I instantly jump up from the bench and approach the screaming person. It turns out to be a girl about my age, her dark hair stained with blood and dirt, green eyes reddened. She's wearing a formal gray suit resembling some fantasy shaman's attire. A short medieval sword lies nearby.

First I make sure I'm not dreaming or hallucinating. Pinching my arm and rubbing my eyes has no effect—the beaten girl is still lying under the streetlight screaming.

The only logical explanation that comes to mind—filming a movie or TV show. This fits with the girl's unusual outfit... but there's no film crew or cameras visible, and her injuries hardly look like makeup. I also can't determine where she "flew" from. Looks like she was thrown like some ball.

"What's happening? Should I call for help?" I address her. There's clearly some danger in the air, but the desire to understand and help prevails.

The girl turns toward me, suddenly recoils back and reaches for the sword, not stopping her groaning.

"Can you speak? Do you understand me at all?"

With trembling hands she grabs the sword's handle and tries to lift it, pointing it at me. But due to her shaking it falls to the ground. Fear mixed with despair freezes on her face, she slowly raises her eyes to me.

"S-save me! Please! I'll do whatever you want and be completely obedient to you. Just save me! This madman in armor is going to smash me against the wall!" she manages to say in a voice full of animal terror.

"What?" I'm confused. "Is someone chasing you? Should I call the police?"

"Please, take my words seriously," tears start rolling from her eyes. "I promise, I'll become your servant, just help me survive. I was flying for like five seconds, that fucker will appear any moment to finish me off. NEED TO GET OUT! URGENTLY GET OUT!"

More weird shit. I guess she's in shock and doesn't fully understand what she's saying. But why does she need a sword? Did she seriously try to fight with it? I thought.

"Okay, let me help you and call the cops. Is this psycho also armed with some sword? You had an unsuccessful roleplay?" I smoothly pull out the Glock and lean over to the girl. "Don't be afraid, I have a gun. Even if he's in armor, I still have a significant advantage."

"PLEASE, STOP JOKING! NEED TO GET OUT FASTER, I FEEL HIM APPROACHING. I'M SURE YOU CAN'T HANDLE HIM," she screamed hysterically, leaning on my shoulder.

Seems she's on something.

"Okay, we'll move away if that calms you down," I help her up and hold her tightly.

"Please, take the sword, it's my only weapon. Use it yourself if you know how. It has many properties and easily cuts flesh," she insisted.

"If so, why didn't you take down the psycho?" I decide to play along with her illusions to ease communication.

"I tried to kill him with a surprise attack, but his armor... it's something fucking inconceivable. It didn't get even a scratch. He grabbed me with bare hands, hit me several times, rolled me on the ground and threw me here. I've never encountered such strength. Can't imagine how to kill him."

"I see..."

I touch the sword and am amazed to find it's extremely heavy. Once in my life I went to the gym and lifted a huge barbell there, the sword's weight feels like two of those. I strain incredibly just to pick it up.

How did she manage to lift it so easily? I'm confused. The question of my own sobriety returns to mind, but... Lily had nowhere to slip me anything.

"Thanks, now let's run. He'll catch us any moment, we need to break away and disappear."

The girl bounds forward unevenly, pushing me to match her pace.

This thing is so damn heavy. I can carry the sword for five minutes tops. What is it even made of?!

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Christine. Please don't stop until we leave the city center, we'll handle all questions in safety. There are lots of others here. As I understand, this will be the most dangerous place. I noticed that the psycho was covered in blood, which means that he has already managed to kill someone, and hardly any time has passed since the beginning. Deep in the night this place will turn into fucking hell."

I'd like to understand what she's talking about, but loading her with clarifying questions is a bad idea. She won't explain the situation adequately and will only fall deeper into delusion.

"Nice to meet you, I'm John."

"Doesn't seem like you're set to fight. Did you come out to scout the situation? How far is your base?"

"Something like that. Base...? Well, pretty far—"

"Excellent!" she interrupted. "We'll station at your place. The farther from here the better. My house is less than three miles away, and I'm not very strong, so my chances of survival are low."

They have a very interesting roleplay.

We cross the road, choosing the shortest path to exit the center, though it's in the opposite direction for me. Suddenly Christine stops, her eyes become glassy.

"Oh, no..." she forces out grimly.

~ CRASH.

