Chapter 3: How Ray Freed Herself (Almost) from the Game of Power

  Ray watched her new surroundings. Eating the paper had arisen interesting sights for her. Ray could recall the information in the paper. It was like inserting a CD into a PC. All the required information for her hunt was in her head.

  Ray stood up, wiping the snow off her clothes. She touched her legs. The fabric hadn't hold water from the snow.

  Ray thought: "I can hide my dirty hobbies."

  Ray said: "Is there anything around?"

  No one was around. Only birds flying in the bright sky. She went to the nearest tree and leaned against it. She started to contemplate. In her mind thoughts became complex information. They revealed information about Katerina. Ray recalled them on purpose.

  Katerina was known for Dust Thirst. She was a female, half-human, half-monster. She had red, long, straight hair, black eyes, pale skin. Her eyebrows were red too. She wore simple gray loose pajamas and loose socks.

  She was born with red hair. It was thought that her hair had given her powers. She lived with her sister, Lena. Katerina had to eat the dust from a dead person to live. Her ability was deadly. Her bite could kill anything. She never talked. Just used animal-like signals and gestures to communicate.

  Ray skipped the rest of the knowledge. Because it bored her with the information about Katerina's life.

  Ray thought: "I will discover those details by hand. Let me walk."

  Ray started to wandered around. She walked for hours. The black boots she wore were handy for walking in the snow. Their bottom hadn't slipped once.

  Ray played with her hat during the walk. She found out that she could push her arm inside of the hat. Nothing seemed strange on the outside. But on the inside, Ray felt her arm go into a bottomless depth. She could put her arm in until the shoulder. As she pulled her arm out of the hat, she promised she wouldn't do this again.

  She arrived in a village. There were many little houses. The houses were wooden with triangle roofs. There were also torches on the fences around them. They were the only light source. Ray found it strange to light them under sunlight.

  There were domestic animals inside the fences. They were sitting down in the mud with their legs crossed. Ray couldn't name them but they were casual farm animals. Like cows, chickens, and sheep.

  Ray was walking on a stony pavement. She passed by a house. She looked inside through the window but couldn't see anything. A thick curtain blocked her view.

  Suddenly the door next to the window opened wide. Someone dashed out! She fired the gun in her hand. The bullet hit Ray on the torso and fell her to the ground.

  Ray shouted as she stood up: "What are you doing?"

  Ray checked where she was shot but there was no damage. The person with the rifle aimed at her again. Ray ran away behind a wooden barrel. She crouched down and hid her body parts from the aim.

  Ray whispered: "Is she insane? I am just a passenger. A weird person in a bizarre village."

  She jumped onto her stomach and crawled along the near fences. But she couldn't see the armed person from that location.

  Ray thought: "If I can't see her, she can't see me as well."

  She crawled nearer to a corner. She got behind a wall of a house and stood up there. She seem to have escaped the trouble. She peeked at the house of the armed person from the wall. Suddenly the person fired. Ray pulled her head and the bullet had missed.

  Ray walked until she reached a distant house. It was far from the rest.

  Suddenly she wondered why Pink's whip hadn't influenced her as she had touched it.

  She thought: "Maybe my clothes discarded its effect as it copied its ability. After all Pink wouldn't be influenced by her own whip."

  She stopped at the door of the fences. The distant house seemed older with shorter fences. Its area was located near a thick black forest. It was also at the skirt of a mountain. The slope increased as Ray walked upwards.

  Ray felt hungry and had to eat food. She was also thirsty. She gathered some snow from the ground. She ate it to fulfill her thirst.

  Ray said: "I will want food. Let me knock on the door. I don't feel fear. I don't care if I die. I can handle a few villagers on my own."

  Then she remembered her current escape from the villager with the gun. She laughed at it. She jumped over the fences and walked to the entrance door. Her hand knocked on it. The door opened.

  A person stood before her. She was taller. Had yellow hair. Blue eyes and light skin. She wore a one-piece thin clothing. Its top was undershirt and its bottom was a loose skirt. It covered her nakedness. Her legs were naked and her feet were bare.

  Ray recognized her from the images in her mind. She was Lena. The sister of Katerina. Lena spoke but Ray couldn't understand her language. Ray spoke but Lena seemed not to understand her either.

  Ray opened her mouth wide and pointed at it. She used gestures to indicate her want for food. Lena nodded. Then she walked inside and came back holding a loaf of bread. She gave it to Ray. Ray took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. She liked it.

  Ray took off her hat and bowed to thank Lena. Lena smiled at her. She used gestures to call her in. Ray understood and nodded. She walked in and Lena closed the door.

  They walked into a saloon. It seemed to Ray so. Inside there were only floor mattresses. There were carpets and pillows on them. Lena lay Ray on one mattress. Then she walked away. Ray looked around and concluded this. The people of this house were poor. She heard the sound of running water and the noise of pots. This indicated that Lena was preparing something.

