{ 5. Hand-In-Hand }

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by KAIROSENE

by KAIROSENE

Written: 7/20/21

Based of a dream I had last night.

"Kaia, are listening?" The girl's head snapped up, brown eyes once clouded over now clear.

"Apologies Mrs. Rachel, what were you saying?" a snicker was heard from somewhere in the room, but it was quickly silenced as Kaia's eyes snapped to the source of the sound.

"Right, as I was saying, in the book, fear seems to be Finn's driving factor, but what is he so afraid of is the question. What's your thoughts?" Kaia closed her eyes and began to fiddle with the kanzashi hairpin that sat through the bun at the back of her head.

"Well, it's certainly not death." Mrs. Rachel looked at the girl with an eyebrow raised, prompting her to explain.

"And why do you say that?" Kaia sighed before pulling the pin out of her hair and twirling it between her fingers.

"Well, Finn has walked hand-in-hand with death for the entirety of his life, from birth to the seconds he lives in the present. Hi mother died during childbirth, meaning death stood beside him as he was brought into the world." Kaia looked back up at her teacher, watching as her eyes began to slowly swirl with a hint of intrigue. "As he grew up, he was introduced to the concept of war, famine, and disease, some of the biggest killers in both fictional and real worlds. He witnessed his friends get slaughtered by enemy soldiers, and his adopted family slowly starve to death. Finn is no stranger to death."

"Fair enough. But that doesn't mean he's not afraid of death. Someone afraid of death would have died much sooner, and Finn is still alive." A new voice joined the conversation, making both Kaia and Mrs. Rachel look up.

"You forget the term healthy fear, Zach. Finn has a healthy fear for death, but it's much more than that. He respects death, as if it was a person or creature. Because when you grow up with death, you learn to see it in a different light. Death is more than an means to an end, it's a door to a new space where your body and mind are back to their best, where pain and sickness disappear."

"I can see that, but Finn has-" Zach was abruptly interrupted by a large beep. The pa system crackled to life, a woman's voice filling the room.

"Attention faculty, staff, and students, this is Sargent Miranda Jacobs. This is a code white, not a drill. I repeat, this is a code white, not a drill."

Mrs. Rachel looks at the speaker for a second before looking back at Kaia, giving her a nod. She clears her throat before turning to address the rest of the class.

"Ok, I need you guys to stay seated for a second as I explain some things. A code white means we are under threat of a hostile entity. We will lock the doors and move to the corner of the room with the lights off. Those of you who have been trained for entity attacks, you know what to do."

"Mrs. Rachel, I ask that you and the rest of the class be as quiet as possible when moving. I want full range." The class looks up in surprise as Kaia stands from her seat and moves to the door, unlocking it with a quick twist of her wrist. Her once brown hair was now an inky black, red swirling within it like blood in an ink pool. Brown eyes were now a burning red, whites of her eyes now abyssal black.

"Kaia, you're still not recovered from the last entity attack, you need to stay down!" Zach whisper shouts, moving to grab Kaia's hand. Red eyes meet brilliant glacial blue ones.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. You forget how resilient I am," Kaia says as smoke began to swirl around her feet, slowly crawling up her body until she was covered head to toe in black smoke. Zach backed up a bit, letting Kaia finish transforming. His eyes follow the smoke as it slowly dissipates, leaving a slightly different Kaia standing. Her school clothes were gone, now replaced with a form fitting sleeveless black turtleneck and black tactical cargo pants. Gloves went up to her elbows, Kaia's now claw tipped fingers a blood red, slowly fading into black. Black stains decorated the areas around her eyes and her neck.

"Kaia, are you ready?" Mrs. Rachel stood by the door, one hand on the handle, the other on a gun that she had strapped to her waist.

"Yes ma'am. Verity, link me so everyone can see." Kaia turned to one of her classmates. Verity stepped closer to Kaia, raising one hand to her forehead to draw a small eye. It flared a light yellow before disappearing.

"Be careful, don't underestimate it," Zach grabbed Kaia in a tight hug, not letting go until she squeezed him back.

"Just like Finn, I walk hand-in-hand with death, but I will not let it be then end of me today."

{843 Words}