As she saw that no people is around, she thought of shouting for help, but decided against it. She didn't know whether it's really the serial killer or a domestic abuse, but she didn't know how to confirm it…
'No… I can. But the pain that will come is truly terrifying'
The memory of that time when she activates her power came rushing back as she trembled. She truly felt that she was going to die at that time and managed to survive by luck. By using her power to confirm if a person is being attacked, she risk her life… to save a life
"My life… or other people's lives?"
She felt extremely conflicted about the choice that she's going to make. She hasitated
'It's not business anyway. Maybe it's really just a domestic abuse so there's no point to risk my life for nothing'
As Ilaya took a step, she stopped. She remembered about the owner and Mars
'If I die? Will they be sad?... Yes, they will. They know me for about a week so they're going to feel sad'
Ilaya hesitates and then sighed
'If another young woman is killed, will the young woman's families, friends, and other people who know the young woman will be sad?... Yes, they will'
Ilaya closed her eyes as she activates her power of hearing
'…but the young woman's family will be so devastated by the young woman's death'
Her hearing expanded with her at the center as she focused to hear the sounds all around her
'...unlike me'
As she had that last thought, her mind suffers an injection of overwhelming information that she feels a headache and loses her balance. She fell to her knees with her arms on the ground, supporting her body. Ilaya then moves one of her arms to place her palm in the back of her ear. Just like a gesture that people used when they want to hear sounds clearer
It's her psychological trigger that she thought of on the spot to limit what she hears all around her, and at the same time, to pinpoint what she wanted to hear
Then Ilaya abruptly stood up as her eyes widened. It's not only because she managed to find the source of the scream just now, but because the whispers didn't appear as she had expected!
'W-what is going on!? Why didn't the whispers appear!?'
Ilaya is so shocked that she stood motionless for a while, then started running in the direction of the sounds of muffled scream
'No! Now's not the time for that!'
She entered the dark alleyways and she took turns after turns toward the general direction of the sound. As she sprints, the place got darker and ominous as she's heading towards a suspected serial killer. Her breathing got faster and faster because of anxiety as she thought that's she's nearing the location of the sounds. She hears of the muffled cries of a young woman, a man grunting, and the sound of struggling while being dragged
Ilaya continued running. She's also afraid of the serial killer and at the thought of being killed. She is becoming more and more terrified of what's going to happen, and started to regret her decision now. But it's too late
She finally reached the place where the sounds were coming from. She saw a dark alley and in front of her, the path is leading left and right. She felt cold wind and the stench of the mud as she step at the puddles of water
The final turn to the left is where she's certain that the killer and the victim were located. She cautiously lightens her steps as she slowly moves towards the corner to lean on the wall to calm herself. She felt that the air is really cold and notice that place is silent. It's so silent that her heartbeat is like a drumbeat in the stillness of the night
Ilaya calmed herself and focused her hearing on what's happening at the other side of the wall that she's leaning to. She was about to take a peek at the other side when Ilaya suddenly stopped breathing and her hair stood on end! She couldn't hear the struggling anymore on the other side of the wall. But the worst thing! she hears a deep breathing on the other corner of the wall that she's leaning on!
Ilaya's heart is grips with horror as she suddenly felt a faint whisper appeared in her ears and mind as she quickly ducked on time as an arm suddenly flew in the other side of the corner, holding a bloody knife that hit the spot where she was hiding
Thunk!
Ilaya felt cold sweat drop from her skin, as she looked at the man that emerged from the other side. The man had his back in the dim light that's the only source of lighting in the alley. His face is hidden by shadow as she felt killing intent from him. She smelled a fishy smell and looked at the knife that the man is holding that's dripping with blood
Ilaya trembled as she felt that her whole body was so heavy, especially her legs and she couldn't move even if wants to. She wanted to shout but her mouth and throat couldn't move, all she managed to make was a stuttering sound.
"Ah…ah.."
She became suffocated as her breathing became heavier. As the man took a step forward, her survival instincts reacted as she immediately turned around and ran as extreme fear gripped her heart. The faint whispers that appeared turned into violent shouts that wracked her head. Her senses also went into overdrive and she became so disoriented that she bumped from side to side of the walls, she couldn't keep her balanced anymore as she fell to the ground. Tears appeared from Ilaya's eyes as she attempted to crawl away, then, felt a powerful force slammed into the side of her abdomen
Whack!
"Kaaggh!!"
She screamed in pain as she felt the pain more sharply as her sense of touch was enhanced. She was suddenly in so much pain that she couldn't help but curled up, clutching her side as she cried and plead in a pained voice
"Aagghh!! Please stop! Don't kill me! Help!!"
Ilaya couldn't see anymore as she felt so many extreme sensations from her sensitive senses, pain in her side of the abdomen, and the violent whispers assaulting her mind, so she closed her eyes tightly as her tears flowed. In that chaos, she hears a sad voice that's extremely familiar compared to the violent shouts that accompanied the voices in her head
(...aya … I …rry…)
Then, she felt someone grabbing her hair and slammed her head into the hard floor
Bang!
The shock turned her consciousness dimming and mercifully ended her suffering as she passed out. But before she lost consciousness, she faintly heard the extremely familiar voice in her head turned into enrage scream alongside the violent shouts in her head that was slowly vanishing
Then, her world turned black
…
The man looked at the unconscious and bleeding woman laying on the floor. Earlier, when he was tying up her next victim. He hears rapid footsteps heading through his location. He immediately became nervous as he thought that the police were heading his way. He prepared to kill the young woman to silence her and flee the scene if his guess is correct
Then, the man notices from the sound that the weight of the person that's running is light, and most importantly, the person is alone. The man then head towards the corner of the wall to wait for the person to appear and attack
As he's waiting, the person finally arrived in the corner and the man readied himself. Then, he smelled a faint fragrance of a cologne and he finally new that the person is female
'Lucky me'
He licked his lips as he waited. Then, the man hears the woman walking towards the corner where he hides. When he felt that the woman is within his striking range, he swung his knife at the other side of the wall… and hit the concrete
'She dodge my attack? What a quick reaction!'
Then the man immediately looked at the other side and saw a woman crouching while looking at him. The woman is a cute rather than beautiful, but her overall looks is seductive. The woman is stuttering as she's having difficulty in breathing
'Well, typical reaction of my targets. But her…'
The man then took a step forward
'She familiar'
The woman suddenly turned around as he chased the woman. As he chases, the woman's movement is strange, she's running away like a heavily drunk person as she bumped into the walls and falls down. Then, the man finally remembered that it's the woman with sharp intuition at the park. He feels joy at knowing this, as he sees that the woman tries to crawl away. He immediately gave her a strong kick in her side to debilitate her
"Kaagghh!!"
As the woman cried and pleaded to him. He felt an intense rush as if the ever illusive deer was finally caught by him. He planned to give her a special treatment the moment he returned to his hideout
As the woman is making so much commotion, he decided to shut her mouth. He grabbed the woman's head and slammed it on the floor. The head of the woman gushed out with blood as he dragged her into the place where his van is parked by. As for his original target, he decided to leave it. A diamond appeared when he's looking for silver so it's clear what he will chose
He reached the van as he hears of the commotion in the place where he just left, and decided to hurry to leave this place. He dragged the unconscious woman inside the van. The inside of the car turned bloody but he didn't care about it. He close the door and entered his driving seat, then started the car. He soon speed up and disappeared in the distance
…
At the place where the van is parked, a man excited the alley and saw a speeding van. He identify the characteristics of the van and the plate number as he cursed
"Shit! I have to inform the boss!"
The man is the spy that's following Ilaya. He took out his phone and called Yamato