[Naz] Anathema 6

Anathema 6- Transformation

Avril

Death. It’s something that is inevitable. It’s something that we all fear. Something that lurks beneath the shadows of our greatest fears. Something that stalks us everywhere we go. Death is there… waiting…

But I was not ready for it. I could see my amethyst irises reflected off of Iro’s soft gelatin eyes. Shades of life. I could not speak, but deep inside, I wanted to scream. I needed to scream.

“You’re not seriously thinking about it are you?” I finally managed to whisper.

Iro’s face was stern, his jaw clenched. He breathed in deeply, hesitating, waiting. Right then, I knew he made up his mind. Iro was never one to ponder deeply. He always came to decisions fast, and most of the time they were right. But not now… I saw his eyes flash to his Timeless Knuckle, waiting quietly on his right hand.

And in that moment, that split second, I reacted. Instantly, I whipped my body around, feeling my boots hit flesh with two resounding thuds. As Iro and Feng staggered backwards, Ethan rose up, already fitting two Steelies into his claw.

My foot slammed down on the side of the bed, making the mattress fly up vertically. Immediately, two steel stars pierced through the soft cushion, spraying feathers up into the air. Propping my feet up against the wall, I threw all my weight into the mattress, and heard a muffled curse as I slammed the bed into Ethan.

Iro was back on all fours, reaching up for me, his eyes full of determination. I knew he had never lost a prey before. He would find me and kill me if that was what he wished. But not now…

Grabbing my Shinebow and quiver, I sprinted out the door and out of the house. Behind me I heard the mattress fall back down on the floor, Ethan swearing loudly and profusely.

Feng’s shouting voice drifted away as I bolted through the night in the rain. Even though there was no one in the streets, it felt loud, noisy. The ambient nature screamed at me for defying fate. I was going to turn into one of them. Why the hell did I not let myself be killed…

A flash of thunder lit my way for a brief second as I made my way back into the woods. Fresh blood smeared the trail, leaving pools of dark red blood everywhere as the rain mingled with the dying traces of life. I didn’t care though; I had no where to go.

Instantly, I regretted escaping. Iro probably would have given me a quick, painless death. Out here, alone in the world, I was at the mercy of the infected. I saw how they tore ravenously at their prey until there was nothing left. It would not be over quickly. I would not enjoy it.

It seemed like days that I trudged through the darkness, the rain lashing down at my face, whipping my hair into my face. The cold made me numb; there was no pain, only regret. As the darkness swirled around me, I found myself drifting further and further away from reality. The shadows enveloped me.

…Shadows in the Dark…

I felt the searing pain tear through my body, pulling apart every nerve, destroying me from the inside out. I wanted to scream, but my voice would not respond; it had died a long time ago. My body was writhing, but I could not feel it move at all. It felt like I was strapped down to the sun.

The distant voices were calm, telling me that it would be over soon, that I was strong enough to fight through it. I wanted to kill them, to tear them apart, to rip their heads from their bodies and drink their blood. I wanted to murder, to destroy, to annihilate.

And that’s when I realized this was exactly what they wanted. This was why they did this to me. Some dumb broad walking alone in the dead of night kidnapped and murdered by some street gang. The news would tell of a tragic murder, leave an unidentifiable body behind, all because the Nexon Dominion told them to. I would not be missed and would be forever a slave to their horrid bioengineering experiments.

If they wanted a monster… then they got one…

…Ere the sun rises…

As the rain finally started to cease, the sun broke the distant horizon, lighting up the last remaining rain clouds with a brilliant shade of blood red. A cold wind rustled the leaves on the branches above me, shaking a small shower down onto my body. I opened my eyes.

Somehow during the course of the night, I had managed to climb the tallest tree in the area; I found myself sitting on the highest branch looking to the rising sun. Blood had been spilt the past night. The diminishing thunderstorm reeked of death. I breathed in deep, taking in the cold morning air, feeling the freeze overtake my lungs, refreshing my body. I felt strangely alive. Perhaps it wouldn’t be that bad at all.

All of a sudden, something smashed into my tree, violently shaking the branch that I was perched on. My eyes snapped down and caught a glimpse of a bloody figure smashing into the trunk a hundred feet below. They found me. It was my end.

But right then, something in my mind snapped. Synapses rerouted themselves and for some reason, I wanted to go down there and face them. I knew my Shinebow would only take out two or three before they overwhelmed me, but I wanted, thirsted… The crescent shaped bite mark on my neck pulsed eagerly.

