Startled that the creature had actually understood him, Jared stumbled back, slamming into the door, lost for words. Seeing that the monster couldn't move, Jared's gaze drifted to his desk, still littered with crumbs from his overnight cramming.
' I should still have some chips in my drawer but I don't think it's going to do much.'
The creature didn't dare muster the energy to crawl. Jared continued to brace against the wall, shifting closer to his desk with the slightest of footsteps.
"This is crazy, this is crazy!" he muttered, but he still hugged the wall on his way to his desk.
Reaching into his drawer, taking a single chip from the bag, Jared slowly approached the animal.
"You said you wanted food. Be a good little girl and you can have more."
Jared took a knee, reaching ever closer to the animal's face. Hovering over the monster's head, Jared waved the chip, holding it out until the creature reached for it.
In an instant, the monster's head chomped down on Jared's hand. With a look of sheer horror plastered on Jared's face, blood tracked down his hand. A warmth spread from the bite through his wrist, up his arm, settling somewhere behind his sternum. Not pain. Something else entirely. But the more he looked into the beast's deep purple eyes, which oddly enough had a slight pink glint, the more enchanted Jared became.
The monster's ears revealed themselves from the hair on her head, twitching, glowing with the same color as her eyes. Round, human pupils formed in the glow.
Like a bolt of lightning, Jared snapped out of the trance the moment he registered the more human features.
"AHHHH!!!"
The creature quickly released his hand, hopping on all fours, dashing to Jared's desk.
"JARED!!!?" A familiar voice cried out to him from down the stairs.
"Brother?!"
The monster hopped to her feet, ripping open the drawer, grabbing a handful of chips.
"I'M ON MY WAY!"
The monster's eyes widened as she turned back to Jared. Her eyes twinkled once more before hearing the frantic and rapid approach of steps. She swiftly turned to the window and leaped from the second-floor window.
Bursting through the door was a young man that looked to be in his very late teens. With a distorted rapier in hand that looked to fade in and out of reality, the man prepared himself. He grabbed Jared by the shoulder and shoved him behind him, eyes sweeping the room. Then he crouched and drew a circle with the tip of his blade. Once he finished, the man examined his brother's wound.
"What happened?!"
Jared quickly snapped his hand away holding it tightly.
"It's fine, I just hurt myself."
"No shot you think I'm going to believe that. Your room smells like crap, there's wet clothes all over the floor, AND YOU'RE BLEEDING!"
"So? Why are you making this into such a big deal? Your room is like that most of the time and you come home drenched in blood."
"That's beca-"
"Aizen, you're only five years older than me. Stop pretending like you care!"
The writing dissolved. Aizen rose, collapsing his weapon in one motion.
"You're right. I don't. No brother of mine would choose to be a Journalist."
"Hurry up and get ready. And shower, you reek." He was already through the door before Jared could answer.
Jared stood silent, his eyes on his bitten hand, then the floor where the monster had been. Although scared it would come back, all he could remember was the enchanting glow in its eyes. "Those eyes… they were strangely human, no?"
Turning to the wet spot on the ground, Jared knelt. Lying there were wet sheets, not patches of fur or hide but pieces of cloth, clearly battered and worn. Under it all, sat firmly in its center, a black journal, roughly larger than the ones held in a pocket.
Curious, Jared picked it up, stuffing it into his messenger style bag before walking out the room.
…
Music blared, accompanied by flashing lights in the underground rave. One could barely make out a grown man pushing through the crowd, a tattoo of a snake wrapped around something just visible below his collar, the rest hidden by his clothes. The music was just timed screaming as far as he was concerned. Unsatisfied, the man clutched his drinks to his chest.
"Damn this crowd, I can't even hear myself think. AH?"
Accidentally running into a lady, his chest felt like he'd run into a wall.
"I'm sorry! So sorry!" The lady started to panic.
"It's fine, it's nothing serious!" The fellow said.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
The woman gently placed her hand along his arm, looking into his eyes.
"Beautiful eyes," the man muttered.
"What was that?"
