The Black Swan Behind (Beauty of Fire)

Once she had installed and turned on her new cell phone, Emma was quite surprised to find that several notifications had entered her cellphone. They were text messages from Kathy, Poppy, and Calvin asking how she was doing.

Emma smiled warmly in disbelief. Indeed, she had just communicated with Jonas the day before yesterday, so technically, the man would not contact her again within the next three days. In Emma’s mind before, there was no way anyone would look for her while she had been missing all day. But it turned out that she was wrong. Emma forgot that now she already had a friend who would worry about her.

“It feels.. really good..” She muttered as she opened the messages from the three people one by one. Each asked where and how Emma was doing in their own way.

Emma shook her head, still smiling. Then, she put the phone on the table and leaned against the comfortable back of the sofa. She took a very long breath. Reflecting on what had previously been troubling her mind before a tragedy with a cat named Pixy led her to unexpectedly meet some new people.

Even though she felt Levi was an annoying man, Emma couldn’t deny that his words were true. Why should she still have doubts when everything was so clear? What else should Emma really consider?

All she wanted was to have a normal life in a beautiful and peaceful city. Have lots of friends and companions so she could laugh with them. Do ballet and perform on stage without having to worry about anything else. All of that could only be felt when there were no more evil gangsters that kept disturbing the peace in the city that was Emma’s home now.

I’m not weak. I would clean up this city,” Emma said to herself. She promised herself that this would be the last time she would have any doubts.

***

.....

A pair of bright brown irises framed by curly eyelashes rolled slowly. Even though she stared intently, the beauty of the two eyes was undeniable.

On a dark and cold alley, her figure was obscured by the darkness of the shadows. The black helmet visor that protected her identity was still open, allowing her vision to be clearer.

As Emma Hilland had expected, the Hell Gate group was rebuilding its business. They had already lost a lot of girls, but now they were aggressively looking for new victims. Emma was sure that they were repairing their server and website now.

Three handsome men with tall bodies and fashionable clothes were chatting casually with three pretty girls on the side of a very quiet alley. The three men with sweet smiles turned out to have very sweet lips too, so it was very easy for them to make the three innocent girls fall for them.

Now, Emma knew how Hell Gate trapped girls. They used handsome men to ensnare innocent and pretty girls through dating apps, bars, or social media. They knew, most girls would be weak to a good-looking guy with a cool style. In the hearts of the girls, they would think that such men were good men. Because, they were too na?ve that they judge a man by his appearance only.

“This is the result of consuming too many princess fairy tale stories,” Emma muttered after chuckling as she watched the three girls finally agree to follow the three men from the blind date into a dark narrow alley.

Emma had been spying on the other Hell Gate bases. Unexpectedly by Emma, ??it turned out that there were still many headquarter branches that were much bigger and more dangerous than the first one she had destroyed. It turned out that each branch had its own main function. But for now, it seemed that the leader was ordering each base to look for girls to become the new actresses for their website.

Up to this moment, Emma had destroyed two Hell Gate branches. During that time, she had saved a lot of girls who almost fell into the trap of those damn men. For now, Emma was eyeing the third branch. After that.. she would attack the fourth base which is the last branch which was the base of the higher-ups of the Hell Gate group.

As expected, the men took their victim into the base which they told the girls was their temporary rental flat during their college.

Emma was standing on the back metal stairs of a flat building. It was an emergency staircase that was not usually used by the building occupants. She watched the six people, a few meters above. The people did not realize that a black figure was lurking them up there.

Emma’s eyes were like eagle eyes. Since kid, she had always had a routine health check-up every six months. And her family’s private doctor always said that Emma had soldier eyes. Yes, she had very sharp and clear eyes. It was as if she was destined to do this kind of work.

After seeing the six people had entered a back door of the building that looked like a flat, Emma immediately followed by climbing the metal stairs of the building that looked a bit shabby.

Emma crept on guttering that ran along the length of the building. Fortunately, Emma’s body was small and light enough to be supported by it. Emma’s small body pressed against the wall with small sideways steps. Until finally, she managed to reach a window on the third floor. Carefully so as not to make the slightest sound, Emma opened and entered through the window after making sure that no one was behind it.

Emma managed to get into the building. Just like the other bases, the inside looked gloomy and stuffy. She really didn’t like the smell of a place that had stored poison from the cigarette smoke that stick to every yellowed wall.

She walked around, looking for where the three men had taken their victims. Dimly, Emma heard the sound of some girls crying. She walked quickly towards the source of the sound which led her to a wooden grey bedroom door with a lot of peeled off paint. Without a second thought, Emma immediately broke in.

The three girls were in the corner of the room. They were tied up and their mouths covered with black duct tape. They were crying hysterically, begging for help. However, Emma did not find the three handsome men who had brought them inside.

“Calm down! I will save you,” Emma whispered to the girls.

“Hmmppp!! Hemppp!!” However, suddenly the three girls tried to shout at Emma with their eyes wide open.

In that instant, Emma felt that something was wrong. Her ears heard a fleeting sound from behind her back, followed by a shadow approaching her head from the side. Emma immediately bent her knees quickly. Thanks to that, she managed to avoid the kick that should have been hit her head. With lightning speed, Emma turned around as she shifted forward.

It turned out that in front of the door of the room, there was a group of men standing by holding the long wooden block in their hands with big smiles. A crested-haired man with superior style stood at the front. He was the one who had thrown a missed kick towards Emma’s head.

“Stupid.. You think you can still enter our base again in peace after yesterday’s attack on our other two bases?” Asked the dark-lipped man from smoking too much.

“Of course I know, idiot! It’s just a cheap trap, right?” Emma answered with a laugh.

Yes, actually, Emma had already known that she would not escape easily after her second attack and some of her actions of saving the girls from Hell Gate’s trap. Emma understood that the gangster didn’t need to be prejudiced anymore to clearly know that the black helmet’s goal was to destroy their group and business.

“It’s not enough that you ransacked the main headquarter. Now, you’re even attacking the entire branch headquarters,” Said the man.

“In that case, you shouldn’t be too happy about ambushing me like this. Because I will definitely defeat you, assholes. No different from the main base that been crushed by my hands. So, who’s the fool here?” Emma replied arrogantly.

“Well.. You don’t know the powers of the head of the third branch,” He smiled.

“I know. That’s why I didn’t bother preparing myself.” Emma answered lightly before moving her left foot to kick up.

At that moment, the crested man immediately looked down to dodge, but a knee flew towards his chin instead. He didn’t have time to dodge the movement speed of the black helmet who had just tricked him with a fake kick stance.

A Long Knee hit from Emma, ??who was still in great fatigue, cut the inside of the crested man’s mouth so that it bled heavily. The man spitted out blood everywhere, but Emma didn’t wait any longer to give him another jab.

As soon as the crested man who was the leader of the base fell to the side, all his men immediately rushed to attack the black helmet man.