"What the hell did you show them for these people to be so well-behaved?" Brittany asked with her usual playful smile as she looked around. The predatory gazes she would feel were now gone; what was now were looks of fear shot their way, similar to back at Willowfen. "The mission they wanted done." Brittany narrowed her eyes, basking in the fear and reverence she felt.
"Well, whatever you did seemed to have gotten rid of a lot of problems."
The three making their way to the car already prepared for them. Marcus was waiting for the three alongside him was Alastair who wore a stern expression. "By the way, could you people return my gun? I can't leave without it, so chop to it," Brittany asked, her tone dripping with arrogance shot at Marcus. Jared, who was to the side, stepped up, offering Brittany's gun. "Thank you."
*Bang*
A gunshot rang through the air; Jared dropped dead. "I don't like it when people take my things so casually, as if it's theirs." Brittany turned to face Andrew. "Okay, we can leave now." Her cheerful tone dismissed the life she had claimed. "Not yet, Marcus." Andrew called out, his hand rising and aimed at Marcus's forehead. "You have something I require." He didn't bother explaining any longer as his fingers gestured at a plucking motion and a red strand left Marcus's body.
*Thud*
Marcus, after Andrew was done, dropped dead next to Jared. Alastair grit his teeth, watching his leader be killed, and all he could do was watch. "Head for the edge, I'll meet up with you." Brittany looked at the base before flashing her smile. "Just don't have too much fun, dear." Her hands reached for the wheel as Lara stepped into the back of the car.
This time it wasn't the same SUV as before, but a modest suburban family car. The car drove off, leaving Andrew alone with the members of the Blighted Boar, their leader on the ground. "Do you plan on killing us?" Alastair inquired, his teeth gritted as Andrew's scalpels glimmered in the sunlight. "Yes."
*Thud*
One of them unceremoniously fell to the floor, the stench of blood blooming in the air. "Even if you kill all of us, do you think people won't be able to trace you? After all the cops in Stillwater have already concluded that you're no longer there and will start looking elsewhere, it's only a matter of time before you're caught. Once you kill me, a video of you will be sent to the world exposing you and those ladies." Andrew, however, remained unbothered as he drilled his scalpel into Alastair's neck, ending his life.
The massacre went on inside the mall as well; some tried to kill him while others tried to flee. All meeting their end before Andrew was the only one left alive in the mall. His half lid eyes drifted over to a car, a two-seater, before stepping in and driving away.
. . .
"I didn't think he could turn the tide so quickly. It's a shame, as I wanted to see you kill too." Brittany clicked her tongue, the engine killed as they waited for Andrew. Their plan of escaping on their own foiled when Marcus ordered for the two of them to be set free. "But I guess Andrew took pity on you once more and had to save you, pathetic." Lara, who was in the back, looked into the distance where cinders of the stadium could be seen.
The fire was still lingering, though not as staggering as the night before. "Do you actually believe that he took on a military base by himself? It seems far-fetched! Sure, he's strong, but isn't that absurd?" Lara asked, hoping to switch the topic to something other than Brittany picking on her. "Ehhh... I could see my Andy capable of something like that. After all, we still don't know his actual limit, so who knows whether it's true."
The conversation came to a halt as they heard a car making its way over to them. "Andy!" Brittany cheered as Andrew made his way to the back of the car, hauling their supplies to the red car. "Get out, the car's tracked." The two didn't argue as they made their way over to the red car. Brittany now seated on Andrew's lap while Lara sat next to him. "Flashy, don't you think?" Lara asked as the car sprang to life and snaked back to the highway and away from the ruined city.
"There were no other cars." Lara let out a sigh as she looked out the window, the stench of blood on his figure something she had grown accustomed to. "Did you have to kill all of them?" She inquired about the seemingly never-ending highway. "They would have exposed our location when asked; besides, with you growing in terms of popularity, it doesn't help that people who have seen you are left alive."
Brittany reached for the radio, her fingers sifting through channels before she found what she was looking for. ".... It would seem that the individual known as Lara Grale is suspected to have already left Stillwater with another individual known as Andrew Grayson. These two individuals are highly wanted fugitives, wanted for crimes against the law...."
A chuckle echoed through the car. "Fugitives, I wouldn't be surprised if they called you two terrorists the moment they get to Willowfen or that city." Her cheerful tone, ignoring what this meant to the two. "I'm sure by now that your faces should be easily recognizable to the public and to any cops," Brittany spoke, her smile getting under Lara's skin. "You know that you're with us, right? You're an accomplice as well; don't think that you can just walk out of this like nothing ever happened."
