The sirens wailed and the lights flashed, but there, on that day and at that time, my hopes were higher than they had ever been before. I slipped on my mask with a smile. Today was the turning point, I was sure of it. My life would start anew.

The cold wind bit my face as I ran, but I ignored it, plowing on.

Then it happened.

The images flashed through my mind like a slideshow of horrors.

The soft glow of a quinque, hiding in the darkness.

The investigator wielding it.

It swinging closer, slide by slide, inch my inch, as suddenly, its tremendous force knocked right into me, sending my flying against a wall with a sickening crack.

My vision blurred, the scene pulsating before my eyes. The veins around my eyes tensed, melting into the pitch black of a ghoul's. I spat blood onto the cement, unable to move as the investigator neared.

He was unlike the others- I could see that, even as the view fogged and contorted as my eyes swam. His poise, the way he carried his weapon, the way he strode confidently towards me- he had experience, and lots of it.

"S-stop..." I gasped. "You can't-" My heart leaped into my throat and the blood pounded in my head. I couldn't save myself. There was no one to save me. I was going to die here.

And so, so fast. It was all unfolding in a single instant. No time to act, no time to even think. In the end, I would end up like the rest of them, just another ghoul that was killed, murdered in cold blood.

I had never experienced the feeling I was having then. A feeling of hopelessness, of total and utter desolation.

There was nothing between me and my death at the hands of this man. I was sure of it.

Yet as I lay helpless on the ground, he paused before me. Leaned down. I shied away, as if his very breath was poison.

"But in the end, you're just a little girl..." he muttered under his breath as he raised the weapon. I started. I wasn't expecting him to speak.

But it was his next words that echoed through my mind, chorusing like a million nightmares once did.

"But it can't be helped."

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A sort of short chapter, sorry guys😅.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE READS!!

As you can see, Elini's adventures are wrapping up, so don't forget to vote, comment, and continue being amazing!