Huff! Huff! Puff!
Alisa ran like her life depended on it. Everything looked blurry, the trees, the rocks, and even the sky. Her right shoulder was badly wounded and bleeding rapidly. Controlling her breathing was close to impossible and her heartbeat was dangerously fast. At any second she could collapse on the ground helpless of what's to come. Stopping for even a moment would result in her death and she knew that better than anyone. The sound of footsteps behind Alisa was enough motivation to keep on running.
"Aren't you tired of running yet missy? I promise if you stop fleeing right now I will give you a slap on the wrist" a voice said from behind.
"STAY AWAY!" Alisa screamed. Alisa was unfortunate enough to encounter The Reaper at her assigned location. A masked serial killer who is said to have amnesia. Now she has to pay the price for such bad luck.
One hour ago all the drones that were flying around the island announced something for all the participants to hear. "Six hours remain until the first round of the Dragon Hunt is over. Out of the thirty participants, eight have passed so far while three are deceased. Those who passed the round were escorted back to the cave by a drone. The others are either lost or forgotten or in the heat of battle"
The clue to Alisa's assigned location was 'Careful You Fall into Something' A huge pit was at the center of the forest. The pit is 300 ft. deep so it is safe to say if someone falls inside they will not come out. At the time when the drones made the announcement, Alisa was sitting under a tree near the pit. She waited patiently for the sun to set. "Time's almost up. It would be great if I'm the only one here when time runs out" Alisa said to herself. While dozing off Alisa began to wonder about her pet dog Ray.
"What's Ray doing right now?" she wondered.
"Your little mutt is so cute" a voice whispered. The voice sounded soft and soothing to Alisa's ears. She felt at ease just by hearing the stranger's voice. She asked the person who had just spoken to show themself.
"Please show yourself," said Alisa.
A man with a briefcase showed himself behind the tree next to Alisa's. He wore a yellow hat and plain white mask. "Hi, I am The Reaper. I have to say, your hair is gorgeous?" the man softly. Without warning the man pulled out a pair of scissors and stabbed Alisa's right shoulder. From that point onward Alisa ran for her life. Trying her best to escape the clutches of the masked man. Despite all her efforts it was clear to see The Reaper was catching up to her. The man grew tired of playing tag with his victim so he stretched out his arm and grabbed her hair tightly. "This is why I love meeting foreigners. No one in my country has blonde hair so this is a marvelous day for me" said Reaper. He forced Alisa on her knees and got to work.
Snip! Snip! Snip!
After cutting over half of Alisa's hair the Reaper was satisfied. He kneed down and looked at her happily. "See, I had no intention of killing a little girl painfully in the first place so all that running was for nothing. As I said earlier you get a slap on the wrist" said The Reaper. Alisa had nothing to say. The loss of her hair did not bother her or did the mercy of a well-known murderer. What truly bothered her was weakness. While the Reaper chatted Alisa thought to herself "I enter the Dragon Hunt of my own free will and this is how I am performing. Pathetic, way too pathetic. I should have known better. I don't belong here". The Reaper opened his briefcase in front of Alisa and asked "This competition is not for the likes of you. Almost every participant has a gift or two. You don't seem to have any. Who gave you permission to participate in this?"
He took a gun out of his briefcase and aimed it at Alisa. "I said a slap on the wrist. You will die in an instant for your stupidity".
While the Reaper was loading his gun with bullets, members of the Golden Circle started to question the actions of the Reaper. "What now? Do you want this to continue or stop? It is clear to me that the girl cannot fight back" said King Almon. "We don't know that for sure. She has yet to show us her gift. I assume that she has one, otherwise why is she here in the first place" said Gordon. "Stop him. Let him pass the first round. If he kills that little girl in front of me then I'm personally going to kill him and the jerk that hired him" said Aoi.
