The wind from the bolt kissed her cheek and whispered a horrifying goodbye. “Shit!” The slaver yelled, reaching into the satchel on his hip.
Lisa fumbled to the door on her left. Twisting the knob, She threw her body against it, locked. “Fuck!” She saw him reloading.
“St-stop!” he yelled.
She spun around and blindly sprinted toward that door. Shoulder first she crashed into the sturdy wooden door. She hands scrambled for the handle. Click, the noise made her jaw lock, ready for a bolt in the back. Her hand found the latch, and she stumbled into the room. Tripping over her feet, she cracked her knee against the floor. She moaned through gritted teeth.
She heard the footsteps racing toward her. Lisa spun, threw the door shut, and fell on her knee. Her eye twitched as pain shot up her leg. The slaver’s steps were frantic. She lunged forward and flipped the metal lock.
Lisa exhaled a deep breath, and looked around the room. It was nothing special, just a bed on the far wall resting to the right of a window. A nightstand rested between the wall and right side of the bed. Her eyes fell upon the full sized standing dresser on the left wall. She gritted her teeth, rubbing her index finger against her thumb.
The door handle shook and the door tapped softly against the frame. Lisa head snapped to the door, frozen. “Fuck. Fuck! What am I gonna do. I can’t go back unblooded...what will they think? What will Toren think?” The slaver said.
She paced back and forth, a death grip on her dagger. Eyes jumping between the bed, dresser, and window. She could jump out the window, but she would be back at the start, if she didn’t break her legs in the process.
She heard the slaver again. “Lady, I don’t know why you were sneaking in. Honestly, I don’t really care, I just can’t have you running around here. I don’t want to kill, let’s make a deal.”
Lisa’s face twisted, and she shook her head, insulted at how stupid he must think she was. She carefully opened up the window. He probably had his ear to the door listening. The slaver might think she was dumb, but she wouldn’t make that same mistake.
Keeping silent, she grabbed a sheet from the bed and tied it around the bed frame with shaking hands. Bang! The door shook on it’s frame.
“Open the door! Please...” The slaver’s scream trailed off into what she thought was sniffling.
Was he crying? He did look young, could he be new? It didn’t matter, he was a slaver and that was all she needed to know about him. Lisa got on her toes and snuck over to the standing closet. She opened it up and stepped inside, leaving the door cracked open.
Lisa pressed a hand to her mouth. Whack! She flinched as the door shook. Whack! The door frame splintered at the lock. Lisa’s head throbbed. Whack! The door flew open and cracked against the wall. The sweat from her palms burned her lips.
The slaver stepped into the room, breath held. Checked left, check right. He eyed the window, then at the bed. “Lady, last chance, come out!” He swept the room with his crossbow, his eyes were red and moist.
His gaze stopped on the dresser. Breathe stalled in her chest and her deathgrip on the dagger’s handle felt like she was stabbing herself.
He stepped toward the window, stopped, and fell to a knee. He aimed under the bed from across the room. Lisa felt the urge to pounce. His back was to her and all it took was just moving her hand forward with the blade. Maybe three times in the back would be all it took, simple and clean. Tendons in her neck pulled tight, seeing the first man she had tried to kill laying face down. She was covered in blood, axe in hand, standing over him in her attic. He was a slaver too, and it wasn’t simple or clean then.
The slaver whipped around at the closet, aimed, and let a bolt loose. Crack! A cry caught in her chest and air pushed against her palm. Slivers of wood fell away from the metal rod resting inches from her head. Hot piss ran down her leg and sank into her shoes.
“Fuck!” Looking out the window, he then sat back onto the bed. His leg shook and he ran his hand through his hair. “Why can’t I do anything right!” He threw the crossbow at the dresser. Crack, it landed on the before her. Her eyes rested on it, all it would take is stepping out and picking it up. Lisa glanced at the bolt, if she could figure out how to reload it, before he was choking the life from her.
