Reprisal: A Wraith’s Awakening

Chapter4

Lunchtime in the juvenile center was as rowdy as one would expect.

I mean, when a bunch of immature delinquents gather, there's bound to be issues; alas, it'd also be the perfect time of the day to carry out my plan.

To be precise, I was already halfway towards completing it.

The only thing left was to stir up chaos, one so grand that every guard stationed in the center would have to interfere.

While snacking on the ridiculous meal they served us, I stole glances at a particular inmate.

He seemed to have noticed it as his gaze locked onto me, which was precisely what I wanted.

I met his gaze with a stare of my own, then whispered silently.

"Idiot."

His eyes widened for a second before a large bulging vein appeared on his head.

Without lingering for a second, he stood up with the tray of his lunch within his grasp.

His steps were frantic, rushed perhaps, like he couldn't wait to pummel my face; however, as soon as he got close to me, he slipped on the puddle I'd prepared beforehand.

Initially, he was meant to dump his tray of food on my head, then proceed to beat the crap out of me, but the little slip that occurred caused another to become his victim.

It was an established rule that the leaders of each cell block were not to fight each other, at least within the presence of other inmates.

In this place, everyone was looking for a way to devour another, to take the top dog down and become the new one.

It was why the block leaders never fought each other where eyes could see.

And the little stunt I just pulled was going to thwart that rule.

Even if the block leaders agreed not to fight each other, would they truly let it go if they were blatantly embarrassed in front of others?

,

No their pride won't allow it, especially when an attack follows up immediately after the embarrassment.

As I thought, the block leaders whom I had taunted took the bait and accidentally spilled their lunch over the block leader beside me.

Now that would beg the question, would someone who saw himself as a leading figure, bow his head to another? No, it was simply impossible.

Besides, there was a reason why I chose this particular i***t.

It was because of his ridiculous pride and blinding rage.

He was someone who'd never apologize, even if he was in the wrong, and also because whenever he became angry, he'd lose his sense of reasoning.

And that was why he decided to attack before looking.

I stared at the punch heading my way; despite the proximity, it was rather slow.

Sighing inwardly, I ducked low, avoiding the fist heading for me while pretending to be a frightened cur once again.

The attack, which was meant for me, was once again taken by the block leader beside me, and I took that precise moment to slip away.

By now, the inmates were already gathered, watching the entire scene play out.

If there was another reason why block leaders were not allowed to fight each other was because whenever they did, members of their blocks got involved, so basically it was going to be a full-blown war.

The only reason they were still there was because the other block leader had yet to react, but their wait was soon cut short because the sound of cursing was soon followed by a loud thud.

And after that... All hell broke loose.

It didn't take long before the inmates were at each other's necks.

I quickly took the opportunity to narrow my way out of the crowd of people, but a certain teenager with a tattoo blocked my path.

His smirk was condescending, but I was expecting it.

Using the chaos around as cover, he tried to attack me with a knife; however, I was fully prepared.

Before the knife could reach me, I used the fork within my grasp to stab his throat.

It lodged deep into his windpipe as he began to gasp for air, but I didn't have a moment to spare.

However, I confirmed that he was still alive before I made it out of the crowd.

Even though I knew he wouldn't last four minutes before he died, I wanted him to be alive when the detention center went up in flames, and for that, I needed to hurry.

It wouldn't take long before people would notice his dying state.

****

────── [ STATUS ]────────

Name: Asher Morreti

Title: Wraith's puppet

Faction: Morreti clan

HP: 1,720 / 1,720 MP: 890 / 890

STR: 70 AGI: 90

VIT: 118 INT: 82

DEX: 142

Traits:

Bloodlust.

Undead (wraith)

Skills:

Regeneration

ghoulification.

Debuffs:

None

[ Close Status ]

───────────────────────────

Arriving at the bottom level of the juvenile center, my gaze lingered on the status screen for far longer than I'd expected, but I quickly focused on the matter at hand.

