The commander sat down behind his desk and turned on the computer. Unlike Aiden, he didn’t use computers for his own entertainment, it was just another tool like the radio or a radar. He used this computer to keep direct contact between him and Colin, his man on the field monitoring Kirsten’s activity, and judging by his last report, he had found Alicia way before Kirsten could.


    Once the computer turned on, he clicked on a program one of the guys in the communications building prepared for him and taught how to use; it was a barebones direct messaging application, nothing fancy like the other ones that were all the rage with the youth in those times, but it served its main purpose well enough, to stay in contact with Colin whenever he was on a mission.


    “Status report.” – He typed. After a couple of seconds, Colin replied.


    “The corporal has gone berserk.” – He responded, somehow Conrad couldn’t help but feel he had been in this situation before.


    “No surprise there.” – He typed. – “Damage?”


    “Multiple casualties, almost reaching one hundred.”


    “Civilians?”


    “Some.”


    The commander sighed; he knew this would happen at some point. But then he took a deep breath and focused, remembering that he forgot to ask a very important question.


    “Anything to note about them?” – He typed.


    “From what I’ve seen…” – Said Colin. – “…they were deviants.”


    “Deviants?”


    “Child abusers and other such filth.”


    “(So she’s at that stage huh?)” – Thought Conrad. – “(I’m glad she hasn’t devolved into a mindless monster at the very least.)”


    “The corporal is still on the move.” – Said Colin. – “Broke into a house.”


    “What’s she doing in there?”


    “She seems to be resting.”


    After escaping the warehouse, Alicia wandered forward, keeping to the shadows, but now she could feel the heat rising.


    Patrol cars everywhere, three helicopters flying over the town, using a lamplight to search in the darkest corners; the law had put all their hands on this and she knew it.


    She stumbled upon a house and broke inside kicking the backdoor open. The house seemed to be empty, the owners were probably away on vacations or a business trip, it was anyone’s guess.


    Alicia walked into the living room and dropped the bag full with guns next to the couch in the center of the room, then she plummeted on it. She stayed there, staring at her own reflection on the Tv screen right in front of her, looking at the glowing scars on her face.


    She quickly realized how tired she was, she had forced her body beyond its limits, and as a consequence, it was collapsing, falling apart. She couldn’t feel her legs anymore, her muscles were numbed, her tongue fell asleep, and worst of all, her vision was slowly obscured and faded away.


    Alicia was now completely blind.


    Her body was withering away at a fast pace. If it was up to her, she would have just laid down and closed her eyes then go to sleep being lulled by the sound of her own heartbeat, now calm and regretful, then waking up on the other side where she expected to meet with Malak and the others once and for all.


    “[I’ve reached my limit.]” – She thought. – “[This is it…]”


    However, Crimson had a different idea. Thin lines of smoke came out from her scars and a sudden surge of energy ran through her body. She recovered the sensations in her legs and tongue, the soreness in her muscles disappeared and her vision returned. She gasped for air when she felt her heart beating with life and power.


    She looked at her reflection on the screen once again, now her eyes were two red glowing rings surrounded by darkness. She knew this was her hint to know that she couldn’t remain in this state for much longer. She didn’t know what would happen if she lost herself while on full sync mode, but she was sure that it would be just about the same as being dead, and imagining whatever took her place in her mind after she was gone didn’t put her at ease either.


    Alicia stood back and took a moment to stretch, that’s when she received another visit from that corpse that kept stalking her.


    “Daaaaamn, that’s a nice pair of eyes you got there. I don’t think you can be considered human anymore, what are you supposed to be? A demon? A vampire? I haven’t seen you drink blood.” – Said Nyx, appearing right next to her on the couch, puffing out a cloud of cold air.


    “[Leave me alone.]” – She said while reaching for her bag.


    “Come on, don’t be like that. You are the first living supernatural phenomenon I’ve seen! When you wander around as a stranded soul you get used to seeing all sorts of bizarre stuff, but I was under the impression that was exclusive to the spirit world, up until now.”


    “[Don’t care.]”


    “You aren’t the least bit curious about what you are at all? that’s boring!” – She pointed at Alicia. – “It might be the reason you do the things you do. You are really shaking this town, even the spirit world has been thrown for a spin. Many souls that were stranded here now suddenly can rest in peace. You avenged them, I’m so thrilled about what you’ll do next!”


