It was a massacre.

Nothing else could describe the scene playing before my eyes.

I was frozen. Nothing in my life could have prepared me for what played out like some show on a stage.

Things littered the forest floor like leaves from their trees. Limbs of arms. Legs. Heads. Hands. Anything. Everything.

And I had done this.

I did this.

I watched. Petrified to my spot.

Screams filled the air as people ran. People fleeing to the trees. Trying to use them for cover.

I stood still. Watching.

I watched as a man shoved a girl aside. Him getting stabbed instead of her. The Spider’s razer leg blurring with a flash.

Not that he did much. It was a Spider after all. And there were more than just one leg.

I watched as both of them lay on the ground. Gazing at each other as blood leaked from the holes in their chests, and blood dripped from their mouths.

Minutes passed and I stood. Stared.

I did this.

I did this.

Red lay everywhere. Grass was Red. People were Red. IT was Red.

My foot moved forward.

What have I done? Tears ran down my face as my foot took another step towards Red.

People were everywhere. Not moving. Moving.

It was quiet now. A hush that told more than all the screams before it.

They’re all dying. Dead.

I looked. And I turned my gaze on it.

“Tchchchch Tchchch Tchchch…”

Vicious tearing could be heard as I watched it eat. Each step bringing me closer.

That should have been me.

“Tchchchch Tchchch…”

My mouth was now filled with salt. My vision blurry as I stumbled over bodies.

Why did I run?

< >

It stopped. Slowly turning its head towards me.

A meal. Something it had missed. Something to feast on.

I chose.

***

I knew there was pain. Excruciating pain. Pain that should have left me on the forest floor, crippled with spasms.

But I didn't care.

It clicked its legs as it stood up over the body. It stared. And it came.

Click click click click …

It was fast. Moving with unimaginable nimbleness as it glided across the forest flow. Not pausing as it slashed through people. People half dead. But dying. Dead.

Click click click …

It was feet in front of me now. The space between us dropping within seconds…. A foot..

And I slashed.

***

My body was moving on its own. My mind blank as I tore through the spider.

And it froze as I slashed through three of its legs. Shocked it no longer had eight.

“AGHHHHH!!!!!” I cried out in fury.

It tried to slice me in two with blazing eyes and sharp legs. But for the first time, it wasn't fast enough.

I cut another. And another. And another leg off till it lay twitching on the floor.

The source of so much despair. So much death.

I fell to my knees.

It lay with its twitching legs. Purple blood oozing from its sliced limbs as I stared down.

It’s dead.

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I killed it.

How?..

I looked down at my arms and stared. They weren’t there. Instead, I was looking at two delicate looking Spider limbs. Razor sharp limbs. Identical ones to what I just sliced.

I threw up.

I retched everything in my stomach till I was left gagging. The pain from my throat a scorching heat as I processed everything that happened.

What did I just do???!!!

I lay like that till my sobs stopped shaking me, and I tried to regain my composure.

The smell was horrible.

Death filled the air like a tangible thing. And I was the cause.

How many people survived?

I desperately looked around.

Too many questions filled my head as I looked at the sea of bodies laying on the forest floor.

By the time I stood up, my arms had already returned to normal. It must have happened while I was crying. I could still feel the residue of pain in my arms as I felt them changed.

My eyes went to the bodies.

I made myself go through the crowd. But no one could survive the amount of blood loss or the size of holes each body showed.

So I left.

I stumbled my way away from the bodies. Away from the buildings. And away from my guilt.

I would always remember. But I would always try to forget.

I left.

***

I would like to say that I was ok. That I somehow would heal from everything I witnessed.

But I wasn’t. I wouldn't.

I mindlessly walked in the forest. Passing by the tall trees. And getting cut by the shrubs that littered the ground.

This world wasn’t mine.

People had died.

My arms were… wrong.

And I was thirsty...

How could I live if I couldn’t drink or find food?

I was alone.

