It's a new day! I take a whiff of the air, just as I remember. The smell of blood in the air filled my lungs making my heart thump with excitement. If the world has really gone like this then my dream was not a dream and I am really headed for a hard life of a blackened soul with little regard for my own life.
For an inexplicable reason my grandpa's kind smile entered my mind and his last words rang in my ear. 'You are not alone, you are loved. Do not associate yourself with people who treat you badly.'
"Don't worry grandpa I will definitely not wrong myself in this life." I will start by using my power on my body early this time.
Although I can turn items into toys, I can also solidify or crystallize living things but the process is very painful. Imagine blood vessels, tendons and muscles turning solid while you are able to feel every minute of the transformation.
It is simply torture but there's a benefit to me doing this. I am able to strengthen my body with this. I had discovered this feature of my power too late in the last life so I will see what will happen if I am given time to use it. I tape my mouth shut and start from the feet up the hip and all the fay to my torso.
The process is alternated between upper body and lower body through out the day after taking the powder with water. My muscles are repeatedly tempered becoming stronger and more flexible.
I had done this for four months in my last life but my body had become faster, my bones were stronger and even though my skin was still soft to the touch, if one tried to puncture it there is a feeling of resistance. If I can do it from the start mybe I can compete with the wolf clan in terms of body strength.
I stayed in my house surrounded by screaming neighbors at night and an eerie silence during the day. I continue with the same self torture until one day a knock sounded at the door. I open to find five people all carrying weapons looking like a fierce group of survivors.
Little kids survived four days and suddenly they think they are tough. I yawn lazily in my pajamas holding a baby size panda teddy.
Their eyes roamed my clean and unaffected form. Here they are suffering from hunger and unscrupulous roommates.
I on the other hand am slightly startled when seeing Aang here. I am glad my face is already showing signs of becoming a different face from the one in my memories. The similarities between us is still there and can be seen ata glance but it is no longer glaringly obvious.
After my routine, I am taller, with visible small muscles under my clothes.
"May I help you with something?" I asked them after I finished concluding they are no threat to me.
After being dazed for a while, a young man came forward. "This friend, we are going around looking for survivors so we can put together food so we can all wait for the authorities to send a rescue. If you still have some, our brothers haven't had a bite in days." The one to speak seems very confident about himself as if he was born to shine throughout his life.
"Are you guys distributing food? Good, I was about to lose my mind with hunger. Give here if you have collected some so far." I flash them a bright smile. Their expressions turned ugly in an instant after hearing I don't have food.
"Then do you mind us coming inside to check for ourselves? If you want us to believe you and maybe share our food with you then you should be very honest." The same young man with black short hair said with authority.
I look at them with a frown. "You guys stink. My house smells like lilies, only one person can come in and the rest must stay out here." I say with my hands covering my nose in disgust.
"No we all come in or no one goes in." Another one wearing a vest showing an apple tattoo on the side said with aggression.
"Alright I see what is happening here. Since it is my apartment then I decide that no one comes in." I say and attempt to close the door but the boy who was closer to the door held the door. They turned to me and started threatening me.
"There's five of us, if you don't want to play nice we will teach you how to behave." The one to speak is a girl holding an axe probably from the fire escape. After looking at her I see that she is just trying to transfer the title of 'the weakest' on to me, the new comer.
"Tell you what.." I threw away the panda teddy in my hands and a pair of gleaming long daggers came to view. I open the door wide and stood in the middle. "Anyone able to get passed me can come inside my apartment." The smile is still on my face but now it seems to be full of bloodlust.
Everyone's expression changed when they saw this, it turns out the lazy expression from before was just a façade. Tilting my head I look at the girl "How about you cute girl? Wanna give it a try?" The girl took a step back when our eyes met. "How about you tough guy? there's just one of me after all." I repeated their words.
"Look, we are not here to start a fight. It has just been very hard for all of us. But since you have weapons how about we go clear the kitchen and the warehouse where the restaurant food is kept?" The one who was first to speak suddenly made this proposal.
I sneered at his words. "When they were clamoring to enter my house by force I didn't hear your glib tongue persuading them to stop. Take your group and fuck off from here before I lose my temper." The smile is gone from my face.
"Didn't you say you don't have food? There is even a night club here with alcohol." That got a rise out of me. The one with an apple tattoo saw it and pressed "My name is Huo Chen, this situation is not getting better and we are all a little frustrated. Forgive my earlier aggression, there are two types of people in this chaos, and we needed to know which one are you."
I pretend to understand his explanation and the coldness in my eyes receded. After all I am trying to live like a good little villain. "I see, If we settle the creatures can we start in the bar? I could really use a smoke." The others looked at each other feeling like this brother is not very bright. He wants to smoke instead of eating.
"My name is Wei Lin we should probably start with food so we can have enough energy to fight the large numbers in the club." The confident one from before spoke trying to reason with me.
"Oh I see. But if I don't get a smoke first I may not differentiate between friends and enemies in the heat of battle. My blades are sharp." I say looking at him with an eerie smile.
The girl took out a small box of expensive looking smokers and my gaze towards her immediately softened. I walked to her and put my arm around her. The long blade resting on her shoulder. Her eyes widened at the speed I just displayed.
"This cute sister, I'll listen to you. Let me go change into something appropriate and I will go where you tell ge to alright?" I smile a fawning smile stunning all of them. Before they can react I am in the house going to change. I didn't forget to close my door and lock it.
"You have smokers this entire time? Class monitor is still class monitor." After they have seen me disappear into the house for a while, Lu Aang suddenly spoke easing the tension.
