I greeted the customers in the store and went to the counter as an old lady was waiting for me. I greeted her politely and sat down. The old lady had round and thick glasses which were normal, due to old age, vision can deteriorate a lot. The lady had gray hair and a white jacket, which seemed strange and familiar to me. 

The jacket was white and so beautiful that it caught my attention so much that I asked her while scanning the chocolate cookies she wanted to buy. "Excuse me, but may I ask where you got that jacket? It seems familiar to me but I can't figure out where I've seen it before." The old lady, who had only a smile on her face since I sat down, said softly, so softly that it was hard for me to make out what she was saying. 

"I found it in a few hours ago haha," the old lady chuckled. Did she find it in a few hours ago? I wondered in my mind, what does she mean? Maybe she didn't express herself well and meant to say she found it a few hours ago. People are really strange. 

I received 100 euros from the old lady for those biscuits. Here I asked her if she had a smaller bill because I couldn't change these bills and the lady responded with the same voice as before, "Ah, it's not necessary young man, you can keep them, plus that money means nothing to me." That got me thinking, I can't just put 100 euros in my pocket. Even if it would help me financially, with how Asto is, he wouldn't let me receive so much money. 

So I opened the drawer to put the money in, but I changed my mind and said, "Look, today I'll make an exception and the cost of the biscuits will be on me," and I handed her the 100 euro bill, but when I looked back to where the lady was, I realized she was no longer there. "Huh?" I responded, surprised and taken aback. I looked left and right but the lady was no longer in the store at all, it was as if she disappeared or never even existed. That's what I would have thought if I didn't have the 100 euro bill in my hand. Still shocked, I put the money in the drawer. I leaned back in my chair and tilted my head back as I closed my eyes. "Pfew... what's happening today?" I asked, thinking about this morning's dream about my battle with angels and demons. Ah... yes, such a life. To be in the spotlight? To be strong? To have magic? "But..." I said again aloud as I got up from my chair, "A dream is just a dream."

Time passed and around 5 pm Lunar left not long ago. Because there were no customers at the moment, I decided to go downstairs to drink some water.

When I got to my locker room, I opened the door and took a bottle of water that I had from yesterday. I closed my eyes as the cold water entered my mouth and I swallowed. It didn't take long until I finished and so I put the bottle back where I took it from. Well, it seems I need to buy another bottle of water. I turned towards the stairs and didn't take a step as from above I heard a scream.

But this time it was the scream of a girl and not just any girl but Lila's scream. I didn't let a second go by and ran up the stairs towards the scream. When I opened the door between the store and the cellar, I could see 3 silhouettes dressed in black looking down. Down there was Lila who was crying. I couldn't see her well but I could see and hear her crying while crouching on the floor. The door being open, suddenly the 3 silhouettes in black turned their gaze towards me. There were 3 men dressed in shoes, jeans, and black hoodies. I couldn't tell what they looked like as their faces were covered with a black mask and only their eyes could be seen. When they turned, the man in the middle, who was also the tallest, raised an eyebrow and said. "And who are you? Do you work here? Hmm, I think so. Strange that the boss didn't say anything about you, I expected the other guy" and put his hand on his chin looking up, "Hmm what was his name? Lune? Lunir?" and a voice from the right said, "Lunar sir and yes, we are alone in the store" coming towards us.

There were a total of 4 masked men who attacked Lila. I don't know who they are and I don't know what they want. My heart started beating fast because I hadn't had an experience in a real fight, especially one where I was surrounded by 4 people. 

A drop of sweat formed on my forehead because of fear. Maybe this is the moment I've always dreamed of. To save someone? To finally become a hero? But how? With the "magic" I dreamed of? No, no, Alex! Don't forget who you are, you're nothing and there's no way something "magical" can happen, stop living in a dream. After calming my thoughts, I took a deep breath knowing that the next moments were crucial and I asked, "Who are you? And what do you want? Money? Why are you here and who is your boss?" I asked too many questions in too little time because I realized that all 4 men became somewhat nervous, but I had nothing to do, we're close to a surveillance camera, so any information would be useful. 

