Leo stumbled forward, hands trembling, knees nearly caving beneath his weight. Each breath felt like glass, shards scraping down his throat, then sputtering back out like smoke. He bit down, instantly regretting it.
Pain zipped through him, white-hot and blinding. His knees slammed into the floor. Tears welled as an earthy, iron taste flooded his mouth. He spat it out and stared at the red smear on the ground.
Blood.
His tongue swiped across his front teeth. They were normal. Then to the sideâ
"Agh!" The cry came out more like a growl than a word. He reeled back, blood pooling on his tongue again.
There was no way. He couldn't live in a body that was trying to kill itself.
But he had to, even if it was just for tonight. Anna was still out there. And even if she wasnât the one screaming, someone needed help.
His vision blurred. His ears rang. His body felt like a loaded barbell trying to bench press itself. He didn't care. With a vicious roar, he forced himself to his feet.
Finally. Standing. Barely. His legs buckled. He blacked out for a blink, but he stayed up.
Okay. That was something.
He slid one foot forward. Then the other. It was as close to walking as he could, although maybe closer to a newborn deer's attempt. But still, it was better than nothing.
The world tilted, but he flailed hard enough to stay upright, barely.
Alright. He took a deep breath. His heart raced, thoughts swirling like a storm, but he couldn't rush. If he did, he might fall and not be able to get up again. Take another breath, then do it again.
Another breath.
Another step.
Then he was running. Well, it seemed like it to him at least.
The world was swishing, bobbing, and blurry. He must've been hunched over as he ran, like a kid who ran too fast and couldn't stop. But if it got him there, that was all that mattered.
He ran towards the area where he heard the cries. A dark treeline, nearly pitch black, if not for the moon. It could've been part of the Bladed Forest, but it wasn't, although it didn't seem any better. It got closer and closer, until he couldn't see the night sky anymore. Then he tried to stop before he ran into a tree. He tried to.
Leo left the ground, his feet slipping from beneath him, sending him into the forest. He cried in pain as the sound of twigs snapping echoed throughout the night, with branches carving into his flesh, and his limbs slamming against wood.
He slammed onto the ground with a rustle of leaves, and momentum carried him forward. His fingers grasped at nothing, his toes tried to dig into the dirt, but he couldn't stop.
The world had rolled for too long. When was he going to stop? His brain was mush. His mouth already hurt. What more did it want from him?
It didn't want any more from him, apparently.
His spine snapped taut, like a rubber band, as it wrapped around a tree trunk. The air was blown out of him like a gun. Then the world went black for a moment before the curtains unveiled again. He could feel the warmth of blood trickling down his back and the rattling of his brain.
A cynical chuckle left his lips. Could he even save anyone? He couldn't even run properly, let alone stop while running; he nearly splattered himself on a tree. Even if he did reach Anna, they would probably die together. Whatever, at this point, he might as well see how it goes. He had nothing to lose anyway.
With a shaky breath and an aching spine, he got up. Surprisingly, his legs felt stronger, firmer, and less like wet noodles. He squeezed his hands, feeling the muscles in his forearm and bicep flex. Was the world finally giving him their due? If so, it was about damn time.
Leo began his search, strolling deeper into the forest, feeling bugs eat his flesh. He somehow had to track where the sound came from in nearly pure darkness. He bit his tongue, but this time with his front teeth. He wanted to call out, but that was dumb. Anna, or whoever it was, was screaming bloody murder; no way he would willingly give up the element of surprise. But there was nothing to go off of.
Despite this, Leo decided to trudge forward a bit further. It seemed hopeless, but he was in too deep. He sighed, blinking a few times. Then Leo noticed something. The darkness seemed to brighten, the shapes of the trees got sharper, and even the engravings on their bark were visible. It wasn't night vision, but it made pathfinding easier. Hopefully, it would help him find Anna sooner rather than later.
An orange flicker bounced in and out of his vision. Then again, before vanishing.
His head snapped in the direction it came from. His heart began to race, pumping adrenaline into his veins. What was that? It was an orange glow, but what exactly? It definitely wasn't natural.
