《My Dying World》


 Chapter 1 - How Does It Feel?

    It had been such a rookie mistake. I should have known that the floor wasn''t in good condition and that it would creak if I took a step. I really should have also known that the person, no, monster downstairs would instantly know.


    The footsteps downstairs stopped. I could feel my heart beating in my chest furiously, my hands shaking as I widened my eyes in horror at the traitorous foot to which I had applied a sliver too much weight.


    The footsteps downstairs suddenly resumed, and I knew they were heading towards the stairs, and therefore, towards me. He had heard. He had heard me. How he had heard such a small, insignificant sound was beyond me, but he had heard.


    Despair filled every bone in my body as my mind turned blank. My body refused to stop shaking as I clutched desperately at my only saving grace, a small, dirty and torn plushie of a dolphin that I hugged desperately to my chest as dark memories flashed in my mind.


    I tried my best to repress my memories and focus on the moment, and yet, a small part of me had already given up. Although, that wasn''t completely accurate. Every part of me had given up.


    I remembered as I was torn out of my mother''s embrace by those monsters. I couldstillhear her screams as she begged and screamed at them to stop, I could still feel my own tears and screams as I cried for my mother''s name, begged for her life.


    Of course, it was all in vain. My tears did not stop those monsters from brutally raping her in front of my own eyes, from torturing her to death right in front of her daughter, from pulling out her entrails as a sacrifice to their gods.


    My whole body shook at the all-too-clearmemories still etched in my mind, despite the decade that had passed since then. The only remaining thing that could remind me of my mother, the small plushie in my hand, became the last anchor for my mind, the last spark of hope in this moment of tragedy.


    The footsteps came closer and closer. My small sanctuary of peace and happiness defiled by the presence of one of those monsters, and as he opened the door to the room, I felt the already overwhelming despair grip me in its dark claws even tighter.


    I could try to escape, but that wasn''t going to work. I was too weak, too slow to do anything but hiding and hope for him to leave. How could I hope to compare to a grown, adult man who actually hadfood to eat, while I could count myself lucky if I could find even a small piece of bread in a week?


    The footsteps slowly approached my hiding spot inside the dirty closet. At that moment, the world felt as though it had frozen over, each instant feeling like an eternity.


    And that was when the monster grabbed my neck.


    He tore me out of my hiding spot as I tried to scream, but his death grip on my throat prevented me from doing any such thing. I tried to fight back, but his fist in my stomach forced me to wheeze out any air in my lungs.


    His savage laughter as he threw me on the floor and tore off the scraps of clothing on my body felt distant, at least until I felt his hands violating me, leaving a disgusting, slimy sensation every time he touched me.


    I screamed my lungs out but to no avail. I cried and begged, just like my mother had done a decade ago, and so many other people had done. And, just like all those before me, it had absolutely no effect.


    I desperately tried to search for something, anything to defend myself with. He grabbed one of my arms to stop me from fleeing and grunted as he forced himself inside me.


    I cried out in pain as I felt the all-too-familiar pain of rape. My free arm finally caught a hold of something, and even though I didn''t know what it was, I poured all my hatred, pain, and whatever energy I had left into smashing the thing into the monster''s face as hard as I could.


    I relished his pained roar, at least until he threw me out across the room while grasping his face. I landed with a sickening crunch, feeling most of my bones breaking from the impact.


    I could barely turn my head to see the fury in his eyes as he stomped towards me and kicked me repeatedly, every kick of his pushing me even further towards eternal unconsciousness.


    Alas, I wasn''t even allowed to pass on peacefully. Apparently, the monster was still unsatisfied in the amount of pain I had received, for he grasped me and pulled me up, before forcing himself inside me once more, this time, he managed to do it even more brutally and painfully than before.


    I let out another scream as he repeatedly slammed himself into me, each second of this torture pushing me closer and closer to oblivion, but never quite there completely, as the pain forced me to stay awake.


