As Aubrey made his way down the street, his phone received a notification. Upon reading it, his eyebrows raised.
"Good news. Your first target is approaching you right now."
What an awfully blunt text. Aubrey put his phone in his pocket, muttering a "Shit…" before looking around.
Especially after leaving her house? Fuck my life… nah, it's cool, it's cool. But as long as she doesn't get hurt, I'm fine.
And also, my "target" is the one approaching me; what a nasty role reversal!
Aubrey broke off into a sprint, hauling ass down the street to get as far away from Sienna's house to protect her as he could. He managed to reach the block down before hearing a woman's voice.
"Am I… pretty?"
Aubrey turned the corner, seeing a tall woman with straight black hair, adorned in a red kimono and haori. With beautiful pale skin, her mouth was covered by a mask, as she looked directly at Aubrey.
"Um… I mean, I suppose, but I think I fell in love earlier today. And if it's real love, then isn't every other woman in the world not attractive? So, um, to give you your answer…"
Aubrey thought for a moment. Without a doubt, she had to be a "monster" of some kind.
"Yeah, so, to give you your answer—"
Aubrey lunged forward, reeling his fist back and punching the tall woman in the jaw. With the hard, blunt impact, the woman was sent backwards to the ground.
"—You're pretty, but there's a woman who's a lot prettier to me."
The woman remained fixed to the floor, as Aubrey looked down at her. It was his first time punching a woman in all his life, though he made the excuse that she was a cryptid.
What if she's just, like… an insecure tall lady? Nah, my punch would've knocked her jaw off if that was the case.
Aubrey revelled in his strength momentarily, before the woman slowly sat up, her legs unmoving. As though she were the Shape himself.
"I am… the prettiest."
"No, this girl—"
By nature of human design, sharp and fast pain takes around 100-200 milliseconds to register. So, for that brief moment in time, Aubrey was unaware of his dismemberment.
What followed, however,
"Egh…"
Instinctive. It was an entirely primal reaction, as he felt his hand slide from his wrist. And, promptly, it dropped to the ground with a weak thud.
Looking down at his severed hand, he let out a quick exhale. The wrists did not even dangle; the cut had been so clean and precise that it was as if it were frozen time, the only sign of damage being the blood which profusely shot, soaking his wrist in red.
"A-ah, gh—"
The woman sprang up, jamming a pair of scissors through his left eye. It came at an upwards angle, missing the brain somewhat yet still fully impaling the eye socket.
"AAAAAAGGGHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAA—"
His vicious, long lasting roar of pain rang through the streets, as he collapsed to his knees and tried to grab the scissors. He attempted to remove them, his shaking hand pulling on it slightly, only making around half an inch of progress due to the pain which was felt with each attempt at removing it.
Eventually, he ripped the scissors from his skull, bleeding onto the concrete and having his face grabbed, lifted into the air. He pulled his knees to his chest and kicked the woman in the nose with full strength, breaking it and escaping her grip.
He fell to the concrete ground, his clothes being soaked with his hand's blood as he got to his feet and held his hand over his face.
I'm bleeding, I'M BLEEDING.
"Ghh, hhhkkk! FUCK, it hurts, agh, shit, mother—ghuah…"
Before this, he had been in altercations with other WendigoWalkers. In both cases, the blood he lost in both fights would be enough to fill up a small bucket. However, this was different.
The slash to his carotid was a lethal one, but in such a close fight, his brain did not focus on that injury. The dismemberment of his forearm was painful and bloody much the same as this, but it was still somewhat known territory for him.
This time, however, it was a monster he was unaware of, who had taken an eye from him and instantly severed his wrist. There was no warning, she seemed less "animalistic" than the others.
What he faced was not an animal, but a monster who used weapons to kill her victims.
As he looked up, his singular eye focusing on the woman, she appeared directly before him, breaking through the notions of sight before she swung her arm. Blood flew through the air, as Aubrey took a singular step back.
"Now… you're pretty too…"
The woman gently grasped the mask over her face, pulling it down and revealing a slit mouth.
The pain struck quickly, as Aubrey's jaw dropped down. The sensation of pain told him everything he needed to know, as he felt uncomfortable, almost-sticky warmth flow down the sides of his mouth.
"You're pretty, you're pretty, sosososoprettyprettypretty~!"
The woman cackled, as she swayed side to side with her steps, her clothes blowing in the gentle breeze of the night.
"Ghhh, ghk, aaaa-haaa…"
He could scream. He wanted to scream. He needed to scream, to force out the agony in any way, to provide any kind of relief possible. Yet, even screaming caused the pain to grow worse, leaving him with no choice but to merely let it out in soft, shushed agonies.
Fear and Wrath are close acquaintances.
I have to do it; I'm not strong enough like this. I need to kill her, I need to eat her, I need to rip her apart. I'm hungry, I'm so hungry, I'm so so hungry.
His hunger grew worse and worse, as the aroma of the woman's satiating flesh filled his nostrils and hurt his stomach.
Eat.
Falling to his knees, Aubrey allowed it so. His body ripped itself apart, with the contortion of bones and flesh snapping and cracking loudly, brown hair, fat and muscle manifesting over his body, Aubrey fully transformed into a full-blown animal.
His wounds were still present despite his changed form; missing his right paw, his left eye gouged, and his snout ripped in two. In spite of that, he charged forward, swiping the woman across the chest and tearing a chunk of flesh from her body.
He quickly changed back, scarfing the bits of skin and muscle he'd torn off down his throat. And as such, he was able to regenerate rather fast. As well,
Those brats said Skinwalkers get stronger by eating other monsters and gaining their traits, right? If that's the case, then…
As he consumed the flesh of the woman, even the small amount, he gained one of her traits. Acting on his newfound ability, Aubrey flashed a pair of scissors in his hand, his eyes focusing directly at the woman.
