Anybody But You

120

Chapter One-Twenty

Vibe: Molasses by YNG Martyr & EGOVERT

Daisy quirked her head, closing an eye as she lined up her shot, "All my friends end up with my daggers sticking out of their foreheads." With her visible eye glittering unstably, she smiled, "Let's be friends in this lifetime, too."

With that, Daisy launched a second attack—heading straight for Alice's other shoulder. This time, Alice successfully dodged it as she hopped back; her heart hammering in her chest.

Humourlessly laughing from the instant adrenaline in her bloodstream, Alice stumbled backwards until she was knee deep in the cold water. After delaying the inevitable for as long as she could, she gritted her teeth and grabbed the dagger imbedded in her shoulder. Her hand shook so much as she began to pull; the pain making her see dark spots as the knife jerked out of her, inch by inch. Blood instantly stained her skin—running out of her with a small pressurized gush as the blade finally fully released.

It took only a second, yet Alice had to jump to the side again as another blade whizzed passed her ear.

Swearing angrily, Alice tightened her hold on the bloody dagger in her hand, "I thought you said your aim was to die for?" She grumbled, catching the sick amusement in the girl's grey psycho eyes as she pulled out even more blades hidden in a belt against the side of her skirt.

"A girl can't even play with her own food without being called incompetent these days." Daisy pouted before spinning around suddenly as corpses behind her rose up—her aim all too perfect as one thud after another, the blade landed directly between their eyes. Skipping to their temporarily fallen bodies, she stepped on their faces with one foot as she bent down and horridly tore the blades out of them. "Is it such a crime that I like to play with my friends first before I put them to sleep?" She asked with another frown, skipping towards the river edge again as her arms flailed childishly.

"Men." Alice responded, watching the unpredictable girl closely while holding her staff tightly as her toes numbed, "I'm willing to bet it's their fault somehow."

"It's always their fault." Daisy giggled as she found the spot she liked best, spinning the tip of a knife on her finger, "Such crybabies about it, too." She crooked her head to the side, "Will you cry like a man, as well?"

"If it made the world treat me like a man, I would." As Alice answered, Daisy prepared her daggers between her fingers.

"Sell out." She furled her nose up disappointedly before throwing all three small knives at her.

Using the staff without thought, Alice warded off the first one as it hit the wood—bouncing off after leaving a gash in the material. Ducking, she felt her hair get pulled as the second dagger brushed over her. The third and final knife struck its target—the blade slashing into her thigh as it dug itself into her muscle tissue.

Cursing as the blinding heat of pain rushed down her leg, Alice clung to the staff—barely holding herself up in the breathlessness.

"Thanks—" Alice whimpered out with a laughing cry, "—for listening... and also for getting my bad leg." She laughed again, sliding down to the water as she felt its energy encircle her with her flowing blood—trying to pull her under.

"Blondie, get up! I got you backup! ...And a hell of a bunch of corpses." A surprising heaven-sent voice called out, "I'm heading out to get Maggie and Talia—Henry, I trust you can handle the whack-job on the other team while keeping our whack-job alive. I'll come join the party soon."

Alice chuckled again, this time out of relief as she used her good leg to stand back up despite the exhaustion seemingly permanently living in her bones at this point. Thanks to George—who was currently running the opposite way—for killing a bunch of mages, corpses were now overpowering the slavers. As shown by Daisy as she stood against numerous bodies all trying to get to Alice.

"Just stay there." Henry called to Alice as he fought the corpses as well—someone's sword in his burly hands as he sliced the corpses up with Arthur at his back.

Watching them fight was like observing a dance; their steps in perfect harmony. Henry attacked in a way that was loud and messy while Arthur took careful steps and swings—his style almost artistic in its perfectness. They communicated in a way that needed no words; one step this way warranted a step from their dance partner the other way.

One slice here, one slash there.

Alice felt useless again, her powers beyond 'too drained' to waste on anything but counteracting John's moves by keeping as many mages out of his hands as possible. Meaning, all she could physically do was keep out of harms way while taunting the possessed, deteriorating bodies around the river. With numbing feet, she watched the others nervously—hoping to at least be helpful in preventing attacks by warning them against any she caught.

Mixed within the Corpses, Daisy was impressively fast; her speed enhancements making her an impossible vision to follow for long. It was clear the agile girl was enjoying herself as her lips spread into a wide grin; her entire being soaked in bloodlust and blood as she tore into the bodies. In a way, Alice understood her—she too enjoyed the metaphorical sweet taste of blood... more so than she had realized. It made one feel powerful and in control—something Alice had lived far too long without.

However, unlike Alice, Daisy didn't seem to have any sort of compass in judgement regarding morality. Besides the leash her captain seemed to have put on her, Daisy simply did what felt good.

And for her, that just so happened to be causing pain. And from the sounds of it, the ultimate form of pain... death.

Knowing this, Alice felt uneasy—a cold prickle along the back of her neck that kept spreading. The feeling was so strong and violent, she became physically dizzy and disoriented. Her hand clenched so tightly around Daisy's knife in her grasp, that the skin over her knuckles was stretched stark white.

As she tried to stand erect, Alice watched Arthur and Henry closely—the sickening feeling furthering as she saw the missteps. Henry was beginning to falter—his hand grasping his side where George had struck him earlier, clearly bothering him as he leaned forwards.

"Henry, once Maggie gets here, switch places with her." Alice suggested anxiously, looking for Daisy who had left a trail of bodies in her wake.

"Are you okay?" Arthur called out with his back to Henry protectively as he took on the majority of corpses surrounding them. "Take as long as you need—I got this."

Alice's hand twitched—wanting to throw the dagger to help with at least one body. But she trusted Daisy less. And as  much as she had practiced with daggers, aiming wasn't her strongest quality.

"I'm alright—just got hard to breathe for a moment. I'm fine now." He promised with a bad wet cough, stepping back into the correct position as he immediately began to swing and cut down the opponents as they all threw unstoppable strength into their offences.

Another small mistake in the choreography was all it took for Henry to become separated from Arthur as he stumbled forwards just as Arthur had stepped the opposite way—the corpses using his weakness against him as they collectively, immediately encircled the both of them alone.

Up against the many, Henry didn't stand a chance.

~*~*~

A.N.

Oh no! Not handsome Henry! Alice go do something and save that hottie!

Thank you for reading ❤️