    With a grunt, he stood still for a couple seconds before throwing me away like a used condom. However, I almost didn''t feel it, as I felt my mind leaving my body to travel to the afterlife if there even was such a thing.


    Just as I was about to fall into unconsciousness, I heard a voice in my mind. One so sweet that it was almost sickening.


    "H-hey?! Where are you going! You can''t just die after summoning me! Come back here, you can''t just die... You still need to make your wishes!"


    The next instant, I was back in my body, and all my senses returned to me. I was suddenly oh so painfully aware of all the broken bones, ruptured blood vessels and cuts I had received, as well as the disgusting, slimy feeling I felt in my lower body.


    I gasped and curled up in a ball instinctively, trying to protect myself from the expected retribution. Strangely, it didn''t come.


    Despite what I thought before, I still had plenty of tears to spare as they flowed down my from my eyes like a broken dam. My body refused to stop trembling as I hugged my own shoulders, my soul itself feeling as though a single touch and it would forever shatter.


    "Holy poop nuggets, kid. Calm down! Um... Kid? Look at me? Please? Kid? Brat? Child? Lassie? Madam? Monsoir?" The voice spoke once again, and although the rational part of my mind mused that the voice couldn''t possibly belong to the monster, my instincts took over as I let out a scream and desperately tried to back away into a wall, but failed miserably as my body refused to move.


    My mind was overwhelmed by hatred,the pure, simmering, poisonous, all-consuming kind of hate that tore away at my sanity, and the funny thing was that it wasn''t even completely directed at the monster.


    I hated myself for being so pathetic. I hated this world for forcing me into this shit life. I hated these monsters for everything they did to me. I hated and hated and hated it.


    It was then that I felt something small and warm touch my cheek. I forced myself to open my eyes to see what it was, and couldn''t help but gasp.


    A small fairy that looked as though someone had taken a person and used a shrink-beam on them and then added a pair of wings on their back hovered there, it''s hand touching my cheek as its eyes looked at me with something I had only ever seen in the eyes of my mother.concern.


    "Kid? You okay? Uh... Alright, dumb question. Um... Uh... I don''t know what to say..." It said as it floated around me.


    An overwhelming desire appeared in my mind as tears pooled at my eyes even more. Gathering all my energy I could muster, I moved my arms and grabbed the small fairy and gently brought it down to my chest, where I pressed it against me as I began sobbing.


    The small fairy hugged me back with a little hesitation, and that when I broke. I began to cry, a wail so loud it felt more like a shriek to my ears following my tears and trembling body.


    I wailed and wailed, desperately trying to find something to soothe my shattered body and soul. I think the fairy tried to say something, but I couldn''t hear it over my own screams.


    It took me a good dozen minutes for my wails to reduce to mere whimpers and for me to take stock of my surroundings, as the fairy looked at me with strange eyes.


    My heart lurched into my throat as I saw the monster, still in the room. I almost screamed, but then I noticed it wasn''t moving. It was as though it was frozen in time. Actually, it was, and so was everything around me.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "Kid... I don''t... Know what to say. I''m sorry..." The small fairy flew over in front of my face and hugged my cheek. I let out a silent whimper as I painfully moved my hands and took it, before bringing it back to my chest for another hug that reminded me of the better times when my mother was still alive and life wasn''tthis shit.


    We hugged for a long time, the fairy trying to soothe me in every way she could, but painfully failing at it.


    I don''t think I would ever be able to heal. I had been raped before, but never this brutally and never by one of the monsters. Furthermore, I could still feel death looming over my head, and the only reason I wasn''t dead was likely the fairy in my hands.


    "Are you calm now, kid?" I could barely nod at the small fairy, who now looked at me with eyes that I was torn between hating and desperately needing.


    ''pity''would be the only word needed to describe her expression. On one hand, I hated the idea of people pitying me. On the other, I desperately wanted help, I needed to be understood, and my only wish was for someone to save me.