    “[I’m not here to amuse you.]” – She took a moment to check how many mags she had left for the rifle and the pistols. She was still good for a little bit more of action.


    “It’s not that. I’m fascinated by how you seem to be comfortable in your own skin, you don’t question yourself. You might be turning into a scarab, and you’ll still be doing what you are doing. What do you make of that stuff inside you? Doesn’t it scare you?”


    While Nyx was talking, Alicia noticed a change. Right above her, there was a floating red cloth, it stretched itself infinitely, passing through the closed door and out to the streets, and even then, she could still see it through the walls and bushes.


    Whatever it was, it intended to guide her to something, she centered her gaze on the end of the cloth, there was a couple of scents there, they smelled delicious, but there was something else in them, something that made them different from all the others. For some reason she had the feeling that it was in her best interest to follow the cloth.


    “[It doesn’t scare me.]” – She said. – “[It’s useful.]”


    “How pragmatic of you, you were truly made for this job.” – Nyx crossed her arms. – “Though no one is paying you for doing this community service I believe.”


    “[The results are my reward.]”


    Alicia walked out of the house, following the red cloth.


    “I wonder what kind of results she’s talking about.” – Said Nyx. – “For her sake I hope she doesn’t end like me…oh well, it’d be nice to have some company.”


    Igor and Luis had arrived too late, the warehouse was already surrounded by policemen and they witnessed how they brought Kalina out of a container, handcuffed and beaten, though they were sure the latter part was Butcher’s work.


    They put Kalina inside a car so she wouldn’t go anywhere, and both of them knew that there was little they could do for her at this point.


    “Kalina is out of the game.” – Said Luis. – “Got anything, Carl?”


    “Not at all. How’s it possible that someone as loud as her manages to stay out of my sight?”


    “We’ll have to be more careful; we could stumble by her in any moment.” – Said Igor. – “We must attack her as a group, otherwise we’ll end up like Kalina.”


    “Fuck you Igor…” – Kalina managed to turn her intercom back on. – “…I’m not done yet…get me out of here so I can get even with that bitch.”


    “I don’t think so Kalina, in my opinion you deserve a little bit of a time out.” – Said Luis. – “We’ll get you out when we are done here, in the meantime just stay put and relax.”


    “You’ll pay for this Luis, mark my words…” – She turned the intercom back off.


    “Why didn’t she kill her though?” – Asked Igor. – “Kalina might be good but I don’t think she’s good enough to survive a bout with a much more experienced killer.”


    “She was either lucky or Butcher took pity on her.” – Said Luis. – “Either way, we have to keep looking for her.”


    They returned to their patrols but they soon realize their freedom on the streets was becoming more and more limited as time went by.


    The police had closed entire blocks and were performing a thorough search within the perimeters, jumping at the sight of anything remotely suspicious. Luis and Igor made sure to stay at a distance from them, otherwise they risked being questioned and searched by the officers, and unregistered weapons made for an excellent conversation topic with them.


    Igor parked near the town hall once again, wondering how long this operation was going to last. He still had his doubts on if they should have taken this job or not, hunting down a teenager, even if she was one of the most dangerous mass murderers alive, didn’t feel quite right to him. The client was shady enough, which gave him more reasons to believe the things that were included in her file.


    Igor had participated in a number of dangerous missions and assassinated all sorts of dangerous individuals all across the globe like terrorists and politicians, rogue corporate agents, gang leaders way over their heads, whistleblowers, and a handful of competing assassins here and there.


    However, this was the first time he wasn’t sure if his group would be able to complete a contract. He had seen how Butcher had pacified Luis and Kalina in a matter of seconds back at the diner, she already possessed the skill befitting a professional assassin twice her age.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He managed to send her flying through a wall, that’s true, and that had to do some damage he reckoned, but now that she was armed, it would be harder to even get closer.


    While he kept pondering on the situation, he spotted a shrouded figure running and jumping on the rooftops.


    “Luis, Carl, I think I got her.” – Said Igor through the intercom. – “Near the town hall, I’m in pursuit.”


    “Don’t do anything stupid, Igor!” – Said Luis. – “Losing Kalina was enough.”


    “I’ll be careful.”


