Black Bloodstains
Chapter 16: Communication Breakdown

“People, people, people! Can we discuss like the civilized persons we are?” Alice said to the five figures standing over the main entrance. They were pissed off, very, very pissed off. Aside from the girl I met yesterday, the other four persons were utterly unknown to me. To the right of the girl, was another girl with short black raven hair. She wore a school uniform that consisted of a shirt, a small bow, and a long dress that left the chest part open for the tie. She was wielding some sort of chain weapon, that had a hook on one side, and a sharp tip filled with spikes in the other.

Next, to her, there was a blonde hair dude. His hair was short and didn’t look as if he had combed it at all. His green eyes shined in his face. He was wearing a clean, green suit jacket, with a brown sweater underneath it. Red tie, standard white shirt, brown pants, and brown shoes. He was cracking his knuckles, inside some sort of large gauntlets. They were made out some kind of metal, and apparently were thicker and more prominent than the rest of the arm.

On the other side, a jock like a dude whose height rocketed the rest of the crew. With a jock like completion, broad shoulders, triangle-like shape, long legs, and muscles in all places. A spiky brown haircut, and a heavy football jacket. On his hands, he had a broad ax, not sure the name, but it had more height than anything. A long tube with a shaft at the end. Halberd, I think the name is. And lastly, next to the jock there was a nice cute girl. Long blond hair that passed her shoulders, wearing a puffy yellow sweater, with a uniform skirt and stockings. And the morning star just made her cute appearance shine even more.

They all look furious, and aside from that, the only thing they had in common was that they all were wearing some kind of school uniform. “You cheated on the rules by having a god tier at your side!” The jock dude with the giant ax said pointing at Alice. He walked straight towards her, pushing aside the blonde guy who was trying to stop him. “You just made it impossible for us to catch up! So now we are talking the issue directly on our own!” He prepared what appeared to be a dunk towards Alice. Placing his ax over his head, and was seconds away to put it down. I wasn’t afraid since I saw Alice preparing an ice attack with her hands.

The jock’s attack suddenly stopped, the girl with the chain had hooked the guy by his neck and pulled him towards the rest of the group. Preventing both his offense and the ice stalactite that was formed on the ground by Alice. The same girl used the chain to grab the guy’s weapon and threw it back to them, where the guy with the gauntlets caught it. “Excuse the horrible behavior by our friend here.” The girl with the morning star said. “But we are insane that you had acquired practically a god, and we would like to talk about fairness.” She smiled at the end.

The jock removed the chain from his weapon and had a face as if he was about to charge Alice once more. “Darren! Don’t you dare attack her like that!” The girl with the chain shouted at the jock. “Remember what we came for? Remember what we agree on how we are going to settle this out?” She looked at Alice, as she gathered up her weapon. “Sorry for that Alice, I know we are friends and all, but I do have to admit that you're pretty fucking unfair with the girl you’ve got there. We had our weapons drawn in case she decided to go nuts on us.”

I felt my ears fold as I wasn’t sure what she was talking about. I played with my hands as I looked down on them, feeling bad that all of this conflict I had caused it. “Thank you, Tess, I assume we’d had this talk sooner or later,” Alice said, making the ice banish from the ground. “I’ll assure you she won’t be a threat at all. So please, put away your weapons.” Everyone except Darren put their weapons away. He mumbled something between his teeth before putting his ax away. “Good! Now, could we all talk like civilized people and sit down to discuss what is troubling you?”

Alice walked towards her couch, pretty much forcing the rest to sit around her. As they walked, they had a mixed look of ‘I hate you!’ and ‘Stay the fuck away from me!’ As they passed next to me. I looked back at Shawn who was struggling to stand up from the ground. I ran towards him and helped him up to his feet. “Thanks, Eli, what’s up with the furry situation you’ve got going on?” He said as he rested on the chair next to him. I blushed and grabbed my fluffy ears in frustration. “Just kidding! Trouble closing the door I suppose. Don’t worry, I spend a week with a snake tongue and fangs.” He stuck his tongue out showing a snake’s tongue.

I uncovered my ears and smiled, somehow this act of companionship made me feel happy. I thought he would continue to make fun of me, but notice he didn’t mind and actually could relate to the problem, made me feel really happy towards Shawn. I turned towards the confrontation and stood next to Alice. “So… what do you exactly want to talk about?” Alice said sassily, crossing her legs. “My neighboring leaders decide to attack me when I haven’t aggressively confronted you in months.”

“Alice, we know that you’ve been very calmed this past month.” The blonde boy said. “But things have changed after you somehow manage to get Elizabeth Tenebris in your team. Before we could stand a chance, and were practically on the same level whenever we battled. But now, Elizabeth can take care of a whole team, like she did this morning with the Macmasters.” The girl who had bandages all over her body blushed and angrily mumbled something between her teeth.

“All five of us agreed on a solution to all of the problems regarding the Tenebris girl.” The cute blonde girl said, happily drinking Elizabeth’s tea. Once more I felt angry whenever they make decisions about me, without even asking me in the process. If what they say is true, then I could kill them off with no problem at all. “We take her to the police!” I took my blades out, almost immediately after the word left her mouth. They all turn to me, scared, taking all of their weapons out.