    But nobody ever came. No matter how much I screamed, begged and pleaded, it was all pointless. The monsters wouldn''t care, all that mattered to them was their god. The foreign soldiers didn''t care about a starving civilian kid with nothing special about her, and the locals were all struggling on their own already. Nobody could help me, except the fairy.


    "Alright... Let me introduce myself, kid. I am something like a genie of the lantern in your stories. I judge people who have a destiny with me and based on their karma, bestow them gifts. You summoned me earlier when you broke that small crystal ball."


    I blinked, trying to remember any crystal ball I might have owned. That was when it hit me.


    I had found a shiny rock some time ago and brought it home. Perhaps, that was the thing that I had used to hit the monster, and thanks to that the fairy was thus summoned...


    The more you know.


    "A-anyways... Your karma... It''s... Blinding. I have never before seen so much karma on a single person." The fairy said, its eyes sparkling as it looked at me. Cool, I guess?


    "According to the Inter-universal Laws, I can give you 3 Overgod-grade wishes." The fairy said with a smile. I could only stare at it in disbelief. What in the Lord''s name was an Overgod? And what did it mean by inter-universal?


    "Uh... Just think of it as the laws set down by the Creator. And that is the highest level of wish available! I named it myself! Hmph, it''s an amazing name, right!?" The small fairy asked, excited.


    I didn''t really understand any of it, and I was still wondering if I had actually passed on or something. But... Seeing the small fairy in my arms, I doubted it.


    "I... I want..." I tried to say, but the moment words came out of my mouth, I started crying again for some reason, but this time, these tears were different.


    The fairy panicked, not wanting me to start crying again. However, this time, I could feel a small spark inside me. A spark of hope.


    "You don''t have to say it out loud! Just think really hard of what you want, and I can still hear you. Think carefully about what you want!" The fairy said, giving me a small peck on my cheek. My body trembled, but I forced it to stop through sheer willpower.


    I guess I always was a bit boyish in my thinking because I had always wondered what people would wish for, and more importantly, what I would wish for in this situation. Thus, I already knew my first wish.


    I want to be immortal. I don''t want to ever again have to fear death, I don''t want to ever again feel pain this horrible, and I don''t ever again want to feel the burning sensation of starvation, dehydration, suffocation... I want to never be hurt again...


    The small fairy tapped my forehead, pulling me out of my strange thoughts. "That''s easy!" She smiled and clapped her hands together.


    Suddenly, I felt a fire burning inside me. It was as though all my pain just... vanished, replaced by a strange warmth flowing through my every limb.


    I tentatively got up, feeling the smoothness of my movement. I looked astonished at my own body, all the scars, all the cuts... Vanished. Gone. Disappeared.


    I looked at my own hand. Gone were the skeletal fingers that barely had any meat on them. Instead, they now looked likeactual fingers and not sad excuses for them.


    I looked in complete amazement at the rest of my body. I felt so... different. It felt absolutely amazing. It was as though I could run a mile and not get tired! I even had something resembling actual breasts! Although it was still pretty sad.


    "Come on,kid, wish for something else." The fairy gently urged me. I blinked, remembering that I still had 2 more wishes to go.


    Honestly, I wasn''t sure what else I wanted. Actually... I looked at the monster at the other end of the room. He was still naked, his disgusting member dangling down, and his face still retaining a satisfied smirk.


    I could almost feel the poisonous hatred flowing down from my eyes just looking at the monster. I wanted power, the power to never again be threatened. I wanted so much power that nothing could stand in my way. I wanted to be invincible.


    The fairy tapped my shoulder, once again pulling me out of that strange trance. "Done. Come on, make your final wish, I really need to go soon."


    I looked down, biting my lips. This time, I didn''t feel a fire in me. Actually, I barely felt anything, but I trusted the fairy. In fact, I trusted it so much that I couldn''t help but sniffle at hearing that it had to go. It made me... really fucking sad.


    However, I knew she couldn''t stay.Something told me she couldn''t, but I didn''t know what.


    I pondered over what else I wanted. I really wasn''t sure on this one. Flying? I didn''t really care. Shooting lasers out of my eyes? Didn''t really care again. Maybe shapeshifting. That sounded fun.


