STEP
STEP
STEP
The sound of calm footsteps rang out as a figure walked forward toward a building with a front door made of cold, hard steel, its hinges slightly rusted.
It was cloaked in a pitch-black robe with crimson fur at its edges, and long, luscious dark hair flowed over it.
Arriving before the gate, her hands reached out, currently gloved, and just when her knuckles reached for the knob, it paused, as the hands folded into a punch instead.
BAAAAAANG!
A powerful explosion reverberated through as her fist crashed upon the gate, so softly, yet,
The steel door was violently torn off its hinges, sending dust flying.
STEP
STEP
STEP
The footsteps continued, and she stepped into the place only to find a bar
A local bar where sat a couple of scrawny-looking locals, cigarettes and booze over the table.
All twelve people, 8 men, four women, in the building had their eyes move away from the crashed-in door and back to her.
In the next moment,
PSSSCHT
They watched as the lighter's flame she brought out ignited.
A cigarette found its way to her red lips, and she lit it, smoke curling upwards.
She took a deep inhale off it before gently exhaling.
"A Level 6 secretive organization disguised as a simple local bar…" Ash murmured silently.
"So peculiarly obvious," she mused before taking another deep inhale.
The group watched with furrowed brows as the entire cigarette turned to ashes in one breath, followed by a thick cloud of smoke rising into the air.
"Where is the door?"
That was the question that followed, shattering the silence.
"Hey, lady, you wanna drink or booze?"
"That's all we do in here."
"You in for it, or you out?" a man at the side said, and Ash turned her crimson gaze to him.
"And you're out." She replied.
"Huh?"
Those were the last words the man heard before,
SHRIIIIIIIIIING!
The sound of a katana leaving its sheath rang out, and the next moment,
PSSSSSTTTCCCH!
Blood burst into the air like a broken tap as a head was sent flying across the room, trailing a beautiful elliptical arc in the sky before landing right on the table at the center of the bar.
"AHHHHHHH!"
A shrill scream of horror from the women reverberated next, and all hell broke loose.
Six of the men in the room all immediately drew out weapons, and in the next moment,
BAANG!
BAANG!
BAANG!
A shower of bullets rained upon Ash, who smiled just as a bullet appeared ten centimeters from her face, and in the next moment,
BOOOOM!
Cracks littered the ground where she previously stood as she flashed away like a phantom.
Running over the walls, bullets followed everywhere she passed, and in seven seconds, she was before one of the men.
SHRIIIIIIIIIING!
That sound was made again, and another head soared into the air, a body collapsing as Ash once more disappeared like a phantom.
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
"Shoot faster!"
"Damn it!"
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
"No, no…"
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
It was an absolute massacre!
The demon that had entered upon them was fast.
So fast none of their bullets could follow, and her blade, once out of her sheath, never returned unless a head was in the air.
Three minutes, and the sound of bullets faded off.
PSSSTCHT!
The sound of a lighter being opened rang out, sending forth a crimson glow through the room.
The light bulbs had been destroyed, leaving everything in pitch black.
With the illumination from her lighter, one could barely see, and all that was visible was blood.
Blood over the walls, over the floors, with headless bodies and destroyed chairs all over.
The only sound to be heard was that of a group of ladies huddled together in the darkness, quivering where they sat.
Ash lit up her cigarette, taking another deep inhale.
Huuuuuuu
A cloud of smoke left her lips, a small smile of relief upon her lips, and she turned forward.
There was only a single man left alive in the room, and it was none other than the bartender, who sat at his desk, his eyes still wide open in disbelief from the horror he had just witnessed.
Ash stepped forward towards the barman, and he turned his head up to look at the woman, swallowing in suppressed horror.
"Where's the door?"
It was the same question as before, and this time, all the aura to gatekeep was stripped bare.
The bartender, with his head unable to stop shaking, turned his neck to the side, and there it was.
A simple wall, yet upon its surface was the familiar blue symbol.
"Right."
Ash said before she resumed her steps.
Arriving before the wall, she held her hands upon the symbols and gently pushed in.
WRIIIIIING!
The sound of gears operating echoed as the entire wall shifted inward, parting to the side, revealing a door that extended deeper underground.
Electricity sparkled as the bulbs on the walls lit up, extending downward to reveal a staircase that continued below.
Without wasting any more time, Ash continued down the steps under the widened eyes of the bartender.
He had been spared!?
In the next moment, he seemed to find his courage, bolting out of the bar, and the same was true for the remaining four women, who also quickly ran out.
_____
"You shouldn't be here."
The voice rang out through a room of white marble.
Ash finally reached the end of the long underground stairway, where a large hall was all in waiting.
There were nothing but massive tubes, within them the dozens of bodies of men and women, and even children, bearing bizarre forms.
One thing was sure, they were all dead.
And at the end of the room was a singular tube whose liquid held a different color.
Light shimmering purple, and just before it stood a man, arms folded behind him, with his back turned to her.
"Where is the serum?"