“No one is taking someone somewhere okay!” Alice said standing up between the five leaders and me. She looked at me directly, gesturing for me to take my blades away. I looked at the leaders before sighing and putting my weapons away. I felt like my ears folded as I blushed and looked away. I crossed my arms on my chest, trying to gesture that I was angry. “I’m not letting you take my sister to jail! You know what they did to her? They groped all over the place, and practically tasered her until she passed out.” My body still shivered when I remembered the un-human ways they treated me.

“I thought you’d say that,” Tess said making her weapon disappear. “And if we try to oppose your decision, we’ll know that you can easily turn us into dust right here.” She stood up and searched for something in her backpack. She took out a simple piece of paper and walked towards Alice. “All five of us agreed on something. We want to make a truce with you.”

“We won’t say anything about Elizabeth to the authorities. If you don’t expand your territory and don’t seek any type of aggressive confrontations towards us, or that directly affects our national parks, in the change we will give you. Free roaming to our areas, we won’t commit any type of aggressive confrontations towards you, and most importantly, we won’t say anything to the authorities about Elizabeth.” The blonde guy said, continuing Tess. “I would like to add, that your territory will also be available for us to roam, but we won’t commit any type of invasions, or steal any possible jobs inside your territory.”

Alice handed back the paper to Tess. “You had me at won’t say anything about Elizabeth. But I like the add-ons!” She smiles as she sat back down in her couch. Oh! But can we still do sparing matches or any type of friendly competition? I still would like to participate on those, or on the annual tournament! Most likely for energy rather than winning territory.”

“I like that!” Darren said standing up. “My guys still want payback from the last time we fought. I wouldn’t mind some friendly matches now, and then they function as training!”

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They talked for a while. I exactly don’t know how much time they ended up talking, but they seemed to enjoy the small chat. You couldn’t really say they got along nicely. Darren and Ethan, the blonde guy, where always fighting and not getting along nicely. The only friendship I noticed was between Alice and Tess, who looked as if they knew each other for quite a while. “See you on the tournament guys! Have a good day!” Alice said as she closed the main door when the leaders left. I wanted to ask her something, so I stood with my eyes open in front of her when she turned around. “You need something?”

“Um…” I nervously said, playing with my fingers and looking to the ground. I felt my ears bend as I started speaking. “Remember the day Floyd took me shopping? And I had the fight with the huge bulky guy? Well… Um… The clothes we bought that day, we sort of left them after he attacked me… So, could you give me some money so I could do a bit of shopping? I’m not going to the mall, it’s too late and way too crowded for my liking. I’m going to the small shopping area just to get some basics.”

I really need to buy some panties and some basic clothes. I’m running out of clean ones, and I’m not sure if I should interrupt the Johnson’s washing cycle. Alice smiled almost immediately. “Sure! No problem!” She then ran towards a small box over the chimney. She truly has changed more after I knew we were sisters. Was she really that shy? I don’t know, but I’m glad she’s acting like this. Before I was even a bit scared of her. “Here’s five hundred, that should be more than enough.” She told me giving me the money in cash. “Do you want me to help you out?”

I blushed to remember the shopping spree with Floyd. I really didn’t want to repeat it, I had in mind to just go and get what I need, probably go to a bookstore or library, and take a break of everything that is going on. “I appreciate the offer Alice, but… I need some alone time, I want to clear my head for a bit.” I said in a very light tone. I looked up and smiled. “Next time we can do something, like sisters!”

She blushed a little, not really acquaintance with this manner of speech. “Okay then, I totally understand. Report here tomorrow after class, we have something to do.” She said in a bright tone. I also heard a small sigh coming out of her, she probably hasn’t completely get used to me hanging around. She wanted to go with me, but at the same time, she didn’t. She must have something else to do around here.

I stepped outside, as soon as I left the doorframe, I felt a tingly sensation on my scalp. I looked at my hair as it changed from blue to black. “Great timing,” I told myself placing the money inside the hoodie. As I walked, I looked at my surroundings. Everyone was gone, I heard the ruckus from the football field as they were storing the equipment. Classes had ended a while ago, even the extra activities had finished an hour or so ago.

I exited the school through the parking lot gates. Some jocks were getting inside their cars. I stopped, just to investigate. These are supposed to be the hottest guys of the whole school. I stood behind a short brick wall, allowing me enough vision to see the entire parking lot. Some were shirtless, others weren’t, but they all look sort of the same. They all looked sweaty and had that sort of steamy cloud above their bodies. I rested my head over the wall, trying to analyze what makes these brutes so attractive to the female population.

I noticed three kinds of specimens. You’ve got the classic jock, broad shoulders, triangle shape body, showing off their perfectly sculptured abs. They were tall, towering above the average boy or girl. The second one is the muscle monsters, who’s muscles show off even if they have clothes on, having muscles everywhere. Some of them are a bunch of show-offs, others they are cute, huggable big bears. And lastly, you’ve got the heavy ones, the defensive part of the football team. They’re a bit on the heavy side, with their bellies trespassing their t-shirts.

