Alicia had no idea when or how did her reflexes evolve in the way they did. It probably started when she was training with Logan, the so called Australian womanizer that taught her how to use a pistol like no one else in this world, and it further developed when she kept training under the care of all those assassins the commander brought her to, or maybe she was just born with them and didn’t learn how to use them until she grew old enough, all that mattered is that she could now control her reflexes at will, and whenever she needed it, the world would become just as slow as she needed it to be, and so she could always find the best outcome to every situation she found herself in.


    This was one of those situations where she’d need her reflexes. Surrounded by drugged up hostages in sacrificial altars, being rushed at by more than a dozen violent zealots that wanted to make her yet another sacrifice to their object of worship. She was thankful for her reflexes, she wasn’t sure to who to be thankful to, but she was nonetheless.


    In a way, Alicia had asked to be in a situation like this, surrounded by the worst humanity has to offer, a bunch of guns on her back, and two promises to keep. However, at this stage she wasn’t really thinking about those things anymore.


    She raised up the M4, aimed at the cultist that ran the fastest out of the bunch -unsurprisingly it was one of the group that had set themselves on fire- and pulled the trigger.


    While the bullets punched holes into the human torch, she kept pulling the trigger and sprayed lead on the ones right behind, they had no protection or armor under those robes, which made things easier.


    While shooting she took steps backwards, approaching to the other group running towards her, she could feel them getting closer and closer.


    A cultist swung his dagger down, aiming at her neck, but she sidestepped and put a round in his leading knee, forcing him to kneel and then kicked him in the face, sending him flying and crashing with three of his allies. Then, she turned her attention to the ones coming from her left, gunning down six of them while the ones behind took cover behind the tables.


    She eliminated another two that were getting too close for comfort with controlled bursts, and then she heard that dreaded click. She let the empty mag fall to the ground while she reached for the spare on her hip. Meanwhile, four enemies managed to close the distance between them and her.


    Alicia kicked the first one in the stomach making him fall, then she jumped over the three that tried to tackle her. She landed right behind them, but there was a man on fire right there about to catch her in his blazing hands.


    Having reloaded the rifle she shot a burst straight on his face and stepped back to not let the corpse fall on her, she then turned around and gunned down the three that tried to tackle her.


    She turned once again and sprayed lead over another bunch that was coming to get her, some of the bodies fell over the hostages tied to the tables, which was unfortunate, but at least the corpses would cover them in case a stray flied their way. Another enemy ran up to her from behind and tried to smack her over the head with a brick, but right before the impact, Alicia turned as she fell to the ground, landing on her back and shooting a burst into his chest, punching 4 holes into his lungs.


    The others tried to catch her on the ground but she bounced back up and landed on top of a cultist wielding a hammer.


    She stood back up and sprayed lead once again, she kept pressing the trigger until she heard the click, and worst yet, that was her last mag.


    Alicia made a grave mistake in that instant, she got caught up in that click for too long, allowing a cultist to get close enough and stab her right on her shoulder. The sharp pain of a piece of metal being plunged into her shoulder broke her focus, and time flowed at its intended speed, and the next thing she knew, the remaining cultists were rushing on her and were about to kill her. She had killed so many but somehow there were still a lot of them left.


    She gathered all her strength in her legs and jumped, managing to propel herself ten meters in the air, surprising many of the enemies present.


    Out of bullets she let go of the assault rifle and pulled out two Uzis from inside the bag. She opened fire as she descended back to the ground, raining lead on the enemies. Once she landed, she opened fire on the ones that had stepped back from the rain of bullets before it was too late.


    The Uzis were empty now and the enemies weren’t about to give up, and there was no time to take out anything else from the bag, so it was time to improvise once again.


    She turned around and threw the Uzis at the faces of two that were approaching and rushed towards them, grabbing the hammer that had been left on the ground. With the strength she currently had, that hammer had no weight whatsoever, so she could swing it around like a sword.


    Using the hammer she smashed the face of one, and then the other right behind, a burner approached right behind them, she hit his face thrusting the hammer at him and then swinging it from under his chin, throwing him away.


