Deception: The World is Unfair

"Just a little more," Kimrol said, as she walked us into the dense canopy of the Westland woods not far from the city. Kan and the little kid followed closely behind, between little jumps and hops she didn't trail far from us, it would be a disaster to lose her in this forest because a butterfly looked pretty. The sunlight filtered through the foliage in sporadic beams, casting an ethereal glow. For what it's worth, earth's forests are pretty, "and here we are."

Atop a steep hill, rested an old oak building filled with marred cracks, similar to our previous hideout. It was two story long with a saltbox roof. Holes and creeping vines grew out of the windows and walls, while a tree grew from the right side of the ceiling, extending far high. Moss clung to the stone borders surrounding the building, and the ivy tendrils left no breathing room for the windows. The door in the middle between the two windows hung askew on rusted hinges, almost giving up on being a door.

"You call this an orphanage?" I said, raising an eyebrow over the absurdity, "I thought it was a horror movie prop."

"Just shhh and follow me," Kimrol said, creaking the door open as she stepped into the dust. The air was thick with the scent of mildew and damp earth coupled with the broken furniture lying strewn about. Nature had infiltrated here as well; patches of moss carpeted the floor, and small plants sprouted from cracks in the wood. Kan and I stopped moving as soon as we walked in, as he held Nakumi close and I quickly drew out my knife from my side-pocket, he did as well. We let go of our bags on the floor.

"Aloray, they are with me," Kimrol said as a little kid jumped down from the ceiling with what can only be described as a makeshift wooden gun. I couldn't help but chuckle with a raised brow over the kid, "you really thought that would help you? A fucking toy gu-"Click!

I froze in place, that bullet smelled foul when it grazed my cheek, before drilling a hole into the wooden wall behind me. I heard two trees fall outside the orphanage, then a crying deer as the sound slowly calmed down. Blood bullets...

"Next one's in between your eyes, old man," the kid said calmly, as he put a black bullet, no bigger than his index finger, into the makeshift gun's exposed chamber, then pulling what seems to be a string behind where he had placed the bullet.

"Why you piece of-"

"Enough!" Kimrol said, stomping her foot, "both of you, lower your weapons,"

"But he started it, Statke!" Aloray replied, lowering his gun in with a distasteful frown as I did my knife. The kid was no older than 12, and was just like Kan during the war, jumping the gun at any disrespect, his shorts, boots and plain green and brown shirt were similar to the ones we were at the bunkers, yet dirtied by mud and blood.

"Wait..." Aloray said, looking at Kan and Nakumi, although looking back, she waved back at him with a smile, then said "Kippaaa″ which meant hi. He held his gun back up at her, a sweat falling off his chin, "a crimson? You have a crimson?!"

I leaped forward and held his hand in a blink, almost dislocating his wrist, making him point the gun to the floor.

"Don't even think about it, kid," I said, as Aloray struggled to get his grip back, but to my surprise it was only another blink before I saw my hand on the ground, while my forearm bled out, and Aloray at least half a metre away. His pointed narrow tooth appeared, and his fingers deformed into spikes.

"So, you are a demon after all."

In the main hall, a chandelier laid in pieces, its crystals scattered while the old fireplace was choked with debris and ashes. Sunlight struggled through the grime-encrusted windows, casting long shadows that seemed to move and shift with life of their own; this place was mostly lit with some holes in the walls, or candles on whatever even surface was there. It took a lot of convincing from Kim for us not to kill each other. Apparently the kid wasn't informed of us coming, nor that we had the 'crimson demon' with us, it seems that rumours have been spreading about the possibility of her existence.

"No," Aloray said, his arms crossed. We sat on a 'sofa' if you can even call it that, it was slashed, cut, one side higher than the other, "I can't trust them, and we can barely have any more mouths to feed."

"I told you, they are professional hunters, they can train your team in exchange fo-"

"I will not share our place with anyone,Statke...we've been through this before," he said, looking to the side, in fact looking at Nakumi, who was exploring the oak peeled off walls. She came back holding some green moss and presenting it to Kan, with her head a bit tilted.

"Suppa tokke?" She said, asking what it was.

"Moss," I said, and she repeated it while looking at the green squish... before eating it in one gulp.

I looked at Kan with a slow tired blink, and he looked at me with a normal unimpressed blink, and we both looked back at Nakumi munching the green slob with a smile, some residue on her bottom lip, We looked back at Aloray, and needless to say, she ran to the corner to spit it out, making out sounds as if she was choking.

