The horn of a truck suddenly woke Nadia.

She gripped the seat with wide eyes as the large vehicle pulled away, dragging a copper-red container after it. A little more awake, she realized she was in a service station, stopped in the rear parking lot of the structure consisting of a small restaurant and a souvenir shop, in addition to the petrol pumps placed in front.

Someone knocked on the window: a boy was staring at her.

The lips were surrounded by an unkempt beard that blended with the dark skin, thick black hair with long bangs was held up by a yellow band. He wore a red leather jacket and gray jeans ripped in various places, his ears were studded with silver earrings and his alert eyes were a veiled light blue. The boy opened the door and sat down next to her.

The Nightmare had once again taken on human form.

Some demons, such as Nymphs and a few other races, were able to mold their bodies into a different shape and appearance. It was to be admitted, however, that the demons were much better at this sleight of hand, capable of becoming any with little effort and effort; the Nymphs instead were at the lowest levels of this classic of transformism, limiting themselves only to human appearances.

Since they had met, he had changed his appearance 3 times, all as a matter of unsatisfied vanity.

His excuse was: "my mask must match my true appearance".

How ridiculous it was.

> he asked, displaying puffy bags of food such as greasy sandwiches, salty snacks and fizzy drinks.

She didn't answer him, she had promised not to speak to him.

>

The girl turned her head away, refraining as much as she could from responding to his insults and digs. He grabbed her chin making her turn towards him, he didn't like being ignored.

>

“I'm a plant, right? And the plants don't speak. " She wanted to answer him.

He threw envelopes containing girlish clothes at her.

>

Nadia took a look at the dresses: there was a cyclamen-colored wide-sleeved sweater, a short skirt with a yellow and green plaid pattern, a pair of gray stockings and black winter boots with side zippers ... an aesthetically ridiculous ensemble .

He gave her time to change and then they resumed their journey.

Towards where, he had not yet told her that.

They had been traveling for a day and a half now, yet those thirty long hours felt like a week. They quickly passed states like Illinois, Missouri, Colorado and so on; the stops had been few and short, especially in uncrowded spots, only in Kansas City they had made the longest stop for the night.

She was more and more depressed, by now she had almost given up hope of saving herself.

A Nymph usually didn't get down so easily, she fought with all her might for her freedom. It was the lack of lifeblood, minerals and various nutrients of mother earth that weakened her psychologically, the effects were no different from those called "hunger pangs": the flesh beings were able to resist much longer, unfortunately Nymph were more frail.

Despite her rebellious nature, she was always careful not to upset the Nightmare.

When she had regained consciousness, the first time, he had seen so much blood on him, still fresh too ... she didn't want to think that he could kill people, she refused to do it ... she preferred to believe that he had pounced on some poor beast.

The long and apparent journey across America finally led them to Las Vegas, the so-called "City of Sin".

The Strip illuminated by the imperious Hotel-Casinos attracted hordes of people, hypnotizing them with their colorful lights, convincing them to try their luck at the slot machines, instead those who just wanted to enjoy a different night, were spoiled for choice among the thousands of cabaret clubs, theaters and restaurants scattered along that one long stretch of road called “The Strip”. Nadia had seen that city only through the news or some television series, she wondered if it was really as special as people often said, for the rest she was stunned by that confusion of parties and lights. Amyntas, on the other hand, was excited and looked around like a child in a toy store, the most genuinely passionate smile she had ever seen on him.

She wasn't completely surprised, it was a great playground for a demon of his mold.

> was his comment.

They entered the car park of the Luxor Hotel, the pyramid-shaped resort based on ancient Egypt, adorned with fake stone statues of pharaohs, sphinxes and evergreen palm trees.

Without wasting any more time they entered the hotel heading directly to the reception, there the demon handed the porter a large roll of banknotes asking for the best room in exchange. The man with a lot of clumsiness (justified, he was so amazed by that green deck) rummaged through the magnetic cards until he handed him one, wishing him a pleasant stay.

For her, it certainly wouldn't have been.

The room was at the top of the pyramid: the room consisted of a large living room with golden walls with fake Egyptian frescoes, upholstered cream-colored armchairs and sofas were placed in front of an expensive plasma TV, red and gold Persian carpets covered the floors. Both bedrooms had salmon-colored double mattresses, directly facing the city, which can be admired from the large window.

Amyntas immediately took advantage of the privileges of the structure by taking advantage of all its services, it was above all in food that he wasted his savings: the Luxor offered in the form of a buffet a great variety of dishes ranging from classic American dishes to those from overseas such as Italian or Latin cuisine. The extensive menu would have made anyone's mouth water, despite the inviting appearance however, it failed to make Nadia want to eat. To further remove any slightest interest, the demon set himself, which devoured everything greedily.

