Alk’s heavy eyes didn’t want to move, but she was eventually able to force them open. Things were pretty blurry at first, and she didn’t get a moment to take in her surroundings. Her illness flared up immediately, and she was sent into a tirade of coughing and shakes. Once Alk got her Curse going, the symptoms quickly subsided.
It had been a while since she’d woken up to such unpleasantness. For some time now, she’d been able to use her Curse to a minor extent as she slept—just enough to keep her symptoms at bay.
Now that she had a moment to focus, she stared upwards. Alk could see the sky, but not all of it for some reason. Was there an eclipse? A good portion of her vision was blotted out by a circular shape. Maybe her vision hadn’t come back after—whatever had happened.
Her memory slowly came back to her, yet she didn’t feel panicked when she remembered The Mermaid. No, she was actually quite comfortable at the moment, and felt no need to rush as she recollected the events up to her passing out. She’d been pulled underground and then… nothing.
Alk rolled onto her side, then was confused when she saw a pair of water shoes. She was even more confused by the tan legs sticking out from them. Alk followed the legs with her eyes until they disappeared into the swim trunks of the lap she was resting her head upon.
She jolted upwards and turned to see Kada smiling softly at her. Kada’s skin had already healed completely. Without Alk staying conscious to control the bacteria, it lost most of its potency and would have been killed by Kada’s immune system pretty quickly. She had designed it to be weak by nature, so that there wouldn’t be much risk of it spreading—only dangerous in Alk’s hands.
“Welcome back,” Kada greeted her as if she was a friend who had left for a while. “Man, you were out for a while. I guess I did drown you, but even after getting all the liquid out of your lungs, you still wouldn’t wake up.”
“You… Did you give me CPR?!” Alk touched her lips in panic, only just now realizing she still wasn’t wearing her mask. Everything else lost importance as she urgently swung her head around to look for it. Each passing second, the air felt harder to breathe.
“Here,” Kada held out the mask she’d retrieved. Alk rudely swiped it from her hands and hurried to put it back on her face. Once it was adorned, she felt like she could breathe again. It had become something like a safety blanket to her ever since she’d become a Fiend.
Alk didn’t know what to do now. She didn’t have any energy left to fight, and even if she did, she was the clear loser. Anything more would just be petty and pointless. Honestly, she was surprised she was still alive. While Alk didn’t really regret her actions, she understood that they warranted being killed or at least left for death. The fact that she’d been saved and cared for, in Alk’s mind, made Kada crazier than she was.
She hadn’t done much on this request for the Central Peace yet, so she’d be practically abandoning the mission, but she didn’t know if she had the strength left to be of use at this point. Alk had taken it on a whim to begin with since she happened to be in the area. Just because she did terrible things to terrible people, it didn’t mean innocents needed to suffer.
Plus, for whatever reason, Alk’s chest was really aching—probably leftover damage from gunk being in her lungs. For whatever reason, her Curse wasn’t letting her alleviate the pain either. But that was typical of it; useless when it came to what really mattered.
Alk turned to walk away, but was stopped before even taking a step by Kada’s words.
“Sorry, but I looked into your background a bit more while you were unconscious,” Kada apologized despite the warranted invasion of privacy. “Pulling the plug on your dad. That’s… I’m sure it was really tough for you.”
“Oh, what the hell do you know?” Alk didn’t care to stomach hollow empathy. She prepared to leave again, but Kada just kept on talking.
“My relationship with my own dad has never been great. I don’t think it ever reached the point that I really thought about killing him, but I get it. Looking back on your situation, he was a bit of a mawhger, wasn’t he? And I’m sure you hate him most of all for your health situation.”
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t know something like that existed. Kind of went down a rabbit hole of genetic diseases while waiting for you to wake up. It sucks, it really does, but maybe your father gave you something in the end. He was on death’s door, but his soul still became the fuel so that you could live.”
