Kai Langford - October 2120
The man's breath catches in his throat.
For a moment he simply stands there, frozen, his eyes wide as if his body has forgotten how to move. His fingers twitch at his sides, opening and closing in jerky, uneven motions.
Then the screaming starts.
It rips out of him without warning, raw and sharp enough to echo through the hollow barn. His body convulses violently as he staggers backward, slamming into the edge of the wooden table hard enough to send it scraping across the floorboards.
The lantern rattles and the second man stumbles away in alarm.
"What's happening to you?" he demands, panic rising in his voice.
The man who injected the vial doesn't answer.
He can't.
His entire body locks again, every muscle pulling tight as if invisible wires are yanking him upright. His head jerks back sharply, jaw clenched so hard the sound of grinding teeth carries across the room.
A dark stain begins to spread beneath the collar of his shirt.
Blood.
At first it seeps slowly from the puncture at his neck where the needle pierced him. But instead of dripping down his skin, the blood begins to move.
It crawls.
Thin streams slide across his throat, twisting and spiralling like living threads. They coil around his neck and down his chest, spreading across the fabric of his shirt in slow, deliberate patterns.
The man gasps again.
This time the sound is deeper. Almost strangled and the shadows around my feet shift uneasily.
"Kai?" Ray's voice crackles through the comm. "Report."
My eyes stay fixed on the man as the blood continues to move unnaturally across his skin.
"He injected the vial," I say quietly.
A sharp pause answers me.
"He what?"
The man suddenly drops to one knee.
His hand slams against the floorboards to steady himself, fingers digging into the wood hard enough to leave deep scratches. The blood at his neck begins to drip now, but it never reaches the ground.
Instead it stops in midair.
Thin droplets hover around him like dark beads suspended in invisible threads.
The second man stares at them, his face draining of colour.
"What… what is that?" he whispers.
More blood spills from the wound at the man's neck, rising slowly into the air as if gravity has forgotten it exists. The droplets gather together, swirling in slow circles around his body.
I feel the shift in the air.
The barn seems to grow colder.
"Ray," I murmur quietly. "Something's happening."
"No shits," Ray mutters through the comm. "Is he dying?"
The kneeling man's shoulders begin to shake. At first I think he's still in pain, but then I realise he's laughing.
The sound starts weak and uneven before growing louder, echoing through the barn with a strange, unsteady rhythm.
He pushes himself back to his feet slowly. The blood hovering around him trembles as he does. Then it moves.
The droplets stretch outward into thin crimson strands that twist through the air like ribbons. They curl around his arms and shoulders before settling there, hovering just above his skin.
The man flexes his fingers slowly and the blood follows the movement. It coils around his hand, tightening like a living glove.
"I can feel it" he murmurs. His voice sounds heavier now, almost breathless with disbelief.
The other man stares at him, stunned.
"So it worked?" he asks weakly. "You actually got powers?"
I take a slow step forward as the shadows around my feet ripple in response.
The man looks down at his hand again.
With a small motion of his fingers, the blood swirling around him shifts instantly. The crimson strands shoot outward, slicing through the air before snapping back toward him like obedient whips.
His grin spreads slowly across his face.
"This is incredible" he whispers.
Behind him, the second man lets out a nervous laugh.
"Alright… that's… that's enough showing off."
The transformed man turns toward him.
"Enough?" he repeats quietly.
The blood around his body begins to move again.
Thin streams drift toward the second man, curling through the air like dark smoke.
"Hey," he says nervously. "What are you doing?"
The crimson strands stop inches from his chest, then they tighten.
The man suddenly gasps, clutching at his throat as if something invisible has wrapped around it.
His skin pales rapidly.
Tiny beads of blood begin to rise from the pores along his arms and face, pulled outward by an unseen force and he screams.
The droplets tear free from his skin and rush toward the transformed man, joining the swirling crimson mass floating around him.
The man collapses to his knees, trembling violently.