In that same second some massive object hits her in the back. The girl stretches out on the sidewalk with a scream. I think I heard her bones crack.

WHAT THE FUCK?!

The flying object turns out to be a piece of metal fence. When I realize this, I drop the sword in shock, cold shivers run through my body, and my soul fills with monstrous fear. With all my heart, I don't want to turn around and find out who managed to rip this out and throw it with such precision. But even less do I want to receive the same gift in my back.

I force myself—on the hill with benches that Christine and I just descended from stands a sturdy young man, at least 8 damn feet tall. Except for his unnaturally large head, his entire body is covered in red-black medieval armor made of some unknown material. He wears dark glasses on his eyes, has almost no hair, and his skin is covered with some dark growths.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Some fucking mutant boar, flashes through my head.

"Oh, I'm getting lucky today! One piece of meat led to another. I told you you wouldn't escape, pathetic insect," Boar said in a bass voice and loudly guffawed. His laugh is so rough it cuts the ears.

"W-who the fuck are you?!" I cry out in fear, grab the pistol with both hands and aim at him. The ground slips from under my feet, sense of reality fading with each second.

"Shut up, trash. You'll be next, for maximum pleasure I crush bugs one at a time, so I'll finish with the girl first. You can try to run, but I've memorized your energy signature and will find you anywhere now. You're just prolonging your death."

"Go to hell!" not fully aware of my actions, I open fire, aiming at his head. From fear I empty the entire magazine... but not a single bullet reaches its target.

What the fuck is happening?! I'm definitely sober, but this kind of shit just can't be fucking real.

"Are you completely insane? Do you really think ordinary bullets will do me any damage? I bet you would've died today anyway," Boar laughs again, mentally grinding me into dirt.

I look at Christine—the girl is desperately trying to stand, whimpering with every movement. When I see how Boar has crippled her, I have no doubt that the same will happen to me. I don't know the rules of this madness, but it's clear—it's impossible to shoot Boar. That means there's only one way out.

I instantly jump to Christine, use all my strength to lift her in my arms, hold her tight and dash forward at full speed. I have no idea what to do next, but I can't abandon the girl since there's no other source of information about all this insanity.

"Worthless beings. Nothing will help weaklings like you," mockery carries from behind.

"M-my sword... need to go back for it. I have no other weapon..." Christine wheezed with difficulty.

"Are you crazy?! What fucking sword? This devil threw a piece of fence at you, he'll smash us with one move."

"Sword... without it I'm defenseless..."

"You're defenseless now anyway. You'll find another, I'm not going to die so stupidly."

I manage to run past three buildings before I feel a powerful blow to my back. I stagger forward and lose my balance—Christine falls off my arms and onto the ground. Immediately after that, an even stronger blow to my left side—I scream loudly, fly into a nearby alley, and crash into a garbage can. By some miracle, I manage to hold on to the Glock.

"Brainless meat. I told you you're corpses," Boar says cheerfully and stands at the alley entrance.

Never before have I felt such horrifying pain: something in my body cracked and dislocated, my left arm that took the hit aches terribly. However, parallel to this I feel a surge of strength from the huge amount of adrenaline.

I clearly realize that allowing myself to lie and whimper from pain equals death. Bracing against the bin, I quickly get back on my feet, reach into my torn backpack and take out the spare magazine. Reloading takes two seconds, racking the slide I aim the pistol at Boar again.

Just some unthinkable shit, but what else can I do?

Meanwhile, Boar had already entered the alley and, with a devilish laugh, threw Christine into the air. She fell face-first to the ground, let out the most soul-crushing scream I'd ever heard in my life, and went weak. Only a faint trembling showed that she was still alive.

Seeing Christine's current state makes my knees shake, it literally hurts to look at her. I can't imagine what torments she's experiencing now.

No way, I won't let this freak do the same to me. He's closer now, if I hit him with several bullets right in the head, maybe something will work?

I aim carefully and empty half the magazine, but the result is the same. Boar pulls back the hand he was reaching for Christine, looks at me and frowns.

"What an utterly stupid moron. I can't stand such complete and overconfident worms. Because of your immense stupidity I'll make an exception and kill you out of turn," he says with hatred.

The man completely turns away from the girl, turns his whole body and raises his hands clenched in fists. I shudder at the pictures of the immediate future painted by my brain, but even understanding the dire nature of my position I'm not going to give up.

