this is a continuation of the last chapter, as will the next two chapters after this one. this will revolve zoe's childhood more in depth, and just to warn everyone, this might be one of the most disturbing chapters in the entire story. although you may not like it, it should at least give everyone a better understanding of zoe's hatred to people. let me know what you think with your reviews.....

Bloodbath

Chapter 24

The next day seemed to be pretty normal, until Zoe went into one of the empty rooms. There were no classes that day, for it was summer now. Zoe was sitting at a table, a tiny smile on her face.

"Hey, Horns!"

Zoe looked up to see Isamu and his friends. To her horror, Ryoma was holding onto her puppy.

"No!" The blond ran over to them, only to be restrained by Yoshimi. "Let me go!"

The boys began to laugh, their cruel faces taunting her.

"Oh, we'll let your mutt go.....as long as you beg us to," Isamu sneered.

Zoe began to cry. "No, please don't hurt him! Please!"

She kicked backward, getting Yoshimi in the shin.

"OW! She fucking kicked me!" Yoshimi shouted, tightening his grip on her.

"Wrong move," Isamu said to Zoe.

A moment later, Ryoma set the dog down, giving it a sharp kick in its side. The dog yelped as it hit the wall.

Zoe tried her hardest to break free, but to no avail. "Noooo! Let me go! Please!"

Isamu picked up a small vase, going behind the table. "Hold the mutt still!"

Ryoma brought the dog over and held him down. Isamu began to smack the puppy with the vase, Zoe screaming the entire time.

"Stop it! Please stop hurting him!" She continued to writhe in the boy's grip. "PLEASE!"

Just then Akane ran into the room. "Stop it, guys! You promised that you wouldn't hurt it."

Isamu paused and looked at her. "Why do you care? You were the one that told us about it."

Zoe looked over at the girl, shocked. "Y-you told them?"

Akane looked down. "I didn't mean for it to go this far. I'm sorry."

Ryoma looked down at the dog. "Hey, it's not moving anymore."

"Wow, that was fast," Isamu said, beating it a few more times to make sure.

Although she couldn't see the dog from behind the table, she saw a small pool of blood spreading around.

"Too bad it wasn't you, huh?" The boy taunted. "After all, it's not like you're human or anything......"

Zoe was looking down, her hair falling into her face. Yoshimi was still restaining her, locking her arms behind her back.

"You call me a monster," Zoe said in a quiet voice. "You say that I'm a freak. You tell me than I'm not human....When in reality, the ones who are inhuman......Are you!"

Yoshimi's head suddenly exploded into a bloody mess, and he dropped to the floor. The other chlldren were dead as well, their limbs and organs strewn throughout the room in a sickening array. Zoe looked around the blood-covered room, her eyes dead and cold.

"You are the monsters....."

She felt no remorse about her first kill. The first one she could remember at least....She had known about her abilities ever since she was four, yet she had somehow completely forgotten all about them. After a string of murders, she had escaped from the police, then had an accident. Whilst running, she had tripped and fallen down a hill, slamming her head into a tree. However, after witnessing the murder of her puppy, everything came flooding back to her once again. All she had to do was concentrate hard enough and her vectors did the rest of the work. Within seconds of her concentration, the children had been dismembered. She wanted their organs to be ripped out, their bones to be crushed, and their blood staining the every inch of the room. She had gotten what she wanted.

Minutes after the children's brutal deaths, Zoe took the few belongings she had and fled the orphange. She had taken the extra few minutes to wrap the dog's body in a blanket and took it with her. She ran into the woods as she heard the first scream from inside the building. Their bodies had finally been discovered.

After running a few minutes, Zoe finally came to her usual spot. She dug a small hole in front of one of the trees, tears coursing down her face.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you," she said to the wrapped up dog. "It's all my fault. I never should have told that stupid girl about you. I'm so sorry......"

She placed the puppy's body into the hole, then began to cover it back up with dirt. When she was done, she collapsed onto the the ground, sobbing harder than she ever had before.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Surprised, Zoe quickly turned around and saw a boy coming up to her. He looked to be around her age, with smooth tan skin, brown hair, and chocolate eyes. The boy wore khaki shorts, a yellow t-shirt, and a red short-sleeved button-up shirt over it. On his head was a tan cap with a pair of goggles on it.

