“Don't do anything to draw further attention to yourself, understand?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, sure.”
“If they keep a closer eye on us than they already are it could spell trouble for us.”
“Yep, yep. I agree, one-hundred percent.”
“We're already walking on cheap twine as is.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Have you been listening to a single word I've said?”
“Woah! That's crazy.”
“Grian!”
“Ah!” A young girl jumped in her leather car seat, scattering loose papers all over her lap.
“Don't just toss that all over the place when I'm trying to drive.” An older man calmly snapped without taking his eyes off the busy road.
The girl gripped the edge of her skirt with both hands until her knuckles turned white and puffed out her rosy cheeks. “You're the one that startled me. Why did you randomly yell like that?”
“I didn't just yell randomly, your head was just too far into the clouds to hear my indoor voice.”
Grian relaxed her hold slightly and squinted at the driver before gingerly reorganizing the disordered sheets. “It's not that I was spaced out, I was doing exactly what you wanted me to do, Ian.” She then held up a wrinkled page full of formulas and numbers with both hands and pressed it into Ian's ribs. “Being a typical student wouldn't draw any stares, right? Typical students have to do their homework or else they get lectured and stand out more. This stuff is really difficult though. Why isn't it illegal to make a fifteen-year-old do trigonometry?”
“Seriously? Math is kicking your ass so hard you blocked out everything I've talked about?”
Grian rested her elbow by the wet, tinted window and put her face in her palm. “Can it. I was too tired to do it last night after training, now I'm rushing. Not to mention these squeaky wipers are making my ears bleed. Furthermore, I seem to recall dad always used to give you hell about bribing everyone else for answers when you were in school.”
“Oi, oi, oi. That's fighting dirty. I know I was a real meathead but you don't need to throw my darkest da-”, Ian suddenly stopped himself and held his breath while shooting Grian a nervous, sideways glance.
She pressed her nails into pale skin ever so slightly and pulled at a white band around her upper arm. Written on it, in big red text, was the lone word, SCUM. “You were about to call those your darkest days, weren't you?”
Ian felt the air around him grow heavy with tension and after several agonizing seconds of silence, he mumbled, “Sorry, that was insensitive of me.”
“Doesn't matter.” Grian grumbled and turned away from him, her eyes darting between everyone out on the street. Ian opened his mouth to say something but promptly shut it. Grian pulled her skirt again and asked, “Is sis going to be visiting again any time soon?”
Ian let out a long breath and shrugged his shoulders. “You never know with Luna. She bounces from one place to the next like a pinball on meth. It must be difficult to stay in one spot for very long with a reputation like hers.”
“Ah, I suppose that's true.”
“Well, keep your head. No matter how sticky things get, she always makes time to check up on you when she's in the area.”
“Yeah. Oh?” Grian's shoulders shot up as the little, blue car pulled up in front of a set of large, iron gates with tall brick walls on either side of them. “Isn't it risky for us to stop here?”
“We were running late and I felt this was more of an apology than simply apologizing. It'll only keep you from spending a little bit more time in the rain, but it's better than having to hoof it from the other side of the block.”
“What if someone sees me? People like me aren't permitted to ride in vehicles.”
“That's why you need to get out quickly while no one is around.”
Grian forced a weak smile and chuckled. She reached for the door handle and whispered, “Who was lecturing who about not standing out?”
“You know me, 'Do as I say, not as I do.' I'll pick you up at the usual spot when you're finished. Until then, stay in your lane and don't stick your neck out.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She responded dryly and stepped out into the cold drizzle under a murky grey sky. She quickly shoved her worksheets into her pink book-bag and threw it over her shoulder before crossing through the gate.
“...he may be getting a fairly high scholarship from the military...” a giddy voice sang out happily. Grian instinctively adopted a poker face and lowered her gaze to the damp gravel at her feet. Two elderly women in tight skirts and blazers emerged from a tin shack. “I just know he'll be able to-” The first woman's voice trailed off as her eyes fell on Grian. “Guh.” She scoffed, “I forgot they let those freaks enroll here too.” She continued, her voice louder than before.
Both of them stopped in place, watching Grian pass them while pinching their noses and guarding their purses. “I wonder if it's so they can keep watch over them by having them gather in one place?” The second inquired.