Brittany shifted her body on Andrew's lap, leaning in closer to his neck. "I didn't hear my name, but even if so, unlike the two of you, I don't have any bodies with my name. The one I killed, I can easily pin it on you two. Like hell I could say that you two kidnapped me and forced me to come with you for extorting my father for money!" Lara palmed her face, her jaw tightening as Brittany flashed her canines, now pronounced and dug into Andrew's neck.
"Darling, to the outside world, I'm the most innocent one out of all of us." Lara fell silent, a heavy sigh leaving her lips as she couldn't believe what was unfolding in front of her. 'I hate the fact that because of her father that she has a way out of this one. Her story is, after all, far more believable than mine.' She wanted to laugh at herself at the absurdity of it all. "I want to die." Brittany caught her groan.
"If you want to, then I don't mind." Her gun now aimed at Lara, who raised her arms in defense. "I wasn't serious!" She quickly protested, which forced Brittany to lower her gun and focus more on sucking Andrew's blood.
. . .
Brittany was back in her own mind; this time what greeted her way the view of the red crack stretching near infinitely both vertically and horizontally like a wall before it ceased. Smaller cracks formed alongside the main crack before it began. A strange fluid flowed through the cracks, which quickly drowned her. 'Blood?' Her thought boomed in the white space. 'It's Andrew's blood.' Her brows furrowed as the space she had thought was infinite filled with his blood.
The wall collapsed as well in terms of horizontal; the edges now visible while the vertical aspect of it remained elusive to her. The smaller cracks let blood pour into her space, aiding the main one. Her drifting figure was brought to shore as land mass formed, with pools of blood accumulating and the main crimson crack serving as an axis for this transformation.
Oceans of blood formed as well as smaller masses of water, all comprising Andrew's blood while she watched it all transpire. The cracks in the sky stretched further and further, replacing the white void with nothing but red. The rain seemed to have no end in sight, and what infuriated her was that she couldn't leave like before. The main crack that now served as a compass and an axis to her mind was physical and sturdy.
'For how long am I going to be here?' She couldn't help but wonder, her figure now lying on her back on the ground. Her question went unanswered before something shifted in the main axis. A streak of black began momentarily, one that she didn't see as she was too busy wondering when this madness would end. Minutes turned into hours, and the change in blood could be seen.
The red rain was now turning black, which brought her to her feet. Reaching out and tasting the blood, it now contained the edge that drew her closer to Andrew's blood. 'Is this because I was sucking his blood the reason this process is taking so long?' Hours turning into days, her sustenance being the black blood that now tainted the oceans and lakes and her axis. 'What is this?' The main axis flickered from red to black, as if the black blood were a virus that tried to replace the red color.
"Mmhh~~~," A moan left her lips, one that took her by surprise as she covered her lips. "Whatever is going on, it's delicious. It's a hundred times sweeter than Andrew's blood. No, it's infinitesimally sweeter."
*Thud*
She fell to the ground; rather than pain, pleasure assaulted her. Her eyes rolled back, an ear to ear smile forming on her lips as she felt every nerve in her body light up with euphoria. The trance, something she couldn't bear before, her mind passed out from the bliss, and she was thrown back into the real world.
. . .
Her eyes lifted slowly as she looked around. Lara was fast asleep while Andrew was focused on the road. "What was that sensation?" Her lips tainted with his blood as she pulled back from his embrace. "You broke through into the second league." She tilted her head slightly, her eyes narrowing. "How long will it take before I break into the third league? I want to feel that again." Her fingers dug into his skin, able to feel the protrusion of his spine.
"A month, however, given your nature, you won't like the third breakthrough." She asked immediately. "What do you mean? What happens to me?" Andrew's hands now moved on their own. With the road empty, he didn't have to worry about crashing into other cars. "It's something that you'd have to experience rather than me telling you. But it is something that touches on your appearance, is all I'll say."
She bombarded him with questions; however; he didn't reply, his excuse being that he had to focus on the road. "Don't bullshit me Andrew, there are no other cars, so tell me already what the third league is about already?!" Her face stern, clashing with his aloof visage. "You'll have to know that when you get there." She let out a helpless sigh, her index and thumb pressing on her nose bridge.
"Since you won't tell me that, then for how long was I passed out?" Andrew's gaze flickered back to her. "Five days. The time spent in your mind is equal to the time spent in the real world." After a short sigh, she gave up on asking what would become of her when she made it to the third league. "I wonder when you'll eventually tell me everything you have stored in this mind of yours."
Her hands resting on the sides of his head, forcing him to look at her. "You'll have to live long enough for that, my dear." A faint, genuine smile crept onto her lips. "Then you'd better keep your promise."