***NEED WORK

I felt my hands reach up to my face, my fingers brushing against my temple and throat.
More shrieking and stifled snarls ripped through the air.

Numbly, I pulled my hands away and stared.

More red…more dark, sticky red.

My throat tightened and I felt weak, completely unstable. I felt my mind wander as I looked around, my mind only capable of taking in blurs of colors.

I need to get out of here…

Something hit the ground with a solid sound behind me, splashing mud in a stinging wave against my back.
I screamed and started to crawl, kicking through the thick mud, whimpering pathetically as I went.

This is wrong…this can’t be happening!

A solid color… a black mass caught the corner of my eye as I continued on with my panicked scrambling. I stopped, and looked.
It was the girl’s torn cloak.

…security.

Without thinking twice about it, I dove for it. I slipped in the mud as I dragged my body across the ground.
A gasp of relief escaped me when I felt my fingers brush against the soft fabric.

Cover! Cover!

I pulled the cloak off the ground and over my head, as if it was a blanket. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to calm myself down.
The fabric of the cloak was soft, sturdy and still warm. The light weight of it against my skin gave me the slight ease I very much needed.

My mind finally started to settle, allowing me a chance to think somewhat straight.

Sounds…there were sounds. Jumbled sounds, the shrieking, the chilling thuds and clashing…god, it sounded like a war zone…
My eyes flickered almost immediately to my left, locating the source of the sounds.
Two blurred shadows shifted and danced, clashing and merging as one for a second before splitting number of feet apart in another.
Another clash and I saw the Immortal girl leap back in my direction, a dagger drawn in her hand. Viper dove after her, snarling viciously and hungrily. His fingers curled into claws ass he swiped at her. The girl swiftly skipped back into the air, her back arching as she flipped backwards. One hand touched down on the ground as she completed her snappish turn, supporting herself upside-down for a half-second. Viper’s claws shot forward, aimed straight for her back. Moving with the same sharp grace, she pushed away from the ground. Upright once again, she took on a defensive stance.
Viper roared angrily at the dark sky and continued to claw at her, each slash promising pain and death.

I watched as the Slayer moved, dodging and parrying off every attack thrown at her, swiftly and precisely. There was not a single waste in her movement.
Viper let out another roar and clawed at the air towards her. I saw her eyes go wide just as she flashed out of view. Almost at the same moment the ground that was right below the girl blew up in a huge explosion with another earsplitting boom, chunks of dirt and sprays of mud pelting down with the rain.

The Immortal girl reappeared then just a few feet away to my right, making me jump a mile. She had slipped her upper body out of her black trench coat, letting it hang back loosely from her waist. Her black halter top revealed, showing off the pale skin of her back and arms. Beautiful, graceful, inhuman… having her so close made me feel so inferior.

Then suddenly, the Slayer turned her icy gaze on me, as if she had heard my inner thoughts. I flinched, but stayed where I was, just staring back wide-eyed at her.
As sudden as her icy gaze fell on me it melted away, her expression melting into something less severe. She looked away, turning back forward.

Then, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest when I saw her lips move.

“Celeste.” she spoke lowly, her voice smooth and soft.
I didn’t respond; I just stared. But I don’t think she needed a response.
The Slayer drew the katana that was tucked behind her lower back and took on another defensive stance.
“Do not move.” she murmured.

“I, uh---What?” I breathed, confused.

The girl didn’t say anything more, just looking straight forward.

I stared at her, trying to pick up any small details on her that would tell me more about who she is, what she is and why she had saved me. I didn’t really understand why I felt like I needed to know, but something about her was nagging me; as if this thing was tugging at the loose strings of the edge of my mind.

A low menacing snarl resonated in the dark, breaking the steady roaring of the heavy rain. I saw the Immortal grit her teeth, almost looking as if she was going to snarl back. She gripped the hilt of her katana with both hands and pulled her left side back, lifting the thin blade up level to her shoulders, ready to strike down anything that came at her.

