When she found her window of chance, with full force, she kicked the stomach of the man in a black uniform that she just impaled, and at the same time, she grabbed the rifle he was holding. The armed men were all thrown to the other side, they hit the wall and dropped to the floor where the blood continued to spill.

The four of them stood back up and pushed the lifeless body aside. They were about to grab their rifles, but she aimed the gun at them first and pulled the trigger. In the blink of an eye, they were darted with bullets containing a tranquilizing drug. Instantly, they lost their energy and consciousness. But her focus was shifted to the end of the hallway on her left as another group of armed men flooded the way. She rushed back inside and headed to the bedroom where she locked herself.

She crawled under the bed and encountered a shoe box that was slightly opened. Staring at it for a second, she noticed it contained papers. She quickly flipped it over and was troubled by the collection of newspaper clippings. She picked up some of it and put the crumpled papers inside her pocket. A bang on the door and the men came flooding into the room. She only saw their boots. They were scattered and roaming around.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The enclosed space of the room gave her a better chance as she opened her mouth and made a series of sounds with her voice box. Her voice resonated throughout the room. All of the men froze, they groaned and fell to their knees. They were unable to move as they endured the excruciating pain. They felt their body vibrating. In a very long duration of hearing the sound, their organs ruptured and that resulted in their instant death.

Seeing their lifeless body dropped one by one. She closed her mouth and stopped making vocal sounds. She listened to the room and when she confirmed no one was alive anymore, she crawled out of the bed and looked at the bodies on the floor. Blood was flowing out of their eyes, nose, and mouth, pooling on the floor. She was about to get out of the room when she heard another reinforcement coming up on the stairs and elevator.

She wanted to stay and kill them all but she couldn't. She doesn't know what these humans were capable of and she won't stay to know it. She can't underestimate them. So she quickly headed to the back window and lifted it open. She climbed up, helped herself out, and stood on a ledge. She looked down and saw another ledge on the second floor. She jumped and quickly grabbed the next one with her hands. She held onto it tightly while hanging. She looked down to see the next ledge and then, she let go. She grabbed the ledge of the first floor, and for a second she stayed hanging to gain enough energy. Until she jumped down to the big garbage bin where the pile of trash cushioned her fall.

She got out of the bin and noticed some people were watching her. She didn't mind them at all and started to run. She wanted to get away before anything worse could happen. But then a black car stopped in front of her and opened its door, and a young man came out on the other side.

"I know Leyrosa...we're friends. Hurry! Get inside now!"

Her first instinct screams not to trust him, but she wanted to get away immediately and he just offered the solution. She didn't refuse, she went inside his car and sat beside him. As she closed the door, the stranger drove the car away in a hurry. Minutes passed and after a lot of detours, they finally slowed down. She took this chance and extended her barbed stinger on her right wrist, and pointed it to his throat.

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you now?" she telepathically asked. Their eye-to-eye contact earlier gave her access to communicate with him.

He froze and stuttered. "I...I mean no harm to you. I promise. I know L...Leyrosa! She's my friend. She told me about your kind days ago before she went missing."

She gently pushed her barbed stinger to warn him. "I could release the venom right now and watch you die in vain here. You know about us, huh? That makes you more suspicious."

"Oh please. C...Come on. Leyrosa was my best friend. We worked together in the convenience store for three years. She was mysterious. She didn't tell me anything about her life and I respected that. Until one day, she suddenly opened up and fed me everything about your kind. She said someone was following her. She left me a message that if something wrong happens to her, I should be there to help when your kind will come and look for her. And I think that's you. I am just here to help...please."

She retracted her stinger and leaned back to the chair. She shifted her focus to the road and sighed. "How did you know I was going to be in there today?" she telepathically asked and glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

He took a deep breath and stopped the car as they were caught in the heavy traffic. "When Leyrosa failed to report on the store. I knew something bad happened to her. I went into her apartment only to know that the whole floor was secured by the military and they restricted anyone from access. So I went home and hacked the surveillance cameras of the whole building. There I discovered that the surveillance footage, three days prior until that day, was wiped clean from the drive. I watched them trash her room, but I found no evidence of her whereabouts. And I noticed that they put a laser tripwire alarm on the door. That's why I found you. I was waiting for your kind to trip that alarm and be there just in time before the military. Glad, I found you first."

"They found me first, but they're dead. How would I know that you're not part of them and just pretending so you can lure me?"

"I know you're smart. The moment you feel threatened, you always attack first. What can I expect from the apex predators of the ocean, right? Y...You could just stab me now and kill me here. You can freely escape and jump off the bridge." He was serious but she could sense his fear. "I don't want you to trust me. I know your kind...trust is very crucial. I am not telepathically connected to you but please, let me earn your trust. You can kill me anytime you wish if you know I'm just pretending. I'm just here to help."

She's not yet convinced and she still doesn't trust him. But he was right, she would kill him at the moment he showed signs of betrayal.

"Why would the military want her?" she asked instead.

"I don't know. But knowing that the military is involved, the government must have discovered your existence," he answered.

The last three words felt like a punch of a powerful rip current. The thing they feared the most since the dawn of their existence finally hit them while they were blindsided. If what he said was true, then it's just a matter of time before humans will scour the water.

"This is war."

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