Across the room, the transformed man closes his hand slowly.
The blood in the air twists together, forming a thick spear of dark red that hovers beside him.
He turns his gaze toward me, but for a moment neither of us moves.
Then he smiles.
"Well," he says quietly.
"This changes things."
Behind me, the shadows along the walls begin to rise.
The man's crimson spear hovers midair, twitching like a living thing, reflecting the flickering lantern light. His glowing red eyes fix on me, and I feel a wave of heat and danger radiate from him, even though the blood around him moves with unnerving precision and calm.
I tighten my grip on the shadows at my feet. They surge outward obediently, sliding along the floor and crawling up the walls like black water seeking purchase.
"You're not going to use that on anyone else" I say, voice low but firm. "Stand down now"
He tilts his head, studying me with a predator's curiosity. Then, almost lazily, the crimson spear lunges forward.
I react instantly. Shadows whip up from the floor, coiling like serpents to intercept the attack. The blood spear slices through the darkness, scattering the tendrils as if they were thin smoke. The clang of the collision echoes across the barn, shaking dust from the rafters.
"Impressive," he mutters, voice a low growl. "But I don't think you understand. I can control it... everything that's alive. Every drop."
I take a step forward, letting the shadows pool beneath me, coiling around my arms and ankles. They ripple like liquid ink, ready to spring at his slightest movement.
The blood around him pulses violently, surging outward in ribbons and threads. They snake across the floor toward me, lashing like whips, cutting through the air with sharp snaps. I leap aside, letting the shadows curl around my legs to cushion the impact and absorb the edges of the blood whips.
"You're fast," he says, his voice darkly amused. "But speed won't matter."
The barn floor seems to darken further as he makes a subtle gesture. Tiny droplets of blood lift from the splintered wood, the beams, even the second man who is still huddled against the far wall, and spin around him like a storm. I realise with a jolt, he can pull blood from the environment, not just himself.
I curse under my breath.
The shadows respond instinctively, stretching toward the blood storm, forming a black barrier between us. But the strands cut through, slicing shadows apart with every strike.
I dart closer, letting the darkness flow along my arms like armour, then surge forward. My hand shoots out, shadows coiling like fingers reaching for the blood around him. I try to seize it, twist it to the floor, but the man smirks and the crimson streams recoil, snapping upward, attacking like whips.
I twist, letting shadows shield my face as one lashes past, catching my shoulder and tearing through the fabric of my jacket. Pain flares, but I keep moving.
He laughs, a sound thick with exhilaration. "Not bad!"
He thrusts a hand forward. Every drop of blood in the room leaps into action. The old hay on the floor rises with it, tinged dark red, forming jagged, spiky constructs aimed at me like deadly spikes.
I roll to the side, letting shadows to absorb the impact. Splinters fly, puncturing the wooden beams. My mind races. He's fast, but he's predictable. His blood is powerful, but it has weight, cohesion. I just need to outmaneuver him.
I plant my feet and let the shadows surge upward in a massive wave, curling like a storm of black smoke aimed to engulf him. He reacts instantly, and the crimson ribbons twist and lash through the shadows, slicing them apart midair.
The barn is chaos. Black and red streak across the walls and floor, a living battlefield of shadows and blood.
I focus, calling the shadows tighter, letting them slip under the blood constructs, moving unpredictably, striking where the blood doesn't expect. I feel them respond, alive to my intent, bending, stretching, snapping forward.
He counters with a sudden flurry of strikes, blood whips shooting like knives. I duck and roll through one strike, the shadows flaring around my body to deflect another. One whip slashes my leg, and I grit my teeth against the sting of blood cutting through.
He's laughing, thrilled by the violence, exhilarated by the power coursing through him. But I can feel it, every strike, every movement, he's still learning. He's new to this. Untrained. His power is raw, dangerous, but unrefined.
I take a deep breath, letting the shadows deepen around me, crawling up the
Shadows cling to every corner of the barn, crawling up walls, sliding down from the rafters, linking together into a web of liquid darkness. I breathe in slowly, then move.