"Come on then, piece of shit," I taunt, aiming again.

~ THUMP.

I'm about to pull the trigger, but suddenly my heart skips a beat and it feels like all oxygen evaporates from my lungs. With great effort I manage to stay on my feet.

What the hell?!

Right after that my field of vision narrows dramatically, my sight itself rapidly deteriorates, crackling fills my head. A dark, thickening veil covers my eyes.

"What the fuck?!" Boar roared in anger.

I can tell from his reaction that I'm not the only one feeling this. Christine also begins to twitch more. As if on command, all three of us look around nervously and rub our eyes. I sense that the atmosphere is quickly becoming saturated with death.

"And who are you?" Boar said surprised.

I notice it a second after him—from nowhere a completely black human figure formed in the center of the alley. No matter how hard I try, I can't make out if it's a man or woman. Can't even determine its height and size. The silhouette is completely blurred, like in a smeared photo. Besides this, the figure completely lacks clear outlines, making it look like a piece of dark TV static given human form.

In its hand the figure grips an equally blurred, long curved object. I think it's a scythe.

Looking directly at the figure makes my vision worsen even more. The cause of the negative effects becomes obvious.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Christine who seemed to be on her last breath suddenly lets out a scream. A second later something glows around her body and she jumps out of the alley in two bounds, leaving a small trail of blood.

I'm left alone against Boar and this... Shadow? I thought, unable to find a better word.

"Haha, yes run some more, stupid bug. With such wounds you'll crawl maximum to the next house, I'll still crush your pathetic head," Boar looked mockingly after Christine and focused on the figure. "What a real celebration I'm having today! Already the fourth animal comes to die by itse—"

~ STRIIIIIIIKE.

He doesn't finish the phrase as Shadow cuts his body in two parts. The lower half, up to the waist, remains on the ground spurting blood. The upper half soars into the air.

Everything happens so fast that neither I nor he fully realize what happened. This was the last moment of his life.

The figure jumps after the torso and kicks off Boar's head with its foot. However this seems not enough—with a swing of the scythe it chops the severed head into four parts. The whole action takes less than a second—a moment ago the relatively clean alley becomes flooded with red blood gushing in gallons from Boar's parts. Several drops reach my face and hoodie. Due to the figure's unimaginable speed and killed vision I barely manage to understand events.

"HOLY SHIT!" I reflexively grip the gun and fire at the landed figure. The result is even worse than with Boar—reaching the silhouette, the bullets simply get absorbed by the static.

Well that's it, now I'm definitely fucked.

Keeping in mind how Shadow chopped up the not-so-weak Boar in a fraction of a second, I'm afraid to imagine what will happen to me. My heart pounds wildly, time stretches to infinity, each moment of which could be the last. I'm sure I won't even understand how I die, so I try to fully enjoy the last moments of life.

I blink—the figure appears next to me. Even up close I can't make out anything, a dark abyss looks at me.

Survival instinct tells me to do something, anything, but paralyzed by its appearance, I can't even breathe. The remnants of reason try to believe that this is a very realistic dream, or a strong hallucination, but that's no consolation at all.

Consciousness is ready to die. I'm glad about only one thing—before death, even if briefly and in a horrible way, I felt truly alive.

Suddenly the figure... smirks. Then it takes my right hand and bends down, as if wanting to examine something. Instead of the expected tearing off of my arm or its absorption by cutting darkness, I feel the touch of cool thin fingers.

I watch its actions with bated breath, having no idea what will happen next. In an instant several guesses visit me, from being taken prisoner to an especially cruel method of execution. The most abnormal thing seems to me that in the figure's smirk I caught something distantly familiar.

Its scythe quickly disappears. With its freed hand it draws a line approximately from its torso to forehead. The static starts dissolving, instead previously absent outlines form. Simultaneously I feel my vision improving and the veil falling from my eyes, though my heart still pounds monstrously.

"Jesus, I'm definitely dreaming..." rubbing the blindness effect from my eyes, I see the last dark particles fall from the figure. Sense of reality finally leaves me.

Expressing something between irritation and surprise, my own sister examines me.

"What an idiot you are, John," Jane says discontentedly, not taking her eyes from my wrist.

I suddenly lose my balance and fall to the ground, unable to comprehend anything. In the last moment before losing consciousness, for some reason I remember Lily and her strange behavior.