Beautiful Vengeance

Chapter Three – Road to Reality

"Good morning," Melise greeted jovially, despite the grogginess and the difficulties of sleeping in a different time zone. A cup of strong coffee would fix that. She spotted the early morning activities in the city, below the sunlit balcony where people were doing their morning exercises or dressed up in formal suits walking down the streets.

"Morning," Grey replied vaguely, watching the morning news very closely. His hair was untidy and rough like a typical bachelor living alone in a city, but he did not seem to care at all. Melise couldn't stand those types.

She looked through the kitchen cabinets and refrigerators to find nothing safe enough to eat. "Err- would you mind if I went out for a walk a bit? I mean, there's--" She asked, tying her hair up into a bun with a maroon ribbon. Grey stiffened his back.

"You know it's not safe for you," he cut her off almost instantly, his emotionless face lined with concern. Melise let out a disgruntled sigh. "Anything can happen in a place like this…..but if you could manage--"

"I'll be just fine," Melise replied lightheartedly, taking a cell phone Grey handed her.

"If anything happens…you know what to do." He advised her one last time as Melise set
off for the busy streets of the diverse utopia.

The bustling streets full of cars and taxi cabs in an early morning like this wakened her to the new atmosphere. People jogged, tottered, walked or rode past Melise, who was fascinated.

Let's see….She murmured, looking at the scrap of paper she wrote her shopping list on before she left. It seemed impossible to find a grocery store in these intersecting rows of buildings and streets.

After about 30 minutes of walking and searching, Melise gave up with tired mind and body. She sighed and sat down on the steps of an old warn down building, watching the cars speed past by, as if their life was shortened half and still had too much work to do. She buried her head into her arms, shutting everything out her mind for a while. Just then, an unknown sensation crept through her body, eventually reaching her head and eyes. She stood up, staring quizzically at her hands. Just than, her eyes slowly followed a dark figure disappearing into a dirty alley across the street.

Instinctively, without hesitation, she sprinted after the mysterious figure across the street, where the cars have stopped for the traffic light. With her dark maroon trench flying behind her, the darkness devoured her along with the strange man.

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Bleep bleep bleep!The little alarm went off on the identical cell phone Grey gave to Melise before she set off for a walk. "Service disconnected…?" He murmured, looking at the signal he received from the GPS. That shouldn't be possible…. unless that girl got into a serious pitfall. "Damn," he murmured and ran out the door grabbing his jacket.

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Melise leaned against a wall, looking down the dirty alley. She gasped her aching lungs for air. Whatever the man was up to, he had something to do with the strange sensation that happened earlier. Now she had lost him, and it was practically impossible to encounter him again. Then, the odd feeling came back flushing into her head again. She looked around, catching the sight of the same dark figure sprinting across the alley just a few yards from her. Melise furrowed her eyebrows and chased after him.

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Grey swore out loud as the traffic light caught him again. Wherever the girl was, she couldn't be much far away. Just then, he felt a strange telepathic sensation running through his body…the same feeling he had when Rina…. was killed. He was gripped in sudden sadness and fear that tortured his whole body when suddenly, an image floated into his mind. It was Melise…and she was running or rather, chasing after something. She was in a long stretch of an alley, and somehow he knew exactly where it was. It was as if he temporally was programmed with exact locations of all the places on earth. He pulled his car up to a vacant sidewalk, and started off for the identical alley he saw in his head.

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"Who are you?" Melise asked quietly, as she stood in front of the ominous man who stood motionless at a dead end. Melise felt a strange aura flowing in the area.

"Little girl, this world is full of filth-headed animals meant only for killing each other. But I've never…felt a being as clean and innocent as yours." The man huffed, as if he had difficulty talking. Melise stared, perplexed by the mysterious statement.

"What…. do you mean?" she asked meekly.

"I have taken the sin filled souls all my life, trying to make the best out of this world they have ruined…but I have failed. And you…. your soul will finally finish this horrible task I've been given to." The man paused, and turned to face Melise. His eyes were filled with hatred and vengeance like she'd never seen before. She stepped back, unable to say anything. His glare alone was horrifying.

"Does that mean…" Melise stammered. She began to feel something get drained out of her body…as if she was falling asleep.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"Bellowed a familiar voice, and Melise snapped out of near-unconsciousness. Grey appeared by her side, shielding her.

"Grey how did you…?" She mumbled, feeling hazy as if she was falling into a strangecoma.

"Stay back," He replied decisively, and aimed something what looked liked a gun. Melise closed her eyes and felt the sensation again…even stronger this time. She turned to face the man who was furiously glaring at Grey, about to attack him again like he did with other countless lives.

A strange shock of energy escaped from Melise's eyes, and collided with the man. He staggered in surprise, and began to crumble away into ashes. Melise and Grey stared at a mound of gray ash, blowing away like thick smoke into the air.

"Let's go." Grey beckoned silently, turning away from the remains of a once- living man. Melise nodded and followed him.