꧁T̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ w̶e̶r̶e̶ y̶o̶u̶, h̶e̶r̶e̶ a̶m̶ I̶꧂
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(Very long chapter!)

⎈⇢1st person POV, Inigo

It happened so quickly, I could barely comprehend what just happened..
This animal.. this demon was fighting to seemingly penetrate it's sharp teeth into Hotaru's flesh by his neck. So, so desperately. Had it been starving?

I crawled back a little as I watched the creature dig it's razor sharp nails into his shoulders and skin, slowly overpowering him.
The demon had two small and crusty-looking horns sticking out from it's forehead and the skin was grey-ish without much color.
It was hard to make out the creature's entire appearance, as my ability to see had been weakened the last few days. Not that it was much of a problem, though. The moonlight slightly shined in-between the small cracks of endless branches throughout the dark trees, giving me a decent scene.

I could still see them struggle as Hotaru screamed, yelled and cursed at the demon above him, kicking and using every muscle he had in his arms. Hadn't he fought a demon before? Or was it less bigger than the one before us right now?

' Go! Now is the chance, it's now or never you stupid fool!.. '

Feeling my fingers and palms get all muddy and dirty, I desperately used my hands to slowly get up whilst holding myself up against a tree. With the sharp pain in my sprained ankle, I used my other leg to walk away, further and further. The world before me was turning black— that was, until I heard Hotaru's scream ring in my ear. I turned to see the demon had bitten into his neck, pulling out a whole chunk of flesh from him as a flock of crows flew away from the trees and up into the moonlit sky.

That was the last straw. A sudden rush of adrenaline scattered throughout my body as I sprinted off, not holding at a stop.

Only now, I realized I was almost thin, underweight and barely strong enough. My heart was beating so fast and hard that it hurt my chest. I just ran and ran. For the second time, yet again.

It keeps repeating, doesn't it?

I didn't manage to get far as a strong force tackled me from behind and instantly turned me around. I looked up in horror, my gaze meeting with two pair of coal-black eyes. The pupils were vertically thin and white, matching the fangs it bore at me. Only thing is, they were now dripping with blood. Hotaru's blood.

" No, p-please.."
I squinted my eyes as a tear ran down my cheek. This was it, this was the end, I can see it before me right now. The demon did not hold back and immediately bit down into my shoulder, aggressively digging its fangs deeper down into my flesh and blood in desperation.

I screamed out in pain as my eyes widened, while grabbing onto the dirty clothes belonging to this creature. It was so difficult to withstand the pain I was receiving— but I was ready to die.

⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈

" DON'T YOU DARE TAKE AWAY MY DAUGHTER FROM ME AGAIN, YOU PARASITE! " I heard Hotaru scream as he attacked the creature from behind, digging the knife he brought here deep into the throat of the demon.

The blood from the demon splattered all over my upper body as I laid there in a paralyzed state of shock.
The sharp pain in my shoulder danced inside my veins, over and over again.

My sight got hazy..

..The screaming and cursing began fading off in my ears.

The blood in my shoulder gushed out of my body as I could feel myself falling into unconsciousness.
My gaze slightly managed to catch a glimpse of Hotaru stabbing the demon in the chest repeatedly..

Before my entire world turned black.

•••

" Over here, Ingu! Look at those pretty insects, they're called Luna moths. Cute, right? "
I slightly opened my eyes, as I found myself looking at a flower.

" Do you see it? "

I turned my gaze a bit to the right and looked down. A small, green moth was sitting in the middle of a flower. It was in fact.. pretty cute to look at.

I looked to my right and at the person talking to me. An older girl with light brown hair. But her face was overshadowed. I could tell she was smiling by her tone of voice, but I couldn't tell who it was.

" Ingu? "
I didn't reply and just stared at her.
The girl next to me pat my head and giggled.
" Gosh, you're so cute when you're confused— let's go get some mangoes later, okay? We can braid each other's hair by the river, too! "

Mangoes?
" ..mhm "

ꕤ↝•.•↜ꕤ

" Inigo! Dinner is ready, come inside and eat! "
A pretty woman with black hair in a purple and light yellow kimono was waving at me. She bore a tray of Onigiri. But her face was just overshadowed, too. I couldn't make out her facial appearance.

