lost souls ➳ to the edge of the sky | ✓

FIFTEEN

☪

I kept on turning my head over my shoulder, thinking of what could possibly be happening right now yet I also didn't want to expect for the worst. I knew she could handle it, but I was getting really worried. I could feel the same feeling throbbing in my chest the moment I placed my lips on her hand a while ago, it only made me hurt when I saw her forcing not to crack a smile.

It was only what I could do to make her feel better, to drive these fears inside of me away too. I just wanted to make her feel safe, but every time I tried to, I always ended up holding myself back.

Get your head off the clouds, I snapped to myself and sighed frustratingly, halting in the middle of the hallway and still seeing no sign of Six.

I closed my eyes.

She's right. I crossed the line. I exposed his name when I shouldn't have.

I snapped my eyes open, a familiar surge of energy rising inside of me as I whipped my head around and neared the walls, eyes scanning through the darkness. It was then I realized, my augs were activated again, the entire corridors now glowing with lines of red, and that sudden move within the shadows was what had driven me to stand my guard.

I waited for another movement, for any signs of attack as I stared through the walls. My hand slipped into my pocket, and soon I felt the damp, cold material against my fingers that made feel relieved to know that I still had it despite the river having everything else washed away. My heart was still as my mind was pounding with pure adrenaline, of restlessness, until I pulled the knife out and stabbed it into the man's shoulder of whom emerged from the corner to my left. He let out a grunt, and then an agonized cry of pain when I wrenched the knife out and grabbed his collar to bring him down to the ground.

“I only ask once.” It seemed he was slow in dodging my attacks that he didn't even do anything to break himself free as I held the blade against his neck and furrowed my brows. “What are you plotting?”

“N-No—” his eyes bulged out of fear when I pressed it against his skin “—no plots!”

My eyes narrowed. With my legs locking his, I grabbed his wounded shoulder and squeezed it as hard as I could to make him scream.

“You're gonna die!” he raged, his body squirming to get out of my grip but he only shrieked at my hand squeezing his shoulder harder, blood oozing out. “Killing me won't do anything to stop us!”

“Shut up.” I slashed the knife across his neck. I didn't know how much blood there was around me for my vision was glowing with pure crimson as I continously stabbed the man everywhere. My heart was still static, but my mind was burning, as I brought myself up to thrash my knife around more KAIROS operatives closing in, their white outlines only pushing me to impale them with red.

Punches had me stop for a split second, but I felt nothing. Every strike I received caused me to return them twice the force while sending them the uppercut.

I sprinted towards a woman to pull the hood off her head and knee her against the midriff before ducking swiftly to shove her against the man behind me as they both landed towards the ground with a thud. I swung the knife to the side just as it dug with a crunch into the other operative's stomach, before I pulled it out.

“GET HIM!”

I wheeled around, the vivid lines of a group of hooded operatives running towards me; it sent my body to sear of energy, blood rushing of hunger to kill. I spun my knife around and ran towards them, eyes flickering to a flash of steel from within for me to step to the side just as the bullet shot past my head. As the first man advanced to attack with a striking fist, I seized his wrist to twist it round his head, hearing a crack before another bullet shot his chest and letting him fall to the ground with a distorted extremity.