Eirene turned to look for Andrew and Connor but found that they were already occupied with several Empousas.

"Damnit!" Connor yelled as he turned one of the Empousas the dust. "She brought minions!"

Andrew narrowly missed being killed but turned around and beheaded the bronze-legged monster. "Eirene, might want to get your sword out now, yah?"

A bit overwhelmed with the speed of things she hesitated too long and found herself being slammed against the wall by the Lamia. It smiled at her and let its dark and green tongue reached out to caress her face. She internally screamed, struggling to move but not even being able to shift.

A few feet away, Andrew turned around at the sound of her screaming and bolted at the Lamia without a second thought, aimed his sword directly at its heart and stabbed through, disintegrating the beast.

"Oh my gosh…" She breathed, relief flooding through her veins. "I thought she was going to eat me."

He hacked away the harden limbs and freed her. "Eat you?" Wiping away the salvia on her cheek, he smiled. "You think it could have bitten through that shell of a skin you have?"

Laughing a bit, she spotted Connor battling still fighting off a few Empousas and along with Andrew, joined him to finish off the last few.

"Yoohoo! Over here!" a dull and annoyed voice called.

The trio turned around and saw the redheaded still trapped by Lamia's detached limbs but all hesitated to rush to her aid. They didn't know who this girl was, and it was incredibly suspicious how she had appeared in the middle of the explosion. Not to mention her friend confessed to being the cause of the explosion.

"So what do you think? Should we get the red vixen down?" Connor directed his question at Eirene. She wasn't sure; the girl didn't look like an enemy but then again Eirene had come across all kinds of nice-looking enemies.

"Let's question her before we let her down." She decided. They all agreed on it, and marched over to where she was. The girl had pale skin, which only made her red as a rose hair stand out even more. Her cat-like eyes were dressed with heavy mascara and light eyeliner, though that was the only touch of makeup of her face. Her clothing was questionable as it was black, leather, and didn't cover much of her body.

"Hi." Eirene greeted.

The girl tilted her head to the left. "Hi."

"What's your name?"

She hesitated. "Scarlet."

How fitting. "What are you doing here, Scarlet?"

"Well currently, I'm just hanging." Her eyes shifted to Andrew. "You mind helping me down, blondie?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you unless you help us."

"Oooh, a Brit!" She grinned, her eyes flashing. "I've never met a British demigod before."

Connor scoffed and placed his sword on his shoulder, leaning in. "Can you just answer the question?"

Her mouth set in a stubborn line. "I won't speak without my lawyer."

Not realizing how short her temper's been lately, she almost yelled at the girl but was interrupted by someone else.

"Scarlet!"

"Ah, here she comes. Carrie dear, mind speaking for me?"

A girl with short brown hair glasses wearing what looked like a school uniform approached them, and gasped when she saw Scarlet. She attempted to free the girl herself but stopped after several futile attempts. "What do you want from us?" She asked through exasperated breaths.

"I want to know why you blew up that building." Eirene answered.

"We were trying to kill the vampires."

"There are no such things as vampires, only Empousas and blood-sucking demons," Connor input. "All demigods know that."

The girls were silent for a moment before Scarlet finally perked up. "We're amateur monster hunters."

"Scarlet!"

"Oh hush up, Carrie. What harm will it do?" she cleared her throat. "We can see things, things other people can't see. Monsters, demons, really deformed look things just roaming around, and sometimes they hurt people. We've been trying to figure out a to kill them before they can hurt people, and genius over here told me she'd finally made something she thought could do the job."

"It was a bomb," Carrie continued. "I created it myself, I thought if guns and knives and arrows couldn't do the job, maybe a bomb could."

"And you thought it was a good idea to let it off in a building full of people? Are you daft or just stupid?"

Eirene held up a warning hand to stop Andrew from saying any more. "I'm sure they only set it off because they saw the Lamia, right?" She looked to Carrie who nodded, look anxious.

"Well we don't think you'll be any harm to us, it sounds like you've just got the sight and have just taken a unique way of…handling it." Connor shrugged and swung his sword, hacking off the restraints on her ankles, then her arms. "I say you guys can be on your way."

"Thank you, shrinky dink." She winked, at Connor, wrapped her arms around Carrie, and sauntered off. She turned around momentarily so yell: "And I'll see you later, blondie!"

An uneasy feeling settled down in Eirene stomach as she watched them walk away. "Should we be worried about them?"

"Not unless they blow up another building. I think we should be more worried about finding the bakery."

As they walked away, Eirene turned around to gaze at the girl's walking figure in the distance. She would see them again, she knew it.

-time skip-

"There it is!"

Connor alerted the others when he spotted the bakery, pointing at the giant sign that framed the doorway. "Levain bakery!"

Finally, they had hit the jackpot. All the attacks and yelling and fighting had finally lead them here, to the end of the road. They were that much closer to finding Dennis. Eirene eagerly searched for any abandoned buildings around it but couldn't spot any.

"Wait…but all these other buildings…" Her finger slowly lowered itself. "Don't look like the sealed off building Dennis was in."

Connor could see her confident deteriorating and rushed to save it. "But! Maybe it's still here…? Just look harder."

Eirene shook her head. The building she remembered was a dull gray with peeling paint right next to the bakery. The other store next to the bakery was a teal coloured clothing store. "It's not here…"

Andrew sighed. "Then we have no choice, we'll have to check the other locations." He had already started walking away when Eirene started to follow him, but Connor stopped them both.

"Wait! We were just attacked by Empousas and Lamia. Let's take a small break; the cookies in the window look really good."

"We can't stop for every pastry in—"

"Why not?" Eirene cut in. "I haven't had cookies in years, they sound delicious right now."

Andrew sighed, but didn't protest when they made towards the store and entered it. The bakery had a very clean look to it, white porcelain floors and ceiling with a counter made of metal. The only piece of decoration was the doilies covering the specials on the menu and the lace cloth draping the tables. Though the smell of the store made up for its plain interior; it smelt of warm fresh dough and sweet sugary cake. Not only could she smell the bread being made and the cake being baked, she could smell chocolate and vanilla bean, soufflés and crepes. She wanted to take in all the aromas of the store, bottle it, and wear it as a perfume.

"The smell hits you every time, doesn't it?"

Eirene opened her eyes to see a woman standing being the counter, wearing an apron. She was very pretty, no older than nineteen, with caramel skin and afro-like curly hair. Her nametag read: Bia. And with the smile on her face, she seemed to be glowing.

"Wow, do you sell this smell in a bottle?" Connor asked.

The girl laughed. "Unfortunately no, but we do sell the things that make those smells. May I recommend the macadamia nut? Or perhaps the classic chocolate chip?"

Connor looked close to drooling. "I'll take both!" He fished out money from his bag, handing it to her.

"Great! What about the tall one in the back?"

"No thanks, I'm quite fine."

"Are you sure? We have don't just have cookies, we have bread and—"

"I'm fine," Andrew said stiffly. "Thanks."