He blinked. "Um....you okay?"

Zoe wiped her tears away. "I'm fine."

The boy walked up closer, wanting a better look at her. The girl had shoulder-length blond hair and sparkling green eyes. She's pretty, he thought to himself. He then looked at her horns, raising an eyebrow.

"Are those horns real?" He asked.

The blond narrowed her eyes. "Look, if you want to make fun of them-"

"They're cool."

"W-what did you just say?" Zoe was taken back by his answer.

The boy smiled. "Yeah, those are really awesome!"

Zoe looked away. "I don't think they're that great........."

"By the way, I'm Takuya," he said. "And why don't you think they're cool?"

"I'm Zoe." She touched one of her horns gingerly. "And I don't think they're cool because people are always making fun of them......."

Takuya sat down beside her, then reached up to her face.

"What are you doing?!" Zoe was ready to release her vectors.

"You have something on your face," he said, brushing away some dirt off her cheek. "How come you were lying on the ground crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she replied.

Takuya decided not to pry. "My family is visiting for the summer, so we're renting a cabin close by. Do you want to be friends?"

Remembering the way Akane betrayed her, she stood up angrily.

"No. I hate you people........" With that she began to walk away.

"If you want to play, I'll be here tomorrow!" He called after her. "I hope you come!"

"Don't count on it," Zoe muttered.

That night Zoe emerged from a shower. As she walked out of the bathroom, she nonchalantly looked over at the dead bodies in the living room. A moment later she went to the fridge, helping herself to something to eat.After what those boys had done, she felt no remorse for the murders. Why should she? If she didn't kill them, they would surely kill her. Right?

The next day, Zoe sat at the same spot where Takuya wanted to meet her. As she waited, she heard some voices. She quickly hid behind a tree and watched as two policemen walked by the path.

"Yeah, four people were killed," one of them said. "A couple and their two children."

The other one shook his head. "Such a shame. What kind of sicko would do such a thing?"

Zoe waited until they were long gone before she finally came back out into the opening. Looking at the make-shift grave of her dog, she sighed.

"I knew he wouldn't show up. He's just like everyone else........."

"Hello!" Takuya came up behind her, placing a pink hat on her head. "If you hate the way people look at your horns you should keep them hidden."

"I didn't even think you were gonna show up," Zoe said, adjusting the hat.

Takuya smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry I'm late. I had to sneak out of the house because my parents wouldn't let me out. They said that there was a killer running around somewhere. That didn't scare me, though!"

Zoe looked down. "Why do you want to be friends with me?"

"Well, I saw that you were just sitting there all by yourself. It made me sad to see you so upset," he said.

"Why? You don't even know me. Why would you care?" She asked.

"I don't like it when I see people who are upset. It's in my nature to try to cheer them up," he told her, a goofy smile on his face. "So, is it working? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

Zoe smirked. "You're weird.......but I like the fact that you are. Most people think weird is bad. That's why I don't have any friends........"

Takuya slung an arm over her shoulder. "Well now you have to put up with me. So get used to me annoying you."

"I'm sure I will." Zoe sat a little closer to him. "Thanks for the hat, by the way."

After about an hour, Takuya had to leave.

"I gotta go home, but I'll see you tomorrow. Bye!" Takuya ran off a moment later.

Zoe sighed. "Bye. I'll be waiting."

yay! another chapter is done. and the results are in for the voting of my next story

Worlds Collide- 3 votes

Into the Woods- 0 votes

Falling from Grace- 2 votes

Lost Paradise- 1 vote (techinically, it wasn't actually voted for, but two people showed interest in it, so i counted them as half a vote each)

So it looks like Worlds Collide is the winner. Don't worry, though. I will start working on Falling from Grace as soon as Bloodbath is finished. im sorry to disappoint you guys. but maybe if i work hard enough, i can pull that one off too. give me a few days before the first chapter of Worlds Collide is out. Lost Paradise will come out after, and then Into the Woods will be out last. thank you so much for voting ^_^ byez