chapter [1]: A dangerous encounter

{Raven}

"Watch out!!"

I heard a loud yell echoing through the tunnel system before I felt the pressure and heat of an explosion that could've wiped me out in that instant if it wasn't for the warning. For a few seconds all I heard were dull noises but that didn't stop me from running.

"You really should pay more attention to what's behind you!" Jane scolded me breathlessly as she caught up to my speed. A small glance was enough to see that just as I she was at her limit. Her blue dyed shoulder long hair was totally messed up and dirt was covering her face and fighting gear.

"You look like shit..." I bluntlessly stated because it was the truth and as usual she glared at me with those chocolate brown eyes that were the opposite of intimidating before reloading her gun and shooting three times at what was following us.

We were in a tough situation being chased by three soldiers of the Mellontikos gifted organisation. I wasn't exactly sure with what ability the ones we were fighting were gifted but one of them surely was able to increase their body temperature immensely. The burning on my wrist was proof enough for that.

"Fuck, how did these fuckers even find us?!" I hissed and threw a grenade behind us that exploded a second later. The stairs up and out of the underground storage tunnels of this empty industry building was already in sight.

"They must have also searched for the cursed dagger." Jane breathed out as if that wasn't totally obvious already.

"You still have it, do you?" she added and I gave her a confident grin.

"How could the generations greatest fighter in our group lose an object of that high importance?" I arrogantly replied knowing damn well that I owned that title and Jane couldn't go against that.

The cursed dagger had been reported to be located near Berlin by a messenger of the Inoue group a few days ago so me and two of the others went to secure it and make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands. That dagger was rather famous for being an ancient ceremonial device that held enraged souls inside of it. The old tails said that whoever was killed with that weapon would never find peace and be trapped in there for eternity. At the same time the user of it would gain more power each time a murder was committed. The catch in all of that was that with each kill the wielder would lose a bit of their humanity... it was indeed frightening to carry that strangly blue glowing object in my backpack but I, the great Raven, was strong enough to carry out that mission.

With inhuman force I jumped up the stairs behind Jane and continued aiming for the exit where Vince was already waiting for us.

I was confident we won this race when all of a sudden I felt something wrap around my torso and brutally yank me back. I flew through the air in the large factory hall and was about to crash into an old machine when I managed to land on my feet.

So one of those guys could make their limbs extend like gum? Haha.

Raven wasn't that easy to overwhelm.

The problem here was that I was at the opposite end as Jane and in between us three men that had their focus on me while two others could be seen outside the exit.

"GO TAKE CARE OF THESE BASTARDS OUTSIDE WITH VINCE! I'LL TEACH THESE THREE A LESSON!" I ordered Jane who quickly gave me a nod and turned on her heal to exit the building. It seemed like these people knew that I was the one who had the dagger... god damn.

I payed close attention to them in front of me that searched for getting beaten up. Rembering how I had to face members of the Mellontikos organization before I noticed that these people here were more skilled than back then. The way they moved was perfectly balanced and organized... they never lost focus... and most unfortunately I didn't have a clue about the abilities of one of them which turned out to be a great disadvantage.

"Hand over the dagger and we'll spare your life." One of them really dared threatening me but that only triggered me to be even more pissed than before. In annoyance I clicked my tongue and glared at them more intimidating than I knew I could do.

"You couldn't come up with a better line? Y'all are forgetting that I am the one who can decide to spare your lifes, you lowly outcast." I spat and lazily placed my hands inside the pockets of my leather vest while looking down on them. My temper had always been pretty bad and right now the wish of beating these people up made the tips of my fingers tingle.

"You don't leave us another choice then." The strange man growled and proceeded to aim his gun at me.

That's how I wanted it... finally a fight with no useless boundaries of no serious hurting. I was skilled enough to be out in the real world as a fighter.

{Rune}

The night was calmingly beautiful when I left the place in front of the Brandenburg Gate and took the bus to a more secluded area to continue my walk. Being in crowds wasn't necessarily an issue to me but wearing sunglasses at night would probably seem weird to most people.

But I had no choice but to wear them.

Lost in day dreaming about anything but reality I ended up in a small convenience store similar to the one I was working at to buy some ice cream. Sometimes I wondered how I didn't bump into random objects when walking while daydreaming because surely I wasn't paying attention to the road.

