Chapter 26: Massacre

Ferral trashed his head back, screaming out in agony. The red light stopped blinking, Ferral’s head slumping down. Victor and Jack waited to see if he would do something, and Ferral slowly lifted his head. He was in a trance-like state, his eyes glazed over. “Did it work, boss?” Jack asked. “Yes, but unfortunately it won’t be for long.” “Why not?” “That cure he used. Whatever was in it damaged the chip, it still works but we’ve only got about two hours of it functioning properly.” “So what’s our next move?” “Using the same computer that’ll be used to send the kill order to all the other experiments, I put a separate task for him to complete on this remote.”

“Which is?” “Simple, to kill his friends and foster parents.” “All of them?” “Well, all except the mayor of Central City’s daughter. That would stir some unneeded publicity.” Jack nodded, “So what’re we gonna do with him?” “It’ll take a few minutes for him to be fully ready, so for now just load him into a car and dump him in the outskirts of the city. And while that’s happening, I’ve got some other matters to attend to. I expect you to retrieve him once those two hours are up.”........

Meanwhile, Leona’s search was proving useless. She had gone into the woods and asked Avery, and got nothing. She went to the outskirts and asked Mr. and Mrs. Cho, but got nothing again. As she wandered the park, Leona called Everett for any updates. Once again, nothing. She sat on one of the benches, staring at her phone in the hopes that just maybe, Ferral would call. But Leona gripped her phone, knowing that was gonna happen. She looked up at the early morning sky, “Ferral….where are you? Why? Why are you doing this?” Leona lowered her head, ready to give up. But she knew she couldn’t, Ferral wouldn’t. “No! I know you’re out there somewhere! I don’t care if I have to search the whole world, I WILL find you and bring you back!”.......

A black car stopped in the west outskirts of Central City, two security guards came walking out of the driver and passenger seats. The passenger guard opened the door on his side, the brainwashed Ferral stepped out. “Alright kid, you got your assignment,” The driver said as he walked over, “Do it.” Ferral nodded, shooting his left hand out and grabbing the driver’s neck. Before the other guard could react, Ferral drove his right hand through the guard’s chest. He pulled it out, the guard falling to the ground. Ferral turned his attention to the other guard, still being choked. “W-Why?” He gasped, Ferral then slashing his chest and dropping him, the guard's body hitting the car before the ground. Ferral turned his sights to the city, and bolted forward, dropping and running on all fours. As he made his way, Ferral took a quick turn and headed toward a small store. He stood upright before walking inside, Mrs. Cho turning her head.

“Oh Ferral, it’s you,” She said, “One of your friends came here earlier looking fo-” She abruptly stopped when Ferral swiped his right hand, slashing her throat. Gasping and her holding throat as blood ran down, she tried to hold on to Ferral as she lost balance. He walked away, and Mrs. Cho fell to her knees and face-first on the ground. Ferral walked through the aisles, grabbing a package of knives. Mr. Cho came walking out after hearing a noise, “Ferral? Is that-” He was silenced after Ferral took out the second smallest knife and threw it into Mr. Cho’s head. Ferral put the rest of the package into the back of his pants, walked out of the store, and went back to running into the city. As he made his way through the city, startling people walking and abruptly stopping cars, Ferral soon stood upright and took a stealth approach as he got closer to his next target. The gym and his home. He snuck to the back of the building, took out the middle knife, and jumped up, gripping the wall with his right hand and driving the knife with his left. He climbed to the second floor, looking into his bedroom window. Ferral shattered the glass and crawled inside, leaving the knife behind. He heard footsteps approaching and took out the smallest knife. 

The door opened, Savannah only having a split second to see Ferral before he threw the knife into her throat. She stumbled back before Ferral kicked her into the wall. The others ran over after hearing the noise, their faces turning ghostly white as they saw Ferral pulling out the knife. Loni held her hands over her mouth and Zuri screamed in horror. “FERRAL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!?!” Venus screamed out. Ferral turned to look at them, beginning to walk forward, spinning the knife in his left hand. The three were still in shock as Ferral came charging at them. Cocking his right hand back, he went to pierce Venus, but she managed to regain herself and dodge the attack just in time. Ferral twisted around, his knife aimed for Loni’s stomach but she jumped back. Ferral kicked Venus into the hallway and turned his sites to Zuri and went to attack. She quickly managed to block his attacks. Loni jumped in to try and restrain Ferral, but even the two together weren’t enough. Venus got up but as she made her way to the fight, Ferral kicked Loni away and got in the back of Zuri, grabbing her head and snapping her neck.