>

Amyntas belched loudly, Nadia covered her face in disgust.

>

>

The girl realized the mistake too late. She bit her tongue hard while the monster gloated happily.

At this point, we might as well have some things explained.

>

>

>

>

Oh fuck, Nadia thought.

She had completely removed it.

So the big moment had come: she would finally meet those who were obsessed with the red heads. What kind of depraved would she meet? A human being or another demon? And did he know she was a Nymph, or had the monster been careful not to leave him this note? She was so eager to know her imminent future that she didn't notice she was vigorously scratching the backs of her hands so much that they swelled.

>

>

>

>

>

The voice of the Nightmare at that moment had something hypnotic, penetrating her ears with great harmony as with suspicious gentleness he ran his hands over her neck, his tail gently rubbing her leg.

It was a very common trick among tempting devils to use the seduction of words and gestures, this was how they trapped victims before forcing them into sexual intercourse.

But with the Nymphs it doesn't work at all.

Their love is not won with poor tricks, it must be honest and pure, which is why many men despaired in vain attempts to conquer them and lie with them.

What a satisfaction it was for Nadia to see him offended when she feigned a long bored yawn, if that alone were enough to undermine her self-esteem, she would have been free long ago.

>

The demon exit slamming the door, in irritation he closed his tail inside letting out a very short goat scream. Although small, for Nadia it was a great victory. Now, however, she had to escape.

The unwary had taken it for granted that she would be quiet and good there until his return. Never had an opportunity presented itself more perfect; now that she had a free field she could leave and find help to get home, the fool hadn't even thought of tying her up or locking the door. She had just put her hand on the doorknob when a crude little creature jumped on top of it and bitten it.

She jumped back, horrified by the ape-like beast leaping and growling at her. She had smooth, stone-colored skin under her skimpy arms, each ending in three hooked fingers; they had a thin wing limb like that of flying squirrels, and then a beak-like mouth protruded from the primate face.

That bastard had a guard Gargoyle!

That was not superficiality, he had foreseen everything: with that beast there was no way to leave. If she tried, it would kill her by jumping to her throat.

Now decimated by pollution and climate change, the Gargoyles had been the favorite "watchdogs" of wealthy knights and sorcerers jealous of their secrets. There were no better guardians to defend a treasure, easy to train and excellent hunters to track down human and animal prey. Their strengths were in the toothed mouth and speed, while with the wings they also had the advantage of gliding from the sky without running the risk of being heard; the bites were powerful, if they did not kill the prey immediately they remained attached to it until it collapsed from exhaustion or bleeding.

What she had in front of her was a young specimen, about the size of a five-year-old kid but already very dangerous; she had been lucky it hadn't taken her hand off. Amyntas had been hiding it all that time just to get it out now… hers really a nice surprise. Her castle of trust collapsed with the dream of freedom, considering where she was, she could confirm that she was locked in a real golden cage.

The ticking of a clock marked the long hours that the television could barely fill; every now and then from the outside she could hear the cheerful laughter and spicy chats of the other customers, in a moment also embarrassing.

People were crazy, she thought.

Everyone wasted their time on stupid gambling or erotic shows, and which they even considered normal. What kind of world was that? Certainly not hers, made of quiet, nature and respect for life. She lay down on the bed burying her face on the pillow, her guardian meanwhile had brushed the last remains of the buffet and now it was miming from side to side, intrigued by all the glittering furniture.

A gust of wind opened one of the windows, the golden curtains danced towards her inviting her to look out. Under the void, a height of vertigo. She shivered, she had never appreciated great heights. Have you ever seen an Alseide fly? Of course not. There was a good reason they were firmly on the ground.

A somewhat crazy idea came to her, in spite of fear and all the rest. She sat on the edge of the window with her legs dangling in the dangerous slope, it was nonsense but for a moment she felt the pleasure of freedom. The Gargoyle "barked" excitedly thinking it was a way to escape. She ignored it by sticking her tongue out. "Do not give up. You will be able to escape. " She said to herself.

****

Hawk felt in heaven taking one of the few showers possible between short work breaks. He should also have shaved his beard, by now it had grown well past his chin, but he didn't have the patience to do it. He dried quickly and got dressed, ready to go back to work. A call ordered him to go immediately to one of the laboratories.

A quick ride in a wheelchair and he reached one of the main laboratories of the base, an octagonal shaped vault equipped with the best computers, the most powerful microscopes and all those machinery necessary to investigate the complex world of biology and microbiology. You could almost say it was far too science fiction, but in there things were done differently from the ordinary.