    This time, there wasn''t even a need for the fairy to pull me out of my trance. I looked at it and it nodded before tapping my shoulder.


    "Alright, kid. I''m glad I could help you out. Now... I really need to go. I hope you can amends to yourself, and the world." The fairy gave me a sad smile that I couldn''t quite understand before slowly vanishing.


    I was tempted to try and grab it, but I held back. After the fairy vanished, I had to touch my own belly to make sure I wasn''t dreaming. I actually felt flesh and not just bones, proving to me that this wasn''t a dream.


    Suddenly, the world started moving once more. I was overwhelmed by what felt like a million new sounds, new smells, new feelings.


    I heard a grunt from the other end of the room. Suddenly, nothing else mattered. The world felt so, so much colder against my bare skin, and the hatred that had been festering inside me seemed to explode out, rolling out of my mouth, forming a roar.


    The house shook, and the monster turned, wide-eyed at me. He smirked his disgusting smile that he had the moment he entered me, and suddenly... The world seemed so, so much simpler.


    I could worry about everything later. The world could wait. My body could wait.


    The monster couldn''t.


    The world slowed down to a crawl as I walked over to the monster. I was vaguely aware of the immense speed that I was moving at, and the fact that my reflexes and senses became so acute the world seemed to slow down, but all of that didn''t matter.


    The monster did.


    I punched it in the stomach, just like it had done to me. It still looked like my weak punches during my struggle, but this time, the monster let out a bloodcurdling scream as it was launched through the walls and out of the building.


    However, before it could leave the building, I grabbed his foot and forcefully ripped him out of the air, before slamming him down onto the floor, sending him flying down. I watched as he hit the dirt ground of the first floor before falling down after him.


    I landed with my knees in his stomach. He wheezed, looking torn between confusion and pain. "WHAT THE HELL!? WHO ARE YOU!?" He screamed. The first words I had heard out of his mouth.


    I didn''t bother answering as I kicked him in the sides of his belly, feeling his little soft bones giving out and shattering. He let out another scream and clutched at himself.


    I smiled venomously as I kicked him again and again and again. I looked around and found a protruding metal bar that I honestly wasn''t sure what it was, but it didn''t matter.


    I ripped it out, breaking the metal in half. I straightened it out and walked back to the monster. My body trembled, not from despair, not from happiness. No, this was pure hatred.


    I kicked him once more in the side. He tried to grab my foot, but he was so pathetically weak. I crushed his hand with a quick stomp of my foot, ignoring his bloodcurdling screams. I flipped him over with my foot so that his belly was lying on the ground, and ignoring his desperate pleas, I did what seemed most appropriate for a rapist.


    I stabbed the metal bar into his disgusting asshole.


    The screams that followed were like the sweetest of songs. Using my foot, I slowly nudged it deeper and deeper, twisting around as it went. I kept one foot on his back, preventing him from moving, and the other on the bar. The monster begged and pleaded, and it felt like a drug.


    "How... How does it feel?" I asked. "HOW DOES IT FEEL!?" I roared. "HOW DOES IT FUCKING FEEL!?!?!" My voice thundered through the area, my volume shocking even me.


    "M-mercy! I-I beg you!"


    It was so pathetic. So fucking disgusting. What did he do when I begged!? WHY SHOULD I LISTEN THEN!?


    I slammed my foot down onto his back, breaking his spinal cord. I sat on his back and grabbed his face with both my hands, digging my digits into his eye sockets and mouth, causing as much pain as possible.


    He screamed and screamed. It felt so fucking good. I could feel his body trembling from the pain, his eyes glazed as he struggled to hold on to life. He struggled futilely, just like I had done.


    I laughed. It was so funny. I dug my hands into his body and ripped out every bone I came across before finding his entrails, and just like they had done to my mother, I ripped them all out of his still living body.