“Don't they already have the camps for that? I still think they should be kept in cages personally. What if they carry rabies? I wouldn't want to have to study in so much as the same city as one of those miscreants.”
“Now, now,” The second began again as Grian stepped into the shack. The gravel crunching under their feet, as well as their haughty laughter, got softer over time. “The security here isn't necessarily slacking and the first respondents from the camp are right around the corner just about. I do find their appearance unsettling, however. At least hats can hide those unsettling ears, but what about those tails? Whichever government official decided it was tolerable to not cut them off needs to be fired.”
“Shitheads...” Grian mumbled under her breath and wiped the raindrops off of her forehead. Within the tin shack, a line of men donning light-blue, collared shirts; pressed, navy-blue trousers held up by black, leather belts; and polished, charcoal boots, waited with their backs to the right side sheet-metal wall. Directly in front of Grian was a gaggle of pompous people, giggling and chatting amidst themselves like they were the only ones present.
The middle man in blue, who had a scar on his right cheek, ushered someone from the cluster to step forward while the other two stayed still. Both of them kept their eyes fixed on Grian with their bodies tense. “Billy,” Scar-face boomed joyfully, “You see the game last night?”
“I did, I did.” A teenager in a white button-up and brown khakis stepped in front of him.
They shook hands and scar-face asked him, “You still got your homework done, though, right?”
“Uh...” Billy chortled nervously and avoided eye contact. “Most of it, yeah.”
“Oh come on.” Scar-face gave him a quick slap and gestured towards the loose door opposite Grian. “These are important times. Don't forgo your education. Hit the books then watch the game next time, all right?”
“Will do, sir.” Billy replied and quickly exited.
Scar-face pulled his hand towards his chest and yelled, “Jasmine! How did your test go yesterday? Do you think you passed?”
A young girl in a white blouse and pleated, brown skirt like Grian's waved. “It was an easy hundred, no doubts about that.”
“Good girl. Head on through and keep up the great work.”
“Thanks, Jim.” Jasmine nodded to Scar-face and disappeared behind the same door that Billy did.
“Scott!” He called another and Grian was chilled by a sudden breeze behind her. She peeked over her shoulder as another group of teenagers, the females dressed like her and all the men dressed like Billy, wandered inside. The biggest of them walked directly into Grian's back, causing her to stumble. She cracked her knuckles but bit her tongue when one of the other men in blue, who had snow-white hair, took a step towards her.
After about a minute, Grian was the next up in line and began to walk forward. “Paul!” Scar-face called someone else and the big guy grabbed Grian by the shoulder and shoved her into the wall with a deafening bang.
“How's it going, Boss?” Big-guy coughed and held his fist up to Scar-face.
They bumped there's together and he replied, “Another day, another dollar. How's your mother been? I heard that she fell ill recently.”
“It was looking squeaky for a minute there,” big-guy rubbed his nose, “but it looks like she'll pull through now. We managed to get our hands on the necessary medicine, finally.”
“That's excellent news brother. Hopefully, she'll be well enough to attend the high school reunion in a couple of weeks. Tell her I said, 'Get well soon!'”
“You got it.”
As the big guy made his way to the exit, Scar-face approached Grian and sighed at her. “Listen, you know the rules. Humans first, you...” he paused, “terrorists... things second, understood?” She pressed her teeth together, picked herself back up and slowly nodded. “Good. Now, we're starting to get too many people in here so wait outside.”
“You can't be-” She started to say and Scar-face reached for the holster on his hip as his comrades moved to surround her. Grian clicked her tongue and spat, “Fine.”, while holding in the urge to scream. Under the rainfall once more, she crossed her arms and thought aloud, “You cunts could have at least offered me an umbrella.”
* * *
“Oi.” Snow-white poked his head out of the shack and Grian glared at him. “Hurry up. You're wasting our time waiting out here.”
I'm just doing what you told me to asshole. She growled internally but entered peacefully. She fidgeted slightly as her skirt and now-sheer blouse stuck to her skin. Scar-face walked right up to her front, close enough that his breath tickled her. Snow-white closed the door behind her and stood in front of it, one hand behind his back, the other gripping a radio. The third man, with a thick, brown beard, stood off to the side with a clipboard and pen. Of course, they're all wearing gloves now. Grian observed.
