Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Walking through the eerily quiet streets, Dante and the Asian woman come to a small rundown house that was in desperate need of some repairs. Windows appeared to be broken and barricaded with large pieces of wood.
The fences surrounding the residence were in dire need of a new paint job and a couple replacements here and there. As they approached the doorstep, a small black kitten had jumped out of nowhere and nearly startled the young Asian woman.
"Ack!"
"Relax it's just a cat," Dante snickered, picking the feline up and knocking on the rusty old door.
A few seconds later, an old woman emerged from inside the house. Her wrinkled old skin was a disgustingly pale color that was not very noticeable until she stepped into the light of the doorway.
Fidgeting with her small, thick, bottle cap looking glasses, she takes a slight glance at Dante and gives him a warm hug.
"Dante! Hello, it's been awhile since I've last seen you. You look bigger, have you been working out?" she said looking so surprised to see him.
The young demon hunter smirked a bit and chuckled.
"Yeah, but I didn't come here to discuss my body."
"Oh, of course not! You and your little friend over there can come inside," she said inviting them into the house. The woman was Claudia: an old lady that could see into people's minds that Dante had known for quite awhile.
Inside, the place was astonishingly clean, without a spec of dust or dirt in sight. Flashy wallpaper was put up and the living room furniture looked brand new.
The Asian woman was confused as to how the inside was so clean and fixed up yet the outside was not. Politely, Claudia grabs a couple of chairs and asks Dante and the Asian woman to come sit down with her at the table.
Cautiously, Dante's female friend stays close to him, steering far away from the side Claudia was sitting at.
"So what brings you here, Dante?"Claudia asks.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favor," Dante began. "I want you to peer into my friend's mind and see if you could find anything that can point out who she is. You see, she's lost her memory and she has no idea who she is or where she came from. Do you think you can do it?
Claudia rested her hand on her left knee and sat in the chair, deep in thought. On a regular basis, she charged people for this kind of stuff, but since Dante was a good old friend of hers she decided to be generous and do it free of charge.
She motioned her hand for the young Asian woman to come forward, but she was too scared to leave her seat from Dante's side. He was the only person she trusted at the moment and refused to come near anyone else.
"Please come forth, dear. It won't hurt, I promise," Claudia said reassuringly.
Slowly, the Asian woman brought her chair over beside Claudia and rested her hands firmly in her lap. Steadily, Claudia places her hands onto the Asian woman's smooth head and closes her eyes while letting out a strange humming noise.
"Hmmm."
Inside the young woman's head, she could see images of people screaming for their lives, running through a ruined city ,dreadfully terrified. In vast numbers, she saw dozens bodies drop to the ground after being blasted by an army of demons.
Then there was another stranger that came into view, with an overwhelming amount of power that sent chills down the spines of the attacking monsters. After that, the image had blacked out and Claudia took her hands off of the Asian woman's head.
Dante sat patiently in his seat, waiting for her to give a report of what she saw.
"What did you see?" questioned the Asian woman.
"I saw a horrific battle taking place between an army of demons and a lone stranger," replied Claudia.
"A Stranger? Why would a stranger take on an army of demons? That's just plain suicide!"
"I don't know, but it's all I saw," Claudia replied shamefully.
"That's all you saw? That doesn't tell us anything!" shouted the Asian woman.
Claudia felt sorry she couldn't have been more helpful to her as she could tell she was really upset over it by the tone of her voice.
"I'm sorry young one, but that's all I could see. Your mind had nothing else to show me."
The Asian woman bowed her head down in total sadness. Displeased to hear there was nothing else her mind could show Claudia, she decides to walk out into the cold dark weather. Dante quickly gets up from his chair and follows her out the door after saying goodbye to Claudia.
"Hey!" He shouts catching up to her. "Look, I know your angry but don't sweat it. I'm sure we'll come across something."
As much as he tried to cheer her up, it didn't work. Feeling depressed that she would go on the rest of her life not knowing who she is, she could do nothing but frown up at him.
"I'm just going to be a brainless fool the rest of my life!" she whined.
"No your not!" stated Dante.
"Yes I am! She retorted. "Your old friend couldn't even help me. Just face it; I'm hopeless. You might as well just give up on me and go home."