    Four got close enough and she pushed them away kicking them in the chest and stomach, then she had to deal with another that had gotten ahold of a sword somewhere, kicking him in the groin and then swinging the hammer down on his skull.


    She noticed a man centering his attention on one of the people tied to the tables instead of her. He intended to use his dagger to kill the hostage.


    The reason for why he’d do that in a situation such as this was anyone’s guess, but at least he managed to get her attention for a small moment.


    Alicia grabbed the hammer and threw it at him, hitting him right on the head. But while she did that, another one got close enough and hit her on the back of the head with a baseball bat. The force of the impact was such that she ended up banging her forehead over the table right in front of her, then she fell to the ground.


    The cultist swung the bat down once again intending to deal the killing blow, but Alicia, stunned as she was, acted by pure instinct and supported herself on the ground using her arms and kicked upwards, destroying the bat on the way, and landing both her boots on his face with the force of a raging bull.


    Alicia stood back up, she didn’t know what was happening anymore, blood was coming down from her head and obstructing her vision, but she didn’t care, as long as she could stand back up, she knew she could keep fighting.


    All she had to do now was listen to her body. She closed her eyes in order to feel and hear the world around her.


    She dropped the bag to the ground, thinking it was mere deadweight, and entered a fighting stance, ready for another round with the monsters that were rushing at her.


    A cultist tried to slash her face, but she stepped to the side, grabbed his hand and crushed it, then she grabbed his face and smashed it against the edge of the table three times. Then she kicked backwards, nailing a destructive kick into an enemy’s stomach, rupturing it, followed by a kick to his face.


    Another one with an axe coming up. She sidestepped twice with unforeseen celerity, faster than what the enemy’s eyes could register, then he swung it again and she crouched, killing an ally right behind her by accident, startling the cultist, she took this chance to dash at him and break his neck.


    She took the axe, getting it unstuck from that corpse’s skull, then she swung it upwards, slicing another cultist open like a fish.


    Another burner came up trying to tackle her while holding a molotov in both hands to immolate her with him. But she swung the axe down on his head, making him fall and die instantly on his knees. The molotovs hit the ground and set it on fire, burning two that were coming right behind him, and unlike him, they weren’t fanatic enough to resist the heat and focus on attacking her. they panicked as they tried to put off the fire, but it was useless.


    The last two cultists reached for her bag and took out the shotgun and an MP5 and shot at her, she took cover behind a table, and assumed the worst about the one lying on top of it.


    They weren’t soldiers, and worst yet, they were impatient, so they ran at her from both sides to surround her and gun her down.


    She wiped the blood off her face with her hand and used her reflexes again.


    Once she saw the barrel of the shotgun peek out from the corner of the table she jumped forward, grabbing it while headbutting the guy, destroying his face, then she sidestepped to stand on his back to use him as a human shield while his partner didn’t think about it twice and unloaded the mag on him. His body was sturdy enough to take all the bullets.


    Finally, she brought up the shotgun and shot him in the head, destroying it. Once done with that, she let go of the human shield next to her and it fell to her feet.


    She stood there for half a minute, listening, waiting for the rest to come out of the shadows and attack. But that was the thing, there was no one else in the shadows anymore; there was but a single one left, other than that, Alicia had singlehandedly destroyed a satanic cult hidden in the entrails of the town that had given her so much in exchange for nothing.


    Alicia looked at the hostages. The one she thought was killed evaded death by pure luck, only getting grazed by a couple of bullets while the others hit on the table. The other hostages seemed to be relatively unscathed, though some blood and gore had spilled over a couple of them. She had somehow managed to spray those guns around and not hit a single hostage, maybe it was due to the cultists being excellent living walls.


    Then she remembered the knife stuck in her shoulder and pulled it out with a wince. Right after, she heard the sound of pistol’s safe being pulled.