That was when I saw it.

The thin blade in the Slayer’s hands wavered, shaking slightly and unstable in the trustworthy and skillful grip of its wielder. Seeing it felt wrong, as if it was a sign that something was not right.
My eyes trailed down the katana and down the hands gripping the hilt. They were shaking…her hands were shaking.
Fear…was she scared?
Bewildered, I searched what I could see of her face, looking for the expression that would give her away. Instead, I saw her eyes were sharp and smoldering darkly in silent resolve.
Anger? I thought, but doubtful.
She seemed way too in control to be someone on the verge of an angry explosion. I thought harder, trying to decipher her posture, composure and expression…anything to explain her shaking---

”Feed…I must feed…”

I jumped and stiffened, a scream stifled in my throat.
Viper’s voice came from everywhere and nowhere, pressing into my skin from all direction.

I felt my body start shaking more violently that my chest started to hurt. My eyes flickered from left to right, up and down.
The monster was nowhere to be seen.
But I could feel him. My skin crawled and writhed at his presence; he was everywhere…everywhere---
It was going to drive me mad…

Something swooshed through the air, flying from the dark right towards us.
I was still looking for the source of the sound when I saw the Immortal girl move.

Her grip on her katana was already changed as she quickly skidded around to my left. Her blade whistled bitingly through the air as she swung her left arm to the side.
I saw this mystery object, this dark, wispy shadow-like creature come in contact with the glinting teeth of the blade, the cold-looking metal sinking into its side. Next blink and the shadow were sliced in two, its body dissolving into the air and rain in wisps of black smoke.
A hollow, ghostly cry ripped through the air and sank deep into my chest with a heavy chill. Just the sound of it was ungodly, filled with agony, terror and despair.

The Immortal girl twisted back slightly, her movement ever so efficient. But she didn’t have time to rest.
I heard the swooshing and the hollow cries again before I saw the mystery assailants. I saw her left arm snap forward, the deadly blade slicing the air once more. Wisps of black smoke scattered, snatching at the corner of the jacket that hung from her waist as the momentum brought her around to face me.

The moment her frame was facing me, I caught a real good glimpse of her right shoulder. And a huge nauseating lump formed in my throat at the sight.
Purple, blue, green, red---unmistakably the colors of severe deep-tissue damage marred her skin with its ugly mark. The colors showed through her taut and swollen skin in its angry and senseless design, so far to a point that the veins and vessels of the shoulder in the region of the injury were unnaturally pronounced.
It hurt to just look at, but I couldn’t look away---

I heard the blade stab into the ground with a sharp crunching sound grinding gravel as the girl’s body continued to shift. Her body pitched forward as her right leg swung out into a fast swinging hind kick.

More smoky wisps and haunting cries seeped into the dark space.

The Immortal girl finally came to a stop, but I could tell she had not let her guard down. Her posture was tense and she was stone still, even under the harsh stabbing rain.
I had to say something---

“H-Hey,” I stammered, pulling the black fabric of the borrowed cloak tighter around my shoulders.
“Are…Are you hurt?”

The girl turned her head only a slightest bit towards me, keeping her body and most of her attention on our hidden enemy.
“No,” she said simply and plainly, her calm voice slicing through the tension.
Strangely, it calmed me quite a bit momentarily.
“But---But your arm---your shoulder.” I gulped, still horrified.
“It is nothing.” the girl replied, still not moving.

Lie; that was a lie.

An inexplicable and unintentional cry broke through my lips, grief strangling my heart.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I sobbed out, my voice getting strangled in my throat. “It’s all my fault, I didn’t mean for anyone to get hurt!”
I saw the Immortal girl turn her head towards me, her eyes wide with what I guessed was bewilderment. She glanced back around her and then back at me again, as if to be in a loss of words and action.
“Celeste, you are not responsible---” she started.
But I couldn’t stop, if anything my sobbing escalated.
“Oh God…I didn’t mean it, I didn’t---I don’t want to---”

”Celeste.”

