Chapter 7:
She was walking home from a long day of work, it was very late at night, probably around midnight. This was not the first time she had finished a photo shoot that late. Being a model meant she sometimes had to shoot at very inconvenient hours, but she was already used to it. That day's location was relatively near her apartment so she thought it would be reasonable to walk home instead of calling a cab, not knowing that would be the biggest mistake of her life.
The streets were completely empty and quiet until she heard some noise, it sounded like people talking kind of loud but nothing out of the ordinary. When she turned the next corner she saw the source of the noise, there was a group of five men drinking on the street. It was dark so she couldn't see them very well, and decided to cross to the opposite side walk to avoid them, hoping they wouldn't notice her. Unfortunately, they did notice her.
- Hey gorgeous, where do you think you are going?! – one of them said loud enough for her to hear it
She ignored him but started to get nervous so she began walking faster. Seeing that she kept walking they started crossing the street too. When she noticed that she tried to run away from there but one of them grabbed her arm from behind and pulled her violently towards him.
- Come on doll, don't be shy, we just want to have some fun – one of them said with a sly smile on his face
- Leave me alone! – she shouted as she tried to free herself from the man's grip
The men started laughing and she saw how they began surrounding her. She started to cry in fear when she saw some of them had guns.
- Please let me go – she begged
- I don't think so sweetie – another one said - You're going to be ours for the night
It was at that moment she tried to scream for help, but the man that was holding her by the arm immediately covered her mouth with his other hand while one of the men that had a gun pulled it out and pointed it at her head.
- I wouldn't do that if I were you – the man with the gun said smiling – We are gonna give that pretty mouth of yours a better use
She was just paralyzed in fear.
- Let's take her to the alley – another one of them said
They began dragging her to the dark alley that was on that street. Despite having a gun pointed at her head she struggled and managed to kick one of them.
- Fuck! You stupid bitch – he said in pain and as he recovered he punched her in the stomach
She felt how the air escaped her lungs, and suddenly she couldn't breathe anymore. In a matter of seconds, she found herself in the dirty small alley and felt how her clothes were being ripped off as tears ran down her face.
- Hey! Helena! – She heard a new voice say and felt someone touching her shoulder and shaking her - Wake up!
She opened her eyes in surprise and saw Dante standing next to the bed trying to wake her up.
- Are you ok? – he asked concerned
She realized she actually had tears on her face and was trembling. At least he woke her up before the worst part.
- Yes, thank you – she said as she sat up
- Sorry I didn't wake you up before, it's kind of hard to tell when someone is having a bad dream
- Don't worry, you woke me up just in time
Helena looked more calmed now but her look rapidly changed to disappointment.
- I told you, it's useless, the only way I can sleep without nightmares is with the drugs
- You know, a few months ago I used to have problems sleeping too, so I used to take sleeping pills
- Really? – she asked in surprise
- Well since I don't really get affected by human drugs I had to take tons of them, so I still have some around here – he said as he looked in one of the drawers of the nightstand next to the bed
It was around 2 am by that point and Dante actually had an idea, but for that he needed her to be completely asleep for the next three to four hours, that's why he decided to give her the pills.
- Just take one for today, we don't want you to get addicted to these too – he said jokingly
- Very funny Dante – she said sarcastically
She assumed Dante wanted to give her the pill so he could have some rest too, after all he had stayed awake like he said he would so she took the pill with no complains and waited for it to make effect.
Once he made sure she was completely asleep, he looked for something in the closet. After a few moments he found what he was looking for, a big paper stencil and a spray can, he was hoping it would still work. It had been a long time since those things were used.
He put the stencil in the middle of the room and sprayed it, a symbol was now painted on the floor and it began to glow. It was working. He saw how a thin, almost unperceivable layer started filling the room. It was a barrier that kept demons away, it would last a couple of hours. He had to leave so this was the only way he thought Helena would be safe alone.
He looked through her things and rapidly found her keys, now he was ready to go. He put on his coat and made his way out and into his motorcycle.
When he got to Helena's apartment he started looking in the mess that was left from the night before but didn't find what he was looking for. There had to be something somewhere in her apartment so he went into her room. In there he saw an envelope on the floor and thought that maybe it had the information he was looking for, but it only contained pictures. He took a look at them, it was her in a professional photo-shoot.
- So she is a model – he said to himself
He really enjoyed looking at the pictures as she was only wearing a small swimsuit and looked stunningly beautiful. One thing that caught his attention was how happy and full of life she seemed. Her eyes had a beautiful shine to them and her smile, a smile he had never seen before since it wasn't like the ones she'd given him so far, was as radiant as the sun itself. Dante felt overwhelmed just by looking at that picture, and in that instant, a silly thought crossed his mind, Helena smiling like that… for him.
