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An unexpected axe wielder.
Key was gone.
I stared vacantly at the sofa on which I had left her, the blanket folded into a neat square. I had expected as much, I mean she couldn't just stay here forever. But I didn't think that she would vanish without a word. I sighed, my heart sinking. Something interesting had finally tumbled into my boring life, and now it was gone forever.
Eventually, I turned my eyes from the depressing scene and ventured into the kitchen, searching for breakfast. Flicking the kettle on, I readied a double shot mug of coffee and ascended the stairs back to my room. Back to my previous life. As I reached the last step I heard a small peep from down the hall, barely audible. My head twitched in its direction.
Key, to my great relief, was suspiciously eyeing the bathroom from inside the closet that stood adjacent. Carefully, so as not to frighten her, I walked down the hall, resting on the closet door frame and following her gaze. The faint patter of the leaking sink could be heard from within.
"David." She uttered, sleep that had not yet been shaken tinged her voice.
We kept staring into the bathroom. "Mmm?"
"Your house is evil."
Water. Endermen had a resistance of absolute zero against it. "Does water even effect you?"
She pursed her lips, but gave no answer.
My mind was fully recovered now, after the trauma it had sustained the day before. Logical decisions and conclusions were no longer a fleeting thought. She was an Enderman, that was for sure. But I had never seen any, aside from the ones hunting her, which appeared remotely human. There were only a few sensible situations that could lead to such a thing. "You're a hybrid aren't you? Half Enderman, half human."
She finally looked up at me, not too far up, just a few centimetres or so. "You're smarter today."
"The fact that you gave me a concussion didn't help."
The girl let off an annoyed type of humph and returned her line of sight to the bathroom. "You're meaner today too."
I sighed. "Come on." Pushing open the door, I finally exposed the ceaseless origin of the dripping. Key pulled a little bit further into the closet. I held out my hand and smiled at her, gently. "It's alright. You can do it."
She stared at my outstretched offering, and then into my eyes, studying me. At first the action was confusing, but slowly I began to realize... It must be uncommon, to be a different among your own species. You would quickly become an outcast. And seeing as how even her fellow hybrids were hunting her down, she must have been alone for a lot longer than I could ever imagine. No wonder the prospect of trust was alarm for her suspicion.
It was a moment that would define the rest of our time together. And thankfully, it didn't go to waste. With a great deal of hesitation, she eventually placed her hand within mine. Her skin was soft to the touch, and warm... The Endergirl's cheeks lit up a little at the contact and her eyes quickly darted away from mine. She really was quite shy. And that made her all the more cute.
Carefully, I lead her into the small room and we stared at the menacing object before us. Key's fingers tightened around mine with each passing drop. This was not a petty fear, fostered by scary stories or superstition. This was an instinct. To her, water posed a horribly painful death... I could only imagine what it would feel like to have water, the element responsible for extinguishing flames, burn you to a crisp. Logic told her she would be fine, but the subconsciousness is a cunning foe.
Lightly squeezing our now entwined hands, I prompted her forward. We neared the sink, its constant drip drop almost torturing the poor girl. I turned to give her a reassuring smile, but she was fixated on the unthreatening threat before her. Steadily, I pulled her hand upwards and held it underneath the faucet. Her jaw clenched in anticipation.
Drip.
A moment passed. The once terrified girl blinked.
Drip.
She watched the small transparent orb cascade down our fingers.
Drop.
Key let out a sigh of pent up relief, followed by an incredibly adorable giggle that made me shiver. There was no way in hell she was human. No human girl could possibly be that cute. I laughed. "See? Nothing to worry about."
She nodded, a huge smile breaking out across her face. It was at this moment that we both realised we were still holding hands, almost fondly. We hurriedly let go, our fingers catching on each other's, making the detachment a little awkward. I quickly cleared my throat and changed the subject. "Well I've got to get ready for school." I took a sip of my coffee, which was now slightly colder than it should have been, and made for the open door.
"Oh... You're leaving?" She asked, a little surprised.
I paused and looked over my shoulder. "I'm afraid so. You're going to be okay, right?"
A not too assuring nod preceded her response. "If something goes wrong, I can always teleport to you."
My eyebrow raised on its own accord. "You can teleport to people? Not just locations?"
"Mm." Was the affirmative.
Eventually, I was out the door with my uniform on and my laptop equipped. I finished off the last dregs of coffee and placed the chipped mug on the porch to bring in later. Key rested her curved form against the door frame, watching me.
"When will you be back?"