" I got another patient coming over, could you help me later? "

ꕤ↝•.•↜ꕤ

" Inigo, come help me carry some wood, please? There will be a festival tonight in town. I promised to help out with some bonfires, but doing it singlehanded is a little difficult, you know? Haha! You aren't very strong, but two is better than one. "

A man in a dark brown and greyish green hakama waved at me. His face was overshadowed. I don't remember him. Couldn't tell if I knew him or not.

ꕤ↝•.•↜ꕤ

" Haha..! Your food is great, very!.. "
An older girl sat by the table inside, eating one of my homemade maki rolls. Although, telling by her movements, she seemed like she was about to puke. Her face was overshadowed, I couldn't tell who she was either.

" I can help you with redoing it later.. maybe you put a little too much soy sauce in it, heh.. "

ꕤ↝•.•↜ꕤ

" Inigo.. I'm so very sorry I didn't tell you beforehand, I.. I was afraid of hurting you.. "

A pair of soft and delicate hands wrapped around mine as a girl held them gently. I looked up at her, and even though I couldn't see her face, it was sorta obvious that she was crying, telling by her sob-ish stuttering.

" But it's necessary for my family.. we have to move, to find a better place. I'll miss you very much. "

The hand holding turned into a tight, yet gentle and soft hug. I didn't say anything, I just kept silent. She felt cold, to be honest. I didn't sense anything from her aura.

ꕤ↝•.•↜ꕤ

A girl was standing by the trees, as the other kids were playing with me, staring.
I stared back at her, ignoring the screaming children behind me as they were playing tag.
The girls face..
Just black. Overshadowed, again. Something seemed off, though. She wasn't staring at me, I could tell. More like glaring, even if I couldn't make out her face.

-•.•.•.•-

I don't remember those people anymore.

I can't see their faces.
I can't recognize them.

Are they my family? No, what is a family, even?

•••

" Ngh.. "
I opened my eyes, staring into the huge, white and crescent moon above. My sight was a bit blurred, my heart was beating rapidly and my pulse wasn't slowing much down.
My consciousness was returning. And so was the pain in my shoulder and ankle.

As I slowly sat up, I saw Hotaru laying on the ground not too far away from me. He was still bleeding, barely alive. The demon was gone. But.. didn't he save me just now?

I crawled over to him and gently got onto my knees, making sure the pain in my ankle didn't expand, next to him as I looked at his face with tears in my eyes,
" Hotaru?.. a-..are you okay?.. "

I knew he wasn't, but what else could I say?

Hotaru turned his pale face towards me and back stared. Life was draining from his eyes already.
He had a deep, large claw-like cut going from his collarbone and across his torso to his gut. One of his eyes had been ripped out of his face, too.

It was just horrifying to look at.

" Ah.. Iroha, m-..my dearest.. " He managed to part his lips a bit and mutter those few words before continuing,
" I could.. not let t-them.. take you away.. f-from me.. again.. "
He said again, smiling a little as a tear ran down from his remaining eye to his cheek. That tear was then followed by a small stream of blood, trailing down his lips and mouth to his chin.

I was speechless. I did not like Hotaru due to his possessive ways of treating me the past year and months. But he saved me just now, right?.
My shaking hands lightly touched his cheek as he raised his own hand, grabbing mine in return with whatever energy he had left in his body..

" W-..Why did you.. " My hoarse voice said— though I was still too confused to understand and had several questions, why bother to ask? He was dying right now, next to me. I didn't even know what to do at this point, all I could do was watch and listen.

" Because.. you are.. w-what I have left of your m-..mother, Iroha.. you are.. "
He replied, smiling as his hand loosened a bit.

" ..my little.. s-sun of.. my li.. "

It went quiet.
His hand became sloppy, fell down along his side and he stopped breathing completely. The life had left his eye already, leaving it open and empty.

