Summer Rain

Clare had just come out of the supermarket with Marine's groceries. She can only sigh carrying this much shopping herself while her mom is at home. She was called and told to go home just to buy groceries at the supermarket, that sucks.

Just as she put the materials into the car, suddenly it rained for no reason. Clare hissed in annoyance because it suddenly rained without any sign and wet her clothes. Quickly she got into the car for shelter, today was unlucky for her.

"Summer rain, you've got me on my guard." He mumbled, looking up at the cloudy sky through the car window.

Clare reached for her cell phone which displayed a message from Marine that something had been forgotten to write. Clare sighed and then got out of the car using an umbrella. Luckily she had anticipated it from the start and brought an umbrella in case it rained at any time.

Just as Clare was about to enter the supermarket, she stopped when she heard something. Something faint and Clare couldn't hear clearly what was being said.

"This voice..." Clare looked around the deserted street, but there was no one to suspect. She turned back towards the supermarket but her actions again stopped when she heard someone calling her name.

"Clare...." The whispers haunted Clare again. Her feelings began to be chaotic and a bad feeling struck.

No! Just an illusion... That's what Clare thought. All this time she had experienced the same thing, it was all just an illusion and a dream, not reality. Vrochis doesn't need her help anymore, she's free, it's impossible to chase Clare.

Then Clare's gaze fell on one thing. The figure of a man in a black hood standing in the middle of the road caught Clare's attention. The figure stared at her blankly, making her feel strange. Clare looked around and saw that she was alone, there was no one around, not even a passerby. The figure was really looking at her.

As if hinting at something, the figure turned away leaving behind a mounting curiosity. Clare wondered who it was and why she was looking at her like that. She followed the figure who continued to walk towards the alley between the buildings next to the supermarket. Clare's gaze didn't move at all and she had prepared a small knife shaped like a keychain in case she was caught in a thug trap or something.

Suddenly the figure disappeared as it crossed the crossroads. Clare can't see the figure in every corner, she's getting worried. Right, it looks like this is a trap.

The rain was still pouring and the strong wind pulled the umbrella off and flew away. Clare was feeling very unlucky and she was drenched in the pouring rain. She turned to go back to the car and decided to head home, but before that happened, someone tapped her on the shoulder. Clare is annoyed and irritated. She turned back to see the figure she followed in front of her. Her eyes widened at the sight of the figure and she recognized it. The same face she had found in the academy's forbidden room. Vrochis!

Suddenly he grabbed Clare's neck and lifted her off the ground. Clare was floating in the air trying to get rid of the hands that were gripping her neck making it hard for her to breathe. She took the keychain and pressed the button, a sharp object, namely a knife, came out. The person who was believed to be Vrochis in disguise, made Clare's knife fly far away and she couldn't reach it.

So Clare was forced to use her powers. Clare made the thrown blade move and fly straight at Vrochis. Vrochis tightened his grip before he let Clare fall down and coughed. Vrochis turned himself from a human into a monster and Clare was already wary of him. She had come face to face with the creature's true form and she was no longer afraid. Even though she still couldn't find a weak point, at least she could hold it in even if it was for a while before she ran away.

The monster in the form of a half-lizard lycan is already in front of Clare. Clare gripped the knife tightly, staring intently at Vrochis under the pouring rain. Vrochis moved to attack him and jumped at her, at the same time Clare slumped down with the help of the slippery ground, she managed to dodge the creature's attack then broke a glass with a single glance and released it at Vrochis right at the sharp edge.

Vrochis has an invulnerable body, even the glass shards don't affect him even if it hits the target. Clare was getting more confused, that time she crushed Vrochis' stumped hand using sunlight and fire, but the sky looked cloudy without direct sunlight, there's also no fire around here. It was very difficult to restrict her movement. She thought about all that until he forgot to activate the communication device, no one could help her even if she had opened the communication tool though. Maybe after they came Clare was already a corpse, she couldn't allow that. If she opened the communication device, her focus was cut off and she was easily attacked.

Vrochis has attacked again and is now near Clare. He used his claws which Clare managed to dodge. But Clare couldn't dodge his speed attack so she bounced off and hit the wall until she was fragile. Vrochis was quickly about to pounce on her, then Clare kicked him at the same time and stabbed a knife into his eye. Vrochis groaned in pain then pulled out the knife stuck in one of his eyes, he threw it away and was caught by Clare using her strength. The knife flew back into the other eye. Then Clare pulled it back and it came back in her hands.

As Vrochis groaned in pain, Clare took the opportunity to run. She ran as fast as she could but this rain area was so wide which meant that Vrochis could still find her. Even Clare was lost, not knowing where her car was. Clare enters a small alley, she hopes that Vrochis doesn't meet her here in a short time. Clare peeked a little, the streets looked very quiet as if there was no life, not even other wild animals were seen. Animals are always afraid if there is rain coming from the monster, so no one dares to come, strangely no one passes by, with that she should get help.

Then Clare heard movement from behind her. She tightened the handle of the knife preparing to attack anyone who approached. It became clearer and clearer, Clare turned around and immediately lunged without knowing who was approaching her. The knife in the lift then locks the movement with the left arm holding the right arm pointed at the face.

A few seconds later, Clare realized that what she was attacking was not a monster. She opened her eyes and immediately let go of the knife realizing that it was Luke she was attacking.

Clare froze for a moment and immediately released her ambush. She took a few steps back and massaged her dizzy head while looking away. Clare felt stupid, didn't recognize her first and just ambushed her, luckily she didn't stab her straight away or the impact would be worse than thought.

"Sorry." That was all he managed to say. Her body was cold and he was shivering, her mind wasn't clear so she didn't notice right away. She only knew monsters were chasing after he blinded her eyes.

