Chapter 9 - Changes

Shi was on the ground groveling in pain from the stab wound in her thigh, trying her best to press her hand on the wound to stop the bleeding. One of the bandits approached her slowly, a man from what she could tell through her blurred teary eyes. He was rather tall as well, but this one seemed much more skinny than the previous man, at least in Shi's opinion.

Shi couldn't make out his face due to the sun's glare and the angle of her looking up, however, Shi did know the man was looking down at her, they were all looking down on her, metaphorically and literally.

She was weak compared to them, too weak to even stand back up. In their eyes, she was nothing but a weak kid, not even worth their time if she wasn't female. The very thought of this made Shi angry deep down, and scared, at what they were planning to do with her.

"A kid? Search the carriage and see if there is anything valuable inside." The man said ordering the other bandits to search the defenseless carriage.

From that Shi assumed he was the leader, why was such a weak-looking man the leader, she didn't understand nor did she have the time to try and figure it out. She was brought out of her thoughts as the man kicked her in the stomach, the force pushing her onto her back, now looking up at the blazing sun above. The bandit leader placed his foot on Shi's stomach and pressed his shoes down into her guts.

"Ahhhahhhh" Shi cried out in pain, her thigh was already bleeding profusely from the stab wound, and now with the added crushing of her stomach, the pain was almost unbearable.

The blood from her stab wound gushed out onto the sand of the desert, the rush of pain from being stepped on, only seem to aid the blood in escaping her body easier. Shi could feel herself fading away again, was she dying this time again, would this be the last time?

No, she refused to die again like last time, she clung to whatever little strength she had left, lifting her hand, she slammed it into the man's leg. It barely did anything, just shaking the man's foot with the little strength she had in her. Making the man scuff.

"Why is such a weak kid out here, shouldn't you be protected by Mommy and Daddy? That shit-stained dwarf was clearly not related to you." The bandit leader said this in a mocking voice, the other bandits laughed at the joke, they were making fun of Shi for being weak and continued to trample on her.

As they were laughing, the muscle bandit returned from the carriage first and spoke to the leader, loud enough for even Shi to hear.

"Boss, there isn't much in the carriage, just some beer, wine, and booze, this was a waste." As he said that in an annoyed tone, his eyes glanced down at Shi who laid under the leader's foot, "Well, maybe not that much of a waste, it's been a while since I've had some young meat." His voice was disgusting to Shi's ears, his laughter even more so.

Shi's mind was filled with nothing but anger at this time, rage at these people, and herself. Maybe it was from the lack of blood but she couldn't think of anything else but killing these bastards that dare step on her, that dare look down on her. Her throat started to burn up, it felt like the very pit of her soul burnt forth intense flames, and her whole body started to feel like it was on fire.

Then it came like a hammer, hitting her mind, hunger, she was extremely hungry. The hunger grinding in her stomach, begging, screaming at her to eat. Shi had completely forgotten about the pain from the dagger and man because the pain from the hunger was much worse, so much worse.

Then like a bolt of lightning, Shi's body shot up, grabbing the leg of the bandit that was stepping on her. Her mind was blank, she had lost herself to the hunger, not even thinking anymore. Her grip tightened around the bandit's leg, a cracking sound was heard as his bone snapped, followed by a scream of the bandit in pain.

It was a swift motion, so swift in fact that the man didn't have any time to react when Shi pushed him back, onto the ground, and crawled over to him. She pinned him to the ground so he couldn't move, the ranting and hitting of the bandit doing nothing to help him.

She ignored his desperate attempts to be free, opening her mouth, she bit directly into his neck. Long fangs pierced through her gum, pushing out the useless teeth that previously stood there, being used to burst through the man's flesh.

Why was Shi doing this? She didn't know or understand, and frankly, she didn't even care, all she knew was that she wanted blood, she was so hungry, she craved it. She could hear the pulsing of the man's vain, the scent of his fear, feel the gushing of the blood as she ripped his neck open, and even the slowly fading heartbeat coming from the man's chest.

Shi stood up and left the man's lifeless body on the ground. Her mouth and clothes were covered in the blood of the man, it was like a disgusting yet beautiful work of art on her clothes, the bright red stained. She didn't seem to care that her clothing was drenched, and instead stretched her body.

Shi turned and looked at the remaining bandits, her eyes glowed with a bright crimson hue, like a predator, it stared down at them, the mere presence of the gaze was overwhelming. The other bandits were in shock still, they didn't know how to react, it happened so quickly, and now their leader was dead.

The lady was the first to finally snap back into her senses, her body moved quickly, she lunged at Shi from the side, dagger in hand as she tried to stab Shi once again. Unfortunately for her, it was too late, and Shi wasn't going to be stabbed again by such a pathetic weakling.

She was faster than before, faster than the bandit, her figure blurred slightly as she dodged the incoming dagger to the side, extending out her hand in the process she grabbed the lady by her neck.

Like a ragdoll, she held the body of the woman up. The woman struggled to get out of the grip, yet without the dagger, she couldn't do anything. With a snapping sound, the bone in the woman's neck broke, her body falling limp in Shi's hands.

Just like she did with the bandit leader she did to her. Bring the body closer, she bit into her neck and sucked the blood straight out of her veins, but she didn't have time to finish it, as another one of the bandits came rushing at her. It was the muscle man, good.

Shi now understood what the other version of her was saying, she wasn't human anymore. No, maybe she was never human to begin with, she just didn't know it. She still didn't fully understand what she was, but she didn't care right now, for the first time Shi felt stronger than her opponent. She was faster, stronger, her senses were all screaming to her. Power pulsing through her body with every sip of blood she had. She felt, powerful.

A smile spread across her face, as she threw the body of the woman at the man. Using it as a distraction to dash at him from behind it. She wanted to test her newfound strength, and she also wanted to make this man pay for what he said before, so with a single fist, she threw a punch at the muscle man.

The man tried to grab the punch, he thought he was powerful enough and underestimated Shi, that was the wrong choice, and he soon came to realize that. The punch blew the man back, it sent him flying into the carriage that was behind them, breaking it apart in the collision.

The hand that the man tried to use to block Shi's punch was broken, it wasn't even looking properly, it was completely spun around, with part of the bone poking out from the end, blood gushing out.