I stared mainly at the jocks and muscly guys. Something about it caught my eye, their figure and traits simply popped up to me. You could say their faces were very, attractive. They definitely catch the eyes of people passing by. High cheekbones, bright eyes, white teeth, straight up handsome. And the rest, I really can’t say a lot, my eyes immediately traveled to the abdomen, something about six or eight blocks of muscles in the abdomen. Something about them, something… I felt my heart accelerating, I had butterflies flying in my stomach, and I had a tingly sensation on my underpants.

I didn’t notice it. First, I was a bit too distracted on the bodies of these guys. They simply… they looked…. I just… I was focusing a lot on the bodies of these guys, that it appeared that they got closer. My heart was beating even faster. What is this strange feeling, what is this sensation? They simply looked so… they made me… I just… “Like what you see?” Someone’s voice made me snap out of my trance. I looked up and saw eight jocks standing in front of me.

“AAHHH!” I shouted falling to the floor. My heart beats faster, my face blushed in a deep red tone. I covered my head trying to hide my ears. I looked up, and the butterfly sensation was gone. They had jumped over the wall and were now surrounding me. They were so big compared to me, not because I’m on the ground, but because I’m something around five points six, and these guys easily reached above six! And also, seeing eight shirtless dudes surrounding you, makes you think differently of their actions.

“Aren’t you the new girl?” One of them spoke up. I stood up slowly, blushing and looking down. They towered me, I felt so physically small and vulnerable. I tried pushing heavy objects, but I found myself struggling to do so, and I just use my energy to sell them. But I can’t use my power here, I might just kill them accidentally! I tried to walk away smiling, my legs trembled and felt weak as I walk. I thought I might exit on one side, but one of them stopped me on my tracks.

“You do have red eyes, and as the rumors say you are beautiful…”The guy I crashed with said. I really didn’t pay attention to my outfit, I still had the black tank top with the pants on. I didn’t realize it at first, but the tank top fits me perfectly, accentuating my figure in all of its glory. I blushed as I covered my chest area with my arms. I was so embarrassed about the situation that I felt that I was about to go invisible. These eight attractive dudes, surrounding me, complimenting me, I don’t know what their intentions are, but If lay a finger on me I won’t hold anything back.

“What are you doing guys!?” A very girly ditsy yell caught all of our attention. The guys move aside so we could all see who had yelled. Five cheerleaders were walking towards us, on the front was Betty with Melina, and the other three girls I don’t know their names, but they were all wearing the school’s cheerleader outfit. “Hello, guys…” She said with a slight purr, as the cheerleaders enter the circle. “What are you up to… Oh hi, Elizabeth!” I just gave a small wave, trying to clear my mind from the situation.

“What are you doing with Elizabeth!” Melanie said walking next to me and grabbing my arm. “Are you guys hitting on her!? Jimmy how dare you!”

The guys all started to laugh loudly, mainly the guy who had stopped me. “Mel…” He began to speak between laughs. “I wasn’t hitting on her. We saw her checking us out after today’s training, and we just came by to say hi.” I blushed in an intense tone of red, looking at the floor and playing with my fingers. “Besides… its time for old Mark here to get a girl, and he has quite the crush on her.” I heard someone slapping the back of someone else, and a small yelp followed.

I looked up to see Mark Graves, the runner from the football team. He has a popular haircut style, but at the same time, not exaggerating it. Black hair, brown eyes, a somewhat of an attractive face, compared to the others, he’s not as defined or muscle. He’s tall and somewhat thin, but there are still muscles popping here and there. We stared at each others' eyes; I blushed again and look to the ground nervously. “You were checking out my boy Elizabeth!” Melanie said hugging me close. “I would do the same too if I were in this situation and single.” She giggled while releasing me. “Just don’t do anything suspicious to him.”

“I didn’t know you were friends with Elizabeth Mel!” Jimmy said walking next to her and grabbing her by the shoulder.

“She’s my locker buddy Jim.” She answered and then gave Jim a small kiss on his cheek. “I have an idea Elizabeth, why don’t you become a cheerleader!”

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I sighed heavily, almost slamming my head on to the table. “What was I thinking!” I yelled loudly sipping more of the coffee frappuccino I just bought. Yes, it is practically the middle of winter, and I’m buying myself a cold drink. My heart is still racing from the events this afternoon. And stupid me, saying yes to everything just to get out of there as fast as I can. I was hurt, somehow, even if they haven’t physically hurt me. My head was utterly a mess. Was I always gay? Did I ever like boys? I mean… I should have noticed that…

I was sitting on a small table, in a nearby park. The place was beautiful, I remember escaping out here when I was Geoff. Reading a book under a tree, listening to how the branches and leaves sing with the wind. Since its winter, some snow has begun falling down. I couldn’t say it’s a complete hail, sometime this morning it started to snow, leaving the park and the streets with a small layer of snow. I remember making some silly snowmen and throwing snowballs at a wall. Right now the lawn looks pretty, it seems calm, and I need to be calm.

