What's Bad Can Get Worse 1

[Ding!]

[Congratulations to the host! You have received a new title: Cold Blood!]

[Cold Blood: A good leader is formed when his emotions no longer influence his decisions. Your emotions influence your decisions 30% less]].

"Great fucking title that one. Stop filling my head with these useless notifications." Elliot muttered.

He was staggering through the alleys near the exploding restaurant. On his shoulders, a pale Stella rested, as if in a nightmare, a scowl was on her face, even though she was unconscious. Her body had various injuries, but the worst was undoubtedly an arm, or rather the absence of an arm.

Elliot had to rip Stella's arm off to get her out, and while he was ripping her arm off, Stella woke up. She screamed and cursed and cried and begged him to stop, but Elliot didn't listen and kept going. More was at stake than being caught by the mayor.

A person who has enough power to mobilize a coordinated attack like that may not be on top of the country or the world, but he is not a small fish in this pond. Elliot knew that they would try to throw the mayor into the underworld prison, and Elliot imagined that this was the same person who was trying to kill him today. A fate worse than death would be waiting for Stella if she survived if Elliot left her in that place.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM

Another explosion occurred in the restaurant, this one much bigger and with a greater impact. Elliot was thrown to the ground with the impact, and he cursed in every language he knew. He got up quickly and checked to see if Stella was okay, seeing her not suffering any new injuries, he could breathe a sigh of relief.

Elliot suffered some scratches from the debris that flew towards him, but he couldn't care less about that at the moment. All Elliot wanted at the moment was to get out of this place. Elliot had sent Margot with Gustav and Bruja to leave in the car with Jimmy and Tin, who were unharmed because they had left the restaurant minutes before the explosion.

"Maybe I should have gone with them..." Elliot muttered as he put Stella on his shoulders and walked back as fast as he could.

Elliot's legs hurt, his skin felt like it was being eaten alive, and his head felt like it was going to explode from so much pain, but the thirst to survive, the desire to keep living no matter what, would not allow Elliot to stop.

Elliot's bones creaked and seemed as if they would break at any moment, but Elliot didn't stop his steps, always avoiding anywhere and always walking between the alleys, avoiding any curious looks. Elliot's vision was becoming blurred, but he used his hands to figure out his way.

"I'm not going to die here...even if it costs my life."

Elliot didn't even know what he was talking about anymore, but he still spoke anything that popped into his head, because he knew if he gritted his teeth even more, they would break.

***********

Amerid country, city of roses.

A man who was in his 40s was walking through the icy streets of the famous City of Roses. He had just been fired from his job, and was completely lost as to what to do next. He chose to walk towards his home, because he was in no hurry to get there. When he got home it would be more of the same as he always faces at home.

His wife would say, "You don't know what I face every day with YOUR children! And all I ask for is a little money for myself!"

And after his wife's long speech, his children would say, "Dad, all our friends have these new clothes from this new clothing brand, you should buy one for us too!

Dad, we need money to go out with our friends!

Dad, I have a date with a girl this weekend. Can you give me some money?

His neighbors would look at his tattered clothes and laugh and sneer at him behind his back. They would say while he couldn't see:

"Look at this poor fellow. His family is starving and he wears pieces of garbage for clothes.

Look at this poor number. His wife made a very bad choice, she chose a garbage man as her husband and father for her children.

Poor children, they don't deserve to have such a father.

It wasn't his fault! Jobs for numbers never paid well! He spent 25 years of his life in the same factory, and even after so many years, whenever he finished paying his bills, only 15 Amerid credits, that was all that was left in his salary at the end of the month.

His landlord would once again covet his wife, and would say:

"If you don't pay your rent on the day you have to pay it, I will take your wife to my bed, and she will warm my balls with her mouth."

He wished he could beat the bastard, but he was involved in crime in the City of Roses, he would be killed if he beat his landlord. He wished he could do anything to change his life, but he was afraid of the consequences.

Arriving home, contrary to what he imagined, there was no one to greet him between shouts and requests for more money. A great silence had encompassed the entire house. The only sound the man could hear was the sound of his boot on the floor, which was very similar to a wooden floor.

He went to his children's room, and saw no one. In his room, only the furniture was there, his wife nowhere to be seen. The house was a mess and it was dirty, but he would do nothing to change this. All he wanted was to sleep, and that's what he did.

When he awoke, the man found himself in a situation he could never have imagined in his life. He was being held by hooks, which pierced his hands. These hooks went all the way to the roof of an old, dilapidated shed. His clothes were nowhere to be seen.

Awakening abruptly and overcome with such pain, the man did not know what to feel, and fainted once again. When he awoke, he saw a man, tall as a wall, muscular, but due to the lighting in the shed, he could not see any features of the man.

