Perspective: Jake
As I got dragged away from Juke, I could see the life seeping out of him. Unconsciously, I got so bonded with him that it made me grieve, if even for a second.
"I'll avenge you, my friend..." I muttered under my breath as I got dragged away.
The moment we got onto the dining level, the others were well equipped with hunting equipments. Crossbows with the tips covered with a layer of our immune-cells-filled blood, obsidian blades made just for quick and swift slashings. With the other two women holding my equipments, I equipped myself with it.
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By the time I geared up, Bash, along with a man named James and another woman called Martha was standing guard near the entrance. The only sound echoing from the entrance to the stairs was the air ventilation system and the occasional 'thud' from the blizzard still raging on outside, though it wasn't as powerful as before as it got closer to noon.
Silence, everyone was tensed and prepared for anything that could happen. The first to speak again was the previously armored lady who was holding my equipment, May.
"Is it still there?" her voice containing a tinge of fear.
"It shouldn't be this intelligent. Non of the ones we combated so far has such abilities, even if you considered it could have learned," James voiced out everyone's opinion on the matter. The bloodbornes we contacted so far seemed not to have any intelligence, let alone have the strength to slaughter a dozen hunters.
"One of us has to go scout the situation, any volunteers?" Just as I asked, the electric supply cut off.
"What the-"
Before he could even finish, a large explosion could be heard at where the backup generator was supposed to be, followed by the emergency lockdown system booting up.
"We're locked in!"
"No! I can't die like this!"
"I... I can't breathe..."
A few of them panicked, but calmed down due to their training kicking in.
"We are now under lockdown mode, we have to get someone to the security room to open the doors if we want to escape," my voice boomed in the seemingly silent dining hall.
"But how? You know how strong the bloodborne we have here is, don't you?" Bash stated, ostensibly unperturbed by what happened.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE, CAPTAIN. DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE SEND ME," Martha shouted at me with wide eyes. Looking into it, I could see insanity slowly gaining control of her thoughts.
"Me either! Either you go yourself and let us out, OR we all die here, so which one is it?" James asked me while tottering around, looking distressed while asking me in front of everyone.
"I.. kind of agree. I mean, who the hell installed the lockdown system anyway? Wasn't it captain who prepared the base before our arrival?" the other woman who held onto my equipment stated the fact which turned all their blames towards me.
"Wait, you guys can't be serious right? I mean, he's just trying to protect everyone here right?" Bash was the only one who defended me, while everyone else glared at me.
"Oh what do you know, you slutty whore.you're just defending him cause he's your partner in bed, am I wrong?" Martha just stated plainly.
Some looked shock at the sudden revelation, while others just ignored the fact. Bash was flustered at the comment, but quickly regained composure, though what she said out loud told me otherwise.
"FINE, the two of us will go to the security room and unlock the doors, go and escape while you guys still can!" She just decided on her own of what I was going to choose, even though I was kind of hoping either to not go alone or not go at all. Wish partially granted.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
The moment her words got through to the others, everyone else followed Martha and James out of the dining hall, while I was dragged along, still kind of shocked, by Bash to the security room, which was accesible through the circulating vents.
It was at that moment that I regretted my past decisions for the rest of my life.
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On another continent, Tasha was struggling to keep still from being detected by the bloodbornes. She was hiding behind a large trunked tree, near the crash site of the second vehicle.
Remembering what she saw made her wonder what it took for people to reach and cross the boundaries of madness. Three bloodbornes were sucking the blood and life out of the crash victims. Drained corpses were tossed beside the vehicle while they continued on feeding. When she puked, one of the three looked up from its prey, but after smelling the air a few times, it went back to draining the prey in its arms.
They were communicating via a language only known to them. Speaking occasionally, or it would be more proper to call it growling, they would look around before resuming their task in hand.
She sensed that she could not even fight one of them by herself, let alone all three together. It was basically suicide.
Though moments after she observed the bloodbornes, they finished feeding and screeched, once again releasing the ear piercing sound into the forest. The sound did not hurt her even slightly, though if it did, she just didn't feel it. It was like a one time use kind of weapon. Following after, the three of them split, one hopping from tree to tree, another flew into the skies as if it were a bird and the last one dug through the ground like a mole.
Seeing this as her chance to escape, she quickly ran but soon found herself lost in the forests. Not long after, she ran out of breath and was now hiding behind this tree.
Breathing raggedly, she thought of how lucky she was to still be living even though she was lost. There was still a sliver of hope left in her, and she grasped at it as hard as she could. Try as she might, the sliver just slipped past her fingers everytime.
Giving up in her daydream, she returned to reality. It was still the same tree-filled forest, yet, there was a shadow behind a particular tree. Squinting, she could see it was just a large leave.
Relieved at the fact that it was not her predator, she walked on to where she thought was south. But the relieve was short lived when two tendrils shot out from the ground and wrapped around her legs, locking her in place. To her horror, the bloodborne she saw flying into the sky landed in front of her, wanting to consume her before its partner does.
Another one burst out from the trees around her, sandwiching her. The one in the ground bursted out while still having its tendrils wrapped around her legs. As it got up, the she was jerked upside down by it.
Attempting to grab at her blades after recovering from her shock, she found the blades no longer in her possesion. Instead, she saw the two blades held up by another two tendrils extending from the one holding her.
The three of them started communicating once more, leaving her in an agitated state. She closed her eyes as hard as she could, to block off the disgusting sounds made by these monsters. Though she blocked most things out from her senses, she still saw the sliver of hope from before.
Attempting to grab at it again, the sliver kept on slipping out of her grasp. Struggling over and over, it still slipped out of her clutches. She felt like giving up at that moment, and started accepting the fact that she was hallucinating, until she heard the growling stopped and suckers were being attached to her neck.
"What the-"
She tried screaming, but found herself unable to. Tried twisting around, but was still unable to execute such actions.
Muttering a silent prayer in her mind, she gave up hope. Ironically, the moment she gave up hope, she knew that she would once again see the sliver of hope, but this time she knew she would be able to gain purchase on it.
"By... God's grace..." she silently sputtered as she once again attempted at grabbing the sliver of hope.
The moment she gained purchase on it, she felt different. She felt like she was no longer in any kind of restrictions, and that anything was possible, but she knew it was just a thought before dying due to being drained dry.
Yet, what she saw when she opened her eyes said otherwise.
There was a look of shock on the face of the bloodbornes as their suckers merged into her neck. Instinctively, as if she had this kind of ability all along, she pulled the three of them towards her with just a slight tug, even though they were trying with all their might to pull away.
Like it was natural, they merged into her, mouth first since it was connected to the suckers merging with her, then slowly the head and their whole body. By the time she assimilated the three of them into her body, she felt like she grew taller and stronger too. There was also a feeling of accomplishment gushing out of the depths of her heart.
Surprised more by the fact that she killed three bloodbornes simultaneously than her newfound abilities, she quickly regained her senses and was even more surprised to find her instincts telling her where EXACTLY was north and where was south.
"Weeeeeell, at least I didn't die~:" her worries were alleviated by her sudden change of power. Though it resurfaced as fast as it went the instant she felt the digital distress signaller vibrating. It showed who was sending it and even from where too.
"Looks like Mr. Thunderstorm is in a whole lot of trouble to even bother involving us~" following her self comment, she ran in the direction of where the nearest airport was to board it but soon realised she didn’t have her passport with her.