BLEEDING SILVER

Chapter 5

Alina went against her parent's words. She now loiters the city proper on foot, leaving her ride still parked within Dreamcatcher's vicinity. Despite her parents' probable oppositions as to her choice of company to immerse on, she decided to push through her will.

The sky turns pinkish orange then to a purple hue by the minute but Alina takes no heed of it. She gleefully observes the city's wonders starting from the tall infrastructures, lavish apartments, famed establishments, and well-sculptured landmarks and even on decent stalls found on a typical busy town. She is somehow certain that the clock has already passed six now that only a few white-clothed people can be seen on the sidewalks.

After walking for an hour, she sat on a bench and brought out her phone to check the actual time. But the moment she did so, she heard a swish which followed by the sudden disappearance of the device. Her eyes then trailed to the culprit—all dressed in black with a cap and face mask on. With this, she clicked her tongue, thinking it is of human deed, and instantly went for the chase. Although the jumpstart of the thief made a huge gap from the start, Alina's strides and unusual speed momentarily fill in the space. As the suspect notices of this, he turns on a dark and narrow alley then prepared for an ambush just right beside a pile of trash bins with butterfly knife which he tightly grips on his hand.

Alina, clueless of what will happen next, followed the guy's direction on her instinct. This time, her footsteps can be already heard at the distance which the thief hides. Ready to aim for the kill, he jumped right off the bat with the silver blade pointed towards Alina's neck. Alina's time reaction made the direction of her toes to reverse but in her thoughts, the time left is just so short that the knife might actually slit her throat. With this, she gasps with her eyes closed.

Then everything went black.

And the wind turned cold as it caresses her skin.

Then nothing.

Bewildered, she opens her eyes, only to find out a broad male shoulders owned by a lean and tall stature facing against her and to the assaulter. By Alina's judgment, the man in front of her wears a perfectly fitted black leather jacket covering a dark colored top. By the black tight jeans he wears, the muscular form of his thighs and legs showcase. The strange thing she notices is a black scarf covering half of his face that definitely goes against the situation.

The thief's arm was twirled and trapped on the stranger's grasp. With built up pressure, the culprit loosens his grip and drops the knife as he groans in pain.

"W-Who are you?" the thief's voice was shaking terribly this time, noticing the dark glow of the deep abyss seen on the pupils of the man in front of him. Feeling that he is in extreme danger on the presence of this man, the offender immediately glanced at Alina, hoping her aid to come but he was shocked when he saw something that should not be existing—silver liquid from a supposed Helios. Alina's cut was not deep but just enough to cause a little portion of her skin to break and make just a few of her blood drip across her neck. "Lu-Luno—" Just before his statement ends, brutally cracked bones were heard accompanied by red liquid splattering simultaneously on the tall walls and the brick flooring of the backstreet. With this, the now human corpse fell to the cold ground.

The man who did it turns to face Alina. Although it was dark, she can tell that the lad has alluring cerulean blue eyes perfectly matching his smooth pale skin and raven black fringed hair. Alina felt rather relaxed by his presence, knowing somehow that he will not do her any harm. She let the man approach her as her eyes still travel on his every feature. Alina was caught off-guard when the guy nears his still-covered face on hers while intensely staring at her. She involuntarily shut her eyes closed. The next thing she knew, something warm and fluffy now covers her neck. As soon as she peeks, the presence was gone, so was the corpse.

'The scarf', Alina thought as she holds at its warmth. There is a distinctly nostalgic smell from it that makes her feel relaxed. Alina somehow managed to get away from the setting the second she noticed that she cannot retrieve her already missing phone. She instantly returned to Dreamcatcher's building and rode home. Her night drive is quiet and undisturbed. She remembered her mother telling her that they will have to pull an all-nighter. With this, Alina doubles her speed in her hurry to go home and do something about the cut.

"Any time near her birthday, we'll see if we should tell her or not." His father's former words echo in her ears.

"That would be unnecessary," Alina whispers in between gritted teeth. "I learned your secret the hard way."

As soon as she reaches home, she rushed to her room's bathroom and inspected the small cut.

'I really have silver blood,' she reckoned in disbelief. 'That explains my love for the night and my low performance under the day. I guess they kept it away from me for safety. If so, that explains my home-schooled years. Seeing that I was wounded by silver only all throughout these years, any other material won't easily break my skin. Very well then, I guess antiseptics for Helios won't work on me. I'd better wash it off.'

She took off her clothes, the scarf included, and placed it on a stand near the sink.

Her thoughts then halted the as she steps in a warm bath. She came out with clear mind and dressed herself with her favorite moon-printed pajamas. She turned off the lights and silently peered through the starry night sky with her telescope. She was so absorbed in star gazing that she jumped off when she heard the bathroom door hit something.

Her night vision works fine as she cautiously examines her surroundings. 'Someone is here,' she thought, noticing the sudden change in temperature. As she approaches the bathroom door, cold wind immediately blew against her back. She remembered only opening a little of the window glass to such extent that it will not allow wind as strong as this to enter. With this, she instantly tilts her head towards the direction of the window. There, she saw the same man standing still, now with his scarf carefully placed around his neck. On a blink, the man is now only a few inches away from Alina. Without any word yet, the man engulfed Alina into a longing embrace. Despite the height difference, the mysterious trespasser buried his slender nose on Alina's neck near the cut she just got earlier. Stunned by the sudden gesture, Alina just stood frozen as electric shocks travel back and forth through her spine.

The man deeply inhales before finally uttering in a deep enchanting whisper, "My Luna."