“Name?” Scar-face yawned.
“Grian.”
“School number?”
“200613-773.”
“ID number?”
“306.”
“Well, looks like you're capable of memorizing basic information at least.” He then grabbed the band around her upper arm and folded it down slightly, inspecting the text underneath. “Huh.” He grunted and stared at her. “You're not very foxy for a Fox-type.”
“Is that really something you should be saying to a fifteen-year-old?”
He ignored her. “Take it off. I can't check it if you're wearing it.” He instructed as he grabbed her sleeve.
“You can see clear through it as is.” She muttered.
He rolled his eyes and tore her blouse open using both hands, dropping several buttons to the floor. Grian gasped and tried to cover her silver bra with her hands but Snow-white grabbed her arms from behind. Scar-face patted her torso with hands that were as cold as ice and even pulled on her cups to see inside. “No hidden weapons up here.” He proclaimed nonchalantly then dropped onto one knee, lifted her skirt up, and pinned it to her stomach.
“Hey!” She shouted into deaf ears.
Scar-face ran a hand along the inside of her skirt while humming to himself. He then poked at her crotch with his pen, causing her to twitch slightly, and pulled her white underwear down to her ankles. “Nothing on this side. See anything in the prison wallet?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Without releasing her, Snow-white bent down and after a couple of seconds, responded. “I don't see anything.”
“Good.” Scar-face exclaimed and backed away from Grian as Snow-white released her. With her face red as a cherry, she quickly corrected her attire and held her shirt closed. “That'll be sixty bucks to replace the shirt, plus another forty for the attitude.”
“Noted.” She snarled and clenched her fist.
Stay in your lane and don't stick your neck out. The words rang out in her ears.
Can't I just give these guys one good hit each? She argued with the voice inside her head furiously.
“Get out of here already. You're stinking up our workspace.”
Despite trembling with anger, Grian swallowed her pride and left the shack. I promise you, I'm not the one that smells. She crossed her arms once more, took a handful of deep breaths, and stared up at the four-story tall brick building in front of her. “The days here almost never get worse than they start.”
“Hey, fox-thing!” A somewhat familiar voice called out to Grian who exhaled impatiently and slowly looked up. A ring of students formed around her as one with short, blonde hair and dull blue eyes clasped her shoulder and shot her a toothless grin. “What's it like wearing chains in class every day? You ever wet yourself when they refuse to undo the locks?”
Who's this? Grian thought to herself. Scott I think the guard called him. She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms again. “You can have mine if you want to see what it's like for yourself.”
He roared with a forced laugh and tightened his grip. “Ever think about being a comedian?”
“Demi-humans aren't permitted to be comedians in this society.”
“Oh?” He bellowed playfully. “You know why?”
Because you're rotten thieves who take rights and freedoms from any other living creature? Then when you get called out for it, you call it saving them? “I can't say I've ever thought about it.”
“That right? I suppose a lack of intelligence is one of the biggest reasons your kind is inferior to us.”
We're the ones who lack intelligence?
“Stay in your lane and don't stick your neck out.”
Can't I? Just one itty-bitty punch? Giving him a black eye shouldn't put me in the slammer.
“Stay in your lane.”
What if I toss his laptop or homework into a puddle? I can try and be discrete about it.
“Stay in your lane.”
But-
“Stay in your lane.”
Grian grabbed the edge of her skirt for a split second before relaxing her stance once more. Dumbass voice of reason taking my brother's side. “The consequences for me being late are much more severe than they are for you. If you don't mind, I'd like to get to class now.”
The curl in Scott's lips slowly flattened and he scowled at her. “Sure, sure.” He snapped and released her.
“Thank you very much.” She mumbled and began to march for the entrance, but the ring of people didn't budge.
“I almost forgot,” Scott yelled after her. “The leader of you freaks... what did they call her again? The Silver Wolf? No, that was her name before she went full terrorist, wasn't it? What is it now?”
“Sinner's Hunter.” Someone in the crowd answered.
“That's the one!” Scott turned his focus towards Grian again who still had her back to him. “Can you deliver a message for me, fox-thing? You see, at the end of this academic year, I'll head to the military and from there, special forces.”
