Bleeding Lotus

Chapter 5

"You need to leave now. These foxes are not your prey. They are creatures that will remain unharmed." The sound of my velvety voice drifts through the air like silk brushing against skin, rich and dangerously calm. Hearing it seems to snap the men from their stupor, though traces of awe still linger in their expressions.

"Damn! What kind of supernatural is she?" The scrawny one blurts out, his voice cracking slightly despite his attempt to sound natural. He fights the urge to step backward, though the faint tremor racking his body betrays his fear, he has stumbled upon an apex predator. His eyes dart nervously toward the greasy man standing beside him, clearly waiting to see how his leader reacts before deciding whether to run or fight.

I nearly raise a brow at the realization that they know of supernatural beings like me. Perhaps they didn't truly believe in the supernatural until witnessing my transformation from fox to human-like being adorned with ears and nine flowing tails. The humans have always had stories about animal-like creatures that could shift into a human form.

The greasy man lets out a thoughtful hum, and irritation twitches through me as his lust-filled gaze slowly drags over my body without shame. His eyes linger far too long on my exposed skin as he tries to determine what exactly I am. "I'd say she's some type of demon," he muses with a crooked grin. "Demons usually have red eyes, though hers are pink. Never heard of a species like this before."

My expression immediately turns glacial; the temperature seems to drop with my mood. "What I am does not matter. All that matters is that you humans leave this instant," I grit out, my patience hanging by a thread as annoyance coils tightly in my chest. These idiots are far too bold for their own good.

"Why the hell would we leave when we just found ourselves a trophy prize?" The third man laughs cruelly, finally speaking for the first time. His greedy eyes gleam with excitement, as though he truly believes I am something that can be owned.

A weary sigh leaves me at the sheer audacity of the men standing before me. "I am not exactly a fan of violence, but it seems you leave me with no choice." In truth, I desperately wish those disgusting humans would simply turn around and leave. Fighting goes against my caring nature. All of my kind are peaceful beings who only resort to violence when there is no other option left.

In less than a second, a small ball of blue fire blooms into existence from my delicate hands, its flames flickering like liquid sapphire. Fox fire - an ability unique to my kind. The supernatural flames are nearly impossible to extinguish and burn only what I desire them to burn: my enemies. Since the greasy-looking man is clearly the leader, I decide to eliminate him first. With a flick of my wrist, I send the fire hurtling toward him.

Before he can even react, the blue flames engulf his entire body. His agonized screams rip through the air as he collapses onto the ground writhing in pain, clawing uselessly at the fire consuming him. The sickening smell of burning flesh quickly permeates the air while the other stare on in horror. Within barely a minute, his screams finally die out, leaving behind nothing but a smoldering pile of ashes blown away by the wind.

Summoning another orb of fox fire into my palm, I turn my attention to the third man just as he hastily raises his gun, preparing to fire at me. My eyes narrow the moment I glimpse the weapon. It is not an ordinary gun. The shines strangely under the rising moon, darker and unfamiliar compared to the human weapons I have seen before. What alarms me most, however, are the bullets loaded within it.

I can easily smell gunpowder. Yet these bullets carry no such scent. Instead, a foreign metallic aroma lingers around them - something ancient, unnatural, and completely unfamiliar to me. Fear instantly surges through my veins like ice water.

For the briefest moment, my body freezes in place, and the man eagerly takes advantage of my hesitation. His shaky finger curls around the trigger. Suddenly everything slows. The pounding of my own heartbeat roars deafeningly inside my ears as time itself seems to crawl. In horror, I watch him begin to pull the trigger. All I can do is send up a silent prayer of forgiveness.

Dear gods... I am sorry that I have failed to protect my darling foxes. Please forgive me for only being able to watch over them for a thousand years.

A deep sorrow settles heavily in my chest as I realize this is where my second life will end. For the second time, I will die - and this time there will be no second chance awaiting me. I have failed the one who granted me this body and this life, entrusted solely for the purpose of protecting what he cherished most.

When the trigger is almost completely squeezed back, poised to unleash a storm of deadly bullets, two men dressed head to toe in black suddenly descend from the trees as if summoned by divine intervention. Not a single branch rustles beneath them, nor does a leaf dare to crunch underfoot. They move like shadows slipping through the night. With unnatural grace, they land squarely on the shoulders of the men I had assumed where nothing more than animal hunters.

My face twists into horror as the mysterious strangers quickly place their hands on both sides of the hunter's heads. There is no hesitation, no strain, not even the slightest hint of effort. Two sickening cracks split through the forest air before, with terrifying ease, they rip the men's heads clean from their bodies. Blood sprays in violent arcs across the damp grass and nearby trees while the decapitated corpses remain standing for one horrifying second before collapsing lifelessly to the forest floor.

I stare at the men in black frozen in disbelief as they leap gracefully from the falling bodies, landing perfectly on their feet before the corpses even hit the ground. Their movements are smooth and elegant, almost beautiful, which somehow makes the brutality of what they had just done even more terrifying.

A cold chill slithers down my spine as the two newcomers lazily toss the severed heads onto the ground like discarded trash. For the first time in my thousand years of life, genuine fear grips at my heart. Less than a minute ago, I had been certain I was about to die, but it would have been swift and painless, a few bullets tearing through my heart before darkness claimed me. These two men, however, are different. They are not ordinary beings who rely on guns and weapons forged by humans.