I gasped, the multiple layers in her tone stopping the sobs as she spoke my name in a stern manner. My eyes flickered up to look at her--- to find that she wasn’t there.

Something soft and gentle landed on my shoulder, pulling my body back slightly. I felt a cool soothing touch brush against my forehead.
“Fall at ease,” the double layered tone commanded.
Instantly, I was calm, all signs of grief disappearing at these simple words.
The girl continued, from where I now realized was from behind me.
“You have no need to feel guilt or remorse, for you have not caused harm.” she murmured smoothly, her voice right in my ear.
She paused, as if to check that I was listening. I was.
“Celeste, it is not your fault.”

I felt this overwhelming calm settling over me, but the heavy burden still lingered in the back of my mind.

In this tranquilized state I was now in I was now aware of the tension and heavy guard that surrounded my heroic stranger. Alert and cautious, the uncertain feeling of anticipation was nearly nauseating.
Being better in tuned with these vibes around me, I felt the sudden change in the atmosphere as a heavy weight shoved down onto my shoulders.

“Not your fault, she says…as if that would solve everything.”

I bristled, fear shooting through my veins in the form of ice. My eyes immediately drifted left, just in time to catch a tall, lean shadow step into the light from the dark.
Viper smirked darkly, his confident gaze burning holes right through me. He was regarding me like a predator would a prey.
“But Cella, you’re smart enough to know the truth.” he crooned. “Are you not?”
I watched in horror, my skin crawling in dread and disgust. I could feel the blood draining from my face, even in my dead ghostly state.

Viper didn’t break his gaze as he tilted his head in amusement. Then, his smirk fell, and a dark shadow flashed across his eyes.

One blink, I was curled up in the mud, and the next moment I was suspended in the air, shock and fear flooding my senses as I lost track of space. I gritted my teeth as I felt my body being pulled into multiple directions, my movement completely out of my control.
I was faintly aware of the strong arms that wrapped around my shoulders and under my knees, keeping my up and together. My ears rang painfully as the wind whistled in my ear, along with a group of noises I couldn’t place.
Then, just like that, it was over.

It wasn’t until I felt the wet mud beneath my butt that I realized that I was back on the ground.
I was still trying to process what had just occurred when I heard a deep rustling of fabric from somewhere behind me.
I flinched and cringed into an even small ball beneath the torn cloak. Something thick settled over my head, draping gently over my shoulders and curving over my back with my spine. Instantly, I felt warm, the sound and stinging of the rain muted.
What in the world--- I started to wonder and my hand reached over my shoulder.
My fingertips brushed on foreign material, the texture of fabric stiffer and sturdier than the black cloak. I gripped it and pulled the fabric off my body.
It was the Immortal girl’s trench coat.

My eyes flickered up to the space before me, searching. I immediately found her, standing yards away with her back towards me, her katana in her right hand by her side. She held herself in a very casual stance that felt very out of place in the situation we were in as she stood there unmoving.
Clearly I was too human to keep up with the action.
What the hell was going on?
Please let this be over now. It needs to end, it needs to end now…

The Immortal girl flicked her wrist, and she was set and ready to strike. The thin long blade glinted sharply, eager to draw blood.

My fingers gripped tightly on the girl’s trench coat in my arms.
The dark symphony of the rain rose steadily to a crescendo, and the wind picked up in a howling chorus. If I were to cry out…scream…no one will hear me. I was dead, apparently a ghost; no one can even see me---

“Celeste!”

A sharp pang shot through my chest, shock sobering me up as I heard the familiar male voice.
No, it can’t be; please, not now…

It was at that moment where the world proved to me that things could always get worse.

I turned, just in time to see someone sprinting and splashing through the rain, their thin clothing sticking to their body.

Stopping short at the entrance of the playground was the soaked, breathless, and bewildered form of Bryce Laverie.