  Ray thought: "I will hunt her sister down. So let me stop her from wasting her resources on me. She is poor already."

  She stood up. Walked toward the source of the running water. She got to an open door. The sound was coming from there. Ray walked through the door into a tiny room. Inside, she saw the source of the running water. A faucet. She leaned down to close it.

  Ray thought: "Whisper would scold me if I left the faucet on like this."

  Suddenly the door of the room closed shut. Ray looked at it and ran to it. She heard the door locked. Ray punched the door, yelling. But there was no response. Ray waited for a while, then kicked the door. But the door didn't break. It was made of hard wood.

  Ray thought: "Why did I trust the sister of my target?"

  Ray threw her hat at the door. The hat hit the door, then dropped down. Ray noticed a purple tiny ball at the front of the hat.

  She thought: "It's the same color as Whisper's purple tears. She had always worn an eye-patch. There must be something to this."

  Ray tried to pull the ball off the hat. And it came off. It glowed and floated in the air. Ray tried to fetch it but couldn't. It hung in the air at the center of the room.

  Ray felt someone inside the room. She turned around and saw her. She stood still motionless.

  Her skin was purple. She was taller than Ray. She was half-naked and wore a mask on her face. Her hair was long and pinkish. She had indigo eyes. A mechanical clothing covered her arms, legs, and firm breasts. There were little glowing of green and pink lights across the clothing. The lights were flickering.

  Oryl: "You have ten minutes."

  Ray didn't feel fear but she wished she could fear now.

  Ray: "For what?"

  Suddenly she came to know the answer. She would lose her memories if she stayed here.

  Also she came to have known a memory. It was an important one. She started to weep. The memory contained Whisper and Jacobine. It contained the very moment before this frenzy had started. Ray witnessed their sacrifice. She hated herself because she had learned the reason for her siblings' craziness. She didn't want to believe this.

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  Ray: "But why!? This termination began because I didn't answer the Book's calling at the very moment I was summoned!? Nonsense! I don't buy your illusions."

  Oryl: "You are free to believe in anything you want. Nine minutes left."

  Ray was perplexed.

  She thought: "How time could be so relative depending on the activity?"

  It felt like hours for Ray. Despite only seconds had passed.

  Ray also felt safe with Oryl. She happened to know this for some reason. Oryl would always provide the best answer. But she questioned that knowledge and the feeling of safety toward her. She couldn't comprehend these new feelings.

  Ray thought: "How can I trust her?"

  The answer came. She didn't have to talk. Around Oryl, one could find all the answers. Only one needed the capacity to focus on the right questions. The answer would come. The knowledge just popped up in her mind.

  Oryl: "Eight minutes left."

  Ray asked. She knew the answer would reveal itself but she wanted to hear it from Oryl.

  Ray: "How can I get out of the game of power, forever?"

  Oryl: "It's been forever since someone asked such a strong question."

  Ray: "I want to free myself from this obligation of getting strong!"

  She wept.

  Ray: "I don't want to end up like my siblings. They are used up for collecting power. I want to be free from this."

  Oryl: "Jacobine's wish is about to fulfill itself."

  The answer came before Ray could ask about it. Jacobine had always wanted something more powerful than power itself.

  Oryl: "Jacobine's plan for you is this. Having full autonomy over your fate forever."

  Ray: "What are you mumbling? Why does everything have to be indirect?"

  Oryl: "One day you will break free of all this game. You will never have to gain power anymore. You will be at a moment where you can choose to lose just because you want it. Yet you will be a victor. That's your destiny. 5 minutes left. But until that day, you have to catch all of them. Your fearlessness is your greatest strength. And don't be mad at Lena. She just wants to keep her beloved sister alive. Don't worry, pat Katerina on the head. She will be tame afterward."

  Oryl said goodbye. The purple ball flew to Ray and attached to the front of her hat. Oryl disappeared, and Ray was alone in the tiny room, still locked.

  Ray swore: "Nonsense revolution!"

  The silence annoyed Ray. She looked at the door. But there wasn't any sound coming from behind it. Ray found it awkward. She stepped backward to the distant wall to keep herself safe. She stopped as her back touched the wall.

  Suddenly a noise arose. Ray heard a hissing sound. Two arms torn the wall. They came in behind Ray and wrapped her neck. The arms pulled Ray outside. The wooden wall came off. The arms threw her to the snow. She hit to the ground. Then she stood up and saw her.

  Katerina. She was hissing, showing teeth. Her saliva was dropping. She was ready to attack. Ray saw Lena at the distant tree. Lena was watching them from behind it.

  Ray thought: "Screw you, Oryl. I will kill Lena. Then Katerina."

  Ray suddenly felt the weight of a knife in her hand. Knife's ability was still with her. She felt warmth in the other hand. She opened her palm. The fireball was floating above her palm. Ray then squinted.