"I'm fine."
The man slipped away with the drinks, breaking through the crowd till he found a hallway devoid of people. It was strange, but just what the man was looking for. As he walked down the hall, the party noise faded behind him. The man waved his hands around the room and runes etched themselves along the doorframe implying an extra coat of defense.
He checked the door. "Triple silence rune and one full network suppression." He nodded and walked in.
The room was dimly lit with red couches and a single black table in the center. Eyes turned to the man walking in with his drinks, silently waiting for the door to be closed behind him.
Once the door closed and the man took his seat, the male leading figure at the head of the table looked up and around him.
"Is that everyone?"
No one answered until the head looked at the lady next to him. She scrolled through the paper list until reaching the last name on the page.
"That's everyone, you're free to speak."
"Alright, send confirmation to Squadron 1. Let them know they can proceed as scheduled and that we'll begin our operation shortly."
Revealing itself behind the girl, a flattened sphere appeared. Its center glowed black before quickly vanishing. The head of the table cracked a smile, looking around the room.
"As you know, today we'll be starting our attack on the nation of Caster. All those who are here today are tasked with suppressing reinforcements before the job is done. I'm a man of few words so let's finish our drinks and get to work."
The room echoed with cheers of confirmation from everyone elated to finally start this job.
In an instant, the room fell silent. A woman was simply there, in front of the locked door, two bottles in hand, as if she'd always been. Not a single one of them was able to sense her presence or hear the door be opened. It was almost as if she was there the whole time, waiting for a moment to speak.
No one moved. Eyes tracked her. The head of the table kept his expression flat. The head of the table looked over to the man closest to her and nodded.
"Alright, here's the drinks."
The lady stepped forward. Setting the bottle on the table, a swift shadow blocked the light over her.
'I guess she wasn't a threat after all.'
Bursting with speed, the woman's elbow slammed into his neck.
Everyone jumped from their seats with all eyes locked on her. There was no getting away.
Breaking a hole in his windpipe, the waitress grabbed his head. With a loud boom, he crashed unconscious onto the center of the table.
Closing the distance, the nearest man lunged for her face. Rolling with the motion, she caught his hand and used his momentum to fling them both across the table. He hit the floor beneath her weight. She jammed her knee into his gut as they slid across the floor. His shirt ripped, revealing the rest of the tattoo. The snake wrapped around a broken saw blade looping through the holes in the metal.
"I guess the info wasn't shady enough."
"You bitch!" The man lunged. Her eyes sharpened and she barely slipped the first hit. Unable to dodge a punch from the horned man, she took the hit head on. Crashing into several objects, she scraped her hand and knees along the floor before jumping over the fools waiting behind her. This time she drove her shins into the ribs of the man waiting behind her.
The organizer kicked the table aside and lunged for the communicator.
"WHO IS SHE! Fuck, it doesn't matter! HURRY UP AND LET THE MAIN FORCE KNOW OUR POSITION IS COMPROMISED!"
"I'M ON IT, I'M ON IT! Come on! Come on!"
A speeding fork crushed straight into the center of the communicator, pinning it to the wall. The woman quickly jumped over the table, tackling and slamming the communicator's head into the wall.
With a beefy kick to the stomach, the waitress' body went numb as another brute drove his shoulder into hers. With no control, the waitress' limp body dropped to her knees. A muscular grip wrapped her neck, pulling her from the ground.
"You're going to tell me everything you know." He squeezed, and parts of her body went rag-like, all feeling draining away. "YOU GOT ME?!"
Not squirming, not even a little, she looked up, making eye contact with the fellow gripping her neck.
"Did you really think I was going to walk in here and fight one versus twenty without a couple tricks up my sleeve?"
Without a second to react, both of them burst into flames, his skin frying in an instant while she walked away with barely a mark.
Reflexively releasing her to protect himself, the waitress effortlessly cracked his windpipe with the heel of her foot, sending him to the ground.
She faced the thirteen who remained as a faint glow edged her eyes.
"How many of you want to bleed before one of you starts talking?"