“I-I hate you… Fuck, I hate you…”

“Let me go!! I don’t want anything to do with you!! Let me go!!!”

With a yank that nearly dislocated her shoulder, Logan knocked Nora down and proceeded to perch on top of her waist. He pinned her arms down with both hands. Nora squirmed and shuffled her legs, trying in vain to get him off her.

She was terrified. Her body resisted on its own volition, but her reasoning had frozen. What options did she have left? Would someone else show up to rescue her again? Did anyone know she was there?

“W-Why…?” murmured Logan. “Why did I have to end up like this…?”

With strength bordering on inhuman, he put Nora’s arms together over her head and held them down with his left hand, leaving the right one free. He caressed her hair, then her forehead, then he began touching her face. She shrieked and looked away, causing Logan to grab her cheeks and force her to stare at him. He squeezed tightly, pulling tears of pain from her.

“I t-thought this was everything I needed… I had you good, you k-know…? Easy cash, without worries; and thanks to that lil’ sis of yours, you were d-docile like a puppy…”

His hand slid down Nora’s body, towards her torso and waist.

“Don’t touch me, you pig…!!”

“No, I see it now… I was blind… H-How did I not notice before…?”

His hand climbed back up Nora’s body, and stopped by her neck. Those icy fingers closed around her skin, and began gradually squeezing tighter.

“H-Had I never met you…”

She couldn’t breathe.

‘Oh, god…!! Help…!!!’

“Had I never met you, I wouldn’t have gotten involved with that b-brat… And I wouldn’t have gotten into this mess… Fuck, I could’ve been somewhere else, in a different city, a different country…”

His fingers tightened up, sinking deep into Nora’s neck. “…you… disgust me…!”

Nora lost the strength in her arms and legs. Her struggles were pointless. Logan remained firm as a slab on top of her body, with his eyes piercing hers. He wasn’t blinking, or breathing, he merely continued squeezing. Her head was spinning, and her vision became blurry, as a painful burning sensation flooded her lungs, growing stronger over time.

‘…h…el…p…’

 A new tremor shook the building, and Logan began murmuring to himself, whispers that in a matter of seconds escalated in magnitude, until they became anguished screams.

“…it hurts… It hurts! M-My head hurts…!”

The pressure immobilizing Nora’s arms vanished, and her throat was able to take a breath, causing her to cough violently. Logan grabbed his own head with both hands, swaying it from side to side.

She wouldn’t have another chance. Mustering all of her remaining strength, she pushed Logan off her and kicked him in the chest, making him grunt and fall on his back.

She wouldn’t stop coughing. Using a table as support, she stood up. Her trembling legs seemed to lack the necessary strength to stand on their own without something to hold on to.

Logan squirmed on the floor, still grabbing his head. For an instant, Nora’s mind went blank. That man, who had so much tormented her, who for so long made her suffer, was now defenseless, exposed.

Vulnerable.

She dragged her gaze towards the objects on the table she was leaning on. There was a metallic desk lamp. It looked heavy. Breathing with difficulty, fighting the coughing fits, she wielded the lamp by the neck and faced Logan.

Why was it so difficult? He was right by her feet. She could feel the lamp’s weight on her hands. She only had to do one simple movement.

‘W-Why…? Shit…! Why!?’

Her entire peripheral vision blurred out, she only had eyes for Logan. He was busy writhing on the floor, but somehow, his mere presence was crippling. Her limbs trembled, a chill travelled down her spine, her eyes became teary.

‘Come on. Come on! Do it, you idiot!! Please!!’

“N-Nora… Noraaa! B-Bitch…!!”

In an instant, Logan had stood up and jumped her. He knocked her over the table, with both hands on her neck, squeezing tight like he had never done before. In seconds, Nora’s consciousness became cloudy again. She grabbed Logan’s arms and attempted to free herself, but they were unmovable.

‘Ah… It’s not worth it. I can’t do anything.’ She struggled to continue thinking. ‘I-I’m sorry… Lilian…’

…

[Hurts.]

‘Lilian!?’

[Fear. Hurts.]

She was supposed to comfort her somehow, wasn’t she? The same way she always did. But, what could she possibly tell her? What lie was she going to make up this time? Everything would be okay? She’d soon be by her side? Who was going to believe that?

[I know it hurts. Hang on. I’m here.]

‘…Lilian, I know you’re suffering. Why are you worrying about me?’

[Norie also matters.]

‘I also matter…?’

Perhaps she was right. She had gone out of her way to fight for others, but never for herself. Perhaps it was worth giving it a shot, at least once. If she didn’t, she’d be ignoring the only request Lilian had ever made to her directly in her entire life. Unforgivable.