He immediately shook his head as the cruel reality began to sink in. She looked completely different now. Not that she wasn't beautiful anymore, she was, but now she looked as if she was just tired of living, the shine in her eyes completely gone, her smile now wasn't even a shadow of the real one and it was obvious she had lost a lot of weight. What was sadder was the fact that those pictures were taken just three months before. It was incredible how a single event could change someone's life that much. Now he was more determined than ever to complete his task.
Dante eventually found a locked drawer, he didn't have time to look for the key so he just forced it open and found a big file inside. That had to be it.
- Jackpot – he muttered as he was sure that file contained the information he was looking for
And he was right, the file contained all the details of the trial she had against the men that assaulted her, their names, their addresses, their pictures, everything. But it also contained all the details of the assault itself, her testimony and what the doctors that treated her said.
Dante couldn't believe what he was reading. It said Helena was not only gang raped, but was basically tortured and humiliated just for their entertainment for around 6 hours. It said that she was raped and beaten to the brink of death and was almost killed when one of them began strangling her in the early hours of the morning but then they heard someone was coming and she heard them say they thought she was going to die from her injuries anyway so they decided to just run away and left her to bleed to death. One person, more specifically a delivery boy, that walked by the alley not long after found her unconscious and called an ambulance. That's how she survived.
The file also had the pictures used during the trial. Dante had seen pretty brutal stuff during his life but still the pictures made him cringe. They showed Helena's body covered in bruises and blood, they had hit her with a belt and cut her with a broken bottle so badly her whole torso was covered in scars.
He got furious by seeing this, he now understood why she acted like that, why she was so traumatized. He was determined to make them pay. He took the pages that contained their personal information and made his way out of the apartment.
Dante drove his motorcycle to the first address, it was not very far from there so he got there in around ten minutes since there was no traffic.
He got off his bike and rang the bell, he didn't want to wake the neighbors so he discarded the idea of kicking the door down. Dante rang the bell impatiently until he heard someone was coming.
- Who the fuck is it?! – a man's voice could be heard but he got no reply
Dante kept ringing until he finally opened the door.
- Who the fuck are you? – The man said as he stared at the unknown guy standing on his door.
The demon hunter grinned because he was the one he was looking for, the man from the picture. He was tall, buff and covered in tattoos. Anyone would consider him an intimidating man, but of course Dante was not anyone.
Without any warning, the son of Sparda punched him across the face, the guy was nearly knocked down, he felt like he had been hit with a hammer.
- Do you think it's cool what you did? – Dante growled angrily
- What are you talking about? – he replied confused
- Do you think it's ok to rape and torture someone? – the demon hunter now looked furious
The guy simply started laughing.
- Oh, you are here because of that slut? I know she's luscious, but I'm sure you have better things to fight for dude – he said as he recovered from the punch
Once he recovered, he tried to punch Dante but the demon hunter was much faster and stopped his fist midway and with his free hand hit him in the extended arm, the sound of bones breaking could be heard. The man screamed in pain as he held his broken arm.
- What happened? You don't look so tough anymore – Dante said in a mocking tone
- Wh… What the fuck do you want?! – he shouted in response
- I want you to pay for what you did – the demon hunter replied turning serious
The man was becoming scared for the first time in a very long time
- Who are you? – fear could be seen in his face
- I'm the reason why you won't be able to sleep at night - an angry Dante replied
He punched the injured man again, this time knocking him to the floor. He kept on hitting him until the guy was left unconscious and his face was barely recognizable as it was all swollen and completely covered in blood. One side of Dante wanted to see the bastard dead but he decided not to kill him so he would wake up in pain and fear, besides that was not his choice to make.
Dante needed prove of what he had done so he took out his cellphone.
- Smile for the picture asshole – he said as he photographed that bloody scene
After that, Dante went to the other four addresses and did the same thing, all of them ended like the first guy. By the time he was done and returned to his apartment it was around 6 am, the sun was already coming out and he was exhausted, it had been a crazy last 24 hours. He went into the bedroom to check on Helena, the spell was still there and she was still sleeping. He looked at the couch next to the bed, it looked so much more comfortable than the small couches in the living room.
I'm sure she won't mind…
He took off his coat and his white tank top because it was covered in blood from the guys he just beat. Dante collapsed on the couch and immediately fell asleep.
