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Chapter 5

When Miracle reached home, she took her bag off and stomped toward the deeper barrier within the house. She swiped her hand across the air, and the hidden aqueous layer twinkled into view. Stepping in, she erased hints of its existence with another swing of her arm. 

Camouflaged.

Inhaling a deep, long breath, she let it out—the beast she had held captive for days.

Right then, a pure white dragon engulfed the shape of the "human" goddess, taking over the blacks in her eyes. Glimmering carp scales formed on her body, sending a soothing chill along her nerves. Emerging deer-like horns, fangs, and claws refined themselves as they felt strong traces of divinity from the silver fronds—the external protections—reacting to her original presence. Too thirsty to be embraced by the air, the animal roared and swirled up above as if the air were a part of her.

'Fire, be with me,' she muttered inwardly. It had been a while since she stepped away from her world.

Heat rose inside her body in an instant. When she jerked up her head, fire swords surged out from her maw, branching into hundreds. They slashed the barrier back-to-back. 

Clearly, the barrier was tough. It rebounded the weapons, reducing them to ashes the moment they fell into the small pond covered by water lilies. Wriggling in the air, she floated a few fiery balls on her eagle claws while breathing out continuous blue flares into the sky. 

'No matter what the price is, I'll end this cycle once and for all.' She slammed the flames across the air.

When she returned to her disguise and entered the living room through the sliding door, she saw Hayden on the couch. 

"Miracle, do you have time?" he asked.

"Oh, yes. What's the matter, Mr. Hayden?" She wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead.

He flashed her a fatherly smile. "Let's go to the market."

"Now?"

"Yes. Come on."

"All right. Give me a second to change my clothes."

***

They strolled along the bike path. Hayden folded his arms across his chest, while Miracle gazed far beyond—into the sky at the other end. Its tone was darkening. Gray knobby clouds were blocking the rays from directly hitting the tar.

It was a gloomy evening.

"Let's see, what shall we have tonight?" Hayden approached the small crowd surrounding the cooler box.

"Raw meat," Miracle uttered under her breath.

Fortunately, Hayden didn't hear her. He was busy flipping the meats and checking their freshness using the public spatula.

She walked away, leaving him alone to fight for better pieces with the remaining customers. The groceries mortals had daily—vegetables, dried herbs, processed meats—weren't interesting to her until her feet came to an unexpected stop in front of a butcher stall. Intriguing thuds of the knife slamming onto the chopping board drifted to her ears. Miracle gulped her saliva, watching the blood dripping onto the floor as the fresh meat was cut into smaller chunks. 

Her favorite food was right before her eyes. 

"Yes? What do you want?" the butcher asked. His eyes met hers as he pricked the hook into the chopped slice, hanging it up for sale.

Shyly, she shook her head and left. 

What was she supposed to say? 

That the rawness of the meat was driving her crazy?

She was still frowning for not having the raw when shivers suddenly swam down her spine as if somebody had just dumped her a bucket of ice water.

"What was that?" she muttered to herself, dropping the ripe tomato in her hand.

After flashing a worried glance at Hayden, who was at the counter, she quickly ran into the dark, to the place her instincts were leading her to.

Hayden dug out a bill in his pocket at once and shoved it at the counter without looking for any change. The cashier was clueless, but he had no time to explain. He quickly dashed out and caught up with Miracle. 

There was nothing unusual along the streets. Yet, the evil, anonymous energy was everywhere, distracting Miracle from being led to the right source. Time was ticking away, and her heart was leaping into her throat. The moment they passed by a deserted alley behind the tombstones, they had a hunch that it was going to be too late.

The victim looked like he was struggling to stand upright, while the beast was enjoying its meal.

"Fire! Come to me!" she shouted at the malevolent glare, drifting its attention away from the poor little boy.

Miracle ran and bashed the opponent before it had a chance to defend. She shot a strong beam of fire into the malicious body. Green slime splashed onto her face. Her attack wasn't working. She kneed the wicked creature onto the ground and continued shooting the flames into its chest. Within seconds, the body started to burn, but not the demonic soul in it. Right in front of her heterochromia eyes, she saw the evil spirit turn into a glaucous whiff and escape with the wind. 

Miracle hurled her hand at it. Silver smoke immediately branched out from her wrist and surged toward the green puff. She had it for a moment. However, it was too fierce. It spun aggressively a few times before breaking free from her trap.

Very fast.

"Ugh! Damn it!" She threw her punches into the brick wall. "DAMN IT!"

Hayden approached the victim lying dead on the cold surface. Miracle stood there in silence, feeling a sense of defeat she had never felt before. A pang of guilt streaked through her when she saw the vicious wound across his chest. His flesh was torn open. The sight of the dislocated bones at his ribcage gripped her heart. 

Crouching, she outstretched her trembling hand to the boy. "What are we going to do about this, Mr. Hayden?" She struggled to choke back tears. "I-Is he going to be all right?"

"Miracle..." He sighed. "Let's find a place—"

Suddenly, the slow yet familiar rhythm rang in his ears. "Wait." Hayden moved his eyes to the red organ inside the wound. To his surprise, it was beating. "Miracle! Do something! He still has his heart with him!"

"W-What?"

"Fast!" he urged when she wasn't inching to save the boy from becoming the fourth victim.

Jerking out from her state of shock, she hissed to the air, "Be with me."

A warm breeze kissed past her, tingling the fine hairs behind her neck. Miracle pressed a small portion of the air onto the boy's forehead.

Hints of white glow escaped through the gaps in between her bloody fingers. "Oh, air. Please be kind to this boy and save his heart," she whispered.

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