Bloodwalker

Chapter 30: The Dog

Trigger Warning/s: blood, mention of knives, vertigo, injuries reminiscent of self-harm methods

Pre-chapter notes: none

Art: Mike Poretti on ArtStation. What can I say? He's a wonderful 3D character artist and you'll find that his profile has a lot of 3D-modelled human, alien, and fauna faces... some of them look like they could be straight out of a horror movie! I'm not really one for scary things, but nonetheless, I still find this very impressive (even if it is scary, it means it is very realistic!) so I hope you can support him! At least do it for the dog in the cover image, which is very cute (I believe that it is a Rottweiler, for those who do not know).

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If life is a road, then it seems that yours is full of potholes.

Because you're supposed to be the one obediently following those around you like the little dogsbody you are, so why are you the one being tailed now?

The girl behind you has cat-like, honeyed eyes and two buns on her head, stray hairs wildly sticking out like curled spaghetti strands. You might feel hungry if it isn't for the way she's incessantly following you through every aisle, sending a gleeful smirk your way every time you turn around to look at her.

How did this happen again?

It seems all your most peculiar incidents happen around the times when you go grocery shopping, because as your luck would have it, that's where it all started, one hour earlier...

The afternoon was peaceful and pleasant. There were not many milling about, and to add, you had already finished your homework and had spent much of your time reminiscing about the events at school that day. Kaminari had tried to pull another knock-knock joke on you, albeit with no results, and today, Aizawa had only glared at you twice. On top of that, you had asked Shoji if people needed to shake hands with every single one of his limbs when greeting him, and to that, being so flabbergasted, he had no response.

As usual, you had many things that you'd need to clarify with Yoarashi later.

It was unlike you to be so pleasantly distracted while walking to the store. On a standard day, you would be constantly alert, scanning your surroundings for escape routes, hazards, and suspicious individuals (truly, there is no rest for the wicked).

But today, you had let your guard down just a fraction. You found yourself spending more time appreciating the flowerbeds that business owners had planted outside shopfronts, and taking interest in the colourful windows of boisterous and beautiful wind-up toys. Suddenly, the world felt lighter. You felt so free - free enough to see the world like through such a joyful lens. As you kept walking, you wondered how much more of the world you had yet to see, how much larger it could get.

You were walking, walking, walking...

And walked straight into a pole.

Ouch!

Blood floated out from your nose like cigarette smoke - your nose which had unfortunately absorbed most of the impact. Quickly, you tried to send it back in, to staunch the bleeding from inside your nostril.

This will most certainly bruise, you had thought, clutching your nose in pain and annoyance. How inconvenient.

Then you turned around to see a girl from across the street, staring at you so intently with maniacal glee. She had taken a slow step forward, then two. A car had passed, obscuring your vision of her. When it had cleared the distance between you and her, the girl was gone.