“Ah!” A scream from the other group echoed, as some hoped to run only to land down gushing out blood after a loud deafening sound resonated. Bullets piercing through their flesh.

“A-Aria.. Aria! Aria!” Mia yelled, snapping Aria back to her senses. Loud footsteps resonated through the room, as Aria found herself crumbling to the ground, her hands colliding with a bloodstained body which laid there dead on the ground, a feeling that left her jolting back up.

"We have to.." Mia started, only to find her eyes blurred, her stomach twitching as she puked more.

A glimpse at the dark shadowy area revealed a man stepping out, his face covered with a mask. In one hand, he held a gun, and in the other, a dagger with blood dripping down from the tip.

Aria watched the dagger poised, fear coursing through each of her spines as they left her trembling. She gazed as the dagger sunk deep into some of the men's flesh, a groan that exploded, echoing around as they mixed with the air, mouth agape as many kept running. The man kept silencing each and every single one lf them within a pull at the gun trigger as they all dropped dead.

Aria's gaze returned to Mia, who was still puking.

"We have to go now, Mia." She urged her grasp on Mia's wrist as she led Mia along the road. Aria's legs failed her many times as they screeched, leading to her crumbling down, but she stood up back. She just couldn't, she had to keep on running. Her life seemed to be at the break of its end.

"I can't go." A whisper caused a halt on Aria's legs as she found Mia gasping for air. "Go, Aria, just go." Mia pleaded, her legs at the rate of detaching from her knees if she had to move an inch further.

"What are you saying, Mia? Come on, we have to go now." Aria insisted, her grasp returning back on Mia's wrist only to be flung off, as then Aria noticed it. Blood trickling down Mia's clothes.

She had been shot?

An exclaimed look as tears strolled down Aria's eyes.

"I said go, Aria!" Mia yelled. She never wanted to do that, but she had no choice. Running with Aria would only slow them down, and her weakened state was the cause. Her only hope was her friend's safety.

"I just can't, I can't, what are you saying mia..." Aria muttered in whispers, trying to make sense of everything that seemed to be occurring, only to feel a warm touch on her cheek.

"Don't worry, I will try and slow him down. At least I will be able to buy you time, what do you say, partner?" Mia whispered, leaving a slight chuckle in her words, breaking Aria even more. Watching her only friend bleed out and asking to give her life away.

"We can go, Mia, we just..." Aria begged.

"Please, Aria, please, just go. Go." Mia pleaded, only to push Aria away.

"You have to save yourself." Those were the last words Mia uttered, as Aria gaze turned back at Mia who approached the killer.

Aria felt lost as to what to do, leaving her friend here to die, just to save... No, she couldn't, she just couldn't allow that, but she would die anyways if she stayed. Even so, this was Mia's only hope, a hope that she would survive. Aria's tears streamed down as they splattered, hitting the floor, turning her gaze from Mia. Aria hoped to take some steps distancing herself further, but stopped at her track when a loud gunshot echoed. A glimpse back as Aria gazed upon Mia's body dropping down as she hit the floor, her eyes shutting after.

"Mia!!!" Aria yelled, her knees hitting the ground as she found herself crumbling at the mere sight of Mia laying dead, covered in her her blood.

Aria hands came, patting Mia.

"Mia, wake up, open your eyes Mia. Please Mia!" she wept, sobbing profusely, as she received no response. All she received was the silence that followed and the footsteps of the killer, growing nearer and nearer by the inch.

Aria's gaze remained on Mia's body. She felt a sudden numb feeling, her face paling witnessing her hands covered with Mia's blood.

"How... Why, Mia, you..." Aria mumbled in whispers as her words caught in her throat, replaced by silent weeping.

"She is gone; now, why don't we discuss about you?" A thick voice snapped Aria's gaze, raising to meet the killer's. He stood beside her, playfully swinging his dagger.

"Ready to die?" He questioned, a sly grin playing with those eyes narrowing. He was enjoying it, every single bit of it. That was what Aria saw at those moments, a monster.

Aria remained silent, her gaze fixed on the killer. Her body trembled, and her heart seized to beat. But even so, what was left? She had just lost her closest friend—the only one who seemed to know her and see her for who she truly was, just like her late dad.

She tried grabbing a metal rod her eyes had caught sight of. "Revenge for her dead friend." Aria saw that as her only reason, but the killer landed a heavy kick on Aria abdomen leaving her to cough out blood, a sharp pain exploding through each part of her body.

"Brave... I like that." A whisper escaped the killer's lips, followed by a mocking, silent chuckle. He poised the dagger up, dripping with Mia's blood.

His steps grew closer as Aria found herself retreating back, crawling some further distance away. Her blood.staining againt the dusty road. Why was this all happening? First, it was her father, and now it was her closest friend—the only ones who understood her perishing right before her eyes, leaving her here in this world to suffer all alone.

She wanted to be free, also. Set free from this nightmare—the nightmare she had faced since high school, from her very childhood. Bullied and seen as nothing, a curse many even labeled.

Aria last sight before eventually loosing consciousness, was the killer piercing the dagger deep into her stomach over and over again. Her bloods spraying out as some splattered on her face and eyes. Her screams where silenced, her entire veins numb.

"So this was my end." Aria thought.