I stood up and dropped the plastic to a nearby garbage can. I closed my jacket, and I left the small town Starbucks rip off. I walked towards the shopping street, with my hands in my pockets and ignoring the fact that I have both a tail and dog-ears. I didn’t care about it, ordinary people wouldn’t notice them. There weren’t a lot of people out here, just the usual crowd you’d find in a slow business day. I felt embarrassed about going to the shopping districts for the clothes I need to buy.

I like the town I live, even if it is relatively small, there are enough people around, and a lot of new faces each time you come out. That helped me remain anonymous, and there are not enough people to feel clustered. I stood in front of the town’s lingerie store, my hands trembled, and my legs shivered. I took a deep breath and enter the store. The typical new clothing sent hit my nostrils, the whole place looked clean, and it shined with a pink color, not too bright for it to hurt, but enough to be noticed.

It was the second time I’ve been in a store like this. The first time with Floyd, I barely see what was going on. She just pushed me around buying things I didn’t even know existed. Last time they did some things to measure my… cup size. It was very embarrassing, and due to that embarrassment, I didn’t pay attention to my actual cup size. I slowly walked towards the counter, and blushing deeply, I asked the store lady. “Um… Could you please help me out with my measurements?” The lady looks up from her computer. She looked just a bit older than me and could easily pass as a high-school girl. ”I sort of grew a lot during the winter… and my old ones don’t fit anymore.”

The lady smiled and stood up from her seat. “Sure thing sweetie, just step right over here.” I followed her to the fitting rooms, to where we entered a light pink covered by curtains. “You know the drill, remove your shirt and bra please.” She said taking out the measuring tape from her pocket. “What size were you before they grew?” I started removing the tank top, and slowly removing the sports bra. I felt my cheeks redden as I tried to think for an answer to her question.

I felt the cold measuring tape being pressed over my breasts and quickly going down to measure other more sensitive areas. I felt weird when it first touched the nipple. I haven’t played with them, so the unexpected cold tape brought a odd, shocking sensation through all of my body. The lady moved the tape all the way down to my hips and quickly measured them since I’m probably wearing some thin pants, it might not affect the measurements. She finished her measurements, and as I was putting my clothes back on, she came with some bras and panties. “Look for a thirty-two cup size bras, just likes these ones, and a seven on the down section.” She handed me the plain colored ones, as she passed me my jacket. “It’s weird seeing someone your age going shopping alone. Are you not from around here? I can’t recall coming to this store before.”

“I just moved to town,” I answered shyly putting my warm jacket on. She happily smiled and gave me a typical store clerk speech. Minutes later I was looking around the shop for bras that I liked. I thought of only buying plain white ones at first. But as I checked the merchandise, I found some cool patterns that caught my eye. I stopped when I saw one full set covered with cartoony pugs. It looks very childish, but I sort of liked the way it seems, and I always been a fan of dogs, so there’s that. After ten minutes I had picked two plain white ones, the pug one, and a blue one with that soft and pattern like texture.

I was looking for my last pair, to at least have one per day of the week. As the door opened rapidly and loud laughing and giggling came with it. I turn around to see a group of girls entering the store with some kind of coffee on their hands. They all look sort of… Bimbos? Or sluttish? Not trying to force stereotypes here, but they were revealing a bunch of skin, cleavage to be precise, even if the temperature is slowly going down. I ignored them as I picked up the last bra. I struggled a bit with this one since it was of bright pink color. It looked pretty to me, and the texture inside is the softer out of the rest.

So I took all five pairs to the cashier, paid in the exact amount and headed towards the door. But before leaving I stopped and looked at the group of girls. What would one feel if you’re one of them? Like, I haven’t completely accepted my female truth or whatever you’d like to call it. How does it feel to be in that part of the female spectrum? But actually… where am I in the female frequency? What am I supposed to be here? Their loud laughs and giggles made me realize what I was doing. I sighed and headed out to the next store.

The rest of the trip was sort of… boring or… I don’t know. I was out of it all the way through. I wasn’t really focused, I just… did what I had to do. I entered the store, looked for anything I liked, check if they have my size, buy it and leave for the next store. The only thing that made me snap away from my trance were people. I didn’t meet someone in particular, but people in general just… There was this lady, who was playing and messing around with her something-year-old son. Just looking at the son laughing while the mother chased him around, made me feel weird inside.

Friends laughing loudly with themselves, parents giving gifts to their offspring, normal interactions made me feel very weird. Was it jealousy? I don’t know why I felt that way, I merely wanted to experience the same thing they had. I tried to do the same thing. I wanted a… normal life? I went to a small alleyway and quickly drew a portal to Sam’s house. I placed the shopping bags over it and watched it disappear in front of my eyes. I sighed as I only have one more place to go today.