    Alicia turned around and saw the leader of the cult aiming a gun on a baby wrapped up in a towel. The man himself was visibly trembling out of panic.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    “You are not one of Lucifer’s servants, that I’m sure of!” – He said. – “We were promised power and eternal youth, and you came and brought us death instead. My people, my flock…they should be enough of a sacrifice! I’ll walk out of here, and you won’t follow me, otherwise this child will become Baphomet’s supper, you hear me!?”


    But Alicia just stretched, feeling her neck rather stiff after all that fighting.


    “Aren’t you listening to me!? you let me go! Or this newborn dies!”


    He took his eyes off of her to look at the baby for a single second and then turned back to her, and before he realized, Alicias was standing right in front of him. Then his arm with the pistol went up flying in the air.


    The man screamed and let go of the newborn, which Alicia received in her arms gladly. The cultist stared at his bleeding half arm as it leaked all over the floor. He ended up on his knees, shocked, his mind was completely blank. Not like there was nothing else to think about anyway, his life was completely over.


    Alicia rammed the knife into his skull, putting an end to his complaints.


    Seeing her work finally done, Alicia walked away with the baby in her arms, leaving a pool of blood and corpses behind her. The people on the tables would wake up soon and see the mess around them, then they’d run out looking for help and the existence of that cult would finally reach the townsfolk’s ears.


    But before she could leave the room, Alicia felt another presence hidden in the darkness. This one was bigger and imposing than all the puny humans she had killed a few minutes before. It had no smell, but yet she felt it was certainly a very dark soul that lurked in the dark.


    She looked back and saw something that had been there the entire time, but she didn’t care enough to notice its presence.


    At the bottom of the room there was a big statue overlooking the slaughter that had just ensued in there. It was once again that mysterious figure of a man with a goat’s head.


    It was supposed to be a mere symbol, an idol for these cultists to worship. Yet Alicia could feel it stare at her, and Alicia stared at it back.


    The baby cried, learning what fear is at the beginning of its life, the light of the torches around them became dimmer and were about to fade away. The shadow of the statue grew bigger, longer and thicker, reaching towards Alicia and the baby, almost as if it was claiming the newborn as its property.


    The shadow was about to catch them both, but Alicia’s scars glowed brighter and brighter, the brightest they had ever glowed. In a few seconds, Alicia had become a crimson sun, eradicating all the darkness around them and destroying the shadow that intended to take the baby away.


    Suddenly, the statue saw itself powerless. Alicia had now lost complete control of her body; she was in a trance-like state while something else took control of her actions. And this thing that controller her, whatever it was, seemed to understand the nature of her power better than herself.


    Alicia reached towards the statue, pointed at it, and drew a line across its neck, condemning it to a swift and effective death.


    The statue then was cut in a thousand pieces by invisible blades, becoming a harmless pile of rubble, unworthy of any form of worship.


    Everything went back to normal slowly, the fire of the torches regained their strength and the light around Alicia crawled back into her scars. She snapped out of her trance unaware of what had just happened.


    At least the baby had stopped crying and went back to sleep peacefully. Without giving it a second thought, Alicia walked away and abandoned that godless crypt, feeling like there was one last thing to take care of.


    Kirsten had to be careful now, the town was essentially under lockdown and the police were all over the place. No one was supposed to be out on the streets anymore, and the chief had already asked for help from the nearby towns.


    He had made his way to the park. He lurked near a path that went across the entire zone to not get lost in the darkness. That place was pretty exposed, if anyone looked his way with a flashlight he’d be caught in an instant.


    “Charlie, I’m at the park, where are you?” – He asked through the walkie talkie.


    “Sitting on a bench…” – She said. – “I don’t think I can move any further, way too tired.”


    Kirsten took a look around. Right there, near a small playground she spotted a girl covering herself with a black cape, sitting on a bench. Kirsten approached carefully, for he didn’t know who else was around there.


    “Charlie?” – He took a look at her face. Her nose and left eye were swollen and purple, she had received a very serious beating.


    “Hey, boss…I…I think my nose is bent the wrong way. Can you help me with that?”


    “How can you speak normally if your nose is dislocated?”


