Qualities that Kill

Chapter 7- Lyra

Blood spurts out of the man's throat, and I watch as the life drains from his eyes. Altius's jaws are still locked around his throat, and I know from experience that Altius will not let go until he is sure that he is dead or I tell him to.

Of course, I would know. I trained him.

After a few more seconds, Altius releases the man, and trots over to me, blood covering his muzzle. I grin at the sight, and reach out to give him a few good scratches. He's done a good job today. Then I head out of the narrow alley in search of a new target.

But just as I reach the opening of the alley, a man rushes past, followed by some more men not far behind him. For a second I think I hear laughing, sounds of pure exhilaration from the man being chased, but I know I'm mistaken. Only a madman would be enjoying themselves in his situation.

Then I get an idea. I can save that man being chased, make him trust me (while finding out what his Quality is) and then betray him and torture him, causing him unimaginable pain. I grin at the thought, already anticipating the feel of my knife smoothly cutting into him, the screams that I will coax from him, the coppery tang of his blood, the look of fear in his eyes.

But first, I have to save this man from an angry mob. And I don't think I need to worry about killing anyone and accidentally gaining compassion or something because in gangs like the one that was chasing him, the men don't have room for anything resembling that. Still, I don't know if I will be able to take all of them at close range, how I usually make my kills. I will probably have to kill them one by one with my gun, every shot fatal, instead of the up-close-and-personal method with a dull knife that I prefer.

Oh, well.

I still have my specially designed bullets that expand into sharp discs on impact, designed to cause the most pain possible. Those will have to do. Now all I need to do is find the men. It shouldn't be hard, considering all the noise they're making. I take slow, measured steps out of the alley, searching and listening for any sign of other people or possible dangers. I don't see or hear any, so I focus my senses on finding the men. Once I hear their distant yells, I start running towards the noise, Altius by my side, and I know I'll catch up to them in no time. No one can outrun me.

The sounds of their voices continue to get closer and I grin in anticipation of the blood I am about to spill. I reach the group of men and see that they have run their victim into a corner. I'll need to get to a place higher up so I can shoot at them from above, taking them out one by one. As I start to climb a nearby building, telling Altius to stay, I can hear the lone man in the corner start to speak. I expect him to beg for his life like so many of my victims have, but he surprises me.

"Guys, c'mon. I though we were friends! How could you betray me like that? You know what, just because you dishonored me like this, I'm going to have to kill you all. I hope it was worth it," the man says, his voice brimming with sarcasm. I'll give him this: he's got nerve, talking to them like that.

I scale the last few feet and make it onto a crumbling balcony as one of the other men starts to speak.

"Okay, first off, we were never friends, second, you should expect betrayal from everyone, and lastly, there is no way that you'll ever be able to kill us all," he says, and I can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

I slowly pull out my gun, and begin to load it as quietly as possible.

Now I am staring down at them, and I watch as the man grins at the gang and says, "Then why don't you just let me go and save all of us a whole lot of trouble?"

"Well, what would be the fun in that?" The other man says, stalking towards the cornered man.

"I guess it wouldn't be much fun, would it," he muses. Then something in him changes.

His brave and arrogant mask collapses. Instead of standing straight with shoulders back, he seems like he's trying to hide in plain sight: hunched over and scuttling sideways to stand in the shadows. It's like he's a different person.

"Scared?" asks the larger man.

"N-n-o..."

"Well, you should be."

The gang members circle around the lone man, their leader pulling out a knife and advancing towards him.

"C-c-an't w-we just t-t-alk about it?"

The man with the knife prepares to cut him, and I take aim.

Then, just as his blade sinks into the other man's neck, I shoot.

My bullet hits its mark, like I expected, and the man screams as the bullet expands into the disc while inside his neck. It is a beautiful sight when bright crimson blood starts leaking out of the wound and the man collapses.

In rapid succession, I shoot all of the other men, and each of my bullets flies true and buries itself in the necks or hearts of the men until there is only the one man in the corner left standing. I delight in seeing the fear on all of their faces as their ranks diminish one by one.

Luckily, they were too preoccupied with trying to get out of here to think of finishing the job of killing the other man. Soon, I am looking down on their corpses as they lay in pools of their own blood. I'm even happier when I feel myself growing stronger, faster, and smarter as a result of the men's Qualities. I hope I also got some unique qualities too. One time, I killed this man whose Quality was that he was unnaturally good at picking stuff up with his toes. I mean, he must have been a really bad person for that to be his Quality, but still. It's impressive.

I did a good job here, I silently congratulate myself as I gaze at their bodies, smiling. Then I start my climb back down the side of the building, watching the only man left as he shrinks even further into the corner. How is it that he was boldly talking to a group of men that could have killed him with a flick of the hand a few minutes ago and now he's scared of his own shadow? What am I missing?

When I get to the ground, I approach the man, moving slowly, trying to look the least intimidating as possible. I don't want to scare him or make him run, because, remember, I need to make him trust me.

Not making any sudden movements, I take out my gun. He flinches as I do, but visibly relaxes when I set it on the floor, raise my hands above my head, and take a few steps away from it.

I start to talk, quietly and calmly.  "Hey, so ummm... I'm Lyra. I saw you were in a bit of trouble, and wanted to help... just, like... out of the goodness of my heart, right? And I thought, you don't seem like a complete jerk, like... like these men were," I gesture to the corpses,"and I've been wanting a partner in crime, so what do you say?"

He furrows his eyebrows. Then, as if remembering that I just took out seven men single handedly, shrinks even further into the corner.

"Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. There's no reason to be afraid. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done so already."

Shaking his head, he says, "Everyone wants to hurt me. Why would you be different?" His voice is quiet and resigned.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I repeat, matching his volume.

"Yes, you are," he says, and I begin to get irritated.

"Did you not hear me the first two times I said it? I'm. Not. Going. To. Hurt. You. You will be safe with me."

He chuckles a little, then says,"Safe. As if anyone is safe here."

I take a few breaths, then remind myself that this man has to stay alive so I can cause him more pain. I make my voice calm again and tell him, "Okay, so I see that you won't be convinced that I won't hurt you, but you have to admit that coming with me is better than the alternative of staying here and either starving to death or being killed by another gang. So why don't you come out of that corner and come with me?"

He gives me a wary look, then takes several quick, scuttling steps forward and scoops up my gun. Then, tense and jumpy, he says, "Let's go."