With her thoughts in a mess, she desperately tried to gather them. Moments of terror slowly crept over her, it’s almost as if she was being suffocated. The few seconds she was on the ground felt like hours, time was contorted. Mia thought to herself, “what should I do, or, what can I do?”

Finally, it came. A memory, the past year. Mia punched the ground, a tear falling down her cheek… A drop, a single droplet falling slowly, time felt stiff. In that moment all of her pent up anger and sadness flowed out. Confidence forced its way to the front of her mind and she shot up to her feet. Mia believed that she could do something, anything. Aira saved her once, now it was her turn to save her. She began running towards the culprits, her face screamed rage. WAAAAAMM! The back hand of the unknown boy flew back, hitting Mia across the face. Mobo, Ebrin, and Oozua turned around, caught off guard by the event. Mia fell to the ground a few feet away, blood gushing from her nose at an accelerated rate. The unknown boy walked over, smiling maniacally. 

“Yo”, he said. So you’re the girl this piece of garbage was talking about. Mia, while holding her nose, looked confused and frightened. He took a few steps over her, visibly enjoying the moment. Mia slowly began to get up only to receive a powerful kick to the stomach. 

Mia, now in severe pain, is grasping her stomach tightly. “I can’t breathe, every breath I try to take burns. She falls over, still trying to get a single breath. The boy stands tall, “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”, He laughed like a sociopath and took a deep breath in. He points over to Oozua, “you see, my little brother over there was beaten by this insect lying on the ground”. He laughed once again, The other three boys giggling in the background. “Don’t you think it’s fair? An eye for an eye?” He walked back over to Aira and knelt down. “She’s kinda cute eh?” He reached over, clearly with a horrible intent.

Still unable to talk, Mia shot him with a death stare but he ignored her. It seems his interest was now solely on Aira, Mia was a complete afterthought. The boy grabbed Aira by the hair, pulling her up to her feet. “GYAAAAAAAA!” Aira screamed as tears came down her face. “We’re gonna have some fun aren’t we insect”. Now in full view Mia could see Aira completely. Her kimono was ripped and she was covered in cuts and bruises. 

Finally able to get a breath in, “who-who are you”, she coughed between each word. The boy looked over and arched his head to the side. “Who am I?” He snickered, “my name is Yondo, though after tonight, you probably won’t even remember that”. He turned back to Aira, focusing his intent once more. “Now, Oozua, you were attacked by her first right?” Oozua nodded and met his gaze. “Then you’ll get to decide what happens to this pest” Oozua’s eyes lit up with malicious sight. He took a step forward and stroked Aira’s face, to him, he couldn’t decide the perfect revenge. 

“Hmmmm”, Yondo stood in thought, “Let me see, let me see”. He tapped his foot on the ground. Mia continued staring at him, hoping a miracle would happen. In Mia’s eyes the buildings around her seemed like a prison, she felt as if there was no escape. These four bullies have no morals, no feelings, they saw her and Aira as nothing but toys. It took a year for Mobo, Ebrin, and Oozua to get their revenge and they were surely going to savour it. With the addition of Yondo who embodied sadism they were without a doubt going to inflict as much pain on Mia and Aira as possible.

The time has come, Mia sat watching Oozua and the others torturing Aira, her screams echoed throughout the streets. Mia grasped the ground, tears still falling down her face, she began to stand yet again. Mia’s determination was the one thing she had, her love for Aira forced her to act. 

“STOPPPPP ITTTTT!” Mia screamed, Her anger pouring out. The boys ignored her and continued their play. She thrust forwards, pain shooting through her body with each step. Mia grabbed Mobo, who was bending Aira’s fingers back with the intent on breaking them. “I SAID STOP YOU ASSHOLES”, Mobo, still taller than her, pushed her aside and she fell back. Mia, at only fourteen years old, didn’t have the strength to deal with them. She looked down, grasping her hands into fists and biting her lip. “Dammit, DAMMIT”, she yelled. 

Within the seconds that followed, Aira’s screams continued, her pain and torment radiating around the area. Everything seemed lost, Mia’s world seemed to be drifting back. This last year seemed like a dream, a dream that she’d cherish. Mia looked up, looking directly at Aira. She’s breathing heavily, blood is coming from her mouth, how she was able to stay conscious is a mystery. 

Everything fell silent, and then… “EAAAAAAAHHHHH!” Screams came from outside the alley. People came running past at full speed, the faces showing the peak of fear. In the distance shrieks and roars echoed. Howl's screams and other beastly voices came from the western-side of the village.

The boys stopped their torture momentarily, “what the hell is happening??” Ebrin stood in a panic. He was always known to be the most cautious out of the three. “Is the village being attacked by bandits?” Yondo dropped Aira and ran over to the outside of the alley. He gripped the corner of the entrance and peeked out into the street. 

