Chapter 2: No Damsel in Distress
Altairen looks down at his empty soda can, unable to hold eye contact with her.
“Um… so… what brings you here? More importantly, how did you
get my number? Or… you know, know where I am? I… uh… kinda went no contact with
everyone after graduation… so…”
He sneaks a glance at her attire.
Does she live around here?
She slips her phone back into her pocket.
“Hmm? Oh yeah, about that…”
She steps in front of him. Altairen looks up, and his
expression shifts.
Her eyes have turned blood red, nothing like before. Her
demeanor shifts in an instant—the warmth vanishes, replaced by a dark,
unsettling aura.
“You’re important to me, Altairen.”
She leans in, her face inches from his. With her index
finger, she traces the line of his cheek.
“Far more than you could ever imagine~”
At first, he blushes, heart fluttering at her touch.
Wait, is this the start of my romance life?
But then—
A sharp, wet thwip—like a razor slicing ripe fruit. A line
of fire blooms across his cheek, followed instantly by the warm trickle of
blood.
He jolts upright from the bench, clutching his face.
“Argh!!! What are you doing?!!”
Blood seeps between his fingers and stains his shirt. A cold
sweat breaks out; his pulse pounds with fear.
“Don’t worry, Altairen. I just need your heart. Intact and
beating in my palm. Fufufu~”
Her voice drips menace as she licks a drop of blood from her
now-elongated nails. They’ve grown unnaturally sharp—her hand like that of a
beast.
“No…”
He stumbles back, then turns and bolts. Panic takes
over.
“Help! Someone! Please!” he shouts into the night.
“Fufufu~ Look at you, so cute~”
He doesn’t look back. He runs until his legs burn, lungs
aching. Spotting a children’s park, he dives behind a slide, chest
heaving.
Peeking out, he scans for Miya.
“Ren? Is that you?”
The voice makes him whip around, but no one’s there. When he
turns back toward the street, a figure blocks his view. He jolts, falls flat on
his back—too terrified to even scream.
He looks up, trembling. Relief washes over him when he
recognizes the face. It’s his coworker from the restaurant, Saki.
“What are you doing out here? At this hour?”
“S-Saki… What are you…”
Her eyes widen at the sight of his shirt.
“Wait, is that blood?! What happened? Are you hurt?”
“Yeah, my cheek—it’s cut…”
Saki leans closer.
“…Where? I don’t see any cuts.”
“What do you mean?! I’m still bleeding!”
Frantic, he presses his cheek, searching for the wound—but
it’s gone.
“What… no way…”
He fumbles for his phone, flips the camera on. His
reflection stares back, unmarked. Not a single scratch.
The phone slips from his hand and clatters to the ground.
Sweat beads on his forehead as a headache blooms.
“B-But… How could this be… I… I…”
Saki crouches down beside him.
“Look, Ren, I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to get
you to a hospital. You’re pale and shaking. That blood on your shirt is scaring
me, but you’re not actually hurt…”
She helps him to his feet.
“Let’s go.”
She waves down a taxi, and together they head for the
hospital.
***
“I’ve checked him top to bottom—there’s not even a scratch
on his body,” said the doctor.
“But the blood? Where did that come from?” Saki asked.
“That’s something you should ask him. And it might be
something the police need to look into…”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, who knows what he’s done. We can’t even be sure if
it’s his blood in the first place,” the doctor replied, glancing at Altairen,
who sat quietly in the corner of the patient room.
“But big sis, you know why I brought him in, right? He’s a
good guy. He could never—”
“That’s not something I can vouch for. If you have feelings
for him, then—”
“No! Not like that!” Saki blushed hard. She sneaked a glance
at Altairen to make sure he wasn’t listening, then whispered in a low voice,
“You know it’s not like that. We just work at the same
place.”
The doctor sighed. “Alright. I’ll see if I can get him a new
set of clothes.”
“Ah, thank you. Yes, we really need that.”
Raphael nodded and walked over to Altairen.
“You’re fine. No need to be afraid. Just wait here.”
Altairen sat in a daze, his mind spiraling back to the
events of only a few hours ago.
The door clicked shut.
Saki stood, pulled a chair close, and sat beside him.
“Have you calmed down a bit? Can you tell me what really happened?”
At first, he didn’t respond. Saki placed a hand on his
shoulder.
“Don’t worry. You can tell me.”
He gathered what little courage he could and tried to speak.
“I… I… was sitting on this bench, having a drink, and then… No, at work…” He
faltered, unable to decide where to even begin.
A wave of dizziness hit him.
“I… don’t feel so good…”
He looked down—and froze.
A knife had impaled his stomach. He couldn’t even feel the
pain.
“Of course.”
The words dripped with malice, spoken by the only other
person in the room: Saki.
