Miles saw blood.

It wasn't his own. It was Aaron's.

Aaron was falling, Eira was wailing, Miles was standing still and watching, breath caught in his throat, as a person - a real person, somebody that was much older than any of the children - lifted a knife to aim another blow for Aaron, who was now on the ground.

The man could well have been a beast, frothing at the mouth and slashing with inexperience at anything within range. His grin was a savage thing and was not reflected in his eyes. He'd come out of nowhere, blade at the ready and movements soundless. Even as he attacked, he said nothing, made no noise whatsoever. He was trembling, as if whatever emotion was coursing through his body didn't belong there and he couldn't restrain it.

Whatever was wrong with the man didn't matter. He had one intention that was as clear as day already: kill, kill, kill.

Miles was frozen; his feet, his breath, his mind had all just stopped working.

What was he meant to do?

Blood stained the previously spotless road. It dirtied the attacker's hands, Aaron's shirt, and Miles' ankles, too. A reminder of how awfully close he was standing to what might just be murder if he hesitated one more second.

Miles lunged for the man at the same time as somebody new came careening off the nearby apartment balcony.

At first, Miles thought the girl was falling. Then he realised that she had jumped, and held a knife dangerously close to herself. It was clear to see she had no intention of hurting Aaron - her fierce eyes were fixed on the uncontrollable assailant.

In one quick movement, the girl's knife found its home in the man's neck.

The girl landed on both feet, wrenching her knife from the neck of the now-limp stranger, and she let out a whimper concurrently. Miles felt his knees quake, threatening to collapse beneath him. From nearby, Eira let out a long, pained whine, and Aaron continued to writhe in agony on the ground.

Miles had never even had a nightmare like what he'd just seen.

The blade dropped from the assailant's hands as he fell backward. His eyes, which had been previously full of bright recklessness and eagerness, were now dull and empty.

Then they burst.

His pupils dilated for hardly a second before they erupted like a water-balloon pierced by a needle. Black fluid oozed from his eyes, spilling down his cheeks. Simultaneously, his visible veins became the same sickly ebony, and his lips followed.

If Miles saw this, he did not allow himself to acknowledge it.

He looked at the girl instead and started weakly, "You-"

"Killed him," finished the girl breathily, remorse absent from her voice and instead replaced with something like confusion. She let her knife clatter to the ground. "What, did you want me to let him kill your friend instead?"

Miles didn't tell her that Aaron was not, in fact, his friend. Miles was still in utter shock - he didn't even think his brain was functioning properly at the moment. He'd just witnessed a murder and he could hardly string together enough words to finish a sentence. Even a scream couldn't claw its way up his throat.

Eira was in shock, too, it seemed. She didn't even race to Aaron's side.

"Well, say something," said the stranger. Miles pried his eyes from Aaron to the girl, signs that he was terrified scrawled all over his face.

Miles still didn't say anything, so the stranger took a step forward. If Miles could manage to move his feet, he'd have stepped back. "Listen," she said, tone laced with warning, "I didn't want to kill the guy. But it was either that or watch Blondie here get murdered instead." When she said this, she pointed to Aaron. She lifted her eyes, scanning the sky, then the long, empty road. "We have to move. We're too exposed here. I have explanations to give, but not until we're safe."

As if the promise for explanations reminded Miles of where he was, he snapped out of his shocked trance and found himself able to function again.

Time went reeling for a few seconds; not even that. Miles closed his eyes and he was tossed about in a floundering sea of his mangled thought processes and emotions. Fear and relief and confusion became just one thought, and the desire to run became another. His instincts were telling him to run, run, run away from these people - this murderer. And yet, that murderer had been the one to save the rest of them from ending up with a fate like Aaron's.

Miles opened his eyes and time caught up with him.

Or maybe he caught up with time.

Whatever it was, he was finally present again.

Eira was kneeling beside Aaron, Aaron had both hands pressed firmly against a wound on his torso. He was blinking back tears.

The stranger was impatiently trying to usher him to his feet. "We have to go!" she said, no sign of the coolness in her tone any longer, though it had been there just a moment ago.

Miles shook his head to wake himself up fully. "Who are you?" he demanded.

The stranger looked at him. "We must go now! Do you want somebody else to attack us?"

Miles jutted his chin in the direction of the dead body. "I'm not going anywhere with you. You just killed a man and could well be planning to kill us too."

The girl looked exasperated. "Why would I want to kill you? I killed him because he'd have killed you otherwise. He's insane, okay? The Alteration must have gone wrong with him."′

"That's impossible. It never goes wrong." No matter what Miles said, there was a relentless, small voice at the back of his head throwing insignificant ideas forward. The app, the instructions, the 'virus' that the instructions mentioned. Fragments of ideas bounced around his mind, but none of them were sensical. "And you said we might be attacked again if we don't follow you. How?"

"I don't know what the hell is happening," she blurted. "Okay? I just killed somebody! I know! But tonight feels wrong, and that man was evidence that something is definitely off. And that notification? I know you got it too, if you're out here with a bag. You just need to trust me or you're putting yourself at risk."

Miles' breath hitched. Left speechless and muddled, he dropped the conversation off there. The girl seemed to understand that he'd given in - albeit only for he knew he'd no other choice - and lowered her head in some sort of gesture to indicate that she appreciated that choice.

"My name is Lia," she informed him, and Miles nodded. He didn't share his own name.

Eira had helped Aaron to his feet, now, but her face was still scrunched up with concern. Aaron's own face was twisted in pain. Miles redirected his gaze to Aaron's torso, where blood leaked through the boy's fingers from a wound hidden behind his hand. It must have been painful, for when Lia started walking again, Aaron leaned heavily on his sister and took several deep breaths before he moved even one short step. Miles had noticed earlier, and it was more obvious now, how different the siblings were. Eira, though younger and smaller, was stockier and stronger - she looked like she played lots of sports. Aaron, on the other hand, was lean and pretty and looked like he had never played a game of sport in his life. They were both blonde, and had cheeks sprinkled with freckles like a sky full of clustered stars. It was clear they were siblings, and at the same time, they could convincingly feign not being.

Miles brushed past Eira and Aaron, who were moving at a too-slow pace for Miles to have the patience for, and he caught up with Lia. She turned to him, dark eyes catching his gaze and holding it. "I've never killed anybody before," she promised, and it had been, surprisingly, what Miles had needed to hear. "I didn't - I didn't mean to kill him."

Miles kept walking by Lia's side. He didn't know where they were headed, but she seemed to. From behind them, the sound of soft grunts and reassuring comments came from Aaron and Eira respectively. "Then why did you do it?"

"It's a long story," she replied, and he wasn't satisifed by that response. "I'll explain it when we're not out in the open. But... it was just a lucky blow. I just had to stop him as fast as I could before that knife of his found its way back into Blondie back there." She tipped her head towards Aaron briefly. "You'll understand more when I tell you the story."

Miles, as reluctant as he was to be patient and wait for her to explain everything, knew he had no choice.

So, without a single another question, he traipsed after the group of blood-spattered strangers.

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+1476 Words

Not too fond of this chapter! I might go back and edit it one day soon so that I'm more pleased with it. I think it just needs a bit more description for some parts, but I hope you liked it anyway!

Be sure to tell me what your thoughts are on how the story is going so far! Where do you think it's headed?

Until next time :D

-Reb <3