Something inside my stomach curled as I looked at my hands that were soaked in his blood from his wound.

When did it go so wrong?
Why did I end up here? How?

• • •

My eyes suddenly widened.
My insides began to burn.

No, it was like my body was on fire, a sudden rush of acid just flowed throughout my veins, throughout everything in my flesh and blood.
My mouth opened wide as I fell back and rolled onto my side, grabbing my own throat in desperation whilst gagging and screaming, simultaneously.
I coughed out a handful of blood, in which it soaked deep into the ground beneath me as well.

This sort of pain.. My mind couldn't stand it. My own fragile figure couldn't, either. It was getting too hard to breathe now.
I kicked with my legs, my muscles tensed up completely, my body began moving uncontrollably. I couldn't stop.
I was seeing red, everywhere.
Am I dying for real now?

•⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈•

⎈⇢ POV, 3rd person

The 15 year old girl rolled around on the ground, gagging and moving uncontrollably with twitchy movements as she was desperately gasping for air.
She was unable to stop, her mind had no control of her body anymore. The horrid facial expression was almost plastered on her face.
Everything she could hear was simply her own heartbeat, ringing in her ears.

The nails grew razor sharp. Her skin turned pale and her dark brown eyes became grey-ish, along with her sclera turning a little darker.
Inigo began scratching her neck, creating claw marks on her skin.
As she had her mouth wide open, a pair of sharp fangs grew. Even her veins faded to a deep color of black, and they became visible all over her small body.

...

Finally, it got silent. The screaming stopped, as a bit of sobbing that was heard coming from the girl.

She was breathing and inhaling sharply, just staring at the ground in.. disbelief. Her sprained ankle was no longer sprained, her wound in her shoulder had healed.
Inigo looked at her hand, from palm to the other side. Her eyes were twitching but in an inhuman manner.

She was, in fact...

No longer human at all.

🕸༞⎈↝🩸↜⎈༞🕸

Inigo's body was slowly moving forward, one by one, passing by trees and more trees. Almost like an endless and twisted pattern, making her balance uneven as she walked.

Eventually, she bumped into a tree with a 'bonk' and fell back as she let out a small squeak.
Her monster-like eyes made their way up along the tree, now staring at the very top. She kept silent, not knowing what to say— or do. It was just a tree.. yeah. A tree.
She got up again and stumbled a little bit from left to right before regaining her balance— she was slowly getting the hand of it again.

It wasn't too hard to see anymore, but her memory remained hazy and foggy like before, and if so, even hazier than ever. The demon girl had a hard time processing her surroundings and even her very own, small and slow steps. She simply fell again and again a couple times, only making her way deeper and further into the heart of the forest she found herself in.

Hours passed. The moon was slowly going down, all while Inigo simply continued walking forward and upwards a mountain. She didn't know where she was going but she didn't have a reason to stop anyway.

A small, white silhouette caught her attention, making the demon sprint towards it and immediately extend her arms, landing again with her half-closed palm planted solid on the ground.
She caught it.
Inigo sat up and examined her own hand before opening it, watching a white spider crawl out of it and up alongside her arm to her shoulder. It was just a spider.. with pretty red dots, she admitted. Although, she only remained silent without giving much of a reaction to the small creature.

" Go search over there! Ignore the spiders and do your damn job as a slayer! The sun is almost up anyway. "

She flinched upon some small, distant shouts, not far from where she was sitting. People?
She looked around, scanned the trees and surroundings, immediately catching a tiny glimpse of a boy walking down towards her.

Something didn't feel right. The atmosphere became heavy and uneasy, progressively getting more tense as he got near, all while Inigo sat there and watched, drowning in her own dilemma wether she should run or stay. Who was he?

" I found one! " The boy yelled, unsheathing a long, shining blade from his saya as he immediately sprinted towards Inigo.

Her eyes widened as she got up and stumbled back, unsure of her next move— why was he running towards her? Is that a sword? Why does he have that? The questions continued to flow through her mind, before she turned around and sped off, attempting to escape him.

