Chapter One

Chloe jumped down from the rooftop instantly, nailing the bald one in the shoulder. He fell down immediately, letting out a low groan as he hit the ground with a thud. She slammed her foot into his gut twice, breaking ribs. A rough looking man came after her. She grabbed onto his wrist, flipping him over onto his back. Her foot stomped on his chest, stopping his breathing. Another one, armed with a knife, charged after Chloe. She ran against the wall, running up it and flipping over. On her way back down she grabbed onto his shoulders, pulling him with her. His head hit first, cracking at the impact of the concrete.

Chloe turned to face the boy, pinned against the wall by the man with the tattoos running from his brow to his neck. He was choking the boy, raising him off the ground by his throat. His face was turning different shades of dark colors as his life was drained out of him. Chloe grabbed onto the other man's throat with her claws and ripped, pulling his neck apart. He released the boy and fell to the ground, blood pooling around him.

"Rot in hell." She spat on his wound and turned to the boy who was leaning against the wall, gasping for air on the ground.

The boy's eyes were terrified, absolutely in panic. He looked like he was trying to run by crawling but he was too weak, for now.

"Don't. Catch your breath. You're in no shape to be moving." He did stop, scared, but stopped. He sat and rested for a while, trying to recover. Chloe sat down next to him, giving him space so he didn't feel overwhelmed. He gave her a suspicious glance and she slid over the other direction. "If I wanted to hurt you- you would be dead right now. You know what I can do. But I promise you I won't." His eyebrows furrowed together.

He didn't seem to buy it but he wasn't in any position to argue. She let him breathe a moment longer before standing.

"Come on," She held her hand out. He looked at it with confusion. "Look, it's not safe out here; you should know that by now." She could see that he knew it was true but wasn't willing to go with her yet. Chloe examined him. The first thing she noticed was his clothes, they were dirty and bloody in some parts. He had an old bruise on his left cheek and two forming ones on his right side. Small cuts and gashes lined his hairline, eyebrows and jaw. At a pass of wind, she caught onto his smell. It wasn't pleasant. He had clearly been on the street for a while. "How do burgers sound?"

He reached for her hand immediately.

They walked in silence down a back street, trying to avoid the public. He was in no condition to be seen in public. Chloe, however, looked like she had just been to the salon despite her previous activities. Her outfit was still in perfect place along with her hair.

She told him to sit on the bench; people would just mistake him for a homeless man.

"If you get into trouble, just say help, I have good hearing," She winked. He knew that her good hearing was based on the fact that they were not human. He didn't want to admit it.

A few anxious moments passed for him as Chloe went to the burger place. Whenever people walked by he would flinch, hoping to not get beaten. He nearly had a heart attack when Chloe sat down next to him on the bench, handing him a burger and fries. He looked at it like she had just handed him a million dollars. He devoured it in only a few bites, taking in every last ounce of it.

"Hungry I see," She noted. "Follow me," He did without questioning this time, given that she was the only food source he had. They wandered through the city for a little over thirty minutes before coming to a street with small houses; she stopped at one with a black pickup truck parked in front and all of the lights out on the porch.

Chloe ran up the steps and unlocked the door, all six locks, he noticed. She let him in and locked four of the dead bolts, leaving two open. He gave her a look.

"No matter how many they get right they'll always be locking two of them, but the deadbolts strong enough to keep them from busting in without causing a scene." She explained. "Upstairs," He followed her and went into the room on the left.

She led him into the bathroom and handed him a towel.

"Clean up and then come downstairs, oh, and once you change throw the clothes out so I can wash them, I'll look for some of my brother's old stuff that will fit." He did as he was told.

Chloe threw the filthy articles into the wash and went downstairs. She got out the things he would need from a first aid kit and poured a glass of water for him. The blonde found a pair of sweatpants that were going to be slightly small but for now they would work.

The water stopped and shortly after he showed up, the towel wrapped lowly around his waist, emphasizing the v pointing downwards. She noticed his abdominal muscles were strong, along with his chest and shoulders. Chloe blinked and pretended not to notice, handing him the sweats. He took them and went back upstairs. It was less that than ten seconds before he was back down, still shirtless.

Chloe made him sit down and take two Advil to help with the pain. She made ice packs and got him to hold them against his face.

"Since you're Mai, you'll heal a lot faster than you usually do, but this will speed it up even more,"

For the next hour she made him rotate putting ice on his bruises and bandaged up his cuts. He was still tense and doubting whether to trust her but he knew he needed the young girls help.

When she was done fixing him up, she went to the closet and brought out sheets and a pillow. He helped set up the pullout couch while she went to the kitchen. Chloe had left out a glass of water and a bag of chips.

"If you get hungry in the middle of the night, you can eat these or help yourself to the fridge, I don't mind, and if you need anything I'll be in my room, feel free to ask."

"Thank you." He said as she was on her way up the stairs. His voice was low yet soft. His accent only showed a little bit but Chloe caught onto it. She realized that was the first time he had spoken to her. She smiled.

"Goodnight."