章 72: We Meet Again (1)
'That guy's a jerk!'
The little girl watched the man jump off the rail and disappear below into the maze of cluttered cars and shrubbery. Leaving her completely alone...
She bit her lip as she glanced back down at the glass shard he placed in her hand.
'But–'
They already had that other fat man tied up! They didn't need any more help now, did they? Or maybe she was too stubborn to accept it.
"Argh come on…" She gritted her teeth as she looked back to where they last saw the Awakened. She could see their silhouettes jumping over the rooftops almost like fleas. But why, why, why were they coming over here? Why now?
She held the glass shard close to her heart.
'No one's good…Not here.'
But at that moment, the image of her scrawny brothers peered into her mind.
The girl shook her head.
Sure they finally gained some supplies but…
It still wasn't enough to hang on indefinitely.
"Fine! Whatever! I gotta take this chance."
She clenched her fists.
'Now or never!'
With some hesitation, the little girl shakily raised her hand into the sun's dying rays. And, to her amazement, the shard glowed brightly that the sight made her heart skip a bit—her eyes widening and sparkling from its reflection. She couldn't help but think she was holding a star in the palm of her hand with the glass cool on her skin.
"...so pretty…"
She stopped, catching her words, and quickly blinked away from her trance.
Of course she couldn't be distracted. She didn't stay on this fire escape for gawking.
Dismissing the thought, the girl then waved the shard in the sunlight, letting the little star flash and flicker across the scape.
It felt a bit ridiculous doing it, but they couldn't miss this sparkly sight could they?
Her heart pounded as she waved again.
Grrr…
And at that moment, a new wave of fear washed over her as she heard something else—a low, guttural growl that chilled her like an icy embrace.
Grr…
She stopped breathing, and a shadow began looming behind her like a lurking darkness.
"...!"
The girl spun around, half expecting someone else.
But instead, there was a hunched, skeletal creature with elongated limbs clinging onto the railing. Its mouth cracked open revealed jagged teeth dripping with saliva, the guttural sound clicking in its throat. The monster then hissed, claws scraping the rusted metal as it began climbing over.
"T-that..!" The girl tripped over her feet and fell backwards.
'I'm dead! Not only did I signal to an Awakened, but I called over a monster!'
Was that possible? Was this a trap!
Curse that guy!
Grrrar!
"No!" She yelped as she shielded her face.
The creature then lunged.
Swiiish!
But as her eyes were closed, a sound whistled passed her ears. It was as if something sliced through air, and the growl suddenly cut short.
Then with a dull sound, her whole world trembled beneath her. The girl opened her eyes and saw the huge monster splitting into two, crashing further down to the earth.
It got cut in two?
'No wait. I'm alive? I'm alive!' She paused. 'Wait my brothers!'
She quickly stood up, but before she could make any further progress, she was met with a figure clad in black standing before her with a bloody sword.
"Wah!"
Slam!
The girl tripped back and slammed against the rail.
'Who's that?!'
Was that the Awakened she was waiting for?
The girl's heart thumped wildly as she beheld the Awakened wearing a terrifying white mask and a hood over his head. He simply turned and silently stared down at her.
And that short silence filled the space uncomfortably as neither of them spoke.
'He...'
This guy…
She swallowed a nervous gulp.
'He wants me to trust this guy?!'
The girl flinched.
Something felt strange from that thought. 'Wait…uh…who told me that again…?'
The guy with blue eyes. No green? Wait- She was sure she met someone who told her to see the Awakened.
But as she tried to remember, the Awakened shook the blood off his sword and tilted his head at her.
It was surely a disturbing sight...
"..."
'This guy's scary!' She backed away again.
She had seen many scary things, but now her life seemed on the line standing next to a figure like that!
The Awakened froze from her reaction, then immediately waved his hands in the air in a panic manner—the sword dissolving like blue sparks.
Magic. It really was magc.
That might've been magical too if it weren't for his whole intimidating appearance!
"Look, scary mask!" She forced a scowl to hide her fear. "I-If you're here, then what about that other friend I saw over–"
The girl's eyes widened as she noticed something else in the distance. She quickly leaned over the railing, squinting her eyes to see, and there ahead were her two brothers waving frantically from afar. Them smiling from ear to ear. And another Awakened, clad in the same black bodysuit, stood beside them with a long gun slung over his shoulder. But he looked…a bit grumpy.
"You idiot." The Awakened sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck in annoyance.
'Him?' She peeked at the masked man.
Then all of a sudden–
"Stop running off, you bloody idiot!" The friend shouted. "Geez, I look away for one second and already you put on your superhero cap."
The masked man scratched his head in embarrassment.
"And don't act cute about it either!"
"..."
'These are the people…that'll help us?'
He almost reminded her of herself shouting at her own brothers. Her brothers did not seem timid standing next to the man. Or maybe they were just blinded by the heroism! Whatever the case, the girl couldn't help but have relief wash over her to see them safe. "That's them. My brothers…"
Safe and sound so far.
The girl then hesitated as she turned back to her…rescuer. "Um…thanks…uh…Mask Man?"
