Leo had some basic experience with boxing and martial arts, but he was loath to try and kick whatever was charging at him. Despite his inexperience with it, the broomstick offered a longer reach, which Leo considered a better advantage at the moment.The broomstick was obviously blunted, therefore, instead of using it as a spear and trying to impale the creature, he planted his feet in the ground and prepared to bat it away when it got in range.

Adrenaline muddled Leo’s thoughts and his breathing was ragged. He could hear Cassandra shouting something from above, but he just didn’t have enough presence of mind to understand it.

The world seemed to slow down for a moment as he stood in a striking position. The creature approached through the darkness of the alley with its red beady eyes glaring at Leo. His hands shook as the creature kept it’s momentum with unbridled fury. Leo breathed out in an attempt to steel himself for what was to come, but was still caught off guard when the creature lunged at him.

The broomstick snapped in motion with great force, but Leo’s reaction was a little too slow to catch the airborne creature in a good position. The wooden pole struck beneath the creature beneath the shoulder and barely managed to send it off to the side. It huffed out loudly, as if the air had been blown out of its lung, but it landed close to Leo, close enough to make it difficult for him to swing the broomstick again..

Its beady red eyes filled with hatred as it bored down on Leo. A short and quick backstep was all Leo could manage, but the creature was having none of it. Despite its smaller stature, or perhaps because of it, it outpaced Leo. The creature lunged again with a high pitched roar. Leo swung the broomstick awkwardly and with little power behind it. The creature grabbed Leo’s wrist with one clawed hand while also biting down the broomstick. Its free hand swung awkwardly for only a moment before it found purchase on the other hand of Leo’s weapon.

The sharp black claws easily teared Leo’s soft skin. Blood dripped and he groaned in pain as the creature desperately tried to bite the broomstick in half. Leo shook his hand instinctively and the creature let go of his wrist, but not before giving Leo a shallow gash for his efforts. It still clung to the halfway chewed stick, which Leo promptly discarded by throwing it away, creature and all. It flew further than Leo expected, all the way to the opposite wall, where it impacted with an audible crunch.

Blood dripped on the floor from Leo’s wrist as he nursed his wound with his uninjured hand. The creature stood up and stammered two steps forward. Without wasting the opportunity, Leo made it to the janitor’s door while the creature seemed to be affected by the impact against the wall.

“Open up! Somebody open up!” Leo called out as he banged against the door. “Aya! Open up!”

“Watch out!” Cassandra’s scream got Leo's attention and he turned just in time to see the creature mid jump towards him.

Leo covered his face as the creature slammed against his stomach. This time, Leo was the one who had the air blown out of his lungs as his back hit the cold metal door. His head bounced from the impact and the back of his head hit the door with the whiplash.

The creature fared much better as it clawed at Leo’s left side. It teared long, but shallow gashes across his shoulders, arms, ribs and thighs. Leo tried to push it away or do something, but was severely hampered by the head impact and lack of air. As he laid down, dizzy and vulnerable, with his arms over his head and in fetal position, Leo couldn’t help but wonder if this was how he died. The creature suddenly stopped. Leo welcomed the brief respite, but didn’t move.

‘Maybe it thinks I am dead.’

As his mind cleared and he caught his breath, Leo started to make out the unusual situation around him. Cassandra’s loud voice also helped in that matter.

“Here! Here you fucker!” Cassandra screamed at the top of her lungs. “Come here and get me, you sack of shit!”

Leo felt the creature’s weight get off him as it snarled and screamed at something, probably Cassandra, Leo assumed.

“You want a piece of me? Take this you fucker!” Cassandra shouted as Leo heard a thud beside him. He tentatively opened his eyes.

At that moment Leo was in a lot of pain. His situation was anything but promising as he laid on the ground bleeding from numerous different cuts. Even with all that, or in some weird, twisted way, because of it, he found the red and black shoe that had just landed in front of his face funny. Leo smiled.

Glancing to his side, Leo saw the creature standing a few paces away from him looking up at Cassandra. It snarled and hissed, but with its small size, it had no chance of reaching her. Leo’s dizziness had passed, and he was flush with adrenaline. Determined not to waste the opportunity that Cassandra had created for him, he decided to leverage his biggest advantage against the creature. Their weight difference.

His whole body shook at the pain of moving, but he did it anyway. Leo stood as quietly as possible and approached the creature from behind. Leo hoped it didn’t turn towards him, and it didn’t. With one decisive motion he kicked the creature on the back of the head with all the strength he could muster. It was such a wild swing that he couldn’t stop himself and fell on his own spin.

The creature’s head snapped forward with the impact and it hit the nearby wall without a sound. Leo stammered as he stood up. He felt a strain on his right leg’s inner thigh that wasn’t there before.

‘I probably pulled something with such a wild kick.’

Leo limped a couple steps forward towards the downed creature. It had fallen in an awkward position and hadn’t moved since. When Leo got close enough to reach it, he almost jumped back as its red beady eye turned to stare right back at him. The creature’s breathing was fast and shallow as it bled profusely from a head wound. Its neck turned in an awkward angle that the creature made no movement to correct. Despite all that, it was somehow still alive.

Normally, Leo wouldn’t have the stomach to do anything more to the creature. Even if it had been trying to kill it before, it was not a threat anymore, but right now was different. At this moment, Leo felt numb to feelings he would otherwise be deeply affected by.

