I ran as fast as I could, taking a huge rock on the way. It was my damn luck but you’re wrong if you thought it would stop me. Barely making it in time, I managed to throw the rock onto that creature’s head right before it leapt towards the family. It distracted the creature and forced it to avert its gaze towards me.

The father of the other family caught on quickly. He lifted his young children up, one in each arm, but his pregnant wife was having a hard time catching on to things. Maybe fetuses taste better for these creatures. My mind wandered too far but, in the end, I needed to buy time.

“Unlucky Episode,” I nodded to Sarah. Understanding what I was trying to do, she ran away.

“I was number two in the track club during middle school, you know.” I signaled to the father, telling him to hurry up with my gaze. “It was a qualification for nationals and the top three would be selected to go.”

I stepped to the side, approaching an alley that I spotted earlier. For some reason, the creature only stared at me, probably assessing the situation.

“On the day, I came down with Influenza and my shoelaces broke. I stumbled around the track and finished fourth out of twenty people. I didn’t make it, you see.”

I got ready to run any time and the creature understood it. The moment I saw the family of four was ready to run I hopped and turned around.

“But I know damn well I’m fast enough!”

I dashed. My vision was pin-pointed to what’s in front of me. Focus, Sota. The creature chased me down with some difficulty navigating the narrow alley. I didn’t need to think that much. I passed through this very path every single day to school. As someone whose sole reason not to be in the top ten of high school graduates was alphabetical order, I was sure of my memory.

The window that splashed me with dirty water was first under the horizontal pole where my shoes were stuck before. Turning left, I would reach that puddle where I lost my contact lenses. I jumped at the exact timing I needed to slide down the stairs where I broke my clavicle too many times. After dashing through the spot where my ex kissed another guy, the rest was just a straight line to the main road along the canal. I just needed to jump to the water and escape using the—

“Not fast enough!”

Did that thing just talk? I could feel the paw that hit me like a truck mid-air. I was flung back to the streets. I rolled god knows how many times and bumped into an electric pole. It hurted. It hurted so fucking bad. I laid down there, still, for a solid ten seconds before I could even properly breathe again. Do not show it, Sota. They can sense it. I mustered all of my leftover energy to a grin. I stood up.

“Funny,” the creature turned to me. It was hard to see on its dragon-like face but I could feel its smirk. “By this time, they usually cry in agony. But you, you are different. I couldn’t see you feeling pain.”

What the hell are you talking about?

“It’s hard to feast on your despair like this.”

My vision turned to a blur, a dark blur. I was at the end of my wit. Consciousness was leaving me and my legs wouldn’t move. There was no way for me to run. At this rate, it will just eat me and go destroy something else, I thought. Internal bleeding? Broken ribs? Fractured skull? The only thing I could focus on was the Luxen Crystal far behind the creature. That damned extra-terrestrial thing that powered the whole city didn’t have any rights to be that beautiful on this damned day.

Breaking my concentration, I could faintly hear the levitation engines of a flying mobile. I recognize that particular hum as I heard them constantly volunteering. It was the Luxen Defense Force. At least I hoped so. You know what to do, Sota, my brain exclaimed. That ginormous amalgamation of bullshit needed to be delayed for at least a minute. We couldn’t let them go from this very spot without any other civilians. At that point, I couldn’t even see anything.

Everything was red.

Was it blood?

Was it anger?

Was it regret?

Within that split second, every single mistake I made came rushing to me. That’s it. I tried my best to fake looking at the creature.

“No pain? Ridiculous!”

“Ah, finally. I know that you can hear me, human.”

“What a joke. I overthought everything that I let her slip away. I was the one who leapt under Akira when he fell twelve years ago. I was the one who trained too much under the rain and wore my old shoes for good luck. And if I scored perfectly, my initials wouldn’t even matter that much.”

“You talked too much, human!”

The creature stomped at the ground. The shockwave shook everything and even broke the glass windows of most buildings around us. I wavered but I could hear them getting closer. They’re definitely coming. I couldn’t let that creature leave this area. Thirty more seconds!

“It’s all my own fault! All of them! Do you know how painful that is? Knowing how you’re the one destroying your own life? No pain? Don’t make me laugh, you lizard son of a bitch! I’m just the best at it. Out of seven billion people in the world, I am the best at hiding it.”

I smirked, challenging the creature. It bit the bait. It dashed towards me, probably planning to deal the last blow. Ah, the finale of my unlucky streak. That was a good run. Let’s not do it again.

I fell to the ground before it reached me. I hoped I bought enough time for the Defense Force to arrive. Being the prey of a dragon wannabe wasn’t that bad for an ending. I let out a sigh that I thought to be my last and slowly lost my consciousness.

“God fucking dammit, Sota! Why couldn’t you think of yourself first for a change?”

“That voice. Sorry, Vi, that’s just how I was born to be.”