He reached in his pocket and pulled something out, looked like a piece of paper. The slaver stared at the crumpled mess. “Told you I wasn’t fit for this.” He wiped his eyes and nose then stood up.
Lisa gripped the dagger, what if he opened the door? Was she supposed stab him like she stabbed the orc? She didn’t even mean to, it just happened. Lisa held her breathe. He picked up the crossbow and slammed the door shut. She watched the bolt’s tip jiggle a bit, then slid away. It was just her and the smallest ray of light.
The footsteps went away, lighter and lighter till all that was left was the sounds of bolts being fired, and shouts from below. A full minute passed, tears dry on her cheeks and cold piss on her leg. Lisa stepped out and looked at the bed. She pulled the wet pants from her skin, tempted to clean herself. Boom! The tavern shook. “What now?” She whispered.
Staggering to the door, she peeked around the corner. Clear. Lisa rushed checking door after door. Each time she found herself looking back toward the stairs. Lisa stood at the end of the hallway, looking at the last door on the right. It was always the last door, she grabbed the handle and click.
Lisa spun around, her heart in her throat and her back against the wall. Noone there, she exhaled and bit her upper lip. She opened the door and saw several steps leading up then a bend to the left.
Reaching the top floor, she shivered as a frigid breeze rushed past her. Dagger in her right hand, she patted and rubbed her wet pants, hoping to warm them up. It wasn’t working. Seeing her breathe steam, she blew on her fingers. No one was shooting from up here, but it was never too risky to play it safe. Lisa pressed her back against the wall and looked around the corner. Before her, partially contained within the icy structure, was a thing that she could only describe as two men twisted inside-out and soldered together randomly. Four legs bent in two places were trapped within the ice. A pale pink elongated claw protruded from one of his. . .its. . . foreheads.
Her mouth fell open and her stomach turned upside down. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of scorched rotten meat. The order from the creature stung her eyes, making them water. Lisa stepped toward it. “Wh-what are you?”
The creature murmured nothings, heads snapping up, down, left, right, as if looking for something. It didn’t seem to notice her, which was fine. She stopped outside of it’s arms reach from the thing. The icy prison created by the mage had punched all the way through the building, leaving a massive hole in the room, next to it’s protrusion.
She noticed scraps of black leather with metal studs beneath the thing. A smile crawled looking at the leather, then faded seeing the monster. “Magic. . .” She gripped the dagger.
She looked into its two sets of eyes, and they were aimless. Lost. “You don’t even know what is going on do you?” Lisa asked. A string of jumbled murmurs came from it’s drooping lips. She saw a flash of razor sharp teeth under it’s swollen lips. Tightening and loosening her grip on the blade. She leaned forward, stopped, leaned, and stopped. Lisa stepped back and looked at the dagger. Her stomach knotted, and she raised a quivering blade up to her shoulder. She saw her reflection in the blade. By the Soul she had been told confidence is key and she knew she looked far from it. Should I…why should I? It’s not like it’s in pain…it’s not my place. They were slavers so it’s okay, but. . . they are already punished.
Thud! She jumped back, almost tripping on her own feet. A bolt stuck in the window frame on the left wall. “Crap,” she said, remembering which window Christ had climbed next to. She jogged toward it.
“H-he-lp me…” A dry and haunting duet of voices called out.
Lisa frozen, her neck felt like stone, moving inch by inch. Her eyes went wide, one of the heads was looking at her. It echoed it’s request. She watched the tendons and muscles twitch as it’s vocal cords vibrated. “You. . . you can talk?”
“It’s co-coming…”
She spun around, and triple checked the open area, “What is coming?”
“White one, no mouth…Help me!” It screamed.
Lisa’s jaw clenched. Rip! The sound of wet flesh stretching and tearing like pulling apart an undercooked meat filled the room. Blood gushed as it’s chest cavity opened on it’s own. Clank. A blood covered dagger fell from the wound and hit the floor. It pleaded again and again.