The tallest man took a step towards me, he was slightly frowning and had a hand behind his back. Could it be a weapon? I must be careful there. Fuck. What can I do? Stall for time? I couldn't continue with my thoughts because the man said, "Don't you think you're pushing it with these questions? Plus, shouldn't you have another concern right now? Like the girl behind?" and he gestured with his other hand over his shoulder towards Lila. 

I know, I know I have to help her but how? I need to move fast and- I tried to think clearly but now I saw that Lila was hurt. She had wounds on her face and had bruises on her neck and dried tears on her eyes and cheeks. When did they manage to do this to her? I realize they are professionals, I can't beat them. "You... bastards... why? Why did you do this?!" I asked nervously, feeling my palms forming into fists and my fingers putting pressure on my palms. "Oh? Are we upset now, aren't we? Well, Mr. Grumpy. If you hit one of us, I'll answer some questions." said the guy while..he was laughing. I asked myself, still not believing this is real.

"Huh? Do you think this is a game? To toy with our feelings? To see desperation? You're a piece of human garbage!"

When I finished saying that, I instantly regretted my words because the tall man took another step forward, and then another, until he was about 30 cm away from me. With a head or two taller than me, he looked at me in disgust as if I were a rat that had entered his house.

As I waited for his response, I could see up close that he had a red scar on his left eye. The scar was a dark red and had a droplet shape as if someone had splattered paint on his face. While I stared at the scar or mark, he finally said, "Yes, I'm a piece of human garbage but..." and I saw his hand moving slowly from behind his back, "..you and other normal people are even bigger pieces of garbage!" He shouted and pulled his hand from behind his back towards me.

Prepared for the worst-case scenario, I reflexively moved both hands and caught his hand. Finally, I noticed that he had a black knife in his hand. The shape of the knife was long, thin, and curved slightly upwards. More sweat drops appeared on my face as I struggled to hold onto the knife but... his words made me lose my focus. "Do you think if you block my hand you can save yourself?!" I didn't realize what he said but at that moment I felt a blow right on my left cheek. 

It felt as if a car had hit me and threw my head back. I fell to the ground, tears forming in my eyes from the adrenaline and the punch. I couldn't feel my face at all, even though I put my hand where I was hit, I still couldn't feel it. The hand on my cheek started trembling, and I was left speechless. I tried to get up but at that moment I felt another punch, this time in the stomach. It was even stronger than the previous one. So strong that I doubled over and vomited the water I drank today. 

The liquid and blood flowing from my nose and mouth didn't stop. I couldn't do anything, this is the worst situation. My body was trembling uncontrollably, and my whole abdomen hurt. "Is this your limit? Is a normal person really this weak? How pathetic." 

These words made me feel more anger and hatred towards him, but I couldn't do anything. My body wasn't moving, and I couldn't beat this guy. But... that doesn't bother me, I always knew this would happen but this time I won't give up. I'll break free from this shitty destiny of mine and I'll make it my own. The pain was unbearable, I clenched my teeth and slowly, very slowly, I tried to get up.

I got up about 20 cm from where I was and it felt like it took 3 hours but no, I don't care about that anymore! The tall man, who was still waiting, looked down at me. He looked as if he was waiting for me to beg him, to plead with him to let me go and he said while I put both my feet on the ground, trembling, "Ohh? You're not so bad after all. You're still conscious after those hits? Not bad at all, I'm even impressed, but..." and he pulled out the knife he had this time from his waist and said as he approached me, "Let's see how you defend yourself against this attack" and without realizing it or seeing it, I felt him stab the knife into my abdomen.

Without screaming or anything, I fell to the ground again. Blood was flowing from my abdomen and mouth like a river. I felt the blood in my mouth building up more and more until I spit it out on the floor. I tried to open my eyes but all I could see was blurry. I could see Lila crying and looking in terror at me. I looked up a little, very little, to see the man who would kill me soon but... what I saw, for a millisecond, I think someone appeared behind him. I can't tell who it is but it looks like Lunar.

In the next millisecond, I saw Lunar punch the man, who beat me, in the ribs. It was such a powerful punch that it threw him against the wall to the left and he fell to the ground. I couldn't see anything else because my vision went black but, the last words I heard were, "I came to get my phone back and look what I found." 

This sentence made me smile for the first time in a long, long time.