Monster among men (Part 2)

(Warning: This chapter contains depictions of violence that might be upsetting for some people. Reader's discretion is advised).

-Kid, where did you find him?-I asked Kat as I put her under my cape.

-He saw me desperately looking for stuff to bring here, so after talking a bit with me, he offered me a deal.

I sighed in disbelief.

-Didn't I tell you to avoid strangers?-I scolded her while flicking her forehead.

-I know, but your friend started to bleed more while you were asleep and I didn't know what to do besides applying more pressure…

I moved my head quickly in the direction of Layla, checking if what the kid said was real. My heart almost stopped beating when my eyes noticed a trail of blood dripping beneath Nicky.

-So? What do you say about-

-There's no deal.-I interrupted the stranger while bringing out my left handed hunting knife-What's the point of getting stuff to help Layla if what you ask in return is her?!

The man's hands twitched as he began speaking. Just like before, his tongue flicked quickly against his lips while staring at the immobile body inside Nicky.

-You see, I offer you these supplies so you can keep her alive as long as possible, and then, after she dies, you give me her corpse. Is it really that hard to understand?

My face wrinkled at the sound of his words, grossing out at every single thing that he uttered. Without thinking twice, my right hand reached for another knife and threw it at the man's leg.

He fell back on the ground instantly, but his face didn't change in the slightest. After a few minutes passed, it looked like he stopped moving completely, so I came close to him to recover my knife.

Just as the cold steel left his system, a sudden, loud noise emerged by my side. It echoed through the woods, scaring off every animal in a 3 km radius, but the only ones that remained silent were us.

I stood there completely still, feeling a bit dizzy for an unknown reason. When I was getting back up, the kid, who was behind me by a couple meters, gasped loudly.

I tried to find out what caused that reaction in the kid, and after feeling a liquid oozing out of my ear and looking at the stranger's hand, I understood what happened.

-You asshole…-I grunted as I fell to the ground, incapable of keeping my balance.

-It really wasn't that hard to understand. All you needed to do was give me that woman and I would've happily traded my supplies with you.

The man arose from the ground, applying pressure in his leg while aiming his gun at me and the kid. With a loud, creepy laugh, he pulled back the hammer of his revolver and threatened us with it.

-Be thankful. I missed that first shot on purpose-he said while walking in the direction of the shopping cart.

As he approached Nicky, I could see that ugly mug of his touching his lips viciously as he "appreciated the quality of the meat" in front of him.

I attempted to stand up, but when my body tried to get up from the floor, my lack of balance returned. At the sight of my helplessness, the kid rushed from her spot and tried to attack the man. 

In the blink of an eye, Kat's moving body was quickly pushed back by the force of his revolver. I watched in awe as her blood splashed against the floor, unable to do anything about it.

-Guuhh… Nnggg…

I heard Kat's moans and cries of pain as she curled up in a ball on the floor. At that moment, I felt pathetic. 

Jacob Young, son of the great Noah Young, blacksmithy master, was now lying on the ground because of a gunshot that didn't even connect? Truly, truly pathetic…

-Lay… la…-I managed to mumble as he put his hands inside Nicky, reaching for the body inside them.

While clicking his lips rapidly, the man enveloped her body with his arms and lifted her up with effort. Before starting to walk, he gave me a cocky stare and pressed the hammer of his revolver.

-Don't blame me…-he paused while hitting his head with his gun, trying to use it to remember what he was about to say-What was your name again? I swear that little girl said it before…

I grunted beneath him, gathering all my strength to move at least one centimeter to stop him.

-Aha! Jacob! That was the name!-he shouted energetically before shooting me.

...

Whether it was a miracle or pure luck, my body managed to move in the last second before his bullet was even able to come in contact with me.

Since he didn't double check on me, I played dead, hoping to fool him before he decided that it was time for him to leave.

With the bit of strength that I gathered while I was on the ground, I reached inside of my cape for the karambits I used against "Grandpa".

I crawled beside him, being as silent as possible to not alert him. Since he was limping because of the injury I made on him earlier, I was able to keep up with him.

After following him for a few seconds, he stopped to stretch his body and rest. After watching his unaware and defenseless body, I knew that was my time.

-Mámalo…-I whispered slowly as I brought my arms up and stabbed the back of his thighs with my knives. Before he had time to react, I brought them down abruptly, leaving a deep wound in the back of both of his legs.

As he fell to the ground, he let go of Layla's body and threw it aside. Then, with even a greater effort, he turned his body around and aimed his gun at me.

When I saw his finger approaching the trigger, I jumped on top of him and quickly attacked his hands with both karambits. The blood flew across the air, painting our faces as I made more cuts in his upper limbs.

Completely enraged, my attack didn't stop there. After his arms turned into a complete mess, I threw the knives in my hands and picked up a new pair. This time, my target was his chest.

I stabbed, slashed and pierced through his body as many times as it took until I completely destroyed that part of his existence. His eyes began to turn off as he begged me to stop, but I was far from done with him.

Once again, I threw the knives in my hands and replaced them with another pair. At some point, the stranger stopped giving out reactions to my attacks, but that didn't mean that I was going to stop too.

I threw knives and stabbed him around different parts of his body for a while. Legs, crotch, throat,... everything but his face fell victim to my metal.

Once I had thrown all of the knives and weapons that I hid under my cape, I screamed hysterically to his face, looking at the blood in my hands before punching him. It was not joy that I felt, and it wasn't sadness either, but for some reason, I was crying as I brought my hands down to his motionless face.

As the sunset's cold breeze began to hit my face, my fists made contact with him for the last time before I collapsed on top of him. His blood splashed everywhere as my body fell on his, but a numbness deep inside me made that almost completely unnoticeable for me.

Before closing my eyes, I looked at the mess that I made while being blinded by my feelings: an unrecognizable, dead body, a river of blood, sweat and tears, and a crime scene full of bloody knives surrounding both the victim and the perpetrator.