  Ray thought: "The pillowcase is still part of my skill collection if those are still with me."

  She threw the knife at Katerina. Katerina slid under it. The knife was about to stick to the wall. Ray wished for the knife to fly to Lena. The knife changed its way and flew toward her.

  Ray thought: "I will throw the fireball at Katerina when she follows the knife. She has to protect her si--"

  Katerina thrust at Ray instead. Ray jumped aside. Katerina slid across the snow. She stood up and ran to Ray again. She opened her mouth. She was too close. Ray saw her sharp teeth. Katerina was about to bite Ray. Before she bite her, Ray found herself in the air. Near Lena. Ray had exchanged her location with the knife. Then she fell at Lena's feet. Lena ran away. Ray didn't care about her. She looked across at Katerina.

  Katerina was biting the knife. She was tearing it into pieces. Ray couldn't call the knife anymore. The fireball was still in her hand.

  Ray thought: "I hope Oryl is right about patting her. What if I take Katerina's power!? To do this I have to approach her without being bitten. She is fast. Any fatal bite is the end for me."

  Suddenly Ray remembered the pillowcase ability.

  Katerina ran toward her. Ray threw the fireball in between them. The fireball exploded. It created a huge opening where it hit. Katerina stared at Ray.

  Ray wished for the pillowcase and it appeared in her hand. Ray bit the fingertip of her glove and pulled her hand from the inside of the glove. She spat the glove out. The pillowcase opened its mouth and the glove slid inside. Then the pillowcase closed its mouth.

  Ray: "Go!"

  The pillowcase flew. Ray was going to follow it. But she was unable to follow. She looked down at her feet. They were stuck on a blue, sticky area that was laid on the ground like a carpet. It was slimy, sticky, and half-transparent area.

  Ray thought: "I have praised these boots too early."

  Ray looked around but couldn't see anything. Whoever put this blue carpet under her feet must be behind her. Ray bent over and unlaced her boots, then jumped out of them. She landed in the snow. Her socks didn't pull in water.

  Ray saw Lena. She was stretching her hands toward the carpet-like area. She was close enough to talk to but they didn't share the same language.

  Katerina was chasing the pillowcase afar. Ray looked at the pillowcase.

  She thought: "That is the moment! Drop the glove!"

  The pillowcase dropped the glove from above Katerina.

  Ray felt something wrapping around her limbs like a rope. It was squeezing her tightly. Lena was doing this. Her hands faced toward Ray. She tried to keep Ray away from Katerina. Unfortunately Lena didn't know this:

  Ray thought: "I almost forgot. I can steal any power that touches my clothes. Why hadn't I used it since my boots touched the carpet?"

  Suddenly a pink, sticky, slimy rope emerged from nowhere and wrapped around Lena. It countered Lena's rope around Ray's neck. Lena's rope let Ray go because of this. So Ray ran away.

  Ray learned from her mind that Lena's power is to create and control slimy substances by will.

  Lena's slime disappeared. Ray's slime disappeared as well. Lena fell to her knees, closed her eyes, and waited to die. Ray didn't care about her. Instead she ran toward Katerina.

  Katerina had dodged the glove. It meant the pillowcase plan didn't work. Ray ran around the wide opening in the ground. She called the pillowcase and it reappeared. She had an another idea.

  She put a fireball, a ball of slime, and the other glove in the pillowcase. The pillowcase swallowed them and flew away. Ray stopped at a walking distance away from Katerina. Katerina started to run toward her. Ray waited.

  Katerina jumped onto Ray. The pillowcase flew in between them before she could catch Ray. Katerina bit the case.

  Katerina's fatal teeth tore through the pillowcase. Her teeth touched the fireball and triggered a reaction. The fireball exploded. It pushed the slime out. The slime scattered out across the area.

  Katerina was covered in slime. She tried to tear it apart. Her bite could easily tear it. Ray's plan wasn't to cover her in slime.

  Katerina hadn't seen the glow. The glow had flown away during the explosion. And the slime was glued to the glow and Katerina. Now the glow was away but connected between them. The slime was connected to the glow as well as Katerina.

  Ray thought: "I can control the slime by my will. Let the glow come to Katerina!"

  Suddenly the slime started to shrink fast. The glow lifted off as the slime shrunk. And the glove was approaching Katerina. Though Katerina had almost freed herself from the slime.

  The glow came too close to Katerina. Katerina bit the slime before the glow touched. Then she jumped aside. The glow passed by.

  Ray thought: "Enough!"

  Ray threw a fireball. The ball hit the glow in the air. It exploded as Ray ordered. The glow bounced off to Katerina. But Katerina squatted down and the glow flew over her head.

  This angered Ray. She pulled out Pink's whip and swung it toward Katerina. Katerina caught it and pulled it apart with both hands.

