Parking the car near the edge of an alleyway, Rize took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled. Her hands, still wrapped around the steering wheel, were slightly sweaty. This was going to be her first time doing something she knew was wrong—and the weight of that knowledge had been gnawing at her ever since she left the safe house.
The cold night air crept in through the cracked window. The engine hummed softly beneath her, a low, nervous rhythm matching her heartbeat. She sat there for a moment in the driver's seat, eyes closed, then opened them again—her decision made.
She could have gone back to the safe house. Sat there. Starved. Waited for Taskmaster to return... if he returned. For all she knew, he'd end up in jail or worse. And judging from the way he looked at her, he had a far worse version of her playing in his mind.
And no one could blame him for that.
Not after the things she did in that lab. The grotesque, inhuman things. It was a miracle he took her in at all.
Shaking the thoughts away, Rize pulled her hands off the steering wheel and shut off the engine. The silence that followed was almost comforting.
She opened the car door, stepped out, and stretched her limbs, bones cracking softly. Her fingers tugged at the black half-mask covering her face, adjusting it so it wouldn't fall off.
making sure it was secure.
Her eyes turned to the alley ahead dark, quiet, and reeking of rot.
She was ready.
Or at least, she thought she was ready.
Rize slipped through the manhole cover she had been searching for, the metallic clang echoing faintly behind her as she descended into the darkness. Her plan was simple desperate, maybe but simple.
In her previous life, she'd watched a YouTube video about marvel New York's underground dwellers the so-called Mole People. If her memory was right, they were an isolated population living in abandoned subway tunnels and forgotten corners beneath the city. And they were human... or close enough.
That sparked an idea, one that had been clinging to the back of her mind since she first escaped the lab: Was she limited to eating only humans? Or could she survive on... near-humans? Subhumans?
If the answer was yes if she wasn't restricted to feeding solely on human then these underground people could become her solution. A food source no one would miss. No news reports. No cops. No guilt.
Her lips curled slightly upward at the thought. The idea of never needing to eat another innocent person again brought a flicker of calm to her stormed mind. For the first time in a long while, her heart wasn't racing from fear or hunger it was hope. Twisted, maybe, but hope all the same.
She had been just a normal 19-year-old once. Just a girl. Then she was torn away, tortured, dismembered, rebuilt. Forced to consume flesh just to survive. The first time she fed, it was on the monsters who tormented her. That had felt right.
But after that?
Where would she find others she could justify killing? There were only so many evil people in the world… and not all of them deserved to be eaten.
So now, here she was walking deeper into the dark, damp underbelly of the city not out of cruelty, but survival.
Because monsters like her… didn't get the luxury of choosing the right thing.
As she moved deeper into the underground, Rize's eyes darted across the shadows, scanning every surface with laser focus. Her ears strained to catch even the slightest noise. The air was damp, thick with the scent of rust and mildew. The tunnels twisted and curved endlessly, some broken and crumbling, others leading to dead ends that wasted precious time. But none of it deterred her.
She'd come this far. She wasn't going to stop until she found something.
Her boots echoed softly against the concrete as she pressed on, deeper into the dark. Eventually, the path split into two tunnels one veering left, the other right. She paused, staring at both, weighing her options. After a moment, she turned left. She had a habit of choosing left over right. Instinct, maybe. Or superstition.
She stepped into the left tunnel.
Thump.
Rize froze mid-step, her body stiff. Her ears perked, waiting. Was that real? Or was her mind just playing tricks on her?
Thump.
There it was again.
Her lips curled slightly behind the mask. The sound wasn't from the tunnel she'd chosen. It came from the right one the path she didn't take.
She began walking backward, eyes still locked on the dark right tunnel. Her steps were measured as mixing with the clatter of metal and the shattering of what sounded debris. A fight. A messy one.
Which was perfect.
The more chaos, the more bodies. And the more bodies... the more food.
Rize couldn't help herself a crooked grin spread across her face, hidden only by her half-mask. The sweet taste of blood mixing with the warm flesh of the fallen. Her tongue darted out instinctively, licking along her lips even though the mask hid it. She couldn't help it.
She was already salivating.
Unconsciously, she pressed her fingers to the edge of her mask, tightening it.
And finally, she saw light.
She had reached the area where the sounds had come from. But as she stepped into the ruined space—walls cracked, debris scattered, and scorch marks burned into the concrete—her eyes scanned the scene with growing disappointment.
No bodies.No corpses.No sub-humans.No one.
Just silence... and blood.
Crimson stained the floor in thick smears and puddles, but that was it. No flesh to eat. No prey to tear into. Rize bit her lip in frustration as she stepped farther into the ruined chamber, her boots splashing through the sticky mess.
Then thud.
Something dropped from above, landing hard on the ground with a wet slap. Her head snapped toward the sound.
A person.
They were covered in blood from head to toe. Limbs trembling. Barely standing. But beneath all that crimson he wore white?
Rize didn't care. She didn't need to know who he was.
He was alone.
He was hurt.
And most importantly... he was edible.
Her grin slowly returned.
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I am sick so not chapter tomorrow.