Third Side of the Esper Hero Triangle

Tainted

I gasped awake. I coughed loudly, causing blood to shoot out of my mouth and splat onto my cheek. The sky was getting orange, indicating that the day was ending. Blood began to building up in my mouth. I tried turning over, but the wound in my guts shot a spike of pain through my body. I groaned as I fell back on my back again. I coughed again, shooting more droplets of blood from my mouth. I felt some moisture under me, probably from the blood. The blood began to build up even more in my mouth.

I tried to flip over again. The pain was still extreme, but I was able to turn over this time. I spit out all of the blood onto the ground. The iron taste stung in my mouth. A puddle of red now sat just below my head. I began trying to push myself up. The pain was excruciating, but I was able to reach my knees. I held the wound with my left hand and slowly stood up. It looked like my body was human again. I had my sweatshirt back as well. It had countless tears and holes in it. I was also in bare feet. My pants had stayed the same but also gained tons of tears and holes.

I leaned against a tree with my right hand up against it. I leaned my shoulder on it and grabbed a piece of my torn sweatshirt. I tore off a large chunk. I began quickly tying it around my torso to stop the bleeding. I had a large, red spot where the wound was, but it would work. I winced sharply as I tightened the makeshift bandage. I couldn't get back to the road as it was about fifteen feet above me, and I couldn't use my powers. I began limping through the forest.

"Why did she let me go?" I asked myself. "I wanted her to kill me." I held my wound and slowly trudged through the forest. After about twenty steps, I stumbled to my knees. I held myself up with my hands. I coughed up some more blood. I tried pushing myself up but my feet slipped and I fell to the ground. I groaned quietly as my eyelids began to get heavy again.

"Keep moving." I told myself. "Gotta keep moving." Some dirt got in my mouth, but I quickly spit it onto the ground, leaving a little puddle of spit bubbles.

I then heard a noise that made me want to give up. I heard the quiet roar of a bear. I heard the large footsteps making their way towards me. I tilted my head to my right to look at it. It was a large, brown bear. I just closed my eyes. I then felt a push on my right. I opened my eyes and saw the bear pushing me slightly with its nose. It then flipped me over, causing me to cough. I then looked down at my face. I could see my pale face in the reflection of its eyes. I looked like a corpse already. Maybe it thought I was one. It eventually walked away after sniffing me for about a minute.

I began to slowly stand up again once the bear was out of view. My legs wobbled again as I got to my feet. It was starting to get dark. I needed to find a good place for camp. It was getting very blue.

I had found a small clearing in the trees, which was a perfect place to rest. I began grabbing a few stray sticks, some off of trees. I put them in a pile at the center of the clearing. I grabbed one stick and began to quickly rub it against another. It wasn't working after the first minute. I was starting to panic because it was getting hard to see.

I saw some smoke appear on the stick. A weak smile appeared on my face. A spark lit and an ember appeared on the stick. I put it back on the pile and watched as the fire began to bloom. The bright orange was a perfect contrast to the blue and black background.

I took a seat near the fire. I was about five feet from the fire. It was a very comforting feeling with the cool air on my back. I hugged my knees and looked at the fire for a few more minutes .After looking at the fire, I looked down at my hand. It weakly turned on my powers. My aura was no longer at an unstable state. The aura was more smooth. I already knew my power was weaker than it was when I was a monster. It was a sacrifice I was willing to take to escape that nightmare.

I then took my torn sweatshirt off and lied on the ground next to the fire. I put the sweatshirt on me as a blanket and curled up into a ball. I watched the bright light as my eyes began to close. Most of the pain in my gut was numbed. I knew if I moved it would hurt again, so I tried my best to stay still as I fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning, almost in the same position as I was when I fell asleep. The sticks for the fire were all just black ashes now. All the blood on my body was dry now. The wound on my gut had stopped bleeding.

I began sitting up. The wound still stung as I sat up. I pulled the dark red sweatshirt off of me and put it next to me. I took my black t-shirt off to look at my bare torso. I untied the makeshift bandage to look at the wound. I didn't notice any infection yet, which was a good thing. It was good that it stopped bleeding though. I retied the bandage and looked at the pile of ash where the sticks were. I picked up a handful of the ash. I then blew it into the air and watched as it flew through the air before returning to the ground. I put my torn t-shirt back on. I then slipped my sheets shirt back on. I think I went through the right hole, but I didn't notice if I didn't.

I got up and began my walking again. My powers were still too weak to do anything major. There was still nothing noticeable in view.

After a few minutes of walking, I heard some splashing. I ran to my left towards the sound. I saw a slow, shallow stream of water running across the forest. This was perfect. I pulled my sweatshirt and shirt off. I cupped some of the water in my hands and began to wash the blood off of my body. The cool water felt really good on my body.

After washing my torso for a few minutes, all that remained to be cleaned was the huge wound. I took the bandage off and dropped it to the ground. I got water on my hand and lightly touched the wound. I winced as I touched it. I cupped some water and splashed it on my wound. The sides blood began to wash away. Some blood still dropped out of the wound. I grabbed the makeshift bandage and lightly dried the wound. The bandage had been worn out, so I dropped it and tore off a piece of my pants. I tied it around my wound. I took my pants off and began to wash out the wounds on my legs.

I finished a few minutes later. I looked down at my body. It was no longer drenched in blood. I was able to see my human body again. It was no longer deformed. I was actually proud of myself on how much more built I've gotten over the past few weeks. I put my pants and shirt back on. One leg of my pants were shorter from when I tore a piece off. One sleeve on my sweatshirt was also shorter. I put my sweatshirt on and began walking again. I had to get somewhere at some point.

After a few more minutes, I thought I saw some stone stair. There was an enormous clearing. I looked up and saw a large house at the top of a few hundred steps. I breathed a sigh of relief. I then realized the amount of steps and immediately groaned. I decided that it was of utmost importance to find another person.

I began my trek to the top. I held my wound to try and ease the pain. It stung after every step.

After a few minutes, I was about halfway there. Beads of sweat began to drip down my forehead. I was so hungry. I didn't have enough strength to fight something for food.

I soon reached the top. My legs felt like jelly and my black hair was wet with sweat. I was stumbling as I made my way to the large door. I slowly raised my hand and knocked on the door. A loud bang noise occurred with every knock. I was beginning to lose strength from exhaustion. This normally wouldn't be that bad to go up these many stairs, but my weakened state limited my energy.

After a few seconds, I heard some quiet footsteps approach the door on the other side. The door then slowly creaked open. I saw a figure peaking through a small opening in the door. I couldn't tell who it was.

"Can I help you?" The figure asked. He had an older voice.

"I need help." I croaked out. My voice was weak and scruffily. "I'm hurt." I noticed the man's eyes going down to the red spots on my sweatshirt. He sighed and opened up the door fully. My eyes widened at who I was looking at. Silverfang, Class S Rank 3.

"Silverfang?" I asked. Even though he was much older than me, he was such an imposing figure.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I was stabbed." I told him." He nodded and moved to his side to invite me in. I noticed that it was his dojo. I walked a few more feet before falling to the ground and losing consciousness.