The closest you'll ever get to special forces is working security in the loony bin. “So? What's this message you want me to pass on?”
“You freaks sure are impatient, huh? Oh, whatever. Tell her that she's not allowed to die yet. Scott Brown will be the one to kill her and reclaim the Earth from her tyrannical clutches.”
Reclaim? It was never yours to begin with.
“Stay in your lane.”
“When next I see her I'll-”
“When? Don't tell me that coward is in hiding?”
“Coward?” Grian snapped, clenched her fist, and gritted her teeth.
Stay-
“If you have a brain in your skull...” Grian glared at Scott. “You'll take that back right now.”
The curl returned to Scott's lips and he challenged her. “Make me.” He then adopted a basic fighting stance with his fists raised in front of his face.
A soft chuckle was exchanged throughout the circle of people as Grian approached Scott, both of her hands at her side. His grin flashed some teeth as he lunged forward, putting all of his weight onto one foot and all of his momentum behind one punching, heading clear for his opponent's nose. Her expression unchanging, Grian waved one hand in front of her, as though to brush away a measly strand of hair. She caught Scott in the wrist with her own and his attack passed harmlessly beside her head. She grabbed his extended arm with her left hand, nested his shoulder into the elbow of her right, hooked his hips with hers, and pulled. Scott's world was quickly turned upside down and the ground rapidly approached him. He gasped for air, uncomfortably struggling to get it back into his lungs only to be immediately flipped onto his stomach. Grian drove one knee into his kidney before stepping on his cheek and placing the back of his elbow against her other. His humerus flexed and warped. He tried to cry out in pain but nothing more than a squeak escaped his lips. The crowd held their breath and watched in horror as his limb folded backward around Grian's leg with a sickening crack! “What's this?” Grian sang mockingly. “Did the more intelligent species forget that even the weakest demi-human still has three times the normal strength as the strongest human? The more intelligent species tried to fight the far stronger species head-to-head in a one-on-one?” She lowered her tone and pulled straight up on his limb. His shoulder popped and he let out a sound resembling a cry for pain. “Are you stupid?” She finished and promptly released him.
After stepping away, she calmly knelt down and put both of her hands on her head. The door to the tin shack was swung open, denting the wall as they collided. The men in blue all pointed bright yellow tasers at Grian and without a word of warning, shot her in the back. Her body convulsed and she fell face first while holding a faint smile. Despite the surge of electricity running through her, she coughed. “Don't worry... I'll make sure she gets your message.” She watched him carefully as two of the onlookers helped him onto his feet. “I should warn you though,” She laughed, “She's just as - if not more - impatient than I am. Don't blame me... if she decides to take you on before you graduate.”
At that moment, Scar-face lifted her up slightly by the collar, swung a baton towards the back of her neck and everything went black.
* * *
“Gah!” Grian let out a sharp cry as something solid and heavy hit her in the back. She then fell onto one shoulder, panting. She slowly opened one eye, winced due to the throbbing in her cheek, and chuckled despite the pain. She attempted to pick herself up but her hands were bound behind her back. Below she was a cold, stony floor that was almost as coarse as sandpaper. Aged concrete, huh? She thought to herself and quietly scanned the room. Six men in dark blue suits lined with Kevlar stared her down, their handguns drawn. This isn't a police station... rather, an old parking garage? “Well, I guess I screwed up this time.”
“Quiet!” One of the men barked, his voice muffled from the mask concealing his face.
It doesn't matter if I listen or not. If I was brought to a secluded area like this...
“What should we do with her boss?”
“Put a bullet in between her eyes and let's get out of here. She was just a sideshow on our way to reinforce the camp anyway.”
“Uh... Sarge?” One of the men held up his hand, a brass pendant nestled in his palm. “Shouldn't we turn her in and let one of the wardens take her back to her sector?”
“You mean to waste my precious time on the paperwork involved in moving this freak of nature? Fuck that. We'll kill her and go. Lavoie,” the speaker snapped a finger towards one of the other officers. “Radio into the security at the camp and figure out where we're needed the most. The rest of you, we leave not a second after the broadcast finishes.”
“Sarge,” The first snapped again but flinched as all eyes fixed upon him. “N-no, it's just that... she's just a kid.”