“Guessing your life expectancy was around the 40s or maybe 50s, but now, who knows how long you’ll live. I don’t know why being a Fiend hasn’t cured your illness, though I’m friends with a few who can speculate the reason. But I do know that you got the exact Curse you needed in order to survive. We get our Curses from those we kill, so in a way, his lingering will could have left you with that parting gift.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Alk turned around, ready to scream at Kada for the zjik she was spewing, but it never came out of her mouth. She had never thought about her situation that way before. Alk had killed her father as an act of revenge for all the mistreatment growing up, but what sort of revenge had it been? The man was hours from death, so she really hadn’t done anything at all.
Now, she couldn’t deny that her life had improved since becoming a Fiend. Alk had been a runaway and criminal since high school, but at least she was living life.
“Oh, and I think I get why you don’t like me either. I remind you of those girls from high school who bullied you, right?” Ugh, she even knew about that too, huh? Alk frowned behind her mask. She couldn’t deny Kada’s words. Her scantily-clad outfit and airheaded demeanor had brought memories racing back from the worst time in her life. Those Draz’s who bullied her for things she couldn’t control: the prim and proper lifestyle that her father had forced upon her.
“I don’t get it, though.” Kada looked genuinely confused. “The report says they bullied you mostly because of how you dressed. But look how cute you are!” Kada held up her phone, showing a picture of Alk in high school. “I get that the clothes are pretty outdated and prissy I guess, but they suit you. And damn, your hair. It’s so neat and tidy. That must have taken so much work to maintain.”
Fury and fire had been building in Alk’s eyes at the sight of that old picture. She wanted to smash Kada’s phone to bits and then interrogate her as to where she found it. Yet, the surprise compliments had quelled that anger. Alk had never thought she’d be the kind of person to be affected by such things, but it wasn’t exactly something she experienced often.
“You got some great revenge on them, though,” Kada continued. “Making all their hair fall out and having their skin turn wrinkly while they were still teenagers is pretty incredible. I can see why you started down this whole disease path. That and I’m guessing you’ve been trying to find a cure for yourself.”
Spot on again. Yes, Alk’s interest in diseases had started with her own. However, the one she’d used against those girls had been the first she made. It was also what had gotten her expelled. Of course, the school was already weary of her after her change in demeanor when her father had died, along with the sudden change in hair and eyes.
This had been an unexpected trip down memory lane. Alk just wanted to get out of here and go collapse now. She also wanted to get far away from this girl who had spurred a wide array of conflicting emotions and outlooks. However, she barely made it a few more steps before she was stopped again.
“Hey, I don’t know what you’ve got going on, but maybe we can help you,” Kada suddenly offered. “We have the best doctor in the world with us now. He could probably cure you. And… I know we started off rough, and you’d have to pass their tests, but you could join if you want. Might be nice to have a group where you belong instead of just wandering around.”
Hmph, it seems she wasn’t able to dig up everything after all. “I’m already part of a group,” Alk declared with smugness in her voice. “And it’s superior to yours in every way. As for the illness, I’ll take care of it myself.” Knowing there was nothing left the girl could offer, Alk finally walked away.
But for reasons she didn’t quite understand, she couldn’t help but mutter something under her breath that she hoped went unheard. “Thanks anyways. Farewell… Kada.”
Fiends For Hire Job Report
Job No. 004342
Status:
Completed
Date Received:
1/19/2078
Date Accepted:
1/19/2078
Date Completed:
1/21/2078
Client: Central Peace (Yes, Seriously!)
Reward: $300 per hour spent searching. $5,000 for every person rescued. $1,000 for every body recovered.
Original Request: Due to a recent natural disaster, the marked area has been ravaged with mud and flooding. Urgent assistance is required to search for survivors and identify the deceased. Requesting aid for any nearby and all available.
Requirements for Completion:
* Search for survivors and get them to safety
* Retrieve any corpses found and make sure they can be accessed
Job accepted by:
* Kada Susten
Additional Notes:
(Kada) Stayed there for 3 days to search. Ended up rescuing 31 survivors, including a pregnant lady so maybe there’s hope for their future. However, I lost count of how many dead I found.
(Kada) Oh! I also ran into The Plague Doctor on the first day. We got into a fight and she may have tortured me a bit, but I don’t think she’s all bad.