Orange. Glow. Night.
Torch.
That was his answer. His landmark. His key to Anna. A slight grin tugged at the corners of his lips. Finally, luck had turned to his side. Now it was time to take advantage of it.
As Leo approached the torch, he could tell that the person wasn't moving much at all. He assumed this because the glow from the torch had stayed in the same spot from when he first saw it to now, standing at the edge of the light.
His heart raced badly, extremely badly. It was doing jumping jacks, frontflips, backflips, or whatever flips existed. Anxiety ate at his core, eroding his resolve. He felt like throwing up, and his head felt like it was going to pop. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to know what was in the light. His palms were slick with sweat, and his head pounded relentlessly like a countdown. He was scared. Scared to see something that could scar him forever.
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His heart felt like it might explodeâbut he leaned in anyway.
Anna was there. A man was there too. Anna, her bandages torn, her wounds reopened, along with new gashes running across her body. Her eyes. Her eyes, wide with despair. The man, grinning, his blade smeared with blood.
An animal. Yes. That's what he was.
Leo's legs, loaded like thousand-pound springs, exploded, jetting him into the small, lit area. The world turned into a blur, but one thing was clear: That person. That was the only thing he needed to see.
A set of screams sounded. Leo lunged at the man, swiping like a feral creature, his nails tearing into the man's armor. The man stumbled backwards, while Leo pressed forward. His arms, which felt like noodles just moments ago, were now coursing with strength as they became a flurry of swipes.
"What the hell!" the man shouted, his golden eyes bugging out in surprise. Then a silver blur swiped across Leo's vision.
Leo's nose scrunched as an ache pulsed across his chest. Did he just cut him? His eyes widened as the realization hit him, but it didn't hurt.
It didn't hurt.
A laugh left his lips as a grin tore his face open. He couldn't stop. It was a product of the moment. How could he resist? He could hear each breath they took, and the inhale before the next. The pores on the man's skin were as clear as day to him, and so was the fear. He could smell the sweat pooling under the manâs collar. Hear the panic squirming behind his tongue. Every heartbeat in the clearing throbbed in Leoâs ears like war drums.
Who could stop him?
The man swiped his blade horizontally. Leo ducked with the grace of a deer, hearing the blade whistle above him. The blade twirled in the person's hand before he brought it down on top of him.
Leo's heart skipped, but his legs didn't flinch. The man's chest was wide open, and he didn't even have to think.
His shoulder plowed into the cool steel of the man's breastplate. The world spun momentarily and then halted as they crashed with two grunts.
"Agh! Get off me! What even are you?" the man shouted, pushing against Leo's face, a finger going into his mouth. Then came a scream. "Ahhhh! What the! My finger! My finger!"
Blood sprayed onto Leo's face, and some swished inside, along with a part of the man's finger. His teeth cut through it like a hot dog. No resistance. It didn't even disgust him. He wanted more.
He should've stopped. This was enough. But it felt too good. That scream was music to his ears, better than the beat drop in any song. The adrenaline coursing in his veins turned him into iron. He could revel in this feeling forever.
One more swing. Just one more.
One more scream. Just one more.
Leo reached down, plunging his hand into the man's throat. His claw-like nails sinking into the flesh like a fruit. A scream of terror sounded, not the man's, but a familiar soundâa familiar cadence. It didn't matter. He was sorry they had to witness such brutality, but it's just a way of life. The weak die, the strong survive.
He clamped his hand shut.
Blood burst onto his face, pouring over his hand and spraying into the air like a fountain. Leo turned his head to the side. The man's eyes snapped open in shock, eyes still bright, although just for a moment. He could see the moon and the sky in his eyes.
As well as a monster.
Leo ripped his hand from the man's throat and dropped it to his side. Then he froze. His eyes widened. His stomach lurched. Something rose in his throat, hot and acidic. He forced it back down.
Not here. Not now.
What did he just do?
No. That wasn't him.