The sergeant let out a long-winded sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose through the black fabric of his mask. “If you're worried about us getting in trouble Roderick, don't be. No one in their right mind is going to care about how one of them died. Alternatively, if you're having a moral dilemma, swallow it and pull the trigger.” The sergeant approached Grian as he spoke and pushed her down onto her side again. He stomped on her head, forcing a thorny squeak out of her. “Scum like this isn't worth losing sleep over. Got it?”
Roderick lowered his gaze and sat in agonizing silence for several seconds before tightly squeezing the pistol grip of his firearm. “Got it.” He mumbled.
“Good.” The sergeant removed his foot and massaged his chin while walking away. “Now shoot her. Lavoie, have we got any instructions?”
“Nothing yet sarge. I wonder if the thick walls here are interfering. I can't get through and I haven't heard anything else since we came in.”
“Who did we leave as sentries at the entrance? Baxter and White? Give them a ring, see if it gets through. If that doesn't check out, take Roy up to the roof with you.”
“Pfft.” Grian snickered and rolled onto her back.
“Roderick, why the hell is she not dead yet?”
“I didn't want to interrupt your orders.”
“Well shoot her now then.”
“I'm not the one you should be focused on right now.” Grian continued and tried her best to sit up straight.
Before anyone else could respond, Lavoie held his radio away from his ear and frowned. “I got through but there must be so crazy distortion. Baxter sounded like a woman.”
Grian scowled. “How daft can you people be?” They all exchanged glances as Roderick raised his weapon.
“Wait.” The sergeant lowered it for him. “What's this little weasel talking about?”
“She's probably just delaying the inevitable,” Roy muttered. “Stalling for time.”
Grian closed her eyes and tilted her head. “And you people call demi-humans dumb. Seriously, the conclusion you reached for getting no traffic on the radio is because of interference, yeah? Now you're accrediting your teammate to having a woman's voice as being distorted? You haven't gotten a lick of static either time though.”
“What are you implying?”
She smirked. “Radios and technology might not be my expertise, but wouldn't the only logical explanation be that there was no one at the camp to return the broadcast? And that it was actually a woman who answered for Baxter?” The police silently pondered and Grian followed up by saying, “You were on your way to reinforce the nearby camp, right? That means it must've been under attack by something, or someone. Did you also forget that demi-humans have incredible senses? Especially... wolf-types and their sense of smell?”
The sergeant frowned at her for a brief moment then his eyes suddenly went wide and he barked, “Lavoie! Roy! Go back up Baxter and White, quickly!”
Both of them jumped in surprise and started, “Wh-”
“Just go! The rest of you stay with me. Roderick and I will watch our front, you two watch our six.”
Startled, everyone blindly rushed to follow their orders. Roderick and the sergeant adopted kneeling positions, watched Lavoie and Roy run towards the ramp leading down while the last two faced off towards the ramp leading up. In the instant that the two runners rounded the corner, they vanished in a blurred flash of pale blue. The garage shook violently as metal churned and screeched so loud that it would easily drown out a blood-curdling scream. Deformed tires rolled loosely on the floor and the previously empty concrete wall had been plastered with sheet metal.
“What... just happened?” Roderick croaked. “Where did they go?”
With shaking hands and a pounding heart, the sergeant observed a crimson liquid oozing out from the occasional crevice in the wreckage and fell onto his ass. “That's...” he whispered, his voice caught in his throat. A woman then slowly emerged from the ramp, carrying half of a torso donned in blue in her right hand. Its intestines were dragging themselves across the floor as other entrails fell out, creating a trail leading to the lower level.
“Silver hair...” Roderick stammered.
“Ruby red eyes...” one of the officers in the back added on.
“And a wolf.” The last finished.
“The Sinner's Hunter?” The sergeant wrapped up all of their thoughts together.
“Sis!” Grian excitedly exclaimed.
The sergeant snapped back to reality and quickly switched his weapon to full-auto. “Kill her!” He shrieked and the four of them formed a line. They all shot in one solid burst without pausing. Grian tried to cover her ears as best as she could while cuffed. Although centred on the newcomer, the bullets spread out wide, ricocheting off the support beams and the ceiling, turning the surrounding vehicles into switch cheese as a consequence. Any that would have hit the girl hovered in front of her before harmlessly falling to the ground at her feet. “Impossible...” The sergeant laughed nervously and dropped his firearm.