"Ice cream at a cold night in March? You sure have a special taste, Sir." The woman at the counter took the small package of raspberry chocolate ice and told me the price.

"That'll be 2,10€" she smiled before looking me in the face for the first time.

"I don't see a reason why you can't eat ice cream in winter." I smiled back and laughed a little before handing her the money. That woman surely was a nice person was what I thought before noticing the way she suddenly stared at my face.

Panicking a little, I brought my hand to my eyes and noticed how I wasn't wearing my sunglasses anymore or any contacts or make up.

"You... you have a quiet unique eye color, young man... and I think I've never seen a person this beautiful. Are those contacts?" She wanted to know being totally in awe judging the way the shamelessly kept staring.

I didn't think of her differently from before but the stupidity of myself was driving me crazy for a second.

"Ahh thanks. I feel honored but believe me, this is all make up and yeah it's contacts. Have a nice evening!" I took my leave as quickly as possible after taking the ice cream package and hiding my eyes behind my light blond hair.

"God damn it." I sighed and threw the packaging away after taking the best chocolate raspberry ice cream in the world out of it.

With another sigh I stared up at the black night sky. People were always asking me these questions... are those contacts, how are your eyes glowing like that... are you a celebrity... how is your skin so clean... it was really bothersome.

It's not like I hated attention but interacting with some people was draining my energy and I didn't like receiving compliments. Furthermore, I knew that these people were only talking to me because of the way I looked but I didn't have any intention to appeal to people. My looks were more useful as a weapon to manipulate than as a way to seek attention so I always put on sunglasses or brown contacts... It was also to protect myself from possible gifted ones out there because purple eyes would get me killed... at least that's what Granny always said. Additionally to the contacts or glasses, I'd draw dark circles under my eyes and tie my long hair back so I wouldn't peak someone's interest.

Often, I wondered why I did that and at some point I came to the conclusion that it was fun having some people looking down on me because I was ugly in their view. It felt so stupid that it made me laugh sometimes when I'd experience again and again how easy it was to see through people.

I was totally aware that this mindset was arrogant but why should I care if no one else did?

Having purple colored eyes was a trait that had been passed down in the family I grew up in along with the gifted ability of inhuman speed. Both my grandma and my older sister had these eyes and my parents used to have them too before they had been killed.

"What a strange world this is... May god or whoever you believed in be with you, mom and dad." I sarcasticly stated with intense arm movements and took another bite of my ice cream.

I never got to meet them after they died when I was 2 years old but according to my grandma I had a similar characteristics to my mother. That's about all I knew...

A cold breeze of wind blew back my hair that was tied up in a bun so I wrapped the coat I was wearing closer around my body.

This area of the city was rather empty and I just now realized that I've been walking for at least half an hour daydreaming again.

>>Bang<< 

A noise came from somewhere ahead of me. It wasn't loud but yet clearly audible. A gun shot? I wondered why I'd ever hear gun shots near Berlin. I realized that I did never see anyone carry a gun in their hands in my whole life. Was there some illegal business going on?

The curiosity took over and I found myself following the noise in my inhuman speed before 2 seconds later I was behind a birch tree on a small hill. From there I could see a large factory building that seemed totally abandoned judging it's broken windows... did the gun shots come from there?

I was about to step down the hill when I stopped myself for a second. This was dangerous right? Normal people would call the police first and stay away. But I had never feared danger or death... I had never feared anything to be honest. Grandma said that this behavior would get me killed some day but I was still alive so there was no problem.

I decided that it wouldn't make much difference if that place was dangerous or not. My speed would help me out in the worst case.

Tiptoeing in a crouched position I silently walked along the side of the building until I reached what seemed like it had been the entrance door before. Right now it was more like a totally demolished piece of metal that barely held itself up. Additionally, I realized that it was strangely quiet now... too quiet.

Carefully, I glanced inside the darkness of the building to see total chaos in the hall that used to be a machine storage room. The faint light of the moon was reflecting from all the broken metal pieces and glass.

Parts of the walls were torn down, and even the windows high up had cracks in them or were completely broken. Slowly, I stepped further inside and noticed traces of liquid on the floor. In the dark its color was hard to make out but I quickly came to the conclusion that it had to be blood. Was there a fight taking place in here?

