I suck in a deep breath, crouched down behind a tipped over couch while the battle unfolds where dancing had just taken place. This is bad. This is bad. There's Shinzoitas and Dragons. People run, booking it out of here while many others remain. They look unafraid. Maybe they're not human, too? I might have to defend myself, so I whip out the mask I picked up yesterday. There's this neat little shop I discovered called "100 Costumes and More", I just to pick up my own. I stand up, standing tall with a new face on, a wolf's mask. Someone leaps over the couch, whirling around to land in a crouched poise. Their eyes land on me. Their jaw drops showing off these massive teeth. Scales ripple down their arms to their lengthening claws. This is one of those dragons- like Red. Then it dawns on me. They can sense what I am, this I'm sure. He rushes at me. I grab their shoulders. They throw me down. Claws rip at my shirt. Blood flings into the air. It spatters in little droplets across the floor for some distance. They land upon me. I kick them off me, surprising them too. The dragon-like man charges me. I swing my fist at them. He ducks and dodges with ease. My head is knocked back. A snarl rips from my chest, escaping my mouth through the short muzzle of my new wolf mask. The man's nose wrinkles, and a roar escaped his mouth, spitting seething rage at me. He moves left. He lunges straight. Then I'm falling. I'm slammed up against the nearest wall. I kick back and find his leg. Something sharp pricks my neck.
"You-," I start, when a scream escapes me. A strike rattles through my chest. My screaming fills my ears, mixing and blending with all the other yells and screams going on. Another hard thwack makes me go blurry. Blood spatters on the floor and the wall. Without warning, the man is knocked aside. I'm kicked aside again. I crawl to my knees, trying to pull myself away. She's following right behind me. Soap and Vanilla.
"Hey- ow!" I yelp. I'm thrown to the floor. Jeez, I'm just garbage to everyone. They all want to do is throw me on the floor! I struggle to look over my shoulder from the ground. She has blond hair neatly pulled back, and she smells like soap and vanilla. That scent, the hair- that bizarre pulsing is back in my head.
"Lilly," I gasp, hoping the name matches.
"It's Hellrazor," she seethes at me from behind a horned white mask with a wide mocking red grin spread across its face. She raises her curled fingers, showing off these long white claws. She makes a grab at me.
"Lilly please, it's me Derrick," I plead profusely.
"Derrick- you? You're one of them?" She gasps.
"I told you guys- I just moved to the city, I wasn't born like this. I'm not one of them," I plead with her, "So please-," I start when one of her claws digging in my back gets a little too close for comfort. Like an internal flick, a worm biting at you. The pain is indescribable. It is the most uncomfortable thing to feel my body suddenly drop in temperature as I writhe on the floor. For some reason it hurts more than that dragon bite, like there's something vulnerable there.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Derrick- I'm so sorry!" She cries, loosening up enough for me to gasp and splutter for air.
"Where is she? Regina!" Someone roars from the other side of the room. I peer around the corner. The fighting briefly pauses as four people meet in the midst. "Regina, what's the meaning of this?" Demands a tall, wide shouldered guy with a blue mask covering half of his face. He has the development of an animal's muzzle, and long fangs exposed over his blackening lips curling into snarl. Regina, like the same shinzoita I encountered?
"Regina!"
"I'm right here, blue-dragon," the shinzoita, that same shinzoita from earlier appears out of the former chaos. She dawns one of those creepy clown masks, too. Its lips are painted bright red match the eyeshadow. A single black heart stamps the right side of her forehead.
"I go by Shinoryu," the man states. He runs a hand back through his jet black hair, his eyes electric. Regina smirks at him.
"We have reports of dead clan members. People that were in good health. People that were innocent. Children are dead. Care to explain?" Shinoryu demands. I glance around. Masks have taken over the room. I think any normal, non-supernatural humans have run for their lives. Not that there were many, there's so many masked people here.
"How should I know why your people are dropping like flies, we have nothing to do with their deaths, have you checked with the reapers?" Regina shrugs at him.
"Umbra Walkers has nothing to do with it because they take no interest in our affairs and you know that," Shinoryu spits, "We found a child, she had been impaled," and just like that Regina's cool exterior waivers. That's proof right there. Shinzoitas, these monsters, attack the heart. My hand runs over my own chest, remembering. Her friends, guards maybe, puff up their chests with clenched fists take a step forward. One in particular has a distinguishing black bullseye on his forehead with a heart at the center.
"I have no idea what you're talking a-," Regina shrugs it. The girl beside Shinoryu, wearing a gold mask curving around her face like a pair of wings, lunges forward. She leaps, feet hovering as she flies through the air. She is, in the seconds of flight, a winged goddess. My stomach rolls around at the sight. Even from a safe distance the send renders you paralyzed. Flames energize, fanning around her right arm. She throws a fist forward. In the silence of the room a new figure leap forward.