    The shrouded figure he believed was Butcher was standing at the top of a building’s rooftop near the town hall, overlooking the streets, probably looking for her next firefight.


    Igor hopped out of his car and made his way to the alleyway, then climbed up the emergency stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible to not tip her of his presence.


    Once he was three steps away from reaching the rooftop, he brought out his magnum and braced himself for whatever she could throw at him.


    He stepped up and aimed at the shrouded figure standing over the edge of the roof.


    “Freeze, Butcher!” – He said. – “You are…”


    The clouds moved away, letting the moonlight pass, the true identity of the shroud was revealed.


    Charlie turned around to meet a big muscular man aiming a magnum at her.


    “Oh…” – Said Igor, putting the gun away the moment he realized that whoever this girl was, she was not Butcher. – “I’m sorry, miss…I mistook you for someone else.”


    “Oh, don’t worry big guy. Everyone makes mistakes.” – She said. She raised her hand up to her chin. – “But you said something that caught my attention. Are you looking for Butcher.”


    “So you know her…?”


    Tension was rising, Igor took a moment to analyze the girl in front of him. Clearly a teenager, small, he could probably knock her down and capture her with little effort, but the way she carried herself made it apparent that there was more to her than what met the eye.


    “Oh that depends…Why are you looking for her?” – Asked Charlie.


    “That’s none of your business young lady, stay out of this, for your own wellbeing.”


    “I could say the same to you.” – She retorted and stepped forward. – “She’s pretty lethal, you know that, right? A killing machine for all intents and purposes, she’s actually killing someone right now for all we know, doesn’t that scare you?”


    “Do I look like I get scared that easily?” – Asked Igor. – “You are not a normal girl, aren’t you?”


    Charlie laughed and crossed her arms. – “You can say that I’m out of the norm, maybe, ha ha ha!” – She performed a fake laughter.  – “But enough of that, I can only assume you aren’t looking for her to invite her to drink coffee and eat cookies.”


    “I can’t let you go either.” – Said Igor, pointing the gun at her again. – “I don’t want to kill a teenager, so don’t force my hand and give it up.”


    Charlie laughed. – “Alright Dirty Harry, I know how this goes.” – She took a deep breath. – “But I warn you… guns mean nothing to me.”


    Igor saw as a bunch of strings tangling themselves on the magnum and pressuring it, cutting it into a bunch of pieces.


    “What the…!?” – Igor was taken aback, giving Charlie another chance to attack.


    “Wide open!” – Charlie rushed at him, there was no need to, but she always liked to make a fight more interesting.


    Igor saw this coming and threw a punch down at her face when she got close enough. Charlie had underestimated him, despite being big and stronger than an ox, she didn’t think he’d be that fast.


    The punch made contact with her face; she received the full damage. However, this wouldn’t be enough to take her down.


    She grabbed the arm and held onto it, then Igor threw another punch aimed at her stomach, she felt as if she was just hit by a truck at full speed. The impact was such some people nearby were able to hear the echo of the impact, but couldn’t quite tell where it came from.


    Charlie spat out blood, Igor thought that would be enough. She was tough, he would give her that, not many people can take even a single punch from him, let alone two.


    “I said…wide open…” – She said, that’s when Igor noticed something was horribly wrong.


    Those strings he saw around his gun tied around his arms, it was dozens of them, they were coming out of her fingers.


    His arms were extended side to side against his will, Charlie jumped back, higher than most people, she held onto the strings and used them to pull herself towards him, kicking him in the face with both feet.


    Igor felt it in every fiber of his whole being, no youngster should be able to hit this hard, he shouldn’t even be able to feel it, but he felt it, and she hit hard, just as hard as him.


    Then she kicked him in the stomach and punched him twice in the ribs for the sake of it, leaving deep and dark bruises under his T-shirt. He groaned, resisting the urge to scream with pain.


    She was not normal; she was a freak. There were a handful of them across the world, Igor was aware of that, he was sure their target was one of them.


    There was no way for him to know what kind of relationship the one attacking him had with Butcher, but he could only assume their interests were misaligned.


    He had to remove her at all cost. He felt relieved knowing that he had hunted a couple of freaks before, he just had to put his mind into it.


