Vendetta

Chapter 1 - Mel

A group of large men chase me into a dark alleyway. “C’mon baby,” the man slurs his words, “why can’t we just enjoy the party together?” The man sways back and forth, and his sword dangles dangerously loose from his hand. My quiet response appears to anger him as he attempts to snatch my long silver hair that’s tied into a tight ponytail. I gracefully glide past his arm and punch him straight in the jaw. I pull my white mask even higher past the bridge of my nose as two more men attempt to attack me. Without drawing my blade, I knock the two men unconscious leaving a teenage boy who appears to be the same age as me. Seeing his three superiors lying unconscious, the boy gives me a glance before running in the opposite direction. 

Sighing, I continue my search for my friend. Even with the night as my cover and a mask covering most of my face, I always seem to catch the wrong attention. I let Anna explore the New Year’s Eve festival marking 500 years since chaos first struck, but I lost sight of her. 

“Tch, disgusting,” I mumbles to myself as I pull out a black handkerchief and angrily wipe off the blood on my glove. I tuck the handkerchief back in my pocket and scale the side of a building. I jump from rooftop to rooftop letting the winter breeze brush past my face. 

I finally spot Anna standing in front of a market stall at the very edge of the crowd. I take a seat letting my feet dangle from the rooftop and watch as Anna attempts to hand the woman some cash. People begin to run away from the center of town shoving people, including Anna, out of their way. I slide off the building in order to help Anna, but, in midair, an explosion goes off. Unable to find my balance, the explosion slams me into a building, and I feel my body crumbles to the ground. Heart slamming into my rib cage, ringing in my ears, shaky breathing, pain radiating in my right shoulder, I slowly try to stand. Everything is spinning. I ignore the throbbing pain in my right shoulder in order to stand up and drag my legs across the paved road. Trying not to blackout, I focus on the mission at hand. One by one, I start lifting up rubble ignoring the pain in her shoulder. 

“Anna!” I shout, but with no reply. 

Letting adrenaline fuel me, I continue to walk around shouting for her, yet the sounds of fire crackling, buildings falling, and horrifying screams drown my voice out. I notice a hand sticking out from a piece of rubble. Please don’t let that be Anna. Please tell me that she isn’t anywhere near the town but instead on her way home. Lifting up the rubble, I allow an inaudible scream to escape my lips. My hope for her to be safe quickly begins to fade, as Anna’s light brown hair comes into view as well as the rest of her body. Instinctively, I quickly grab Anna’s limp body and carefully place it over my left shoulder. 

I run through the burning town desperately forcing myself to not stop and help the townspeople. Despite the darkness, I started weaving my way up the forest covered mountain jumping over logs and dodging trees. Making my way up the mountain, I hear the faint sound of rustling in the bushes. The sound becomes louder and louder until it is right next to me. Blindly, I throw three knives into the dense forest.