'He looks fishy though…'
What person would hide their face? Unless they were soldiers, but this guy didn't particularly dress like any of them. His suit looked practically like second skin. Wherever they came from, their fashion sense was weird to begin with.
The Awakened paused at her suspicious gaze.
Then he slowly lifted his mask slightly to reveal half of his face.
At first, the girl didn't understand why he did, but the moment she saw his smile.
'Oh!'
She felt her heart skip a bit.
It was almost like her suspicions were dissolving away…
What a pretty smile he had…And his eyes looked calming. Was that a part of his power? The inventive Awakened didn't look particularly pretty. He was more on the scruffy side.
'Well..maybe I guess…the Awakened are fine just like the guy said…'
She let out a huff before she looked away.
However, an uneasiness settled in her stomach from that thought again. That was weird. Who was she specifically talking about? It was someone she knew. It had to be. The girl didn't know it but she was making a sour expression as she strained her mind to remember. It was like on the tip of her tongue, waiting to be spoken, to be voiced, to be remembered.
But maybe it wasn't that important to begin with if it was forgettable.
At the moment, the setting sun was now dipping its toes behind a building, washing the world in its warm glow. It was almost like everything was painted in orange. She hadn't seen a view like this in a long while…and she couldn't help but turn her head toward the leaned towers that harbored many shadows at its wake.
The Awakened also turned his head in that direction before pulling his mask back down. His whole posture seemed to change as if he caught sight of a mouse in a trap.
He then climbed on top of the rail.
'Him too!? Wait– What does that mean!'
"Where are you going now!" She urgently asked.
Do people just casually jump off buildings these days?
"Hey! Prince, what are you—!" The friend called out again.
But then, the masked man jumped off.
"This son of a…!"
***
Sometime earlier before that happened…
'Out of sight, out of mind.'
Right. That had to be it.
'Out of sight, out of mind.'
That was how his Flaw worked didn't it?
Hope thought that as he deftly walked through the memorized traps across the street and alleys.
He heard that expression plenty of times. Mostly when he and his fellow soldiers returned from monster raids because there was no need to think about the job anymore once they returned to the barracks. Too much unnecessary stress, they said, when sleep needed the utmost attention. Or a drink.
And in this case, since Hope was not in sight anymore…
'That guy will forget me, right?'
"..."
Hope repeated the expression in his mind again as he continued skipping over the hidden wires and suspicious patches.
He then paused in front of a window that was under a banner. Finally reaching on the other side of his destination.
'And she said to avoid this one.'
But Hope...didn't pull away just yet.
Hope silently inspected the window as if he were observing a simple structure, rather than a trap ready to set off. Hope wondered if the bomb was under the frame that would trigger it, or perhaps hidden above. Quite a skilled Aspect for a paranoid guy. Although, being paranoid was said to be the same as being cautious.
'Just at an extreme level.' Hope nonchalantly thought.
One could justify any of their extreme traits with another virtue until it becomes an unavoidable hindrance. In other words, it was a coping mechanism to justify their flaws.
Hope frowned at that thought. 'Flaws huh…'
'How annoying.'
Besides that, Hope also couldn't help but think of his teammate, GA-012, potentially wanting to inspect these traps herself. She and the Awakened would somewhat get along. He could describe this to her and the possibilities of the mechanics. But he wouldn't have a solid bond for that sort of casual conversation anymore when they meet again.
'Nevermind that.'
Hope dismissed that thought.
While walking around to the side of the building, he found the side entrance barricaded with blocks of debris except for a small hole in the bottom corner.
For some reason, Hope hesitated. It wasn't because it was too quiet and there was no sound from the supposed family inside this place yet, but it was going to be a slight painful squeeze to get through with his current wounds.
'How strange…'
No. It was something else that bothered him.
Hope started to frown.
He shrugged off any reluctance before crawling into the tight space.
As he moved through the rubble, the pain on his chest and side burned from the brushed contact. It stung like hot bites, but Hope was more or less indifferent about it. What felt more uncomfortable was the tightness around him closing like a mouth. Pressing on all sides as if threatening to swallow him. It sparked the uncomfortable memory of playing that stupid game with his brother of being trapped under the sheets.
Hope cursed inside his head from the memory. He couldn't help but think of his brother ever since crossing those siblings.
And he'd rather think of anyone else but him.
"Tsk."
Hope clicked his tongue as he finally reached the other side.
The uneasiness dissipating as he stood again in a spacious room, brushing the dust off his clothes.
"Mm."
But no one appeared yet.
No sound of an alerted family.
Whispers of intruder.
'Something's definitely off.'
Because at that moment, the stench of decay overwhelmed him as if it had been hotly bottled up inside the room.
Hope raised his hand and summoned his [Ashen Shield], the motes of light appearing then melting into the metal disc. Hope slowly made his way down the hall, his body itched to react for any sudden surprises. As he did so, the sunset's light illuminated family photos on the walls. A husband and wife, and a grown-up daughter it seemed. All three close. Smiling together. Moments captured at a preconceived time.