As I walked through the streets, I continue trying to ignore the people around me. Did I feel mad about them? I didn’t want to be with them, and I had this feeling inside of me, this anger, and frustration perhaps? Whenever I looked at ordinary people, I just wanted to… to… I began to take deep breaths, I wouldn’t like to start a massacre right now or right here. I walked on the road with fewer people on it, which could help me not to pay attention to someone.

And my idea definitely worked out. Second, after my plan I found myself crashing against somebody. I hit the lower part of my body, so he either was bending over or a small child. I snapped out of my light trance and immediately attended the situation. “I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there, are you okay?” I say looking to the person I crashed with. He was a small kid, probably around four or five years old. He had tears in his eyes and was crying silently. I lowered myself to the ground and grabbed his shoulders. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you somewhere?”

The kid barely looked at me, his tears were practically on the ground by now. “M-M-Mommy.” He could barely say between his cries. “I-I-I don’t kk-know where she is…” Out of he ran towards me and hugged me. I let him cry on my shoulder. What an irresponsible mother, who would lose track of his child on a plaza this big. I placed my hand on his head and began searching for past memories. They were a bit rough, maybe because you can quite keep track of your memory at that age, but I recognize the bank that was on the other side of the street.

Thankfully the kid was very light, and I could quickly pick him up and carry him with both my arms. “Come on, I’ll help you to find your mommy,” I told him in a soothing voice. He mumbled something and returned to cry on my shoulder. I ignored the people around me and headed to the small bank. There was a bit of a crowd and a police car parked in front of it. I began to worry as I increased my speed towards the bank. There were a couple of guys going in and out the bank, and that part of the street was practically closed by the police.

As I approached the circle, I noticed a bit of a crowd surrounding the area. I squeezed between them to try to get a good to look at what was happening. Around three or four cops were surrounding a woman. She looked very pale and was sitting down on a wooden bench. I noticed she had the same brown color as the kid has, so I moved him a little and told him. “Kiddo, is that your mommy?” He turned around and saw a huge smile appearing on his face.

“MOMMY!” He shouted from the top of his lungs. He tried to lose my grip, but I wouldn’t let him in case the cops need the place secured. The lady turned around to face us. A smile appeared on her face too. Even if she was very pale, you could notice she was clearly beautiful. The cops let us pass, and I left the kid on the ground as I slowly walked towards the lady. “Mommy!” The kid shouted and ran to hug her mommy.

“Tony, I’m glad you’re okay.” The mother gently said. She looked pale and very weak. She slowly hugged her son. “Gentle Tony, mommy doesn’t feel very good right now.” The boy hugged his mother, I could see some tears coming out of her eyes as he fumbled with his son’s hair. “Thank you, lady.” She told me as she closed her eyes and continued hugging her son.

A cop slowly approached me. “Thank God you found the kid, we would have to send people to search the assaulters.” He told me patting me on the back. “I hope the ambulance comes soon. These two punks wanted her purse so badly they stabbed her on the stomach. The kid ran away as fast as he could, and people called an ambulance and us almost immediately. I hope it arrives on time, she has lost quite an amount of blood already, and we are doing our best to keep the wound closed.”

I look closely at the mother. She really didn’t look perfect, she was struggling to calm her son down as she was trying to calm herself down. From her wound, I could see some dim lights coming out. They look just like the lights that energy produces. Wait… Does that mean? “Your guess is right Elizabeth. She won’t be able to make it out of this.” A sudden voice made me jump from my feet. I turn to my right and saw Donovan standing next to me.

I realized he had captured us in an arena. I doubt he has fighting intentions, but he looked very odd standing next to me with a cane on his right hand. “It’s a shame really.” He said walking to the mother and passing a finger through her face. “The father died on duty, and both grandparents died a time ago. Poor Antony, he is going to have a life in the orphanage until he reaches eighteen obviously.” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “You smell that? That’s the essence of death in the air. She doesn’t have much time…”

He suddenly appeared in front of me, he apparently had used some sort of teleportation jump. “Unless… You’re willing to accept this deal.” He told me playing with my hair. I took a step back and quickly nodded. “You have so much power inside of you, so much potential, so much future!” I took my blades out, preparing if he tries to jump me. “As I told you, I have no intention of killing you. However, I feel it is a waste of potential if you don’t use the power you’ve got properly. I’m willing to save the mother’s life if you become my apprentice.”

He places his hand in front of me, and after a bit of hesitation, I took it. “Deal,” I told him thinking about the mother.

“Perfect.” A paper card suddenly appeared on my hand. “Use that to teleport to my house. How about… Tomorrow’s night? I know you don’t need to sleep and around that time your dark powers are at its full potential.” He walked towards the mother, and a green beam came from his hand and hit the lady’s cut. “One more thing before I go.” He stopped, no even looking at me. “The pair of ruffians ran off in that direction. If you hurry, you might be able to catch them.” And suddenly he was gone. Colors returned, and I felt the people around me starting to move.

And I ran. Something inside of me wanted to deal with the assholes. I made my way through the crowd and began moving in the direction he had pointed at. I could smell them, I could feel where they were. My vision suddenly turned red, everything was red, except a black line on the ground. I followed it, ignoring the people and passing right through them. I took my blades out, as I jumped over cars and streets to get to the alleyway the line was heading me. I could smell them, I know they were here. I could sense their happiness, their happiness for a job well done.

