“Frank, no!” Isra shouted just before the group leader opened fire, the chatter of the weapon drowning out her voice.
Jake dashed to the side, feeling the rush of air against his skin as bullets streaked past him. Some of them punched holes through his body, causing him to stagger but failing to inflict much damage. He kept running in a semicircle, getting closer and closer to his target. Frank continued to unleash a spray of bullets, but tracking fast-moving Jake with his weapon wasn’t all that easy. Most of the bullets fired by the group leader missed him by a wide margin.
As his assault rifle clicked empty and stopped spitting out bullets, Frank froze momentarily, surprised at how quickly he had burned through the entire magazine with little impact on his enemy. In contrast, Jake never stopped moving. As soon as he heard the distinct dry click, he adjusted the direction of his movement, making a beeline for the group leader. With a mix of panic and determination on his face, Frank dropped the assault rifle and yanked a heavy-caliber pistol from its holster on his hip.
He managed to pop off two shots, blowing a couple of holes in his obsidian-black chest before Jake reached him. He swung his claws at Frank’s gun hand, tearing through his jacket sleeve and flesh. The group leader screamed in pain and stumbled backward in a desperate attempt to flee. As he hurried to escape from Jake, one of his feet tripped over the other, causing him to lose his balance. He collapsed onto the rooftop with a thud, and the heavy-caliber pistol flew from his hand. Jake loomed over the fallen human, his claws poised for attack.
“No!” Isra’s scream pierced the air from behind him.
Jake was acutely aware of the running footsteps of the woman sprinting toward him, but he didn’t turn around. His full attention was fixed on Frank’s cowering form sprawled on the ground before him. As a mutant, Jake rarely experienced emotions. He couldn’t recall the last time he felt anger or fear. However, whenever he attacked human beings, or they attacked him, a wave of primal anger surged within him. It was his inner beast stirring, awakened by the scent of human blood. In those moments, Jake struggled to control his actions.
This was exactly what had just happened. His inner beast had awakened from its slumber. The sight of the bloodied human cowering before Jake stirred his inner beast, urging him to pounce on his prey and complete what he had begun. Jake found it extremely hard to resist its dark urges.
He could hear Isra running toward him but refused to turn to face her. He had to defeat his inner beast first. It was the most important task at the moment. Not out of any genuine concern for these two humans; such emotions had long abandoned him. No, his sole intent was to preserve the scraps of humanity that remained within him. He had a feeling he might lose it forever if he didn’t keep his inner beast in check. He had to do everything in his power to prevent it from seizing full control of his mind and body.
“Leave him alone!” Isra screamed.
She sounded really close. Still battling his inner beast, Jake looked over his shoulder. The woman had closed the distance, standing only a few feet away from him, gripping a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun tightly in her hands. The weapon might have been small, but it was quite menacing. Judging from the determined expression on her face, it was clear she was about to fire her weapon. Jake’s inner struggle hindered his reaction, and before he could dart aside, Isra discharged both barrels almost simultaneously.
The double blast punched Jake in the back with the force of a sledgehammer swung by a giant. He staggered but managed to keep his balance. He had suffered severe damage—he knew that even though he couldn’t see the two ragged holes in his back. Mana was escaping his body through the wounds at an accelerated rate. It made his inner beast even madder than it already was. How dare she!
Jake spun around to face the woman. The shocked expression on her face told him she couldn’t believe Jake was still alive, having shrugged off a double blast from a shotgun at almost point-blank range. She broke the weapon open, but before she could replace the two spent shell casings with fresh ones, Jake was upon her.
The severe wound he suffered fueled his inner beast’s rage, which immediately infected Jake. Losing control, he grabbed her by the shoulders so hard the tips of his talons penetrated her flesh, eliciting a scream of pain from the woman. With tremendous willpower, Jake managed to fight back his inner beast’s urge to tear her head off. Instead, with a powerful yank, Jake lifted her off the ground and flung her aside. She flew through the air and collapsed on the rooftop a few yards away from him. She was injured, but at least she was still alive.
“You fucking freak,” he heard Frank growl behind him.
He looked back and saw the group leader make a grab for his heavy-caliber pistol lying nearby. Grasping the weapon, he pointed it at Jake and fired a hasty shot, hitting him in the shoulder. That was when Jake completely lost control. He was no longer the captain of the vessel. His inner beast was now in charge instead.
Wheeling around, he darted toward Frank, who continued to fire at him, holding the large pistol in both hands while still lying on his back. Heavy-caliber rounds punched holes through Jake's chest, slowing him down slightly. However, it didn’t save Frank. Upon reaching him, Jake kicked the handgun from his hand before dropping onto his supine form, straddling the human.
The red scarf wrapped around his neck, a symbol of his affiliation with a gang called Los Demonios, offered little protection against Jake’s iron-like claws. His talons tore through the fabric and dug into the human flesh. Frank’s eyes went wide as he felt Jake’s claws sink deeply into his throat. With a powerful yank, he tore out Frank’s larynx. He held the bloodied piece of flesh in his hand for a moment before tossing it away. Frank stared up at him with bulging eyes, blood pouring from the ragged hole in his throat. The human seemed to try to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was a gurgle and more blood. He bled to death within seconds.
Jake stood up and turned toward Isra, who was still lying on the ground. Determined to finish what he started, he began walking toward her.