Shadows loomed and flickered overhead, casting a dark presence over the room. A metallic smell hung in the air, clinging to the surroundings like sticky glue.
Plop
The constant humming of the ceiling fan above masked the agony and despair laden within.
Plop
Pieces of flesh and skin lay scattered across the bed, staining the sheets red with blood.
Plop
And a mockery of human anatomy lay bare, nailed to a wooden cross, stomach gutted, intestines falling apart, muscles where skin should be. Their face was now, faceless. The countenance was ripped off in a crude and barbaric manner, leaving traces of light brown on the edge of his visage. The only thing left untouched was his eyes, wide open, still wide after death. Blood vessels lined the corner of their sclera, almost bulging.
Lathell felt his vision go blurry as he stood there, watching his friend's corpse be hung up like a toy. Even though the cross was meant to be holy, right now it just looked defiled, like a demon had tampered with it. The humming of the ceiling fan was stifled as he thought of his earlier conversations, memories, and drinks he had had with him. Even though their visage was now mangled, he instinctively knew that was Michael.
The young man stumbled onto his back as he looked in horror at the mangled body of his friend. That stoic figure of his, that always reliable back, was now gone, stripped of his dignity. His mouth was agape, trying to form words, but nothing came out. Lathell tried to stand up, but fell due to the shaking of his legs, crashing back down to the pool of blood that had formed beneath him.
Silent footsteps followed behind; overlooked as he walked into the bathroom, hyperventilating.
Lathell held against the doorframe for support, slowly and wobbly, standing up to his feet. Turning his back against the carcass, he stumbled his way to the bathroom. Grabbing the edges of the toilet seat, he began retching his insides out.
Blachhhhh! Urghhhh!
"Yo Michael, nice place you got, man! You should totally invite a girl over!"
"Nah, it ain't much really, once I move up the ladder I'll get a new place, even better than this."
"Feeling ambitious, huh? If you got any problems at your workplace, just call me and the gang, we'll solve it in no time!"
"Fuck no! If I called ya'll asses here, I'd be fired on the spot!"
"Hehehe"
Erghhhh! Uwaaak!
"Haah, haaah, haah"
Lathell slowly lifted his head, still dizzy, as he made his way to the sink. Cold water began rushing out of the taps as he tried to wash his hands, his hands blemished in red. He looked up at his reflection, but couldn't even recognize the man in the mirror. What was reflected was a trembling and shaken boy, nothing like himself.
Is that me? Touching his sweat-riddled face, he wondered if that pathetic mess in the mirror was him. I mean, come on, he's supposed to be all proud and stuff, right?
Well, no one's gonna be calm when they see a dead body like that.
It's the first time I've been affected this much since the death of Granpa Jearald. Right, I need to call the cops.
Turning his head, he took a glance at the door, only to see a hooded figure leaning on it, left hand in their pocket, while their right was juggling a knife curved inward. "Took you long enough, pretty boy."
Lathell instantly knew that this person was the one who killed Michael, his presence alone in the house reinforcing it. They locked eyes for a minute, the other person carefree, tossing and catching the knife, while Lathell thought of various ways to escape, taking glances at the door.
Their hands caught the knife mid-air with a snag, as they pointed it towards Lathell. "I'd start running if I were you."
No shit! You look dangerous as hell! Lathell spent no time running and darted out of the room, bumping into them while he made his way out. "Whoa there, slow down! It's not like I'm gonna do you as hard as the other guy." They grinned under their hood, showing their grills. Slipping on some blood, he quickly stood up.
Clack! Right on time. His previous footing had been stabbed through, but there was no looking back. He reached the entrance and tried to pry the door open. It was no use. Just as he tried ramming into the door, a voice from behind spoke. "Don't even try, this place's already been isolated." They voiced, casually pocketing the knife stuck on the floor before continuing as he inspected it. "This knife here is a special product from Kyman Weaponry. See this symbol here? Thing's an Armament."
Holding up the knife just enough to see a spiral symbol on its hilt, he kept talking while Lathell was still trying to force it open. "See, one of this baby's techniques here is to create a field in which it makes living beings with average strength steer away from an area. Wanna know how big a field I placed? Enough to cover this apartment from head to toe. Kekekeke!" They took off their hood, revealing a pale man underneath, cackling, eyes hollow.
It clicked. Lathell noticed the odd silence before. It was due to him! "So this was a setup, huh? But why'd you involve an innocent man in this!" Shouting at the man, he took a step back, only to be blocked by the door. Looking to the side, he noticed a metal broom. A weapon, not great though.
