Ashes in the Rain

| Chapter 5: Standard Misfits |

Location: Beijing, China
Date: April 2nd, 1930
Time: 8:30 am

Dante 's POV
    I had awoken to see Natalie clinging to me like a lifeline. I was somewhat joyous. Since she always shows her affection, although I know at times she can get a little... clingy. We had just made it into China and began to sort out the files that Kian had given us. David had business that he had to attend back in his home country of Russia, so he left, while trusting us to track her down. It seems that she's been hiding under the radar, so we'd have to make an initiative to track her down by recourses of the people. Maybe then we could find tracks of her whereabouts. I turned to look at Natalie, scaring myself in the process, she was looking at me with that 'Cuddle-me-or-I-won't-talk-to-you-for-weeks' look. So to make her happy, I cuddled her to keep her warm and safe. "Dante, I wanna eat pancakes." She complained. "Okay, I'll make some then." I smiled. "Ones with blueberries in them too!" Her eyes lit up in awe of just thinking about them. This is what I liked the most about her... she was truly one of a kind.

After breakfast we headed to Hutong, a small neighborhood within China. It wasn't even five minutes until we spotted her. She was like some sort of responsible figure, most of the villagers talked about her as a hero or a very gentle and kind person. Although none of them could have possibly known that she was a kindle. We began to track her movements. It seems she would often visit the local book store, market, and go to several music schools to teach. It would take a few days... but we have to learn every aspect of her various locations and her home base. We needed time, and to be honest, Natalie and I aren't those who like to wait.

Location: Lily and Leo's Home
Date: April 2nd, 1930
Time: 6 pm

Leo's POV
    It was nearing the sunset when a knock came at the door. A knock was particularly suspicious mostly because hardly anyone knows of this area. "Leo?" Lily seemed concerned. "Don't worry, I'll go look." I neared the door, ready for anything. As I looked through the peephole I could tell that no one was there. I already knew what was coming up. I quickly turned to Lily, "Get down!" As soon as I said that we heard a loud crash. I quickly ran over to her and covered her. We watched as the door was slammed down and strangers wearing anonymous masks stared us in the eye. I checked to make sure Lily was alright, she was fine, but the scenario scared her half to death. The feeling of being being attacked and not knowing what to do, gave her a deep anxiety that built up over time. Of course it was a type of scarring from that day her parents had passed. "hA-a-ahh..L-leo..." she was breathing very heavily as she mumbled. "Close your eyes and don't open them until I say so." I grabbed  her hands and cupped them around her eyes. It was faint but I could feel her shivering in fear.

Now that her eyes were closed... I could get down to business. I transformed into my Kindle and everything went black. Sometimes... I lose myself to my animal counterpart, and this is one of those times. I go all out savage. I could still taste the metallic blood in my mouth. I never know what I do in these blackouts and... I honestly would prefer to keep it that way. When I finally zoned back to my normal self all I could see was my bloodstained hands. 'What a pitiful sight...' I thought. I looked into one of the broken mirrors and saw nothing but a savage beast. I was covered in guts and gore, my eyes were bloodshot and my teeth were disgusting. I had to calm down, but I didn't know how. That's when I saw her... Lily was sitting there in silence. Her eyes were open and her hands on her lap.

She looked at me strangely, as if in fear, but soon started smiling. "Leo?" Her voice was like usual and not even a single drop of blood was around her. She was purity. "L-lily...I..." She cut me off, "I'm okay now, so it's alright." As if in an instant I quickly changed back. She ran up and hugged me awkwardly. "I'm covered in blood, stop." She looked up at me. "Does it look like I care?" I could do nothing but stand there. "I... I realize I've been too closed up in this world. I need to learn how to grow up..." Her voice sounded a bit cold and into the distance. Her eyes were hazy and her lip was quivering, but she still spoke without stop. "So, can you teach me how to fight like that? I need to learn how to defend myself." She spoke. "N-no." I grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke sternly "I'm sorry, but I can't. No one should ever fight like that... that includes me." I sighed as I rest my head on her shoulder.

"I'll teach you combat... but not like this. It'll be the sort of combat I should've done in the first place." She patted my head. "I guess I'll settle for that." She smiled. "Although... I think we should really get this situated first. Who exactly sent them to kill us?" I said. I looked around at the dismembered bodies and corpses. Guts were strewn around the house and furniture was ruined. "Ah. It seems I've come too late to help out." A man walked in through the broken door, with quite a smirk on his face. "And who are you?" I asked. "Why, I'm the man who came too late to warn you, but of course it looks as if you don't need any help." He replied. "Did you send them to kill us?" I growled. "No. But allow me to introduce myself first. I'm Kian Mason, an information broker." I cut him off, "Information Broker? Could you be?" "Yes, that very man on the day of your family's death." He replied. "But why come here and now?" Lily spoke up.

"That, my dear Lily, is a very good question indeed. I've come because if my information is correct, which it turns out as most certainly true, then Mr. Fazer AKA David Frazer of the Mafia, is trying to murder the two of you." He said. "And why would that be?" I asked. "Oh for the family fortune of course." He replied. "So why help us again?" Lily was skeptical. "It is because your family had been a client of mine for ages and somewhat as a family to me." He replied. I wasn't too sure if we could trust this guy, but he gave us some places where Mr. David Frazer runs his drug business. With those few words Kian left with a smile and a few prints of blood on his shoe. "Can we trust this guy?" I asked. "What other leads do we have? And who knows, maybe this guy could tell us more about Sir Kian Mason himself." Lily held up the addresses that Kian had hastily scribbled on a paper. 'Time to start looking.' I thought.

To Be Continued...