"Ahm... anyways, look, how about we prove it," Kan said leaning forward, "we gotta keep that goofball safe."

The kid looked at her, then back at Kan, raising a suspecting brow, "why keep something that'll kill you eventually? I've only heard rumours... But isn't she the harbinger of doom?"

"Because that's who I am," Kan looked at Nakumi, who was trying to clean off her tongue with her fingers, "Look at her, she can barely do anything."

"Or maybe it is an act to deceive you?" Alory replied, with a furrowed brow.

"Or maybe you are just too paranoid," I said, taking my knife out, "you think I wouldn't know if that was the case?"

Aloray leaned forward, both of his hands joined with a dull, sleepy expression, "rescue mission... We lost a comrade in the forest, east of here, they say there is a small cottage that moves around." He said, looking down at his gun, "if you find our comrade, I will allow you in," he continued, his look betrayed his words, although he had a cold stare, I couldn't help but notice his cheek clicking a couple of times, almost as if he was hiding something.

"Deal!" Kan yelled, standing up, "if we find anything we will let you know, in the meantime... Take care of Nakumi," eagerly, he ran to his bag of weapons, pulling out his guns and masks and knives. I sighed, maybe I was the paranoid one, besides this is the deal we had to endure from Kimrol, whether I like it or not is irrelevant now.

"Fine, deal... Just don't let that idiot run away or something," I said, pointing with my finger at the little red-head.

"Am not an idiot!" Nakumi yelled back. Forming her first complete sentence in a while, yeah sure, like you didn't just eat moss. Or birthed out flowers saying 'I live right here, come kill me please.' I opened my mouth but quickly shut it as I got up to my bag.

We sat on the damp dusty floor, backs against the crumbling peeled-off walls. I reached for my bag, as Kan did his, mine was filled with different books, some small, some big, some covered with leather, some made by humans. But for what it's worth, these books were in a mess, the knives I had collected were all in shambles, some stabbing the books, while some were stabbing out of the bag, and in the corner crumbled up was the skin vest. I rummaged through trying not to get stabbed and took out the vest. The material was dark and supple, you could see the veins transfer blood around. This piece of skin, like a blanket, was from a low-life Güdwigth demon, those dragoned Azura worshippers pack great skins. Too bad Kan had a field day punching him to death. I remember how we kept counting the punches it would take to finally break into its heart, that demon kept screaming for help but everytime I would cut its tongue off as my blood tied up his arms. Ah yes, it took 10,918 punches to finally shut that demon down. I slipped the vest under my shirt, melding it into my skin, it dissolved, as if it was never there to begin with. Yet the tingling of scales was evident on my skin.

Next I pushed around the books, retrieving the military knives. The blades gleamed faintly in the candle-lit orphanage. They had simple designs belying their purpose. I secured the first knife to my left bicep's knife strap, the second to my right thigh's knife strap, and the third just under my knee's knife strap. These knives pack a punch, even if they look like normal human knives. It is all about the technique. Even a simple plastic fork can be used to slice someone to pieces.

Finally, I took out a set of blood vials. The black liquid inside swirled with a life of its own, sometimes jumping or smashing into the glass to escape. These are good quick fixes for Kan, they heal and invigorate quickly, good for sticky situations, like when he got impaled in the stomach and we had to retreat, if not for these modified vials. He may as well have died that night. I placed them in my left pocket and zipped it.

Meanwhile, Kan was gearing up. He donned his protective vest first. Demonic leather infused with black blood created a shield beneath his white hoodie. It was similar to the melded skin I had, if not better to keep him alive, yet it would slow him down a bit. Moreover, Kan took out his wolf mask from within the bag, white with red lines trailing to the side of the cheeks. These masks make great hunters legends, and they cannot be duplicated. Those legendary hunters are almost on par with the Scholars or even the Apostles. Kan took out his modified rifle in one big swing. That weapon was a masterpiece, and is Kan's signature weapon. He had modified it so much over the past years to become an artefact, from the days in the bunker to now. Its fire-rate and precision puts current weapons to shame. The rifle's scope and accessories gleaming with a faint, otherworldly light. It was infused with blood as well; in the barrel and the bolt, and so were the clips. Kan checked each of the five clips he had, ensuring each one was loaded with blood bullets. He secured five clips to his belt. These clips were custom-made to quickly mould bullets in case they run out. Kan would often toss the used up clips towards me to fill them up. Finally, Kan strapped two knives to his body, similar to the ones I use, one on the left side of his chest and the other on his right thigh. Functioning as backup close-quarters tools.

we exchanged a glance as we stood up, "aren't you going to turn into that?" Kan said.