“Yondo, what’s happening out there?” Oozua asked. Yondo looked to be shaking. Breathing heavily, he turned back into the alley, his face looked flush. “What are those things?”, he shivered. “YONDO!” Oozua screamed at him demanding an answer. It seemed that Yondo couldn’t even answer. Just like everyone else, Mia was confused as well. “What could be out there to scare someone like him?” She thought. 

Taking advantage of the situation, Aira began to move. “Mia…. Mia…” She whispered. Aira slowly crept along the ground trying to get to her sister. Mia turned her head back towards Aira, a giant childish smile across her face. “Aira… I’m so sorry, this is all my fault”. Tears fell down her face and formed a small puddle. Aira reached out her hand, cradling Mia’s face and wiping her tears. She gave a smile, “don’t worry about it, I said when we met that i’d protect you didn’t I”. She paused, “Mia, what's going on?” A concerned look upon her face. Mia looked back towards the boys, who were standing motionless at the alleyway entry. 

“I’m not sure”, she said with a rather puzzled but relieved look. In both their minds it seemed like a miracle, some outside force had saved them from the fate they would’ve suffered at the hands of Yondo. To this end they were grateful, but also worried. The possibilities that lied beyond these two girls were inexplicable. 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Loud footsteps echoed throughout the alleyway. Mia and Aira were frozen, as were the boys in front of them. The footsteps got closer, and closer, “BOOM!” It stopped, all six of them looked up at once, their white faces struck with fear. It was at least fourteen feet tall, with two hairy legs and two lanky arms, each forearm was considerably large. The beast was covered in black fur, protruding from its head were two long horns. 

It looked down, staring intently. As it gradually got closer it slowly opened its mouth, its menacing teeth clattered against each other. This creature, this beast, whatever it was, it wanted them. 

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” Yondo and the other boys screamed in unison. With scattered movements they pushed and shoved to get away from the beast. Their only option was to rush it and get past it, for the alleyway had only one exit. The beast stood still, keeping its gaze focused. “RYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” it roared ferociously, shattering any hope of escape. The boys weren’t thinking, they were too scared to think. The beast took a step back, seemingly allowing them to escape. Mia, still frozen, thought; “What is it doing? Will it really let us go?” She looked back to Aira, who was now shivering. “She’s in bad shape”. There was a slight chance that they could get away but the situation seemed off. 

Yondo and the others began to move, hopeful that they may be able to escape. Now, their faces depicted several emotions; sadness, terror, stress, the complete opposite of what they felt minutes before as they tortured the girls. A sliver of hope opened up to them. Well, they thought that at that moment, but not for long.

As they moved, Yondo, who was in front, looked back. His eyes, while filled with hope, now turned to terror. What was one was now many, multiple beasts were in hot pursuit. In varying sizes they charged, some covered in fur and some covered in scales, none were identical. Yondo kept running, seconds later, he stopped. His thoughts were a mess, his brain screamed at him to move but his legs wouldn’t respond, it’s as if his body had given in. He sighed and turned around, in front of him were Mobo, Ebrin and Oozua. 

Mobo, who had tripped a few feet after exiting the alley, was having his limbs being ripped off by a bunch of smaller beasts resembling demonic children. “NO STOP PLEASE!” His screams of agony echoed in Yondo’s ears but stopped quickly. 

Ebrin thought himself to be lucky. He passed Mobo thanking him for being caught, and continued. It wasn’t long till another beast, maybe half the size of the one who stood in front of the alleyway, grabbed him. This beast resembled a bipedal humanoid with the head of a goat. CRAC-CRAC-CRACK! The sounds that came from Ebrins bones being crushed between the beast's teeth were horrible.  

Oozua was the luckiest out of the three. As he neared his brother he smiled, tears running down his face. “BROTHER!” He yelled. But in an instant, SMASSSHH! A giant foot came crashing down crushing Oozua and killing him instantly, his blood painting the area around him. 

Yondo looked down to his hands, which were covered in blood. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” He laughed, his mind unable to process everything that had transpired in that last minute. Around him blood had pooled into the cracks of the stone road, making a caged visual, exactly as Yondo felt. “There’s no way, this can’t be happening”, he turned, resuming his escape, the thoughts of his brother and friends dying in such a gruesome way haunted him. It all seemed perfect, with those three dead, he could make his escape. Woooooooooos- SMAAASH! The first beast fell down and landed directly in front of him, bits of rock and debris flying off everywhere. It looked down at him and awkwardly cracked a smile. “HEH HEH HEH”. It was unknown whether it laughed or if that was just a noise it made, but it was scary nonetheless. It edged closer and closer, “is this what I get? Is this what I get for playing around with two pieces of trash?” The beast raised him up, dangling Yondo above its mouth. The beast released its grasp and Yondo fell. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHhhhhh….” His scream drifted away as he fell into its throat, his death certain.