Snow drifted down in silence.
The snowflakes around him trembled, and a wet hum vibrated through the ground beneath his knee.
"Haa... what is she up to now?"
The white field darkened.
A line appeared across the snow, then another, and then hundreds of veins spreading outward from a single point.
Blood seeped up through the cracks, bubbling and steaming as it flooded the surface.
*THOOOMMM* The snowfield exploded.
A geyser of blood erupted skyward as the woman burst out from beneath the surface, hovering above the ground.
She looked different now.
The playful smile was gone.
Her hair floated wildly, soaked at the tips with blood. Veins pulsed visibly beneath her pale skin and blood coiled around her limbs, layering over her body.
"Guess I triggered the second phase." He closed his eyes for a second, calming his racing heart.
Then he opened them and exhaled.
Wrapping the chains around his knuckles, he glanced up at her.
