Her eyes fluttered open. She wasn't used to the brightness, and she blinked the week and a half of darkness away from her eyes. Noticing the white sheets, she sat up startled and her hair stood on her neck. Hospital! She ripped the perfusion out of her vein in her arm and stood on two shaking legs. She heard steps outside her room and saw the handle turn. Her eyes growing wider with fear, she saw the door open.

The nurse peeked inside the room of the girl. She opened the door more widely, calling the girl's name.

"_miss Sôma?"

She entered in the room, chills running down her spine. She saw the open window and it did not take long for her to understand.

"_Serein!"

The man she had called soon came to her.

"_the girl has disappeared…"

She was running away, only wearing the hospital blouse in the streets. Well aware it hid almost nothing of her skin, and her bare foot starting to be painful, she stopped in a dark alley and inhaled deeply. Once, twice. She closed her eyes.

A wolf opened her two deep black eyes. She was black, with a silver line of fur running down her back. Her ears bore three rings and she had clever eyes. Looking disgustingly at the blouse on the floor she resigned to picking it up and ran away from the place.

The wolf reached the back door of a coffee shop and stopped. She placed the blouse on the floor, looked left and right and a pop was heard, followed by white and black smoke surrounding the animal.

"_fuck" came a voice from inside the smoke. Nox bent down to pick the blouse up and put it on. She looked at her bare back and sighted. "it's still better than nothing." She pushed the door. Slaloming amongst the two cooks and the three maids in the kitchen, she smiled to one and grabbed an apple. The woman sighted and asked.

"_where were you? You have gone missing for a week and a half. We were about to find a replacement."

"_sorry, boss. I was unconscious at the hospital. Even with the best will, I couldn't have called…"

The woman smiled and laughed.

"_are you better now?" she asked, still worried. Nox was not even major yet.

"_yep. No worry. I'm taking the next shift!" the radiant girl walked out of the room, and she heard her boss laugh. She never asked anything from her, no explanation. Nothing. It was a good thing. When she had arrived, three months ago, she had first looked for a job. The woman had not asked why a 17 years old would want to work in a maid coffee, nor did she ask why she asked for lodging. She simply smiled and gave her the key to her room. Most of the girls here did not say much about where they came from, or what they were doing here. It was taboo. They all had a past, or a secret and did not want to talk about it. With time, some girls talked and other left. It was a way for most to start anew. The only two woman she knew to have worked here since they were twenty were the cooks. Once they had become too old for the work in the coffee, the boss had given them the cook's job. It was nice of her.

However, Nox knew she would never be here long enough for her boss to send her away from the front.

She was bound to die at 30.

It was the malediction of the wolf. His banquet was shorter than the others, his life with the god was cut short. Of course, it happened a wolf would die younger, but the oldest age was 30. No one had gone beyond. The youngest wolf had died at 26. He was her father. He died while her mother was pregnant.

Shaking herself out of those memories, she plastered a fake smile on her face and went down, dressed in her maid uniform.