Chapter 3

Taryn twisted her wrists, breaking the cuff links.

The strength from a Primal wasn't something absurd, just somehow bigger than most humans. Enough to allow the holder to bend metal bars raise massive objects or provoke great damage in a close-quarters combat. Taryn did good use of all the possibilities.

She watched, a bit disgusted, her "savior" tear the treat from the man's suit violently, spilling guts from time to time and unmeasurable quantities of blood on the floor. He didn't even have the chance to scream. Taryn had seen while a victim loses their voice to panic or fear. She could clearly imagine all those feelings passing through the scientist's mind, what would probably make most people feel guilty or compassionate towards him but, considering he was pointing a gun to Taryn's head just a couple minutes ago, she actually felt like he deserved it.

The woman lifted her head to the sound of the falling chains and turned to Taryn. Her face was covered by shadows, since the lights that were coming outside were on her back. She pulled herself to her feet and started totteringly walking with both hands stretched to Taryn.

She could be an assassin, but she wasn't ungrateful. Naturally, she would have thanked the woman for her brutal saving, but there was something out of place; something really wrong and deadly. Taryn's instincts were ringing like alarm clocks.

"I don't know who you are or why did you choose to do what you did, but be on your way and there won't be any trouble between us."

The woman didn't stop.

"I mean it." – Taryn assumed a combat stance. – "Stop right the…"

She was surprised with the woman's speed and strength, as she instantly jumped on Taryn and knocked both of them on the floor. Luck, or perhaps her extremely fast reflexes, made Taryn place a hand on her attacker's neck, rendering her unable to come closer than a few inches to her own face.

Taryn couldn't tell what the woman's real intentions were, but she looked really desperate to chop off her flesh with bare teeth, struggling as much as she could against Taryn's firm grip. Now that they were facing each other, Taryn could distinguish the horror that composed in her face: Her eyes had red veins around it's edges. Most of her left cheek was missing from what seemed to be a bite, exposing the white and red stained teeth.

Taryn tried to push her away, but she was too weak at the moment and the woman had extra strength with her. Instead, she grabbed both sides of her head.

"Sorry about that." – Then she twisted, provoking a snap in her neck's joint.

She stood on the floor for a while to regain her breath. When she finally got up, the putrid smell from flesh took place in her nostrils; provoking a heavy nausea and almost making her throw up. The scent was there all along, but the adrenalin made Taryn block it for a while. She wished that he could have maintained that for a bit longer.

Taking a quick look at the woman's body she noticed a few other bruised along her arms and legs. Some seemed to be deep enough to be really damaging, if not mortal. That Intrigued Taryn, the woman wasn't in conditions to walk, fight or, if she could make a guess, be alive at all.

The reflexes from her knives drew her attention. Both blades were precariously placed on the floor, just a couple steps from the still bleeding body from the man in the suit. Taryn marched to it, taking care not to step on the body, and was caught off-guard when his hand suddenly moved, grabbing her ankles and making her trip.

Her luck worked again, as the man's face was covered by the mask and, therefore, prevented him from biting Taryn's exposed leg. But there was still his hand, he was just as strong as the woman was and about ten times what Taryn guessed he could be. She stirred against him and went for her knives, but they were too far from her. She couldn't reach them. Taryn kicked his face multiple times but nothing seemed to work. The man wasn't yelling, cursing or even talking at all. He was just mumbling like an animal, and that provoked a chill on Taryn's spine, but she kept kicking.

That was when she caught another movement with the corner of her eyes.

The woman was standing up again; her neck was twisted 180 degrees backwards but that didn't seem to be an issue for her, as she assumed a slow, yet firm, backwards-walk to Taryn. Taryn struggled harder to reach her knives while kicking the man's head, but the results were the same. When the woman was close enough to attack her, Taryn changed her plans and grabbed the first thing she saw – an iron bar from the debris – she stood up and used her other feet to step on the man's head, spilling blood everywhere. She then pushed the woman's chest and pierced her eye with the Iron bar. Both Taryn and the woman fell back.

She crawled away from both bodies; now expecting them to rise a third time, but that didn't happen. She sighed, relieved.

"What the fuck is going on here…" – She whispered to herself.