Chapter 2

It's early in the morning. The sun is rising brightly in the eastern mountain, spreading its light in the white puffy clouds.

My hands tightly grip on the handle of the ax as I strike the wood I am chopping. Its breaking sound as the sharp edge of the ax lands on its surface mixes up with the chirping of the birds and crowing of the roosters. I stop, seeing that I have chopped enough firewood for a week. I throw the ax to the side and start to gather the chopped wood. Two meters away from me is the detached kitchen. It's built using bamboo and palm leaves. Beside it is a tall mango tree. That is where I am placing these chopped woods. This place is somewhat hilly and going down while carrying a bundle of woods will be a struggle. But not for me. My strong arms do not feel the weight of woods. That's an advantage of not being human. I am about to finish piling the woods when I hear a loud flapping sound. I tilt my head trying to receive the sound wave from the direction where it comes. As fast as a flash of lightning, I sense a flock of flying birds. It's as though they are agitated. Not only that. Footsteps. I can hear the crackling of the leaves under somebody's feet. The silent footsteps gradually speed up until it's almost a run.  Several noises are coming close. Now, I can tell that the invader is not alone. I go out of the kitchen and start sniffing. They are going in my direction. 

"I can't guess who my visitors are," I say with my usual facial expression.

I hurriedly turn towards my front yard. I can sense them getting closer. Suddenly, the wind blows and a pungent odor travels through my nostrils. Blood. One of the invaders smells bloody, and the other, I sniff intensionally. Gun powder.

"These people must be dangerous."

I don't want to be involved in their trouble. So, I decide to teleport before they see me but I did not go far. I am now standing on the branch of a high, big tree. I watch at them from the top without them noticing me. Goosebumps sprang over my arms as I watch the next thing that happened down. A skinny woman is being dragged by the hair, by one of the men. They look like goons. Another man hit her heavily and repeatedly with violent blows.

"Fuck are these ugly men!"

My conscience is striking deep down inside of me. How could these large men cruelly beat a helpless woman? I ask myself while gritting my teeth and clenching my fist. Heartless! I jump from the tree landing in the far back of them without noise. My fists are tucked into the pockets of my loose denim pants. I clear my throat to attract their attention. They stop beating the poor girl and turn to me. Surprise flashed across their faces. So ugly. I narrow my blue hazel eyes at them signaling a bit of bad luck.

"I'm afraid what you're doing isn't fair. Five huge and strongmen over one skinny woman wouldn't give a good fight." 

"Who are you!?"

The man with a chiseled face asks in a harsh tone. He faces me and gives me a 'who are you' look. His eyes were scanning me up and down.

One man is grabbing the girl's hair while throwing me a stern look. I itch to blow his craggy face.

"Please help me!" Cries the poor girl. She was kneeling on the ground and her hand is stopping the man from grabbing her hair but to no avail.

The three other men are facing me with their index fingers readily placed on the trigger of their long and shiny guns. 

"Leave the girl alone," I commanded them.

They looked at one another before bursting into boisterous laughter. The man who seems to be the leader talks while his shoulders are shaking and still laughing. 

"Who are you to tell us that huh!?"

"You little piece of shit! You wanna replace this useless woman?" The tall, thin, and hatchet-faced man says mockingly. 

"I will kill you all," I say in a low but audible voice. 

"We don't have time for you!" The other man says readying his gun. 

"Don't be so cruel," the other man stops his companion. "Why don't we give her an exciting game?" He winks his eyes at me with a devil's smile.

I pull my left hand out of my pocket and exercise my fingers. Their eyes amusingly nail on it as I do the small graceful movement. But not for long, because now I can feel my adorable and perfectly trimmed fingernails transforming into sharp claws. My lips curl into a devilish smile as I see the fright in their ugly faces. They all drop their jaws in awe. Including the girl who is still on the ground. Her teary eyes show panic. 

"Forgive me if this surprises you," I teasingly say. 

