I accelerate to a sprint in under a half-second.

I smash into the boy. We both tumble to the ground. The concrete is hard but fades into memory a moment after.

Aedi. I turn to look towards her. Somehow, she's still kicking. There are two clear holes where the horns should be in her clothes, and yet she's alive as if being impaled was just an unfortunate circumstance among many.

"We have to make a tactical retreat!"

What?

Right now?

When we have her in a weak spot?

I find it difficult to approve, difficult to understand his way of thinking. Yet, I suspect he might be right. Instinct, unspoken, is telling me something similar.

Agitated, I run down the hallway. I'm aiming for the staircase, hoping to descend it, when he stops me. On my hand is a tug. Grabbing me and pulling me to a steel fence, the only protection between me and an untimely fall.

"Trust me and jump!" He makes a ludicrous demand, but there's an agency and confidence in it I can't deny. While I stand, he reaches into his robe. “Look away for a second”. And swaps out his current bull mask for another.

A circular mask. One composed of equal parts red, yellow and black. Like a circle divided in three equal parts. I can’t quite place my hand on it, but there are a variety of symbols strewn across it too. Some circular, some looking like mathematical signs, and some like characters in a foreign language.

"Let's go!"

I take it as an incentive. He holds onto my hand. Fearless, we sprint and jump over the fence.

The pressure of wind. The growing size of concrete pavement. The ever-pumping heart of mine that refuses to dwindle in speed.

My eyes are open. The prospect of death is looming closer, no doubt less than a second away.

"Transfiguro!"

An incantation from the boy. Right as we land on the ground, I hear a shudder beneath the pavement, as if pounded by a hammer or drill. I think about it, standing and panting heavily when I see it.

There's a dent in the ground

.Whatever force that should've been delivered to our body got focused on one singular point instead.

Magic. The power of abstract bullshit.

"Transfiguro". Yells the boy. "Construe!"

He's pressing both hands on the ground, casting yet another spell of his. Structure. With magic, he creates a structure, constructing a two-metre tall and two-metre wide concrete wall.

Noise.

There's another series of gunshots, each one colliding against the concrete. The noise is coming from in front of the wall. Meaning that the woman got down with us.

Without concealing her movements, she steps from the side of the wall, meeting us head-on.

Damn.

No matter how much damage that woman takes, she's still going.

Smiling. Persisting with that over-confident body language and dismissiveness.

"Camille, Camille, Camille, relying on child labour to do your dirty work?"

Another gunshot. Aedi's bullet scrapes the boy's right elbow. The same one reaching inside his robe for another trinket to pull us out of shit.

"You're still young, kid; no reason to lose your life for this old hag, eh?"

The woman mocks me. There's no way I can retaliate. Can I really close the distance, block a bullet with my right arm, and beat her?

That’s impossible. To be honest, I don’t really know what to do at this point.

Or so I’d say.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Because there is one thing I can do.

A tidbit of redemption before I might die.

“Boy…” The word slips into a dulled whisper.

Affirmation is all it’ll take.

Kids are malleable, after all.

"Boy, you're a fucking dumbass, you know that?! Trying to be a hero is what got me into this stupid bunghole in the first place. How can someone as old as you be this self-affirming of their own stupid fantasy? Be a hero this, be a hero that, why don't you be a hero for your mother and clean the dishes or something?! You idealistic tosser of a teenager!"

I give him an irritated expression before biting my lip.

Hopefully, that's it.

No more heroism on his behalf.

Leave this old hag to die as she deserves.

He’s looking at me, head slightly down, when he says "Sorry..."

Heartbroken. That's the only word I can use to describe his voice. Verging on the edge of tears and shock, wrapped up in a neat little bundle.

"I─"

"Don't look at me!"He stomps his feet, turning his head.

No matter how cold, unfeeling and cruel I am, those words still send something down my body. It must be empathy. Perhaps, a reaction weighted in shock value more than anything else.

Don’t look at me…

─Wait.

Hm… That’s a bit random of a thing to say.

Really random.

Too out of nowhere…

Does he have a hidden meaning or something?

Far as I know, that's way too melodramatic all of a sudden. Way to off from normal behaviour. Considering my dismissive attitude towards him earlier and his general lack of reaction, would it really be wise to assume that he’s this emotional? This susceptible to outbursts? Or, is there is something else at play?

Something like a plan to get us out of this situation…

I manoeuvre into ‘I’ll do what it takes to survive mode’.

Dammit. I’m too desperate to not die after all. If this kid has a strategy then fine. In the end, I’m still a human piece of shit.

Any chance at living is one I damn well will take!

"Fine, not like I want to see your ugly arse anyway!"

I turn around. Acting on the lessons taught in high-school theatre, I put on a fit of severe anger, tensing my hands and spitting on the floor.

There's no way to know for certain, but I think his plan might have to do with something from earlier—something that occurred in that alleyway we were in.

I muster up the air in my lungs.

"Oi Aedi, just shoot me already, won't you?!"

She yells back. "Sure thing!"

Undoubtedly, her gun is on me now.

Good.

As long as her focus is elsewhere, everything is in the clear.

So as I breathe, I hold my breath, waiting for a bullet to come.

Then, I hear it. A sound. The distinct yet soft removal of a mask for another.

"Close your eyes and hold her, Camille!"

My vision retreats to darkness.

I dash, running in the woman's direction. There's no saying how long it'll last. So, before she can retaliate, I'll hold her still for him!

In a second, I close the distance. My arms scramble for flesh. After fumbling around, I grasp onto what I think to be a neck, holding her in a chokehold.

"Push her!"

I listen to his voice. Taking my two arms, I shove her to the highest output my muscles can exert. What follows is an almost drunken escalation of steps. Four, to be precise. Stumbling forward and in an irregular rhythm.

Moments later, something changes.

Heat. Hotter than anything I've ever felt is coming from the boy's direction. Whipping at my skin. Wrapping me in its warm embrace, drawing out sweat from every pore in my body.

I smell a peculiar scent. Not unlike meat cooked over fire.

Opening my eyes, I soon understand why.

...She's on fire.

Alight. White hot flames tearing at every part of her body. Knee on the ground, grasping at the night sky. There's a green light glowing in her right chest too, as if an artificial heart, pumping life into her rapidly decaying body.

I've never seen anything like this before. There's a surrealness to it that makes it hard to accept, rendering it something beyond just witnessing a dead body or road accident. While I stare at her, I begin my walk, attempting to regroup with the boy.

Later, after I face her once again, I see it.

Intact skin and clothes. Constantly regrowing. To me, it appears almost as if they're regenerating. Restoring themselves to what they were prior, yet getting destroyed simultaneously.

Eyes peering at me, the woman stands.

"Major." She says with a smile. "I'M BURNINGGGGG UP!

There's the enthusiasm from prior. How she continues to speak, much less yell, is beyond me. Really, it's impressive—how formidable she is. I can respect it. She's annoying as shit, but she's damned good at what she does. And though I know I should take it more seriously; I can't. Only by looking at her do I feel like I can understand, wrap myself in her psyche, and grasp the mindset of one as crazy as my pursuer.

"We should get going."

Considering her image for one last time, we run. There's no way she can keep up. And though I consider how it might be possible for an instant, I realise that it was just my imagination upon looking back.