The Outskirts (ITZY Shin Ryujin)

25

"Where's Ryujin and Chaeryeong?" Luke asked through gritted teeth.

"Chaeryeong? That insect ran as soon as she had the chance. And Ryujin? Well, I think the blood on my clothes answers it all."

"You killed her?"

"And boy, did she make a good supper.  There's nothing I love more than human meat. The siren part wasn't that great. But you, you are completely human. A supper that will satisfy me for many, many years."

Luke lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. He hit the ground with a thud as a groan slipped past his lips. Luke took this chance to fist him, punching as much area of the siren as he could. Saliva drooled out of his mouth as his nose began to bleed.

But he somehow managed to grab Luke and flip him over so he was beneath him. Tinsel wrapped his hands around his neck, applying force to successfully strangle him. He growled slightly, displaying his teeth. His dark mouth seemed endless but Luke noticed that right behind his crooked row of teeth, was another row and behind that was another, also seeming to be endless. He imagined Tinsel biting him and how much of a nightmare that would have been. He shivered at the thought and attempted to gulp but the grip around hit neck refused to proceed with the action.

Right as Luke almost gave up, he remembered Ryujin and how a piece of her skin probably passed through all those rows of teeth. Anger boiled up inside him and, in a sudden outburst of fury, he managed to push Tinsel off of him and send him crashing against the ground. Luke grabbed his gun nearby and pinned him to the ground, aiming his gun at his head.

The siren struggled for a moment before releasing a deep, menacing laugh. Luke wanted to punch him, strangle him and slap him all at the same time but instead, he did nothing but watch as he caught raindrops in his mouth before spitting it out with along with some blood. His hatred washed over him once again and his grip on his gun strengthened. However, before he could do anything, a gunshot echoed and Luke found his hands gripping his stomach as he doubled over in agony.

"You killed her!" Chaeryeong screamed, appearing from behind a tree. "You killed Yeji!"

Tinsel chuckled, standing up. He grinned at Chaeryeong before leaning against a tree, ready to watch the scene about to unfold.

"I..." Luke struggled, hand wrapped around his stomach to stop the bleeding as best he could. "I didn't mean to."

She shot again, this time the bullet pierced his shoulder.

"Don't play games with me! I trusted you! We all did!"

He screamed at the torturous feeling in his shoulder and stomach.

"I didn't want to," he stammered out.

"Then what happened?" She pulled him to his feet, hands practically ripping his collar off.

"I," he tried again, quickly losing all power. In his peripheral vision, he watched Tinsel laugh before striding away. He weakly pointed at him. Barely caring, Chaeryeong simply shot at both his legs then turned back to Luke. "Tried... to-" he took a deep, agonising breath before wincing. "Save her."

"Of course you did," Chaeryeong uttered sarcastically. "We should have got rid of you the day we first met you. I shouldn't have ever trusted you-"

"Ryujin's dead because of you," he managed to stammer out. "Tinsel... Ate her."

"Stupid!" She kneed his stomach, making his hunch over in utter pain. "How dare you accuse me of that! Sirens don't eat other sirens, you doofus! He didn't eat her! He left her unconscious!" Chaeryeong tucked her hair behind her ear before sighing. "You're an idiot, Luke Hayes. The biggest one I've met yet." With that, she sunk her fangs into the skin of his injured shoulder, releasing her venom.

His entire right shoulder and neck immediately went numb.

"I didn't-" he tried.

"If you are stupid enough to fall for Tinsel's blatant lie, you are stupid enough to accidentally kill a person." She mentioned, helping him lay his body on the ground. "But you killed her nonetheless and you must pay. Don't worry, my venom's painless. You'll be dead before you know it."

She sighed, standing up and backing away before turning to go to Tinsel. She hovered over the siren's frail body, gun aimed directly at his head. But to Luke's amazement, Tinsel didn't even flinch. He accepted it.

"Now we all know what's going to happen when I pull this trigger," Chaeryeong scanned his face. "Do you really want to do this?"

"The real question is are you ready? One simple move and you will not longer exist. Are you ready for that?"

She took a look at Luke who looked at her in utter confusion mixed with slight worry.

"What are you going to do?" Luke asked, trying to stand up but too weak to even move a finger.

She exhaled loudly, momentarily gazing at Luke.

"If Tinsel dies, the world goes back to the day Richards stole him from Blue..." She closed her eyes and sighed. "I have to do this... For Yeji."

"Yeji?" Tinsel derided. "You will basically kill yourself and Yuna to get Yeji back? Think about it. She's a human and we all know how selfish humans are. Do you really think Yeji would do all this for you? Do you really-"

She placed a stinging slap across his cheek. He roared in anger, using his left arm to trip her up. She crashed against the ground but quickly grasped the situation. He tried to pin her to the ground but she kicked him back, scrambling to her feet. But he wasn't done with her yet. Before she could push him away, Tinsel's carnivorous teeth hugged Chaeryeong's leg before he ripped out a whole chunk of her leg. She fell to the ground, her leg miserably bleeding. Her eyes were masked with complete pain, her scream echoing through the forest and carried by the wind.

Above, the thunder roared again as a lightning strike blasted against a nearby tree. All three of them winced at the earsplitting screech followed by the loud ring of white noise. Tinsel was the first to respond afterwards, throwing his body on top of Chaeryeong and opened his mouth to bite a chunk out of her neck. She hissed at their proximity. Her hands pushed his face away from her neck while his hands tried to grab them.

Weakly yet with all his might, Luke grabbed hold of his gun and tried to aim at Tinsel. He could barely raise his hand up or even see where exactly the siren was. His finger wrapped around the trigger and hoped with everything within him that he would be able to shoot Tinsel.

Right as he pulled the trigger, Chaeryeong had managed to get the siren off her and onto the ground, beside her. Immediately, the bullet pierced through his skin. If she hadn't got him off her, that would have been her. He struggled to get up as Luke shot again. Tinsel spat out blood and tried to intake as much oxygen as he could. One more shot from Luke and the siren lay lifeless on the forest floor.

Releasing a sigh of relief, Chaeryeong lied down on the ground beside him and panted. She closed her eyes as did Luke. And together, around them they let the world change and go back in time. To a world where mutants were never formed. And Chaeryeong and Yuna would never be able to live again.