"LET ME GO!" Hannah thrashed wildly, her screams slicing through the choking air. Her nails tore deep into Jagger's arms, ripping flesh as he dragged her down the narrow alley. Her body trembled like a spring wound to breaking, her eyes wild with terror.
He held tighter, ignoring the sting of blood dripping down his forearms. "Hannah, we have to keep moving. If you keep shouting, more of them will come. Dad and Mom would want us to survive."
"Fuck you!" she spat, voice ragged.
Jagger gritted his teeth, pulling her deeper into the smoke-choked passage. The stench of charred flesh burned his nose, but he forced himself forward.
"Let me go! You're hurting me!" Hannah screamed.
He ignored her cries, his body running on instinct, until his strength gave out. At the alley's end, his knees buckled, and he collapsed forward, the crushing weight of everything pressing down at once. Hannah stumbled free, landing hard on her side, her body shuddering with sobs.
"I'm… sorry," Jagger rasped, his voice breaking as tears welled. He wanted to scream, to tear the sky apart with his grief but instead, he forced himself to breathe, to focus. They couldn't stop. Not now. "Hannah, we need to run."
She staggered upright, mumbling incoherently.
"Hannah?" he asked, hope flickering.
Her swollen, tear-reddened face turned toward him. Her gaze was sharp, burning with something colder than fear. Hatred. "You killed them."
The words struck like a blade, and Jagger flinched. His chest tightened, breath faltering. He had lost them too. Their mother. Their father.
"You let them die."
SMACK.
Her hand cracked across his cheek, the sting searing.
"How could you leave them?!" she screamed, her voice hoarse, broken. "You didn't even try to save them!" Tears carved burning lines down her face. "If we're surrounded again, will you leave me too? Like you did them?!"
SMACK.
Her fist slammed into his jaw.
"HUH?! TELL ME!" Her voice shattered on the words, grief twisting into fury.
He staggered, unable to form words, every accusation cutting deeper than any blade.
"You were supposed to protect them," she spat, her tone suddenly cold as steel. "You were supposed to be the older brother I looked up to. And what did you do? You ran. Like a coward."
"I..." His throat closed around the word.
"This is all your fault." Her eyes narrowed, grief hardening into venom.
Something inside him broke. His guilt and grief, bottled until now, erupted. "It's not my fault!" His shout was raw, jagged, his voice tearing from his throat. "Do you think I wanted to leave them?! Do you think I wanted to watch Mom and Dad die?!" His chest heaved, the words spilling like blood. "Dad made me promise him! He forced me to take you and run, because if we stayed, we all would've died! Do you think they wanted that? For us to throw our lives away too?! Do you think I wanted this?!"
"Shut up," Hannah whispered, trembling. Her eyes glistened as she glared at him, tears brimming once more. "It should've been you instead of them."
The words gutted him. Jagger froze, staring at the only family he had left—who now looked at him as though he should have been the one buried in ash.
His jaw clenched, holding back the sob clawing up his throat. There was no defense, no way to undo what she believed. All he could give her was the truth that still remained.
"Blame me if you need to," he whispered, his voice low and heavy with sorrow. "Hate me for the rest of your life, if it keeps you alive. But you're my sister. No matter what you think of me… I will protect you. Always. I promise."
Then,
A low snicker slithered through the alley. It vibrated in his bones, sick and mocking. Hannah froze, chest heaving, her tear-streaked face twisting as the sound grew louder. Slowly, she turned toward it.
From the shadows, three goblins lurched into view. Their mottled green-gray skin glistened with sweat and grime, their yellow eyes gleaming hungrily as jagged teeth snapped in anticipation.
Jagger's heart hammered. He seized Hannah by the shoulders and yanked her back. "We… we have to go."
She stumbled, falling onto her hands, her entire body trembling as her wide eyes locked on the creatures.
"Hannah."
No response. Just shaking.
"Please," Jagger begged, his voice raw. "Head back into the alley. Now."
The goblins snickered, their laughter low and guttural, echoing through the narrow walls. Claws scraped the ground as they crept closer, tongues dragging across cracked lips, drool spilling in thick strings.
Jagger's heart thundered like war drums, but his body trembled, weak and sluggish. "Stay back!" he shouted, voice cracking. He raised his fists, though his arms felt like lead. "I SAID STAY BACK!"
One goblin narrowed its eyes, pointing a crooked finger at him. It muttered something guttural, and all three burst into mocking cackles. The sound slithered into Jagger's spine like ice.
He risked a glance over his shoulder just to check if Hannah was moving. In that heartbeat of distraction, one goblin lunged.
It soared through the air, snapping its jaws, its snarling face level with his own.
"AHHHH!" Jagger threw a wild punch. The goblin twisted aside, grabbed his arm mid-swing, and dug its claws into his forearm.
Agony ripped through him. "AHHHH!" he screamed as blood gushed.
He swung his other fist, knuckling the creature's shoulder. It released him, rolling back with a guttural laugh.
Jagger clutched at his arm, trying to stem the blood. "FUCK!"
The goblin charged again, claws slashing through the smoky air. Jagger staggered back, barely dodging, nearly losing his footing. Desperation fueled him, he threw an overhand strike that cracked against the creature's temple, staggering it.