  Ray fell to her knees by the pull.

  Ray thought: "She has to feel horny. But it seems the whip has no control over her. Why can't I copy her ability? My saliva could conduct Knife's ability when it touched her skin and my clothes at the same time. Wait! What if my body can also do the same? Owner Jacobine could do this with her gaze. What if the clothing is a storage for the stolen abilities for later use!? That means all I have to do is run at her."

  Ray started to run at Katerina. She remembered Oryl's wise words about patting Katerina.

  Ray thought: "How can I pat her if she sees me as her opponent? Whisper had warned me about her. She is tough. No surprise that no one has ever collected her ability yet. Why couldn't they do it? Even Whisper didn't bother. Didn't their strength match? My siblings were always into the power game. I hate this. I have to think out of the box."

  Suddenly it hit Ray. Power was the problem. She had to make Katerina stop seeing her as her opponent.

  She thought: "Katerina acts like an animal. So I have to seem friendly. Though I might regret this."

  Ray stopped and started to strip her clothes. She put off her hat, her jacket, tie, shirt, pants, socks, then her underwear. She was naked.

  She stretched out her arms and greeted Katerina. She was smiling as sincerely as possible, facing her.

  From this moment, Katerina looked perplexed. She lowered her hands and blinked. Instead of running, she walked toward Ray.

  Death didn't bother her since Ray couldn't fear. But she felt shameful. The cold breeze was licking her naked skin.

  Katerina stopped before her. She was too close. She was taller than Ray. Ray looked up at her. Katerina looked down at her. Ray tiptoed to reach her head. Katerina bent her knees and lowered herself. She seemed to understand. Then Ray patted her on the head. Gently as possible. She patted her many times for guarantee.

  Lena walked near them and started to say some words. Ray couldn't understand but Lena's voice sounded cheerful.

  Katerina wasn't talking.

  Lena looked at Ray. She was taller. She leaned forward and kissed Ray on the cheek. Ray blushed.

  Then Katerina jumped onto Ray and they fell to the ground. She started to lick her face.

  Ray: "Stop it! Okay. You have won."

  Lena sat near them, giggling.

  That night, Lena hosted Ray. They tried to talk, but couldn't actually talk. Lena talked, and Ray tried to understand. Ray took a shower, and they spent the day like that.

  At the middle of the night, Ray sat up in the mattress. She looked at the other mattresses. Katerina and Lena were sleeping together.

  Looking at them, Ray pulled off the purple ball from her hat.

  The ball flew to the center. Ray saw Oryl standing still, motionless.

  Oryl: "My answer is no."

  Ray: "I didn't even ask anything. Yes. Sorry. I forget that you can know everything."

  Oryl: "The code of the Hunter Book is clear. Whoever betrays the pack is terminated."

  Ray looked at Katerina and Lena.

  Ray: "I don't want to kill them."

  Oryl: "May I spoil your unknown fate?"

  Ray nodded.

  Oryl: "There are 8 Renee(s) left. Without Jacobine, they will perish. Only one of them is capable of existing out of LED. Jacobine will not create more of them since she is dead. Therefore, killing Katerina will not bring your old life and siblings back."

  Ray lowered her head.

  Oryl: "Wasn't that all you wished? You are free. Almost free."

  Ray: "Almost?"

  Oryl: "Whisper will never be the same. Gladly, she can't open her eyes. Otherwise, she would come here. She uses Charletto to see. Also, the Hunter Book is still in LED. Whisper will keep using it. There will be many Hunters craving for more power. You will meet Whisper again one day. As her target. If I calculate correctly, you are free, indirectly."

  Ray inhaled, then exhaled.

  Ray: "Yay. My life has changed. I will be a runaway. Still in the game of power and catch."

  Oryl: "Two minutes left. As a reminder, you have Katerina's power. As well as Lena's. Think about that. Why hasn't any Hunter collected them before?"

  Ray blinked. She knew Oryl would spoil it. Ray allowed her to say it.

  Oryl: "Because Katerina's power is dangerous. Her attacks erase enemies' power, as well as their existence. And no one mentions Lena. Lena is impossible to kill. You have both of their skills. Potential ultimate power. Potential ultimate defense. And Jacobine's stealing ability. It's up to you to how you use them. One minute left. And I knew how this would end."

  The ball flew back to Ray's hat. Oryl disappeared. Ray looked at Katerina and Lena, who were still sleeping.

  She smiled.

  Ray: "I have just realized there are good people except Renees."

  She dropped to her mattress and closed her eyes. She hoped for a good sleep. Maybe this would be the last good sleep she would ever get forever.

  The End.

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  Thank you for reading "The Human Monster." I don't know if anyone has come across this, but if you have, please leave a comment on the page where you found it.

  I hope you enjoy your life.

  Take care.

  See you in the next one.

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