Chapter 8 ~The Ominous Thing~

When Lea opened her eyes she was inside the Association building. The head staff, Aronia Henly, was standing in front of her.

"We were waiting for you, Miss Leaena Leonard. You there, get the file. And Miss Leaena you follow me."

She looked strict and in no time the file was snatched from Lea. She quietly followed her.

After some time they were standing in front of a huge crystal ball. The Rank measuring ball. A huge amount of Mana was imbued in it.

"Please place your hands on it. Both of them."

Lea knew her rank but she placed her hands on it.

The ball shone normally. And it was measured as B Rank, just as Lea expected.

She knew what factors led her rank to go down, she knew that she would very well become the shame of the family, and she was ready to face it all. For the first time in her life, she was convinced that everything is going to be alright if she stayed strong.

But when she heard the whispering of people, the gazes that fell upon her, she was again reminded of the time when she tried her best to avoid these discriminating gazes. Her mind started to break down slowly. Discrimination was the only thing she was afraid of.

"Everyone, get out. I want her ID ready by the time we come outside." Aronia ordered everyone, giving a halt to Lea's unending thoughts and fears.

"Thanks for that Mrs Henly."

"Don't misunderstand. I just hate gossiping." She answered then continued, "Amazing. To think that the Leonard family, which only produced hunters of rank A and above, has got a new extraordinary child with rank B." It felt like she was mocking Leaena with stinging truth. Lea let out a chuckle. She realised something about Aronia.

"If you can't speak well, then I suggest you just shut up, Ms. Henly."

"Ouch. Don't get me wrong. I just wanted you to realise that you are special."

"But I am special." Lea shrugged.

"Don't get cocky, young miss. Listen to me, if someone like you is born in such a prominent family then it must be a sign given by the Goddess that something about you is special."

Now, she sounded crazier.

"Excuse me. I don't know if my parents believe or not but I don't believe in Gods or Goddess. So stop getting any crazy ideas about me."

Lea got out of the room and headed to the ID department. She knew that something about her rank is special but she didn't trust that crazy woman's words. She already felt uneasy because of nature's words since morning and now she has to listen to some woman speaking baseless nonsense.

She stepped inside the ID department and asked the table-in-charge.

"Excuse me, is my Hunter ID issued and verified?"

"Yes, mam. Just wait a second!" She hurriedly handed me the ID.

"That was fast, unexpectedly." Lea smiled.

"Of course mam! It was an order from my mom. Oops, sorry, I mean Ms Henly."

"Hmm."

Lea thought about something. "What is your name?", she asked.

"My name is Levine Zacker. Is something the matter, mam?" She said while looking at Lea who was grinning ear to ear.

"Yes, I want to fix an arrangement for us. Is it possible despite your packed schedule?" Lea asked. She definitely has something up her sleeves unbeknownst to Levine.

Levine beamed like a little teenage child. "Yes, sure, mam! I'll contact you myself! Don't care about the contact number. The Association has it all!"

She talked quite a lot contrary to how she was in the start, timid, clumsy and polite.

Lea smiled and, after saying farewell to her new friend, walked towards the same place where she opened her eyes, the Teleportation Gate room. Inside the room Aronia could be seen, standing still.

"I'll be going now, Ms Henly. Thanks for your graceful patronage." Lea said mockingly.

Aronia gritted her teeth but followed the etiquette regardless. The other side, Leo Guild, verified the identity and without a moment of hesitation, Lea stepped inside the Vermillion portal.

And when she opened her eyes, those beautiful little eyes of hers landed on just one shade. The pink shade. Rae was standing in front of the gate wearing a pink one-piece.

"Enjoyed there, young miss?" She said cheekily. Lea blinked a few times then after realising that it really was Rae, she pounced on her.

"Lord, what happened? Let's go to the cafe next to the Guild." Rae said.

***

"I thought I won't be able to see you today. You said that you had prior arrangements at the hospital." Lea said while drinking the milk tea.

"I'm free now. How did the banquet go?"

"It was good. Not gonna ask about my ID?"

Rae stopped nibbling the plastic cup and said, "It looks like it went well."

"More or less." Lea chuckled.

The conversation advanced as Rae told Lea that she has acquired a new weapon. The mild music inside the cafe made the vibe soothing. And talking to Rae made Lea forget mother nature's words, which were hurling inside Lea's mind since morning. Suddenly, the voice of reporters seeped through their conversation. Both Rae and Lea looked up at the television on the wall.

"This is Neelam Verma speaking from STA news. We've just received heart-wrenching news from our reporters allocated in Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh. Let's listen to what they have to say-" The woman on the screen reported in a very fast way possible, taking the seriousness of the situation into account.