"Lucy," the girl breaths.
"Hi, Phoenix! How's it been!" The girl gasps. Her hand closes around the girl's flames, and utterly snuffs the energy out. Phoenix shivers. Their eyes meet between them.
"I haven't seen you in forever, oh your hand is so warm. Haha, I bet my hand feels really cold doesn't it? Why are you shaking little birdy?" Lucy rambles, "It's not-,"
"Lucy- careful," Regina warns.
"Oh, I was just having fun," Lucy giggles, "I wasn't going to take it too far you know,"
"Hello?" Sam finally picks up. Oh, thank god, I've been trying to get him to pick up forever. I can't get the words out of my mouth fast enough. I can hardly explain what's going on.
"I'm at a party," I try to explain, and he scoffs at me.
"Derrick?" Hellrazor whispers, gesturing with the dip of her head toward the fighting between the shinzoita girl and this new stranger girl. Lucy is fighting Phoenix. Hogosha and the Shinoryu fight Regina and unknown shinzoita accomplices.
"Some shinzoita's just showed up, there's some Phoenix girl and Blue Dragon. We need help," I blurt out.
"Shinoryu?"
"Yes, someone going by the name Shinoryu, so would you-," and a glass knocks my phone out of my hand. My eyes trace the phone. I snatch it out of the air, but I end up hanging up on Sam.
"You, you're one of them!" Some girl seethes at me. She and her friend stride towards us through the chaos of the room.
"Oh my god," Hellrazor hisses beside me. We watch as their faces morph to become more dragonish with small curving horns protruding from their heads. Four thick canine teeth length.
"Wait, we aren't apart of this!" I blurt out, tapping my wolf mask.
"Stay close by," Hellrazor warns.
"What?" I gasp at her.
"Her-raaaah!" Hellrazor roars. She launches herself at one of the girls. My legs stiffen, frozen where I stand. I'm suddenly slammed into the wall. I gasp. If she an ordinary, human girl this might be a little uncomfortable. She, on the other hand, has horns, claws, fangs, and small green scales forming down the sides of her arms. I bring my foot up and strike her as hard as I can. I completely miss the first time. She slams me up against the wall again. Something pops and rips. Her shoes are busted. Those are not the feet of a human. Those are the feet of a reptile, a mythological creature, a dragon! Her hand closes around my neck and her claws dig in. I can't breathe. I flail and thrash violently. I can't breathe like a human. A heavy pulsing in my chest beats all too slowly. I flail hard. A blow to the rib cage, and she doubles over, losing her grip. I lash out at her, and she's sent stumbling back across the floor. She clutches her stomach. I stare down at my own hand, fingers uncurling with these growing claws. My tongue flicks out of my mouth on its own accord. Something wet and sweet is on my lip. It takes away some pain. It's just not enough to make my wounds wane. There is more in a vein. It is most definitely not enough. It's just under the rib cage, beating with life. My nose twitches. It smells sweet. I blink rapidly, snapping out of it. My knees hit the ground. My stomach starts to heave dryly.
"That's sick," I remind myself. High heels tap against the floor. I'm picked up and bashed against the wall. My hands go to hers when my eyes pop open. A sick tingling sensation in my jaw brings me to awareness that I'm healing. A fracture that should take weeks, maybe months, is healing in seconds.
"Oh," I gasp at a blow to my chest. Then I'm hit again. Something cracks in me. She's aiming for what lies blow the surface, under the sternum, the pericardial sac, further below. The girl hisses at me, baring her deadly teeth at me.
"I hate your kind. You monsters kill people. You kill," she rages at me, "You creature's, blood thirsty with no respect for the heart of your victims. Do you have any idea what that does to us?" She seethes, her eyes watering a little now. What that does? Is that how- Is that why-... How desperately I want to cry out that I am not one of them. How I want to tell her that I am human, and that I am not a monster. Am I a monster? Scales crackle over her fist. A window shatters. A flash of blue tackles her to the floor and I fall from her grip. They slide against the floor until her head hits a wall. Her eyes roll back, and she goes limp. His eyes, peering out from under that blue mask he wears.
"Pathetic, you really should learn to fight," Red-Dragon tells me. He then spots Hellrazor, visibly cringing, "Not bad," he nods to her.
"The name is Hellrazor," she informs him. That mask of hers is startling. Behind it, the whites of her eyes are blacked making the iris seem to glow.
"The Red-Dragon," some girl gasps. She picks herself up from behind a fallen couch. How long has she been there? She's wearing a black mask that comes to a point at her chin.
"And- shinzo-," she gasps at me.
