Two Page Shorts by Nick Venom (top reads .txt) 📕

Gene noticed his hand shaking quickly, his jaw falling. He wasn’t understanding what was happening, surprised to see his hand shake so quickly that he could only see the blur of his hand. 

Using his other hand, he tried to steady his other hand, inching towards it. He wanted to stop his hand but didn’t want to lose one in the process. 

Without him noticing, the tower now reached the window. A street rat tapped at the window before slamming his fists into it. The sounds of the window being stressed out by the street rat attracted Gene’s attention. He looked at his hands for his knife, but couldn’t see where it was. He turned on his heels, looking around his immediate surroundings. He noticed it far from him, resting under a machine.

He sprinted to the knife, grabbing it with his non-shaking left hand. He turned back around, watching in horror as the street rat broke the window using a piece of metal. His fist was bloodied. The street rat didn’t mind the blood, grinning at Gene with delight. The window was broken and the tower had reached the second floor. Gene’s home was being invaded.

Gene sprinted towards the street rat, shouting at him. He tried to throw a swing with his left hand, but his right hand moved faster. He naturally fought with his right hand, moving out of instincts rather than orders. His hand struck the street rat in the head, going through like a knife through butter. He cleanly cut a fist-size hole through his head. The smug grin on the street rat’s face disappeared instantly, now replaced by fright before being replaced by nothing. He was dead within seconds and had barely enough time to change expressions. 

The body fell to the ground, landing with a loud splat. It was followed by screams and cries. The blood being gushed out of the street rat’s body was scaring off the others. They fled the scene, their violent natures being repressed out of intense fear. They left the two corpses behind for Gene’s gaze to linger on. He peered out of the window and down at the bodies. He had seen plenty of bodies of street rats that were kicked to death, starved, or even drowned. However, he had never been the reason for their deaths. He killed two people by himself, one by pushing him off the tower and the other with a brain-disintegrating hole. 

Gene pushed away from the window, breathing heavily. His right hand stopped trembling, returning to normal. It was drenched in blood. Brain matter and small fragments of bones attached themselves to his hand. 

He shook the brain matter and bone fragments off his hand before sprinting to the first floor where he kept the water bottles. He unscrewed an unopened bottle, drowning his blood-stained hand in the water. He looked around for any type of towels nearby but found nothing. He decided to use his shirt instead, wiping off the blood to the best of his ability. 

He sat some distance away from the slightly red puddle of water, his back against the cold concrete of the floor. He stared up at the ceiling, noticing that it had a few new cracks amidst the old ones. His mind, however, drifted its attention away from the ceiling’s poor condition and to his hand. He held it over him, shifting it from his palm to the back of his hand. They were a faded red color. 

“I killed somebody.” He muttered to himself. The first kill could be excused since all he did was push somebody. The second kill, on the other hand, was inexcusable. He murdered somebody with an ability he had no idea how to use. 

“I am a murderer. I killed somebody. I’m sorry Mom and Dad.” He said with tears bubbling at the corner of his eyes. He was no longer innocent.

***

A black-haired girl sprinted through the streets of the slums. Several men chased after her, all wielding melee weapons. They shouted, “Get back here!” And “Don’t let her escape!” The girl didn’t heed to their wants, running as fast as her legs could take her, which was enough to outrun the fastest of the men chasing after her. She was awkwardly skinny, to the point that it matched the starved street rats roaming around the area.

She turned the corner, passing through a familiar alleyway. She pressed through the alleyway, being spat out the other end. She looked in both directions, noticing one had a few drug addicts sleeping while the other was empty. She chose the latter, running in that direction. Her followers were several tens of feet behind her - all of them were reaching exhaustion. Unlike the girl, the men had grown in size and were suffering because of it.

The girl reached a series of warehouses, ducking behind a building to temporarily escape her followers’ sight, trying the nearest door. It wouldn’t budge. She tried the door again, but received a “Get out of here!” From the street rats clumped up inside the building. She switched her focus to running away instead of hiding as her followers caught sight of her again. 

“Stop running!” One of them shouted.

“Somebody stop her!” Another of her followers directed nearby street rats who strained their ears to the situation. They were waiting for the men, who they knew as underlings of an important figure in the slums, to give out a reward. They would act once they secured a reward.

“We don’t need their help!” The leader of the men, a middle-aged balding man with reddish hair, barked. “Everybody! Split and try to cut her off!”

His men nodded their heads, breaking off and going around the warehouses. They pushed their big legs to reach the girl.

When will they stop chasing me? The girl thought to herself. She went around a corner of a warehouse, glancing to her right. A man appeared from the other side of the warehouse, now approaching her. Now, they decided to split up? Why? She bit her lip to stop her from crying. She didn’t have tears to spare.

