The Prologue
You are one cursed child, Yuta
Cursed. Everywhere he went, there was no escaping the name. No matter how painful it was for him, he slowly began to dread the title that was fated onto him. This is reality.
Learn to submit to it.
The words of his late father, stuck onto him like a flea hoping to never let go. It is at the moment where your emotions are your greatest enemy against life.
There he was sat on an empty space, a young boy of 16 with hair that looked shabby, along the endless road of the city trying to reminisce every image of his deceased family within the gloomy world that took them away. From a smile to frown, daydreaming that seemed like it took an eternity. The city let out a screeching roar that echoed throughout, it didn't seemed to budge Yuta in the slightest.
> "Maybe If I had arrived a little sooner, maybe they would have still been alive."
The world plunged into sanity after creatures running around brutally terrorising humans, it was as if they arrived from the darkest pits of hell. The pandemic started not too long ago, in fact only a few minutes after Yuta visited the grocery shop for food his mother asked for. Military personal were took down in a matter of seconds, all types of weaponry didn't seem to work against them. All it took for the creatures, was either a slash against their torso or a bite to their head.
These creatures were known as Ghouls.
Subconsciously, Yuta's gaze shifted towards the sky. He lifted himself from the ground with one foot, making his way swiftly to cover for a better grasp of the situation. It was utter chaos, there seemed to be no understandable answer for the current circumstances. Across Yuta's field of view, innocent children were being slaughtered to pieces without mercy, with some of them crawling in the pool of their own blood, 'half-alive'.
Yuta shrank back, clapping his hands onto his mouth feeling something stinging his throat. His skin turned pale, his eyes lacked shine, there was no moral explanation for what he had viewed.
> "I can't let those things see me or I'm really done for!"
Right into the distance was a girl running in plain sight straight to Yuta, one arm lost, crying in all hopes for the slightest bit of mercy.
Crap is she heading towards me? I'm sure of it, the blood trail from her arm his only going to lead them here! Yuta started to panic, with amoral ideas starting to flood his mind.
Their eyes met, her eyes widened as though she's seen an angel.
The young girl hopped next to Yuta, sat on the ground holding her breath to prevent even the slightest bit of noise escaping.
> "P-Please let me stay for sometime, I am in desperate need of help. I will do anything you wish for, just please help me and I will promise to repay the debt back to you!"
>
> "You're going to get us killed young girl!"
>
> "Please I don't have anywhere else to go, my parents were killed by them!"
>
> "Sigh. Look, I can't guarantee anything but I'll try to help you someway or the other."
>
> "Thank y-you so much!... May I know your good name?"
>
> "Yuta Leigh, what about you?"
>
> "Yuki Watanabe, it's welcoming to meet another person in this situation..."
Yuki made a dark expression with the faintest smile, just like that the short conversation ended with a deep silence. Yuta felt as though he understood her, dependancy comes a long way. Their gazes were fixed towards the ground, unable to speak or move a muscle. The silence continued for while, with Yuki hoping for the silence to disperse into a meaningful conversation. Yuta was just as scared to only build another bond after all, he had only just met her.
> "We need to cross the road to get to that convenience store, there must be supplies as well as people in there that could probably help you."
>
> "Okay...! I'll try my best."
Yuta's eyes slowly narrowed to Yuki, he was envious of her. How could she have the power and hope to move in the current state she's in?
How could I become like her?
Yuki steadily raised her head to make sure the sight was clear, consecutively moving to increase her pace to travel across the road. Within a few couple of steps, Yuki made it safe and sound.
> "Your turn now!"
Yuta hoisted himself up from the ground whilst looking left and right, a herd of them were being fed off by the military personal, but were unfortunately useless against them. Witnessing the deaths of the armed men, stirred up Yuta's mind with hindering thoughts when all of a sudden...
> "Yuta! Hurry up or they'll see you!"
Screech!!
The loud echo of their cries made Yuta and Yuki dive onto the ground, plunging their knees hard whilst in an anaphylactic shock.
Thud!
What is that noise?!
It's painful! My ears are to going to rupture!
Instantaneously, Yuta's vision turned grim and fuzzy losing all sense to even see.
> "H-Huh? I can't see anything... is this the effect of the scream?"
He was uncomfortably numb to his surroundings, he couldn't feeling a thing. Yuki briskly headed towards Yuta, grabbing his arm so tightly that it left a staggering pain to his nerves. Yuta was still under the effect and couldn't comprehend what was happening even in the slightest.
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Yuki leaped into the convenience store, breaking through the glass that was barely fragile.
> "Are you okay?! You dropped onto through the ground and weren't able to move."
>
> "I did... Didn't you hear that scream? were you not under the same effect as me?"
>
> "What are you talking abo-!"
How did she manage to break through that glass...?
It was for a brief moment, but Yuta had definitely seen Yuki drop before his very eyes.
Pulse... Pulse... Pulse!
Their heartbeats were in sync, only beating louder and faster. With each continuous breath, their eyes flickered even faster. With each sweat drop, their bodies started to quiver. Yuki had Yuta with both her arms against his elbows, an arm that was shred seemed to have abnormally grown back. Fear enveloped the mood completely, entrapping the heavy grim atmosphere. She was no longer something one would call 'human', rather a foe similar to the creatures outside. One of her gleaming eyes started to be covered in a crimson red scheme, losing all the shine of hope she had left in her. In the moment of dread, Yuki's nose was pouring with blood, an amount that was dripping down her chin onto her neck. She was a figure even the bible couldn't exorcise, a figure that let out a tear drop for help.
> "Y-Yuki?"
Yuta's expression turned from shock to fear, crawling on all fours backwards stumping his head against the wall.