    “Tricks of the trade boss. You learn to manipulate every single fiber of your body in unsuspected and subtle ways. Now, can you try and pull it to the right?”


    At a lack of better options, he concluded that this rustic method was the only way to help her.


    “Fine…I sure hope you know what you are asking for.”


    “It’s not the first time I receive damage boss… even if you don’t believe it.”


    “Seriously now? Ok, prepare yourself…”


    Charlie gripped at the edges of the bench as Kirsten took a hold of her nose.


    “Ok…1…2…3!” – Kirsten pulled as hard as he could and with a loud crack, she put her nose back in its original position.


    “Aaaaahhh…! Damnation…!” – She blew her nose as hard as she could, releasing a bunch of residual blood that had gotten stuck inside her nose, then she inhaled to see if her nostrils were finally clean. – “…That’s better. Damn…this is humiliating.”


    “Who the hell did this to you?”


    “Some big dude, lots of muscle, he asked for Butcher, thought I was her. We fought, I cut his arms, he must be bleeding out by now if no one helps him.”


    “You think Fritz sent him?”


    “Maybe? Most likely.” – She took a mirror out of inside her cape to take a look at the damage on her face. – “Fuck…” – That eye would take some time to heal. – “He hit hard, he was a brute…seen many like that, but he’s the first to give me so much trouble.” – She looked back at Kirsten. – “I get the feeling that he was not alone but they are also just as lost as we are.”


    “Take off that cape.” – Said Kirsten. Charlie obeyed so he could see what was under her T-shirt. As expected, her torso was covered by big black spots product of the beatdown she had received from Igor. – “Why didn’t you stop Alicia when you saw her?”


    “I froze in place, you know what I mean?” – She laughed. – “Damn…to say she’s frightening is an understatement, she’s a monster…her scars…they were glowing like fire…”


    Kirsten remembered when he was giving Alicia her first assignment, the one that started this fiasco. The feeling he got when he saw her scars glow in an unnatural red. This could only mean that whatever was inside Alicia had finally come out to the surface.


    “…I don’t think she even noticed I was there…” – Said Charlie. – “I could’ve…used my strings, but I got the feeling that’d be the last idea I’d ever have.”


    “What’s done is done.” – Said Kirsten, sitting next to her. – “We’ve still got to find her.”


    “Do you think it’s still worth it boss?” – she asked. – “I mean…she’s already done a pretty big mess; I don’t think she can listen to reason anymore. And I figure she still thinks you are in on the betrayal so…what do you think she’ll do if she sees you?”


    In that moment they spotted two officers patrolling through the park in the darkness, using flashlights to see where they were going. They were far away enough, so Kirsten and Charlie took the risk and concealed their presence as much as possible so the officers wouldn’t think of looking their way.


    They seemed to be listening to a radio call.


    “Holy shit! What is he, a fucking monster? How can a person singlehandedly destroy a police blockade? Shouldn’t we be calling the national guard!?”


    Kirsten got a little tense at hearing this.


    “I think the chief will do it soon, in the meantime we have to survive the night. It seems that whoever it is, he doesn’t want to kill cops, so he’s just getting us out of his way, broken bones be damned.”


    “He’s super strong, he’s gotta be some kind of monster…like a mutant, a vampire or something like that.”


    “I heard that the others haven’t found a single drained corpse yet, so a vampire he cannot be.”


    “Well, whatever he is, he clearly doesn’t want to make friends. He’s taking out the trash, leaving a huge bloody mess behind. I don’t know if to feel terrified or glad someone’s doing our job.”


    “That asshole could take an innocent down with the others, he’s going too far, he needs to be stopped.”


    “Come on man. This is why police departments all over the country are as unpopular as they are.”


    “Why? Just because we don’t shoot at the suspects on sight?”


    “I mean, some of us doubt too much.”


    “And clearly you are not in that group… keep talking like that and the boss will put you on leave.”


    “Oh shit, would you actually rat me out to the chief?”


    “Nah…all I’m saying is watch your mouth.”


