Rounds of Death 2

The girl dissolved the rest of the corpses, making sure to savor the blood, eating any hearts she could recover. Besides that one woman on death’s door, no one else had survived, or at least, out of the people who remained. The forest looked as it had before, if you ignored the red-tinted grass and dirt. With one final sweep through the area, the girl made her way towards the explosions once again.

The explosions grew louder, and it wasn’t long before the girl found the next group of bodies. Compared to the previous group, most of the corpses were intact, which was rather strange. Observing their bodies revealed no obvious cause of death. Dissolving the first body, she detected no stinging pain on her tongue, meaning it couldn’t have been poison. With no useful information, the girl kept a sharp eye on her surroundings even while her body heated up.

However, even after cleaning up the fringes, she found no discernible cause. It was as if they all simply dropped dead. The most she could tell was they were all from the same race. Their blood had the same zesty flavor, the type that would go great with rice or mashed potatoes.

As she went closer to the epicenter, the zesty flavor became more pronounced, turning into a burning sensation. It was one of the few times the girl had to eat some of the nearby foliage to reduce the heat. Pain during a bloody meal? Not her fetish. Pain any other time? Perfectly ok.

After a bit more cleaning, the girl stopped, staring directly at the center of the carnage. Sitting there in the middle was a child holding their legs to their chest, shivering. She wasn’t sure why, but they were likely scared of something. The girl took cautious steps towards the child. She heard some muttering once she was within earshot, but she couldn’t understand what they were saying. So, there was only one thing to do:

Ask the child and offer salvation.

“Hello?” the girl said in a soothing yet creepy tone, maintaining her familiar smile.

The child, however, did not respond. Or react, for that matter.

“Helllloooo?” the girl questioned once again, in a more sing-songy voice.

The child ignored her again, mumbling to themselves. The only word she could make out was ‘no’, but all that did was confuse her.

So, she shook the child’s shoulders, grabbing their – or rather, his – attention immediately. “Hello there, o scared child, how are you?”

The child stared at her for a moment. Then, as if coming to a sudden realization, his face paled, and he pushed the girl away. “Stop! You need to get away from me!”

The girl tilted her head, confused by his statement, but she made no effort to move away. “I am here to offer salvation, if you should need it. What seems to be troubling you?”

“Go away!” the child yelled in a panic. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold back. It’s already starting to slip! Why me? Why couldn’t I have died like everyone else?!?”

“What are you–”

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no…!!!” The child’s veins bulged out of his body, pulsing in a dark red over his skin. The girl could only widen her eyes before–

BOOOOM!! SPLAT!

The child burst apart, sending the girl backwards at high speed. She felt nearby branches snap as she passed through them before coming to a quick stop. However, it didn’t feel as though she had hit a tree. Instead, it felt more like she was caught by someone. She opened her eyes and took a glance at her savor, breaking into a more affectionate smile.

“Honey! I’m glad you came! What brings you out here?”

“...” The man did not speak.

“I see! That makes sense!”

“...”

“Oh me? Well, I was doing my rounds, offering people salvation as usual, when I stumbled across this little boy. I was trying to offer some help, but then he just exploded out of nowhere! I mean, seriously! Didn’t his parents teach him better than that? How rude.” Although the girl spoke cheerfully, each one of her words was laced with rage. How could someone turn a child into a bomb? She licked the side of her mouth, feeling that a bit of blood had landed there. It was that same zesty flavor.

The girl hopped down from the man’s arms, sauntering off in the same direction as she had before, each step seeming to shake the ground beneath her. Then, she stopped for a brief moment and turned around. Her warm smile was terrifying, enough to make even the man’s left pinky twitch ever so slightly.

“I’m going to give them a piece of my mind.”