I raise my hand to the side, parallel to my shoulder, and pull out my right hand from my pocket. My sharp claws shine as the ray of sun strikes it. My eyes turn fiery. Like there is a fire in them. Well, that's no wonder, I came from the fire empire of Ehtrehto Edis. The Ignis Hella.

"Monster! You are a monster!"

Shout the man who has been readying to shoot me. He then, again, aim the weapon towards me but I am already in front of him touching his weapon with one hand before he can make a move. My other hand is on his neck, slightly strangling him.

"Well, I think you're a bit slow."

I try provoking him. I tighten my grip and bend the gun until it breaks. 

"Oops, sorry. Your weapon is now useless."

The man's eyes are widening in fear. My movements are so quick that he and the other men fail to react immediately. I abruptly snatch the wrecked gun and use it to hit the man's stomach making him bend in pain. Seeing this happen, the other four men start to react.

"Shoot her!" 

I hear the leader ordered his men. Their attention now is on me. So, the girl finds a way to hide between the big roots of the trees. The three other men start to shoot me but all their bullets miss to touch my skin as I quickly leap in all directions. A few moments later, I am already standing facing my back at them. Slowly, I turn my head sideward and softly chuckle. 

"Out of bullet?" I grin before facing them.

These once aggressive men now look terrified. Their knees are shaking and fear is very much obvious in them. 

"Don't worry, I've changed my mind. I won't kill you now." 

A faint light of hope twinkle in their eyes. They turn to see each other as if asking what's next to do. 

"But you have to be my slaves." 

I give them a bargain. I think that is a better option for them. Anyway, killing humans is not my line. 

"Slave? Who are you fooling!?"

The man with red hair shout and run to attack me. I did not try to escape, instead, I accept his powerful blow on my face. It tilts my face to the side. I taste blood on my lips. I wipe it with the back of my palm and my fiery eyes filled with rage. 

"Then die," I coldly say. 

The cornea of the eyes becomes narrow until it looks like a cat's eyes. I throw my right arms into the air with my claws ready to tear flesh. It lands on his face and a red warm liquid flushes out his torn flesh. 

"Ahhh! Fuck you witch!!!" He screams touching his wounded face with both hands.

The other men attack me simultaneously with kicks and punches but always miss. Not a single kick and punch from them landed my beautiful, soft skin. I kick one man in his abdomen making him vomit and throw a punch to the other two men in their faces. Considering my non-human strength, one kick and punch is enough for them to fall to the ground. Truth is, I can kill them with just a flip of my finger. But I won't. I still hope they would beg me for their lives. Maybe, I will just let them go away. 

They almost faint yet they manage to crawl away. Without seeing their remorse, I know I can't make them leave just like that. I am afraid that this encounter with them might spread throughout the town. My tranquil life might be at risk and I won't allow that to happen. So, even if I don't want to. I need to kill these assholes.

I open my palms and my claws shine like a sharp blade. I forcibly scratch the chest of the first man in my way and fresh blood gushes out of his body. I did the same to the other men. Blood keeps on gushing out with every contact of my claws to their bodies. Their screams are like curses to me. The smell of blood mixes up with the cold air. I was all bloody when I stop. My white tank and blue denim pants are filled with blood. My chest is panting not because of tiredness but unintentional excitement. I can't understand myself sometimes. I get monstrous sometimes and I hate to admit it.

I use my ability to teleport and now I stand in front of the shaking girl. Now that I stand face to face with her, I realized that she's no longer a girl but a woman. She seems so confused and unable to move. My claws are now going back to my normal form as well as my eyes. I swallow my saliva to moisten my drying throat. 

"Don't be scared of me. I won't hurt you." I say with assurance.

She slowly tries to stand up but yells in pain with her right leg. She fell back to the damp ground. 

"I…Uhmm, can I touch you?" I ask. 

She reluctantly nods. I walk the small space between us and carefully place my arms under her thighs and back. I carry her in my arms and as soon as I move my leg forward, the girl asks me.

"H-How about them?" Pointing to the dead men. Her voice is trembling.

"The wild animals will eat them," I answer her emotionlessly and continue with my pace. 

She remains quiet 'til we reach home.