Yes, she had to give it a try. There was only a single obstacle in her way, whose weight remained on top of her, crushing her. Its claws still gripped her neck. How dared he? What gave him the right to get between the two of them?

‘Let me go. Stay away. Get out of our lives!’

Nora’s conscience was revitalized for a second, and she felt again the intense pain oppressing her chest. Instead of struggling with Logan, she felt around the table. Her hand closed around something solid. She crashed it against his head. The keyboard’s keys flew in all directions, and Logan groaned in response, drooling.

More. She needed more. She smacked him with some folder. Then with a pencil holder. He still wouldn’t let her go. She grabbed one of the pens scattered over the table and stabbed his eye with it.

“Aaaaaagh!!!”

Logan let her go and grabbed his face, crumpling against a filing cabinet and collapsing on his knees.

Nora’s perception became unfocused, disjointed. She saw herself kicking Logan and knocking him over face down. She saw herself holding the lamp again, and climbing on top of him. She saw something red.

The sensation was familiar. She had done it before. She no longer remembered the context, but she remembered the force of those blows, the sound of shattering bone, the stench of blood.

However, this time there was nobody to pull her out of her trance.

******

Julien fell on top of Claire like a rabid animal, drooling a foamy mixture of saliva and blood. Claire grabbed the first thing she found on the floor, a plastic archive tray, and put it between Julien’s face and her own. She kicked him in the stomach without mercy, in hopes of pushing him away.

Ignoring the blows, Julien grabbed the tray and easily got it out of the way. He growled nonstop, and each growl pulled a new panicked squeal from Claire’s lips. He placed his shackled hands on her torso and showed his teeth.

Claire knew what was coming, and grabbed his face. She pushed with all her strength, but Julien’s head drew closer and closer, unstoppable. He opened his mouth, eager to bite.

‘Oh, god. He’s gonna kill me. He’s gonna kill me. I don’t wanna die. I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die, I don’t wanna die, IdontwannadieIdontwannadieIdontwannad—”

A burning pain interrupted her thoughts and made her shriek. Her gaze, now clouded by tears, perceived a splatter of blood. Julien’s dark eyes stared at her without blinking, and he had something in his mouth. Two things, bloody, unidentifiable, and fleshy.

Claire looked at her left hand. Her middle and ring fingers were incomplete. She screamed. She writhed, pushed, kicked.

Julien remained still like a statue, with his eyes fixated on her. After some seconds, as if having lost interest, he looked away and stood up, a chance Claire took to slip back, crying in pain and holding tightly what remained of her fingers.

Julien’s attention was now with Lilian, who had curled up on the floor in a corner of the room.

“Y-Yes… Y-yyouu are whho I n-nneedd…”

Claire glanced at the exit door. The road was clear.

She could leave. She could flee, save herself. That was her chance. In his current state, Julien was dangerous, too dangerous. She had nothing to defend herself with, nothing to fight with.

‘Yes, that’s it… I’ll go look for help… Then I’ll come back, okay? That’s it! That’s what I need to do…’

She stood on her feet, making sure she didn’t catch the attention of the enthralled Julien, who dragged his feet little by little in Lilian’s direction.

If she bolted off running now, she could get to safety.

‘Come on. Go. Move. You’re a fucking coward, you’ve always been. Come on, move. Move!’ tears ran like waterfalls down her cheeks. ‘Why don’t you fucking move!? Get the fuck away already!’

She crossed eyes with Lilian. The girl wasn’t paying any attention to Julien, only to Claire. Her expression was unfathomable, none of her facial muscles moved in the slightest, and her eyes looked as mysterious as ever, possessed by that unnatural flickering. However, she perceived a certain humanity in them, a humanity speaking to her directly; she felt a connection she wouldn’t know how to describe.

Her head hurt.

‘Fuck… I can’t. I can’t. I can’t leave her. I can’t!’

She couldn’t forgive herself. Not again. She couldn’t live again at the expense of others. Not Lilian. Never.

She scanned the room. On a shelf, she spotted a desktop printer. She lifted it and smashed Julien’s nape with it.

“Stay away from her!! Son of a bitch!! Bastard!!”

She continued delivering blow after blow with the printer, until it slipped from her hands and crashed on the floor, breaking apart. Julien still ignored her. She threw folders and trays to his head. She grabbed a monitor and bent it on his face. She kicked him in the balls. It didn’t matter what she had to do; she was determined to stop that animal.

“…mmmmisss C-Claiire…” babbled Julien, turning towards her. “…youu’re a-annoyyinggg…!”

