Chapter 12 - Black Blood

"Hah, so that's why you people had such a hard on for the Freaks. Your own brat is one!" Spat one of the men in disgust.

The pain is starting to fade, but it's still agonizing, I...I-I can't even muster the strength to stand, m-my entire body is trembling in pain...!

"P-please, you can do whatever you want to me, but leave him alone! He's just a child!" My mother cried desperately.

"It's a Freak that just looks like a child, don't be stupid, bitch," One of them responded, before she screamed out in pain as several gunshots rang out.

I stared in horror as her body was riddled with bullets, her screams fading as one shot through her heart, killing her. I froze in despair as her body collapsed onto mine, her blood trickling out onto me and dripping on the floor, as the footsteps of the men grew closer and closer.

"Fuck, he's still alive."

"Should we kill him?"

"Nah, if he can survive a bullet to the neck, then I bet we can sell him for a pretty penny to those geeks in Esidd. Let's collar the little shit so that he can't try anything and-...," One of them began to suggest.

"Y-you...you'll pay for this...!" I snarled, flecks of my black blood spraying out of my mouth as I felt an immense rage welling up inside me.

"You little piece of...!" Growled another of them, firing at me.

Bullets struck and pierced through my right shoulder, arm and my chest, but I felt eerily calm as a cold fury took over me, my consciousness slowly starting to fade as I felt a strange sensation taking control of my body.

"All of you...die," I stated in a sharp, icy whisper, right before a bloody red enveloped my mind, a feral roar escaping my lips as I shot forward, my consciousness sinking away into what felt like a deep, dark void...

.

.

.

.

.

Hm...? What the...? What just happened? Where am I? What's going on?

"Wh-what...what the fuck was that? This thing isn't an ordinary Freak, it's a goddamn monster!" Snapped a voice, wracked with pain.

My eyelids slowly fluttered open as I caught whiff of an unpleasant, kinda metallic smell, shaking my head with a slight groan as I looked around in a slight daze.

My eyes then widened in horror at the sight that met my gaze...there was blood everywhere, splattered across the walls and ceilings, and there were chunks of meat all over the place.

It took me a moment to realize that those were human body parts, torn apart to pieces. I then glanced down at my hands as I felt something wet, stiffening as got a look at them...my hands were coated with blood, and a thick metal wire had been used to tie my wrists together.

And there's something around my neck too, some kind of collar...I then turned towards the voice I heard, to see two of the men standing in front of me, one of them missing an arm and the other with a deep slash across his chest.

"The Freak's awake," The one with the slashed chest nudged the other one as he noticed me staring at them.

"You almost had us, you fucking monster...but you're nothing with that Suppression Collar around your neck," Remarked the one with the missing arm, as he slammed his foot onto my chest, knocking me onto my back as I let out a gasp of pain.

Ow, d-damn it...it feels like I have a few broken bones. This Suppression Collar they've put on my neck...it's blocking my powers, keeping me from healing my injuries.

The man then stomped on me again, before repeatedly slamming his heel onto me, over and over as his eyes bulged with rage.

"Hey, don't kill the thing. This has been a real fucking mess, we might as well get some money out of it for our trouble."

"Tch...yeah, I guess you're right. Just one more kick, then," He sighed, as he swung his foot at my face, slamming it against the left side as I felt my jaw crack, a couple of my teeth getting knocked loose in the process.

"Hey, check it out, they've got some top shelf booze here, this is the good stuff. I bet we can put this quality liquor to better use than they can. I mean, they're dead now," Laughed the other guy, as he rummaged through the cabinets.

"Yeah, that sounds good, my arm hurts like a son of a bitch. Maybe a couple of gulps or ten would help dull the pain," He grimaced in response, as he clutched at the stump of his arm, which he'd tied his belt around to stop the bleeding.

How...how can they be like this after killing innocent people? Don't they feel anything? And why...why me? Why do I have to go through this again?

Across both my lives, all I've wanted is to live a simple, happy life with my loved ones...and across both my lives, I've had to watch as they're killed before me.

It's...it's not fair. It's just not fair, damn it! I haven't done anything wrong...I've never hurt another person-...okay, looking around at this room, I guess that's not technically true. I also destroyed that one guy's eyeballs in my previous life before I died.

Let me rephrase that, I've never hurt an innocent person. What I'm trying to say is...what the fuck have I done to deserve this, huh!?

"Well? How's the pain now?" The guy with the slashed chest asked the other one, as he chugged down several gulps from a bottle of wine.

"Still hurts, damn it...ugh, whatever, let's just grab the little monster and get the hell out of here already," He muttered in response, as he walked towards me, arching back his right leg as he stepped in front of me, "Time to take a nap, Freak boy."

And with that, he swung his leg towards my face, everything going dark as his foot slammed square onto the middle of my nose, knocking me out...

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP