Before Ishram could do anything else, the car was already moving away from him.

So he moved. 

He didn’t know how fast these new cars could go, but they’d always catch up speed slowly.

Ishram jumped, quickly hurling himself on the back of the car and digging his fingers on the metal. The car swerved and Ishram lost his footing. Only his claws kept him from slipping away. Unfortunately for the boy, Ishram was more than used to climbing for this to be a problem. He pulled himself up until his chin was already on car’s roof.

Then, one hand at the time, he pulled himself further ahead, until he was right on the driver’s seat. They were not far from a turn, when Ishram moved again to prop his head down on the windscreen.

Ishram banged on the roof one time. He could only see the human’s hand on the wheel from that position. “What are you doing, for Slhavas’ sake?” He screamed.

With no prompt, the boy slammed on the brakes. Ishram was yanked forward, his only grip slipped and he rolled down the car, down on the road. The concrete scratched at his skin.

He landed on his side with a huff. 

“Ow,” Ishram coughed as he pushed himself up. His body was aching, but he could still move. The boy is unlucky. It would take much more to stop a Kishaard but a few bruises and scratches. 

Ishram pushed himself up on his fours with a grunt, and eventually he was standing.

His whole balance was a mess when he eyed the car, turning to face it. The human was still inside, but the lights prevented Ishram from looking properly at him.

So he raised his arms and asked. “Are you done?” He was breathless. He really needed a second.

He could hear a faint what the fuck, before the car sprinted again. Ishram’s eyes went wide as the front of the car hit his abdomen and dragged him on the road. His hands clawed once again, preventing himself from slide down and being ran over.

The car slammed him right against a tree, it knocked the breath out of him. Ishram hit his head against the hard wood, sharp metal digging into his abdomen. He cried out in pain, his head slumping back and then back down. The car kept had stopped pushing, but the engine was still on.

Frustration grew as he found himself stuck. He wasn’t yet strong enough to move the car, and losing more blood meant it would've taken more time. And taking more time only meant...

The car door opened, letting the boy stumble out with a loud gasp. He looked deranged, his face twisted between fear and rage. “You killed him!” the boy snarled, hysterical. “You’re sick!”

Ishram took a deep breath and coughed some blood, spit the rest. As long as the car was in his tissues way, he wouldn’t be able to heal properly. “I do a lot of killing. You may want to be more specific,” he grimaced at the thought.

“What?” The boy’s eyes were wide with shock. “You promised- you said, you’d protect us! Seth was my friend and you just- and you just.” The boy stopped to hide his mouth behind his forearm. He looked like he was about to throw up.

Ishram closed his eyes. Too much screaming. His ears were ringing and his whole body was numb again. “Mmh, no. I’m pretty sure I was only speaking about you,” he eventually asserted. Another cough choked him mid-breath. “Listen, okay, I did kill him. Although, in my defense, I didn’t have as much of a choice as you might think.”

The boy’s face filled with disbelief.

Ishram raised his eyes. “Look, you don’t need to trust me. But you do know there’s more coming, right?” he weighed, eyebrows twisting. “Of those ‘monsters’, as you humans like to call us. So you may want me to get rid of them for you, before doing anything else.”

Ishram couldn’t do much when the boy's body began to shake. He looked young, dark amber skin and brunette eyes now shiny with tears, red at the edges and swollen. Under the yellow light, they had a gentle curve, something that turned sharp as they stared at him. He had strong features and still no facial hair.

The boy looked around himself. He was still doubting Ishram, but at least he was as afraid of dying as much as he was afraid of Ishram. Then, he went back to the car, got inside but didn’t quite sit down. Instead, he leaned towards the passenger seat. Right under the dashboard.

Ishram huffed and looked around. He was still trying to focus, but it was difficult with his whole lower body stuck and unable to move, and—you know—the whole bleeding out concept. He had to free himself, or he would- no, he shouldn't think about having a crisis now. That was possibly the first step to having one, and it was way too early for it.

Ishram distantly wondered if that was the plan all along when they stabbed him. Force him to lose it as soon as he existed again. Made tracking him easier. They would've just had to follow the destruction.

“Hey, just move the car.” Ishram grunted as he tried to push against the metal.

The car started to distance itself from him, dragging him with it. Ishram groaned in pain when he tore himself away from the front, dropping on his knees and breathing hard. “Thanks,” he mumbled, holding his abdomen with his hands.

He was still gathering himself when a click drew his attention right above him.

He’d seen guns, but this one was different from the ones he was used to. The boy was pointing it at him, arm trembling and breathing uneven.

“Yes?” Ishram sighed, turning to cough some more blood.

“Why are you still alive?”

Ishram sighed, but didn’t move. “Jesus, I swear, you people become more impressionable with each passing century.” 

Silence. 

Ishram looked again, found something different this time than fear - confusion, but still angry. “You’re in shock, you need to breathe and calm down,” he instructed, straightening his back and wincing as the pain spread through his abdomen.

He was already healing, but it wasn’t fast enough. The boy didn’t look eager to point the gun away from Ishram’s head, though.

“Have you ever killed someone?” Ishram asked, tilting his head and peeking at the boy with one eye. “Because if you haven’t, then I suggest you aim to something bigger than my head. But then, are you sure that that,” and he gestured the gun, “won’t fail as this one?” Another gesture, towards the car.

“What are you?”

An easy answer. “A Kishaard, for the majority. Someone would argue it used to be Maqiv, someone else Shintak... Do I have to keep going?”

“What the hell is a Kishaard?”

Ishram sighed and leaned back until his hand reached the tree. It was bloody as well, but at least something solid he could cling to. The boy distanced himself when Ishram got up completely. His whole abdomen was throbbing, but Ishram didn’t move further. He just needed to stand.

“What’s your name?” Ishram asked, his eyes wandering again to check the woods.

“Andrea,” the boy said. “Why?”

“Well, Andrea, I would very much like to sit you down and explain what a Kishaard is. Although, I fear you might prefer to do it in a less, uh, urgent situation.”

Andrea frowned, before his eyes fell down on Ishram’s naked body. “Gross,” Andrea commented.

“I know you don’t like it, but we have to go. There’s others nearby and they will most likely be looking for you.” Ishram moved one step ahead, only to have the gun pointed at him once again. He raised his hands. He took a deep breath. “Listen, I’m sorry for you friend, but-”

Movement in the woods, right behind Andrea, caught his eyes. Ishram looked back to Andrea, moved another step. Though it only achieved for Andrea to step back.

“I can’t hurt you, Andrea. We have an agreement, remember?” Ishram reminded. “Listen to me. We have to go.”

Andrea’s breath was sharp when he shook his head. “Fuck you,” his voice was strained, shaking. “I’m not going with you.”

“Andrea.”

Another movement, this time a man jumped down on the road, right behind Andrea. Ishram moved before the other could catch Andrea by the shoulder. A sudden, sharp noise broke the silence, but Ishram was already gone. He could still feel the air moving near him, as the bullet grazed his left shoulder. A small help to keep his own head clear.

“Long time no see,” the man hissed, “Shahramati.”

Confusion raised inside him, but the man didn’t leave him much time to think. Ishram pushed Andrea out of the way and grabbed the man’s wrist. He dodged a second punch aimed at his face.

The fight established a punishing rhythm.

He twisted the man's arm and turned, kicking the man's knee. A push and the man was on his knees.

“How do you know who I am?”

The man hissed, startled. Ishram's eyes thinned. “Everyone knows who you are, Shahramati. You have a bounty on your head. Lucky for us, you showed up together with our dinner.”

Ishram twisted harder until he heard screams. “Then you should know what happens to those who cross my path,” he let out, slowly applying more pressure.

“I know you’re a coward, Shahramati.”

Ishram growled, then pulled his arm. It was an odd angle, but he kept going until he heard the bone broke. The man screamed, but Ishram was already moving. He didn’t let the other one drop to the ground. He moved. Fast. Before the other man could reach him, or stand up again, Ishram locked his hands on the man’s jaw. Then he pulled and pushed at the same time.

The man’s neck snapped.

Ishram was breathing hard when he let the body fall on the ground. He turned once again, checking the woods, making sure no more surprises planned on attacking him.

Once the coast was clear, he let down his guard just enough to spit blood and curse. “Are you alright?” he inquired, without turning. He knelt next to the corpse.  

Andrea didn’t respond, so Ishram raised his head to check on him with the corner of his eye. The boy was leaning against the car, eyes wide and mouth open. He was breathing hard, his eyes fixed on the body in front of Ishram.

Ishram grimaced, but said nothing eventually. Instead, he turned back searched the Kishaard's pockets, taking out stuff he barely recognised anymore. A thin plastic box, with a side made of black glass, then, a wallet, and then-

“What are you doing?” Andrea’s voice was not higher than a whisper.

Ishram didn’t stop, until something cold hit his fingers. He got it out. A small golden chain, a bracelet. “Looking for a seal.” Ishram said, sighing and showing the bracelet to Andrea.

“That’s a bracelet.”

Ishram snorted. “Yes, that’s why we disguise them as accessories,” he offered the bracelet to Andrea, waited for him to actually understand what was happening. Reluctance met Ishram’s eyes, but eventually Andrea lowered the gun and reached out for the bracelet.

Ishram left it in his hands, then lowered his head again and examined the clothes. The man was just about his size, maybe bigger, but Ishram wasn't about to be picky. He started with his boots, dirty with mud and grass, removing them and tossing them behind himself. Then, the trousers, and eventually the coat.

“You’re an animal,” Andrea hissed in front of him.

Ishram ignored him, kept going until the sweater and the shirt beneath it were in his hands. Once done, he proceeded to dress up on his own. The clothes were wet, at least they hid the blood. He stood up, his stomach still hurting. Nothing he couldn’t handle, of course, but nothing he’d prefer out of his way as soon as possible.

“Not one of my best awakening, I’d say,” Ishram said out loud, he really didn't care what little sense it made to Andrea. He wasn't talking with the human anyway. “Not the worst, at least.” So there's that, he thought.

Andrea scoffed. “Do you even care?”

Ishram finished button his coat and stared at him. “No, not really.” He shrugged and bent down to grab the body and drag it away from the road.

Andrea kept silent, but at least didn’t move from where he was. Disgust was written all over his face. “So what, now? You just expect me not to call the police on you and report everything that just happened? Why do these guys want me dead? Am I a hostage?”

Ishram wanted to laugh. He decided against it. “Yes, they were hunting, and no, you are not,” he murmurs, dropping the body down the slope, right over the road. “What’s important is, this one knew me and apparently his group has been following you.”

Andrea went pale. “What’s that mean?”

“It means they were ready to make you disappear.” Ishram eyed Andrea. He wasn’t expecting Andrea to understand right away. It always took a time, to disclose a whole world to the humans. “It’s complicated, and we don’t have a lot of time. I need you to listen to me. Who did you live with?”

Andrea jerked his head. “No way I’m taking you home!” His voice was one octave too loud for Ishram's likings.

When Ishram raised an eyebrow, Andrea scoffed. “I don’t know you. You’re clearly crazy. And you just killed four people in cold blood! You ain’t going anywhere near my parents. God forbid you ate them as well.”

Ishram smiled even if Andrea'd stopped being funny a few sentences before. “So you live with your parents,” he started, “and you think that these people, just by accident, left that out of their research.”

Andrea’s face was twisted in horror. He looked at the road, then back at Ishram. “Why would they go to my parents?”

Ishram sighed. “It’s the rules. If you screw up, you make it right. We’ve always lived in secrecy. Every hunt must be well thought-out so no disappearance can be linked to anything but natural causes. He was probably left here to check what went wrong. The rest of the group, though?”

Ishram let Andrea give sense to his question, before adding, “it’s difficult to make an entire house disappear.”

“No.”

Ishram nodded.

“Why would you want to protect them, now?” Andrea spat. He was breathing unevenly again, panic spreading through him.

“Because...” Ishram drew a sharp breath, then grimaced. “I would’ve saved your friend, too, if I could have. But I was, and still am, wounded. I have not as much control over myself as you may think.” Andrea was about to open his mouth, but Ishram interrupted him again. “But I am better now, thanks to-” his voice died on the tip of his tongue. Ishram breathed in, slowly, closed his eyes. “It won’t happen again. And you can prevent it from happening. I will tell you on the way how.”

They stayed in silence for a long minute. Ishram waited for Andrea to make up his mind, because he could still do little to nothing if Andrea didn't want him to. It wasn't as if Ishram cared about what happened to the boy's parents, but.

He did care about not ruining Andrea's life more than he already did.

Andrea gnashed his teeth, kicking at a stone. His whole body was shivering. 

He turned with rage and disgust, pointing the gun at Ishram. “If you hurt my parents, I swear to god, I’ll shoot you.”

He went back inside the car.

Ishram looked at him. As much as he understood, Ishram couldn’t bear his mind to grieve him as Andrea wanted him to. He got to the other side of the car and opened the door. Silence welcomed him as he slided on the passenger seat.

“I won’t dodge this time.”

Andrea didn't reply as he started the engine and drove.