Bai Ming looked at them all as their gaze turned toward her direction with meaning. Before she could speak Wei Lin walked towards her. "Tell him to go to the warehouse first." He all but commanded her.
She didn't say anything in response but he assumed she would do what he said. That is because Bai Ming has always had a deep crush on him even in school which he never reciprocated and pretended to not see.
This group of five is made out of the guy with an apple tattoo on his shoulder Huo Chen, A guy who is like a follower of Wei Lin called Yue, Bai Ming a girl Lu Aang they were here to catch up after being apart for a long time but they couldn't come out of the VIP room in the restaurant for three whole days.
I came out wearing dark green boots and leather pants with a black jacket zipped up over my neck. I put a mouth mask incase blood splatters on my face. My head is covered with a small hat that can be found everywhere downtown.
"Okay, what's your name?" I ask taking a cigarette and lighting it up. She answered me and then introduced everyone.
"Good stuff. Does mommy know you're out here smoking with the likes of me?" I flesh her a smile as we walk towards the staircase.
"We should use the lift. The stairs are filled with creatures." Mo Yue told me.
"The fifth floor has the kitchen so I think we should go there first. Even if we make if out of the warehouse we will need the kitchen to cook." Bai Ming said to me and I nodded.
"But we agreed..." Yue started to say but I shot him a look that say 'I didn't agree.'
"So what's you wana eat so much?" I asked the girl who looks to be in deep contemplation. She is about to answer when Wei Lin spoke
"We should split up to cover more ground. Others will go to the ware house while the rest goes to the kitchen." He continued in this commanding tone.
"You are trying to take all the food from the warehouse because you have a space power with you. Am I right?" Bai Ming asked Wei Lin who only smirked at her.
I continue smoking amidst their bickering. "We agreed to go to the warehouse together, why change the plan?" Wei Lin said.
"That plan is stupid if we don't have a place to cook the food." She said in frustration.
I started walking towards the staircase without them noticing and only a closing door alerted them.
As soon as I entered a vampire jumped at me. I brandished my two long knives and heads rolled on the ground in succession. My progress has not been slow these few days because of how hard I was going at it.
The infected are not thick of skin but they are just very ferocious and fast. As long as you can keep up it is not hard to win against them. That is not to say I am unscathed.
My jacket is scratched with sharp nails and some even managed to bite my jacket in the shoulder but I had stabbed it on the head killing it. These infected are not like the real blood clan members who will be fine after a bullet to the head.
One had hid behind the crowd and surprised me with a swipe to my face. I waved my blade cutting off the hand with a clean swipe.
My body is no longer the same as before. I am at least 6 inches taller. My previously petite and beautiful face has now become sharper and my features are moving away from the word 'beautiful' to handsome. The one thing that remains the same with Aang is our light brown almond shaped eyes and the full red lips.
I love my current body better than before. The arm strength is superb when coupled with a sharp blade so although there were close calls here and there, I walked down the staircase with 15 shiny blood red crystals. They are half a thumb big and not as powerful as the mana core from a ghoul, but they are useful nonetheless.
At 11th floor I already have 42 blood crystals but my luck has just ran out because I am face to face with my first ghoul. It's mouth opened slightly releasing a trail of drool on the floor. If this thing bites me I may run the risk of beeing infected.
The infected vampires rarely infect people but once they take a bite they won't let go until you are sucked dry of all your blood. I changed my weapon to a shotgun when I saw another two crawling my way.
I took one blood crystal and fed it to my shotgun. My toys are fun like that, they can eat energy from mana core or blood crystals and their power will become supernatural.
I need to use my mana to rechard my toys otherwise it wouldn't work. My toys are very fussy and must be fed by me.
I aimed and shot the chest of the one in front of me. It seems I missed because It's stomach now has a giant whole and it is still walking my way. The sound of its stomach bits falling on the ground makes my own stomach churn.
I shot at it again with another shot gun and it fell on the ground this time with all signs of life disappeared. The last shot made my clothes dirty with blood and all kings of small body meat from the ghoul.
The other two didn't stop I took another gun and aimed, this one turned the head into paste.
What should have been brain matter stayed stuck on the wall while the body fell with a 'dud' sound. I repeated the action since it will bealive as long as that mana core is still in the chest.
There's no time to celebrate I took out a pistol with 9 rounds and fed it a crystal. I shot the last one three times before it fell on the ground. I began the task of looking for the mana cores.
I got out of the staircase in floor 10 covered in blood and gore. The visual is bad but the thing that makes people sick is the smell of rotten flesh mixed with heat. I had crystallized the corpses essentially cleaning up the scene behind me.
My power will crystallize an object and then miniaturize it to fun size. There is still blood and some gore from the scenes but the bodies are all missing. I threw them out side the window.
Then I started taking off my clothes. And throwing them outside the window as well. When the group finally found me I am wearing sox, briefs and an underwear.
My body is not too skiny I have compact muscles and even a mermaid line. My chest is wide enough and my legs are long enough. Seeing them I walked towards the girl and asked for a smoker.
Trying to avoid my eyes she gave me a single. I lit it and took out a jam suit from my collection and started wearing it. They all stood there watching me with some vigilance.
"What happened after you took the stairs?" They looked at the blades covered in black blood. My hair and some part of my face still covered in blood.
"Well, I got annoyed listening to you bickering so I went to meet the creatures and made it to 10 floor but then three ghouls came for me." I spoke zipping myself up and then I put on some shoes.
"You have space?" Wei Lin asked seeing clothes appearing out of nowhere.
"No, I can turn big things small and carry them anywhere." I deny having space because it will create problems for me.
.....