NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 2: Bloodstained Prelude
The world tilts. Sounds stretch and warp, panicked screams, the steady drip of Max's own life pooling on the cold tile. His breath comes ragged, shallow.
What truly shreds him apart is the pathetic, humiliating end he's been dealt. Not in some blaze of vengeance. Not bringing justice to the bastards who ruined his life.
With what little strength he has left, he fumbles for the amulet around his neck, a useless trinket, yet the only thing tethering him to something real.
"Forgive me, Mom…" His voice is barely a whisper. His grip tightens. His vision darkens, but a bitter chuckle rasps from his throat. "And Dad… I hope you're dead… so I can beat the shit out of you when I see you up there."
Amidst the chaos, Pablo's sharp eyes dart across the scene. Something feels off—the bomb's failure, the clowns' strange behavior—it doesn't add up.
He catches Kevin's gaze and subtly raises an eyebrow. And Kevin, already on edge, adjusts the antique revolver hidden under his jacket. With a swift, practiced motion, he pulls it out and opens fire like a genuine gunslinger.
Bang!
Again, gasps ripple through the crowd, fear turning into a buzz of confusion. The Glock-wielding clown drops like a sack of bricks, crimson spraying across the floor.
Our hero, Kevin Fonseca, points his revolver at the fake suicide bomber, using him to hold the status quo.
"Let's see how much lives you got!"
Pablo, always one to seize an opportunity, calmly snatches the fallen Glock. He waves it at the remaining terrorists, his voice dripping with mockery.
"You expect us to believe you smuggled all those AK-47s into this small town? Pathetic. Now, why don't you drop the damn toys now?"
The terrorists hesitate, their bravado faltering under the sudden turn of events. The crowd, sensing the bluff, begins to rally behind Pablo's boldness.
"Kill them!"
"They've killed someone. Make them pay!"
The tide shifts, and the tension in the air becomes almost suffocating. Pablo, reveling in the moment, lets his smirk grow wider. He aims the Glock with confidence and pulls the trigger.
Bang!
The shot grazes a man's neck instead of his head. Blood spurts, and the crowds slowly approach the terrorists, surrounding them with murderous eyes.
The bad guys realize they're out of their depth. But two of them are actually armed with real AK-47s. They scream in desperation before unleashing a storm of bullets.
Rraaarrghh!!!
"Ah, fuck!" Pablo realizes the grave mistake he has made. He grabs Mrs. Emanuella and cowers behind her, start shooting while using her like a meat shield.
Madness erupts. The air fills with deafening gunfire. Screams echo as people dive for cover. But the pitiful teacher can only let out a terrified cry, trembling in Pablo's grip.
Kevin, in stark contrast, stands firm. His revolver spits fire, each shot calculated and deadly. But even his precision can't stop the carnage.
Within seconds, the floor becomes a graveyard. Bodies litter the ground, lifeless or writhing in agony. Smoke fills the air, the acrid stench of gunpowder and blood mixing into something almost unbearable.
The remaining terrorists, shaken and realizing their plan has gone completely awry, exchange frantic glances.
"Shiit! Let's get the hell out of here before the cops arrive!" the leader shouts.
Abandoning their fallen comrades, the terrorists make a mad dash for their getaway van. The fake suicide bomber, still sprawled on the bloodied ground, watches in disbelief.
"Marco! You cowards!" he screams, his voice raw and desperate. "You're leaving me behind?! After my heroic stunt as the decoy?!"
But no one looks back. The van screeches out of the airport parking lot, its taillights disappearing into the distance, leaving him to his fate.
The bomber clutches his fat belly where the bullets have lodged deep. Pain surges through him with every shallow breath.
"Damn it," he rasps, spitting blood. "Is this… how it ends? No! Rebecca… she needs me…"
His heartbeat sounds like a cruel countdown. Whether it's the police to drag him away or death itself to claim him, he knows his time is slipping through his trembling fingers.
Pablo and Alex are in dire, half conscious. Meanwhile Kevin, no less dire, crawls toward Pablo's dropped smartphone, his focus sharp despite the pain in his side.
But before he can grab it, a bloodied hand picks it.
"Who?"
