The dim light of the Rusty Tankard bar flickered over sticky tables and half-empty glasses.
Rain hamred the windows, but inside it was warm, slling of stale beer and old wood. At the corner of the counter sat a hooded figure, face hidden in shadow. She had been drinking for hours. One empty beer after another.
Mia, the bartender, wiped her hands on her apron and watched with growing worry. The woman had co in soaked, ordered a beer without a word, and hadn't stopped since.
Her hand trembled slightly when she raised the mug, but her throat never seed to tire.
"Another," the hooded woman rasped, sliding the empty mug forward.
Mia poured slowly, walking over instead of sliding it. She set the fresh beer down gently.
"Hey… you okay?" Mia asked, voice soft and friendly. "You've had… a lot. Sothing bothering you?"
The hooded woman grabbed the mug and drank half in one go. Foam clung to the edge of the hood. She let out a bitter laugh, slurred and heavy.
"Nothing," she muttered, louder than necessary. "It's just… everything. Everything feels like it was built on a lie. The world. People. . All of it."
Mia leaned closer. "That's not true. Listen, I've seen a lot of people co through here broken. Everyone carries sothing. But lies? The world's ssy, not fake. You've got a real heart in there, I can tell. Just… talk to soone. Slow down on the beer, yeah? We don't live twice, so might as well enjoy the life we were given."
The hooded woman stared into her drink. "You don't understand. None of you do."
The door exploded open.
Five won in black tactical gear stord in, rifles raised. Rain and cold air rushed inside. Custors scread and dropped to the floor.
"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" the leader shouted, voice sharp behind her mask. "Faces on the ground! NOW!"
People scrambled. Glasses shattered. Soone sobbed.
But the hooded woman didn't move.
She sat perfectly still, raised her mug, and finished the beer in one long, slow gulp.
The leader marched straight toward her. "Oi! Can't you hear?! Get down and show your face!"
The hooded woman set the empty mug down with a soft clink.
The ard woman of the group reached for her shoulder.
In a blur, the hooded woman's hand shot up, grabbed the rifle barrel and twisted.
BAM!
The gun fired into the ceiling, plaster raining down. Before anyone could react, the hooded woman slamd the butt of the rifle into the woman's jaw. The woman crumpled.
The hood fell back.
Brown hair spilled out. Sharp eagle like eyes. A face the soldiers clearly recognized.
Amanda.
Drunk, swaying, but grinning like death itself.
She yanked the rifle free and pulled the unconscious soldier in front of her like a shield.
"Well, well," Amanda slurred, voice thick but loud. "Look who ca to the party."
The leader raised her weapon. "Surrender, Officer Amanda. You can't use your powers here. This whole area is nullified. Stand down or we put you in the ground."
Amanda laughed, a broken, drunken sound. She pressed the stolen rifle against her human shield's neck.
"Too bad for you," she said, eyes glassy but burning. "I don't really care about my powers."
She shoved the body forward and charged.
It was chaos.
Like a scene from a nightmare but drunk and furious.
Amanda moved like a storm, sloppy, yes, swaying on her feet but fast. Too fast for soone who could barely stand straight.
She ducked under a rifle swing, elbowed a woman in the throat, stole her sidearm, and fired twice into another's knee. Blood sprayed across the bar counter.
"Get her! Don't kill her leader wants her alive." soone yelled.
Three ca at once.
Amanda spun, laughing wildly, and used a bar stool like a club. Wood splintered. A soldier scread as her arm bent wrong.
Mia hid behind the bar, hands over her mouth, watching in horror as the quiet drunk woman beca sothing else.
Amanda grabbed a bottle, smashed it, and slashed across a soldier's chest plate. Sparks flew. She headbutted another, blood pouring from her own nose, still smiling.
"I was first!" she roared, voice cracking. "I was the original!"
A rifle butt caught her in the ribs. She staggered, coughing.
Another tackled her from behind. They crashed over a table.
She bit soone's hand. Hard.
"Filthy copies!" she scread, thrashing. "All of you...fake! Built in a lab! I'M THE TRUE HUMAN!"
They piled on her.
Five beca eight. Then ten as reinforcnt arrived.
Boots. Fists. Rifle stocks.
She fought like a cornered animal, clawing, kicking, spitting blood and curses.
"I'm not like you," she sobbed through a split lip, still swinging. "I was born. Not printed. Not grown in a tank. I'M REAL!"
A taser hit her in the neck.
She convulsed, eyes rolling back, but still tried to crawl forward.