"Yes, I'm Rishabh Dubey. And I'm here in Mandla, outside of the Main Leonard family's mansion." The reporter named Rishabh said while the cameraman showed the public the big, huge mansion of the Leonards.

That mansion was home to all of the Leonards. The family that should have been present in Leon's ascension banquet, but wasn't.

Soon the screen showed the insides of the mansion.

The whole place was painted with something red.

Blood.

It was blood.

Corpses were lying still.

Corpses were smashed on the wall.

Corpses were disfigured.

They were dead.

The whole family was dead.

"...My fucking family is dead...?" Leaena mumbled after a pause. Her eyes were wide open with the sudden surprise but she still seemed to be lost in her thoughts about certain things.

"Yes, the horrible scene that you are seeing on your screens is of none other than the most influential, the most famous, the most wealthy and the most powerful family in India, The Leonards! We still don't know the cause of their death but according to the doctors present here, the whole family died yesterday morning and it's been somewhat 20- 21 hours. It's crystal clear in our eyes, how brutally they have been murdered. I heard that the Leonard family living in Chhattisgarh are comi---" He said while being pushed by the police and then cut off.

Lea's heart rushed. She was suddenly reminded of the happy moments and the joyous festivals she enjoyed with her whole big family. Rae grabbed Lea's hand to shake her up from those thoughts. But Lea didn't realise that Rae was holding her hand.

"Thank you, Rishabh Dubey," Neelam said. "After we find some more details about this we'll update you! Stay tuned!" She said enthusiastically then continued, "Next topic- Social Virals!"

As soon as she said this the screen showed a TikTok video of a man dancing. He wore a black satin shirt and pants. A black cap on top and a black mask to hide his features.

"This TikTok dancer with username @crazyinlove! has gone viral with his dance video on the song 'R.I.P Love'. With his 1st video on the song 'Hello my name is Suzy', he gained 52.9k followers, his 2nd video with the song 'Rainism', by Rain earned him 12M and his 3rd video, which I mentioned earlier made him reach 38M followers in just 3 days!! He has a great body to admire and his---". The television suddenly got shut down by The cafe owner.

Everyone's gazes fell upon Lea and Rae. Their eyes were questioning- Did you not know? They didn't come to the Ascension banquet? Who murdered them? Aren't your family the strongest?

Rae was panicking from the inside while thinking about how to help Lea. Lea on the other hand was shocked and was still mumbling things about her family.

"My family... N-No... I d-don't..." Lea went on rambling.

"Wake up, bitch! You can't go on rambling about shit! We have to go!"

Lea shuddered and glanced at Rae. "Pardon, what did you just...?"

"Fuck! Give me the car keys! I'll drive!" Rae extended her hand while her other hand was in her pocket searching for the Rupees. Lea gave her the keys without thinking of anything, she was still shocked, more precisely- she was traumatized or so she pretended. After taking the keys and placing the rupees for the drinks they dashed out from the cafe.

The guild building was next to the cafe. Rae opened the gate of the car for Lea. "Didn't know that the day will come when I would be Chauffering for someone. But if it's you, then anything..." She mumbled. Lea was still in a daze. "For shit's sake! Just get inside!" Rae screamed at Lea and kicked her in. After that, she seated herself in the driver's seat and started driving.

After being kicked on her butt Lea snapped out of her thoughts.

Then calmly she said, "I can drive."

Rae dialled herself from the car and an unfamiliar voice answered. "Hello, Miss Leaena. Hunter Rae isn't availab--"

"I'm speaking here. Just send someone to take my Sequoia from the Leo guild. And if I saw any scratches on my car then we'll see..." She rumbled like thunder and it was enough to make Lea stay silent.

She ended the call and continued, "You'll drive? Don't make me laugh."

Lea answered, "But I'm fine now!"

"Fine!? You were gone insane back there! You say 'Pardon' like some angel when you've completely lost it!" Rae shouted while speeding the car. "And those gazes of people? I know exactly how much you hate them! Who knows what you would've done there!"

Leaena blinked a few times in astonishment then smiled. "Yeah. Who knows what I would have done? I like how you care about the people, Rae." Lea's attitude changed in a flash and she chuckled between her fingers forgetting about her dead family.

Rae glanced at Lea. "Fuck them. Who cares about those trash people? They can eat shit and die! I was thinking of MY safety back then."

Lea smirked. Her amber eyes were glowing as if they have found something interesting.