    I knew this person was a mutant. Someone blessed with unnatural powers, someone who should help those without. Instead, this disgusting piece of shit went around raping helpless girls. FUNNY, ISN''T IT!?


    It was only after I had completely mutilated the corpse did I feel satisfied. I watched the mangled corpse that laid on the floor, and a pang of guilt found its way in my broken heart.


    I was no better than these monsters.


    That thought came, and it ignited a flame that should have never existed. I fell down like a puppet with its strings cut. I couldn''t cry, nor could I laugh. I felt... empty.


    As I stared at the bloody, mangled corpse... I knew I was wrong. I shouldn''t have done it. I could have just killed him.


    I looked at my own hands. They brimmed with power. A power that could change the world.


    I knew what I wanted to do. Never again would another small girl hide in a closet, trembling, hugging onto her last memento from her deceased mother as a monstrous rapist slowly approached her.


    I would change this world.


    But first, I slowly closed my eyes and fell backward, a small thump noise coming from my head hitting the hard floor. And yet, I didn''t feel anything.


    Sleep quickly claimed me. And for the first time ever since my mother''s death, I didn''t have a nightmare.

 Chapter 2 - Rescue?

    The pungent smell of death wasn''t something foreign to my day-to-day life, but I have to admit I never woke up next to a dead corpse.


    I cried out when, after clearing my mind from the morning fogginess, saw the disgusting and rotting corpse not so far from where I had collapsed the day prior.


    I could feel the panic trying to take me over, and it would have been so laughably easy to just give in there and then. I could scream, cry and seek forgiveness from some higher entity for what I had done.


    However, that was not what I did. The hate still festering inside my mind forbid me from doing such a thing. That now unliving piece of walking shit deserved every ounce of pain.


    However, that did not stop me from silently sobbing to myself for a good while. However, I knew I needed to move on. I couldn''t stay stuck in the present forever.


    I stripped the monster of whatever scraps of clothing he had left and put them on. They were baggy, uncomfortable and smelled like blood and guts, but at least I could preserve whatever scraps of dignity I still held onto. Then, I searched the room for a bit, and in the mess that my room had become was my plushie. I picked it up and held it close to me.


    I peeked outside the rotting door, checking the street for any dangers. After making sure there were none, I ran out, trying my best to blend with the background so that any planes or drones passing above wouldn''t see me.


    This wasn''t the first city I had resided in, but it was amongst one of the worst. It was like a ghost town, with barely anyone in it.


    Although it shames me to admit it, this was one of my favorite places I had lived in. I much preferred the silence of a ghost town to the screams and explosions of what people called the ''Devil Cities''.


    As I walked around, I mused about what I could do now. The fairy hadn''t lied about what she said. My body was brimming with energy, and the familiar feeling of desperate hunger that tortured me for the entirety of my life was nowhere to be found.


    Previously, there was little need to care about the future. After all, why would I bother about that when I didn''t even know if I could survive the next hour?


    I had to forcefully stop myself from shaking as, amongst my musings, memories of what transpired yesterday wormed their way in my mind. I could still feel the phantom pain of my body being ripped by the monster.


    I sat down on a rock where the sun didn''t shine on. Taking deep but hitched breaths, I forced myself to calm down as I hugged my plushie. Thankfully, although it was torn in many places and it was dirty to the point of being disgusting, the plushie was still soft, and it did wonders in soothing me.


    I let my mind wander once more as I slowly caressed the soft back of the dolphin plushie. I found it hard to remember much from when I was younger, but a couple of memories still struck me.


    My mom had always said that we were heading to a ''better place'' when I was young. She used it to justify the long marches we had to go through, desperately avoiding both the foreigners and monsters. In hindsight, it was a wonder we didn''t get caught for as long as we did. After all, two completely defenseless women made good prey to the depraved minds that lived in this hell.


    We never reached the ''better place'', obviously. However, I remember her once saying to me that we were heading to a place called the Salvation Haven.


    At the time, I didn''t understand it, and perhaps I still don''t. However, I once heard some fellow desperate survivors speaking about it, and from what they said, it was an organization backed by foreigners who wanted to help us. Good foreigners, basically.