"I'm… the original…" she whispered, voice small now. "I'm… supposed to matter…"
Her fingers scratched at the floor, leaving red trails.
The leader stood over her, breathing hard.
"Cuff her. She's done."
They dragged her up. Her head lolled. Blood dripped from her mouth.
As they pulled her toward the door, Amanda's eyes found Mia behind the bar.
For a second, the rage was gone.
Just sadness. Deep, drunk, endless sadness.
"Sorry…" Amanda mumbled. "About the ss."
Then they hauled her out into the rain.
The bar was silent except for crying and the drip of blood.
Mia stared at the shattered bottles, the broken chairs, the empty mug still sitting on the counter.
She picked it up with shaking hands.
"What an amazing woman!"
***
The night air burned in Lan Xue's lungs as she stumbled through the dark alleys far away from ruined Lan district.
Her long hair, once neatly braided, now whipped around her face like black snakes, sticky with sweat and tears. Snot dripped from her nose; she didn't bother wiping it. Her legs shook so badly she thought they would fold any second.
She risked another glance over her shoulder.
Nothing. Just shadows.
But she could still hear the wet crunch again in her head. The sound her mother's ribs made when that woman closed her fist.
"M-Mother…" Lan Xue sobbed, voice cracking. "Third Mom…"
Her foot caught on a loose stone and she almost fell, arms windmilling. She kept running.
Just a few hours ago she had been hiding behind the storehouse, watching everything fall apart.
She reber the sudden ssage about district getting attacked and how mother's tried to leave Lan Jia hanging in the basents.
Lan Jia was hanging in the center, her wrists bound with sealing chains. She was supposed to be broken, powerless, discarded and as good as dead, but that didn't last long.
No one knew how she freed herself from the chains, but as the mothers gathered in the main hall to discuss their plans to control the district fire, she suddenly appeared naked, walking forward with an enraged look on her face. Her anger wasn't directed at the mothers, but at sothing else entirely.
Before anyone could react, she moved one step, two and her hand punched straight through Third Mother's chest. Blood exploded outward like red fireworks. Third Mother, the gentle woman who always slipped sweets into Xue's pocket, looked down at the arm inside her body with wide, confused eyes.
"Wha—" The word died as Lan Jia twisted her wrist. Bones cracked. Third Mother dropped, a broken doll.
Second Mother scread in anger and hurled a spear of lightning. Lan Jia caught it with her golden threads, snapped it, then flicked the broken half back. It punched through Second Mother's throat. She fell choking on her own blood.
Many several Lan family mbers roared and charged, their bodies blazing with powers..
Lan Jia sighed. "Annoying."
She raised one finger.
The golden tentacles spread across the room from her back and began the worst massacre Lan Xue had ever seen in her life. The only thing that saved Xue was her instinct to run instead of fight.
The people who were killed were dismbered into several pieces.
All in a single breath.
Lan Xue, hidden behind pillars, felt her mind blank out. That woman… that captured woman… had killed many S-rank hunters like stepping on ants.
Lan Jia turned her head, as if she could sll fear. Her eyes found the exact spot where Xue hid.
Xue ran.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Lan Xue scread into the empty alley, voice raw. "She's not human! She's not human!"
Her shoes slapped against wet stone. Every shadow looked like a reaching hand. Every gust of wind sounded like that woman's soft laugh.
"She's coming, she's coming, she's coming—"
The alley narrowed. A dead end. High walls on three sides, no doors, no windows.
Lan Xue slamd into the furthest wall, palms scraping brick. She spun around, chest heaving.
Nothing there.
But the air felt heavy, like before a storm.
Then she saw it, Lan Jia stepping out of the darkness, barefoot, naked and her mouth was bleeding.
"Found you, Xue."
"No… no no no—" Xue's legs gave out. She slid down the wall, nails clawing at the stone. "Stay away! You're supposed to be dead! Get away from ..."
Lan Jia tilted her head. "Am I?"
She took one step forward.
Xue scread. The world tilted. She saw her mother's ribs cave in again, heard Third Mother gurgle..
Lan Jia raised her hand, exactly like before.
"Please…" Xue whimpered. Tears and snot mixed on her chin. "I didn't do anything… I didn't tell anyone… please…"
The hand ca closer.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Lan Xue's body slid sideways, cheek hitting cold ground. Her eyes rolled back, mouth open, a thin line of drool running out. She had fainted from pure terror, still twitching as if the hand was still falling toward her chest.
In the silent alley, only her ragged breathing remained.
The real Lan Jia never appeared.
But in Xue's broken mind, the monster was always would.
Reviews
All reviews (0)