Flesh

[--Glitchh---]

A banshee scream filled the space. It was horrifying to hear.

I was standing inside a classroom and the lights were dim.

There was blood everywhere.

My pupils moved as I looked at my palms.

They were red and sticky.

"What have I done?"

Before long, my eyes wandered around again.

The windows were shattered and it was dark outside. The windowpane had bloody intestines on it.

"..."

I took a step forward.

Thud

My right foot hit something and my gaze went down.

A chopped head was rolling on the floor. The skin was tanned and the face had been ripped off.

Multiple naked bodies were lying around.

None of them had their heads.

Psssh

Strange fumes arose from them and entered my nostrils and mouth.

I waved my hands violently to stop the process.

But the gas then came out of my ears and formed a hideous hand.

It had wrinkled skin and long, ragged, yellow nails.

The devilish hand held my chin and turned it, as if it wanted to direct my vision towards something.

My brain looked at where it was pointing.

I saw the classrom door. It was blocked.

Desks and chairs were broken and placed on top of each other as a barricade to prevent entry inside.

[-----]

Suddenly, the high pitched scream resounded from somewhere again.

I felt dizzy. So, I closed my eyes and then opened them again.

The white board infront of the classroom was changing colours. It became red like blood.

The red colour then slowly poured out like liquid and became pitch black.

The liquid then evaporated immediately and it started raining inside the classroom.

Quickly, the surroundings became green.

I looked at the liquid falling on my skin. It was making deep holes that were quickly filling up again.

"Is this acid rain?"

I did not feel any pain.

The green liquid falling on the ground started to gather together. It formed comprehensible words which I could read.

"Go to the hallway." I read it out loud.

Carefully placing my steps, I walked through the huge hole present on the wall beside the barricade.

The hallway was dark.

As soon as I entered, I felt a presence to my right side. I looked at it right away but there was nothing there.

A strange green light emanated from where I stood. It gave me a visibility of about 2 metres.

I looked at my nearby surroundings. Beautiful graffiti from my school festival adorned the drab walls.

There were also pictures and posters of events.

I kept looking at the banners as I moved forward.

All of a sudden, a black arm poked out of the wall and opened its palm infont of my eyes. Something was written there.

"Flesh... of Fallen Angels."

I gulped.

[---Glitchhh--]

That awful scream echoed again.

My shoulder felt wet all of a sudden.

I checked for the cause of this unknown fluid.

Tip Tip

Blood was dripping onto my shoulder from above.

I looked up to see where it was coming from.

"!"

The ceiling was covered with burnt limbs. Arms were twisted with legs and together they formed mysterious and complex shapes.

[--litc--]

Once more, I felt a presence infront of me.

However, just like before, when I looked, there was nothing.

"..."

I kept walking forward.

The light surrounding me diminished slowly until there was nothing but darkness.

Following my sense of direction, I trudged ahead.

"...?"

Eventually, I saw a white light. It was small and far away.

"An exit?"

I started running towards it.

[--GlitCH--]

The banshee scream came again, but this time, the words were more coherent.

"Raaay", the voice called my fake name.

[---G-I-T-C--]

I kept running.

I didn't pay any attention to it and just kept sprinting towards the light.

But the light wasn't coming any closer. In fact, it was moving away.

I ran with all my might, trying to chase it.

[--Gl-CH]

I kept running and running, not giving up.

But no matter how much I ran, the light didn't come closer.

"!!!"

My legs suddenly felt heavy.

"Raayy !!!"

I felt thick tendrils wrapping around my legs.

"I can't move."

The darknes began to pull me.

"!!!"

I tried to break free but the tendrils seemed to hold me more strongly with each attempt.

"Agh!!"

I used all my strength but no matter what I did, the vines did not let go.

I wanted to escape but I couldn't.

"Raaaayyyy!!!"

The scream was louder than ever.

[--GLiTCH]

All of a sudden, I felt a cold shiver run down my spine.

[--GLITCH--]

A person was standing infront of me.

I looked at them straight away.

"?"

It was a girl. She was wearing my school's uniform.

"Who...?"

I looked at her. Her face was blurry and I couldn't see it clearly.

I tried to squint my eyes to get a clearer view.

"!"

And then I saw it.

She was smiling at me.

"..."

I was dumbfounded.

The girl looked at me and slowly opened her mouth, as she gently said...

"Murderer."

[--GLITTTCCHH--]

Without warning, the ground I was standing on caved in.

"?!?"

I fell.

Whooooosh

The fall felt painful.

"Raaaay!!!"

I opened my eyes.

"Ray, can you hear me?!", Lianne was shouting at me.

I saw a grey sky behind a blurry head. I had never seen a grey sky before.

"Where am I?"

"Ray! Oh! Thank you! Thank you for coming back!"

I was lying down. A translucent hologram shaped like a human female with no other notable features was holding me.

And my head was on her lap.

"Lianne?", I asked her.

"Yes Ray. It's me."

"What happened?"

"Your health hit zero. The penalty pain was too severe and it caused reflex vagal inhibition in your body. You almost died."

"...I see...", I didn't understand what was happening but it must have been due to that unique skill.

"So you healed me?", I gave her the best smile I could manage.

"Yes... but you weren't waking up. So I checked and I found that your body's connection with your soulframe had become unstable. Your mind had broken and fallen into your soulframe's limbo. So I quickly jumped in to rescue you."

Lianne probably thought I'd never wake up again from my comatose state.

She was bound to me. Do machines and robots have a life? If they did, then her life depended on me...

Guilt filled me as I realized my rash actions.

I shouldn't have taken such a risky approach.

I should have been better. I should have acted more maturely. I should have talked to her and planned things accordingly.

I shouldn't have lost myself in the moment.

I was in the wrong here...

"Ray, I'm sorry. I should have told you about the consequences beforehand."

I placed my hand over her translucent face and stroked her cheek. It felt like I was grabbing jelly.

"We are a team. We do things together. We plan things together. It's my fault too for not asking beforehand."

"Ray..."

"And Lianne... ", I brightly smiled at her, "Thank you."

[Soulframe username: Ray

Health: 100/100

Emotional Health: 75/100

Mental sanity: 75/100

Social interaction desire: 50/100

Mana: 100/100

Total Mana: 17

Mana density: 5%]