    Igor tensed up his arms and resisted the pull of the strings, throwing Charlie off balance, then he threw his arms back with great might, throwing Charlie forward towards him.


    He planted an uppercut on her chin, raising her a meter from the ground, up to his height, and he took that chance to give her a powerful headbutt, he felt her nose shatter against his forehead.


    Charlie’s blood came pouring out of her nose like a stream as she fell on her back to the ground. Igor thought that he had finally neutralized her, but the strings around his arms were still there.


    “What…a play…” – She said, exhausted. Charlie raised up her arms, tensing up the strings around Igor’s arms and pulling them back as hard as she could.


    The strings clung to Igor’s skin and cut through it, leaving deep lacerations all across his arms.


    Igor screamed in pain holding onto his bleeding arms. His anguish caught the attention of a couple of officers patrolling near there and they ran to check out what was going on.


    Before they arrived, Igor kicked Charlie away out of spite, sending her flying off the roof and into another, crashing into a bunch of wooden boxes.


    “What the hell is going on up here!?” – Said one of the officers when they finally made it to the roof, but the only they found was a small puddle of blood in the middle of the area and signs there was a fight up there.


    After kicking Charlie away with enough strength to assume he had killed her – much to his displeasure – he jumped off the rooftop and ran towards the alleyways to hide in the darkness, holding onto his bleeding arms.


    He crouched on a corner, using pieces of his own coat as improvised bandages to stop the bleeding, her strings had left deep and long wounds that if not treated immediately, he would end up dying because of the shock.


    “Igor! Igor, you there!? what happened!?” – Asked Luis.


    “It wasn’t her…but it might’ve been one of her allies. I killed her, but she wounded me.”


    “What’s the damage?”


    “My arms…I’m bleeding a lot…I need help.” – He almost passed out in that moment, but he made use of all his willpower to stay awake. – “I’m in an alleyway…find my signal…”


    “Stay with me Igor, I’m coming.”


    Luis rushed to find his wounded teammate. Meanwhile, Charlie was lying down on the roof near where she had her fight with Igor.


    She sat back up with difficulty, regretting not having taken this situation seriously.


    Pushing out the blood accumulating in her nose she realized it was broken; she had some ribs in very bad condition as well; she could barely move without wincing.


    Charlie had to admit that she seldom found someone that hit as hard as Igor, there were a few exceptions here and there, but it was safe to say he was an exception among the exceptions.


    “And here I was thinking I could play with him.” – She said before coughing up more blood. – “Holy crap, I’m such a mess… at least I didn’t break a finger…” – Charlie tried to get up but something in her creaked when she moved. – “I think I broke a few other things though…owww….”


    “Charlie, are you there?” – Asked Kirsten through his walkie-talkie. – “Where are you?”


    “I’m…in a rooftop.”


    “What happened? You don’t sound so good.”


    “I stumbled upon…someone else that’s searching for her…most probably to assassinate her.”


    “Really!? something went wrong!?”


    “I left some pretty nasty wounds on him…if he isn’t smart, he might bleed out.”


    “What about you?”


    “Got a few broken bones, he hit fucking hard…” – She winced. – “I think I’ll have to sit this one out for a couple of minutes, boss… I need to take a lil’ break.”


    Kirsten hung his head low, trying to determine at which point did the situation become so dire.


    “Where are you? Do you need help?” – He asked.


    “Don’t worry about me boss, this will pass…” – She said that as if she didn’t have fractures and a broken nose. – “I’ll be ok, I just need to rest for a moment, you keep searching for Butcher before things get even more sour.” – She coughed.


    Kirsten didn’t know if he could believe her or not, maybe she was delusional enough to think that broken bones and bleeding are no big deal at all and was treating her own wounds as such.


    He was walking while pondering on what to do, then he stumbled upon another blocked off street. People had gathered to see what was happening behind the yellow tape while the police officers were telling them to go back home and that the situation was under control.


    Kirsten made his way to the front and saw the paramedics bringing out a body in a bag from a 7-11 shop. Right next to the shop there was a police officer questioning the clerk whose face had seemingly been washed with the blood of the man inside that bag.


    He was telling the officer what happened in between stutters, the clerk was obviously in shock but he was doing his best to tell him what he saw. From that distance, Kirsten managed to hear the words “girl”, “scars,” “pistol” and “milk” for some reason.