I thought about my meeting with Siren this afternoon. "About five." She glanced quickly at the sun, still early to join the morning sky. "I'll change those bandages tonight too." I noted, briefly examining her injured arm despite it being hidden under the extensively long sleeves of her hoodie. She gave a small smile and watched as I left. As I was almost out of sight, I called back to her. "If anything happens, find me okay?"
"I will."
As per usual, school was a drag. The constant bickering of the hyped up students did nothing but make the waiting game seem longer. Lessons ticked by with never ending trails of thought that resurfaced no matter how hard I tried to push them out of my mind.
The main one being that there was an extremely attractive teenage girl living with me at the moment. Others included the fact that she was not of this world or the question of what the hell I was going to do when my mother returned. I could do nothing but lay in wait for the cards to be played.
Something pointy hit the back of my head, I resisted the urge to jump in fright and simply gazed upwards, blinking my lazy eyes. A simple, yet precisely crafted paper plane skidded to the scratched wooden floorboards, its nose crumpled after the impact. It was then that I noticed how empty the room was, only a spiky and short-cropped red haired girl remained.
Had I fallen asleep?
"I've got places to be so don't fall asleep again." She called as she pushed through the door.
I glanced at the clock and immediately jumped to my feat, my muscles twinged from the sudden activity. If I left now, I might just make it. It wasn't hard to believe that I had slept and thought my way through the last seven or so hours, it was quite common really. But the time for rest was over, I was anxious to meet Siren. You can never be sure when you meet a friend you found online. More frequently than not, they were overweight and nerdy. But occasionally, you found yourself shaking hands with someone quite unexpected.
I thought about his last words for a moment, 'You'll know me when you see me.' Huh? He was totally going to be fat and nerdy. What else could distinguish him from every other normal person? Awkwardly, I noticed that I was walking a few meters behind Raven as we wandered down the stairs and eventually crossed the border between the school grounds and the outside world. If she noticed me, she'd definitely get the wrong idea.
The girl didn't even so much as turn around when she spoke. "Stalking me, pervert?"
I rolled my eyes and picked up the pace to walk next to the perceptive girl, her hearing was uncanny. "Who would want to stalk you?"
"Usually it's only hot guys, but I guess today is an exception." She retorted, still staring straight ahead. I gave up and just kept following the various street signs and sidewalks the lead towards my destination. I glanced briefly at Ravens watch, catching a glimpse of the electronic digits. Only a few minutes remained, I was going to be late. The fiery red hair jumped slightly as its owner's head turned. "Got somewhere to be?"
"I'm meeting someone."
"Oooooo, Davi' got a date?" She laughed at her own joke.
She was right. The chances of me ever getting close to a girl were the same as the chances of her ever becoming polite. It was not happening.
Purple.
I shook the image out of my head. "Just a good friend."
She raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you had any. I suppose they must all be as lame and dysfunctional as you."
Shooting an annoyed glance her way, a question popped to mind. "Where are you going? You usually catch a bus home."
As we rounded the corner on the side of a vacant street, Halbert Park came into view. A chill ran through me as she pointed towards the grassed over area.
Fiery red hair.
Left handed.
Constant swearing.
I stopped dead in my tracks. After a moment the now unfamiliar girl turned, interested in my sudden halt. I stared, judging, processing. "Why?" I asked finally.
Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, her hands balled into fists. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
We stared each other down, unsure of exactly what to do. Online we were practically best friends... In real life we hated each other viciously. A single question ran rampant around my brain in a loop. "You're a chick?"
A twig snapped behind her eyes and she snapped back in turn, half way between shy embarrassment and stunned fury. "Of course I'm a fucking chick you retard!"
Shyness? Not once had I seen her express anything of the sort. I thought back to how much Siren had shared with me about her life and her opinions. She had good reason to be a little embarrassed, but then again, so did I. It was only now that the signs became clear to me. Her avatar was always the same, always female. Why had I presumed otherwise? It must have been the personality, she was a tom-boy after all. I kicked myself for the simple mistake.
I tried not to. I really did. But despite my efforts I couldn't stop myself from re-evaluating her. She was wearing a plain black school skirt that was far too small for her, coming up to the middle of her grey stocking covered thighs. It confused me, Sire- Raven, was not the type to be sporting such revealing clothing for no reason. It was even more puzzling when her dull white shirt was baggy and a few sizes too big. There must be a reason behind her fashion choice. Despite that, she was quite curvy but also oddly muscular. It was not as if she was rippling with muscles and capable of bench pressing five time her body weight, but her tanned skin did not appear soft either. A few hardly noticeable freckles dotted the bridge between her nose and underneath her short lashes.
The most noticeable factors however, were the icy cold eyes that seemed to have just finished evaluating myself in the same way. They burned with an intense rage. "Why didn't you say something?!" She cried at me.