"He's not one of them," Sam corrects her, "and don't smile yet, don't you hear that?" He asks me.
"Hear what?" Hellrazor questions. I focus my hearing, focusing on what little things I can heard. I can't really focus my hearing, not at will power very well. It's growing though, coming this way within my range of hearing.
"What- I don't hear it," that girl mumbles softly.
"Police sirens," I breathe.
"We have to get out of here," Hellrazor snap as.
"Wait, but we aren't apart of this. We didn't start-," I begin
"You moron look around you," Sam starts to lecture me, "Perfect. This is great," He scolds me. Glass shatters in the room over. Someone bursts through the glass doors.
"Oh shit," they groan, rolling across the floor. They try to prop themselves up but ultimately face plant into the floor.
"Okay let's go," I agree. Sam, or Red Dragon, leads the way. We hop out a broken window and take off down the stretch of the yard.
"Did any of you- drive here?" Victoria asks me.
"I did," I reply.
"Shoot, where's your car?"
"It's fine, it's on another street. Just up ahead,"
"Yup," we pant and vault over the fence into someone's yard. We bolt for the street. Some dog starts barking. The sirens behind us are just reaching the house. There's my car. We made it! My ears twitch at the sound of cars starting up.
"What. Were you thinking? Going to that party?" Sam pants.
"I- I don't know," is all I can say while we all race to catch our own breaths.
"Does anyone- need a ride," I finally blurt out in between breathes.
"I'm good to go. Stay out of trouble," Sam snaps at me. My eyes flicker over just to see him shoot up into the air.
"I'm fine walking home," Lilly shrugs, eyes darting at me.
"A-are you sure? It's late and-,"
"I'm fine. Really," she says, and tries to give me a reassuring smile. Right. Hellrazor, also known as Lilly, just walks off. Well I suppose she is- a demon or whatever, she'll be okay. Now to drive myself home. She never stated what she was.
"Hey- um- Wolf?" The reaper girl calls to me. I blink blankly at her when she gestures toward her own face. I reach up, feeling the mask I'm still wearing. Wolf. That's better than being called a monster.
"Can- Can I get a ride from you?" She asks, "my place is kind of a long ways from here,"
"I'm- I'm a shinzoita," I remind her. She merely blinks at me with these doe-like brown eyes.
"You aren't one of them, though are you? One of the Thirteen of Heart's, are you?" She wonders, boldly taking a step towards me. Thirteen of Hearts?
"I'm not,"
"Well, if it's okay with you could you drive me home, please?" She asks me. She's being honest with me, so guess it's okay.
"Sure," I finally agree. The car is dark, but the city is still bright with life while I drive towards the South West side of Riverdale. She really would have had a long walk. My nails dig into the steering wheel grips. At least the claws are gone. I still can't let my nerves ease down. My senses are still on edge. I glance over at her. Then my eyes flash back to the road ahead of me.
"Thanks for the ride, um- Wolf," she mumbles.
"No problem um-,"
"Ghost Girl. Ghost. Whatever. I think that's a fitting name," the girl shrugs.
"Where'd that name come from?" I wonder.
"I'm a sorta reaper," she explains softly, her eyes watching the world of the city go by. The car goes quiet again.
"The city sure is interesting," I admit sheepishly.
"Isn't it. The supernatural world is more alive that you could ever imagine," she replies in awe. Her eyes seem to glow with wonder. A small little smile spreads across her face.
"How did someone like you get mixed into all of this?" She wonders, turning to me. I turn my eyes to the road when we hit a red light.
"I- met a bad person," I admit to her rubbing the back of my neck. The dim, dark, warm suburban apartment flashes back.
"A bad person, who, are they in this city?"
"I suppose I'll eventually find out won't I,"
"Be careful looking for whoever he is," she warns me.
"I will," I mutter. The little Nissan car goes silent as the light changes. Ghost Girl sighs softly.
"You take a right up there, and it's the building on the right," she instructs two blocks ahead. I nod my head silently. Ghost Girl has a sweet voice. I glance over at her shuffling around with that mask of hers when she takes it right off. No mask. Just her honest face. Victoria looks at me, not caring to hide her round, soft face from me.
"Here," she says, handing me a slip of paper.
"If you need someone to talk to give me a ring," she says before hopping out the car. I stare from the number to her as she enters the tall apartment complex. Once she's inside safely I drive off, tossing aside my own mask in the passenger seat. I drive in circles around the Riverdale Square, trying to process everything that's happened, before I finally head to my own place. The engine quiets down, still humming and warm. I became a shinzoita. I was attacked by shinzoita's. When was it... was that sophomore year? Sophomore year, when I was and human. Dragons. Shinzoitas. Masks... I don't think my life is going to calm down, ever.