Chapter 2: Isn’t That... Me?
Burning and crackling sounds, the huge flames engulfed the murderous man. His body quickly turned charred, from his arms to his legs, and finally reached his torso. He laughed in the same sinister voice. "You! You are one of us!" The man shouted with his bloodshot eyes still visible through the flames. His gaze landed on Eirin, and a smile formed on his face. He was muttering something that Eirin could not hear, but she felt shivers down her spine, and the man’s expression soon changed.
Tears fell from his eyes, and a melancholic expression surfaced. "H-Help," he pleaded as he reached out his burning and already dissolving arm. "I don’t want to die." His voice sounded pitiful, and Eirin’s heart ached as she tried to stand up. As if something was trying to take control of her, she reached out her hand.
"Hey."
Eirin flinched, her gaze went back to the man that allegedly saved her. A shining red flame appeared out of his hand, covered with thick black gloves. "What are you doing?" The unknown man asked, with his back still facing Eirin, and she could not answer. She started wheezing until she could not breathe anymore as the surrounding flames grew.
"Please, don’t kill me." She pleaded with her eyelids getting heavier. Eirin coughed and grabbed her throat. ’I can’t breathe.’
"Must you do that?" A woman with an indifferent tone appeared and caught Eirin as she fell on her back while still forcing herself to stay awake. The woman’s winter gray eyes stared at Eirin with a nonchalant expression. "How barbaric." Those were the last words Eirin heard before finally losing consciousness.
Darkness and nothing but darkness. That was the first thing that greeted Eirin as soon as she opened her eyes. "They’re here to eradicate us!" She heard, and soon an enormous ball of light illuminated the empty, dark sky. Eirin saw people running away, crying for help that might never come. Destroyed houses and a gigantic crack formed on the shaky ground. It was as if a disaster that could destroy mankind wreaked havoc. Eirin’s body felt the tremor through the ground, and her eyes found the swarm of corpses in front of her. Her body spun like a wheel and she soon realized that she was already lying on the ground. Screams filled Eirin’s ears while she tried to get up, but it was as though something was pulling her back to the ground.
A smaller ball of light came crashing to her arm. Her right arm got caught on fire, which she immediately swung, trying to extinguish it before it could eat her alive. She struggled to stand as if gravity was against her. However, the moment she got up, her amber eyes glowed as she saw a sea of flames burying everything in sight. Houses, animals, and even those humans.
"Help us!"
The humans started to melt as they drowned in the sea of flames. It was horrendous. Eirin could not move an inch despite all the cries for help that she heard as she stood on the edge of a cliff. ’How can I help them?’ Her breathing grew heavier as hesitation filled her heart until she got caught by the flames that climbed through the ground. It was like a monster searching for another victim and clinging to Eirin’s life. ’I’m going to die.’
"Eirin!"