In front of me was a huge door, and as expected, I didn't see any officials on the w;y, no surprise there.

A murder had just taken place, and to top that, there was a full-blown battle ongoing at the moment.

With the minimal amount of staff here, it would require everyone to put an end to the situation above.

Returning my gaze to the door, a subtle frown marred my face.

I wasn't actually feeling anything, ng, but for the sake of pretending to be human, I tried replicating some emotions even if I was alone.

As expected, the door to the storage was locked, and there was little time left to act.

Rather than looking for the key,y I attempted something I would've never been able to do before my death.

I gathered strength into my right leg, then kicked the storage door with all I had.

Luckily, the door was made of mahogany wood rather than steel, but I wasn't expecting to burst it down on the first try, yet it did just that.

Without any particular emotion on my face, I stepped into the storage room and made my way towards the gas cylinders stationed there.

Not letting a single second pass by, I opened them, one by one,e till the entire storage was filled with the displeasing smell of gas.

After doing so, I took a lighter for a small cabinet within the room, but I didn't light on immediately.

I wanted the gas to spread through the vents till the entire juvenile center was filled with gas, so while I was waiting for that, I sat down outside the broken storage room staring blankly at the clock-like tattoo on my wrist.

It didn't take long before I heard the frantic sounds of footsteps, not one or two, but dozens.

A few seconds later, their face came into view, and the detestable face of the warden was present.

I stared at them, without any emotion, not even rage; I couldn't feel that at the moment, I merely looked.

Observing and observing as they inched closer with their guns.

The warden was the first to speak, his voice harsh and gravelly.

"Inmate Asher, just what do you think you're doing?" He questioned, barely containing his anger.

I stared for a few seconds, maintaining the unnerving silence that lingered.

"I don't think you have the right to ask me that, warden, after all, you weren't expecting the abomination you planned to kill to be alive and well in front of you. At this point, I have no questions nor desire to hear your pathetic excuses."

I paused.

"You were trying to avoid a monster, but you ended up creating one. Congratulations. How I wish I could make your death as agonizing as mine, to my displeasure, I don't have the time for such."

I spoke, my voice was hollow and detached, like I wasn't even alive, and technically that was true.

I died, and before that, my throat was damaged severely.

In truth, I shouldn't even be able to speak, but whatever entity I had sold myself to healed my wounds.

Dare I say, rather than healing, I was reborn as something else. I wasn't human anymore, even I could tell that much.

'I guess this was why they tried to kill me, just imagining what a family filled with things like me would be enough to incite fear into any human.'

"W-What do you want?" Came the warden's question, but I was done listening.

I stared him directly in the eyes before answering.

"Your lives."

As soon as I said that, I pressed hard on the lighter, and its button made a click sound before the entire juvenile center became engulfed in flames.

As it did, I slowly got up to my feet.

The flames licked at my skin, burning my flesh in the process, but within seconds my burns would've been mended and I... Felt no pain.

To be numb to pain was a terrible price to pay.

I watched silently as the bodies of the officials and inmates went up in flames, even as I walked amongst them.

Some screamed, some begged to be freed of the torment, but their suffering couldn't reach my ears.

I walked out of the burning center with the same detached look.

The night breeze caressed my skin, a stark reminder that I was currently naked.

With that in mind, I strolled down to a nearby stream to wash off when I caught a sight of my reflection.

Pale-skinned like that of a corpse with hollow eyes that seemed lifeless, and hair as black as coal.

I froze in my tracks.

It wasn't my reflection that had me frozen, rather it was the reflection of another, standing besides mine, his skin was pale as though he was a corpse, he held a nerve wrecking smile, bearing an uncanny resemblance to me but unlike me, his hair was neatly styled in a ponytail and he was draped in casual clothes, an oversized shirt with loose pants but more than that, his eyes were reversed.

His sclera was a deep black whilst his pupil and iris were gray.

Still holding on to that smile, he spoke.

"Hello, brother."