Tainted

Chapter I: Hello Claire

! My life wasn't always like this. I was going to make it big and have everything I always ' dreamed of having. A huge house with a nice pool, a huge garage for five cars, my own jet and yacht. A beautiful wife and kids. A loving family and a life I can say was worth living. I never tho ught my life would end up like this. Good and evil forces are real. Monsters are real and nightmares come true. Your worst fears can become a reality and I somehow ended up in the middle of it all. To understand my story and life we have to start from the beginning.
As I struggle to get up from the floor I can feel the agonizing pain. Bullet wounds on my abdomen and knife wounds on my thighs. I can feel blood dripping from my wounds and some rolling down my cheek from my head. My car seems to be completely wrecked and to top it all off, it's just Monday. 'Well, it can't get any worse than thi s, I tell myself. As I continue to stand up I ask myself, 'How did it I end up in this situation and why am I so hungry??'. I slowly make my way to the kitchen and my body starts to heal. I can feel the bullets coming out from my abdomen and the wounds closing. 'It's not a good feeling to say the leastbut at least this way I won't bleed out', I think to myself. I realize that I'm in a random apartment and suddenly I feel a cold shiver run down my spine. I turn around and I see a young girl with fiery red hair and eyes look at me with disgust. She has a shotgun pointed at my head and has a Phoenix tattoo on her neck.
'Listen kid, you don't wanna shoot that gun. If you do then both of us are dead do you understand', I tell her. 'Who or what are you!?', she yells in disgust. 'How do I know you won't shoot me or try to kill me??', she asks desperately. As I slowly move closer to her i can sense her fear and anger. 'My name is Erik and I am just like you', I tell her. 'Let me show you and then you can shoot me if you want, sound fair?', I ask. She nods her head but doesn't lower the gun. As I take my shirt off I turn around and show her my tattoo. 'My tattoo is different from yours but we're the same. I may not have a Phoenix but I do have an Angel Wing', I tell her as I show her my tattoo.
'I've never seen someone with your tattoo before, she states. 'It's so big and beautiful', she says before lowering the gun. 'Beautiful? No. This tattoo has brought nothing but trouble for me. 'I would still have my old life if it wasn't for this tattoo', I explain to her. 'My name is claire and I'm sorry I almost shot you. I've been on the run for about a week already', she begins to explain. 'There were these men in black suits with purple ties and a tattoo of a claw on each of their right hand. They tried to attack me in my college dorm but I managed to escape', she says. 'I've been on the run ever since and I've been scared and paranoid', she whispered. 'Hey you're doing good so far and it seems like you can take care of yourself', as I pointedat the shotgun. 'I'm guessing that you're the person that took me out of my wrecked car'. 'Thank you for that', I told her as I moved to get a chair from the kitchen.
'Yeah it was me'. 'You're lucky to be alive with all the injuries you had', Claire stated. 'How did you end up like that in the first place'. 'Did the same men go looking for you too?', Claire asked. 'Well that's kind of a long story and I don't have the time for that now. I have to keep on moving.