A deep, guttural scream tore itself from Leo’s throat as he stomped the creature's face. It was quick and simple leg movement, but the enormous significance of the act overcame his momentary numbness. He had killed. Even if it was not human, it was the first time he had killed. As he stared at the unfocused red eyes and broken neck bone, Leo’s stomach churned and he doubled over as he almost retched on the spot.

Stepping back as he coughed and gagged, Leo tried to put some distance between himself and the creature’s body. He recovered a moment later, and as he looked back at the creature, his stomach threatened to churn again, but for a very different reason. A black line with a dark blue hue floated in the air on top of the creature’s body right in front of him. It moved through the air in a lazy, soft manner as if aided by a gentle breezy. The visage was mesmerizing and before Leo could catch himself, he reached a bloody hand to touch it.

The mysterious line instantly shot up towards his hand, as if attracted to it by some invisible force. It entered through his palm and shot up his left arm. Leo felt a mildly tingling, but nothing else. He stood in shock as the events unfolded, but a hand on his shoulders brought him back to the reality of the moment.

“Can you move?” Cassandra asked as she looked him over with a worried expression. “We need to get out of here. Can’t you hear them approaching?”

Leo’s mind felt muddled as he tried to process what just happened and what Cassandra was trying to tell him.

‘Can I hear what?’

Leo shook his head and focused on what was happening around him.

“Holy shit! We need to move!” Leo said as the snarling and screaming of numerous creatures fell on his ears. “But nobody is opening the door! Where are we going? Also, why are you down here?”

“I got it down, look!” Cassandra said as she pointed to the fire exit platform and the ladder, which was lowered and reached almost all the way down to the ground. “C’mon, we got to move quickly!”

Cassandra jogged with bare feet through the dirty asphalt towards the ladder as Leo limped behind her.

“What about your shoes?” Leo asked as he glanced at the red and black short heels some distance away.

“My shoes?” Cassandra said with a confused frown as she grabbed the ladder. “Forget about it. We need to go up!”

“Right…” Leo muttered as she started to climb.

The climb was short, but nonetheless painful as Leo’s wounds complained at every step he took upwards. Cassandra helped him in the last of the steps and they both managed to get up before anything else was in the alley.

“I know you are hurt, but you need to help me pull this up.” Cassandra said with a pained look. “It’s too heavy for me to pull it by myself, but if we leave it hanging they might be able to climb up.”

Leo just nodded and they both went to work together as the first of the creatures arrived at the alley. The ladder was heavy, even with the both of them working to pull it up, but they managed to get it up high enough to be out of reach to the short creatures.

“Hold it, I am going to latch it.” Cassandra said as she pointed to the latch with one hand. Leo once again nodded and did as asked. He had to put his all just to hold it in place, but Cassandra needed no more than a moment to get it latched.

The ladder fell in place with a loud clang of metal as the latch held it high above the ground. Leo breathed out in relief and inclined against the metal railings of the platform. Cassandra joined him a moment later.

They both sat in silence as more of the creatures arrived. The alley became increasingly noisy as they did a ruckus on the ground. Leo was exhausted, and he felt pain in places he didn’t even know he had, making it easy to ignore the sound coming from below. Cassandra’s voice beside him was different though, and that sound Leo didn’t ignore.

“I know it’s stupid to ask, but… Are you okay?”

“I am alive…” Leo said after a while. “That’s something, I guess.”

Cassandra hummed quietly, and Leo saw the uneasiness in her eyes as she tried to avoid staring at his fresh wounds and mangled clothes.

“Thanks for saving my life back then.” Leo said candidly.

“You did everything, I only screamed.” Cassandra said as she fidgeted with her hair. “You don’t have to thank me…” She muttered.

“Well, you did throw your shoes to save me.” Leo said with a chuckle that he instantly regretted as his left ribs ached.

“It’s just a pair of shoes. It’s nothing.” Cassandra said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

“Yeah, you are right.” Leo said with a faint smile. “It’s just a stupid pair of shoes.”

“Leonard...” Cassandra said as she looked at Leo with a mix of confusion and worry. “I know I already asked you, but are you really alright? I saw that you hit your head and you seemed to have bled a lot. Are you still bleeding?”

“I don’t think so.” Leo said as he softly brushed a hand at his left shoulder and ribs. “The bleeding has stopped. Honestly, it looks worse than it feels.”

“Also,” Leo turned to face Cassandra. “Please, just call me Leo. It feels weird when someone else besides my parents call me Leonard.”

“Su- Sure. Leo, got it.” Cassandra said taken aback by the sudden change of subject.

“Thanks.” Leo said with a smile. “Do you have a nickname you prefer?”

Cassandra hummed thoughtfully before shaking her head.

“Some people call me Sandra, but I am not really attached to it. To be honest, I think I prefer my name.”

Leo smiled and gave her a mildly bloody thumbs up with his right hand.

“I am glad you survived, Leo.” Cassandra said demurely as she hugged her knees.

“I am glad as well…” Leo agreed as he relaxed his hands on laps and looked up to the disturbingly empty sky, with only a single red star.

“You humans are really amazing.” A voice spoke from Leo’s left side. “Despite acquiring such a ridiculous amount of wounds against a single enemy, you still find time to lay down and relax. What makes you think you are safe?.”

Leo’s head snapped to his left and his eyes widened as another impossible situation presented itself to him. It seemed the surprises the day held were still far from over.