CHAPTER 67 - Clad in red, it comes at night! I

With nothing else than the robe I got from the merchant and the rags I carry below, I jump from one building to another, looking for someone evil enough to be my first victim of the night.

‘I should go undercover though, like really undercover. Maybe that way I can avoid getting recognized as an otherworlder even if they do catch me, in the end I am practically the same anatomically for what I have seen.’

Not wasting a second, I drop down to the ground where there is a small park with a tree. I cycle my qi to gather some manna and focus as I touch the bark of the tree, pulling at it with my gathered mana to synchronize it and strip a thin plate of wood from the tree.

I need a couple minutes just to safely extract the raw material without breaking it, as I am yet nowhere near good at controlling mana.

Using the same technique, I bring it to my face and mold it around my face to make it stick to myself, stretching a few strands of wood into a makeshift ribbon or snare that ties the wood mask to my face without any need to hold it anywhere else. I obviously don't forget to make some holes for breathing and seeing, but I don't even bother with the mouth, it is not like I know the language anyways.

It takes a lot more time to make the mask than what I had been hoping for, but I’ve got time, the night is young and double the size, so I still have lots of hours.

Finally, I have my outfit: the robe, a crimson red material which resembles leather with some kind of feathers on the neck, my newly made mask that for the most part its bland, only keeping the wood pattern of its previous state, and finally my ever so unrestraining rags that I need to swap as fast as possible.

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Meanwhile

Leandro (14 years old)

‘No’

‘No’

‘Nononono’

‘Is the second time already.’

Running through the dark and damp streets, I run as fast as I can, hoping that my fears won’t come true.

I look behind, and I can already see the moon high up in the sky, but I need to do this, either I get the medicine in time or my grandma will die.

Clenching my fist and teeth, I rush up the street that I have seen so many times.

I run nearly everyday along these houses, yet now, each time I cover another section, take a turn and see another house yet ahead, my heart races faster, each time seeing my destination closer.

I run closer to the left side of the street, it helps me to get a better picture of the road far ahead as it keeps turning right on a 30 degree angle.

I try my best to stay away from the shadowy corners as I continue on my run, and by the time I see the hallway mark of my trip, a small well inside a small park, I am already gasping for air, breathing in the cold air of the night.

It had never happened before, at least not for the last couple years since I’ve grown up and got better stamina. Yet today, it feels as if my body is heavier than usual, and my heart pumping non-stop doesn’t help either.

Leaving those small details aside I keep running, entering the small square constructed around the well with haste and forgetting to check the corner.

*thud*

A small thud is heard as I crash into the ground and scrape against the cold yet harsh stone paved road. My newly opened wound rapidly stops being cold and instead gets redder as it burns both my knees, but I don’t care, they are here, so I try to get up and escape before it's too late.

“Ow-” A strong kick to my stomach takes my air from my lungs and pushes me onto the floor again.

I gasp for air, but soon find myself trying to get up yet again.

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‘I can let everyone down.’ I push my battered body and break into another sprint, but a final push from another one of the gang members that always patrol the area hits me, shoving to the side.

‘Ouch…’ My head hits the pavement.

My words can’t even leave my throat as my head spins. I lay on the floor, with my body no longer answering me and my mind losing hope as the situation is grim.

‘I don’t care anymore, I can take another beating like last time, but please… don't take the money for the medicine.’ I pray to all gods I know, but it all seems useless as one of the monsters in human skin that my grandma told me about so many times grabs one of my arms.

I feel my legs dangling down in the air as he holds me up like a ragdoll by my left arm, my pouch with the money slowly sliding down my inner pocket, about to fall.

With one last act of defiance, call it dumb, call it stupid… I use my last bit of strength to grab the pouch with my other arm. The monster holding me does just as grandma always said and laughs at me as he firmly grasps the wrist of the arm with which I am holding the money pouch.

“This is your second time getting caught by us already little rat, why would you make it harder for you?”

I struggle as much as I can, but there is no way out and I am already at my wit's end, in the end I can’t even shake his grip before I stop moving, exhausted.

“Yes, you already know the drill, come on, let’s get it over with.”

And so, I let go, dropping the pouch with the money behind me and into the well. My father always told me to face things in life with courage, to show guys like these that they will get nothing from messing with me, just the same way he does with bandits on his escort jobs with mother.

Now that they lost the reward, they will stop mess-

“Ow.. Arghhhh”

The guy holding me vents his frustration on me, punching me on the face and letting me hit the floor before stomping his feet on top of my right hand. Then, having nothing else to gain, they leave.

‘Hah, I won this time you monsters! I, I, I- w-won… g-grand *sob* ma *sob*… grandma… *sob*

*sniff* *sniff*

I can’t help but start sobbing the moment they leave me alone.

My whole body hurts, but my heart hurts the most knowing that my grandma will probably die because of me.

15 min later

‘What should I do now?’ I think as my tears finally start to dry off my face.

I get to my feet, using the cold stone of the well as a crutch. I then let myself fall on the wall, both arms dangling inside the well as I look at the depths of the well where the money for my grandma’s treatment is.

For a second, the idea of jumping crosses my mind, but it soon leaves just as fast, my mother always tells me to cherish life, and I know that if I jump I will die. So I stay like that for a while before I feel like I finally have enough strength to go back home.

I could try and go to ask for the medicine without the money at the store, but the clerk already knows I don’t have much money, and he always denies orders from people unable to pay them everyday, it's not like this time it will be any different.

Instead of wasting my time, I come back home, the walls of the houses surrounding me being the only thing keeping me from falling face flat on the ground as I slide on them exhausted. By the time I reach my home’s entrance, tears scurry down my face again, reminding me that I have failed once more, but I build my courage and enter anyways.

I am not going to let my grandma alone on his last few hours, so I enter the house, closing the door beh-

‘Do you want everything back?’

A deep, somber and calm voice rings on my head. I am unable to feel any sound entering my ears, so I panic, frozen in fear of running into something even scarier than those guys I just got away from.

‘Answer me child, what do you seek? Do you seek revenge on those who bullied you?’

The voice rings again inside my head, and knowing I got no way of fleeing this time, I answer.

“I don't want anything, I just want to be left alone with my grandma.” I manage to say amidst tears.

My father always read me stories in bed to scare me, a lot of them talked about demons even worse than the ones across the mountains. Those demons would find those in dire need of help and offer their help in exchange for something valuable, sometimes it was a friend's life, or the person’s soul, but never had it been free.

‘Are you sure? You won’t get another chance like this!’

“I won’t let you steal my soul or my grandma’s soul, leave me alone!”

‘So that’s what it is, you think it is a trap? Well, you see, I really need to find a few humans to kill, the more sins they have committed, the better.’

‘Why won’t you just guide me over to some? If one of them ends up being someone really evil, I won’t kill you, and maybe I will help you with one single thing you may want.’

‘I shouldn’t.’ I think.

…

‘But… I may as well try. I don't want grandma to die!’

…

‘Last chance. If you don’t answer me, maybe I start my rampage with you here.’

“Fine! I will take you to the place where the evil guys gather! But promise me that you will keep your word.”

'I will.'

The very same moment the demons utter those words, something enters my body, spreading all over it in a fraction of a second, flooding me with energy. My bruised and exhausted body feels rejuvenated like never and even the hand they stomped the guy from before stops hurting so much.

Before I can even move my body too much, the demon talks again.

'Let’s start the feast, you go first.'

The voice creepy laughter send shiver down my spine, but its my best bet, so I forget everything else as the fears numb my senses and start running to the most dangerous place that I know.