Chapter 2:

Chapter 2

Wraps


I was running through a village covered in flames. My breath was bated and I gripped my tanto ever so tightly.

I looked around cautiously for enemy assassins. Even though I saw none yet, many patrons were in full panic. They had seen their houses, shops, and other establishments go in flames. Now they're running away from the fire that's devouring their village.

It was quite scary to say the least but I can't focus on that. I have assassins to kill.

I took a sharp turn at the corner and saw a couple of men dressed in black jumpsuits. I readied my tanto as they rushed towards me.

I charged towards them, swinging my dagger, killing them relatively with ease. They were no match for me.

As I continued on my path, I came upon men, women, and children who were crying and screaming. Probably because of the fire.

I want to feel sympathy but I can't. They're nothing but sacrificial lambs after all.

That's right, I may or may not have used them indirectly as a ploy to drag out our opposing forces. It's easier for them to be spotted this way.

"Minji!" Someone called out my name.

"Satoshi!" I cried.

A young man with a black and blue gi with blonde hair ran towards me. He was covered in blood and badly injured but still alive. I put away my tanto and grabbed him.

"They killed everyone! Kim, Harumi, Ryuk, and Lee are barely alive and the villagers…they're all dead!" He cried.

"Who killed them?!"

"ME!"

Suddenly, Satoshi's face begins to take a demonic turn as his eyes glow yellow and his teeth begin to grow in. I tried to pull away but he held me tighter. His skin started to turn a burnt orange while white horns pierced through his head.

He leaped on top of me and forced his mouth open. Fire erupted from his throat as pushed me closer. I felt the flames scorching my face. I screamed in pain when I was engulfed.

I woke up in a cold sweat. I tore the bandages off my face and touched the "other half" of my face.

It was still there.

It still felt cold, hard.

My mind was racing. I managed to put the bandages back on my face without having an existential crisis. The only time where I get a good night's sleep, it just had to be a nightmare. That was the second one in a row from this week only. Is this a sign of a memory from my past?

I saw Satoshi again as well as my comrades so that must mean something. The only thing wrong with the whole thing was that Satoshi was a demon and I know that's not right.

I found myself thinking back to when I was a kid and nightmares would come every so often. I would always run into my parents' room and ask to sleep with them for the night. It was quite silly but that's how I coped with them.

But with my parents definitely long gone I have no one to be comforted by except for myself.

I am truly alone.

I shook my head off the thoughts and finished putting on my bandages. Let's try to not think about anything depressing today.

I walked out of the building and into the alleyway. It's like I'm drawn to this place. I mean, I have nowhere else to go and my old home is probably destroyed by now.

The only thing to keep me company is some homeless people who try to act like I don't exist. It's pretty ironic if you ask me. Maybe they saw what happened to those thugs in those alleys and took that as a sign to not fuck with me.

Either way, I shouldn't care since I'm not getting bothered.

After turning the corner, I saw a bunch of people surrounding something. From the looks of their uniforms, it's easy to say that they are the police.

If that's the case then I might as well leave. I have no business here. But then again, whatever they were looking at piqued my interest so much that I couldn't leave.

I hid behind a dumpster as a few people took pictures of what seemed to be a crime scene. It was hard to see because of the crowd but what I could make out was a bloodied body lying on the floor. I thought it was one of the thugs that I roughed up not too long ago but there was no resemblance.

I ducked a little more as the police dragged the body away. His hands were cuffed and his feet were in shackles.

It was none of my concern. There's nothing I could do for him.

Before they could drag them away in their vehicle, I caught a quick glance of the man. There was a weird marking on his forehead.

It was the shape of a star. It reminded me of that nutcase I ran into not too long ago. What was his name? Nightmare or something? Maybe that was him.

Then again, this has nothing to do with me. So why should I waste my time and get involved?

I heard a low growl behind me and jumped.

"Shit, cat, you scared me!" I hissed. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

The cat ignored me, licking its paw. It looked worn out and hungry. It's a wonder that it's still surviving.

I decided to leave it alone. It looked like it needed some rest.

I was never an animal lover but I had some weird attachment to cats. They always struck me as mysterious and lonely.

