There was a wicked smirk on Uche's porcelain-like face as he drove the knife deeper into Mira's body. Blood gushed from the wounds, pooling on the floor like water pouring from a burst pipe. His hands, trembling but persistent, were stained with blood, and Mira's black singlet was drenched in it.
Strangely, as he watched the blood flow, Uche couldn't quite describe the sensation coursing through him. It wasn't fear or regret. In fact, it felt disturbingly... nice.
'Is this how that bastard felt when killing his victims?'
He wondered, his breath quickening.
This was his first time doing something so brutal, so vicious, yet it didn't feel as horrifying as he'd imagined. He expected to feel disgust or guilt, but instead, there was something almost refreshing about it, a strange exhilaration that surged through his veins.
Uche looked up at the woman whose body he was riddling with stab wounds, expecting her to collapse or scream in agony, just like he had, whenever he got hurt been hurt. But nothing happened.
There was no scream, she didn't collapse, no sign of pain. A chill crept up Uche's spine as he noticed Mira's face. She wasn't grimacing in agony; no, she was smirking—her lips curled in a wide, eerie grin, eyes locked on his, with an unsettling calmness.
Fear shot through Uche's heart, he staggered backward, releasing his grip on the knife, which remained lodged in her abdomen. His pulse pounded in his ears as he tried to process what was happening. This wasn't what he expected at all.
'What the hell is going on?'
He thought, his mind reeling.
Mira stood there, her body riddled with gaping holes, blood seeping from her wounds. Yet she remained upright, as if nothing had happened. There was no pain in her eyes, no fear. Only that chilling smile.
"What the hell are you?"
Uche stammered, his voice shaky as he stumbled toward the door. His hand fumbled on the blue screen, trying to input the combination, but it continue blinking red, a sign that the correct combination was not inserted.
Mira tilted her head slightly, her voice calm but ice-cold.
"Don't bother. I already tampered with it."
Uche's heart raced, his hand shook as he pointed at her, not knowing what to say. His legs were trembling so badly that he could barely stand. She should have been dead—how was she still standing? And that smile... that terrible, knowing smile.
Without a word, Mira reached down and pulled the knife from her abdomen. She tossed it aside casually, as if it were a mere inconvenience. Uche watched in horror as her wounds—deep, gory slashes—began to close. Before his eyes, the flesh knitted itself back together at an unnatural speed. In moments, her skin was smooth again, save for the bloodstains on her tattered singlet, the only evidence she had been stabbed.
"You're a Connect?"
Uche blurted, his voice hoarse with fear.
Mira's smirk softened into a more casual, almost friendly smile.
"Well, if that's how you want to put it."
The transformation in her demeanor was unnerving. One moment, she had been a terrifying figure, bloodied and unkillable, and now she sat back, calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. Her once-dangerous aura had evaporated, replaced by something far more serene, almost charming. Uche's thoughts raced as he struggled to comprehend what was happening. He had never encountered anyone like her before.
"Come on now," she said, gesturing to a large, comfortable chair across from where she had seated herself. "Don't just stand there. Sit down. Let's talk."
Uche hesitated, his mind still trying to wrap around the fact that this woman—this thing—had just survived multiple stab wounds, and now, she's acting as if nothing had happened.
He didn't trust her, he couldn't, she had nearly killed him moments ago, claiming that she was something he couldn't understand. If he hadn't had his own... peculiarities, he would have been dead. And yet, here she was, smiling at him as though they were old friends. It was all too much.
'How did she tamper with my lock?'
He thought, his eyes darting between her and the door.
'I didn't even see her move toward it after she came in. Did she hack it somehow? Has she been stalking me this whole time?'
'At least, that explained how she got in earlier without me inputting the combination.'
Now it was starting to make sense to him, the fact that she had came to his aid twice simply means, she couldn't afford seeing her kind got treated rashly by the humans.
The realization hit him like a freight train. She had gotten involved with those organ traffickers because of him. He was the reason she had infiltrated their circle. But her motives were still unclear.
Mira, observing his hesitation, sighed and leaned back in her chair.
"I see you're still wary of me, but I'm not your enemy, I'm not a monster."
He didn't respond, though the thought running through his head was a sardonic.
'Not a monster, huh? That's funny.'
Mira continued, her voice steady and calm.
"Look, I'll be honest with you. You already know I'm a Connect, so I won't waste time with unnecessary details. You must be wondering why I keep saving you, why I keep coming to your aid. But, I think I don't need to explain that as you might have already guessed."
"Now tell me, what are your goals? What's your deal with those people?"
Uche said from his position by the door, trying to make his voice cold as ever.
Mira paused, her expression turning thoughtful.
"How do I even start. I don't know what happened that day, but as I was making my research as always, I saw something that caught my attention. I saw a strange post online. Someone asking if anybody knows about the Urban Legend Connect. I clicked on the post and saw so many articles that people had dropped under the comment section, curious, I hopped onto the person profile and found out that he's a surgeon.
I sent him a direct message that I'll like to collaborate with him on his research on this subject. I was ignored at first, but eventually, I was somehow accepted to collaborate with him. But it's more like a contract, because I paid them hugely."
Uche listened intently, his mind processing the information. Mira leaned forward slightly, her voice lowering.
"With my goals being different from theirs', I peeked into their affairs and found out they're organ traffickers. They accidentally discovered a Connect, whom they had lost during a surgery. Realizing that they might have lost a vault full of gold, they started searching for the Connect, and that's how I found out about you."
Mira explained, but Uche thought about it for a while, so she had really gotten involved with them because of him, and she had learned about him through them.
'Interesting, so she really had no relationship with those guys.'
He thought, throwing furtive glance at her, although, Uche is not ready to Vu her, and wanted to press her for more satisfying answers, but looking at her, he don't know what to say.
"After learning about you, I observed you for a while and found out that you know nothing about our kind, you seemed to be in total darkness, I don't know why or how it came to be, but I decided to watch you more, waiting for the best time to approach you. And now, I think it's time I explained everything to you."
Mira said.