He wasn't a killer. He could never bring himself to kill anyone. He would just detain them or incapacitate them and then call the police. Only in life-threatening circumstances would he kill. This wasn't him.
Except it was.
That laugh was his. This bloody hand was as well. This monster on top of a corpse.
It was him.
His crimson-stained hand trembled as he looked at it. Those milky-white nails, now caked with blood. Fingers so skinny, so frail, but they belonged to the hand of a killer.
The iron flushed from his veins, leaving him cold and weak. That bloodlust. That ecstasy. It had abandoned him. Leaving him with nothing. Not even movement. Like heâd looked Medusa in the eyeâstone-cold, trembling, paralyzed, in the fading light.
"W-who are you?" a voice he'd almost forgotten. So familiar. So sweet. Thatâs what made it hurt most.
Who was he? He scoffed. He wondered himself.
Leo could see her in the corner of his eye. Anna, her wounds still bleeding, it was like she hadn't even moved. How long was it? Was it that quick?
She moved. Painfully inching towards him, grimacing with each breath.
That's right. He came here for her.
Leo moved, but his limbs were heavy, like they carried the burden of what had happened. He turned to face her, but it hurt too much. He couldn't look her in the eyes. A lump formed in his throat as his fears and anxiety bubbled up, overwhelming him. They never left him; they had transformed themselves into something he could use.
"A-anna?" his voice cracked, tears threatening to spill over. This was the first time he ever spoke in this world. The first time Anna would hear his voice. And it was in a time like this. "I-it's me. L...leo."
Silence. Then the gentle crackling of embers, followed by the whistling of the wind.
Leo shut his eyes. He couldn't bear it anymore. Say something. Anything.
"Leo?" Anna's words nearly stopped his heart. He gulped. "Leo. Oh my goodness...what...what are we going to do?"
His head dropped. He didn't know either. All he knew was that he came here to find her. There was nothing else after that.
"I don't know," he answered. His voice was hollow, like his soul was trying to escape the reality of the situation. "But, we need to go back. You're hurt."
"Leo, look at me," Anna's voice was oddly close. His head snapped up in surprise. Somehow, she was in front of him, without making a sound.
"What?" he gulped, reluctantly looking at her. His heart nearly burst taking in her appearance, almost forcing him back into a rage again.
Her face was bruised with a significant purple marking beneath her left eye. Cuts on her arms and legs exposed her tender, pink flesh. And her clothes were torn, revealing a deep cut on her abdomen.
"Thank you for saving me," she said, with a teary smile.
Why, Anna? Why did she do this to him? Always smiling, no matter how bad the situation or how badly she's hurt. He couldn't take any more.
His heart shattered. Heaving sobs forced themselves through rapid breaths, like customers during Black Friday. Snot leaked into his mouth. While tears poured down his cheeks.
"W-w-why, do you keep smiling? Stop smiling!" Leo begged through sobs. A soft hand touched his cheek, making him flinch.
"Because you're here, Leo. How could I not? You're my baby brother," she smiled, wiping the tears from his face and the snot from his nose. "That's why I smile all the time. It's because I love you. Is that not a good enough reason?"
That word.
Love.
He had forgotten about it completely. Yet, it was the reason why he did this.
"Youâre still a baby, you know. Even if youâre bigger now," Anna teased, her voice fading. "Always crying. But that's what babies do, don't they?" She said as she pinched his cheek.
Leo didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Luckily, it seemed like all the tears left, and handed him control over his body again.
"We need to go back. You're hurt," he sighed.
"Yeah, we should," Anna said, pulling her feet in and bending her knees. "Can you carry me back?"
"Yeah, I should be able to," Leo said as he picked her up.
"I can't say everything will be fine, Leo," Anna began. "But, we'll do everything we can."
"Okay," was all he said. Leo didn't have to say much. He knew that whatever happened next was out of his control, and it was likely bad.
As they made their way out of the forest, he couldn't help but remember the screams.
Haunting.
They weren't music to his ears anymore. Instead, they were a reminder.
A scar.