“Finally caught your sorry ass~”
Altairen’s eyes shot up. Saki’s eyes had gone blood-red, her
expression twisted into the same murderous look Miya had worn earlier. A
sinister aura radiated off her. Fear surged through him again.
“No…”
His breathing quickened. His vision blurred.
“Argh!” He shoved Saki away with all his strength. “Get off
me!”
With no time to waste, he burst out the door and sprinted
down the hallway. Not a single person in sight.
The wound brought no pain, but—
“Oh God… Oh God… Haa… Haa…” Blood poured out. Maybe the
knife had been poisoned, because now his chest tightened with every breath.
He tried to keep running, lungs burning, his speed
faltering.
“Oh~? You think this is fast?”
A new voice. He looked up—it was Saki.
“No… no! Stay away from me! Don’t come close!”
“Shh~ Everyone’s sleeping~”
Through his blurry vision, he looked around. Every person in
the hall had been shot with tranquilizers.
“You… maniac!”
“Ahahaha!” She laughed heartily, pressing her hands to her
flushed cheeks, eyes gleaming with madness.
“Now, aren’t you a smooth talker~?”
“Saki! What is this?”
Altairen turned—doctor Raphael was rushing toward them.
“Doctor, you have to help me! Please!”
“What happened to you?”
He looked back. Saki stood expressionless, her eyes more
frightening than ever.
“She… she stabbed me! Right here!”
He lifted his shirt—but once again, the wound was gone.
“How… how…”
“Where? Where’s the wound?” Raphael asked.
“I… no… this…” He was speechless.
He looked at Saki. She smiled grimly.
“She stabbed me! Right here! It’s gone!”
“Okay, okay—stabbed you with what?”
“A fucking knife! She drove it right into me! I felt no pain
but—”
“Oh, like this?”
A sudden coldness. A yielding slick sound, like a stone
sinking into mud. His breath left him in a quiet, startled,
“…huh?”
He looked down. The same knife was buried in his abdomen,
all the way in. Blood splattered out, and this time the pain seared hot and
sharp through his body.
“You keep getting fooled, huh~? Ufufufu~”
Raphael covered her mouth with her hand and giggled
sweetly—though nothing about it was sweet.
“Fuck you…”
“What? Come again?” She leaned close, mockery dripping from
her smile.
“Fuck you! FUCK YOU!”
He shoved her off and stumbled forward, running again.
Why? Why is this happening to me?
The thought tore through his mind as he sprinted for the
exit. Blood smeared the white floors of the hospital hall, but he couldn’t
stop. He couldn’t.
Still, his body gave out. He collapsed just outside the
hospital entrance.
“Argh… fuck…”
Altairen rolled onto his back. No one followed. Out of
energy, he lay there on the asphalt.
“Is this it? Am I done for…?”
He looked up at the pitch-black sky before dawn. Then he saw
it: a figure standing at the edge of the hospital roof. A girl, something
shining in her hand.
“…what…”
The word barely left his lips before she jumped.
The girl plummeted down, sword aimed straight at his heart.
“Oh… I see now… You never stopped chasing me, huh?”
Miya, dressed in black, descended faster than anything, her
blade locked on him.
He closed his eyes in defeat.
“Heh… well then…”
The sound of the blade slicing through the air grew
louder—closer—until suddenly—
Shing!
Metal clashed against metal.
Curious, Altairen opened his eyes.
“Not so fast, ma’am.”
A figure stood over him, sword in hand, deflecting Miya’s
strike. The blade was massive compared to his frame. From the ground, it took
Altairen a moment to recognize him.
“Z-Zoro…?”
“Kept you waiting, huh?” said his high school best friend,
spitting out a cigarette butt.
Tears welled in Altairen’s eyes.
“No time to cry, goober. Man, you looked like ass running
from those girls. Pfft~”
Another figure appeared at his side.
“Shadow…?”
Another of his high school buddies, smiling brightly, gave
him a casual wave.
“Yo.”
“Sigh, enough pleasantries. Let’s finish this quickly.”
Altairen tilted his head back. Another figure loomed upside
down in his vision.
“Nashi… you guys…”
“Yep. Came to save your ass. You better buy us a good meal
after this,” Zoro said, shoving Miya’s sword back with his own.
Altairen couldn’t hold back the tears. Shadow helped him up.
“Not the time to cry, bruv. Gotta brick it up! You hear me?”
Altairen nodded.
The three of them took their stances. Zoro’s smirk widened.
“Let’s see if you ladies pack a punch~”
“Oh man, this is gonna be fun!” Shadow cracked his knuckles,
spinning his Kali sticks with showy precision.
“Sigh… let’s hope this ends quickly.” Nashi readied his bow,
string drawn taut.
“Tch! Nuisance! No worries, I’ll take you all down!” Miya
snarled.
Zoro twirled both katanas, grinning wide.
“Let’s rock!”