Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night
Chapter 195: The Devil's Hour

Zane waited by Elena's side until she had recovered from her corrupted state. As if she had not been afflicted by unimaginable pain and suffering the slightest, her expression was eager as she grasped hold of Zane's hand and quickly explained her newfound powers.

It was indeed quite the ability. And considering the fact that Elena was their party's main form of Melee DPS, Zane could honestly say that he was thankful the crimson-haired beauty had gained such an amazing skill. Still, he was confused by the fact that she had at random gained another skill which was similar enough to her first one.

After all, he too had such a thing happen to him. Did this mean that the system was intelligent? And despite its portrayal of "random rewards," one would instead gain abilities and items that personally suited what they had already gained?

There were too many unknown factors about the mysterious system that appeared within the hour of humanity's most dire need. And in many instances, Zane could not help but suspect that this system was not a blessing, but rather a curse.

Still, he had no actual evidence to support this thesis, and thus, for the time being, Zane could only put it to the back of his mind. He and Elena spent some time together before finally falling asleep in each other's arms, where Zane entered the familiar dream world he had been to during the last time he met with the mysterious stranger.

The changes to this dreamscape which occurred the last time Zane visited had persisted, yet as much as he searched through the world, he could not replace the woman who had been of such help to him. She was simply elusive.

Zane was just about to give up entirely, and instead go back towards the lake to rest when he saw a pair of large and wide red eyes gazing at him through the vast darkness of the forest. There was no other figure connected to these eyes, but it was very clear to Zane that they were silently watching him, in an almost unnerving manner.

At first Zane thought perhaps these eyes belonged to the mysterious stranger, as she too had such a coloration of the irises. But upon further inspection, he realized something was very different this time around.

This pair of blood-red eyes, while similar to those of the Mysterious Stranger's, were much lower to the ground when compared to those of the woman in question. It was almost as if the eyes currently staring at Zane as if they were a hunter watching its prey belonged to that of a small child.

Curious about this change, Zane ran towards the dark forest in a desperate attempt to figure out who had penetrated into this dreamscape, which was supposed to be a world exclusive to his own mind. But when he finally arrived at where the pair of sanguine eyes had been, Zane found that there was nothing waiting for him.

Perhaps the figure had disappeared into thin air like the mysterious stranger had done during Zane's last visit to this world within his own mind. Or perhaps he had just been seeing things.

When Zane reflected on this notion, he began to think this was very much a possibility, as his mind had indeed been playing many tricks on him as of late. Still, he would not leave this area until he searched a bit further. And that is exactly what he did, lurking through the vast and dark forest in search of the slightest clue of the child he was looking for.

In the end, after much effort, Zane awoke from his sleep without replaceing a single clue. But not before hearing a childish giggle in the background. Yet this giggle was far from adorable and was instead rather eerie, sending a chill down the man's spine as he awoke from his slumber with a start.

When Zane finally awoke, he was startled to see that there was indeed a pair of blood-red eyes staring at him. But he was no longer in the dark forest, and the child who they belonged to was none other than Maya.

The young girl was once more in his bedroom, staring intensely at him, presumably while he had slept. As per usual, there was not the slightest expression on Maya's otherwise adorable face, and yet Zane's instincts told him she was worried about him.

Because of this, Zane sat up and petted the girl's mismatched hair while gazing over at the door in an attempt to confirm whether or not this was reality and not just another trick of his paranoid mind.

After all, the last time he had seen Maya in his room, it was a figment of his imagination, one that had confounded him for quite some time. But this time the door was clearly open, meaning that he or Elena had forgotten to lock it the night before, and thus the young girl which he had by sheer coincidence ended up adopting was really in his room at this moment.

When Zane sat up, he spoke to the girl in a rather endearing tone, a tone which he himself barely recognized as having come from himself.

"Well, good morning Maya… Are you hungry? Is that why you have come here at such an ungodly hour?"

Ever the mute, Maya simply nodded her head in silence, confirming she was indeed hungry. And thus, Zane sighed heavily as he looked over at the alarm clock, which displayed a very clear number in a glowing red light. It was three in the morning, and despite this, Zane felt no need to sleep further.

No doubt because of his skill, Dead Man Walking. Though he no longer required sleep to function because of this skill, he often slept anyway, if not simply because of habit. However, the thought never crossed his mind about why a young girl like Maya was up during the Devil's Hour.

Instead, Zane simply followed Maya off into the kitchen of the Bunker Complex, where he cooked her a nice meal with some fresh eggs, cheese, and other ingredients that the town of Gravestone had access to now that they had a ready supply of livestock and crops.

Elena would continue to sleep, completely unaware that Zane had left her side. And would not awaken until a much later time. Instead, Zane spent the remainder of the early morning entertaining the young girl who, by mere chance, had ended up in his care.

And despite his previous aversion towards children, Zane somehow felt as if he and the girl had always been close, almost as if they were family. A sentiment that he could neither understand, nor properly express, less he invoke criticism from the various women in his life.

Still, Zane had to admit, even if it was an unnatural time to be awake, he enjoyed spending his time with the silent and expressionless girl who had a tendency to cling to him. And somehow, he knew that she felt the same despite her inability to express such a wholesome sentiment.