Suddenly there was the sound of heavy footsteps. Luke immediately pulled Clare who was slow to notice and hid in a gap. Suddenly Clare pulled back the knife she had dropped before following Luke and putting it back. Luke uses his ability to disguise himself so that Vrochis doesn't notice their presence. Two seconds after Vrochis arrived in front of them, they just didn't make a sound so that the creature wouldn't notice. Don't know how long Vrochis was there.

Clare felt more nervous than ever, her heart beating faster not only because of the presence of a monster nearby, but because of her position with Luke who was ... too close.

She lowered her head to the side, but instead looked at Vrochis who was also close to her, her heart growing frantically between fear and awkwardness.

Clare's thoughts were all over the place, why didn't Luke choose a bigger place? Clare's movements were very limited and it was easy to make noise, she was completely frozen in this tight space. In front of her is Luke whose gaze cannot be separated from Vrochis, on her left is Vrochis who is looking for them. The rest are walls, really troublesome.

"Couldn't you have picked a better place?" Clare whispered, suddenly Luke covered his mouth with his hand. Clare forgot that there was still Vrochis nearby and the monster could hear her, again she felt stupid.

Clare kept her mouth shut tight before Luke finally let go. Clare was really messed up, she could even smell Luke's scent which meant they were so close. Instead of focusing on the monsters, she was on herself.

In less than five minutes, Vrochis left. Luke opened the barrier that limited their scent so that Vrochis wouldn't smell it then came out of the gap. In the end Clare can feel relieved, although her body shivered even more when she came out of the gap, she was strangely warm when she was in the gap. She hugged himself feeling cold, she even found it hard to say a word.

"Come with me." Luke ordered her Clare just nodded obediently then walked after him from behind, still hugging herself from the cold. Moreover, her hand was also injured from fighting Vrochis.

Arrive somewhere warm, although it's still raining outside which means whenever Vrochis can find them, at least it's better than being outside. Luke lit the fireplace to warm the room. Clare immediately sat in front of the fireplace without a word, she had been very cold for a long time under the pouring rain. Her body felt better, she was grateful to have met Luke and not to freeze to death.

Clare turned to where Luke was. She really should be grateful, there was also a question that suddenly appeared in her mind. Better to ask now than never, she always doesn't have much time to talk and this is it. Clare stood up and walked over to Luke, hesitant at first, but she couldn't keep the question down.

"Thanks...." Clare's words stopped, she still didn't know what to say.

Luke turned to look at him, he still looked blank as if nothing had happened, but the truth was no one knew what he was really thinking. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Clare was silent for a moment thinking of the right words so Luke wouldn't scold her for her carelessness. "There's no time ... You are too far apart, it's useless even if I'm stalling for time." Clare felt guilty and sighed. "It's my fault, I should have ignored it and rushed home after finding out something was wrong. I should have told you. I thought it was an ordinary thug who was attracting attention, but it was more of a trap."

"You know it's dangerous, but still get close to it. You know what happens if you get caught?"

"I know it's my fault. I don't think much of anything to do." Clare was silent for a moment, she was torn between her ego and guilt. She felt guilty, on the other hand not completely guilty, she just didn't know that he had fallen into a trap. "I wanted to call, but he didn't give me a chance. I used up a lot of strength to block it and tried to run away, but always failed ... I cut off his hand and blinded his eyes, he won't spare me." Clare almost cried at the memory. She did it between fear and courage.

Luke sighed, he felt guilty for scolding Clare. Clare wasn't completely wrong, she just did a reckless act without thinking, but the risk was huge. Naturally, if Luke scolded her and Clare understood it, her friends would also scold her later.

Luke approached Clare and patted her on the shoulder. "There's no need to think about it anymore." He said. "We're leaving now. I'll take you to your house."

Clare spontaneously replied, "No!" Clare was silent for a moment as Luke looked at her questioningly. It could be chaotic if Marine saw Luke and she had to go home in her own car. The groceries are in the car. "Let's just... go to base, tell the others about what happened. If you hurry home… Mom will be worried to see how I'm doing."

Luckily Luke agreed. Clare can breathe a sigh of relief, the nightmare about Marine is over. Clare will be going back to the supermarket to pick up the car after leaving the base, she also hasn't had time to buy extra ingredients that she forgot about plus after she got home she had to explain how late she was. She had so much to do.

They went carefully into Luke's car which was parked not far from their shelter. Lucky not to meet with Vrochis until finally the car was driven. It would be very troublesome to meet that monster.

Since then Clare still doesn't ask any questions. Clare had to explain what had happened so as not to be scolded, now she had to ask while she was still on the road. Their journey is also still quite far to get to the headquarters, Luke has also told his friends to go to the main headquarters with the other three seniors.

"How did you know I was in danger?" Clare finally asked a question.

"By chance." Luke lied. Coincidence like that is very rare, Clare oddly believed. Actually if Clare wasn't that innocent, she would definitely be wondering why coincidences like that always happen all this time, let alone put the car quite far if the road is normal from Clare's position.

"I don't think I'm completely unlucky," Clare mumbled looking down the street. Then she glanced at Luke who was driving. "You're not mad anymore?"

"You already explained it."

Clare sighed for the umpteenth time. "You're not angry anymore, but my friends will be angry later. I have to explain again."

"No need, they won't be mad." Luke replied calmly.

"How do you know?" Clare was surprised.

"I already told them."

Clare chuckled. Only this time did she realize that Luke wasn't as cold as she had thought. She thought Luke would let her explain at length to her friends after being scolded like that. Apparently Luke had lightened it for a moment, Clare just needed to think of a way to explain it to Marine who was waiting for her at home.