    I was and still am skeptical about such a claim. In my whole life, every foreigner I came across would at best ignore me, and at worst try to kill me. However, even that was leagues above what the monsters wanted to do to me.


    I have been following the setting sun ever since my mother''s death, as she said that''s the direction that the Haven was. However, even after ten years, I still found nothing of the sorts. Granted, I didn''t actually travel all that much, considering 99% of my time was spent desperately searching for a way to get something in my stomach.


    With a goal in mind, I steeled my heart and looked up. The once overwhelming light of the sun that threatened to blind me if I looked at it now felt more like a gentle caress to my eyelids.


    I took a deep breath and then took a step.


    The world shifted around me as I suddenly felt myself moving forward at unimaginable speed. However, to me, it felt... normal? It was a strange feeling. My eyes easily took stock of the surroundings even as it seemed to zoom past me, and at the same time, stay frozen.


    I played around with my newfound power for a long time. I scaled buildings with my bare hands, lifted giant stones like they were pebbles and just enjoyed this strange feeling.


    It was exhilarating. My arms felt as though they could hold the world, as though if I wished it, I could tear apart the world. I slammed a sharp stone into my leg, but it failed to even pierce it, and I didn''t feel any pain.


    Remembering my last wish, I tried to use it, but it was difficult. I imagined myself changing into a dolphin, but it didn''t work. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    I spent the whole day practicing my gifts and exploring the strange powers I now held. By the end of it, I had the biggest, dumbest look on my face I ever had.


    I didn''t notice yesterday, but it was no wonder that the monster couldn''t fight back. I could literally punch a building and it would just disintegrate. My powers were strange, impossible, even. It was as though they could break the laws of physics, although it''s not like I actually knew what they were.


    If I wanted to punch something so hard it exploded, I could. If I wanted to be gentle with something, I could. Furthermore, my senses always adapted to whatever speed and strength I used, making it so my senses never lagged behind. It was awkward at first, but after a while, it became really, really fun.


    Even better were my shapeshifting powers. Although I was a bit disappointed I couldn''t turn into animals, I found that I could modify my body in whatever way I wanted. I could grow wings, make my body bigger or smaller, and even change my face. However, adding modifications to my body felt really uncomfortable, so I always ended up in my starting body.


    I grabbed at my dolphin plushie and hugged it to my chest with a crushing hug as I giggled in pure glee. Currently, I had already left the city, and I was following a dirt road. Normally, following roads spelled trouble, but I didn''t care. I felt invincible. Honestly, I could get drunk on this feeling.


    Each step I took easily traversed hundreds of meters, and that was without me even trying. The wind caressed my body, but it didn''t feel like the usual freezing gale that threatened to turn me into me an icicle at night, and nor was it the volcanic wind that felt more like an oven than wind. Instead, it just felt nice.


    I traveled the entire night. I wasn''t sleepy at all, and in fact, I was still brimming with energy.


    That was when I saw them. Foreigners.


    They traveled in those giant, roaring trucks of theirs. I had seen what those things could do, armed to the brim with guns and explosives. The thought of being in front of one had once terrified me.


    No longer. I refused to be afraid.


    I stood my ground in the middle of the road as the roaring giant came rushing down. I heard screeching as the thing slowed down, but it was obvious it would still hit me.


    I held my arms forward and glared at the incoming giant. Two bright lights shined out of its sides, illuminating me and the road behind. I could barely make out the form of a man behind the glass, and I could almost smell his panic.


    Hold on, why was he panicking?


    The thought came too late as the giant thing crashed into me, and by all means, I should have just turned into roadkill. However, that is not what happened.


    The truck suddenly stopped. I hadn''t moved an inch, but somehow, the truck had still stopped. I looked in wonder at the me-shaped hole in the front of the truck as I pulled myself out of it.