The TDE actually didn't make much use of those facilities, except in extraordinary cases.

Today, for the first time, part of that area would be used as an autopsy room.

In a separate room they had prepared a long steel table and wheelbarrows filled with typical surgeon's tools, mostly scalpels and knives suitable for cutting organs and bones. A large shiny black bag had been laid up there, the five surgeons were still getting ready and exchanging somewhat excited opinions when the Captain arrived, perplexed about the unusual set-up. A glass wall with a sliding door separated him from the operating room, so he could see what was going on.

> the man asked the Lieutenant already there.

>

They opened the sack, the first thing that peeked out was a turquoise face.

The forehead was broad and partially hidden by a brown wig, the forearms and legs were thicker and more muscular than those of a normal man, not to mention very long and thin hands and feet. In addition to the wig, the corpse also wore a full beard to cover the disproportionate pointed chin and fake ear prostheses were attached to the sides of the head.

Hawk pulled back in disbelief.

>

>

The case makes no sense, Nevada was not a suitable territory for individuals like the Ghouls, who preferred much colder and more humid environments. Among other things, they tended to avoid very crowded places being very sensitive to excess noise and strong lights; in a nutshell Las Vegas was one of the worst places to stay.

He hypothesized that the Ghoul was just passing through and that he had been the victim of an unpleasant accident: he had a single large cut wound on his stomach, perhaps some criminal had threatened him to rob him. Always perhaps, his disguise must have fallen off, frightening the attacker who had stabbed him to death, who then got rid of the body.

It seemed like a plausible hypothesis, but Hawk hadn't seen the rest yet.

> added the Lieutenant, showing through a PDA the photo of another similar being, but female.

The Captain immediately noticed the red hair and it was not the only thing that bothered him: he passed the rest of the photos of the corpse, the signs of violence were the same as the victims he had just begun to investigate. The cases were connected. Nor was it strange that this last victim was a hidden creature, since the penultimate had dissolved in his hands in a handful of earth. Somehow, for some reason; his suspect knew who he was holding.

A scream made him lose the tablet. Inside the morgue the Ghoul had awakened.

Back from the realm of the dead, he got up shaking and screaming, he was more frightened than the doctors who had run away like chickens rushing to the glass door. The Ghoul pressed himself against the glass, smearing it with his own blood that was starting to gush again, beat his fists and asked for help with a marked Northern European accent, both Hawk and the Lieutenant holding their guns.

> screamed this in tears.

>

>

>

>

The Ghoul mumbled disconnected memories, moving from violent scenes prior to his near death and then beginning to describe happy moments with his deceased girlfriend. Every now and then, perhaps due to certain words, his state altered again and he was able to give more precise details.

Finally, in the delirium of the state of shock, they realized what had happened: there were rumors of a person paying for red head women. The couple had thought of taking advantage of it, she had dyed her hair and had been taken to the address of this individual, with the money received they would have run away, frightening the "buyer". They had treated the situation as a game, assuming they would not have caught them. Instead, they were the ones who had been played and punished.

> the Captain asked him anxiously.

The Ghoul may have been the only witness who knew the identity of the "Crimson Killer".

>

>

>

Letting go to a last desperate cry, the Ghoul planted a large scalpel in his heart, stabbing himself twice vigorously before falling to the ground screaming the name of his beloved. Stopping the bleeding was useless, he was definitely dead this time. Hawk was furious, he had missed a big opportunity.

Members of other organizations were briefed on the event.

The reaction was silent horror.

It was the first time that those big shots said nothing, the Captain had upset them properly with that story. Someone, having found the word, asked what they should do now. There were timid proposals, ideas for how to conduct the investigation from then on, but any idea seemed to go wrong. Slowly they recovered the pepper, the initial modest conversation turned into a confused and nervous discussion in which everyone talked over each other without really listening to what the other was saying.

Normal was back, apparently.

The discussion had not yet heated when someone with more common sense and cold blood called the present to order. It was a woman that Captain Hawk feared more than anyone else in that room. It was enough for her to clap her hands to silence both men and women, even those who by comparison had higher grades than she.

Her name was Cassandra Ilios, high priestess of the secret group called the "Army of the Amazons". As it was easy to guess from the name, it was one of the very few groups in which only one gender could be aggregated among their ranks and in the past it had sparked quite a few controversies among other groups once controlled mainly by men. Their work did not differ much from that of their colleagues, but in military preparation and logistics they were probably on a par with the TDE.