Yuki words were muttered into a cry of shock, unable to even ask for help, hopeless in the blink of an eye.
A small group of people hidden in the corner of the store, witnessing the entire situation. They let out a warrior cry with weapons in arm rushing towards Yuki attempting to 'kill'. Yuta quickly stood up to stop them, embracing whatever attack that was to be lead on.
> "What do you think you're doing protecting a monster?!"
>
> "W-Wait there must be something wrong here she really isn't what it seems... maybe she-"
Yuta's gaze shifted bit by bit towards Yuki with an expression of despair and helplessness. He turned delusional, could he have truly understood her now? Now while she's a monster meant to hunt.
> "Are you really planning on helping this girl?! It wouldn't take her a second to kill us all now, if we don't act now we won't stand a chance. And if you're truly on our side, we wouldn't hesitate to take you down with her! Make a choice, kill or be killed!"
Then it struck him, what would he gain from protecting a girl he had just met, a girl who had nothing to do with his life? Would it perhaps, be his humanity?
Thwack!
Yuta was bashed against the head with an iron baseball bat, leaping across the counter rolling to his back.
All of them rushed towards Yuki tumbling her onto the ground, beating her up with the intent to kill. The screams she let pierced Yuta's ears, making him start to hyperventilate. His eyes started to turn fuzzy again, with her screams being autoplayed over and over again in his head as if he's cursed to represent guilt. Her cries were soon soft, with her tears that turned red dried onto her cheeks imprinting a scar that seemed like the pain was all gone. Yuki's fingers flinched with each bat to the head, inevitably reaching her futile end, her death.
> "Haaaah! Haaaah! We did it! We fucking kill her!"
>
> "Now lets tuck her outside and stay hidden-"
After the job was done, a large figure covered their backs with a shadow that reeked of malicious intent. The shadow was twice as big, twice as stronger, twice as more disgusting, a figure that led to no escape route. There they were, the ghouls that responded to her cries. The barricaded door was forceful opened with bare amount of effort, storming their way in for hunger.
Slash!
The majority of their torsos, heads were slipped apart like a butchers easy work, brutalising them in the most inhuman way possible. This was obviously no ordinary sight for a 16 year old to view, yet, the gruesome imagery only kept grimmer and grimmer. The store was filled with its own pool of blood within a few seconds, the air keeping more warmer and warmer, and so did the the ghouls.
H-haha...
Yuta had lost all sense of sanity, he was slowly falling deep within the pits. A pit deeply ominous and dark, it never meant to be escaped from.
Yuki hadn't had it enough as well despite being drifted away from the living, her soul was only being more tattered and defiled by the ghouls. They took limb for limb, devoured them piece by piece despite her turning into one of them. Perhaps, there was a bit of 'human' left in her. Turn by turn they toyed her around, feeding their pleasures and greed for lust by dehumanising what remained of her. Her flesh was no more, a heart that left no pulse was thrown away mercilessly into the dirt. They were no better than humans, but to Yuta it was scene he'd rather died than live to spectate.
> Bleugh!
Yuta gave in to his stinging throat, his skin finally turned yellow, while his vomit turned red.
The ghouls flinched in the scent of blood, gazing their eye viscously about Yuta.
> They see me alright... there's definitely no escaping this one.
The ghouls dashed onwards, directed for Yuta and his blood. Right before they met face to face, Yuta's world froze temporarily, as though this is what death truly was, a short phase to instantly bring back happiness before a gruesome outcome. Yuta drew his final breath to accept his fate before they good grasp a hold of his exposed skin.
Splash
His blood only filled in along with the rest of the store, there were no more humans left around for them to feed on. Death was inevitable.
Cursed as he was for a savage ending, the words of his father that were embarked onto him, a feeling of freedom was made for Yuta.
> Cursed! Cursed! Cursed!
>
> I'm not cursed! Please stop!
Why am I thinking of such trivial things now that I'm dead... wait, aren't I supposed to be dead? How am talking to myself in this state? This is actually pretty cool, so this what after death is. Actually how did I really die, for odd reasons I can't seem to remember, well this isn't good! My mind is turning all cloudy again this is really painful, why am I having a migraine right now?!
So painful!
It hurts!
His pain morphed into something that wasn't meant to be physical, as obvious as it sounds, a dead body is a dead body, a body without a soul, a soul without emotion and feeling. The dream-like world that Yuta spent his short moments in slowly faded away, to shattered pieces. The throbbing pain kept getting worse and worse as though he was being struck by lightning consecutively.
He never wanted to accept it, to accept something that tormented his life so quickly. It was tragedy that was placed onto him, the curse he was born with, was never something he wanted grasp and submit to. Then it hit him, a vague yet crystal clear memory of his late parents.
> "Yuta, when the time comes we aren't there for you anymore, you must learn to accept yourself before letting others into your life. We don't wish to let you go out to a world you're not yet ready for, but, if the day comes where you begin to give in into what you are. You will be unstoppable."
Maybe the day is today, I must be whom I am. Otherwise if I don't, the death of my parents will be for naught...
The crimson-red sun gleamed its ray of light on Yuta, seemingly burning a patch of his skin off. For it to heal instantaneously, as if the burn mark was never there. His flesh wounds repaired its wirings together; tissue by tissue; muscle for muscle; anew heart pounding against his chest; blood that was fresh ablaze. His shabby hair that imitated the crescent-white moon with a taint of red, a black line across his cheek that directed itself above his forehead, a new Yuta was born.
What have I become?
Have I turned into a monster?
With a cold stare his eyes blew off, a shadow even larger grew on the ghouls back. Yuta pondered on about, the feeling of being alive.