"What happened?" Nioma only found herself questioning the more as she tried standing back up, only to slump back to the ground, drenched in a pool of blood. The smell of dumped trash reeked through the whole place with polluted oil leaking. She found herself at the edge of a polluted riverside, all buried in mud.
A single thought to try and recall her last memories left her screaming in pain. A sharp sting exploded in each one of her brain cells that sent a shockwave through. She screamed out in agony, her voice echoing through only to resonate back to her.
She could only remember it in blurry visions. A man with a scar on his cheek. "Who was he, and why did he..." her silent whispers paused the moment it almost became clearer. They had surrounded her as she was making a run for it through the dark-lit street, hoping to branch to a particular alley, possibly to call for help from the nearby police. But why they were after her she couldn't remember the reason. Only the smiles each one of them let out as they attacked her.
Nioma felt an overwhelming churn in her stomach. She still couldn't move properly, and her breath grew faint. They had stabbed her after ripping each one of her clothes off. Those multiple daggers that had sunk into her flesh—she should be dead with all the blood loss. But how? How was she alive? That was a question Nioma only found herself wondering.
The night growing silent with only a raven cawing softly at a nearby pole it stood on.
Nioma crawled out of the muddy water as she slowly regained her strength. Her mind was still foggy. Could this be because of the last incidents she experienced? But she couldn't recall anything about herself, only the fact that her name was Nioma and she lived in an uncompleted apartment, almost struggling with her everyday life, but after those memories nothing more rang a bell to her.
The stench of the pollution spreading through the air of her surroundings was one toxic enough to send a human crumbling down, coughing out all his organs. But none of that seemed effective against her. She could hardly breathe, but somehow nothing seemed to be occurring in her systems.
With some hours gone by, Nioma eventually managed a little strength, taking to her feet even though her footsteps were slowed at first as she could still feel some strange pain and a sudden thirst.
Hoping to leave the surroundings she found herself in, she stumbled upon a gold pendant necklace. One she picked up, feeling familiar with it. It was hers. She could tell that much. Maybe it could help recall something about herself.
Nioma slowly opened up the pendant, gazing at the image—one of hers and the other, a young man with a gentle smile painted on his lips. Little tears slowly dropped from Nioma's eyes as they swelled into more tears.
"Why?" she asked herself. Why was she crying? She still couldn't remember much who the man was but… just why was she feeling that way?
Nioma crumbled back to the ground, weeping continuously, clenching the pendant tight against her chest. She understood little of her feelings but could tell he was someone close to her.
The night grew heavier as Nioma found herself walking on the quiet alley, arriving at her apartment as she took the stairs up to her room. She reached out for the handle, but a slight touch led the door to slowly creak open. It wasn't locked.
Entering, she found papers all tattered on the ground. The couch was half torn with bloodstains on the ground with a dagger placed not far from it. Those weren't her blood, Nioma could tell.
A mere sight of the room left a sudden ache on Nioma head as she staggered in her footing. It was a memory-- one of her with the same guy in the pendant.
"Aah!" Nioma screamed struggling with the pain,
She couldn't recall much, but one thing seemed clear. "Brother?" She whispered, perplexed. That was her brother.
Yet, that was merely the little Nioma could recall. She gently made her way to the bathtub, leaving mud footprints on the floor as she stepped in. She switched on the shower letting the water rain upon her muddy battered self, and for a moment with the cold water soothing through her skin, Nioma spaced out, reminded of the screams she had only kept on hearing after she woke in that dump.
"Save me!"
"Help, Nioma… please, Nioma…"
Why won't they stop? Just why…
She dropped to her knees, hands covering her ears.
"Please," she whispered, "please just stop!" She couldn't take it. It was all too much for her to handle. What was happening? Why had it all happened? And why was she even alive? Maybe her death should have just been the end of it all.
But in her stumbling state and confusion, she heard some foreign footsteps of strangers entering her apartment, one that almost left her to freeze up.
She immediately switched off the shower, grabbing a cloth, one she wrapped herself with. "Who were they?" she could only wonder. But with all that happened, Nioma knew best to be careful. She wasn't sure who the good people were and even the bad ones.
Nioma tried checking who they were and what they were possibly after, taking each step with more caution. Eventually, she paused, pressing against a wall as she tried to hide her appearance while taking a view of the strangers. She paled the moment she caught a glimpse of him, almost uttering a word as she muffled her own mouth with her hands, sweat forming on her forehead as she took quiet steps back.
"No… this can't be happening," she thought. "Why is he here…" The last man she had recalled vividly in her memories, the one with the scar. He had stabbed her. And she knew letting him see her now would mean her death. That was so sure. But the moment she hoped to turn back, she bumped into a tall giant man, her eyes raising only to meet the stranger's face, one with a weird smirk.
"Found her, boss," he snickered as Nioma's legs staggered.
"No…" she muttered, "not now…" She couldn't die. She couldn't let them catch her. Nioma didn't understand why she wanted to stay alive so much. Maybe a last regret. Something left undone.
