The Lost Ones

I

What the hell did we just do? Why is there a we? Why am I here? Unanswered questions bounced off the walls of Luciana's brain. She mentally retraced the events of the night. They stood in a circle around it. Its eye rolled back into its thick armored skull.

A Chimera. A gruesome beast with the head of lion. A goats head in the center, and a two headed snake as a tail. In modern day 2024. It was clearly a chimera but this one was different. Someone had prepared it for battle. It wore a heavy gold helmet on both heads. It had a gold breast plate cut to fit the curvature of her body perfectly. The image tattooed on her brain. No matter how many times she shook her head, she saw its lifeless body in front of her. They sat in her apartment reliving the earlier conundrum in the woods
 
  The sky was black. The stars had run away in fear of what lurked in the shadows. The only light came from a small, flame like wisp in the air. Luciana had worked overtime and was dragging herself home when she noticed the sidewalk light up and the small flame disappear into the wooded area behind the picnic tables at the town's park. She followed it. Like a moth to a flame she crossed into the park without hesitation. Her black heels sunk into the damp earth. She stumbled and grabbed onto nearby branches to steady herself before continuing. Her heart beating like a war drum echoed in her ear. Her hands grew damp. In the early morning chill her shirt felt like second skin. The light gave off a soft glow as she approached it.
"Ouch"

Luciana stood tall and her eyes slowly traced the tree lines around her. The light was beginning dim and she wondered if she fell into a trap. Would her curiosity lead to her demise? Three male figures emerged from different sides. They each froze as they began to notice each other.

"Congratulations on your summoning.  The four of you have arrived to your first lesson. If you survive you will be given another in due time, fail and the lives of every innocent soul in this city will be in your hands." The light bounced with every word before going out completely. They were left in complete darkness waiting for their eyes to adjust to their surroundings.
"Does anyone know what that means?"
"It means we fight"
"Fight what?"
"We fight that", Luciana pointed at the  beast coming into the view behind them. A silver clad lion stepped into their circle. Luciana's arm reached down her fingers gripping the splinter coated branch. She dropped her bag to the floor and gripped the branch with all the force she could muster.
"What do we fight with", yelled one of the strangers.
"Grab something and don't die" grumbled Luciana. It charged. Luciana swung as the lion dodged the branch and slid under her. But she didn't miss entirely. She felt the branch hit something.
"Dude, its got multiple heads!" Someone shouted. She hit the head of a goat. Its eye bloodied.

She opened her mouth and released a roar that shook the ground around them. Fire spat out of her mouth and ignited the trees behind them. Luciana felt something trickle down her neck but wasted no time in checking. Blinded by rage, she attacked first. A sharp pain pulsed in her arm. The chimera had slashed its front paw at her forearm. They stared each other down giving an opportunity to the other fighters. A man in jeans and a plain white shirt sliced the neck of the goat protruding from its back. He stood there ,stunned, at what he had just done. A snake wrapped itself around its wrist.

"Look out" a voice rang out. As he went to stab the snake the chimera spun around and leaped. Luciana grabbed the head of the snake and pulled. A flash of light appeared. Almost like someone had taken a picture. She felt the tension in her hand disappear as she held the now limp head in her hands. The man in the white shirt had slashed at the lion.  They circled it slowly. Sirens were going off in the distance. The lion leaped into the air attempting to escape by going over them. Luciana felt someone rip the branch from her hands. She looked towards the chimera's stomach and saw the branch deeply embedded into its belly. Its throat was slashed. Blood stained their hands and the grass around them.

  "Hey, stop, police", they took the warning well and ran. They made sure to keep quiet.
"Follow me" whispering into the darkness, she began to walk. Although she couldn't see or hear them, she felt their presence. The town was small. The park and woods in the center. To the right, where they escaped, was a set of red brick buildings. To the left was the market, bakery, and a few offices. She crept behind the buildings. Until she reached a dark strip of woods at the edge. She slipped into the woods yet again before emerging behind her apartment building. She lowered the latter and whispered her floor and number before making her way to the front. The easiest way to deter suspicion, she thought, is to hide in plain site. The back had no cameras and the only other camera was in the doorway. It was occasionally faulty and liked to glitch and go static when something happened. Not that her landlord cared. She made her way inside and walked back out. She waited sixty seconds and walked back in. Police despised searching their security footage. But you can never be to sure, she mumbled to herself.

Luciana's building was practically  empty except for an elderly couple on the first floor and four more tenants scattered through out. She had no neighbor and she enjoyed it. She walked up the stairs to the fifth floor and down the hall to room 510. She unlocked stepped inside and left the lights off. The fire escape was across the hall from her. If they are who she believed they are, they wouldn't need a key.  Her eyes searched in the dark before spotting three figures on her sofa. She grabbed her first aid kit and made her way the coffee table.
"So what's your deal?", spoke Luciana. It wasn't much of a question. Not after
everything that happened.

  "I'm  Alessandro, this is Alec ,my brother, you can call me Les", Alessandro was wearing a plain white shirt and flannel pants. His hair was so light in color that it resembled a cloud. His eyes were a light shade of blue. Their skin had a soft honey beige glow. Alec was dressed in similar fashion but had flannel print shorts instead. They looked extremely alike exempt in height. Even though they were sitting Les was much taller and much more built than Alec. Their eyes darted towards their next victim. The man in a white shirt and jeans. His hair was dark. So dark it looked blue. Yet his eyes where green and his skin was pale, like it had never seen the sun.

  "Zale, call me Z", he nodded his head and leaned back into the sofa. Exhaustion took over. Its not everyday you fight a mythological beast with three strangers.
"Snack?" Luciana opened her coffee table cover and pulled out chips. She hadn't gone grocery shopping in a week and was low on items.
"You?" Mumbled Zale. His cheeks were rounded out as he chewed.
"Luciana".

  "Why did you guys follow the light?" Luciana questioned.
"Don't know, why did you follow" glared Zale.
"Why did anyone follow the light" Alec stated.
"On that note, don't leave evidence at the scene of the crime", Alessandro handed Luciana her briefcase. Surprise evident on her face. It had slipped her mind completely. How could she make such a stupid mistake?
"Thank you" whispered Luciana as she clutched her briefcase. That was when they noticed the ring on her finger. 
*now on dreame*
*Completed*