    That conversation was very revealing for both Kirsten and Charlie.


    “Damn…so she has no shame about showing her strength…How bold.” – Said Charlie, leaning her head backwards.


    “Don’t tell me you too…”


    “When we put our mind on it, we assassins can be pretty…destructive let’s say. Yeah, destructive.” – She touched her swollen eye and winced at the feeling. – “At least the top-class ones like Butcher, Arthur and me.”


    Charlie said that, but even then, under the standards of the organization, the three of them, and including Spectre, Silencer and Jules, they were all considered to be fit for the A-rank, right under the S-rank.


    He could only wonder what kind of monsters served Darius, and why he had never seen them, but now another doubt was clouding his thoughts.


    Alicia, she had exposed herself while going on her relentless rampage, and there was no reason in this world that could justify her murdering dozens of people just because she felt like it, at least none that he knew of.


    Back in the headquarters it was very obvious at a glance because of the way she carried herself, her choice of words, her overwhelming presence and bloodthirst; Kirsten had to accept the fact that she wasn’t stable from the beginning, and that she’s probably too far gone now, and it’s a matter of time she becomes a mere monster that yearns for the blood of the innocents.


    He thought of the gun hidden under his coat, then he tried to envision himself placing a bullet in between Alicia’s eyes.


    He ran this simulation in his mind ten times, and nine out ten of those times he lost. The tenth time was different because he shot at her while standing right behind her.


    A single bullet through the back of her head, that was the only thing he needed. It was all just a matter of approaching quietly, aiming and pulling the trigger, then the infamous and lethal Butcher would cease to exist for good.


    Even so, nothing guaranteed him they’d meet under such perfect circumstances, so he still was at a loss of what to do.


    That’s when his phone chirped and he answered.


    “Hello?”


    “Hello again Eyler, it seems that you got yourself in a very hairy situation.” – It was Conrad, Kirsten couldn’t pretend to be surprised knowing that he had a man following his every movement.


    “What do you want, commander?” – He asked, not feeling like listening to another war story from the mercenary.


    “Relax Kirsten, I’m just calling because I thought you could use some help finding Alicia. See, Colin has been busier following her steps rather than following you, and has finally got her on his sights.


    Kirsten jolted. – “Where!? Where is she!?”


    “She’s in the suburbs right now, broke into someone’s house and seems to be tormenting whoever is inside. Damn, never took her for a sadist, I guess you can’t ever truly know someone. Anyway, she seems to be taking her time, so it’s your chance to go and fetch her, she must be getting tired by now, so it’s a good time as any, don’t you agree?”


    “Fine, I’ll get there immediately!” – Kirsten was about to hang up, but the commander wasn’t done talking yet.


    “Hold up, I haven’t gotten to the best part. Colin also told me that there’s someone out on a radio tower overlooking the area, seems to be another professional, and he too has her in his sights. I doubt he’s a friend of yours.”


    “A sniper!?”


    “Seems so. He saw her coming in and has been waiting for her ever since, waiting for the right moment to blow her brains out. See, Butcher might be good, but we are all defenseless against what we don’t expect, so unless you want to hope that guy misses his shot, I suggest you hurry up.”


    Conrad gave him the exact address and ended the call. Kirsten’s heart beat faster than before.


    “It seems we got another lead, boss…” – Said Charlie. – “Want me to tag along?”


    “No need, you are in no condition to fight anymore. Go back to the hotel and try and get some rest.”


    “If you say so…I’ll go…after taking a little nap.”


    “I’ll finish this once and for all, afterwards we are leaving the town as soon as…” – He turned back and saw that Charlie was already asleep, curling into a ball over the bench. –“…Right…on it.” – He stood up and marched towards the suburbs. He wasn’t running because he still didn’t know if he wanted to catch Butcher alive or to put her down.


    Why not let the sniper do whatever he was there to do? Why not just forget about this and let the cops take care of her? why did he need to do it himself? He couldn’t say for sure, but in a way, he felt responsible for having brought this beast into civilization.