But was there any way for an escape? The other gang had already noticed before she realized. Nioma was cornered by the men as they all stood, few rather leaving a stunned expression—the same ones that had watched her plead for her life as they each took turns gutting each wound, taking pleasure in her screams.
"Oh my, my, what do we have here…" Nioma heard his voice, the same man who had stabbed her—their leader she supposed in that moment.
"I thought I made sure to kill you back then," he said rather in confusion. "How are you alive… Well, not that I care anymore now…" he smirked as one of the men handed him a dagger.
"I guess I will just have to kill you again." Those words left a chill running right through Nioma. She took a step backward, but nowhere—there was no place for her to run to. She stumbled to the ground as she watched him step closer with the dagger gleaming. Yet in those moments, she found herself battling with those screams that never left her.
"Please," she cried… "Please just stop, stop this, leave!" She kept on yelling, hands shaking. But those were replaced by the laughter of the other goons, the dark, evil chuckles they had left—one that only worsened her terror.
Nioma caught sight of a broken glass placed on the ground, and in the dire situation, with no thought, her body reacted, grabbing the broken glass.
"Just stop!" she yelled, this time throwing the broken glass ahead with her eyes shut in the desperation.
But then a sudden silence resumed through the room as Nioma's ears grabbed a gag. She slowly opened her eyes only to catch sight of the broken glass piercing deep into the stranger with the scar. Her eyes widened, paling in those moments as blood sprayed to her face. The man slumped down, groaning as more blood gushed out from his wounds.
"You bitc—" he was saying his words fading. Nioma staggered backwards, her hands trembling the moment she caught sight of his blood stains on it. Strange memories suddenly flooded in, one that almost caused her brain waves to burn, as the pain only grew far more unbearably. And just in those moments, she blanked out while standing on her feet. Something pounded inside her, her veins, and her whole body was reacting to something.
"Kill her!" the rest of the men charged in, one with a bat covered up with thorns.
"Tear her apart!" the stranger snarled, flinging the bat, hoping to aim it at Nioma's head. But instinctively Nioma's hand went stopping the bat in mid-air. The thorns pierced right through her hand as her blood dripped, one that melted the floor at a single drop. Her blood was highly corrosive.
She smashed the bat into pieces with a single hand and that without even moving an inch.
The stranger froze, his words slipping away from him as they all exclaimed.
Something was off in the air, they could tell. Even a human should be able to sense the danger that emitted from her. She was not the same Nioma—something was different, her nails growing into sharp, long ones, as fangs protruded.
Nioma turned, gaze meeting the goons, as one of them, a man, tumbled to the ground.
"No," he whimpered, "she is a monster… she is—" he picked up to his feet, in an attempt to flee but that didn't seem like a way out, as just in a split second Nioma moved, only to suddenly pause at the stranger front, her back turned against him. The rest couldn't look, the fear crawling through each one of them.
"What's happening?" some had uttered in utmost terror. But in a flash, they could already see their death. There was no sound of mercy for them. Even with the odds. The goons battling with the urge to flee for their life ran, but that seemed like a fading chance as Nioma attacked one of the goons, his limb ripped from its joint in those few seconds, sending him to the ground, blood gushing out from his wounds as he crumbled, screaming in agony—one that was silenced as Nioma's fangs pierced into his neck, drawing a large amount of blood as she consistently fed off him.
His words gurgled, and in a final cry, she ripped off his head in an attempt to feed deeper. Her face stained with more blood as she turned at the other goons who had been frozen in the fear of what they gazed upon.
Nioma attacked, not leaving a single one of the goons alive. With each body part mutilated, the whole walls painted in blood of her victims only for Nioma to drop right to her knee immediately after, as she gazed at her reflection through a mirror. Her whole body drenched with blood of the goons, fangs pointing out as her eyelashes were far darkish, her eyes had also turned red.
"No… why… what's going on?" she whispered, battling with all that was happening. It couldn't be real. No, it wasn't. But were those lies she left to deceive herself?
The truth was still there glaring at her. She fell, only sobbing the more. The screams had seemed to stop, but the terrors of the bodies of the goons knowing she had done such a thing was a traumatizing view enough to leave her shaking.
Just then, a clip of metals caught her attention, drawn to a stranger standing at the window side—one that had been left opened. Who was he? She hadn't even noticed his presence until she heard the clamp of metal together. He was holding a watch one he placed back into his pocket. "I guess it's time…" he muttered.
The only possible thought that could flash through Nioma was the fact that he may be part of the goons. But before she could even take a step, the same stranger moved quiet fast enough, appearing at her back.
"I wouldn't really advise running. That won't cut," he whispered to Nioma's ears. She reacted, hands striking back for an attack but just in those seconds it felt like he had disappeared, or one would say moved so fast for the mind to read, as he appeared in front of her. And just then, she felt a sudden prick on her neck. It was an injection as the stranger released the serum, one that left Nioma to crumble to the ground. Her vision suddenly grew blurry as her whole vein weakened.
Who was this stranger, and why was he here? She couldn't even place those things together. The same man stood watching her lose consciousness as he brought out his watch again, checking the time.
"I must admit, i am quite disappointed, " he said. But what was he getting at? Nioma vision blanked out.