Chapter 40: Bloody Nightmare

Drops of blood dripped down from the ceiling, mixing with coffee grounds, causing a terrifying picture to be illustrated on the floor.

A large stone wall blocked the register, protecting Reece, Barista and the cop from the explosion. However, four bodies laying stiller than a night sky, rested in multiple pieces across the tiles of the shop.

The three children that had been playing planes had been spit and chewed out from the massive, swelling explosion - except for one in tatters by the wall. The small one and a half meter tall cop with the black hair had been crunched into his own vehicle, blood pouring out of his body as coffee poured on his chest.

In the Montgomery Coffee shop, the blood dripped down onto Reece, Barabin, and the officer who'd just now fainted from the shock. Watching the officer fall into the broken glass of the register, Reece tried to register what had just happened.

'The-the kids. They-they dropped real bombs?' Reece wiped some tears from her eyes, looking down at the torn apart bodies of two children and one small man. "Who-who would do that to kids? This-this has to be the Exland Empire. Only men like them would be so heinous!'

Reece didn't think the world get put any more pressure on her shoulders, however, to her right blood had gathered in Barabin's mouth.

Normally, he drank a single droplet of blood a year, to keep his energy stable. However, right now, his entire face and been dyed a dark brown color. No one ever mentioned that when blood got heated it could change color. A large blanket of bloo dhad fully covered Barabin's body, making him look like a walking nightmare as he tilted his head to the side.

'Oh shit, this isn't good," Reece walked out from behind the register, creating three fireballs in her hand that began to spin rapidly like the hands of a clock. "Barabin, you okay? Quite a surprise right."

"I-I feel a strange power, growing inside of me," Barabin tilted his head to the side and stared awkwardly at Reece. "I-I think I'll take you up on your offer. I'd like some blood please. Make it on the house."

"What's going on?" Howard gently opened the black swinging doors, walking into a cloud of dust and smoke. "Did-did one of the machines bust?"

"Howard, howard stay away from Barabin! He's not normal right now!" Reece screamed, holding out her hand! "If all four of us fight him right now, we can probably stop him from leaving!"

"I-I feel an energy growing inside of me." Barabin laughed, licking off the blood from his mouth. "It feels so good! And look outside. So many people lying on the floor, waiting to be helped into death."

"You-you drank blood?" Howard said, coughing as the somber room revealed itself before him. Seeing the two kids on the floor, suddenly his stomach turned. Rushing over to one of them, Howard noticed one slightly moving, coughing against the wall. "Ugh, call the ambulance Reece! This one is still alive."

"We-we don't need to. The Exland Empire must have known about the portal. They must have set up cameras outside and already planned a trap. We-we got to go! Howard, leave the kid! He's probably one of them!"

"I don't care," Howard tore off a sleeve of his shirt, covering a gushing wound as the child coughed out blood. His skin had turned paler than the moonlight, glistening in the darkness. Every look he made, seemed full of hatred and scorn as he looked at Howard staring into his eyes. However, Howard ignored it, gently pushing against the wound as he pointed over at a medkit. "We-we can't let him die!"

"Yes we can Howard!" Reece pointed across the street. "They are sending in people right now to kill us! Get over here now! Stop being so naive!"

"Howard, kill me," Barabin said, falling onto his knees. "It feels too good! I feel the blood strengthening my bones, ligaments, and teeth. Even with the weak Ki Desnity and Ki frequencies, I feel like I can destroy this building just by waving my hand!"

Barabin opened his mouth, licking more blood his face before he turned outside.

Hundreds of cops with guns ran across the street, their shimmering weapons causing chaos in the streets. Pedestrians coming home from work in business suits bolted in the opposite direction. A beautiful woman pushing a stroller froze in place while the man next to her loaded a rocket and prepared to fire.

'This-this is all a dream,' Reece squeezed herself, 'However, even i dreams I have to be a good leader. Even in the worst nightmares, my friends still need to sleep.'

'Just get through this, Reece. Barabin can take care of the officers outside. Howard and everyone else can follow you out the backdoor.'

Reece took a deep breath and wiped away the remaining disbelief that had taken over the feelings of sadness. Her tears dropped onto the floor as she looked at Howard, reaching down and pulling him up from the corpse.

