Carnie sucked on her fingers for only a few seconds, by the end of it she was biting down so hard on her hand it was bleeding. Her head slowly pivoted towards me. Her eyes showed sadness through the tears and fear through her eyebrows. The emotion-filled eyes faded quickly and were replaced by those of a predator. The only thing remaining being the tears that still flowed from those now horrifying eyes. I instinctively backed away from her.

I watch her scramble to her feet and that was enough to tell me. This was a completely different person compared to that of her only moments ago. There was no elegance or gracefulness in her movements, only primal desire. Her claws sunk into the mat as she threw herself at me. Though she was on her feet she was so low to the ground that she moved on all-fours. I had hoped that with her new movements she might have lost some speed but that doesn't seem to be the case.

My instincts told me to turn and run but I knew that would do me little good, it might even make it easier for her to take me down. She slashed at me, leaping into every strike. While this might have terrified someone else it gave me hope. She was telegraphing her every movement and the attacks themselves followed an almost straight line. I was dodging them with ease. After a few, I was able to get a feel for her new style and with the next attack, I caught her wrist while she was in the air and struck the back of her elbow. To my surprise, it wasn't enough to break her arm but I still had a hand on her wrist so I used it as a lever and my hand on her elbow as the fulcrum.

SNAP!

Carnie's arm which should have only bent away from me now bent towards me. Only after the snapping of her elbow did I notice her foot on the same side flying at me. My side was now facing Carnie because of the force I applied to snap her arm but I could just barely see it over my shoulder. It connected with my lower back and side. The force was so strong that if it had been targeted at my legs it would have swept them out from under me. However, since it was my back it threw me forward and pain assailed my body but I was still mobile. Catching myself by putting a leg out in front of me I began to turn back towards Carnie so that my front would be facing her. I could think of no worse place for her to be than around my back.

The blow and my recovery from it cost me valuable time and when I focused back on her I saw she had already pivoted off the ground and was now heading in my direction again. I jumped away from her but it didn't seem to slow the quickly closing distance between us. While I fended off her next onslaught the bitch's voice came from the ceiling.

"We have people on the way. Please do your best to hold out until then."

What's this? No stand-down order for Carnie? No threats of future punishments? Why was she only addressing me and not even attempting to talk to Carnie in any capacity? So it's not just her fighting style that has changed, it's her entirely. They must know that this Carnie can't be reasoned with. I hadn't attempted to do so because it's quite hard to do it while in the middle of a fight but now I can pretty much confirm it won't do me any good. Although holding out until then is easier said than done.

My arms are now covered in gashes and I have a few on my shoulders and chest too. I'm able to slip most of her attacks but not all, and the attacks that do hit me instantly shred my skin and tissue below it. She leaps at my face and I use the opportunity to deliver a front kick that sends her small body flying. This move cost me because she was able to slash the leg I used up pretty well. I ignore it and run towards the weights, grabbing two ten-pound dumbbells. She recovers quickly so by the time I have them in my hands and turn around she's already feet away from me. I swing the dumbbell straight up from my side and it smashes into her lower jaw, I can see the deformation of her jaw as she is sent flying upwards. If only she knew her jaw was broken it may have bought me at least a little bit of time, however, she didn't react to it at all. She simply waited for her feet to touch the ground again and leaped at me once more.

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This crazy bitch is relentless! I drop the dumbbell I had used to send her into the air and grab her by the throat before she hits the ground. Of course, she starts shredding my arm but I endure it as I bring the other dumbbell to her face. It smashes into her head which causes it to violently whip back. Her feet touch the ground since I didn't have the strength to hold her up by one hand, only hold her still. Her head rebounds and I smash the dumbbell into it again, this time I can see her cheekbone cave in but once again, it doesn't seem to phase her much. I'm forced to let go of her neck because of how fast she is tearing my arm apart. I do so as my third strike with the dumbbell makes contact with her head. This one finally seems to affect her somewhat and I use her daze to kick her away from me. As I do the leg that she had cut up gives out and I fall to the floor after knocking her away.

Her nails are incredibly dangerous but might not even be her worst weapon. Throughout this fight, she has also been trying to bite me and I'm scared to even think what would happen if she was able to latch down on any part of me.

"STOP!!"

Red? What's she doing here? Maybe she really does like me? What, why am I even thinking about that! Focus!

I crawl over to Carnie who was rolling around in obvious confusion. I had to beat her head with a ten-pound dumbbell but I had finally affected her.

I call out to Red as she ran to me, "I've got her! Don't worry I'll just--"

I go flying as soon as Red reaches us. As I float in the air I can clearly see that Red must have been the one to throw me, but why? Carnie is already starting to regain her senses! I could have knocked her out!

Red kneels down and embraces Carnie as she tries to go after me.

"It's okay, I've got you. I'm here. I won't let you do anything, I'll protect you."

What the hell does that crazy bitch need protection from? She was the one attacking me!

I hit the ground and let my momentum roll me one time. Coming out of the roll I land on my knees and look at them. Carnie is shredding the back of Red's shirt while viciously biting at her neck. Her broken arm snaps back into place as she fights Red and she proceeds to use it to attack Red. The slashes and bites don't seem to affect Red whatsoever. She remains still, holding Carnie as she goes wild. After a few seconds, I hear Red's voice.

"Get out of here!!"

I can't help but be astonished at her words, "ME? WHY?"

"She won't calm down until you're gone. Not with your blood all over this place."

"Then get her out of here!"

"If I move she might get loose! Just leave! Please, you're the one doing this to her!"

'How the fuck is this my fault?' was the first thought to run through my head after hearing her words. But then it hit me, I had never heard Red sound like that before. It was almost as if she was pleading with me. I'm not sure why but hearing her voice like that made me want to do as she said. I stood up and began heading for the exit. Only a few feet from it I began to feel light-headed and I slipped on something. I looked back to see what I had tripped on.

There's so much blood.

I should have realized from the pain, but the cuts Carnie had left me with were far deeper than I had realized. The amount of blood I was losing was a lot and it only seemed to be getting worse. I could see the trail I left and it got larger the closer to me. It must have been from all the moving I was doing.

I quickly pulled out the vile and downed its remaining contents, Carnie had mentioned earlier that I could still die if I bleed out so I didn't want to take any chances. I tried to get back up to my feet but I only succeeded in falling again. I was too lightheaded to stand so I crawled the rest of the way out of the room. I saw a group of people running towards me and I pulled myself just around the corner so I wasn't visible from the training room before passing out.