Five angels scrambled down the hallway, each one hissing and desperately trying to be the first to bite into her. A few tripped over the two she’d just killed. Only a few hours ago she would've been terrified, frozen to the spot awaiting her certain demise. Now, excitement coursed through her.
After all, she could throw her hatchet with enough force to burst open heads. She was much stronger now. But that throw took a significant amount of stamina. Her arm throbbed from the effort. She decided it might be best to reign it back. These were only Tarnished Angels, and she didn’t want to tire herself out before she even got to Oliver.
Jenny threw her hatchet again, with less force, catching an angel on the shoulder. The force of the blow sent it spinning backward, its long red hair flicking through the air. She recalled her hatchet and raised her shield to block the first angel to reach her. This one was a brown-skinned male. It was already missing an eye, and blood covered that side of its face.
It thumped hard against the shield, but Jenny held her ground as it tried to break through. Her increased power made this almost too easy, and she thrust forward, taking a step and knocking the one-eyed angel away. It toppled over the angel behind it. Jenny didn’t give them a chance to recover.
She swung her hatchet once, then again backhanded, swiftly cutting through their throats before striking another one with her shield, slamming it back against a wall.
She heard the two on the floor screaming, gurgling, and as the notifications of their deaths appeared in her head, she swung around and lodged her hatchet into the chest of one more.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 7)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 6)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
She let go of her hatchet, and that angel sank to its knees, clutching the handle and trying to yank it out with its skinny arms. Light flashed, the hatchet returned to her hand, and blood spurted out of the angel’s chest. It wheezed, staring at Jenny with lifeless eyes, and made a feeble attempt to grab her leg.
Jenny kicked the angel hard in the face. Its teeth gave away to her boot. Its nose crumpled. And its head struck the wall, the back of its skull bursting open and splattering everything with blood.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 8)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
Two angels remained. The pale redheaded female angel she’d struck on the shoulder before, and the other that she’d slammed with her shield. This one was male, writhing on the floor but not moving.
The female was clutching its arm. Only a few tendons of muscle held it to its shoulder, and as the angel tried to move, its arm bent disgustingly. Like a loose tooth that was nearly ready to fall off, hanging on by the tiniest bit of flesh. The angel couldn’t figure out how to balance without its second arm to lean on, and it hissed furiously at Jenny. Its long red hair covered its face. It was almost beautiful. Almost.
Jenny brought her hatchet down on its head, spraying everything around them with blood as the angel convulsed violently before going limp.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 7)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
Jenny raised her hatchet, still buried in the angel’s head so that it was on its knees. Blood streaming down its red hair. Even dead, it seemed to be glaring at her. She shoved the body away with her shield, pulling her hatchet out of its skull, and splattering herself with even more blood.
The shield proved to be more than useful. None of the angels had even landed a scratch on her. On top of that, she could use it offensively. That and her increased power more than made up for her missing fingers. She couldn’t swing with both arms anymore, but she could still do lethal damage.
The final angel had been the one she’d struck away with the shield, and now it lay on the ground, its head bent at an angle. It looked like its neck was broken. The angel blinked and bared its teeth, but no sound came from its throat. Its fingers twitched, its legs jerked, and she saw the rise and fall of its thin chest, but the angel was definitely paralyzed.
Jenny wiped her brow with the back of her hand, listening for anymore. There was nothing else. It was just her and the paralyzed angel. She took several deep breaths, nearly gagging at the stench of blood and death, then squatted down beside it. She studied it like how she imagined Dr. Lee would.
Light-skinned with long brown hair, it had shriveled male genitalia. Its legs were so thin, they almost looked like chicken feet. Skin wrapped around bone. How could they even balance like that? Was that why they moved on all fours?
Besides the emaciated form, they looked astonishingly human up close. The feet with five toes each. The skin with little hairs on the arms and legs. This one even had curly chest hair and pubes. It even had a belly button. An innie. If it weren’t for the empty eyes, and if it gained some weight, nobody would ever know it wasn’t human. At least, until it started hissing like a snake and tried to eat people.
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Its hand jerked suddenly, and she flinched. But the angel couldn’t raise its arm. Exhaling, Jenny set her hatchet down slowly, then pressed her fingers to its neck. Blood gushed out of its mouth and ran down her hand, but she felt a heartbeat.
Angels had hearts. This one was beating like mad, each pulse pounding hard as its teeth opened and closed slowly. She wondered if it could think. If it was afraid. If it knew she was about to kill it.
> Their minds have not fully formed. They are only driven by base desires.
She’d figured as much. Golden light blossomed in her hand. She slit its throat the way she’d seen a butcher kill a chicken once, the sharp edge slowly moving across its throat. The angel shuddered, staring up at her. Blood streamed from the cut she’d made. Its shoulders twitched. Then it lay still. The eyes remained lifeless and unchanged; she didn’t bother closing them.
> You’ve defeated Tarnished Angel (Level 7)
>
> Experience has been awarded
>
> +20 Energy gained
> Leveled up!
>
> Jenny Huang, Level 11 -> Level 12
>
> +3 Stat Points
Jenny shuddered as she relaxed beside the dead angel. She wiped her hatchet on its sunken belly, then thought about how this was the first time she’d seen a guy naked up close. Actually, does this really count?
A part of her wished those two Wretched Angels would’ve been around. She still wanted vengeance, but she’d cooled considerably after fighting these Tarnished Angels and working off her nervous anxious energy. At least now none of these would turn into Wretched ones and wreak more havoc.