    What he was saying was blatantly bizarre to the officer questioning him, but for Kirsten it was a confirmation that he had missed her, but hopefully she wouldn’t be too far from there.


    Kirsten turned around and headed on the opposite direction. –“Where are you Charlie? I’m heading your way.”


    “Boss, it’s ok, I don’t need…”


    “That’s not up to discussion; I’m not leaving you alone knowing there’s enemies in the area.”


    “…Fine, I’m near the town hall…there’s a park nearby, I’ll wait for you there.”


    Meanwhile, there was an elderly couple sleeping comfortably in their house, completely removed from the chaos happening in the streets.


    The woman, Janice, she suddenly felt the urge to use the bathroom, so she got up and walked out of the bedroom.


    Once there, she gasped. There was someone in their house, standing at the bottom of the hallway. Janice’s vision was not good, just like her mind, she could only see a vague figure in the hallway that stood up to her vision because of a couple of red glows coming from her.


    A sound minded individual would’ve thought that it was an intruder and would’ve screamed in panic. But Janice’s mind had went the deep end for most things, recognizing her husband as her husband being an exception. So when she saw this stranger standing menacingly in her house, she could only say one thing:


    “Mary…? Is that you Mary?” – She asked.


    Mary was her daughter, if she was still alive, she would’ve been 40 years old by then.


    “Oh my God…Mary! How glad I’m to see you again!” – She walked towards “Mary”. –“Look how you’ve grown! You are even taller than your daddy now! Oh, how I’ve missed you…where have you been Mary? you have no idea how worried I was.”


    Janice reached out towards Mary’s face, wanting to hold her, to feel her.


    There were a couple of things that Janice’s distorted mind was forgetting, very important things, things most people would find unforgiveable.


    “I thought we had lost you forever Mary, we were promised you were going to return and make us all better, and it was true, you returned! Are you hungry? Do you want me to prepare something for you?”


    Janice placed her palms to both sides of Mary’s face and felt the scars with her thumbs. They were so cold the blood in her fingers stopped circulating through her hands and backed off.


    “M-Mary?” – Because of this, Janice soon realized that whoever it was in front of her, probably it wasn’t Mary.


    Alicia held Janice’s right hand, and then made it clear she wasn’t Mary.


    She grabbed her fingers and broke them, and then pulled them apart so hard that her hand tore apart from the middle.


    Janice screamed in agony and dropped to the ground kneeling, her ear-piercing scream reached her husband’s ears, waking him up.


    He stood up from the bed as fast as he could and ran towards the hallway.


    “What the fuck is happ-” – The last thing he saw was a knife flying towards his face and plunging itself into his forehead, stabbing his brain.


    He dropped back and slid down the wall, dying instantly.


    “Mary! Mary…I’m sorry!” – Said Janice. –“I remember! We shouldn’t have done it…! we should have protected you! You are our daughter! Please Mary, forgive me! I didn’t know what I was doing, they told us it was for our cause!”


    Alicia didn’t know who was Mary, but the red cloth had led her there for a reason.


    Her husband was a delicious meal, and she smelled like one too.


    “[Go say that to her.]” – Said Alicia, grabbing her head and turning it, breaking her neck.


    With that out of the way, Alicia searched the couple’s belongings and found something interesting inside the husband’s drawer.


    A pentagram necklace made out of silver, a small chest with the engraving of a goat’s head on top and a couple of pamphlets.


    Upon picking up the medal a bunch of incoherent whispers reached her ears, voices that weren’t there. The world seemed clearer for a second, and in a single blink, Alicia was surrounded by the corpses of hundreds of children whose throats were slit and hearts were extracted from their chests.


    The entire room had become a mass grave for these unfortunate souls. One of the bodies stood up and stared at Alicia.


    “[…Mary…?]” – She asked.


    The girl nodded, then she pointed outside and a red light appeared on the horizon, a light that ignored all walls and obstacles, making it clear to her sight. It was guiding her to her next preys, the ones that would offer a lot of nutrition.


    “[…On the job…]” – Said Alicia. Mary dissipated into the air, alongside the other children that lied dead at her feet; they were avenged.


    The night had taken a very interesting turn, and she was eager to know where this would lead her. Her eyes glowed with anticipation.