Miya pointed at a red-haired man in a gold sweater. "Malcolm is the one responsible" she stated. "The Reaper's real Name is Lorain. He grew up to be a good man. Someone you could always count on. If the incident four years ago did not occur he would definitely replace me as a member of the Golden Circle by now. Many billionaire projects were canceled because of his sudden change" said Malcolm. "What incident?" Gordon asked. "His house had five bombs implanted inside. They all detonate the second Ronald walked out of the room. He was still breathing after the explosion. The doctors called it a miracle. Lorain was in a coma for 5 months. The day he woke up he suddenly began killing everyone he laid his eyes on. First were the doctors that cared for him then police officers. I just want him to revert back to the way he was. That's why I brought him here. A place where a group of supernatural holders is gathered" Malcolm said ashamed.
"Hmm, you must be the only one who still believes in that killer. I want you to stop him from killing that girl nonetheless" Aoi demanded.
Ronald left the room without any worries. His daughter was about to face death yet Ronald still left the room. "I don't want to see her when she goes berserk. I'll go for some coffee" he told himself.
The Reaper finished loading his gun. He asked Alisa "What are your final words? In your next life make sure you don't bite more than you can chew"
…..
Alisa stared into the masked man's eyes and saw something within them. She only just noticed it because of how close the man was. Deep inside The Reaper's eyes, Alisa saw another figure. It was of the shape of a man. "Who is that?" She wondered. Suddenly a scene played out in her mind. A memory she had forgotten. Back when she was ten years old she shot herself in the chest two times and still managed to survive the wounds for three days. "What did I do back then?" Alisa wondered. Life Energy, she can manipulate the energy that forms the soul of a human being. Although Alisa was wounded physically she absorbed life energy from her surroundings to prevent her death. Her fatal wounds stopped bleeding, and you gradually start to forget that the pain is even there. "Life Energy, when did this happen? I can only assume that this is my father's doing. He's toying with my memories" thought Alisa. After that more memories started flooding into her head one after the other. Memories that are very useful for Alisa to understand her gift. She came to the realization that her gift is one of the best there is. "Why would my father hide this from me?"
POW!
He fired the gun without hesitation. The bullet pierced Alisa's chest. Blood started gushing over Alisa.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!! She screamed in pain.
"Very Odd, I thought I shot you in the heart just now. Why are you still alive screaming?" asked The Reaper.
Alisa continued to stare at the man inside of the Reaper's eyes. The more she looked the more certain she became. "That man is crying, I may not be seeing any tears but… there's something so sad about him," Alisa thought while in pain. Alisa's eye felt like it was staring deep inside of The Reaper. He could tell that what he was looking at was not the tangible body but his soul itself. He tried once again to shoot Alisa. This time he aimed at the head. He apologized to Alisa by saying "Sorry, I know I said this was going to be painless. I don't know what happened but I promise it won't happen again. You won't have to endure any more pain".
POW!
At the last second The Reaper's hand moved up slightly causing him to miss his target. Alisa smiled and gave the Reaper a nod. "Hold up! I don't understand what's happening. Why are you smiling? Bitch!" the Reaper shouted. He gradually became more agitated every second he saw Alisa drawing breath. "This makes no sense but whatever. The third time's the charm. If this doesn't work I'll just stab you to death" the Reaper told himself.
"You don't have to kill anybody you know. There are other ways to do things. If you want to pass this round you could just simply knock me out. You don't want to kill me, do you? So why are you fighting yourself?" asked Alisa.
In the private room, Malcolm started a conversation with Aoi. "I've been watching people fighting each other since yesterday and I've never seen something so one-sided. What was Ronald thinking? Does this girl even have a gift?" said Malcolm harshly.
"That's not fair. I could feel the guy's bloodlust from way over here. Anyone would have lost to The Reaper. His gift is to strike fear into anybody he makes contact with" said Aoi.
"Zip it! Anyways let's announce his victory already. We all agree The Reaper's the winner right" said Malcolm confidently. Everyone inside the room went silent. "Answer! Let's vote and decide. The Reaper is clearly the winner here right" said Malcolm.
...