The shadows surge like living ink, striking from above, below, behind, and to the sides. The blood-manipulator lashes back, crimson whips snapping through the air, cutting through shadows, but the darkness tightens around him, twisting, constraining, pressing in from every angle. His strikes struggle against the density of my control.
"You… won't win," he snarls, crimson streaks slicing past like knives.
"I don't need to win," I say, voice calm, even. "I just need to contain you."
The barn groans under the assault. Shadows and blood collide in a storm of black and red. Lantern light flickers wildly, dust and splinters swirling around us.
For the first time, I see a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. But it's fleeting. Crimson lashes strike faster, more violently, each one aimed to tear the shadows apart. Iron fills the air with its sharp tang.
I duck beneath a strike, letting shadows coil instinctively around the barn posts, crawling up the ceiling beams, merging into one fluid net. Then, in a single motion, I yank upward. Beams shake violently, splintering, raining down toward him.
He twists, barely avoiding the collapsing wood. A blood spike darts from his wrist, slicing a shadow midair, splintering timber in a spray of red. My teeth grit. The start of a burnout strains through me, but I refuse to falter.
Then a voice cuts through the chaos: "Kai! I'm here!"
Daniel bursts in, a second wave of attack. Thick vines erupt from the floor, curling around the man's legs, constricting, attempting to pin him. Green tendrils twist violently, latching onto boots, legs, and midsection.
The man's eyes flare crimson. Blood lashes strike out, cutting the vines like they're nothing, shredding them midair. He steps back, slashing violently, scattering Daniel's tendrils.
"Daniel!" I shout, trying to coordinate, shadows twisting protectively around him.
"I've got this," Daniel gasps, voice strained. He cracks a vine like a whip toward the man's torso. A streak of red erupts against the green, spraying the floor with droplets of blood.
The blood-manipulator laughs, a sound that mixes rage and thrill. Crimson threads lash outward faster, melting vines into shapeless writhing strands. The force snaps Daniel backward, vines jerking violently out of control. He crashes into a support beam with a sickening thud.
"Daniel!" I roar, shadows surging like a tidal wave, wrapping around him to shield him from further attack.
The blood-manipulator doesn't pause. Crimson whips slice through shadows before I can react fully. I twist my arms, redirecting tendrils, but a sharp sting cuts along my leg. Blood blooms through my sleeve, a reminder that this fight is far from clean.
Daniel groans, clutching his side, forcing another vine upward. It lashes toward the man, striking again.
"Two of you? Interesting," the man hisses, crimson swirling like living armor. "Let's see how you handle this."
He lifts his arms, and the barn seems to thicken with the scent of iron. Every droplet of blood in the room responds, surging outward like a hurricane of red, whipping toward us in deadly arcs.
I twist shadows into a protective shell, coiling and flaring, deflecting multiple strikes. But his power is relentless. Every lash shreds the barn further, splintering beams, broken boards, clouds of dust, forcing me to step back.
Daniel groans, vines jerking violently as he struggles to get back to his feet. One lash of blood strikes across his shoulder, toppling him again. A dark red stain spreads across his jacket, and my jaw tightens.
I surge the shadows again, coiling around beams and floorboards, pulling the barn toward him with crushing force. He dodges but flinches, and I push harder, shadows snapping like whips, trying to trap him completely.
He snarls, crimson threads twisting violently, tearing through shadows with terrifying precision. The air quivers under the raw intensity of his power.
Then, suddenly, he gathers all the blood in the room into a massive spear, forming it midair, red and glinting under the lantern. He hurls it toward Daniel, who is barely scrambling upright.
"Daniel, watch out!" I shout.
Shadows explode from beneath me, spiraling upward to intercept. But the spear spins faster than I can fully react, slicing through the darkness with a metallic hiss.
Time slows as it arcs through the barn, gleaming red under flickering light.
And then… everything goes black.