    I instinctively froze as I heard voices and shouting. The foreigner''s language was, well, foreign, so I couldn''t understand them. Suddenly, what I did feel like a really, really bad idea.


    I was tempted to flee when the man behind the window got out and rushed to me. My instincts got the better of me as I curled up to protect myself.


    Why did I do this? That was stupid. I am stupid. I''m going to get killed.


    Despair once again ran through my mind as my body tensed up for the expected beating and/or murder. Foreigners usually didn''t kill non-monsters, but it did happen.


    My earlier bravery and hot-headedness suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke as I laid on the ground, whimpering pathetically.


    Shouts came from all around me, but I didn''t dare open my eyes as I hid my head behind my arms, an instinctive posture that usually worked to at least defend my face.


    A warm cloth surrounded me as I felt two pairs of arms grabbing me and holstering me up. I felt coldness wash over me as my overly imaginative mind went into overdrive.


    Thoughts of being kidnapped to then be cannibalized or sacrificed to the foreigner''s gods ran through my mind. Although deep down I knew that wasn''t likely to be the case, all the gossip I had heard during my life gave my mind enough reason to twist itself apart.


    More shouting came from around me as I was being carried away. Then, the voices stopped as a loud sound of doors shutting came.


    I felt a pair of hands gently remove the cloth they had put around me, and then try to take away my clothing. That was when I snapped and the instinct of defense vanished and the instinct to fight ignited.


    I desperately kicked out as I threw myself to the other side of wherever I was. A pained grunt came from the foreigner I hit, but I didn''t bother looking as I found myself confined within a room. Adding two and two together, I guessed I was inside the foreigner''s truck.


    I looked back in horror as my body tensed, ready to bolt at the first sign of retaliation. Now that I actually looked around, I found that the inside of this place was... weird.


    Soft-looking couches were all around, while a couch had been pulled in the middle. Next to it was a white sheet, likely the cloth they had put over me.


    Next to the couch was a foreigner, likely a woman, dressed in white. She was clutching her stomach while she cringed painfully.


    Looking at her, my body tensed even more. I had never before seen a foreigner woman, it was always men, and this scared me. The unknown was always scary.


    The woman looked back at me with a pained smile as she raised her hands in front of her, letting go of her stomach. She spoke, but I couldn''t understand her. She must have noticed that, considering the fact that she was obviously cursing now, judging by her expression.


    She slowly approached me, holding her hands in front of her. My breath stopped in my throat as she approached, and dark memories flashed by.


    I backed away until I was up against a wall. She was still a good 6 meters away from me, and at that moment, I decided that if she came any closer I would tear apart this place and escape.


    Thinking that, I began musing about all those thoughts of power I held before. It all seemed so fickle, so fake. I could pulverize buildings and lift boulders, and yet I was afraid of a simple foreigner. Granted, I had no idea if she was a mutant or something, and I had very bad experiences with mutants. Foreigners were very scary, not as scary as the monsters, but still scary, and foreigner mutants were at the top of the ''To Avoid'' list.


    The woman looked at me for a while with what I thought was a sad face. After a couple minutes, she slowly backed out, leaving the truck room.


    I could hear the foreigners talking outside. As they did, I warily looked around the place, debating what to do.


    I could escape, and it was very unlikely they could stop me. Honestly, that was what my instincts were screaming at me to do, years and years of surviving amongst people who would love to have you for dinner tends to make you very escape-y.


    However, my mind told me a different story. I wasn''t a genius, but I knew an opportunity when I saw one. I wanted to leave this hellhole, but I didn''t know how. I didn''t really know anything, really.


    For once, my mind won. The reassurance that I now had the power to at least try and defend myself, along with the sweet promise of a better life, forced my instincts to stand down.


    But that didn''t mean I trusted the foreigners. I didn''t know what they planned, but they didn''t seem hostile, yet.


    I grabbed the white sheet I had thrown in my panic and curled it around me as I hid in a corner, warily watching the door.


    Unfortunately, it was right around that moment that I realized I couldn''t find my plushie. What happened next is... embarassing.