shouted over the hybrid, with the sharp spear at his neck.
"Do you really think you can do anything?!" The hybrid shouted.
"I'm fading!" Damian's voice came out agonized.
Acting without much consciousness, she split her weapon again.
"Take it!" she ordered, addressing the boy, throwing half of the spear in the air. The weapon easily passed through the barrier, falling near the boy. Damian crawled to the weapon, taking it in his hand.
Feeling its different weight, he struck the chain with not much else to do. Sparks flew, and the support rings retreated like fleeing rats. The hybrid, from where he was, wanted to act enraged but was stopped by the girl, who shot him.
The enemy then turned all his attention to her.
"Why is a Halvina like you here?! What do you want with him?"
"You'll pay for this! I'll tear you apart, damned," he promised through gritted teeth, making her press the sharpened tip even harder against his chest.
"What do you want here?!"
"Don't think this ends here. You can't kill me! You're nobody; you're not one of them!"
After finishing speaking, the hybrid bit his own tongue. His body gradually began to rot from the inside out. The waitress blinked several times, watching the scene. She saw him disappear before her eyes, the rest of the body dissolved into dust carried away by the rainwater. The spear's tip touched the ground, without a target.
"Yeah, I'm not..." she murmured softly, responding to the enemy who had disappeared.
Damian, who watched everything lying on the ground, got up limping.
"What happened? Did you kill him?"
"No."
"No?! Where did he go, then?" He approached confused.
"He sacrificed his own body to save himself. He must be regenerating somewhere in hiding." Damian's face gradually lost color as he saw that there was still a handprint on his neck.
"How do you know all this?" The boy asked, but she didn't answer. "And what do we do in the meantime?!"
"Well, you can try to understand why this is happening to you," she said as she began to walk. Damian followed, and the sirens were heard by both. "I really need some time to get back to fighting with him."
"Are you going to?" He asked, intertwining his fingers.
The waitress turned to the boy.
"There's no one else who can do it, right?" She spoke as if hiding something. Damian was puzzled by the girl's black eyes. "It's better not to want to know why I'm helping you. Don't make me see that I won't gain anything from it, that I'm just risking my life for a boy I don't know and who, incidentally, was very rude when he met me."
The boy swallowed.
"I apologize for that," he said.
"Your brother had already apologized for you anyway," she concluded. They both walked on, side by side. The boy quickly thought of Elio. "By the way, who exactly is your brother? He was full of Refulgent Energy on his head."
"Refulgent Energy? What is that?" Damian asked, interested, and she responded with a puzzled face.
"Your question only proves that you really know nothing about his life, right?"
Damian stomped on the ground, running his hand through his neck, somewhat lost. What was there to know about his brother? What was Elio hiding? Was he okay? There's something more I want to know, but it's about you, he thought.
"I don't know your name." The boy said. This made her think for a moment.
"It's Autumn."
"Just Autumn?"
"Yes, just Autumn."
"Well, my name is..."
"Dante, I know. I heard it from your brother."
"In fact, it's Damian. Damian Montgomery. Only my brother calls me Dante."
She blinked at what she heard, raising her eyebrows.
"Alright," she said, walking again. "You coming, Dante?"
He blinked, walking after her.
"It's Damian," he corrected her. "Where are we going anyway?"
"To my house."
"Why to your house?"
"Because that's where I'm going now, and if you want me to protect you, you'll come after me."
Damian shook his head, unable to deny.
"Is it far?"
"Yes."
"I don't have money for a taxi."
"Neither do I, Dante."
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