Just like me, the feline was probably looking for a home. Probably was a wanderer too.

I roamed around the alleyways and into the next one. I'm not even sure why I went there but I had no choice. Some loud noises that came from that alleyway urged me to look that way. It sounded like garbage cans being tossed around followed by some screaming. I ran down the alleyway and saw a bunch of men in suits ganging up on a homeless person. They were punching him in the face and head while one held him down. It was truly sad.

Why do people with authority abuse their power?

I watched as those men took whatever valuables he had on him and tossed him to the ground. He was barely conscious but somehow was still breathing.

I heard one of the men say, "We're not done with him yet, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I know," One of the men mumbled. He grabbed the homeless man and smiled. "Listen pal, all you have to do is tell us who killed Kija's men and we'll leave you alone."

The bum could barely utter out a word due to the beatings he's received. But of course, this doesn't help at all as the man continued his assault on him once again.

I have to say, it was kind of hard to watch.

There was no mercy shown to that poor guy. Even though I felt a little sick to my stomach, it was none of my concern.

I wanted to walk away from the scene but was immediately halted by another memory. I felt my stomach lurch and my head feeling a little dizzy. I had to lean against the brick wall to keep my balance.

A man, just like him, was begging for his life but we didn't care. All we wanted was some answers. So we beat the fuck out of him until he was a bloodied mess. It was and wasn't my proudest moment at the time.

The scene in front of me cleared and the room stopped its spinning. I took a few deep breaths to calm down.

"Hey you!" The man called out. I turned around to see him point a gun my way.

I stood still which gave him the opportunity to approach me with caution. "You know what happened to Kija's men right?"

"I'm afraid not." I said wryly. I could easily twist his hand, disarming him but that would be no fun.

"A few days ago, two of Kija's best men were mercilessly murdered in these very alleyways. One of them had a busted up face that was unrecognizable while the other one had a broken neck."

That doesn't mean you should rough up innocent bystanders. I thought, rolling my eyes. Wait, why does that description sound familiar?

It didn't take me too long to figure out that it was the guys I killed a night or two ago. It makes so much sense now. Heh, who would've known those punks were a part of something bigger. Then again, people like them need to be linked to something or they would be nothing or have no protection.

"Sounds pretty bad but I seriously don't know," I spat. "Now if you excuse me."

I whirled around to see another man in the same outfit hold me at gunpoint.

"Don't move!"

I gave a careless shrug as the men surrounded me. I knew this would happen.

"Hold on! We're not done with you yet!" One of the men sneered.

I simply ignored them and walked away.

"We said stop you bitch!" He cried out.

Next thing you know, I heard a loud popping noise and my shoulder started to hurt. Well, it was more of a burning sensation.

I instinctively grabbed it and noticed blood coming out of the wound.

"Oh you're going to regret that, you know," I muttered.

Removing my hand from the bullet wound, I approached the men with my fist balled up. They turned their attention away from me and back to each other.

I smirked. "You know, I don't have to do this the hard way."

Surprisingly, those fuckers stayed stationary from that. Looks like they had some backbone afterall.

I used my other shoulder to tackle one down to the ground. The others tried to encircle me but I stepped out of their reach.

They all drew their weapons and filled my body with an array of bullets. The impact only sent me flying into some more garbage cans.

"Fuck!" I grunted.

I wasn't dead, but I certainly felt like it. I rolled around on the ground until I was able to stand up.

I glanced at my wounds as they started to heal with the bullets popping out. Regeneration is one helluva ability.

White bandages fired out of my arm and wrapped around one of the guns the men wielded, throwing it to the side. The other one wrapped around someone's hand and slammed them into a brick wall. When that happened, it looked like they were about to shit themselves. This is what I wanted them to feel. I already knew what their next move was gonna be. They're gonna shoot me while wondering what the fuck am I. So that means that I have to kill them before they do the same to me.

I rushed towards the men, readying myself. They fired but it didn't even phase me. I dodged their bullets and kicked one of them right in his face. The man fell to the floor with a broken nose. I jumped up and punched another one in the jaw. He fell to the floor unconscious.

