- Uh… did something happen?
- You just stood there, not moving at We thought you passed out.- Antwan’s voice was tight with concern.
- Wait… I wasn’t walking?
- Not even a twitch, - he said. -Did you think you were?
- Girl, you’re glitching like my PC after a coffee - Mia added, deadpan.
That hit harder than it should’ve.
Wait — was the Obscurity running a simulation? Was I just a variable in its twisted little sandbox?
I stepped out of the light, not sure if anything I did now was even real. But no time for philosophical dread, because BAM — a grotesque snarling face lunged into view and spat slime at me.
Reflexes: still golden. I ducked. The glob splattered somewhere behind me. Instinct took over.
My first high-kick slammed into something real and disgusting — it felt like kicking a bowl of microwaved jelly. Gross. But I didn’t have time to complain, because suddenly — fists. Many fists. Six arms? Eight? I was catching haymakers like a Shaolin monk doing a stunt reel.
I blocked with my elbows, thankful for the razor-sharp spikes on my jacket. They turned defense into damage — every blow from the monster came at a cost.
Still, I was getting rocked. So I channeled just a sliver of ectoplasmic shield into my forearms — not enough to drain me, but just enough that some of its punches slipped through me instead of into me.
I wanted to destabilize the bastard. Make it lose its footing. Then go for the kill. But the universe doesn’t care about your combat tactics.
One of its meaty fists landed a body-shot right to my solar plexus. Lights. Out. I crumpled like a dropped marionette. No thoughts, just pain.
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Everything spun. Somewhere in the fuzz, instinct grabbed the wheel. A stiletto slid into my palm from its hidden compartment.
One of those gross, choking fingers reached for my neck — and I sliced it off. Clean.
- Not into that kind of play, Try Tinder.
The thing roared again, lunging forward. I met it with cold steel and dead eyes. A few fast jabs and the monster backed off, spitting corrosive slime
- which I caught mid-air, juiced it with power, and hucked it back in its
Sizzle. Scream. Its melting face flailed away, and just as I stepped in to finish it — something bit me.
Yeah. Something in its body reached out and bit me. Okay. Enough.
I am DONE with this.
I turned and bolted. Well, tried to.
But the air had thickened into soup. Like I was trying to run through invisible cobwebs spun by a passive-aggressive ghost.
- Try the stiletto trick again! - Antwan I sliced the air. Nothing.
- Now. It’s regrouping. I can hear it.
- Use your power!
- Which one!?
-Absorb the air. - Mia suggested, breezy as always. Fine.
I tried to form a vortex. Pull the air inside me.
The atmosphere basically gave me the middle finger.
-What the…! - Antwan cursed.
Enough tricks. Time for something nasty.
Tanatowalker: Activated.
My body shut down. Heart stopped. Lungs froze. Muscles locked. I faked my own death so hard, even my soul raised a white flag.
And it worked. The atmosphere relaxed, confused. I crept forward, very, very slowly — pretending to be nothing but a ghost with errands.
Victory, baby.
- Behind you! - Both voices
I ducked just as some core-like projectile shot past. The monster came thundering after me like a meat train. Fine.
I ran. Not stiletto-clacking sass — no, sprint mode engaged. My legs went full Olympic, speed-racer frenzy. And then…
Boom.
Straight into a beam of lonely, glorious light. Another streetlamp. Another checkpoint.
Boom!
The beast slammed into the invisible barrier of light with a sickening thud
- and bounced off like a very determined, very gross volleyball. But, not wanting to leave me in peace, it settled into a lovely little pattern of circling me and drooling suggestively.
Finally, with a moment of calm, I took a good look at the damn thing.
Its whole body looked like someone had rage-crocheted it out of spare human parts. Arms, legs, heads, faces — all stitched together into one freakish meat-suit. Hands poked from its belly, eyes blinked randomly, and torsos writhed beneath its skin like they were trying to escape.