"The Army", however, was superior to all the others: they managed to have more funds, more armaments and above all to have more influence among the upper echelons with an ease of which no one had yet discovered the secret. The evil ones had commented that the very fact of being women helped them. Despite certain comments, no one wanted to make them enemies, their power was great.

>

There was someone who was indignant at the offense, but dared not express it in front of her.

The voice of that woman was a little masculine, perhaps she had studied opera singing in the past; her stiffness in her movements denoted military training, every now and then she adjusted her grass green suit as a sign that she was uncomfortable, probably hiding a sturdy build of inflexible muscles underneath.

Hawk took a quick "look" at her appearance: she had modest breasts and nice athletic legs, her light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her almond-colored eyes with subtle yellow undertones. From the name it had clear Greek origins, yet the color of the skin and the cut of the face indicated something more exotic… indeed, arabesque.

He had to be careful not to be enchanted by that good looks, however, if he could that woman would have been able to make him lose his job and the title so dear with a single word. She had important acquaintances, her rise to power had been partially permitted by her alliance with such people.

>

Hawk was struck by the piercing gaze of the woman, with those eyes she seemed to be shooting invisible darts. He remained composed in his chair, trying not to look uncomfortable in some way.

>

>

>

Cassandra nodded and took note.

The woman had an impassive expression, yet Hawk could not shake the feeling that she did not agree. He didn't see why, so the impression bothered him even more.

>

A young soldier ran into the meeting room, ignoring the greeting protocols as required by the educational regulations.

>

>

For a moment Hawk felt teased.

They had just talked about that girl and the possibility that she was dead… and now it turned out that she was still alive!

He did not believe in coincidences at all, not even when it came to the people of the "secret people". He rushed out, running out with such determination that he didn't feel the pangs in his legs. Someone chased him in the wheelchair trying to get him back to sit, his answer was that he would have done first on foot.

> Cassandra asked her, trying to keep up.

> was his reply.

Having had a strict military education, they all followed the investigation protocol from the start which required many unnecessary bureaucratic steps to be taken before they could really take action.

Only the spy, having heard the news, had left immediately: as expected, infiltrating between those people had served the purpose. The excitement had made her tremble with euphoria, she was close to being discovered when she felt like exulting.

Before leaving she warned her sisters, they wept with joy praising all creation. They wished her good luck, she would need it tonight. With hindsight she considered that it could also turn out to be a mistaken person… she would still have run the risk of being wrong.

The attempts had to be made when the survival of all creatures in the whole world was at stake.

****

Nadia threw herself off balance and fell backwards, rolling into the room.

The current of air abruptly closed the window, almost shattering the glass.

She had been looking out there for so long that she had ended up relaxing, lulled by the wind and the notes of a song broadcast on television. She had almost dozed off and it was fortunate that she hadn't moved forward after all the effort she had made to stay alive.

Now awake, she returned to the harsh reality, her head throbbing so rhythmically it seemed as if they were punching her from inside the skull.

She realized shortly after that the room had… transformed.

Everything had become rotten and crumbling, the wallpaper was a yellow mass revealing the underlying wooden structure from which a dark sewage was leaking, the floor was reduced by a mound of dirt, the old and unbolted furniture covered with mold.

Everything smelled of putrefaction ... but it wasn't the smell of rotten meat that disturbed her, but that of ashes.

Suddenly she heard a faint moan from the bathroom.

Opening the door, she let out a kind of greenish mud that flooded the hall. There wasn't much difference in the mess, but between the smashed sink on the floor and the pipes gushing with mud, only the tub was left intact and clean. She stood at the door not knowing what to do, hardly even breathing; she'd seen enough horror movies to know that any out of place in an already creepy environment meant more trouble. When the tub suddenly filled with black water, she slammed the door shut, but it ended up on the ground breaking away from its hinges, ending up in pieces like a puzzle. The water stopped flush on the edge, the surface was so shiny that it could be mirrored.

One, two, three bubbles emerged from time to time from the center, with each burst a faint voice could be heard.

A human mouth emerged, the lips were bluish and puckered.

>

Being called by that presence gave her goosebumps, even her heart leapt so energetically that it made her feel very bad for a short minute.

>

> Nadia answered discontented.

Then he thought "Am I really speaking with a mouth without a body?"

>

The presence repeated that last sentence over and over again with such insistence as to be annoying.

Suddenly it sank it mouth with a stifled gasp, so many bubbles gurgled where it had been before, crackling with a sound that sounded like short baby screams rather than simple "bop".

Soon the surface calmed down. Nadia tensed, worried by the sudden quiet.