I phased through the wall of the building. The essence these guys were giving me intensified. The place was disgusting. The wallpapers were falling off, there was trash everywhere, and it smelled a combination of alcohol and weed. I spotted them sitting at a table, counting the money and emptying the lady’s purse. I began surrounding the place with dark energy. Blocking any source of lighting. I could still see them, but they couldn’t see me. I let my flames come out of my head. They immediately turned towards me, and I could smell both fear and anger coming out of them.

They tried to shoot me, but their bullets simply phased through me, without even hurting me. I made my blades catch in the fire before I jumped at them. The first one ran towards me, using his gun as a blunt weapon. I didn’t have to apply a lot of force, with no effort at all, my bladed passed right through his gun, and cut his arms in the process. He fell over in pain, landing on his knees, and screaming loudly at where his wings used to be. He didn’t bleed out, my blades had burned the flesh as they passed by.

I kicked him over, making him land on his ass. And without completely cutting his legs, I passed my blades from the tip of his feet, all the way to his knees. Making everything in the back holds everything in place. I felt the other one trying to get away, I made a lance on my right hand and threw it at him. Impaling his hand to the wall. I did the same thing for the rest of his limbs, crucifying him to the wall. “I shall leave your lives to fate, such as you did with the woman moments ago,” I told him in a somber and dark tone.

I could already see the first guy’s energy leaking out of his body. And I intend to do the same thing to him. I grabbed the wooden table with my strength and crushed it into pieces of wood. I placed them all under him, and afterward, using my blades, I passed the metal part over his skin, burning it as it made his way through. I then lighted the fire underneath him, adding a bit of my energy, so the flame was able to reach his legs and crotch. I then did something very sadistic, I grabbed the coke pipe and one of his guns. I took out a bullet and using my energy, I spread the gunpowder inside the tube. I caught another ball and placed it on the other side of the machine, pointing outwards.

I grabbed the machete with my energy and sliced through the meat of the first guy, he was already dead, and I had absorbed his power. I tossed it next to the second guy, and grabbed the tequila that was on the table, and poured it on the coke pipe. I approached the guy, using my energy I opened his mouth and stick the, so the bullet-pointed at him. I made the metal stick to his lips by combining it with my dark energy and the fire. “Now, it’ll look like a murder and a suicide.” I gently touched his face ignoring the fire beneath me. “I suggest you to start praying,” I told him before picking up the purse and all of its remains, before heading out.

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I was swimming in a sea of regret. I felt, horrible. I was sitting on my favorite spot near the coast. It had started to snow. The temperature was getting colder and colder by the minute. I could see New York City in the distance, the skyscrapers and the skylights, filled up the cloudy sky. The white dots falling to the ground, and the orange tone of a sunset, made it look like some sort of Van Gogh’s paintings. I was sitting under a ledge, trying to hide from anyone that passed by. I was crying, I felt dizzy, and my body felt weird.

I look at my own hands. “What am I?” I cringed remembering the face of agony and fear the two men had as I killed them. For some reason, I ignored them when I was killing them, I had some sort of blindfold, preventing me from seeing what I was seeing. I felt disgusted, and I scream as I saw blood covering my hands. “I’m a monster.” I weep to myself hugging my legs and crying even louder. “I can never do anything good or right,” I told myself peeking between my legs, as the sunset continued to shine above the water.

I took my blades out and saw how they were still covered in blood. I put them away and grabbed my head in frustration. “What am I supposed to do?!” My head hurt, my body ached, I was a complete mess. “Why am I like this!” I stood up and threw an energy ball at the river. “I didn’t want to be this! This monstrosity!” I began throwing my energy all around, the ground below me began to shatter, and a globe of dark energy surrounded me. The ground around me began to shatter, pieces of rock and ground were floating around me. Remembering what happened to me before, I fell to the ground, breathing heavily, and everything around me felt sore. I hugged my legs, and started to cry again. “ouch…” I whispered hoping that the pain would fade away. “I don’t want this, I want my old life back, I don’t want…”

I stopped completely. I fell to the ground in pain, clutching my head and feeling a cold sensation through my body. “I don’t want to continue.” I walked towards the shore and kneeled just before the water. “What am I supposed to do.” I looked at my reflection, rather than seeing myself I saw a blank face. I made my face closer to the water. I touched my face, and I felt my lips nose and everything. I looked to my reflection, and still, I was faceless. The water around me began to turn red, it didn’t felt like water, it felt like it… like… blood!

From the water zombie-like creatures began to appear. Some crawling others walking. I recognize the two guys I killed today, I stepped back, NYC was destroyed, smoke was coming everywhere, the sky was red, and more and more zombies started to come out of the water. They slowly approached me, struggling to walk due to their injuries. I could hear their grunts, I could listen to them shout meaningless words. I looked around and noticed that they had surrounded me, they also appeared from the ground.