Good. I thought. I would've smashed him in the skull if I hit him a little harder. Not that it matters.

As the rest of the suited men came running towards me, I pulled out a blade from my sleeve. It's time to see if I really got rusty from being in the grave for god knows how long.

I cut through their thick necks in a single stroke. Blood splashed everywhere. The men screamed in agony as I kept on slashing. A few more heads could've been detached from their bodies but I had no intention of killing anymore.

I walked up on them slowly. I could hear their muffled cries for help.

Well, I could hear one cry for help. The others were obviously dead.

After scanning all the bodies I was able to find the source of the pleas. That weasel was trying to use his comrades as a shield to hide himself.

I gave him a look that said "Do not fucking move" and he froze where he was. His eyes bugged out of their sockets as his mouth opened in an O shape. That slash wound I inflicted on him was pretty nasty, making him choke on his own blood. From the looks of it, he didn't have long to live.

I knelt beside him.

"You and your pals over there should've listened to me," I hissed. "You all wouldn't have this situation if you did."

I grabbed the weasel by the collar and picked him up. I held my knife up to his neck.

"Who's your boss?"

The man's eyes went wide as he started to panic. He was probably hoping that he would be able to talk his way out of this. I pressed the knife deeper to his neck.

"Answer me! Who's your fucking boss?!"

I already knew the answer. It was Kija or something like that. I just had to make sure.

"It's Kija!" The man cried, confirming my answer.

"Kija," I repeated the name that was given. "Well, since you're the only one alive, I'm gonna need you to play messenger for me. You don't have much of a choice since you're banged up."

My grip on his collar tightened as I slammed his back against the wall.

"I need you to go to Kija and tell him that I killed every last one of his goons," I said, venom dripping from my words. The man's eyes went wide in fear and he started to whimper. "Don't worry. I'll let you live long enough to fulfill your task."

I let the man free from my grasp, resulting in him falling to the floor. I watched him scrabble himself up and stagger out of the alleyway.

When he was out of my sight, I glanced down at my bloody tanto.

My reflection was tainted in the red liquid. I don't look like much. I'm covered in dirt and blood, and I have a gash on my shoulder and blood stains all over my clothes. It was not exactly a pretty sight.

I look at the dead bodies one more time before leaving the alleyway myself.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I let out a tired sigh. That fight really wore me out huh? It must be the healing factor that's wearing on me 'cause I usually feel quite energized after scuffles like these.

Suddenly, I heard someone clapping their hands. I quickly look up to see that Nightfall guy approaching me.

Damn, it's like I can never get some peace around here. I mentally cursed.

"That was magnificent darling! Excellent!" He cheered like he just saw a play or something.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically.

"No, I mean it," Nightfall took a few steps closer. "The way you took down those guys was beautiful. They didn't stand a chance."

"No shit Sherlock" is what I wanted to say but instead I shot that clown a dirty look.

Nightfall gave a short chuckle. "We're the same, you know that?"

"No we're not." I denied his claim.

"Yes, we are. We both enjoy this, don't we?"

"Enjoy what? Killing?"

"Of course." Nightfall circled around me like he was about to do something.

I backed up to avoid his advances. "I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to. You do it because you want to. We're not the same."

His brows furrowed. It was hard to tell because of that mask but I think I pissed him off.

Being covered in someone else's blood always felt out of place for me. Even back in the day when I was an assassin, bloodshed meant nothing to me. I killed because it had to be done. I didn't do it because I liked the thrill. I was only carrying out my…my…

I don't know what I was carrying out. I just knew that I had to do it.

Nightfall shrugged his shoulders. "I think we are but believe what you want to believe. We'll be in touch."

He walked away from me, giving a final wave as he left the alleyway. I didn't think much of it when I heard his last few words replay in my mind.

What does he mean by that? Is he referring to that corpse with the star on his forehead that was being dragged away from the police? I mean, that clown did say that he did do some "work" that was similar to what I did to those punks awhile back. Then again, I've had too many strange encounters to take anything that some guy in a mask says at face value.

Just the thought of it made a chill run down my spine. I'm definitely not taking any chances with that guy.