"What the hell!" one of the armed men exclaimed.
"Fire everything! Leave no survivors!"
They resumed shooting.
Woshhh! Bang! Woshhh!
Bullets ripped through the air at full speed.
She stood in front of our car—unmoving.
Not a single bullet touched her. Not her. Not the car.
"It's not working!" one of them yelled, pausing to reload.
In a blur, she appeared behind him.
One clean kick.
He flew across the ground like dead weight.
"Subject 0 is rogue! Initiate extinction protocol—Storben!"
They redirected their fire at her.
Grrrrttttt!!!
She moved.
Perfectly.
It wasn't magic. It wasn't speed.
No—
Intuition.
I could see it in her eyes—the way she predicted their
movements before they happened, slipping through blind spots, striking with
terrifying precision.
It was… magnificent.
Within a minute, they lay unconscious across the ground.
Then she walked toward us.
And for the first time, I saw her clearly.
No smoke. No distortion.
Her fair complexion.
Her dark eyes.
Her long black hair.
The girl from the vat.
Standing right in front of me.
My heart pounded, and the next word that came out of my
mouth was, "Wow."
Something stirred within me, and all I wanted to do was
stare at her forever.
"Uh… uh… hel—hello there," I stammered, slowly losing
confidence under her presence.
Suddenly—
"Vrooommm!!!"
The car's engine ignited.
"Let's move!" someone yelled from behind us.
Swoosh—he jumped into the car.
"Step on the goddamn throttle, Mia!" he shouted.
Swiftly, I checked behind me. It was Liam—bleeding from the
head, scars all over him. It was a miracle he'd even made it into the car.
"We can't leave yet," I said.
"Uh, hello?" I snapped. "Someone just literally saved our
asses, and we're just gonna zoom off?"
I turned my gaze toward the angel still standing in front
of us.
"Do you need a ride?" I asked.
I—
Zwosshhh!!
A dart struck her neck before I could finish the sentence.
She collapsed instantly.
"Su… subject down… re—requesting immediate backup…" one of
the fallen men croaked.
"Fuck!" Liam exclaimed. "More are coming."
"Let's move!!!"
"No, we can't, Mia. We need to help her," I protested.
"What do you mean we?" Liam yelled. "You heard
them—'Subject.' That's government-type shit!"
"So we just leave the person who saved our lives to die?" I
shot back.
"Die?" he snapped. "Think! A chick comes out of nowhere and
wipes out armed men? Hell no—we're ditching her!"
"No, we can't—"
The argument cut short.
Mia—already under pressure—felt something stir inside her.
What was this sensation?
It wasn't tension. It wasn't fear.
It was something else.
She gently opened the driver's door and stepped out.
The sounds of Ethan, Liam—everything—began to fade until
only that sensation remained.
Five footsteps away from the car, she stared ahead, as if
expecting something.
Then—
Something stole her attention.
On one of the abandoned ships at the harbor stood a woman.
The moment Mia saw her, her senses spiked.
This wasn't suspicion.
It was danger.
"Uh… guys," Mia whispered, stepping back.
"Guys!" she repeated.
The woman stood at the edge of the ship.
She wore a long white kimono, patterned with lily-shaped
designs. Short dark hair framed her pale face.
"Never send a man to do a woman's job," she whispered.
She slowly extended her left hand.
Her skin turned pale as a vine-like, thorned tattoo crawled
down her arm.
The unconscious armed men began to move.
Their arms twitched—then stopped.
Again.
Crr…
Crrickkk…
Crricckkkkk…
Bones twisted and cracked, swinging unnaturally.
"Uh… dudes!" Ethan yelled, his face frozen in confusion.
Crrrickkkkkmm!!!
One man's arm split cleanly into two.
"Holy shit!" I yelled, scrambling for the car door.
"Roaaaahhhhhhh!"
The man screamed—awake now, writhing in pain.
"Please… no… not now… I've got kids…"
He begged through sobs.
"Who's he talking to?" Liam asked as the man's body
continued to deform.
"Stop… please… this wasn't the deal… I can't—"
Snap.
His head twisted backward.
"Ahhhhhhh!" we screamed.
"Start the fucking car, Mia!" Liam shouted.
"Wait!" Ethan yelled.
He jumped out, hoisted the unconscious girl over his
shoulder, and dragged her back.
"You can't be serious!" Liam snapped, then rushed to help.
"You're a real douchebag, you know that?" Ethan muttered.
Crrriiicckkkkkm... Chhhhhhbirrrmmmm... Skpa!!
Skriiiiiippltttt!!
The sounds poured out of the men's bodies.
Filled with curiosity i turned back.
"What's wrong with their veins?" Liam said. "They're
swollen—messed up."
"But it looks like…" I stammered, squinting.
Thump.
The vein pulsed.
"It's beating," I whispered, scanning the others.
"They're all beating."
"Shiiiit!"
"They're all beating!" I yelled, sprinting back with the
girl.
"Get in and move!" Liam shouted.
Mia slammed the door and switched gears.
Skrrriiiiiii—
The wheels spun before the car shot forward.
"Kill them and bring the goods," the mysterious woman said
calmly.
Woshh!!!
The bodies vanished.
"Hey—where did they go?" Liam asked, staring out the rear
window.
"What do you mean, where did they go?" Mia replied.
"The bodies. They were just there—then gone."
"Vanished?" I echoed, turning.
Bang!
A long, sharp claw punched through the car's roof.
"Ahhhhh!" we screamed.
"What is that?!"
"Not the goddamn roof!" Mia yelled.
Roarrrrr!
A twisted face slammed against the windshield.