So the noise I heard was actually a gun shot...

Following the blood, I found a person laying on their side behind a corner, head smashed and brain substance leaking out of it so I could not identify the person's face.

That view hit me for a few seconds and I tried not focusing on it too much but rather checking if the person's clothes were somehow special but my stomach soon started feeling awful.

Next thing I knew, I was vomiting on the floor and trying to hold back the urge to get out of that place as soon as possible.

Seeing a corpse was something I wasn't used to at all... even in movies it'd make me feel dizzy and disgusted. And the metallic smell of blood didn't make things better.

"Who the fuck does something like this..." I coughed out and kept more distance to the corpse. Smashing one's head like that couldn't have been caused by a gun so I wondered what else happened in here.

There wasn't any sign of an object near by that could have injured that man so badly...

Continuing to search the hall I came across two other corpses, both male. One of them had probably died of a gunshot and the other one had taken great damage to his body.

Someone had killed all these people... and that someone could still be around. I took out my phone to activate the flash light and search through the rest of the room. Somewhere in the back of my head I was glad that the adrenalin was still kicking in because otherwise I'd have passed out by now.

I already thought it started to become useless when I spotted yet another body leaning against the wall behind a machine, head low and not moving a muscle.

When getting closer I could also identify the person as male.

I closed the distance and tapped the guy on the shoulder... no reaction.

Unlike the other ones he was wearing a different type of clothing. It was all black with sturdy leather boots, a black vest with several pockets in it and there was also a backpack on him.

Patt of his face was hidden behind his hair so I brushed it back to take a closer look at him.

That guy couldn't be much older than I was... he looked rather young actually due to the colored red strands in his raven black hair. It somehow complimented his features well. His nose was like the one of a statue, perfectly shaped and his lips were pale and slightly parted

A few scratches were across his cheek and his head was bleeding just as his shoulder. I had to admit that he had a special beauty to him.

Carefully, I placed my finger on his the side of his neck to search for his pulse.

"Please be alive..." I whispered to myself in hopes of not needing to see another corpse.

"It's there!" I yelled a little too loudly but was quick to shut myself down.

The guy had a pulse and his breathing was strong enough to assure that he had chances of surviving.

"Finally" I sighed and checked the body for more outer injuries.

There wasn't much I could see because of his clothes but this person needed medical assistance for sure. Right, I should have probably already called the police by now. I remembered how I forgot to do that form the beginning and grabbed my phone from the floor where I had placed it.

'112' That was the number they used in Germany, right?

I was about to click the call button when I suddenly heard footsteps from the other side of the hall. Someone was entering, at least 3 people...

"They are dead, Sir." I heard a woman speaking in english but I didn't dare to move away from this place where they couldn't see us.

So these people weren't from here? What did they want then?

"The Inoue boy must still be around here somewhere! Search for him and don't hesitate to kill him when you find the dagger. Keep him alive when he is not in possession of it." This time it was a deep voiced man commanding someone and I found myself in a tough situation.

Calling the police now was impossible since they'd find us before I could say anything and then the injured person didn't stand a chance. They were searching for that person but I had no clue about this whole situation. Was he the bad guy or the good guy? But in any case I didn't want anyone to be killed and my instincts were set on saving this guy even if he probably was the one who killed the other three.

Alright, I got on my feet and sprinted by them so fast, they couldn't be able to see me.

I went outside the building on the backside of it and threw some small rocks against a container to create as loud noise as possible.

Just as I planned, a few seconds later, all three of them ran outside and toward the place where I created the noise.

In the mean time I ran back, put the guy on my back and proceeded to run away from there as fast as I could.

Carrying someone else usually made my maximum speed go down by considerably a lot so I'd be noticed by people passing by.

The plan was to get as far with my current speed as possible until I came across a person... then I'd need to walk normal speed.

It was seriously an energy draining trip to walk the whole way back to my apartment because he was damn heavy but I didn't regret saving this person.

Something had peeked my interest in the latest events and I needed to confirm something. It wasn't everyday that I came across gifted ones after all.

Inoue... that name... he could be a member of a gifted family... the gifted family that I had most interest in.