The New Ajin

Chapter Five

Shouldn't there be a light? I was told I would see a light. And shouldn't I feel as light as air? Why do I still feel...pain? It feels like I have a major headache straight from hell. I slowly kneel up and rub my head. Wait, wasn't I shot? Shouldn't I be dead or at least have a hole in my head? I hear muffling sounds as if my head is underwater. I think somebody is shouting my name. The voice sounds so familiar. Is it...Naoki? There is another voice. This one is high pitched and it sounds like she is screaming. Now there is another man's voice. This one sounds familiar too. It is Ren, I believe.  What  is Ren doing here?

Gun shots erupt and I am pulled out of the water. I open my eyes and see Chika being shot from the back. She falls forward with multiple holes in her chest. I open my mouth to scream but nothing comes out. My voice is caught in the back of my throat. The men around her go down one by one. I try to move my body but it disobeys me. My body is frozen in horror as I see Ren walk over the dead bodies, holding a gun in his hand. 

"R-Ren," the voice is not mine, it's Naoki's. My body is pulled against another one. This body is warm and instantly comforts me. My head is pressed against a chest with a racing heart beat.

"Don't come near us," his voice says with more confidence.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Naoki. Just give me Eri," Ren's comes nearer with his gun raised at Naoki, "you know how much money they will give me if I turn in an Ajin, a ton of money. I will be set for the rest of my life."

"How can you do that to Eri? She is still the same Eri!" Naoki shouts at him. He pulls me closer to him. 

"She is no longer the Eri who we knew. She is now Eri: the new Ajin," Ren says.

"How can you say that? She trusted you! She saw you as her father!" anger is laced in Naoki's voice.

"And I saw her as one of my kids. But now everything is different. She's an Ajin now. She is no longer human," Ren says.

Sadness fills my heart but it is soon overpowered by anger.

"How...dare...you," the words barely leave my lips. 

I push Naoki away from me and stand up on my own. I look down at my hand and see black dust like particles leaking out of my skin.

Am I a monster now?

I look back and see Naoki with a bullet hole in his shirt, on his stomach. When was he shot? The blood, there is so much blood. I whip my head around, "I'll come with you."

"No!" Naoki pushes himself up and stands next to me, "stop trying to protect me. I love you and will always be at you side."

"You love me?" did he really just say that?

"I do, Eri, I love you," he grabs onto my hand and whirls me behind him. 

"Don't be stupid, Naoki. Your love is going to get you killed," Ren says sternly.

Ren starts chuckling, "by the rate you're going, you're going to bleed to death."

Naoki peels his bloody hand off his stomach. He flinches as his hand leaves the gaping hole in his stomach.

Through gritted teeth he says, "I'm fine."

"Naoki, you're not fine," I start saying, "get out of here."

"Never," he raises his gun at Ren.

I am about to pull Naoki out of the way but a black figuer appears out of nowhere and pushes Naoki out of the way.

"Love...me," the black figuer says.

It has no face and the head is figured like a cone. The body looks like a human body but thinner. The waist is hardly there, the hips look bony, and the legs are long and thin. The fingers almost look like talons.

"G-ghost," I stumble backwards. I hear a gun shot and see the ghost shields Naoki with it's body.

"Stop this, Ren!" I shout at him.

Ren continues shooting, all the bullets reflecting off the ghost. All I want is for Ren to stop.

"Ren! Stop!" The ghost dashes forward and slashes Ren across the torso.

"How...dare...you," the ghost says. I grab Naoki's arm and sling it over my shoulders.

"Let's get out of here," I drag Naoki away. He has his other hand over his wound. Blood soaks his shirt and his hand is drenched in his own blood.

He does his best to walk on his own but I am left carrying most of his weight. I look behind me and see the black ghost straddling Ren's waist and pounding it's fists against Ren's face.

My signature move.

First it copies my speech and now my fighting style. What's going on?

"Eri," Naoki snaps my attention back to him.

"I can't go to a hospital, they would ask too many questions. Take me to Tony," he says.

"Tony? Are you sure?" All Tony knows about the medical field is what he has read in a book.

"He owes me a favor, anyway. Take a right on this street," his words are coming out slower.

"Stay strong, Naoki," I tell him.

Besides everything that has happened, he gives me a lopsided smile and says, "always."

He lifts his bloody hand and points to an house at the corner of the street. I don't like this neighborhood. The houses are old and breaking. Weeds are everywhere. The corner house has bars covering the windows. The house is painted a dull grey color.

"Are you sure?" I ask him one more time.

"Yes, Eri, I'll be fine. Go knock on the door, please," I leave him on the breaking porch and knock on the cracked door.

It takes the person on the other side a while before he answers. The door creaks open and Tony pokes his head through. His skin is tan and his long curly black hair is kept in a messy bun on top of his head. His beard is growing in. His dark brown eyes dart from my face to Naoki. He curses under his breath and opens his door wide. He rushes to Naoki's side and carries him into the house. 

I trail after them but before I can take a step in, Naoki says, "No, baby, please wait out here."

Tony closes the door on me.

Did he just tell me to wait outside? Anger bubbles in me. Why would he keep me out here when I should be inside holding his hand. I don't trust Tony. He might be nice and all but at this point, I don't trust anybody when it comes to Naoki. He should be in a hospital with doctors who know what they are doing. 

This is all my fault.

The reason he is hurt is because he was with me. I sigh and lean against the house. None of this should be happening. I should be planning my flight to America. I should be doing research on which hotels I should stay in when I'm in Dallas. Naoki would be with me, too, and together we would explore America. 

But here we are. According to Ren, I'm no longer Eri: the Undefeated Champion. I am now Eri: The New Ajin.

I thump my head again the stupid house. Shouting erupts inside the house. It's Naoki. The shouts are filled with pain until they eventually get muffled out. I slam my fists against the door.

"Naoki!" I shout.

The door is thrown open and a big guy that looks similar to Tony is there. 

"Naoki will be fine. Tony just hadda take the bullet out," he says.

I start to walk past him but he blocks the door with his body.

"Naoki asked me ta keep cha outta there," he says sternly.

I glare at him, "why would he do that?"

The man shrugs, "If I hadda guess, it would be because he doesn't want cha ta see him. Ya see, he's not lookin' very good."

His muffled screams continue and I am stuck outside, not able to do a thing.