"Hey girls wait up!" Vash said as he caught up to Meryl and Milly. Maria was still out cold. She was draped over Milly's shoulder.
"Wow, that girl can sleep. I guess that's what happens when you don't sleep well for a week." Milly lifted Maria off her shoulders and handed her to Vash.
"Do you think you could wake her up?" He shook his head.
"I can try, but I don't think she wants to wake up." He leaned in close to her ear. "Maria, you don't have to wake up. You can stay in your dream world. I know it hurts when you get up in the morning, but you have something to live for, don't just dream your life away." He shook her lightly.
"Well, you're one to talk." Wolf Wood said as he joined the group.
"Well, that was a quick fight." Meryl said. Wolf Wood looked far away.
"There wasn't even a fight. He just talked nonsense, and left." He looked down at Maria. "I want some answers now." Vash looked at him strangely.
"She's still asleep. You'll have to wait till…" Wolf Wood tapped her head lightly. Her eyes fluttered open.
"Ok, Brother Wolf Wood. I'll tell you what you want to know." She brushed aside Vash's arms that tried to hold her back as she walked. Wolf Wood smiled.
"Don't worry Vash. She was faking her sleep in the first place." Maria's nod confirmed his statement. "Well, first I want to know who you are." She smiled.
"My name is Maria Ash Wood, but some call my Ave Maria." Meryl held on to Milly's shoulder. Milly seemed ready to kill some one, Wolf Wood or Maria, at this point it didn't matter.
"That's a good start. Whom do you work for?" Her good hand flinched, longing for a dagger to throw at him.
"Abel, I work for Abel." In need of something to hold, she picked up her right arm, and looked at the cross.
"Who is Abel?" Her body shakes at this question.
"He…He's the one of the head Hunter's in the Hunter's Guild. The guild's purpose is to beat the humanity out of you. You start out as a predator, and then you move up to hunter. After that, you become a gatherer and then a Shepard. Basically, they turn you into a beast and the try to see if you can become a man again. Each branch of the guild has a purpose. It used to be just about killing and robbing, but this new guy came, a man that can't be killed. Abel was convinced that he was a god, so he turned the guild into a cult. Not a lot has changed. We still have our assignments, but now, you get sacrificed…" She gasped for air. It was a horrible thing, to be sacrificed for a fake god.
"What's your assignment?" She looked at him with big eyes, yet he remained emotionless under his sunglasses.
"To kill three people a week." Milly let out a small cry. Maria lowered her head in shame. She didn't want to hurt Milly, not anymore.
"I wanted to kill you, Mr. Wolf Wood, as my third kill this week, but, I can't…I can't kill some one who keeps saving my life. You should have just let those thugs beat me, or let the poison kill me, I deserve to die."
"I don't want to die!" She wailed.
He grinned.
"Then prove it, prove that your life is worth living." She lashed out at him. Her teeth sank into his arm. He flung her aside as her head hit the wall. Her vision blurred and left her, but she could still hear.
"Such fighting spirit. We should keep her as a pet." Abel said as he picked up little Maria by her shirt collar.
"You can't keep a wolf as a, brother."
Vash's hand held on to Maria's shoulder firmly.
"Don't talk like that. You have something to live for, I know you do, I saw it in your eyes when we first met." She looked at his gloved hand.
"I want to avenge my family's death, and then I want to find my brother, and if I find him or not, I want to go back to December." Her breath came out funny. It felt good to say all of that. Vash looked far away.
"Knives has destroyed another life." Maria froze. She never heard of Knives but the name alone sent terror into her system. He must be the god Abel spoke about. Nothing else could ever make fear seem so real before, then just his name. She looked at her dead arm and saw that it too was quivering in fear. She swallowed hard.
"I have one day left. Abel was here just to warn me of worse to come." She looked to the east.
"What happens if that sun sets and no one is dead yet?" Vash ask solemnly. She felt something behind her eyes. Tears, she really could cry after all. In vain she tried to stop them, but soon she was over whelm with grief.
"I become an offering." She fell to her knees and wept.
Night was coming now, she could smell it. She wasn't looking forward to this night.
"I'm worthless…I really am. Dragging all these nice people into my life of shame." She looked to the suns. The longer I stare, the more likely I'll go blind, how long will it take to go blind? Her thoughts began to swim.
"You shouldn't stare at the sun. You'll go blind." Wolf Wood said as her came closer to Maria. "Ave Maria, that's a nice nick name. It's an even better song. Can you sing it?" She looked down at her feet.