Curiosity took over, convincing her to tiptoe to the tub. The water gave off very hot steam that made her face pink, she gritted her teeth as she leaned over the edge trying to catch a glimpse of the bottom and (she hoped not) maybe a body lying inside. Suddenly numerous hands emerged from the sewage and pushed her backwards, through the tangle of arms peeked out desperate faces of women with empty eye sockets and fiery hair like hers.

> they shouted in chorus.

Pushing it back, the entity prevented the thin silver blade with blue reflections from piercing her.

The hiss of the cut air brought the environment back to its glitzy normalcy, the fall of the illusion wiped out the rotten and old horror set and even whoever had left Nadia that enigmatic message. Only the owner of the dagger was not gone, hunched over her after missing the target. It was in all respects a disturbing reality the human or the beast that stood in front of her wearing only a feathered coat to hide the nakedness and a fake bird head with dead eyes.

A tiny, tiny part of her unconscious had the ability to wonder what the hell it was, while everything else screamed at her to get up her ass and run. She threw herself out of the bathroom and he grabbed her by the hair. She immediately began to kick repeatedly on whatever part of the body was within range, luckily the nightmare had given her some boots with thick soles that if they crush you they really hurt and at that moment she was grateful that he did it because she kicked more than she had when she was a child with her tantrums. At school she had become famous for having easy kicks (but any girl would have become one after more than a fool had touched her ass repeatedly), so much so that her friends had nicknamed her "the mule". Well, after that evening she was more than proud of that nickname. Sacrificing a few hairs she managed to free herself from the grip, the stranger was holding his belly after being kicked like a ball quite a few times. Nadia saw that the guard Gargoyle had been stabbed in the back but despite the wound it was still alive and was trying to crawl towards them. She didn't think twice: she picked it up and threw it in the face of that bastard, or whatever it was.

The Gargoyle went mad, it looked like a demon-possessed cat.

Nadia ran out of the apartment, banged the door so hard that she was able to open it.

She dodged customers who scolded or insulted her, she didn't dare look over her shoulder for even a second. She just ran.

With horror she realized that in front of her the corridor ended with a window, with no alternate way to deviate. She continued to run, in that little lucid reason she understood that it was the only option of salvation. She jumped against the glass, the sound of the broken crystal resembled the tinkling of a group of bells, some people watched the scene and screamed in horror at the worst. The fragments quickly plummeted to the ground, as opposed to her sliding cautiously down the hotel slope to the base. Thank goodness she had noticed a dwarf palm under the window before she jumped, a touch was enough to turn it into a sturdy adult tree with long fan leaves and vines stronger than any rope. Thanks to these coiled around her body she avoided falling, she would never have taken such an insane risk if she weren't really sure it would work. She trusted the plants, even in pots their loyalty towards her race remained very high and for this reason that little tree would not have let it fall even if it was almost completely bent on itself on the point of breaking, even coming to hook itself at the floor with its own roots. Touching the ground safe and sound was incredibly pleasant, repeating to herself how the Alseids were not made to be with their feet in the air.

The sky thundered, she saw no lightning in the sky or storm clouds, but the air now smelled of wet and the wind was blowing more and more powerful and cold. Before leaving she stopped those few minutes just to contemplate the building, making sure that there was no trace of her pursuer. She hugged her chest, she felt that something bad was about to happen.

Nadia ventured into the Strip.

Tourists and gamblers thronged every corner of the city. The premises glowed with lights and glitz and no matter whether they were restaurants, malls or nightclubs, everything had to be exaggeratedly decorated. Making her way through the crowd tired, she was forced to stop at one point, drenched in sweat. She stopped near a large cinema; there were a lot of couples around, most of them would spend their time making out in the dark rather than watching the show and spending time just plain tenderness. Once she had thought of doing the same thing with the boy she liked and then gossiping about it with her friends, then luckily she had discovered that he was an idiot.

Suddenly she was dragged backwards, started to turn around but in doing so she received a strong slap that made her literally shake her head.

> he shouted Amyntas.

He started to hit her again but she parried the blow.

> she yelled at him.

>

>

>

The discussion between the two was very heated, she was annoyed that she was not believed and he was furious that she had not obeyed him. They screamed so much that people distanced themselves as much as possible almost for fear of being involved, if there were not so many humans the demon would have taken the girl, would have dragged her into an alley and would have insulted and beat her mercilessly. When he came to think “who cares about humans! She deserves a punishment! " and raised a fist in the air, was stopped by a breath.

The demon was surprised, but not by the gesture itself: the reason was that another Nymph had stopped him.