It wasn't much. In fact, on the surface, it wasn't anything at all. Yet, even still, it was an advantage of some kind, having an actual weapon.
Aubrey lunged at the woman, grabbing her by her neck with his left hand, the scissors in the other. She reached at him, gripping his neck as well.
I can regenerate.
The corners of his lips forming into a sly smile, Aubrey licked his lips as he stabbed the woman in the gut with the scissors, which had been molded by his intent to have the handles of a stabbing weapon.
His inner self being delighted in hurting her, he flinched as he was stabbed in return, an attack which pierced his collarbone and dug into his body.
Aubrey let out a hard grunt, followed by a smug laugh, his eyes wide from the pain yet still intently focused upon the woman. He tore the scissors from her belly, and implanted them right back inside. The woman, too, ripped her scissors from his clavicles and jammed them through once more.
From then on, it was hardly even a fight. Or rather, it was hardly even an intelligent fight. It was a dance—a drunken dance performed by rednecks near a bonfire—as the two rigorously stabbed the other, keeping their grips tight and pulling the other closer, in an all-out sprint to reach the finish line that was "victory."
Mutilating the other in a bloody ballet, their violence audible as the splashes of blood dripped onto concrete, the opponents continued.
Aubrey wanted to scream, but did not. Seeing her stomach so damaged that the intestines and organs themselves peeked out, it filled him with a strange satisfaction, as if playing with dough.
But, of course, he too was not getting away unscathed. With the scissors closer to his heart, as well as hitting his subclavian artery, his gore was worse.
So, inevitably,
Ah.
The repetitions of their stabs grew slower, slower, yet slower. Until, finally, Aubrey reached the finish line.
—As the loser.
Falling to the ground, Aubrey struck a puddle of blood, his face halfway stained with crimson as the ground felt abrupt.
Who would've guessed…
Turns out, stabbing someone and allowing yourself to be stabbed was, in fact, not the best strategy.
Aubrey let out an exhaled laugh, as he bared his fangs in a toothy smile.
"Am I… pretty?" He asked the slit-mouthed woman, to which she looked down, her guts dangling from her stomach, intestines down to her knees.
"So… so, so pretty…"
Aubrey, with words of gratitude on his lips, then stuck his tongue out. The blood on the ground was not just his own; it was hers as well. And as such, with the consumption of her blood,
I feel a bit more full… still hungry, though.
Aubrey regenerated, gaining the strength in his body to pounce upwards, opening his jaw and sinking his teeth into her open wounds, chewing on her organs. She shoved him off, and he fell backwards, continuing to eat as he laughed at himself.
He swallowed with one exaggerated gulp, as he continued crawling towards her like a true animal, the methods of a wendigo ingrained into his flesh. He tackled her to the ground, sinking his teeth into her neck and growling like a rabid dog, tearing a chunk out and continuing to eat.
She jammed the scissors into his neck, adding to the pile of blood on the concrete. He pushed forward, slowly making the gash deeper until it completely tore out, leaving a giant, open wound across the side of his neck.
But, still, as he was eating, he regenerated the wound back to normal. He grew the mouth of a bear, yet retained still his human figure, the impression of a non-human being made stronger at the vileness of his sight.
He bit down on her wrist as a whole, and with the jaw strength of a bear, completely tore through it with his sharp teeth, ripping it off as he chewed it to mangled softness, swallowing it down his gullet with sadistic enthusiasm.
I'm still so hungry, it's not enough, it's absolutely not enough. I want to eat everything.
Even still, she managed to shove him off after a struggle, getting to her feet as Aubrey laid there, still resting on his knees with a smile. His snout disappeared, as he regained human proportions, his smile still intact.
"Don't run, ma'am. Please, don't run."
Slowly standing back up, Aubrey grasped the scissors once more, letting out sobbing laughter as he took step after step.
"...Monster."
The woman's voice, having lost its shrill excitement, proclaimed him as such. Aubrey's wide-eyed stare shot at her, his raspy breath swaying his body up and down.
The slit-mouthed woman was, after all, a vengeful spirit. Not having the full properties of a physical entity, she vanished into the night-sky. Aubrey was left alone, still standing.
It was neither a victory nor a loss. In fact, if the fight had gone on, it could have gone either way, depending on whether the slit-mouthed woman took full advantage of her abilities, or if she continued to limit herself in order to interact with the world.
Aubrey gulped, trying to extract even the faintest bit of blood and flesh he could, considering his blood was the only one on the sidewalk now. He rubbed his stomach, letting out a relieved exhale.
I'm a loooot more full now.
"Haha."
So calm despite his situation, Aubrey checked his phone to see a notification, which he had not read before the fight due to hurrying to get away from Sienna's house. Coming from the same number as previous, it intended to inform him.
"Most likely, your opponent is Kuchisake-onna: a Japanese vengeful spirit. She's often triggered by immense feelings of love or infatuation, no matter the area in the world; especially if it's related to Monsters."
Aubrey unsummoned the bloody scissors, reading over the short excerpt of information on his opponent.
Ahhh, that explains why she was a bit familiar. Maybe I saw her on a show or something? Still… she was delightful.
Realizing he had thought such a thing, Aubrey slapped his face with his bloody hands.
No! Sienna is the best, she's the coolest, most beautiful woman in all this world. Ah, she's so splendid. She's really great. I love her. Is it love? I hope so.
Yeah, she's the only woman I really want to eat.
Laughing out loud by his own stupid joke, Aubrey walked home, covered in blood.