Hope blinked at the sight, then looked away.
There was always discord in families. After the Spell's arrival, it seemed impossible to have one family living in harmony unscathed by its ploys. That was just how life was. Misfortune.
Hope then checked the kitchen, bracing his shield up as his eyes scanned the place.
Nothing there except a folded paper on the counter. Hope would have ignored it if there were layers of coated dust on its page, but there wasn't. If anything, he calculated that this letter was written within the week.
Hope simply picked up the note to read for later before he moved on.
He passed the stairs and went to check on the last bedroom on the first floor.
And there Hope found the source of the smell.
Before him, sprawled across the floor, were two dead bodies.
One which looked a lot like the daughter in the picture.
The other a Profaned—fangs jutting through the lips and bones forcefully stretched and evolved into a beastly form.
From its tattered clothes, or what was left of it, the Profaned was the mother with a caved bullet in the head. And judging from the scene, the mother had hacked away at her own daughter's midsection, covering the room in a red spatter. Even the bed sheets were smeared in blood. Hope had seen many gruesome sights before, but this particular scene oddly...made him feel uncomfortable.
It couldn't be helped.
Hope instinctively touched his chest.
He looked down and glanced at his fingers stained with red. His wounds opened up again. But if the pain from the Fallen Creature's claws hurt that bad during the fight, Hope couldn't imagine smaller hands clawing away at his own intestines—
!!!
Klunk!
'Shit–'
Hope stumbled into the door frame.
The gruesome memory back on the fallen building started to replay over his senses in which Hope responsively, as he did much before, bit down on his tongue to wake from it.
Wake. An ironic word to use.
Ah dammit. Just when he started to think he controlled his Attribute again to a certain level.
'Tsk. And this letter is?'
Hope opened the letter for a new distraction, his bloody fingers imprinting on the paper as he read the content. Which wasn't much but the words 'I'm sorry' written over and over again.
Hope looked at its front and back as he walked away from the scene.
"The only body not found is the husband."
Although, Hope doubted he was even alive.
Hope dropped the letter at the foot of the stairs before he walked up to the second floor.
The second floor was more of a wreck. It was as if someone had purposefully thrown stuff around in insanity, or a nonexistent storm had blown from the inside. As soon as Hope stepped into the office-like room, there before him was a wide broken window with a view of another building across bridged with hanging vines.
Ah. That girl was telling the truth after all. But she didn't mention the possibility of swinging to get there…
Hope walked towards the opening and gazed outside.
'I suppose I just climb over onto the other side which has some tunnel she mentioned and–'
"Hmm?"
Hope paused at the edge of the broken window and looked down.
There down down below, the street caved in like a deep ditch. Almost similar to that crater he saw before. But hidden in its shadowy mouth was a body splattered and twisted in odd directions as if it were a broken doll.
Hope narrowed his eyes at the sight.
"How unfortunate…" He sighed as he pieced together the situation.
He had to admit that this wasn't his first time witnessing such an unfortunate incident. Besides him being at sites to carry off dead bodies of Awakened, there were also sites where he'd carried off victims dying at the hands of people failing their First Nightmare. One moment they'd be sleeping in their beds, the next they'd wake up to a hungry mouth with an unrecognizable face about to maul them.
Hope paused as he recollected his thoughts.
"Mother turned. Daughter died. Bullet to head." Hope frowned as he looked over the edge. "Death over guilt."
Husband likely couldn't live with himself after all of this.
But this cycle of grief would drive the next close person into their First Nightmare. Especially if it started in a close-knit family. When one fell, usually the next followed in pursuit.
An unfortunate cycle.
It was an even worse when one couldn't differentiate regular sleep from a First Nightmare sleep—rarely do any of them pass. Probably because they molded themselves to a lazy comfortable life without the need to train for such a possible future. As for most who turned, chaos flourished into an unforgettable nightmare neither could awake from. And that was an almost daily routine to deal with years back.
Hope paused as he looked over at the setting sun. Its warm hues through the window were like fire that Hope felt another memory starting to lurk from it.
Hope couldn't help but wonder…what the hell was life like for all the other Quadrants?
What was the reason for those people to be secretly boarded onto the Arks away from this one?
'Huh. Should I try escaping over there then?' Hope thought. But already that thought alone felt like an annoying weight to deal with. It'd be too much trouble to go through even with his Flaw. Too much planning and work. Or maybe he was overthinking it.
"Right…" Hope sighed again as he stepped up and perched on the window's frame.
Of course, none of that was his main problem right now.
Right now was to reach the vines to get to the other side.
'I just have to jump. One step is all it takes—'
!!!
Hope flinched.
'Behind...' His instinct said.
Behind.
Behind.
Behind. Behind.
"Don't tell me that he actually…"
Hope barely managed to say those last words for what came next.
He whipped away from the drop below and faced the inside of the room, his shield already bracing up. And there he heard a rush of footsteps storming through the house like a fleeting drum.
And it wasn't until—
'For fuck's sake!'
Fwssh–
BOOM!
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