⚠️TW warning: blood and violence ⚠️
Rinne breathed. The air was unusually thin and the atmosphere unusually quiet. They were here. And they were here for her. Every nerve in her aged body knew that the exits of the woods would be closed— she was lucky that she could got into here in the first place.
Shadows flew around. The mumbled chattering from a distance told her that the people from The Association were already around.
It's going to be okay.
The sky was still dark. It had long been known that they would always chose to strike during the night. But that was when they were inside the city.
But when the first man fell, when the chase started and the group went out of the city, the case was different.
The nightfall was no longer an advantage for them. Nobody would be interested in whatever happens in the rural. Nobody would bother- and ever knew that bullets were flying around the woods. And absolutely nobody would bother to know if anything had happened.
The darkness and the unknown is now Rinne's advantage.
The only reason that up till now, why she has not yet been found was because the dark was hiding her. The woods covered the skies. Rinne gently sat by a tree and waited.
She was tired. In the last three hours they had been running. Out from the city and into the grounds where people were rare.
Time was passing. And that was not a good signs. Hunters would like the dusk. Prey prefer the dawn. Nobody could see well in the thick mist. Nobody could catch her. For now.
Rinne knew that the moment when the sun rose would be the moment when she would be caught.
"It's gonna be okay, it's gonna be okay." Rinne knew that the reason why they came so early must be because of Cade. He must have done— or said something. She knew on the first moment when Cade called her, rushing to tell her to be careful.
But she didn't blame him, though. She knew that he must have a reason— whatever that was. She knew his routine, and in turn, he knew hers too. They came to this agreement so that they could go for each other when things happen.
Rinne sighed. Her house was burnt, obliviously, and the people were getting closer. She bet that if she breathed harder they could already knew where she was.
"Area B1 cleared."
Rinne could hear the static hissing. She could hear her heart beat faster by moment. Who knows what happens when they get her?
The two of them agreed that a the Association wanted immortals like them dead. But none of them had a clue about why they wanted the two of them dead.
"Searching in Area B2."
Rinne had no idea where they meant. The areas that they mentioned, the places that they went through.
It should be at least three midnight. The darkest period seemed to had passed and it seemed it was no longer that dark.
She guessed that they should be around three meters from her. If she said anything, they could probably hear her, and the other way around. She should probably leave. Find somewhere else, think of another plan.
She was alone.
Leaves fell onto her head as the autumn breeze blew her. It had been a week since Cade's call- Rinne expected them to come earlier.
Footsteps.
It was the sound of footsteps that came from people. Man. Rinne's heart pounded against her chest. She had to run.
She had to.
Rinne took a deep breath and allowed the warm air fill her lungs.
On the count of three, she stepped up, not caring to look back, and ran.
"There she is— she's here!" The yell came instantly after she started running. She could hear that the footsteps— the people were getting closer. And a lot more people too. She could not outrun them. Rinne knew that for sure.
But she wasn't any other person. After all, she wasn't one of them. The trees fell behind her as she went, blocking the way between she and the men. At least, Rinne hoped that the obstacle would be enough to keep them busy.
"She's running—" Rinne heard the yell from them. "She's running to the direction—"
The noise was softer now. Which means, they had a further distance than just now.
Rinne was relieved when she could no longer hear them. They were gone, after all.
She sat on the ground casually, resting her eyes and tried to sleep. The only thing left was to wait for the sun to rise, for the people to leave and she would be free.
"We found her."
Rinne jerked back. It was too late. In front of her stood a figure holding a raffle towards her, and after all, she didn't have to wait till dawn.
And he pulled the trigger.
Rinne barely made it. She barely dodged the bullet and it pierced through her leg instead of her head. With the next moment, she stood up, with a snap of her fingers the man was down on the ground, unconsciousness.
She picked the raffle up. Though she would never needed weapons to cause harm. but having one with her felt safer. As if she had more protection. Rinne pulled the bullet that was sticking inside her and threw it away. Surprisingly, the wound did not heal. Blood still poured from the crimson flesh.
The raffle. It had to be the raffle. When Rinne stared at the stained bullet, picking it up from the ground, some black liquid spilled onto her hands.
It was poison that prevents blood from clotting.
'Shit.' Rinne thought.
"She couldn't be far, continue searching." The yell was near, the people were here. They could be finding the body any moment. If her wound would not heal, then the person lying dead would be her. She could still longer run even when she was losing blood at this rate. She could still escape— putting all these people down and get medicine in the nearest hospital— it would be easy.
But was it worthy? Was it worth all the running, after decades of hiding? Of the whole of Rinne's life,she had never stopped running, never stopped escaping. Even if The Association was down, there would be new people, new organizations that would eventually know about that and come for them. And in the end, the running would be endless.
Rinne could stop this now. At this moment.
And so she stepped out of the dark. Away from her hiding. The flashlights faced her before she could regret on her decision. It was less than five minutes before she was surrounded by lots of people.
"You will come with us, Rinne." One of them screamed through the announcement, amplified by the microphone. Rinne stayed still. She was starting to feel weak when the wound was expanding, her situation was getting worse. It was as if regret was becoming a smaller possibility. The people approached her and Rinne allowed it.
Rinne closed her eyes again. The endless journey was coming to an end. Was it worth it? She asked herself. Surely it wasn't. Rinne could have cup of latte. She could enjoy her life in the beach— if she ever could.
And when she opened her eyes again, the world burnt before her. Ascended from the sky, the figure landed in front of her, hoodie over him. The approaching people fell one by one as they were consumed by the fire that leaked from his hands.
The eyes of the falling men sparked fear at first, and then when the of the red sooty fire came, closer and closer, the pupil soon lost the ability to dilate or contract and all left for them were the end when the fire burned under their eyes.
"Run, Rinne." The figure yelled at Rinne, "I'm surprised." He whispered under his breath and not bothering to look at her for another moment. Rinne ran without another warning.
The figure ran forwards, with fiery balls burning on top of his hands as he approached the people. Dry woods were the best for fire to grow, right? Certainly it was, for fire burnt on every inch of skin the fire went.
It wasn't long before the silence became screams, and the scream returned to silence. It had barely been half an hour when peace came and went.
"You need some bandages here." The figure said when he caught up with Rinne, "you should stop at a tree nearby and let me wrap it up for you."
Rinne nodded and stopped at a nearby tree. "You got them all?"
"Most." He said, pulling his black hoodie lower to cover more of his face, "Not all. They ran a bit quickly."
"It's alright." Rinne said, "they would only recruit more it won't make a difference."
"Here come some medicine, it'll be a bit painful but you'll be fine." he said, pouring some yellowish liquid onto a piece of tissue paper and dabbed it onto her wound.
Rinne could feel the hissing pain from the alcohol. "Look, it's not pouring blood anymore." He said, sticking a large bandage onto the spot, "don't have anything better but this should do."
"Great." Rinne said, "Well- I just want to say thank you."
"I am surprised." He said, "Really. And a bit disappointed too, if that counts. I thought that I could only watch and don't interfere. you can get away on your own."
"Maybe not, things happen sometimes." Rinne said. "Fancy some tea at coffee shop?"
"Maybe not." He said, "you don't even know who I am."
"Don't be silly. Everyone knew who you were when those little fiery balls came from your hands." Rinne said. "Night."