"It's hardly my fault alone!" I retorted.
"I ha- h- hate you so much!" The quiver in her voice just confirmed the fact that she wasn't too sure anymore.
I sighed... Letting my own frustration pass. In an odd moment of clarity, the girl whom I could not decide what to call, stared nervously at her feet. I couldn't help but look at her, she was so different. I no longer saw her as intimidating and annoying. I simply saw a shy and confused girl, completely out of her comfort zone.
"So... What n-" A sharp pop cut me off and a soft form barrelled into me. As I fell my mind ticked into overdrive, time seeming to slow down. A pop, I related the sound to the most frequent connections.
Popcorn, no.
Pop tarts, no.
Pop teleport, Key, yes.
I pulled the falling girl's body closer to my chest and just barely managed to push my hand under the back of her head before we hit the hard concrete path below us with painful thud. I was dazed for a moment, my head spinning a little from the impact. When I regained my composure, I was staring right into the deep magenta coloured eyes of the Endergirl, her face but millimetres from mine. I could hear her frightened breathing and smell the scent of recent blood. A small cut crept across her cheek bone. Eternity in a single second passed before she rolled off of me with great haste.
Pushing myself back onto my feet, I found Sire- Raven, staring at the girl in disbelief. Key took no notice of her and promptly hid behind me, peering over my shoulder at the direction she had materialized from.
"What's chasing you?" I asked, swallowing.
"Onii-sama."
I translated the phrase without a second thought, it took me a few seconds to realise that she had actually spoken Japanese. I looked over my shoulder in question, but she was fixated on the space before us.
Brother. Another hybrid. And not a friendly one it seems.
I payed close attention as the pop echoed through the air this time. It didn't turn out like a fold in space or a hole in time like most of the sci-fi movies would have you believe. Instead it was more of a crack. Like a frame of glass was almost, but not quite, shattered and something was slipping in between the loosened shards. And that something would have been the charming replication of the world's most handsome teenage boy, if it weren't for the endless voids that served as his sights and the large metallic scythe that was grasped in his hands.
"D- David... What's going on?" Raven asked from my side.
My arm swung out in front of her. "Stay back."
She didn't move. At first I thought she was petrified of the hulking form before us, but as I glanced over, only her stubborn determination stuck out. The gigantic scythe swept upwards, preparing to end it all. There was no time to run, no time to think. I could only try and protect the ones behind me for as long as possible. Seeing no other option, I resigned myself to the fate.
Death had never bothered me as much as I was told it should. As long as I died for something important I had no problem with it, my life wasn't exactly going anywhere significant anyway. It was a fact, that by living you will eventually end up dead, no matter how many times you cheat the reaper.
And so I suppose I was almost happy to give my life in order to protect the others. At least I didn't die in an aging home, frail and weak. The tip of the piercing blade swung downwards, accelerating at an impossible speed.
This was it.
The clash and ring of metal against metal. I could barely believe what I saw. A titanium black hatchet extended from Ravens grasp, stopping the menacing tip only centimetres from my skull. Not a single second wasted in surprise, the enemy weapon pulled upwards for another strike, this time focusing on the red haired threat.
I stared as Raven reached under the frills of her skirt and clenched an identical combat hatchet in her right hand, her off hand. Leaping into action she blocked the incoming attack by crossing her weapons above her head, promptly swinging and extending her blade towards the enemy's side straight afterwards. Barely dodging, the hybrid jumped backwards a few meters.
They faced off, judging the other's next move.
The handsome boy charged, scythe sweeping out to the side. Raven, apparently unaffected by his looks, ran straight towards him. Had she seen his movements? She was going to be sliced in half! I could only watch in terror. Just as I thought my friend was to become a bloody mess on the side of the lonely road, she grasped onto the long handle of the incoming armament and spun over it almost gracefully, letting her heel swing upwards and slam into her opponents face. He was stunned momentarily and staggered backwards. She wasted no time in spinning and planting the first hatchet into his heart and the second into his stomach.
Blood splattered over the sidewalk. The defeated form hunched, before falling to the ground. As the deadweight connected with the unforgiving surface, it shattered. It wasn't his bones that shattered, or his strength... His whole body shattered into tiny blackened shards that were soon swept away by the wind.
Both Key and I stared in a frightened awe at the once seemingly innocent girl standing before us. She was splattered with blood and stood staring down at the remaining ashes, hatchets still gripped tightly in both hands.
Her neck craned to stare into my eyes... Just by looking at her, I could tell she was as scared as we were. "David... What's going on?"
I swallowed nervously.
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EXPOSE TO THE BONE
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Another chapter completed!
Stay tune for the next chapter!
☺️