Chapter 157 - Combined Runes (1/2)

Leona's father had fallen overseas and while the entire family mourned, she alone stayed strong. She had too. Her mom was falling to pieces and her brother was like a lost sheep, so she had no choice. We all encounter that at some points in our lives, the point where everyone is relying on you to be strong, even though you feel the weakest you have ever felt. That was how their family was for the longest time. The arrangements with the funeral, his belongings, the paperwork with the army. All of these things combined almost sent her mom over the edge, but luckily Leona was there for her. She held the family together.

Inside though, she felt the pieces fall away one by one as the days turned into weeks, then into months.

She was sad and very much alone. She had friends, but not the kind of friends who could be counted on in a situation like this. They couldn't be her support. They couldn't understand how she felt. In the end, she just started faking it, faking everything. With a cold demeanor and a rather expressionless face, she started going through the days like a programmed robot.

And no one saw the difference in her.

Then one day, she developed a strange power. It wasn't something that had been there before, but after a day or two of illness, she suddenly felt this new energy inside of her, filling her body with a type of healing she had never known. She thought it was something special, then she heard the reports on the news. Reports of people like her going crazy and killing others. People who transformed into weird things and were forced to be put down like animals. Although she was worried for herself, she felt that if she just let it stay inside and never once used it, it would be alright.

But then her brother and his girlfriend got it too. In fact, they could feel it in each other making it impossible to hide. On top of that, there was the fact that the government was looking for them and had a way of finding out. Their only hope became the announcement of people who had similar symptoms, but no blood infections. After hearing these stories start to come out, Leona started to pray that it was the case for them, but the bad feeling never left her.

She didn't want to bet on chance.

She knew that one day, they might have to run with no place to go and no way to survive. And knowing this was eating away at her already fragile mental state.

Then he just magically showed up out of no where.

Laz came into their lives when she needed someone to lean on the most. At first, she didn't trust him. In fact, she felt it was far better to stay away from a drifter like him who came into town like a knight on a white horse. You couldn't trust that they wouldn't ride away some day, disappearing just as fast as they came.

But he didn't. At least not yet.

And on top of that, he was keeping his promise. He showed all of them how to use and develop their abilities. And when he asked her to trust him, she couldn't find a reason to say no. Even when he asked her to do something unthinkable, she went along with it. It's not accurate to say that she wasn't nervous about it, or scared. More like, she wanted to trust him because she needed to. So despite her misgivings, she did it.

'What a wild night that was,' was the thought that always appeared in her head when she looked back. Laz was toned in every way possible and even though she tried to avoid looking, she couldn't help but be amazed at how large he was. Not that she was instantly turned on just by seeing his manhood. As a whole, women, unlike men, don't just get all hot and bothered by a guy's junk. Women are much more mental creatures. A gentle touch, a warm whisper, a breathtaking poem or even a romantic dinner have a much better chance of turning a woman on than just seeing a guy's privates. Of course there are other women who are aroused by whips, chains, choking and rough play, but even then, it's more about the mood and the method than the man himself.

And yet something happened that changed that. She ended up being the one that wanted nothing more than to jump his bones and devour him. Yet he had resisted. Although she was grateful that nothing happened, she was also a little depressed, thinking that there was something wrong with her. She soon discovered that it wasn't that at all. It was just because Laz had understood what had happened and was able to see past it.

He saw the real her.

And things had been building ever since.

But now, out here at a random, rundown warehouse in the transportation district, the man that she was starting to have feelings for was covered in blood with his clothing looking like it had been blown off him in places.

Only something like that could make her loose her inhibition. As her iris changed shape and appeared almost feline like, the claws on her hands grew out as though knives had extended from her finger tips. She turned her head towards the two remaining gang members. Seeing the change in this otherwise non threatening girl caused both of them to freeze up as though they had seen the face of their natural predator. Before either of them could react, Leona sped into action. She came upon the first one and sunk her claws into his chest, jamming all five of them though his heart and out of the back of his body. Ripping them free caused a spray of blood to gush up into the air as his lifeless body fell back onto the asphalt. She then turned and immediately pounced towards the other one. Having only a moment to react, he turned and tried to run towards where Laz and Ruby had started walking over, but only made it a few steps before he felt the stabbing sensation of Leona's claws rip through his heart. His limp body hit the floor a moment later.

Ruby was speechless as she watched Leona explode in rage and reap the thug's lives. She had killed them in the fastest and most efficient way possible, something which Ruby didn't think Leona would have known how to do. Of course it was Laz who had taught her that, she just put it into practice right then.

Leona quickly moved away from the dead men and appeared before Laz in a heartbeat, instantly retracting her claws. She wanted to support him and see if he needed help, but he waved her back. He quickly thought of something and ran, leaving both girls alone and wondering what the hell he was doing.

”Is he ok?” Leona asked Ruby seeing as how they had walked over together.

”I don't know. I just ran into him a moment before we turned down the alley,” Ruby replied, looking at where Laz had run off too.

As Leona was about to take off after Laz, Ruby held her back.

”Hang on. Before that, let's move these bodies inside and then you can come help me move mine,” Ruby asked while walking over to the first corpse.

”Why?” Leona asked back, not knowing what she was up to.

”Because right now these bodies are evidence and we don't want it being left sitting around,” as Ruby said this, she looked around the surrounding area to get a quick view of things before smiling.

”As I thought...”

”What now?” Leona asked while dragging the other body. There was nothing they could do about the blood trail.

”These types of buildings would normally have surveillance cameras. But since they are involved with questionable activities, it looks like neither side would allow cameras to go up. I love it when paranoia makes them stupid,” Ruby laughed as she lead the way.

”I hope he's ok...” Leona commented as she followed.

”Me too... But you've got to admit, he looks damn sexy like that. MMM... I would just love to know what he has underneath those remaining layers...” Ruby commented back, a weird light flickering in her eyes.

”A lot... I'm not sure a girl can handle it... but I would love to try....” Leona mentioned, the same strange light appearing in her eyes.

”I feel... weird...” Ruby said, trying to focus on the task at hand.

”Me too... the last time I felt this way, I just wanted to eat him up....”

”That's how I feel...”

”Wait, you too?”