She turned to her left, pressing forward. She approached two small corpses rotting near a warehouse, being picked at by birds. They flew off as the girl neared the bodies. She crinkled her nose.

“She’s behind the warehouse!” The man behind her shouted. He was getting close to her, a hundred feet from her. The girl looked over her shoulder at him before turning her attention to the warehouse next to her. She glanced at the door but noticed the chain - the man was getting closer to the door than her. 

She looked up, noticing a semi-open window. It was broken and still had a few shards lying on the windowsill, but she didn’t care. She dug her feet into small grooves on the building that had been forcefully made into the building. She used them to climb up the wall, headed for the window. She glanced at the ground and at the man who scowled at her. He didn’t like that she was escaping him. However, an idea entered his mind. He smiled, taking a few steps backward. His feet brushed the corpses, taking a couple of steps forward. 

“I found her! She’s over here! Get over here, boss!” He shouted. He smiled before repeating his words over and over. He attracted the entire group to him, including the leader.

“Good job, Pudge.” The leader remarked. “Now, let’s wait for her to fall.” He turned around to face the corpses. “Move the bodies to break her fall. We can’t bring her back to Griff with scrapes and scratches. He’ll kill us for it.” He ordered. Four of his men, one of them including Pudge, grabbed the corpses by their heads and legs and brought them under the girl as a cushion for her fall. 

The girl heard the men under her laughing as they watched her struggle to climb up the wall. The grooves and handholds were diminishing the farther she went up. Soon, she’ll have nothing she could use to reach the window, stuck while a pack of coyotes lingered under her, waiting for their prey to drop in front of them.

The girl closed her eyes, pressing her forehead against the wall. Please help me, God! Give me some kind of miracle and let me escape! Please, God!

Gene heard a commotion coming from outside his home, on the wall with the broken window. He raced up the stairs and towards the window, peering outside carefully to not expose himself. He couldn’t see the girl from his angle, but he could see the man following her. He watched as the man got closer to the window. Gene brandished a knife, prepared to strike if the man dared to climb up to him. However, he lowered his knife when he heard the man talk.

“I found her. She’s over here! Get over here, boss!” The man shouted. 

Her? They’re not here for me? Where’s the girl? Is she right outside the window… Why? Is she here for me or the warehouse? Why are they chasing her? She isn’t related to the Nine Order? If she is, then please leave me alone! He shouted internally, raising the knife. He now heard the girl breathing heavily some distance under the window. She was over halfway up the wall but was reaching a stalemate.

“Good job, Pudge. Now, let’s wait for her to fall.” He heard somebody said - a male voice. “Move the bodies to break her fall. We can’t bring her back to Griff with scrapes and scratches. He’ll kill us for it.”

Griff? His eyes widened. The man was talking about Griff Bullock, a servant under one of the nine heads of the Nine Order, an organization whose power extended past East Hell. However, Gene wasn’t sure how extensive their organization was or powerful they were.

Gene shook his head to himself, backing away from the window. He didn’t want to be sighted by any of the men or else he would get himself in the eyes of the Nine Order, an organization that could easily kill him if they wanted to.

He heard the piercing laughter of the man erupt as if an extremely funny joke was told. The girl, on the other hand, didn’t find it hilarious. She remained quiet. 

Gene squinted, staring at the girl from the other side of the wall. He couldn’t see her in great detail, but her outline and her bones. She was slightly bigger than him in size and taller. He could tell she hadn’t fed recently. 

He shook his head again, deciding to stay out of the situation. He didn’t want to get himself involved in the Nine Order because of a random girl. 

The girl, suddenly regaining her spirits, began climbing again. Her fingers scraped against the wall’s harsh texture, begging to be let up. By complete surprise to the men under her and Gene, the wall allowed her to move upward. She climbed up the wall, reaching the window. She peered inside the window, her bloody fingers hugging the windowsill for dear life. Her eyes widened upon seeing Gene. They quickly changed to plead for his help. 

Gene backed away, shaking his head. He mouthed, “Get out of here” to her, but she shook her head. She pulled her body into the warehouse, her chest being torn by the glass shards. Even so, she pulled forward and managed to drop into the safety of the second floor. Gene stared at her, dumbfounded. 

“Damn, she got away! Try the doors!” The leader shouted. He stared at the broken window with frowning eyes. 

“They’re chained lock. We need bolt cutters to get in.” Pudge said. The men sent around the warehouse for the other entrances echoed his response.

The leader shook his head out of anger. “Get the bolt cutters, we’re not letting that girl free. Griff will kill us if we return without her. Go!” He barked. “I don’t care what you have to do, but get any of