'He's dead! He just died!"

"I-I can still save him!" Howard frantically reached for the child. "I-i don't understand! Why can't anywhere we go be peaceful!"

"Howard, Go up the stairs! Kellen, Harley, lead Monica and Howard upstairs! Barabin! Are you going to stand there or go with them!" Reece couldn't take it anymore and walked over towards Barabin as he stared blankly at the wall.

Barabin seemed to have gotten trapped with this strange look of pleasure on his face. However, deep inside, he knew that if he moved, the little bit of control keeping him intact would disappear.

He couldn't take that risk, and looked into Reece's eyes as he felt the sanity begin to leave. Seeing Reece gently pull back her hand, Barabin simply smiled, expecting her to chop off his head and end the swelling of pleasure!

However, standing there, Reece had something else in mind.

Turning her fist, a large slap burst into Barabin's cheeks. His face turned before another three slaps echoed off his skin. His mind seemed to get sent into a spinning turmoil. However, the hunger inside him only seemed to grow stronger.

"Drink my damn blood! They're coming!" Reece brushed back her brunette hair and put it over her white dress shirt. "Come on! At least my blood is your least favorite type! Maybe it will calm you down!"

"Heh, you dared hit me?" Barabin reached forward and plucked Reece of her feet. "You little, dumbass. I wasn't moving to resist the urge! Now you just set me free!"

"We aren't in the Furance, dumbass!" Reece kicked her foot into Barabin's face, before spinning and hitting him one more time. "I'm not just a weak girl to you here!"

Reece kicked one more time, sending Barabin tilting to the side before a fire ball burst into his face. Seeing him fall over, Reece looked down at a cut that she's got in her arm, and grabbed the woozy Barabin into a pool of her blood.

His head touched against her arm, and instantly he slacked his teeth into her, drinking away the fears of the endless power he had swelling inside him. Outside, the cops had gotten within feet of the Montgomery Coffee Shop, pausing for the smoke to clear and ignite their plan.

Up stairs, Howard and Monica ran after Harley and Kellen, heading to the roof at a fast speed up the spiraling nightmare of stairs that had greeted them.

Their feet could be heard from the roof, as two men with large swords waiting on the left and right side of the door. One of them was two meters tall with black hair and blue eyes, and the other a much slimmer but even taller figure of Asian descent.

With their large broadswords extending down their backs, they looked like powerful bosses from a video game. The rain even started to fall from the sky, knocking away the smoke, as a timer counted down the 10 seconds before the start of the mission.

Back in the store,

Barabin sucked up more and more of Reece's blood, his bones cracking from his rapidly growing power. He hadn't ever had Reece's O type blood because he always felt it wasn't worthy of him.

However, the more he drank of it, the more powerful the storms in his body surged. He felt like two powerful forces, one of carnal desire, and the other of calm madness crashing and causing his mind to rush.

He wanted to cause Reece's figure to almost disappear, looking down at her attenuated arms as her knees trembled on the floor. In her green dress, with his hands against her fist, she looked like a completely submissive being, looking up with her green eyes while staring strangely into the beast feasting on her.

"That-that almost did the trick," Barabin gently released his teeth. "I feel calm after drinking your disgusting blood. You should feel brateful, girl."

"Are you calm now," Reece coughed, turning to see hundreds of shadows appearing around the entrance to the Montgomery Coffee shop. "Because if you are, there are hundreds of people who want to kill us outside. The-the Exland Empire must have known we were here! I'm sorry!"

"Girl, the world isn't on your shoulders." Barabin picked up her chin and wiped a brown strip of dust from her face that had accumulated after the coffee shops internal space got shattered. "It's on mine. And if you don't mind, how about we go find my son?"

"There are hundreds of cops outside. Can-can you take care of them?" Reece cleared her throat, her watery doey eyes staring up at the man dripping with her blood. "I mean-I'm a little weak after you went to town on my poor little arm. I-I might need to sit back for a little while."

"Hmph, I'll be right back. Just a hundred measly cops? What's the worst that they could do?" Barabin saw a beam of light coming towards him, scoffing as he held up his hand.

A rocket, inches from his face appeared, as he smiled proudly towards Reece.