He was holding a scalpel, and despite his huge hand, he worked with delicate care. His work, however, could not be appreciated by anyone.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH"

He did not know if his roar was due to the pain he felt in his body, or if it was due to the scene in front of him. His wife, the woman he had sworn eternal allegiance to, was tied to hooks just like him. But there was something else... or something missing, to be exact.

His skin. They ripped off every inch of skin on his body. It was a painstaking job, as only the skin was torn off, and the worst part was that you could still see her breathing, as she mumbled pleas for mercy.

If this man's life was miserable before, it was even worse now.

**************

Stella had a strange dream. She was in a place without any light, but she could still see everything around her clearly. Far in the distance she could see tiny dots, which looked like stars at the end of their lives.

Stella wandered in this space for a while, and only after a long time did she notice that something was following her. It was a creature of unimaginable dimensions, black in color, as if no light was able to illuminate its body.

'The creature had no fixed shape. One moment it was humanoid, the next it looked like an animal. But the only thing that didn't change was its eyes. Its eyes were like two furious but silent black hurricanes, spinning and destroying everything for eternity. The depth of these eyes was such that Stella feared to look, because she thought she might get lost and never return.

Although fearsome, the creature did not seem to want to cause Stella any harm. Stella watched the creature for a while, but the creature didn't make any movement, it just watched Stella.

When Stella started walking, she noticed that the creature continued to follow her. After a long time, or at least it seemed like a long time to Stella, she noticed that no one else was following her, but she could still see the creature in the distance looking at her. She turned back to where the creature was, and the creature followed her again, but when she took the same direction, the creature stopped following her once more.

"You followed me all this time, so why don't you follow me in the direction I chose?" Stella asked. She knew it did not move its mouth, but its voice still reverberated in the void absent of any living thing.

For the first time the creature did something besides follow Stella. The creature moved strangely, and took the form of a wolf or a prehistoric canid. Although it had changed into a more recognizable form, the creature was still of a size that Stella's mind could barely process. The creature slowly approached Stella, and with each step, a shapeless pressure formed around Stella.

This pressure seemed intended to make her bow, but Stella would not bow. Why should she? Just because this creature is gigantic and scary? Stella bowed her head only to her father in this life, and she will continue to do so as long as she remembers her name and where she came from.

With the creature's head close to her, Stella noticed that this being was even bigger than she had previously imagined. The creature opened its mouth, and sharp blade-like teeth appeared before Stella. A single tooth was five times the size of Stella's body, and although she was terrified, she stood her ground.

A guttural sound arose in the void, and at the creature's command, a part separated from the main body and took the form of an owl. The owl flew away, as if celebrating its freedom, but quickly flew towards Stella. The owl, which was a grayish color, landed on Stella's shoulder and watched her.

Stella looked at the owl for a few moments, but soon withdrew her gaze. When she looked at the creature once more, the creature had returned to its shapeless, distant state as it watched Stella's every move. Although the same, Stella found the creature a little different, a little more... shadowy.

Stella shrugged and went back to following the path she had randomly chosen...

***************

When Stella awoke, the first thing she saw was a totally white ceiling. Slowly her senses returned to her body, and a shower of feelings and emotions and pain flooded Stella's entire being.

"AAAARGH"

Stella couldn't help but scream out all her frustrations. She struggled, but was tied to the bed. Stella's head hurt, but the worst pain came from her left arm. She closed her hand, but nothing changed. It was such a pain that Stella knew that if there was something in her intestines at this moment, she would have put it out.

Stella could hear someone saying something, but the pain she felt was too great, she couldn't focus on anything but the pain. Stella continued screaming and crying out in pain, until she fell asleep.

Stella had the same strange dream, but this time the strange creature was far away, and only the owl on her shoulder kept her company. Stella awoke once more, this time with less pain. But when she looked at her left arm, she noticed that half of it had been amputated.

Stella despaired once more. She screamed and cried, and fell asleep again. The third time Stella awoke, she felt emptier. It is as if she had used up all her emotions, and there was nothing left inside her.

She stared at the white ceiling in silence for a few minutes, and after that she began to observe whatever was around her. She saw a man in a tailored suit, he was sleeping in a chair with his arms crossed. The suit was torn in several places, and there were many bloodstains. The man had bandages all over his body, and had plugs in his ears.

The man in the suit, Elliot, looked tired and haggard, apparently from not getting a good night's sleep for several days. Stella looked again at where her left arm should have been. And whenever she tried to move the fingers of her hand, she felt an incomparable pain, causing her to let out low moans and sobs of pain.

Elliot woke up and looked into Stella's eyes.

...

..

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