"Who cares? He was being all whiny and shit, so I just killed him. Ain't it a valid reason?" He answered back with a sneer.
"Just because of that!?"
"Yeah, just because of that. The strong eat the weak y'know?"
Dumbfounded, Lathell stared at him in exasperation. "Anyways, let's see some of your blood!"
The pale assassin dashed forward, blade in reverse grip, slashing at his shoulder. Lathell forced himself to focus, grabbed the broom, and blocked the first strike, but stumbled back.
This guy's strong! Swinging the back of the broom from below, he managed to hit the assailant's jacket, only for the broom to get stuck. His opponent didn't let this opportunity go as he grabbed the handle and pulled Lathell in for a strike.
"Gotcha!" Stabbing the blade into Lathell's right forearm, he quickly grappled him with his legs, pulling both of them down to the floor as he began to taunt him. "So fucking weak! I'd think you were better just from being a child of that monster, but you're so damn weak!" He began twisting the knife in his arm, forcing a mouthful of bile from Lathell's mouth, but he kept it in, as Lathell looked at the assassin's arm as he began biting into it.
The pale man quickly pulled back his arm, leaving the dagger. "You rabid dog!" Lathell took the knife off his arm, wincing from the pain. It's better than the training. Lathell lunged towards him, his left hand on the dagger, while his right hand held his legs. Even though it hurt, he pushed himself. Survival is still survival.
Dodging the knife, the man quickly stood and reached into his jacket as Lathell hurried to the kitchen.
"Come back with my knife, bitch!" Pulling out several throwing knives from his coat, he began hurling them at Lathell, only for them to miss. Lathell reached the kitchen and began channeling Ether into his pendant. The wounds began stitching themselves while a green light radiated from his pendant, reaching his arm. Breathing a sigh of relief, he quickly hid under the counter, not before grabbing several knives from the nearby rack.
Measured slow steps sounded as the assassin made his way into the kitchen. Clutching his now healed arm, Lathell held his breath as he stared at the nearby cabinet, waiting for his move. He began to think.
Crack!
The countertop above him shattered as a blade made of pure black stabbed through his right shoulder, which he had just healed. Lathell immediately let out a cry of pain as the blade twisted in his shoulder. "Think I wouldn't notice?" Whispering in a voice only he and Lathell could hear, he began to lick his lips. "Your desperation is useless, y'know?"
Hearing him whisper from above, Lathell grabbed the knife that the pale man had used before and stabbed it above, surprisingly reaching his fingers.
"Gah!" The assassin let go of the blade as it started to dissipate, releasing black smog everywhere, blinding him. Lathell's pendant glowed for a second before it vanished.
Now, Lathell was sure of his hypothesis. Dashing out from under, he reached for a nearby curtain and used it as a makeshift bandage and support. He tried to trick me that he wasn't a Bearer, misleading me by telling the dagger's Banner first! Let my guard down! Having reached the window, he noticed the stairs leading down to the nearby alley. His eyes gleamed.
Just as he was about to open the window, the man grabbed Lathell by his hair and started to bash his head into the wall.
Thwack!
"Fuck, what did you do!? You disrupted my technique! Speak!" Enraged, he kept shouting at Lathell. He didn't notice that Lathell had already hidden the necklace in his inner shirt.
Looking defiantly at the man, he spoke. "Won't tell you shit, you cum sock." Spitting on the man, Lathell shakily raised his left arm and gave him the middle finger.
The man, now even more pissed off, materialized a shadow dagger, but it merely burst into smog as he was about to strike.
A faint light radiated from Lathell's clothes, as his right shoulder began to rapidly heal, he shook off the assailant and punched him in the nose with his left hand that had been holding the finger. Quickly opening the window and barricading it with some planks just as the assassin was dazed, he began rushing down the fire exit stairs.
Having regained his bearings, the assassin looked down from the window to see Lathell rapidly climbing down. Reaching into his pockets, he began dialing an unknown number.
"Yeah I need help, this kid's even more troublesome than I thought. If you're down on some Ether, I got some. Killed all the residents here and extracted their Ether." With that finished, he began to chase after Lathell, hopping from the apartment and unto the stairs.
[Chapter end]
word count: 1760 or not
fuck kris wu, was listening to exo while writing and remembered he existed. fuck kris wu. ALSO FUCK HOYO WHERES MY PHAINON ON THE EXPRESS RAAAAA