Before Dante could utter another word, a sudden ear-piercing scream is heard calling out a few feet away.
"Akina! I've found you at last, you monster!" Said a geared up Vincent Striker, holding a large steel sword by his side.
"Whoa slow down there, pops. What are you going to do with that? Dante asked.
"You stay out of this! This is between me and her!" Vincent screeched.
The Asian woman looked confused, as she had no idea what he was talking about.
"I don't ever recall seeing you, and who is this Akina?"
"Don't play stupid with me, you vile creature," Vincent sneered. "Your name is Akina! I practically know everything about you. I have come to take your life away and send you to the fiery depths of the underworld, where you belong."
"I don't understand. I haven't done anything to you, at least I don't think," replied the Asian woman, still a little baffled.
Vincent had now heard enough. He was sick of talking back and forth, repeatedly. He didn't want to talk. He wanted to fight. The only thought going through his twisted mind was to kill, kill the Asian woman and put an end to his long lasting torment once and for all that he blamed she was the very cause of.
Immediately, he charged full force with his sword aimed directly at the Asian woman's beating heart. Before he could make a fresh clean stab, Dante quickly leaped in the way of his blade's path and deflected it with his own sword.
Vincent quickly caught his weapon just before it flew from his hands. Grasping it tightly, he brings it back to the hard-cemented floor.
Dante was the only obstacle that stood in his path, ensuring no harm came to the Asian woman. To get to her, he had to kill Dante. It was the only reasonable way.
As he stood there watching Dante block his path, the haunting memories that had plagued his mind for so long came rushing back. He could hear the enormous laughter of his young beautiful wife as a sudden flashback came flowing back into his brain.
FlashbackIt was summer, and the two of them were having so much fun, picnicking out in the park. He had just retired from the British army and his wife had just started her vacation.
They thought their time together would last quite awhile, but unfortunately they were wrong. After the picnic, Vincent's wife had gone off to the store to get some groceries… she never came back.
He went searching for her and found her corpse lying in the middle of the road. Strangely, there were no ambulances or police cars in sight.
Rushing out from the driver's seat of his car, he stood over his wife's body. Watching her lay there motionless on the ground.
Saddened tears drooped down from his eyes as he lifted her up from the ground into his arms, eager to know what was the cause of her death.
The sky suddenly darkened and the noisy sounds of thunder could be heard booming down the empty streets. The next thing he heard was a strange voice call out to him.
"Vincent Striker!"
"Who's……. there?" he said petrified.
"Do you want to know who did this to your wife?"
"A person did it? Yes, I want to know! Who killed my wife?"
"If you promise to align yourself with me I will gladly help you catch the person responsible for your wife's death."
"Yes! Please, I'll do anything! But I don't understand. Who are you and why are you helping me?"
"Don't worry. Once I give you what you need, all will be made clear to you," the voice guaranteed.
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck Vincent's body. Screaming in intense pain, he clinched his fist together, shaking in an uncontrollable state.
In mere seconds, he no longer possessed the strength of an ordinary human. All his senses from his sight, to his touch, to his smell, had been enhanced dramatically.
After the transformation had been complete, the monstrous voice called out to him again.
"Vincent Striker! I have now given you powers to aid you in your hunt. I am about to send you an image of the woman you need to look for."
Slowly, two pictures floated downward from the sky into Vincent's hands. One contained a gruesome picture of his wife getting stabbed by a brown haired Asian woman and the other was a still photo of the Asain woman that was in the first picture.
"When you find her, don't kill her just yet," the monstrous voice warned. I want you to bring her to me. Once I'm done with her, you can have what ever is left."
"You want me to bring her to you alive? That may not be possible. What she did to me is far worse than what she could have possibly done to you!" Vincent exclaimed.
"You must be cautious when approaching her," the voice declared. "She has super natural powers that she doesn't know the full extent of quite yet. The powers you have rival her own. I just want you to bring her to me first so I can deprive her of all her powers. Do that and I promise you can have the satisfaction of killing her yourself!"
Vincent nods and heads out to search for his wife's murderer.
End of FlashbackVincent's haunting memory suddenly faded away, but he knew it soon would come back to haunt him again, the memory of his wife's death.