31

My mana was depleting quickly, but inspiration struck as I was clinging on for dear life. I was close enough to feel the flames in his lungs. I stopped wasting power on the flames outside of his body, and instead chose to create an inferno inside of his body. He screamed again. Flames shooting from his mouth as his cheeks started to burn from within. 

His outside was too tough for me to handle, but the same couldn't be said about his soft innards. He screamed in agony again, but all that came out was a hoarse rasp. Then he stopped suddenly, and jumped. He landed on me as I clung to his back. I heard a quick pop, and searing pain shot up my arm. Air was driven from my whole body as he rolled off of me. 

Grabbing my foot, and throwing me like a rag doll. All of which felt like it had happened in the same moment for me as I sailed through the air crashing into the front of the store. I was a little surprised that after all that running we were still close to the store. I just lay there in a daze. I didn't need to look. 

My arm was definitely broken. My whole body felt broken, but no more attacks came. I hadn't received a notification yet so he couldn't be dead so why wasn't he coming to finish me off. I rolled over slowly. Searing pain pulsating through my whole body, and forced myself to my feet. 

I had no idea how I still had the strength to stand. My legs still worked so I started walking. Then I saw him across the parking lot. He was on his hands, and knees. Struggling to breath. 

I didn't know why, but there was a delirious part of my mind seeing him struggle just as much as I was. I drug my feet forward one step at a time as I giggled, and laughed to myself about how horribly terrible it all was. I still had a smile plastered on my face no matter how much I was suffering, and that made me laugh even more. What a sad creature I was. I was one strong breeze away from death, and I still smiled. 

My first instinct was to hide my pain. That painful impulse had been ingrained into my personality. I wasn't actually happy. I was suffering worse then I'd ever suffered before, and I was still smiling as if a smile would make it all go away. 

"I'm such a fucking hypocrite," I laughed. 

Bringing my good arm up to cover my eyes. Then my hand moved up. Pushing my hair back so I could see my prey clearly. My laughter dying as I locked eyes with him. I could see fear in his eyes. 

I reached out my hand as I got closer, and gripped his ear. I was enjoying this fear. Maybe this was the sadistic side I didn't know I had? I leaned down so I could look him in the eye. He was terrified of the smile that split my face. 

I had been prey my entire life. It was someone else's turn to be my prey. I could satisfy my sadistic urges by taking them out on these dangerous monsters. I'd always been a broken person. I might as well embrace my darkness at this point if it meant I was going to die otherwise. 

I'd always fought against that small bit of satisfaction I got from people getting what they deserved. He'd tried to kill me. He'd used me as a toy. He'd laughed in my face as I struggled to survive. I would show him the same callous disregard for life that he had shown me. 

I yanked his head up to face me. I could see him shaking as his body struggled to absorb the oxygen in the air. He smiled at me with a pained wheeze. Quietly making babbling sounds as if he was begging. 

"No," I laughed, "I'm not going to let you live. Just because I feel like it." I paused, "You got in my way. You should have left me alone."

I let go, and formed a ball of fire just above my hand. His eyes widened. Somehow realizing that I was going to kill him. He turned away slowly, and started crawling away. I formed a ball of fire around his head again. 

Forcing him to breath in my fire instead of allowing him to get the fresh air he needed. I walked along just out of his reach, and watched as his struggle to crawl away got slower, and slower. Then I watched him go down slowly. Just standing there maintaining a ball of fire on his head as he slowly, and painfully suffocated, and burned from within. I didn't let up even after he went down. 

I waited for the XP to pop up. Showing no mercy. It was actually somewhat anticlimactic. Slow, painful, boring death. My mana was about tapped out when I received my XP. 

Five thousand XP was less then I expected. It was better then death. I touched him gently, and parted him out then, and there. Skin, bone fragments, meat, and several vials of blood as well as a large core about the size of cantaloupe. I glanced through my crafting options as I sat there in the parking lot. 

I used the core, and the skin to create a set of simple armor. I sat down with the leather looking armor just a few scant inches from me ready to be put on, and got a good look at my broken arm. The adrenaline high was fading, and it would be painful to set the bone. I might actually pass out. I couldn't pass out out here. 

Too dangerous. I used the armor as a makeshift bag, and collected the meat. Leaving the blood, and bone fragments behind simply because one arming all that just wasn't worth it at the moment. I set down the bundle gingerly. Tossing a couple cans of air freshener in my bundle before continuing my way over to the office that was next to the bathrooms.