I turn around completely, trying to run from them. But then I couldn’t move. The eye. The lizard eyes. It was…. In front of me. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I stepped back, in fear. I fell to the ground. I saw the eye and the undead surrounding me. I was too afraid to do anything. My hands froze, my body froze, my mind froze. Darkness covered me. I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t feel anything.

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“WAKE UP! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!” I heard someone screaming. My whole body hurt, and the first thing I did was to cough out salt water. My vision slowly returned to me, blurry at first, but it began to get clearer afterward. I felt numb, even if I wanted to my body wouldn’t move an inch. The sky wasn’t red anymore, it was dark. Maybe the sun was gone, what happened? Where am I? I continued to cough more water. I felt a refreshing sigh next to me. I slowly turn my face over to where I heard it.

It was a guy, his clothes seemed wet, and a very usual hoodie with some pants. I couldn’t see his face from this angle. He looked somewhat fit, and something about him gave me the shivers. “What were you thinking. “ His voice stirred my ears, something about it made me feel odd. I never heard it before, yet it sounded somewhat familiar. “I heard some noises while I did my daily jog. I heard shouts coming from here, so I decided to check it out. You were, crying. And afterward, you started yelling nonsense. You then looked as if you had seen a monster. I tried to talk to you, but it appeared as if you were looking at me, but not seeing me.”

“And then you just threw yourself to the ocean. If it weren’t for me, you’d be swimming with the fishes by now.” So nothing really happened? What, were those visions then? Am I going insane? “Look, Elizabeth, I’m not sure how our relationship was before my memory loss, but I don’t need to know that, to know that you’re definitely going through something rough. Feel free to…”

I hugged him. And I cried. I really can’t describe this, but I let out everything inside of me. I don’t even know how I manage not to say anything about my current state, but I do cry about all of my worries. How I wasn’t ready to meet a new family. How I was not prepared to have such a huge task set upon me. How I feel afraid all the time, either for the horrible things I’ve done or for losing control of myself. It took a lot of time for the tears to stop. I had run out of breath, and I was currently hugging my legs sitting next to me.

“Elizabeth… Do you feel a bit better now?” I told myself, gently patting me on the back. I nodded, and continue to hug my legs. “Look, I don’t know how you’d be able to solve the mess that you’re currently in. But the fears, the regret, the anguish, everything, everything will have a solution. I recommend you, to stop looking at the past. The past will always be there, it’ll never change, and it’ll remain the same forever. What you need to focus now is on where do you want to be. The past will only hold you back, you won’t truly live life at its fullest. You’ll just carry and carry all the wrong things of life. Think about what the future holds for you. You won’t be able to achieve the things you’d want if you continue looking at the past. I’m not saying be a cold-hearted bitch, and only root to yourself. Use your fears, use the thing you’re currently struggling with, to make yourself a better person. Keep looking forward, Elizabeth, try to do your best, always.”

My words made me ponder about the situation. Inspirational words won’t make everything go away instantly. But, but it makes me think. They gave me hope for one day, things will change. I’ll try my best, but I still don’t expect the best result out of it. I stood up and looked towards Sam’s house. “Thank you, I’ve got to get going now. Take care.” I say to myself as I started walking towards Sam’s house.

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“I’m telling you, I haven’t seen her since the morning!” I talked over the phone to Shawn. We’ve been looking for her after she left the base to go shopping. I looked at her room, and I found some shopping bags spread through the floor. She must have left them sometime this evening. But it’s odd since I’ve been here, playing League of Legends all the afternoon, and never did I hear her arrive nor leave. We were all worried. It’s already nine, and we have no clue of where she could be.

I was currently in the kitchen, having a case of the munchies as I prepared myself my dinner. “Shawn I’m telling you I have no clue of where she could be. I’m going to look for her in a moment.” I finish making a sandwich, and I place it inside a plastic bag. “Besides, there is nothing that we should worry about, she’s the strongest creature on earth there’s no way someone can even hurt her.” I walked towards the sink to leave the used knife.

I just pour a little water over it, to remove the mayo remains. I look through the window and see that snow has finally fallen down in our area. Memories of playing in my backyard with my little sister, when she wasn’t such a bitch, bring a smile to my face. The swingset, the plastic house, the small sandbox, and the plastic slide that broke the day I became too tall for it. Wait a minute, is that? “Sorry, Shawn I’ve got to do something.” I hang up on him as I ran to my back yard.

Elizabeth was sitting in one of the swings. Her clothes look wet, and she had a faceless expression on her face. “Elizabeth! We were looking for you all afternoon! Where have you been?” I ran towards her, ignoring the low temperatures from this new weather. She didn’t answer, she just stared at the same spot, without a single sign of a flinch. I walked next to her and shook her shoulder. “Are you okay? Did something happen to you?”

She suddenly snapped, shaking her head and standing up. “Oh hi, Sam! I didn’t see you there.” She said standing up and stretching her limbs. “It’s a bit late right? I think I’ll take a shower and then hit the hay. See you, Sam!” She acted so… fake. She was trying to hide that she was okay, but she really wasn’t. Her dog-ears and tail remained in the same position, her tail was tucked, and her ears were folded.