I couldn't even call my mom or anyone I knew, because I had lost my phone.

But would I have been able to anyway? The world was different now. And everything was bound to change. Heck. I wasn't the person I was yesterday.

***

Time had slowly passed. I had been aimlessly walking through the forest. When suddenly, I noticed how dark it had gotten.

The sun was setting. And I was in the middle of the woods, miles away from piles of bodies and blood and … and…

I shoved it away. Putting those thoughts in a box in a room I would never enter.

I stared at the message and felt anger boil inside my soul.

Everything had gone wrong when those messages appeared.

But, what was I to do? I had a suspicion they were the reason my arms were BLADES hours ago.

I hated them. But they also saved my life.

I hadn't tried to.. change my arms into blades again. In the first place, I didn't know how I had done it.

But I was scared.

It wasn't natural.

With the sun setting, I began to feel nervous again. A Spider had come from a building I used to use. And now I was in a forest by myself. My sanity hanging by a thread. And the only things I had were…what? Yellow messages and hands that could turn into blades that oh yah, I had NO idea how to do.

I was lost.

Hungry.

And very thirsty.

And literal minutes ago, I had just peed in a bush. …no toilet paper.

There was nothing for me to do. So I looked at the ground. The bushes. The strange plants. And after one sweep of the forest grounds, I nodded to myself and took to the trees.

I was fine at climbing trees. I did it plenty of times when I was a kid. And even though I wasn’t that strong, I could hold myself up. Muscle mass a blessing in terms of my own weight.

The tree I happened to pick was one of the varieties of blues. The bark a dark contrast to my pale shaking hands as I gripped the bark at odd angles. And I just climbed. I climbed and climbed like a sloth. Slow, but steady. Personally never looking down as I went higher and higher up the tree.

But after a while it became too much. The tree was too tall.

I didn't know what I was thinking when I saw the ginormous tree and went. Ahh yes. I'm good at climbing trees, yep. Totally.

"Dang it."

My already shaking hands had turned to full body shudders as I slowly made my way to the top. My arms weak and soar. My.. I was just tired.

But I kept at it. And through that my endurance was reworded. As I climbed, my hand finally reached a divot from a branch. And with that I would be able to stop. To rest. To sleep.

Please.

I slowly pulled myself to the side of the tree and let my back rest against its trunk.

My eyes closed as I breathed heavily.

Peace.

And guilt.

I opened my eyes and gazed at the visible sky. The sun was painting its clouds with golds and pinks, while the land below it filled a canvas with hues of purples, reds and blues. The tops of the trees a striking contrast of greens.

It was beautiful. But I hated it.

I tried to limit my thoughts. They would wander to the events that happened today. But I would have to gently guide them into a corner, where I would shove them off a cliff and watch as they tumbled down toward sharp rocks. Because I would surely break if I didn't.

However, I did let myself think of the messages. And even the .

———

Name: Maeve Banet

Age: 18

Level: 2

Gifts:

Abilities:

Strength: 4

Constitution: 8

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 12

Charisma: 11

Wisdom: 12

Willpower: 26

Perception: 15

Stat Points: 20

———

Dark images flashed through my mind when I looked at the Ability Numbed Pain. Some from my past. But the most resent the pain from my arms. It had hurt. But I knew. I had known the pain was excruciating when changing my arm. But it didn't. I hadn't passed out.

I felt a shudder go through my body as I thought about it. But then I thought about it.

I gazed at the message and quickly went through the other Abilities.

I read everything before me like it could be any guide from a game. But it wasn't. It was real.

These were mine, weren't they? I felt and I experienced everything they said. No exception. Somehow they now were me.

What were my Gifts then? Were they something ingrained to me also? Something that didn't sugar coat itself, but bluntly told me what was me?

I let myself read and reread every message. Letting everything sink in.

It was a lot.

But the day was long.

And as I lay there with my back to a tree. I fell asleep.