She looked around at the mess she’d made. The first angel whose head burst open. Her hatchet had blown right through its face, and chunks of skull and brain matter littered the floor. The others, she’d slashed to death. Blood pooled all over, and she stepped through the puddles, walking back toward the library. She didn’t want to see the sight of the lobby again, and she didn’t want to take the main stairwell to the second floor.
Just in case the Wretched Angels were near there. But also because of what she’d seen on the way down from the third floor, that stampede of angels. She was stronger now, and she’d just slaughtered a group of angels, but she didn’t want to face that many head-on. The quicker she got to Oliver, the better, so she planned on taking the back stairwell and sneaking upstairs.
At the library’s entrance, the glass doors glistened with light. Susan must have kept the others from interfering, and Jenny was grateful. She’d gotten to test out her new strength, and she’d leveled up. Quickly, she assigned her 3 new stat points to Power.
> Jenny Huang
>
> Human (Stage ii) (Level 12)
>
> Age: 6,801 days
>
>
>
> Stats:
>
> Power: 23
>
> Durability: 15
>
> Stamina: 15
>
> Agility: 15
>
> (Stat Points Available: 0)
>
> (Energy Available: 248)
They’d barricaded the doors again. Though she imagined Susan was on the other side, listening carefully. Jenny let her hatchet drop to the floor, and she pressed her hand against the glass. It was cold to the touch. She was sweating hard underneath the armor, and she wished she could see Susan’s face. A part of her wanted to knock on the glass, and beg them to open the doors again, so she could get inside and hold Susan. And they could just hold each other until this whole stupid thing ended however it did.
Have faith, right? That’s what she’d asked of Susan. Then Jenny had to do the same. Have faith in Susan’s faith. Concentrate on what you gotta do right now, she told herself. Find Oliver. Drag his ass back here. Do that, then figure out what’s next.
She turned away quickly, adjusting the pink helmet on her head. Somehow it felt like Susan was still with her, watching her back and protecting her. It brought her some comfort. Golden light flashed; her hatchet returned to her hand. At the door of the stairwell, she grabbed the metal handle and pulled slowly, in case anything was lurking in the stairwell.
Without any windows, this stairwell was dark and grim. The only light came from the hallway, and once she’d stepped inside and shut the door behind her, pitch blackness threatened to swallow her completely.
At least with the door shut, nothing would sneak up behind her. She tucked her hatchet in her left armpit, then turned the flashlight on. Taping it to the helmet had been a genius move on Susan’s part, and once again she felt like her best friend was right here with her.
A beam of yellow light illuminated the steps she had to take. There weren’t any leading down to the basement, so the only way to go was up. Unlike the main stairwell, this one was narrow with only enough room for two people side by side.
She climbed each step slowly, holding her breath. Her light bounced this way and that. When she turned to take the next flight of stairs to the second floor, she heard it.
Slurping. Like someone finishing a bowl of ramen. She couldn’t see it from the bottom step, but she knew it had to be an angel. Could it see her light from there?
Jenny clenched her jaw, wondering what to do. If it would attack. There wasn’t enough space to properly swing. She'd have to bash it with her shield. The slurping stopped. Something shuffled around. She heard a low moan, then retching sounds. Something wet splattered the floor. What the fuck was it doing?
Then there was a strained raspy voice, so quiet she wouldn’t have heard it if she’d been breathing. It said, “Please... Please just let me go.”
Her eyes went wide. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it would break against her ribs. She climbed the steps without thinking. Her light hit the creature at the same moment she saw it.
> Wretched Angel (Level 19)
It was a pale female with long dark hair. It was skinny, but not as skinny as the Tarnished Angels. Instead, it looked almost like Jenny.
Screeching in pain, it raised a clawed hand to cover its face. It didn’t run away or attack. It turned so that its back faced Jenny. The angel’s skin was covered in a glossy white layer that reflected her flashlight in rainbows. She could see its spine sticking out of its back. Could see its hips and the curve of its ass as it hugged something. Something big and pinkish-white and lumpy. It looked like a giant sac, and the angel was shielding the wriggling thing with its body.
But before Jenny could get a better look, she spotted the boy lying on the floor beside the angel. There were several other bodies, but his was the only one moving, breathing. He was large, with a round torso and a pudgy face. His glasses were askew. His t-shirt torn open with blood flowing from his neck.
> Human (Level 1)
He was barely breathing, but each breath sounded painful, and his eyes were shut. His body limp, he was still whispering for help and weeping. A glistening trail of blood came from the steps leading to the third floor. The angel had dragged him and the others down here. But why? And what was it protecting?
Eve?
But before the response came, there was a screech from above. She looked up, and her light flashed over another angel. This one clung to another big pinkish-white sac stuck to the ceiling.
> Wretched Angel (Level 22)
It was covered in a glossy purple layer. It cowered away from the light, covering its eyes with one large hand. Definitely male, it was massive with broad muscular shoulders. It had to be over 6 feet tall. Much larger than any of the other Wretched Angels she’d run into.
And that sac it clung to. There were four more just like it spread over the ceiling, each one wriggling as though they were alive.
Hissing distracted her. Before she could glance down, the female rushed her. A flash of its pale face and its red teeth was all Jenny saw as she brought up her shield. The angel crashed right into it with enough force to send them both tumbling down the stairs she’d just climbed, her light bouncing all over the place.