I was a little bit in shock of what just happened. So I ignored everything and ran upstairs. I went to her room, the water wasn’t running so I assume she hasn’t taken a shower. I opened the door, and I found Elizabeth in her same position, sitting staring directly at the door. “Fuck…” I say to myself. What can I do? Something must have happened to her and left her like that. I need help from everyone, and it’s a bit too late for them to come.

I’ll solve it tomorrow morning, I better put Elizabeth on her bed. I touched her clothes and noticed how wet she was. She’s going to get a cold if she sleeps like that. I ran to my sister’s room, and knock on the door. After a small wait, she opened the door with messy hair and her eyes where closing little by little. “What?” She said with a yawn.

I grabbed her hand and pull her towards Elizabeth’s room. “Elizabeth’s clothes are very wet since she helped to mow the snow. She fell asleep without even changing them, would you help her?” I told my sister as I pointed towards Elizabeth. She murmured some words before entering the room and closing the door. I heard some rustling and mumbling, both girls were falling asleep by now, I wonder what my sister will make Elizabeth wear.

After a few minutes, there was no more sound coming from my room, I decided it’s enough time for Elizabeth to have her clothes on, so I opened the door and stepped inside. Elizabeth’s wet clothes were on the ground, piled up in the corner. I walked towards her bed and saw an adorable image. Both Elizabeth and my sister had fallen asleep on the couch; she had her head buried on Elizabeth’s belly, while Elizabeth had her hand over my sister’s head. It wasn’t anything special, or weird, but the look on Elizabeth’s face brought a smile to my face. She was sort of, enjoying the affection.

I’m not sure what’s going over that girl’s head. She has such a load to carry, so much pressure, so many things she can’t control, and I can’t quite know how she’s feeling. I walked around her room, trying to find some sort of clue to help me with Elizabeth’s current situation. She must have written something somewhere, or have something that could guide me to tell me how she feels. It was practically impossible to find an answer to my questions in her room; she doesn’t have a lot of things inside of it either. There is only one possible way, for me to get the answers I’m looking for. I placed my hand over her forehead and waited for the dream to happen.

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For the first time, I didn’t wake up running inside of Elizabeth’s memory session. She was walking rather slowly in the middle of what appeared to be a forest. Huge trees all around, tall grass, many different types of plants on the ground, and the tune of nature being played all around. There weren’t a lot of animals around, but you could hear crickets and owls all around. I couldn’t quite tell Elizabeth’s age from this point, I can only see what she sees. She would rarely look down to her feet, the grey dress thing was on, and she didn’t appear to have any type of shoes.

I could feel the emotion from regret and sadness coming from Elizabeth. “I miss them.” She said stopping and looking to the ground. I could feel tears falling down to Elizabeth’s feet, and then she swiped her tears away with her arm. “Why am I like this!” She shouted throwing a small fireball to the ground. I felt anger irradiating from her, but inside I felt fear, sadness, and frustration. “Why can’t I be like them! Why can’t I eat marshmallows and sing campfire songs? Why can’t I be part of a family?”

She began to run through the woods, ignoring the sensations coming from her feet. She ran up a rock and stopped to look to the horizon. “Every day! Every single day I have to run from that thing! I can’t take a break, I can’t relax, I have to live alone all the time, or else it’ll destroy whoever I’m around with.” She said to herself, as she sat down in a rock. She hugged her legs and started crying a bit loudly. From time to time she’d look up, sporadically. Whenever she did so, I could observe what was around us and estimate her location. The only thing that struck to me was the lake and the two mountains behind it. It somehow looked familiar…

Out of nowhere, I felt a sharp pain coming from Elizabeth’s back, and at the same time, she was roughly pushed to the side. She struggled a bit to stand up, and when she did, she slowly turned around to see who had forced her to the team. A huge grizzly bear was standing on its two legs. It must have heard Elizabeth’s cries and was attracted by them. Elizabeth’s whole body tensed up, she couldn’t move a muscle. Thankfully the bear’s roar made her finally snap and to start running to the other side.

Elizabeth painfully slides down the rock and fell inside a small cave. She must have hit her body hard since she passed out quickly.

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Well, that was fast… I woke up next to Elizabeth and my sister. It wasn’t morning yet, and probably it’s the middle of the night. I let them sleep; I’m not sure what would happen if I enter her mind two times in a row. I closed the door on my way out and headed to my room. I sat on my desk, turning on my computer while making quick notes on the diary. The only clue I had was the Grizzly bear, but he’s located in many places around the globe. I must do something with Elizabeth. She’s worsening by the hour. There must be a way to make her feel better, or safer.

I was trying to come up with a solution when I finally noticed my computer’s wallpaper. It was the same mountain and lake I had seen on Elizabeth’s dream. And I took a picture of my wallpaper, the last time I went to my summer camp in. Washington… Does that mean that I…

I have probably met Elizabeth before?

To be continued…