Chapter 42: Now you understand me. (1/2)
Maria looked at Sasha and continued:
”I don't know about the other vampire hunters, but for Carlos and me, we just treated it like a job… We had no personal grudge or special reason to hunt vampires.”
”Carlos and I grew up in a poor area of New Jersey, Camden… We were both orphans.”
”...” Ruby and Natalia looked at Maria with curiosity.
”Two orphans surviving on the street, we could barely survive day to day, and to make matters worse, I was a girl…” She spoke the last part with a bit of hatred:
”What would eventually happen to me was obvious… I could only maintain my purity because Carlos defended me tooth and nail; he was always more developed than the people around, despite being only ten years old, he was stronger and faster than an ordinary human.”
”At the time, I didn't know; I just came to find out what this abnormality of Carlos was in the future... He was a man who had the 'potential' that the priests talked about so much, he could more easily access the energy of 'God '…”
”To access this power, you need to have faith in something… I don't know what Carlos's faith was when he was younger; he never told me. But, one thing was undeniable; he was strong. ”
She sighed, ”We survived on the street, for 13 years, we stole, we killed for each other, we survived...”
”Until one day, a priest approached us and offered us shelter... At first, we didn't believe in the priest, but something happened that made us trust the priest.” She made a face that said she didn't want to talk too much about this.
”It was in that church that the priest discovered Carlos' potential. I remember that, at the time, the priest seemed very happy. Of course, I was happy for Carlos too, but I was also afraid... I was afraid of separating from him.”
”I also auditioned to find out if I had the potential to become a slayer, and unfortunately, I didn't have the same potential as Carlos, but I had something more special...” She looked at Sasha, and slowly her blue eyes darken, ”I had faith.”
”I had faith in Carlos... And, because of that faith, I was able to use the hunter's powers; despite not believing in God. I believed in Carlos; for me, he was my god.”
Maria makes a gesture with her hand, and then strands, almost invisible to the naked eye, began to dance around as if protecting her.
”My power is much weaker than common hunters, especially if I'm comparing my power to Carlos, but one thing is for sure… If a vampire is trapped by my threads, it's an arduous task to break free.”
”Because of that, I knew I needed to be smarter and work on trapping, I was the brain, and Carlos was the muscle…”
”...” A moment of silence fell around.
”Is this supposed to move me or something?” Sasha asked neutrally with the same look.
”No.” Maria denied it, she undid her power and looked at Sasha: ”All I did was to survive. The hunting job was good, and we just had to kill the 'monsters' of the church, and in return, we would earn a lot of money, but... Living a little with you and observing your daily life, I could see that you are no different from humans.”
”...”
”Sometimes... A thought pops into my head; could I have done things differently...?” She spoke and continued:
”But when I look back on my living conditions, I realized that I had no other alternative. Either I would become a hunter and earn enough money to be independent, or I would enter the criminal world. After all, I already had hands stained with human blood… And I don't regret the decisions I made; I did what I did just to survive.”
”And now, I'm suffering the consequences of my actions…”
”…But,” She bites her lip, ”…Just don't kill Carlos. Please, he's all I have left…” Small tears threatened to fall from Maria's face.
”….” Sasha looks at Maria with a neutral face.
Ruby and Natalia look at Sasha and wait for her answer.
”Just imagine...” Sasha started to speak, she took a deep breath and held the hatred in her heart that threatened to explode.
”….” Maria continued to look at Sasha.
”Just imagine, you went out to solve a little problem with your friends. Then, when the problem is solved, you decide to return home, and the moment you enter your home, your precious home that should be the safest place, a place for you to lie down and relax...”
”...You find the dead body of your 'god'.”
”...” Maria was silent.
”And if that wasn't enough, imagine that the enemy who killed your 'god' just did it because it was a 'job'?” Sasha asked.
”... Tell me.” Sasha's eyes were glowing blood-red, ”How would you feel?”
”...” Maria remained silent, she bit her lip and didn't answer Sasha's question.
Unable to hold the hate in her heart, lightning began to cover Sasha's body, and she roared:
”TELL ME! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL!?”
”Ugh,” Ruby and Natalia put their hands over their ears when they hear the lightning's noise.
Maria bites her lip harder and responds in a troubled but honest voice:
”...I would feel hate, I would feel a sense of loss...I would feel empty,” She replied.
”Would you forgive the murderer of your precious 'god!?'”
”I wouldn't...” Maria clenched her fists tightly, but in the end, she just sighed and felt very tired.
”…See? Now you understand me.” Sasha spoke in a neutral tone with a distorted smile of hate.
”...” Maria didn't answer anymore, she just turned and walked towards the kitchen.
Sasha continued to watch Maria's back until she was out of her sight.
”Natalia...” She lowered her face a little, and her blond hair covered her face.
”Yes, Lady Sasha?”
”Open the gate to Ruby's house...” She spoke neutrally.