With rigid but swift movements, Julien grabbed her right arm and threw her against the wall. Claire crashed sideways onto a metallic shelving unit, and she heard a loud crack before falling down by Lilian’s side. An agonizing electric current ran up her right arm and drilled her brain. One quick look at it, and it became obvious it had bent in the wrong direction.

She howled in pain.

******

Noise.

Family comes.

A lot of noise.

Screams.

Sad.

Hurts. Wound hurts. When it hurts, can’t think.

Sometimes I think okay, sometimes not.

Norie needed help. I helped? I think so. I hear her, but she can’t hear me.

Clairie also needs. Can’t help. Dunno how to help.

Alone.

Alone?

No.

Not alone.

Family bad, but you aren’t.

…

Thanks for coming.

Here, brother. I’m here.

******

Claire was petrified. She stopped screaming, and crying, and squirming. Strong crashes, shattering glass in the vicinity, massive steps, and an instant later, something had stopped outside the doorframe, in the hallway. Something gigantic and stinky.

The creature emitted a roar that made the floor tremble, and proceeded to destroy the wall, forcing its way into the storage. Plasterboard, wood, and plastic splinters covered the room, along with a thin cloud of dust.

Its four eyes stared intently at the humans in front of it, as if analyzing them before jumping into action. Its bioluminescent cysts shined in accelerated patterns, although some of them displayed errors in the pattern, covered by wounds and scars. A great portion of its lower body was beaten up and disfigured, and appeared to be made of scar tissue.

Julien faced the monster, and for the first time since he went mad, his face seemed to contort in fear.

“…d-did you ccomme after the b-bbratt…? D-Donnn’t you darrre…! I-I’ll kiiill her i-if you ssstep any closser…!! You hearrr!? I’ll k-kill—!”

Claire pounced without hesitation. She had to do it. She hugged Julien’s waist with her healthy arm and charged towards the creature. Both of them landed abruptly by its feet.

“W-What are yyou dddoingg!? Lllet me go, you c-cann’t do tthiss! I neeeed, the g-girlll, I nneed—!!”

Julien couldn’t finish complaining. The creature’s claw closed around his head. Was it just blood? Was it his brains? Claire was unable to tell the difference, and she didn’t care. The creature wasn’t pleased with crushing Julien’s head, and proceeded to rip one of his arms apart. Then the other one. Then a leg. Then he split the torso in half. Was it Lilian? Did Lilian call that sinister savior? For an indefinite period of time, it continued mutilating the body with untold savagery.

Strangely, the gruesome spectacle didn’t bother Claire. She didn’t feel disgust upon the rain of innards and gore. On the contrary, it was almost satisfactory.

It was her turn now. The monster’s eyes focused on her. Its enormous silhouette occupied nearly the entirety of her peripheral vision. Its claws moved in her direction, open wide, ready to rip her to shreds as well. Attempting to run would be pointless. She didn’t even have the strength to do so.

Didn’t matter. It was probably deserved. She was ready. She closed her eyes, and waited.

Waited.

Waited.

Why was it taking so long? She didn’t want to open her eyes again. She didn’t want to see it.

‘Come on. Do it quick. What are you waiting for?’

Nothing happened.

She perceived a sequence of strange noises, definitely coming from that monster. Clicks, heartbeats, bubbling. The curiosity was too strong, she looked.

The entire surface of the monster’s body had lit up, and its luminous patterns had undergone some kind of frenzy. In front of it, Lilian had stood on her own feet. She kept a strong visual contact with the creature, and her eyes shined more brightly than ever, flickering and flashing in a maddened pattern as well.

As fast as it had arrived, the giant stepped out into the corridor and disappeared, followed by a series of crashes and explosions in the distance.

Lilian tiptoed closer, with timid but serene steps, and kneeled down in front of her.

“L-Lilian…?” said Claire.

“Clairie.”

Soon after hearing her voice, Claire suffered an intense headache, strong enough to overwhelm her broken arm or her missing fingers.

[Clairie.]

She had just heard Lilian’s voice inside her head.

‘Huh…?’

[Okay. All okay.]

All her pain vanished into nothingness, replaced by a warm feeling. The very air she breathed wrapped her up, caressing her mind and soothing the anxiety eating at her from within.

[Thank you.]

On an impulse, she sat up and hugged Lilian, gripping her tightly with her healthy arm. Tears burst out in waves, and what started as a tiny weep soon became bitter bawling. She didn’t cry out of sadness, or pain, or stress. She had no idea what she cried for. Acceptance, comfort, comprehension? It was the feeling of having reunited with a family she had missed since long ago, despite having just met them.

Collapsed in Lilian’s arms, Claire let everything out, tear by tear.