Rae flinched. She knew. She knew those eyes that were hungry for amusement, for something enticing. She hadn't known Lea for years for anything. She knew that behind those beautiful eyes, a hungry demon sleeps.

"So, what do you think about the murder of my family, my baby?" Lea asked. She was still smiling as if trying to suppress her excitement.

A voice crept inside the car, "Mom, I think they were murdered while you were inside <The Last Gate>."

Rae jolted hearing the familiar voice. It was Kiera's. She appeared out of nowhere and was sitting in the back seat.

"Both of you! For Fuck's sake! Stop scaring me like that!" Rae screamed.

"Sorry for that Rae, and thank you for taking care of Mom," Kiera said. "No need for that," Rae replied while smiling. After hearing them converse Lea stated, "Rae, park the car in front of the back door. There must be a lot of reporters in front of the main gate."

"Mhm," Rae replied.

The Leo guild wasn't so far from the Leonards' mansion so they reached soon. And as Lea thought, there were so many reporters in front of the main gate.

Lea and Rae dashed inside the mansion.

Funnily, the moment Kiera landed her feet on the ground from the car she felt so surprised that she started running, like a drunk person. It was her first time running. And just after a few leaps she fell on the ground thrice. Both Rae and Lea laughed till tears could be seen in their eyes.

"Mumma..." she whimpered.

"Oops! Gotta be a good momma!" Lea said while running back towards Kiera. Lea lifted Kiera like a baby and both she and Rae ran inside the mansion.

"What is happening out there!?" Lea yelled inside the mansion while putting her child down.

No response came.

"I think Leon and Zecora went to that Maitri Garden raid they were talking about," Rae said looking around.

No one was home. Not even Raion and Chryseis.

"I'm turning the T.V. on," Kiera said. The eerie silence inside the mansion was now filled with the reporter's voice.

"----As you can see now, the Leonard family's Hunter Raion who was the Guild Leader till yesterday and Hunter Chryseis who had been the vice Guild Master till yesterday are here, in Mandla, with their private Jet."

The reporter reported and the cameraman showed the live scene.

"That's Ma and Papa!" Lea said. "They went there without telling me?"

"That's what it looks," Rae said.

Lea stared at the T. V. screen. Her eyes fixated on her parents' faces. Her mother wearing the same golden gown she wore today in the banquet, was crying over her dead mother. Chryseis clutched her dead mother and kept on wailing like a little child. Her golden gown couldn't be recognised as golden anymore as it was tainted with all the blood which was spilt in the great mansion.

Tears trickled down from Lea's eyes, not from the loss of her grandmother but from seeing her mother crying. It was the first time for the whole universe to see Chryseis broken like this.

After seeing her mother Leaena's eyes continuously searched for Raion, her dear father. She was begging to see him. The mere thought of her father being broken like her mother sent the feeling of melancholy to her.

She thought to herself, 'I should have gone there too... I should have been there, with my parents...'

Raion couldn't be seen because the cameraman didn't show it but when he did, Lea felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.

Raion was probably the only man, only husband, the only son and only father who didn't cry after seeing the corpses of his blood-related family lying on the floor, some were stuck on walls. But this moment didn't break Lea. Her heart was broken seeing how hard Raion is trying to hold his tears.

His body was covered in his golden aura, the speciality of the Leonard family. Raion was violently trying to suppress his nervous system's functioning. The brutal waves of the continuously ravaging aura screamed volumes, but still not hurting anyone near it. His pupils started to shrink in smaller sizes constantly, evidence showing that his aura has taken a great toll on his body.

Raion's heart must have broken utterly but he was still crying in pain, silently. Even though his aura did alter the functioning of the inner system, it couldn't block the blood vessels of the body.

Moments later, the pupils couldn't be seen anymore and his jaws tightened feeling the pain and he could feel something rushing towards his head.

Something warm.

No, maybe, hot.

It was blood, duh.

It was the real red blood which trickled down from his eyes and nose.

"No, Papa!" Lea screamed while shaking. "R-Rae! I should go there, right? Please come with me! I'm begging you!" Lea was still shivering.

"Mom, you can't go. No, I mean, you shouldn't go." Kiera said, clutching Lea's hand.

"She's right, Lea. Stay here."

"How is it possible!? My parents are suffering there! Mom is crying, I get that but, Papa!? He's suffering too much!" Saying this she started crying.

Everything seemed to be going in the wrong direction. Nothing was working out greatly for Lea.

After some moments of crying, she was reminded of Kiera's info- Something is going to happen to Zecora...

"B-Brother... Zecora..." The words slipped out of her mouth as she was horrified about the two men who were inside the gate.

~ To be continued.