She was frozen, watching the creature squirm, the rips that popped open the chest, jittered. It’s face twisted in fear. She was choking, only able to breathe with deep inhales. She blinked and she was sprinting at it. Thud, her heart drummed. Thud, she saw it’s pain. Thud, she saw the slavers leather. Thud, she thrusted the dagger forward.
She was wrist deep into it’s pulsing red guts. Bump, bump, bump, she felt what might have been it’s heart.. The thing flailed shrieking, “It’s coming! It’s coming!” Its claw swiped at her.
She toppled backward, knife in hand. A moist claw slid across her forehead. Her eyes wide, watering from the gastely odor pouring from the thing. Lisa’s head felt heavy, like her neck was going to snap. Don’t wanna… A warm liquid ran from her nose. The pain morphed into a pressure that pushed outward on her ears. Lisa staggered to her feet. Stepped toward the monster, and the monsters wail crew wilder by the second. It was all consuming, reverberating in her skull.
“Stay back! Stay back!” It cried.
The world doubled in her vision. Thump, thump. Her head pounded. Thump, she saw a blur coming toward her. She collapsed on her knees and watched the blown blur swoop overhead, painting the sky above her. The world was a watercolor painting in her eyes. Her eyes colored the blown blur seeing digits, fingers, no claws. The creatures claw. Head heavy, she fumbled up and staggered forward, thrust the knife into the creature's face. Once, twice, a third time. She stabbed till all she saw was red.
“Thank you. Don’t look at it’s…eyes…dead eyes.” It’s cries softened to murmurs.
Lisa's throat was raw, she fell back onto the floor. Heaving in hair, she realized that she had been the one screaming along with it. Had it been screaming at all? She wiped the blood from her face, it was warm and thick. The hair on her arm stood on its end. Something was here, a wolf hidden in the brushes of the unseen. She knew it was behind her, or was it? Her eyes darted from left to right, but never able to look up. She strained to look up, her neck tense, inhale, exhale, inhale, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. Her hands trembled, tears flowed. Deep down, she knew whatever it was that scared the thing, was here.
“Don’t look at it’s eyes.” The creature's last words, repeated in her mind.
Lisa shut her eyes and sat there, a death grip on her dagger. The presence coming closer, and closer, but never reaching her. It was the feeling of something under the bed, something ready to get you, but never having the courage to look over the mattress edge.
“What in the Ten Hell’s are you doing? Come on?” Theo called out from above.
She spun around and saw an empty, half blown-out room, no monster, no sharp pain of being ambushed, nothing. She did hear from below the clatter of steps from the stairs and a thud beside her. Flinching, almost stabbing herself in the process, she saw the rope Theo threw down. He waved her up.
She held up her hands, showing him the bandage. He shrugged and waved her up.
Lisa wrapped the rope around her hand and she tried to pull herself up. Pain burned in her palms. Hand over hand she climbed, and with each one a tear rolled down her face. She made it halfway there and her arms quivered, she bit her lip, eyes shut tied. She stayed there for a moment, her thighs hugging the rope. She exhaled, ready to feel the pain, when she felt a smooth pool on the rope.
She opened her eyes seeing Theo pulling her up. His arms bulged but it didn’t look like he was struggling at all. She reached the top and felt the strong gusts of winds on her face.
“Hey—” A voice rang out from below, the young slaver from before.
She saw Theo’s wrist snap, then a clatter below. Lisa looked down upon the third floor and the slavers lay motionless with a throwing dagger buried in his left eye. No more than ten paces from where she had her first mercy kill, Theo had taken life without a second thought.
“You have fun? Sure took your time.” Theo spoke, extending his hand toward the edge of the roof, overlooking the alley.
Lisa’s heart thumped seeing the crate ready for their final descent. The grim reminder of why she pushed past the trials to get up here. “Yeah, you could call it an elevating experience.”
“Oh how punny of you.” He cracked a smile. “You ready?”
“Does it matter?”
“No. No it doesn’t.”
Lisa swallowed the clump in her throat and stepped forward.
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