"I can try…" She took in a deep breath. "Ave Maria." She paused. She thought back to long ago when her mother sang that song. "Maiden mild. Listen to the Maiden's pray. For thou canst hear a mid the wild." Her face grew hot. She didn't like to sing in public.
"We could use you back in December. Why were you in December in the first place?" A gentle breeze blew back her braided hair.
"Well, half of it was to get training from a guy who wasn't even there," Her eyes grew misty, "And the other half was to find my brother." It sounded like glass breaking every time she thought of it. She knew she was really close then. She could almost smell him. Her brother…was close always. She could always smell him.
"Tough luck, huh kid?" She glared at him.
"I'm not a kid, and beside, there is no such thing as luck." She flinched at the sound of her own voice. There is no such thing as luck, for me.
"So, how did you get messed up in this whole gang war?" He looked at her gently, but she refused to let her guard down.
"My dad, he became the sheriff of our town. This really pissed off Abel that one of his best buds turned into a lawful citizen. He came after us. He shot him first and then my mother. My brother, he hid me in the alleyway behind our house. I was so scared…"
"Children, come out and play with Uncle Abel. It wont hurt you, I'll give a really quick death." Maria held on tight to her brother's arm.
"Quit it Maria, you're hurting me." His voice spoke of silent fury. Most of it directed at Abel then Maria.
"I'm scared brother. I don't want to die. Please brother!" He held her down firmly as she tried to run away.
"Stay here Maria. I'll come back for you. I promise. Just don't die on me, ok?" He sprung out of their hiding spot with out waiting for an answer.
"Look, it's the older one." Kain pointed to his brother, a gleaming gun in his hand.
"This one is mine, brother…" He aimed the weapon at him.
"No!" Maria screeched as she jumped out of hiding.
"Make it stop! Make it stop! Brother! Please make it stop!" She held up her little fist. "Just keep running brother. I won't die, I promised, remember?" Abel reached out and lowered his brother's gun.
"I like her, let me kill this one. We'll find the boy later." He walked up to Maria, a crook with a blade extended it from it in his hand.
"I don't want to die!" He smiled.
"Then prove it, prove that your life is worth living." She lashed out at him. Her teeth sank into his arm. He flung her aside as her head hit the wall. Her vision blurred and left her, but she could still hear.
"Such fighting spirit. We should keep her as a pet." Abel said as he picked up little Maria by her shirt collar. "You can't keep a wolf as a pet, brother." Kain said, holding his gun to her head. She kicked at him furiously.
"She isn't a wolf yet, she's just a pup. A dog. All they are are dogs and sheep." He dropped her.
"She's tough, like the sacred ash. That's how you beat a wolf. You beat it with an ash branch." He hit her with the crook. "Welcome to the Hunter's Guild, Maria Ash Wood."
"Then I was beaten into submission. Some times, he would call me into his office just to beat me." She looked at the sinking sun.
"A wolf in sheep's clothing. You should think more of yourself, you're a force to be reckon with." She didn't want to look at him.
"Is that what they told you, Mr. Wolf Wood?" He smiled.
"You saw right through that one, didn't you?" She shook her head.
"No, it was quite solid. I don't need to see through something to know if it's true or not. It's in the eyes. You can see it in their eyes. Right before they die…" She pulled out her left-handed dagger.
"I only kill those who want to die. I want to die, do I count as a third kill?" She poised the dagger threatening over her heart. "The sad thing is, I don't really want to die. I just tell myself that to make things seem better. I should die; I should have died a long time ago. Brother isn't coming back. They probably just killed him after I blacked out. What do I have to live for, Brother Wolf Wood?" He didn't look at her.
"Ever tried living for yourself?" She shook her head.
"Things with out souls shouldn't live. I laughed every time I killed some one. I would probably laugh if I killed myself. I'm addicted to death. It's the only thing I know." He looked at the near by house where the others where staying in.
"You're addicted to life and love. You just don't want to admit it." He was right. Inside she knew she loved the people she had just travel with for a day or two. It was a nice feeling. Knowing some one cares and that you care back. It's nice to have a normal, carefree life. Just like Milly.
"If things would have been different, I probably would have been just like Milly. So innocent and full of knowledge too. Blissfully ignorant, that's how I want to live my life, and I want to help others. I want to pretend, even if it's not real, that every thing is fine. I want every thing to be fine." He nodded in approval.
"That's a nice dream. Don't forget it, ok?" Maria closed her hand tightly. Her head was bent. She wept for the second time that day.
"Ok, Mr. Wolf Wood, ok, I promise."