I sighed and snapped my fingers, as my skin began darkening from its once light colour. Within moments, I took on a charred, burnt appearance that seemed to absorb the dim light around me. The transformation spread rapidly, the blackness crawling up my neck and down my arms like living threads. My eyes turned from their once red hue to a white iris and a black sclera. My teeth grew twice the amount of what they were, sharp and jagged. Yet I still remained in a humanoid form, incapable of performing a complete transformation. I flexed my fingers, looking at my skin.

We looked at the three behind us. Kimrol was holding onto Nakumi's hand who buried her face into her clothes, not wanting to see me. Aloray stood beside her, giving us judgemental looks, but it seemed envious. "Good luck, be cautious." He said, stealing the words right out of my mouth. I let out a sarcastic smile and walked towards the main door.

"Keep it." I stopped, giving him half a gaze by the door's frame, "we're professionals."

"Man... This forest stinks," I said as we moved silently through the dense, dark woods, "the humidity is killing me"

"Quit complaining Mr. Professional," Kan said, with a mocking grin. I want to see him grin when his fucking skin starts boiling from fire like mine is right now. We moved quickly, each step was calculated to avoid dry leaves and snapping twigs. The moonlight barely penetrated the thick canopy, if it wasn't for fireflies, this forest would be darker than my skin. We ventured east from the orphanage. And lo' and behold, there it was, a small decrepit cottage in the middle of nowhere. The cottage stood on the edge of a small clearing, its structure battered by time and evident conflict. The roof sagged, with several shingles missing, creating gaping holes that allowed for tree roots to grow out of them. Walls were riddled with cracks. The front door hung from one hinge, swaying slightly with the night's breeze, creaking softly. Great, another horror movie prop.

"Think this is the place?" Kan asked, standing next to me behind a bush as we looked at it, I couldn't smell anyone nearby, nor hear any sudden movements. "No shit, do you see any other cottages?" I said, as we approached cautiously, we scanned the surroundings for any signs of movement, beside the occasional flying bugs, there was nothing.

We entered the cottage, and were greeted by a tableau of decay and desolation. The air inside was stale, tinged with the musty scent of rotten meat, as if a deer was stuck here and decomposed. The wooden floorboards creaked underfoot, threatening to break. The interior was dimly lit by slivers of moonlight filtering through the gaps in the walls. The wood, darkened with age, bore deep gouges and scratches. A large, once-grand table dominated the centre of the dining room, its surface scarred and splintered. Chairs lay overturned, some broken into pieces, while others remained eerily upright, as if bought yesterday. Shelves lined the walls, some still holding dusty, undisturbed trinkets and books, while other parts were cracked and faded with burnt, decomposing books. There was a fireplace in the living room, blackened with soot, and held the remnants of a long-dead fire. Yet you could smell the burning woods, and the clicking of fire as it burned through the firewood, yet all I could feel was the cold breeze. The mantle above it displayed an assortment of oddities: a tarnished silver candlestick, a cracked doll, and a perfectly preserved pocket watch as if someone just left it there.

"Not gonna lie dude... I am getting the chills," Kan said, looking at the fireplace and the dining table. Any human would've shat themselves from the abnormalities surrounding this cottage, it almost feels as if we are being watched, look at any corner, or any window, and you could feel something eyeing you from them. Then there was the kitchen area. It was small, and had a rusted stove and a chipped sink, filled with broken plates, and the floor was decorated with bloodstains, as if someone was dragged through the floor to the room that we came from, but the blood stopped before the doorframe. We returned back to the living room, as I knelt beside a toppled bookshelf, examining the scattered contents, the books were incoherent, some had normal writing, others were missing words, as if they were eaten then it dawned on me.

"Kan..." I said, furrowing my brows as I looked at him inspecting the broken window. "Duck down!" I said, grabbing him down as the entire coffee table flipped into the wall and the old sofa launched back, the sound of the wood smashing into each other was loud, almost piercing my ears, like an explosion, yet as the vase that was once on the table broke into many pieces, in a blink... it all never happened. The sound stopped abruptly, and the ambience of the outside's woods only filled the silence.

"What the fuck was that for?!" Kan said, ducking next to me, with furrowed brows, almost insulted. I pulled him down.

"We are in a hallucination..."

"The fuck you mean, 'hallucination'?" Kan replied, almost getting up from his crouch before I pulled him back down.

"You don't see it? You almost got split in half."