Her jaw dropped open, fingers on bones. They clattered, and rolled down a hill of thousands of broken bodies. And she sat upright, horrified as her vision cleared. She was back at where she started, on a hill of dead bodies. Her pulse thundered in her head as she surveyed her surroundings. The smell of rot burning in the back of her throat. The remains of decaying flesh squelching between her fingers.
What the fuck?
A cry had her shuddering to life, adrenaline pumping through her system. Float spun free, a hiss of stark endless blue. And it sang before her, thrumming in her ears. Then a warning system pulsated, radar shuddering with thousands of red dots. She squinted into the distance.
FUCK!
There were monsters in the horizon, and they stalked forward, roaring and screaming as if they'd been roused, as if someone had woke them all from slumber. The Lonely were unnaturally angry, rage hissing through each slippery limb as they charged straight towards her like a horde of wild beasts, broken beings of oozing darkness and wide-open eyes that leaked with inky tears. They surged forward like an enormous cloud of death.
She flailed, tripping over the bodies, struggling to get out of the way. But her crawl was slow, and she tripped over the dead. Her fingers dragged across the system, begging for a weapon, for something to protect herself. It whistled, electricity lining her palm. She could slice through two with her dagger. Ten would be a challenge. But hundreds? That would be a feat meant for a God. She cursed.
They'd thrown her out. Her memories searched for the very last image, bracing herself. Elysian had sent her to a factory to die. Zen had thrown her out into the pit. Yet again, they had wanted her dead. They wanted her gone. Quinn had done nothing but played by their fucking rules. She'd been obedient, a decent worker in society. She had kept her head down. She had been good!
And once again, men had decided that she was destined for death.
Tears pinched at the back of her throat, a rush of vinegar coating her tongue. She shouldn't have trusted any of those fucking Omegas! She should have fought harder to escape, should have gone further. She should have ran. But God, Quinn was naïve had stayed in No Man's Town because Quinn wanted people. She had wanted friends, a partner, someone to take care of. Her eyes grew wet with tears.
She had wanted someone to love.
A dagger of blue rushed free, emerging in her palm. The Lonely were coming, and they roared, racing up the hill of bones. The first one was easy and old, its head lobbed off with a flash of her hissing knife. The next was harder, her body having long lost its ability to fight. And she had to work her muscles, ripping through broken sinews and bone.
She was tired, so damn fucking tired.
Quinn screamed when limbs slammed into her, a startled breath escaping her throat. She was scrambling to her feet, blood colouring her tongue as the Lonely before her shrieked. Pain whistled through her as she ran, barefoot and clad in only sheets over the bodies of the dead. The monster charged forward, jaws open, mouth ready to take a good heavy chunk of her flesh.
She turned, then kicked, feet digging deep into its mouth. Its fangs sank into her flesh, a deep wound across her ankle. Her muscles tore, ligament snapping as her flesh was split open. And Quinn roared. The pain came like an afterthought, rushing through like a fog of burning ice.
But Float was there, burning at the base of her heel, slicing open its jaw, dislodging bone. The monster hovered, blood splattering over her as teeth fell and rot spilled from its throat. Its eyes were oddly human when it fell dead at her feet. And her eye darted to the wound, to what should be the end of her ability to run, biting back a guttural inhumane shriek that bubbled in her throat.
The pain was there, but the shock lingered. And it continued to burn through his veins, allowing her to wrench herself free from the beast, trying to escape. For another was rushing forth, snapping teeth lunging for her throat.
Her fingers caught at its mouth just before it killed her, and she noted its search towards her chest—It wanted her heart, like all of them did. She pulled, held onto the muzzle, tears in her eyes. The bones of her leg pressed white hot upon wounded nerves.
But still she sank her body weight onto her injured feet for more leverage, screaming as she braced herself against her wounds. The pain was so vibrantly molten, it caused nausea to tremble in her guts and spill from her lips.
The ink of the monster's saliva splattered across her face, just as blood pooled down her feet. It's tongue lashing out over her skin, trying its best to eat her alive. She was shuddering, breath escaping her in shallow pants.
But the beast was far too strong, and it thrashed, hissing as her weapons did nothing to its heavy fur-covered body. Float stuttered to life and died again and again, unable to stay strong enough to slice him open with her fading strength. Her eyes snapped to the incoming crowd, crawling up the hill, closing in on her. Her arms grew weaker, the Lonely snarled, lips closing tight around her neck.
Then there was the heat.
There was gunfire, and the being exploded in her hands. The burn of the attack was hot against her face as its body shattered into thousands of pieces. Quinn stared as the monsters fell before her, eyes widening as the sound of a whistle pierced through the silence.
An Omega army.
A crowd of soldiers were rushing forward in the shadows, weapons raised. And in the darkness, she saw the fluttering wings of fey, the eyes of wolves, and the glistening fangs of vampires. There was gunshots and swords, and Quinn stumbled, trying her best to hide. She collapsed to her knees.
But that didn't matter because she was scooped up into the air, held against the light of the moon in the arms of an Omega.
An Omega with the smell of cookies.
He was none of that cheap store-bought over-sugared shit. But buttery; toffee-like at the edges and all caramel. The sort of baked goodness that transitioned from crispy to chewy and then to a most gooey centre. The sort of cookie with pockets of oozing melting chocolate like warm velvet and syrup, dipped into a glass of the creamiest milk.
And the only colour that her eyes saw in the shadows of clouds, was the flicker of red pupils that shivered and danced. A slit through the centre transformed into dilating pupils, that grew until all she saw was honey and chocolate.
The Omega was masked, lips concealed to reveal only his eyes, with a head of inky black hair. And he was huge. He held her up as if she weighed nothing, carried her in his arms as if she were the most precious of goods. He could see her in the dark, and she knew he could with the way his glowing eyes darted over her face.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
And his voice was soft and gentle, bell-like as it sang through the air. His fingers tightened over her skin. His body was warm, and her chest filled with something strange. A shudder and her vision clouded with tears, nose burning as a small cry erupted from her lips.
The Omega seemed apologetic, a soft purr on his lips. It vibrated from him, a gentle hum that curled up her spine. "F-fuck, your legs. They don't look too good." There was an apology burning in his voice, an edge of regret as if he was the one who'd done her wrong. "I'm so sorry I was late."
"W-who are you?" she managed to spit out through her pain.
"Z," he answered, his voice grew warmer. "You're safe now," he assured, his eyes grew almost doe- as he nodded quickly. He took her higher and then they were in the sky, soaring over the clouds. His arms were around her waist. "You're safe with me."
The darkness came to her with his eyes burning in her dreams.
A/N: Read ahead on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/tinyeyecat