9th Tick: Revived Child
1026 Words
“Ninth Hour.” Thomas said, sinking into the ground.
The vampire looked around, having released some dark energy. Thomas came out of the ground, his right arm blackened. He rubbed his arm and cursed, unable to feel it. Time had stopped on his arm before it could completely burn off, but reversing the effect would take some time.
The vampire was upon him, bearing his teeth. Thomas ducked to the side and shoved his shoulder into the vampire’s side. The vampire vanished into the darkness and reached from below Thomas. Thomas jumped and kicked his hands, running out of reach when he landed.
“What so you want from me?” The vampire hissed.
“How many people have you killed?” Thomas countered.
“Silence!”
The vampire waved down at Thomas, another wave of darkness was sent at him. Thomas ran out of the way and ran at the vampire. He reached backwards and stopped directly in front of the vampire. He gave him a smile and said, “Twelfth Hour.”
He pulled something out and showed it to the vampire. The vampire’s eyes widened and he tried moving out of the way. Thomas released time on the dog he held, the dog biting down and making the left side of the vampire disappear. The monster fell on his side, gripping his injuries.
Thomas stopped time on the dog and put it back into his storage area. The vampire cursed and shouted, “What did I ever do to you?”
“What did the villagers do to you then.” Thomas asked him.
The vampire’s face reddened, he shouted, “They deserved it, all of them! They deserved to die, they deserve to be used like tools! My peaceful life was ruined because of them, you think they were innocent?”
The vampire tried to get on his feet, blood splattering on the ground. Darkness covered his wounds and he stopped bleeding, instead, he seemed to be regenerating. Thomas sighed and walked up to him, saying, “I don’t, that’s why you’re not dead yet.”
The vampire lunged at Thomas, but Thomas had turned to the side, grabbed his face and pulled back. There was a sick snap as the vampire landed on the ground and laid there, not moving. Thomas breathed a sigh of relieve as he walked away, the humans being controlled simply falling over. Thomas, at some point, felt a tug on his pants. He looked around and saw the child pulling his pants. He lifted the child, the girl giggling with joy. She had crawled out of her basket towards Thomas. She patted Thomas’ face, her knees and elbows scraped. She pointed at the vampire and said, “Pa.”
Thomas nodded, reversing time on the girl, healing her injuries. He then healed his right arm before walking towards the vampire. Thomas hovered a hand over the girl’s forehead and whispered, “Seventh Hour.”
He let go and tapped the vampire, reversing time on him. The girl crawled onto him and rolled around happily. The man sat up, holding the child. He stood, standing face to face with Thomas. The vampire said, “What do you want with me?”
“Nothing, but can you tell me about that child?” Thomas asked. “I checked her remaining time, it’s incredibly short, only a few months at most.”
“I know.”
“The environment here isn’t good, if she has a sickness, you should bring her to see a doctor.”
“I know.”
Thomas grabbed the man’s suit and asked, “If you know, why did you curse that child?”
“Because she died once before.” He replied, his expression not changing.
“So you revived her?” Thomas asked. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“No, but I can’t evade it.”
He placed the child in the basket, one of the humans being controlled picked it up and ran. The vampire told Thomas, “I know you will try and stop me from doing what I plan to do. You dislike the revival of humans, don’t you?”
Thomas clenched his fists and turned around, saying, “Of course, I hate it.”
Thomas bent over and threw a rock. “Fourth Hour.”
The rock hovered in the air, gliding through the air slowly. Thomas threw a few more before the vampire raised a hand, a wave of darkness appearing. Thomas cursed, tapping all of them before saying, “Fifth Hour.”
He dived to the side, a clock appearing on the rocks, the hour hand pointing at the fifth hour. The rocks flew through the darkness, speeding up as they got closer to the vampire. The vampire was riddled with holes as the rocks shot through him. The rocks had travelled too fast for him to notice. The vampire covered his wounds with the darkness and faced Thomas, scowling.
“I’ll protect my daughter.” He scowled.
“I’ll protect the world.” Thomas replied, running at him.
“Zeroth Hour.”
Time stopped.
Thomas gathered more rocks, placing them in front of the vampire’s face. He threw some like a baseball, the rocks stopping right before his face. Thomas threw a few and walked away. Time resumed and he said, “Fifth Hour.”
The rocks sped up and shot through the vampire’s face, falling him. Thomas looked at where the controlled human had taken the child, walking after them. With the vampire dead, the humans could no longer move, so the controlled human could not have gotten far to begin with. Thomas turned a corner, and he saw a body on the ground, the baby in the basket. Thomas took a step back, the baby was kneeling. Her eyes were closed, her hands were clasped together. Had she seen it from her father and was trying to imitate him? Was she even able to talk? Or perhaps, a third person was involved.
“I wish upon-” The child started.
“Zerot-” Thomas tried to say, but the winds cut his mouth, his jaw hanging loosely as his body started to reverse time. He cursed internally, reaching out to the child.
“WishEarth, please grant my wish to kill this man.” The child continued. “And to let me and my father live happily.”
Thomas was pushed back by a gust of wind. A figure appeared nearby, smiling. Wearing a Chinese JiangShi costume, a slip of paper from his hat covering his face. He gave both the child and Thomas a smile.
“Damn you Wish.” Thomas whispered, his jaw just healed.
“Don’t worry.” He reached out the the child. “I’ll grant your wish.”
- Writer