Both Loni and Venus charged at Ferral, fear instilled on their faces. He blocked their attacks, trying to stab or slash them. “Why are you doing this Ferral?!” Loni cried, but Ferral didn’t respond. He dodged one of Venus’s attacks, back flipping over the kitchen counter into the kitchen, grabbing one of the knives from the knife holder, and throwing it at Venus. It impaled her left shoulder, Ferral stepped on top of the counter, grabbed Venu’s face, and slammed her head into the floor. He spun to his left, slashing his small knife upward and across Loni’s chest. As she stumbled back, Ferral landed on his feet and drove the knife into her stomach. “Ferral….why?” Tears streamed down her face, but Ferral ignored her, ripping the knife across the left side of her stomach before taking it out. Venus slowly got up, pulling the knife from her shoulder, and lunged at Ferral. She gripped and knife with both hands, ready to stab him, but he turned around and stuck out his left hand and it impaled through his palm. He snapped the knife in half, Leona going on the attack, but Ferral dodged without effort. He side-stepped, using the broken half in his hand, and slashed Venus’s eyes. “GAAAAHH!!!!!!!” She screamed out as she put her hands over her eyes. Ferral took out the biggest knife in the package, ran behind Venus, and drove it into her back. She fell to the ground, Ferral looking around to see if any of them were still alive before leaving. On to his next target………

Leona decided to head back home before the other lionesses started worrying. As she rode back, she began to feel uneasy. Something didn’t feel right, almost like something terrible had happened, so she pedaled faster. Once she made it, Leona quickly ran up the stairs and the scene she found froze her still. Bodies littered the floor, it was a bloodbath. Leona crept closer, unable to process what she was seeing, it felt like a nightmare. Savannah’s body slumped against the wall, Loni’s laid on top of Zuri’s. Leona dropped to her knees, this couldn’t be real. “Le…on…a.” Venus weakly called out. Leona turned and crawled over to her, holding Venus in her arms. “Venus! What happened?! Who did this?!” “Fe…Ferr…al. She replied through labored breaths. Leona could feel her whole world come crashing down. “Th-that’s not true, right?” Venus didn’t respond, exhaling once more before fully dying. Leona shook Venus, “Right?!” Tears started flooding her eyes, “VENUS TELL ME IT’S NOT TRUE!!!!” Leona began sobbing, but it only lasted a few minutes before she thought the worst. She laid Venus down and shot up, running out of the gym. Clare and Buck were in danger…….

People ran in terror as Ferral made his to the elevator, murdering some of the workers of the apartment after they got in his way. “No! NO!!” One of them pleaded before Ferral sliced off his head and made his way to the top floor. Once he got there, Ferral kicked down their door, storming inside. Mr Buck getting up, “Ferral? What’re you-” Ferral quickly stabbed his stomach, Ms. Clare in the kitchen shouting in shock. Ferral drove his claws into Buck’s chin and threw him into the TV, then started walking toward Clare. “FERRAL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! PLEASE! DON’T!!!!!” She threw a pan at him, but he deflected it, getting closer. He raised the knife, driving it into the side of her neck. He slashed her stomach with his claws, pulled out the knife, and slashed her throat. He grabbed her and threw the body into the living room, Laura started crying by the far side of the couch, catching Ferral’s attention. As he started making his way toward her, a sharp pain shot through his head. Ferral fell to his knees, groaning as he regained control. As he looked up, he gasped, staring in shock at the horror. He remembered what Victor had said, then slowly looked down at his hands…..they were covered in blood. Ferral let out a blood-curdling scream.

Leona made it to the top floor and heard a scream coming from the room. She came rushing over and when she looked in the doorway, she’d almost thrown up. Ferral with his hands over his head, his body shaking, and eyes wide and overflowing with tears. “Ferral….” Leona started, Ferral’s head slowly looking up at her. “What've I done?” Before Leona could say anything, she was shot with three tranquilizers and fell to the floor unconscious. Jack and his men came walking over. “Yeesh, this isn’t a pretty sight.” He smirked, Ferral’s face going from shock to anger. “You son of a bitch!” He got up but was shot multiple times and fell too……….

The memories. Seeing their bodies. He killed them. His friends. His family. His body felt hot, so much anger. So much hate. Everything felt so cold, but his body was burning. So much pain. So much anger. So much hate. So much….so much….so……much. His eyes shot open, the once crimson color now infused with bright yellow. Like blazing flames dancing in his eyes……..