03 / Too Close For Comfort

 THE SCENE BELOW was not pretty. Half of a homeless man's body lay strewn out across several yards on the street while the other half is held firmly in the mouth of a large creature. The monster is staring at another man who had been struck in place by fear just a few feet away. The creature itself was similar in structure to a dog but was much larger. It had three arms on each side of its body and grotesque spines coming out of its back. Its eyes were as black as the night sky with blood dripping from them. This was the beast from the contract I had seen earlier.

 Great, it's possessed, I thought to myself.

 Most of the monsters that wandered into the city were under the influence of a disease called Dae's Disease, which caused them to become extremely hostile and bloodthirsty. This heightened their senses and natural abilities which made them more of a threat. But when they went too long and had tasted enough blood, they experienced an even worse stage of the disease. They became possessed. Their bodies would mutate drastically, they would become even more crazed than before. In this case, the creature had gained two more arms and seemed to have increased its size even more.

 I jumped up and threw on my mask and dashed down into the street. With each passing flight of stairs, I could hear the screams getting further away. The dimly lit streets were painted with the blood of the homeless. I followed the blood trail until I found the monster.

 The beast chomped down on his feast totally unbothered by my presence.

 "At least act a little annoyed that I'm here," I said with a tad bit of disappointment.

 The monster stopped and turned its head toward me. Its eyes were so black I felt as though I was looking into the abyss. The monster started slowly towards me, making a low growl. The creature had to have been three times my size. As it turned, I could see its body mutating even more, growing larger.

 I pulled out my ether blades and positioned myself. I knew that the beast would have the upper hand in strength and speed, so if wanted to claim its bounty I was going to need to outsmart it.

 I watched it waiting for the slightest sign that the beast would lunge at me. It stopped and it lowered itself every so slightly. In a moment the beast came barreling toward me, much faster than I had anticipated. I threw my blades up as fast as I could just to block its initial attack.

 The beast hit me with all their weight. I went flying backward but was able to catch myself. I immediately when back into a defensive position in preparation for its next attack. The monster began circling around me.

 I knew that I was not going to last long against this beast without a good plan, and a lot of luck. Normally any monster that had reached the possessed stage would have been dealt with by a Guardian. Because I am facing off with it, I can only assume they are unaware that it has reached that stage.

 I'll need a distraction if I want to kill this thing.

 Not a moment later, as if I was blessed by God himself, I heard a man fumbling down the alley behind me. The monster continued to circle me, just when it began to get closer to the alley it noticed the man and took one large stride toward him. This was my chance.

 I dashed straight for the creature. My plan was to slice its legs from the side while it was focused on the alley. But to my surprise, it had already anticipated this.

 As it landed just in front of the alley it shifted all its momentum and hurled itself toward me.

  This is not going to end well, I thought to myself as I struggled to lift up my blades to block its attack.

 The beast landed on me, I managed to put one of my blades up to block his jaw from clamping down on me, but one of its claws pinned down my left arm. I sat there and struggled to get my arm free, but the monster's strength greatly overpowered mine.

 Just as my right arm was giving out, I heard a loud shot in the distance. Almost at the same moment the monster shrieked and fell off me onto the street. I watched as it turned into ash. This was a side effect of the disease when they died. I looked to see who had killed it, in the distance I noticed a figure running toward me. Their outfit consisted of cream-colored armor plates with dark gray accents. I knew exactly who they were, a Guardian.

 "Are you alright?" I heard a feminine voice call out from the guardian.

 I knew that no good would come from interacting with them. I had heard numerous stories about how corrupt and abusive most of the Guardians were. If I had to face one, their equipment was far better than mine and I would pay dearly for disobeying anything they ordered me to do. I got to my feet and just as I was about to lean into a sprint I heard her voice again, but much closer,

 "Sir, are you alright?" I heard the girl ask as her hand grabbed my shoulder.

  Guess I can't escape now, I thought to myself.

I put my ether blades away and slowly turned around to face the Guardian, to my surprise, they were not what I expected. The girl had long blonde hair that faded into a light pink at the ends, while her deep blue eyes contrasted with her fair skin. She was shorter than I was and carried a long guardian railblade. This weapon was common among the guardians, it functioned as both a long and close-range weapon.

 "I'm fine, and thanks for the help," I said coldly.

 Even if she was friendly, I still knew that no good would come from being involved with any Guardian.

 "I'm sorry I couldn't save you," she muttered, as she looked around the carnage laid out across the street in front of us. I could tell that she was new from the tears she was trying to hold back. She turned back and faced me.

 "At least I saved someone," she said with the saddest smile I had ever seen.

 Just as she finished speaking another Guardian came walking up.

 "Good job, Officer Ashbury," the man said patting the girl on the back. "Once the clean-up crew gets here, we can head back to district three and get out of these slums."

 Just like her, he was a Guardian too, but his outfit differed slightly. He wore a blue colored shoulder plate. This signified he was of a higher rank than she was. He had the attitude to go right along with it. He had a muscular build, and his hair was a shade of light violet. He had the initials "C. Blackwell" written on the left side of his chest plate next to a family crest. 

 I thought one was bad enough, but now there was another one. Not only that but he was one of the royal families. I could tell because of the crest next to his name. It was time I left this situation before it got worse.

 "Be careful, there is a lot of bad stuff that happens in the outer districts" I said as I turned around and started to walk off.

 "But sir—," the man put his hand up in front of the girl cutting her off.

 "It's best to not get involved with the rats of the outer districts when you are forced to come out here." He said bluntly.

  He's not wrong, I thought to myself as I turned down an alley and left the guardians to become a distant memory. The more distance I could get from them, the better.