It’s been a few days, and in that time I’ve figured out a few things. 

For one, my gift isn’t gone, but it has changed. I can now use it on myself, and for two… It’s not just for support anymore. After a few tests, the types of effects I can cause have risen in number, and deviated in type. 

I’d already sliced through a stale piece of bread that had been slid through a hole in the cell with a goddamn soundwave, so clearly there were some fundamental differences. 

I had no complaints though. This would suit my needs perfectly. I had people to test this on next after all! 

Then again, can’t do anything on an empty stomach. 

Biting into the rock solid bread was an interesting experience to say the least. Tolerable at best. Still I continued to break my way through it, one bite at a time.

As I ate I kept watch on the hallway outside my cell. An ordinary cell wouldn’t do much against most gift users, but if someone was convinced they had removed someone's gift… of course they’d use one. 

While I could get out of the cell at any time, I’d chosen to bide my time a bit instead. For several days I’d watched as the guards traded shifts. They usually talked with each other over a radio even after they changed shifts. 

The usual “how’s the cell block dan?”

 “boring, how’s hallway B?” 

“nothin here mate” 

filled every minute of my day. By now I had their schedule near memorized. If I took out one guard the other over the radio would know, and I wanted to avoid anyone knowing I had left my cell till the last moment.

If I waited till right when they swapped shifts, I could take them both out in one go. It’d make the job a bit easier.

When I held his head in hands… then they could know I left. It would make a fun sight. The expressions on their face when they realize I left with a trail of blood behind me, and there was NOTHING they could have done~ 

Finishing off the last bit of tasteless crust I sent a barely audible sound effect (what I called my gifts effects) toward the nearby guard. Nothing big, and nothing he was smart enough to notice. 

Just canceled all sound in his area. He’d look up occasionally in surprise, but it’d been days, and he still hadn’t figured it out.

EEEERH

There it was, the creak of the cell blocks only entrance being opened. It was around midday. Which meant they were swapping shifts. 

Perfect.

Rising to my feet, I started to laugh. Despite the fact that my voice had been destroyed from my screams during the procedure I was able to easily replicate a voice with my ability.

It was finally time.

Sending out a wave of sound in the form of force, I blasted the cell door clean off its hinges. Following it up, the sound of a high C rang out blasting the ear drums of the guards as they fell to their knees in pain. 

A yet higher note sent both legs and arms flying in an arc of blood.

Well, I couldn’t let them run or fight back could I?

An E4 bass note sent their ribcage crashing in. 

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Higher notes produce a sharp effect, while low notes produce a blunt effect. Either way it could be deadly if used correctly.

 I called this particular Sound Effect, “Direct Sound” as I could use it to directly affect my enemy.

 Versus “Indirect Sound” which allowed me to boost an ally or cause non harmful effects to my surroundings. 

I’m off topic. 

With both guards down, I made my way down the hallway, canceling the sound from my steps. Arriving at a left and right turn in the hallway, I sent out a high frequency. Best to think of it like sonar or echolocation. Either way it marked a guard in both hallways in my mind. 

Too easy.

Dropping a subharmonic note, I easily sent a blunt force that simple walls couldn’t block. Landing on the backs of the guards, it broke both their spines, sending them both into death's waiting hands. 

My old ability was so kind~ like rainbows and roses, but unlike what these people had intended, they hadn’t taken it away. They’d simply dyed those roses a different shade of red…

My previous use of sonar had continued to echo down the hallways and rooms of whatever building I was in, and had formed a sort of map by this point. 

Which naturally meant that I had finally tracked down the priest. 

Walking down the hallway, I skipped a little in anticipation. I had waited weeks for this moment, and I wouldn’t let a single one of these flies go unswatted. 

Turning a corner, one guard managed to get out a scream before I made him a fine paste with a slightly lower subharmonic than my last. 

I frowned a bit.

I had intended to take them each out quickly, but if they called more, It would take up more of my time, and I had no intention of spending my time on these little fish. I had bigger fish to catch.

The doctors who did the procedure for example. 

I looked at the map in my mind as I kept moving, making turns here, and straights there… It may have been a long path, but like a rat in it’s maze, a reward waited at the end for me~

A few guards had tried to block my path, but they were dealt with quickly, leaving hallways full of bodies in my wake. 

It was going all too well, till one guard got lucky, and pulled the alarm while I was busy dicing up his friends. A shame, truly it was. 

Despite my troubles, I had finally reached my destination. The priest's office. 

Opening the door, I stepped in to see the priest sitting at his desk with a frown. I smiled as I sat down in a chair opposite the desk and crossed my legs.

I only had one question to ask, and I had all the time in the world to do so.

“Why?”

A simple question. Short and sweet, yet all the same, it held so much meaning.

The man looked up at a stained glass window behind his desk, and sighed. He turned to look at me with no fear in his eyes.

Was it confidence in himself? Did he have some kind of plan? Whatever the case may be, the man clearly had no fear of me. 

He opened his mouth, and spoke slowly, like speaking to a child.

“It really wasn’t supposed to go this way, Rose. You were supposed to just go and lose your ability. Just like God asked!”

Growing angry, he swept the papers off his desk.

“That was all he asked of you! After the procedure, you served no purpose in God's plan, so why?”

His anger deflated as he fell back into his seat.

“Why are you still here?”

Why? Despite all he had done, he still asked me why? 

I leaned forward a bit before I “spoke” shocking him.

“It’s simple. You said it yourself actually.”

I saw the confusion on his face as he thought back over the things he said to me. Then it came, the sudden realization on his face.

“Yes… you would serve your purpose… and I’d. serve. Mine.” 

With that last word I stood from my seat and looked down at the man. To think he had done so many disgusting things to others like myself.

 I saw many like me in that cell block. Some with anger or despair in their eyes, while others just had the empty look of those who had long since given up. 

He looked at me with tired eyes.

“You’re a monster Rose. I do hope you know that.”

I smiled. 

“A monster you have made, and I don’t regret a minute of it. I do hope you don’t either~”

Shiiiiiing

Like the sound of a sword drawn from its sheath, my note drew a thin line of blood across the man's neck. Such a small wound, but it was well placed. The thin line grew, sending blood spurting out and eventually pouring over the desk in front of him.

I’d fulfilled my purpose. If his God was real, I’m sure I’d given them the exact show they had wanted. What a messed up deity they must be. But it wasn’t my business.

Picking up some of the documents that hadn’t been covered with blood, I read through them.

What I saw cleared the fog in my mind a little.

After I had killed the priest, I had no purpose left. Nothing I really had to do. But these documents made my next course of action clear…

“So that’s how it is… no wonder”

I let the page slide from my hand and watched as it fluttered down into the puddle of blood below, before stepping toward the door.

“As if I needed another reason to see them dead.”

A low hum began in my throat as anger flashed in my eyes. 

“Pray. Pray I give you all a quick end…”

With my job here done, I had only one last thing to do. 

Walking out of the exit of the compound, I turned to look up at it. High whitewashed walls, and chain link fences. Barbed wire and barred windows. It was time to leave this bloodstained place in the past. As a part of history I’d carved in blood. 

And so I let out my final note. A low A1 subharmonic. And as a barely audible hum spread out in a visible wave, and the building crumbled like dust, I looked up at the rising sun with a grim expression. 

As I looked back on what happened, I disliked what I had become. The compound had become a human slaughterhouse, and I was the cause.

I wasn’t proud of it, but I understood. The circumstances that led to it were still all too clearly carved into my mind.

 I may never forget it. But as long as I’m still alive, I’ll work to change for the better.

…

Or not.