" IT'S GETTING AWAY! " The slayer screamed, gritting his teeth in frustration.

" WHY IS IT RUNNING, FOR FUCKS SAKE?! "

Inigo didn't get far before she crawled up a tree in desperation and sat there as the slayer finally reached her, looking up at the demon.

" What a coward of a demon, running away like that. "
The slayer boy said, squinting his eyes as he let out a small chuckle,
' She looks pretty young, though. About 14? '

Inigo didn't respond and just stared at him, breathing intensely.

" Whatever. Come down here and fight me, idiot! Coward! "
He threw a rock towards where she was sitting, hitting her right between her eyes as she placed a hand on her face and squeaked in a tiny bit of pain.

" Hah, pathetic! "
The boy simply laughed and continued to throw rocks at her, sort of enjoying himself at the moment.

One rock.. Two rocks.. Three rocks.. seven rocks, now eight rocks.

Despite the cuts and bruises she gained from his little game, they simply healed. Although, she didn't pay attention to that.

A few minutes passed, little by little, Inigo's veins popped on her skin as she slowly got triggered by this, all while the slayer was laughing and insulting her for God knows why.
She gritted her teeth in response and snapped back at him, letting out a short and aggressive scream.

" So you finally get the guts to come down here, you scaredy-cat of a demon?! "

Her right eye twitched.

" Come on, dumb bitch! I SAID GET DOWN HERE AND FIGHT M- "

• • •

His sentence was cut off as Inigo instantly leapt off her branch and tackled the boy to the ground.
And much to the boy's unfortunate, he had been too cocky with his game and dropped his katana in the process of Inigo's small attack, leaving him weaponless.

" OH SHIT- " He cursed to himself, reaching for his katana— that was, until he felt a pair of fangs bite deep into his neck, then pulling back and tearing off a huge chunk of flesh from it.
The boy screamed in agony as response, as he hadn't seen this coming towards him at all.

His painful scream echoed throughout the mountain, catching the attention of the other slayers wandering around.

Before the boy could scream again, Inigo bit yet again into his neck and forcefully teared off another piece, watching the blood splatter all over her kimono and his face.

She felt zero sympathy and regret. A rush of pride scattered through her veins and mind.

It felt good.
Everything felt good about this. A smirk widened on her face, much to the boy's horror.

" NO! NO, STOP! ST- "
She didn't allow him to finish as she continued biting and pulling out several chucks of his neck and throat, until he stopped resisting and screaming from the endless amount of pain.

She got off him and looked down at his twisted, facial expression with blood all over his torso and face.. it didn't feel wrong. It felt somewhat right and horrifyingly entertaining to look at.. like a gory satisfaction.
Blood covered her entire mouth and it was still dripping down her chin to her throat.

The demon slowly licked the blood off her fingers, making her flinch for a second time.
It tasted.. great. Really good, actually.

" The scream came from over here! "

Snapping out of her small trance, Inigo turned and watched as a whole group ran towards her and the bloody scene.
She knew she couldn't take them all on at once— and she sprinted off, far away from them.

She could hear distant yells and screams not too far away. They had found the body and her very own blood trail.
Inigo picked up the speed, along with the slayers not so far behind her..

•⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈༞⎈•

Dawn was starting to break. She could see a tiny bit of light just beyond the mountain.

Not really knowing the consequences for herself if she dared to step into the light, though.

Just then, as Inigo slowed down her pace— she found herself standing before an old, unstable house. It was dusty, dirty and several shining spiderwebs decorated every corner of it.

" THERE IS IT! KILL IT! "
An older boy with shoulder-length hair screamed to the rest of his small group as he immediately raised his katana and dashed at Inigo.
The demon girl stumbled back and gritted her teeth in response, glaring daggers at him as he came closer.. and closer..

He seemed experienced— no, he knew what he was doing. He was too strong.
This only came Inigo to mind as he was close enough, aiming the blade right against her neck. She closed her eyes forcefully shut and covered her head, waiting for him to slash.

• • •

1st person POV, Inigo

He never slashed me. It just went completely quiet. An intense smell of blood