He looks up to see Max, pale and trembling, yet somehow still alive. His shirt is soaked with blood, his breathing shallow.
With his other hand, Max raises Kevin's own revolver, pointing it at his face.
"Try it if you dare," Kevin challenges, his voice low and cold.
Max's vision blurring, but his determination burns bright. All that drives him now is revenge.
"God, please!" he whispers. "Just let me do this one thing."
The weight of everything, the betrayal, the humiliation, the heartbreak, it all bears down on him in that moment. His finger trembles on the trigger, and then.…
Bang!
Sadly, he only hits Kevin's shoulder, missing the head for being too weak to sustain the recoil. The revolver slips from his grasp, and ultimately, he collapses with tear in both eyes.
However, as his consciousness almost slips away…
Plubob!!!
[Emergency alert!]
[Your current condition is critical. Death is imminent within five minutes.]
A glowing notification window appears before Max's fading eyes.
[Would you like to visit Arcantherion? All fresh wounds will be healed, but permanent conditions caused by old injuries will remain.]
"Arcantherion…" Max murmurs, the name sparking a distant memory.
[We could bring your friends along if you'd like! Should we begin the transmigration process now?]
Out of nowhere…
"Max!" Daniella's voice cuts through the haze.
She crawls to Max with terrible cry.
"Oh, Max! You're still alive?"
Max shifts his attention to Daniella, and replies to her with a humorless chuckle.
"Sadly… yes!"
Right after that answer, the light from the amulet intensifies, expanding outward in a brilliant circle that engulfs everything within a 10-meter radius.
Daniella startles, her breath hitching. Her wide eyes follow the pulsating light, but the strange notification hovering in front of Max remains invisible to her.
[Unfortunately, we can only bring the five people nearest to you by ignoring the dead ones.]
[The transmigration process will begin in 7, 6, 5…]
"What? Wait!" Max stammers, his bloodied fingers clutching the amulet tightly as if it can somehow stop whatever is happening.
Daniella stumbles, her instincts overriding her fear. "Max! What's going on? What is this?"
But the countdown marches on, indifferent to her panic. The glowing circle intensifies, its light climbing up Max's body like vines of shimmering energy. His form flickers, turning translucent.
"No, no, no!" Daniella cries, her hands trembling. She tries to grab Max, but her fingers pass through him like air.
Max's body dissolves, fragmenting into cascading particles of blue light. Piece by piece, he vanishes, leaving only a faint shimmer in his wake.
Daniella stands frozen, staring at the empty space where he was just seconds ago.
"What… what just happened?"
"Max?"
"Maaaax?!!"
But before she can process anything, her hands begin to glow as well. A faint blue aura creeps up her arms.
"No… what's happening to me?" she gasps, her voice trembling as the light engulfs her.
"Somebody… please, hel…"
***
A few moments later, the distant wail of police sirens grows louder, cutting through the heavy silence. Survivors emerge from their hiding places, trembling, their faces pale with shock.
No one realizes that several people have vanished as though they were never there. The chaos of the earlier attack leaves too much confusion, too many bodies on the ground.
***
Meanwhile, in an unknown dim cave…
Max gasps awake, his chest heaving. The cool, damp air fills his lungs, sharp and metallic, pulling him from the brink of unconsciousness.
He shivers as he struggles to sit up. Glancing down at himself, his hands tremble as they roam across his chest. His clothes are clean, free of blood or bullet holes.
"My… my body?"
The wounds that had torn into him just moments ago are gone, as if they were never there.
His eyes then adjust to the dim eerie light of the cave, glowing symbols snake across the rough stone walls, their light pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. They seem alive, ancient and unknowable.
Beneath him is a circular pattern carved into the stone, intricate and otherworldly. It hums softly, resonating deep in his chest, filling him with a strange sense of unease.
"What is this place?" A shiver crawls down his spine. "How did I get here?"
But the strange blue light only lasts for a moment. Once the cave goes dark, Max's legs move on their own, taking him towards a faint glimmer of light. He stumbles forward, his surroundings gradually coming into focus.
The light reveals a cave mouth carved into the side of a cliff. Beyond it lies a dense tropical rainforest. It looks surreal, as if plucked from a storybook.
"Where… am I?" he whispers, his voice trembling.