And before I knew it, I had leapt off of my branch. Then, everything slowed down to a snail’s pace. I fell, but it took an eternity. The wind in my face was a mere breeze; I could count out loud how many of the infected there were as my eyes darted from head to head. Out of the corner of my eyes, however, I noticed something strange.

My forearm was throbbing violently and I watched in surprise as my skin tore to reveal the blood and tissue inside. Veins and arteries were growing exponentially fast, building themselves on the right side of my arm, and in a burst of blood, a meter long blade tore itself out of the rerouting blood lines. The shiny metallic razor gleamed voraciously in the morning sun.

My fingers were now elongated claws like a Balrog’s; my nails were sharp talons. I could feel a new found energy coursing through my veins. I was not me. I was new, better, a monster.

Smashing down on the ground, I instantly decapitated four of the infected with my blade. The feeling of bones and tissues being instantly sliced in half brought a wry smile to my face. Amidst the feral screaming, I realized that I had joined in. With each and every body I dismembered, I grew more and more lustful for blood. I loved this feeling…

It was only a matter of minutes before more than fourty lay dead or dying. Pieces of humans were littered everywhere. I trudged through the shallow pool of body parts floating in blood to an infected that remained standing. I had cut his arm off and he was stumbling around, trying to get to me.

Taking a deep breath, I sprinted forward at an amazing rate, and grabbed his head in my claws. I could hear his skull cracking underneath the extreme pressure. Whipping around, I kicked his body into a tree, making the bark splinter from the impact. His torso fell to the ground in a slump, headless.

My breathing slowed as death finally took them all. Looking down, I watched as the last few drops of rain wash the blood off of my curved blade. Then, right before my eyes, it retracted into itself and back into my fore arm. My talons morphed back into my normal human nails, and the blood vines settled back into my skin. Within seconds, my arm was perfectly new, perfectly human. The last of the raindrops dripped from my fingertips to the bloody forest grass.

As the sun cleared the horizon, the clouds quickly dissipated, leaving only wisps floating lackadaisically in the air. For the longest time, I gazed at my hand as I walked, examining it, trying to pick out what had happened before.

But there was nothing, my skin was pulled tight over my flesh. The only thing left that acted as proof that I was not crazy was the torn sleeve on my red Armis. With a quick motion, I bit the ragged end of the torn overall at the top of my shoulder and wrenched off the fabric, leaving my right arm sleeveless. Immediately, I felt a cool breeze lick the tiny hairs on my skin. It felt good to be alive.

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble. A thunderous noise crescendoed to a roar in front of me. Then, a man appeared through the thicket, wielding a Dragon Claymore. He immediately turned around and shouted something inaudible to someone or something behind him, and immediately, I was surrounded by Marksmen, Bowmasters, and Gunslingers, their weapons fixated upon my forehead.

“Excuse me, miss,” I heard the man say in a megaphone, “Put your hands up in the air and walk toward me slowly.”

I did not move. I knew I could not reach my bow in time for it was slung over my shoulder. The arrows in my quiver lay silent, out of reach.

Then, that feeling, the monster started to growl, thirsting for blood. Something was happening to me. Ever since I had been bitten, I felt different. I was surprised I was not dead yet or close to it. Somehow, I was far from it, I felt more alive than ever before.

“Miss, you will comply, or we will use deadly force,” the man shouted over the loudspeaker.

I never felt more still in my life, yet the energy coursing through my veins was almost unbearable. I was planted to the ground, waiting.

“Miss, I’m not going to ask you again,” his voice was trembling. I could see his hand twitch around the hilt of his sword, “Lay down your weapons.”

I looked up and whispered, “Come and get them.”

The leader of the force nodded and his men closed in cautiously. All of their weapons were still trained on me. As they moved closer, I could sense the heartbeats of the soldiers: erratic and unsteady. Fear surged through their bodies. After all, why would an innocent little girl defy the government, especially during a viral outbreak?

They crept up like a prowling animal stalking a prey. Except this one was not afraid… The nearest one reached his hand out towards me.

Then, time slowed down once more, and I felt the extremely satisfying sensation as my muscles and tissues reconstructed themselves to form the curved blade once more. My claws were not even done sharpening into talons yet when his head fell to the ground with a sickening thud, shattered and broken.

This little girl was not afraid…