The silence made Malcolm furious. Nobody wanted to acknowledge The Reaper as the winner. "He accomplished the two stages of the first round. What's taking so long!?" he asked
"The Reaper's Gift is insane. Wait until the bitter end. Personally, I don't want that man to advance to the second round. He is far too dangerous. He might kill a couple of us before he leaves the island" said King Almon. Everyone else nodded in agreement. The thought of letting someone so terrifying advance simply means his victory is assured.
"I am doing this for Alisa's own good. I can't say why she isn't dead yet but her death is still assured" said Malcolm. With each second passing, Alisa lost a precious amount of blood. Even so, she still stared at the man hidden inside the Reaper. She came to the realization that this is one of her gifts. Sadly she figured that out too late. She could not help but close her eyes and rest with the wounds she received.
"Are you kidding? Now is when you choose to die. Why did it not happen sooner?" The Reaper complained.
Alisa opened her eyes just to see herself in an endless void. She looked around hoping to find an escape route but all she could see was pitch black. "I've been here before. Heck, I think I was here last week" said Alisa confused. Forgotten memories started to fill Alisa's mind. Memories of her isolation. Being alone for eight years has scarred her more than she realizes. Desperately wanting a friend to be with she created her own. Created a life form that she could consider a friend. "Lisa"
"Yo! Turn around," said a voice to Alisa.
Alisa turned around and saw a girl in a red and white uniform. She was the same height as Alisa, had blonde hair with a ponytail, eye patch covering her right eye while her left eye was red as roses. Alisa rubbed her eyes to make sure she's not hallucinating. The girl in front of Alisa was identical in almost every way.
"Why now? Of all the times for us to meet again. We have a lot to talk about. Like how you went on a tantrum and killed our mother" said Alisa.
"What are you talking about? I did no such thing"
"I just remembered. I gave you a name back when we were kids. Your name is Lisa" said Alisa. Lisa frowned as she told Alisa "It's dad! He's the worst. I told you this many times but you can't trust that man. He constantly alters your memories to how he sees fit. Do you really think you wanted to participate in this because you want your eye back? That's ludicrous. Dad is the one that manipulated you into thinking that" shouted other Alisa.
"That sounds familiar. It's like you've told me this a million times" said Alisa.
"Yes, I have. Anyways there's no point in talking about that now. Especially when we're dying" said the Other Alisa.
"Umm. What now? Could you fix this?" asked Alisa politely.
"That guy, you probably noticed by now but he can inflict fear on anyone he encounters. I am sure even if you manage to revive again you won't win" said Lisa confidently.
"Maybe. I am more aware of what my gift is more than ever before. We weren't talking but the Reaper and I were sending signals to each other" said Alisa.
"Signals? I think I know what you mean" Lisa said doubtfully. "I understand The Reaper's situation moments before I blacked out. Seems like he's being possessed somehow. Someone else is inside The Reaper and I bet he is the original owner of the body. It's very similar to us" said Alisa. Lisa sighed and reminded Alisa "I know very little about your gift. All I can say is that you created me from nothing as if you were God. I have a vague memory of when you manipulated life energy from plants too. Everything else about your power is a mystery to me and I prefer it to stay that way. Make sure to never tell anyone about the full extent of your gift, not even me. I am more than happy to fight your battles so you can be free".
"Free?"
Lisa changed the subject and said "The Reaper said he was going to shoot you in the head but instead he shot the tree. If what you said about him being possessed is true then perhaps The Reaper is having an inner battle. If you let me, I can take control of our body temporarily and end this mess for you"
Alisa jumped in Lisa's arms and cried nonstop. "You are the best. I was waiting for you to say that. I wish we could talk like this more often" she cried. "We're losing a lot of blood here. Let's stop wasting time" Lisa added. Alisa woke up a second later just to see The Reaper looking inside his briefcase.
Alisa took three quick steps then stopped. "So far so good. I'm not scared shitless" Lisa said to herself. The Reaper turned around shocked to hear Alisa's voice. "What's this!?"
"You are a weird one. I am starting to think that you are incapable of dying" The Reaper grinned.