“Boss...” One of the other men called out. “I think we should go out the back.” The sergeant didn't move, even as the woman gradually got closer. The speaker clicked his tongue and dashed forward, grabbing the sergeant by both shoulders then began to drag him backward. “Of all the times to lose your cool-” He grumbled then gasped. In the blink of an eye, the woman closed the distance between them, straightened her fingers, and swiped. The concrete around them was painted red as his head rolled away from him. She then immediately followed up by grabbing the sergeant by the face and forcing his cranium into the ground with a splat! She stood up again and wiped her hand against her hip, scattering the fragments of bone that had been stuck to her palm.
“What kind of monster...” Roderick squealed.
Bang!
Roderick jumped again as his last comrade fell face forward beside him, a pool of blood expanded around their head, originating from their neck. Roderick restlessly peeked over his shoulder to find a man in civilians holding a stub-nosed revolver with smoke bellowing out of its barrel.
“You came too, Ian?” Grian asked dryly.
He responded while rummaging through the corpses, “You could at least try to sound a little less bored. I was barely onto the next street over when I saw the police van barrelling towards the gate.”
Roderick blinked twice, barely noticing the sting of sweat in his eyes. They're ignoring me? He then turned his attention back to the woman and held his breath. In the time he spent looking away, she silently stepped in front of him, close enough for him to smell the iron in the blood about her.
“You...” She mumbled while looking straight through him. “Hesitated.” When he didn't respond she pointed towards Grian. “You challenged your orders. Why?”
“Why?” He echoed. “I just... didn't feel right executing a kid.”
“That's the only reason?”
“What other reason do I need?”
“You accepted your orders in the end.”
“What choice did I have?”
“Did you try to think of a way to prevent her death?”
“Well... no. I chalked it up as impossible.”
“Hm.” The woman hummed. “For you, I suppose it would have been.”
“Oi, Luna.” Ian hollered as he unlocked Grian's restraints. “Don't lead him on for too long. We need to get out of here. We don't know if they have people on the way or not.”
“Fine, fine.” Luna scowled and grabbed Roderick by the chin. She forced him to look into her eye while explaining, “The only thing I hate more than humans, are people that make excuses for their wrongdoings.” As he gazed into her ruby-red pupil, his body went limp and his mind went blank. “That kid there that you were about to execute lost her parents about five years ago. They were killed in front of her and her brother. A family of four reduced to a family of two, and you were prepared to turn that into a family of one. What do you think would be an appropriate punishment for such a sin?” She then reached into his pocket and pulled out his brass pendant. “You're also a family of four, huh?” She thought aloud as she twirled the object around in her fingers. “I won't kill you, but, when you get home, you're to kill two members of your household in front of the other two. I don't care which. You can kill your son and your wife, your daughter, and yourself, yourself and your wife or both of your kids, it doesn't matter. Only that two of you die and two of you live. Now go.” She then released him and he mindlessly wandered towards the ramp. Luna exhaled and plopped down beside Grian.
“Now isn't the time to rest,” Ian stated. “Should you really have mind-controlled him? You should have already been pretty low on mana from attacking the camp-”
“Ah!” Grian cried.
Ian shot up. “What?”
His little sister brushed Luna's hair away from her eyes, revealing that they were closed. “She passed out! Quick, Ian! Give her CPR!”
“Squirt...” Ian grumbled. “She didn't pass out, she fell asleep. She used up too much mana after all and went into mana fatigue. She doesn't need CPR.”
Grian gave him a sideways glance and crossed her arms. “I'm just trying to help you get to first base.”
“You're clearly doing just fine if you can still make jokes like that.”
“Ah-hah! That's it! You can still carry her back to the old hospital.”
“Maybe I should make you carry her since you've got so much extra energy.”
“Why me? I'm not the one trying to get into her pants.”
“Forget it. We need to go. Now. We'll have to figure out what to do about you now as well.” He pondered as he picked up Luna in a bridal carry. “But before any of that, you and I are going to have a very long chat about what it means to not cause a scene.”
“Eep-” Grian recoiled before nervously playing with her hands behind her back. “My bad...” She mumbled.
“It is what it is. Let's go.”