No time to breathe. Another goblin leapt onto his back, yanking his shirt and dragging him down with brutal force.
Jagger slammed against the ground, the impact ripping the air from his lungs. White-hot pain jolted through his body.
"ARGHH…" He spat dirt, coughing as the world spun.
The third goblin landed atop him, rancid breath pouring over his face. Its crooked teeth snapped inches from his throat.
"GET THE FUCK OFF ME!" Jagger roared, smashing a fist into its jaw.
CRACK.
The goblin screeched, rolling off, clutching its broken face.
Jagger scrambled up, adrenaline surging, and kicked it hard in the ribs. Rage burned through his fear. "MOTHERFUCKER! I'LL KILL YOU!" He leapt onto it, pounding its skull with his fists again and again.
A flash of movement—
The second goblin swung a rusted metal pipe.
CRACK.
The blow smashed into Jagger's head. His body crumpled, blood spilling from the gash. The world blurred, his vision doubling, darkening at the edges.
He groaned, staggering, blood streaming into his eyes, stinging, dripping to the cold stone beneath him.
"JAGGER!" Hannah's scream tore through the haze, muffled and desperate.
"H… Hannah…" His breath wheezed, his chest burning.
Through the blur, he saw it. The third goblin creeping toward her, its lips twisted in a vile grin.
"Don't you touch her." His words were broken, almost a growl.
Jagger tried to rise, but his body refused. His legs were dead weight. He slammed a fist into the ground, furious at his weakness. "Get up… GET UP!"
Instead, pain erupted at his ankle. He looked down—the first goblin had latched onto his leg, claws piercing flesh.
"LET GO!" Jagger thrashed, dragging himself across the rough pavement, nails splitting against stone. But its grip was iron.
"JAGGER, PLEASE!" Hannah's sobs cracked with terror.
He twisted his head. Hannah had crumpled to her knees, the goblin towering over her. Her back pressed against a wall, her face pale, eyes wide.
"DON'T!" Jagger's voice ripped his throat raw.
The goblin leered, opening its mouth wide to reveal crooked, yellow fangs.
"N-no… stay away!" Hannah whispered, pressing herself into the brick as if she could vanish into it.
Jagger lashed out with his trapped leg, slamming his boot into the goblin clutching him. "I SAID DON'T!"
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The scream that followed was Hannah's—bloodcurdling, piercing the night, so sharp it rattled his skull.
And then, silence.
Jagger twisted his head toward Hannah—then froze.
The goblin loomed over her, but it wasn't moving. Its body trembled, rigid, as though seized by some unseen force. Yellow eyes bulged from its skull, veins bursting red.
"Hannah…" Jagger gasped, his throat tight.
The creature's neck snapped violently to the side. Its whole frame convulsed, spasms racking its muscles. Thick streams of blood poured from its eyes and ears before it collapsed face-first into the dirt with a wet thud.
Hannah rose slowly. Her movements were stiff, dreamlike. Arms extended, hands quivering, her gaze glassy and unfocused. Then—her fist clenched.
CRACK.
A hot spray of gore erupted, splattering across Jagger's legs. Warm blood soaked his trousers, the air shivering with the clang of a rusted pipe as it hit cracked stone. Jagger looked down—and saw the goblin's corpse grotesquely mangled. Bones jutted through shredded skin, its skull crushed, limbs bent in impossible directions, as if an invisible fist had wrung the life out of it.
"Hannah…" Jagger whispered, disbelieving.
The last goblin whimpered, dragging itself across the ground, its bloodied claws scratching grooves into the stone. It tried to flee, weak from Jagger's earlier blows.
Hannah's hand rose.
The creature froze mid-crawl. Its body lifted from the ground like a broken marionette, dangling helplessly in the air. It writhed, legs kicking, claws slashing at nothing.
Jagger's chest tightened. His mind reeled. He could not comprehend what he was witnessing.
Her fingers began to curl inward.
SNAP. A wet squelch.
The goblin's legs twisted until bone tore through muscle. Its strangled cries gurgled in its throat.
Another finger bent.
The creature's hips cracked, wrenched sideways, bones splintering through flesh. Blood poured from the ruptures in hot streams.
Then, all at once, her fist closed.
CRUNCH.
The goblin detonated in midair, exploding into a fountain of blood, viscera, and shattered bone. The alley was painted in crimson. Shards of rib and spine clattered across the stone. Droplets and fragments splattered across Hannah's face, clinging to her dress, streaking her skin in specks of gore.
Her hand dropped to her side.
She took one long, shuddering breath, then turned.
Her gaze locked on Jagger. Her eyes were blank—dull, lifeless, emptied of the sister he knew. Her expression was a hollow mask.
Jagger's stomach sank. Ice spread through his veins. "Hannah…" he whispered, forcing himself unsteadily to his feet.
She walked toward him in silence, slow, mechanical. The color drained from her cheeks.
Jagger rose to meet her, fear and disbelief tangled in his chest.
She reached him, then collapsed without warning. Her body went limp in his arms, her eyes fluttering shut.
He stood frozen, holding her close. Around them, the alley dripped with gore and ruin, the stench of blood heavy in the air. Power radiated faintly from her trembling body, a force he could feel but not name.
Jagger had no words.
Only shock.