"Elian, save me!"
Elian gasped the moment he opened his eyes, the cry for help echoing in his head.
He sat up, glancing around as memories of the last few horrible minutes of his life came rushing back to him. He took in a deep, shaky breath, wondering if this was what death felt like.
But if he was dead, why did the afterlife look like a destroyed version of Destitropolis?
Was this hell?
As he glanced around, something caught his eye.
At the far corner of the wrecked room, a torn, ragged piece of cloth with a flowered pattern flapped in the breeze coming from the massive hole where the door used to be. He would know that dress pattern anywhere.
It was Fiona's.
But wait!
If that was Fiona's dress, does it mean…..
His thoughts started to trail off.
He couldn't bring himself to look at it or go closer. If he saw his mother's and sister's bodies again, he would go loose. He knew it.
This had better be the afterlife.
Elian forced himself to stand on shaky legs. Like an old man, he shuffled further into the exposed space of their living room.
Then he froze. The dismembered body of all that was left of his mother was lying close to the wall where she had been killed in a pool of congealing blood.
Like a slap, it hit him.
If his mother's body was still there and he had somehow woken up in a place that looked exactly like their home, it only meant one thing.
He wasn't dead.
Elian's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees.
But wait!
If he wasn't dead, how was he alive?
And worse, how was he walking without pains?
He touched himself. His hands slowly travelled over his body. He winced, expecting to feel pain as he touched his abdomen. But there was none, not even a little.
But how was that even possible?
The bird creatures had attacked him. Their vicious beaks had sunk into his flesh, making him bleed. There was even blood on his shirt to prove it!
With unsteady hands, he lifted his bloody shirt to look at his stomach. His skin was as smooth as it had been when his mother had woken him up. Not even a scratch was at the spot where the bird's beak had sunk in.
Elian gasped and felt shivers run down his spine. Was he dreaming? Or was he crazy? Did the collectors hit him too hard in the head?
If it was a dream, his family was safe. But even his biggest delusions could not cover the body of his mother on the ground. The air around him was thick, blood smelt everywhere, and it all looked too real.
Deep down, he knew the truth. He was still alive. Somehow.
He raised his head to the sky he couldn't see and thought of whatever power or force was up there.
"Kill me!" he shouted so loudly it felt like his vocal cords would burst from the force of it. "Kill me now! If you brought me back, you can kill me. I don't want this... life."
A horribly familiar sound made him snap his head back up. Moving very slowly, he turned in time to see one of the bird creatures softly land in front of him.
So he was alive. The creature just proved it.
Its beak opened, letting out a terrible screech. Elian stared at it without flinching. He was no longer afraid. Whatever being he had just prayed to must have sent this creature to finish him off.
For the first time, the thought of death brought him relief. His lips moved soundlessly as he prayed to join his mother and sister in the afterlife. The bird took a couple of steps towards him.
With its scaly face inches from Elian, it screeched again and opened its beak wide. Elian rushed through the rest of his prayer and closed his eyes.
BANG!
The sudden sound of a gunshot forced Elian to open his eyes.
He flinched and fell backwards in shock. He tried to wipe his eyes as a figure, holding a gun and moving almost too fast for him to follow, darted past him. The figure crouched and aimed at the creature.
The creature's screech blended with the sound of another gunshot. Then, again and again, the figure continued to shoot at it.
The bird slowly started taking steps back as the shooter stalked it. The shooter abruptly stopped and aimed at its head. With another earsplitting screech, the bird spread its wings, flew away and soared into the air just as the bullet tried and failed to hit it.
Elian lay shivering, surprised that the creatures could be scared off or injured. When he fought one of them, its skin and feathers felt hard like stone.
A thought flitted into his mind: Maybe if he had a gun, his family would be alive now.
The shooter straightened and walked toward him. Elian felt his jaw drop.
Staring down at him was a girl, but not just any girl. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She had straight red hair that fell to her waist, dark blue eyes, and a slender figure.
Her skin was clear and bright. Though a little sunburned, it didn't have the dullness that those living in Destitropolis had. She wore clothes and high boots made with some kind of leather.
With a gun in one hand and two swords, one in her waist belt and one at her back, Elian thought she looked like an avenging angel sent to save him.
He was still staring at her when her voice snapped him back to the present.
"Do you have a death wish, or are you some kind of imbecile?" she asked harshly.
Elian blinked and struggled to sit up. It was hard to do since his limbs were still trembling.
"Tha…that was cool," he stammered, not sure what he was saying but feeling the need to speak anyway. The girl apparently thought he was an idiot. She must have seen him do nothing when the creature was about to attack him. "Thank you for-"
"Why were you screaming?" the girl cut in. She gestured vaguely at the hole in the wall. "Don't you know those creatures are drawn to noise?"
Elian shook his head but realized what she said made sense. He remembered the creatures attacking him, then flying off after the explosion.
"I didn't know that, but I hoped my screams would draw them to me and-
"So you do have a death wish." The girl shook her head. She didn't sound surprised at all. In Destitropolis, it was common for people, tired of the terrible conditions they had to live in, to put an end to their lives. "I should have just let that thing eat you instead of wasting my bullets."
She spun the gun expertly in her fingers and tucked it into her belt.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…..make you waste your bullets." He took in her clothes. At second glance, he could see rips, discolourations and tears in the material as though she had a hard time and had battled her way to him. "You sure seem to need it."
To the girl, Elian's apology fell flat. She glared at him, kicked away one of her spent bullets with the toe of her boot, then said, "If you still want to survive, you better get out of here. More of those things will be coming."
She turned and, in another moment, was gone, leaving Elian more confused than he had ever been in his life. He looked around at the destroyed house that was once his home.
He couldn't keep living here. There were no other family or friends he could go to. If he stayed here for much longer, those creatures would surely come back and kill him. While he had welcomed death just a few minutes ago, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to die now.
Besides, getting saved from death twice in one day had to be some kind of sign, wasn't it?
Elian scrambled to his feet, his legs slipping a little in the shards of glass and cheap, broken furniture littering the floor. His heart felt heavy with every step he took away from the house and the bodies of his loved ones.
Those creatures couldn't even let him bury his family.
He needed to figure out what happened to him and how he survived without any scars or injuries. He couldn't pretend nothing bizarre happened but to get answers, he needed to stay alive. And the girl that just saved him knew something about the monsters.
He broke into a run when he got outside and didn't see the girl at first. Then he spotted her turning a corner of the dirty street.
"Hey!" he called, still careful not to call out too loudly. In the distance, he could still hear the screeches and cawing of those monsters. "Hey. Wait for me."
The girl must have heard him because the street was deserted, but she didn't stop or turn. She just kept walking on.
Finally, Elian caught up with her.
"Hey," he panted, almost out of breath. "I've been calling you."
She stopped and turned to face him with a glare, her gun aimed at Elian's head.
"Why are you following me?" she asked coldly. "Do you want me to kill you?"