Excerpt:
The sun had already set, and the moon, with its calm presence, spread across all of Nevada. The silence was immeasurable, but this was unnatural; the crickets hid silently beneath rocks, every animal had taken refuge, and even the wind understood that its silence would bring peace, at least to the unfortunate souls who would lose their lives today.
A group of students hurriedly ran deeper into the forest, their terrified faces growing more evident with each step until they stopped to rest near a giant tree.
“Are you sure about this?” one boy asked, constantly scanning the surroundings with his eyes.
“It’s better not to risk being blamed; it’s preferable to escape than to wait and see who will take the punishment,” explained the girl. “I’m not willing to risk that.”
“Putting that aside, how much farther until we get out of here?”
“The nearest town is 20 miles away.”
A rough voice emerged from the darkness of the forest, revealing a man dressed as a chef. His uniform was impeccably clean, even under the moonlight there wasn’t a single stain. The man absentmindedly fiddled with his red neckerchief, but a sad glow shimmered in his eyes. For him, he was not in a forest; his mind remained in a grand mansion with a banquet laid out before him.
The students stepped back slightly, shocked by the man’s presence. They had seen him before — the head chef of Great Days, a very solitary person who avoided contact with anyone outside his family or close circle.
“You broke a rule as Great Days students, but… I don’t want to fall again,” the man exclaimed, his gaze growing increasingly weary. “So please, run. I don’t want to be your predator this time.”
Without hesitation, they began running from him, while he simply sat on the ground watching them flee. The two students kept running.
[Felix Dracon]
“They’re here,” murmured one boy.
“We’ll be fine as long as we don’t run into the others.”
“The worrying part isn’t that, it’s—”
The boy couldn’t finish before a rope wrapped around his neck, lifting him into the air above the treetops.
They watched as a shape emerged from the leaves, crashing into the boy. Realizing it was too late, the boy exploded into a thousand pieces. His fragments fell like raindrops.
At that moment, the students realized—they were nothing but deer before these hunters.
They kept running, ignoring the footsteps behind them, until suddenly a tree trunk flew through the air in front of them. Most dodged it, but one was impaled and died instantly.
“So easy,” said one of the strongest members of the reform committee, Nathan, stepping out from the trees. “Are you interested in this, brother Areus?”
Another figure emerged, completely wrapped in black bandages. The clothing over the bandages was stained with grease and dust. Even through the wrappings, a smile of total satisfaction could be seen.
“Laura Mauriel Garcia, sentenced to life for animal abuse and human torture,” said Areus. “Gerson Greenbull, twenty years for illegal substance sales and assassination, Gil Tan, life for illegal drug and weapon sales, indirect culprit of ten shootings—they’re the only ones I care about. The rest, kill if you can.”
The group turned toward the three named with doubtful expressions, each trying not to take their eyes off those two figures.
“Your Goshkets are impressive,” Areus continued. “Let me reach your perfection.”
Before anyone could react, Areus vanished, then a fleshy, liquid sound hit the ground behind them. Turning, they saw one of the named had fallen to his knees, a deep slice across his stomach bleeding like a fountain. Areus wrapped the wound in his bandages, stained with blood, like a small gift.
“What beauty,” Areus exclaimed, turning his head toward the students.
“Run. They can’t catch us all,” shouted one student.
At once, the students scattered, leaving Areus and Nathan alone. The former looked disappointed but soon turned to Nathan, who was about to collapse, his eyelids shutting.
“Hey Nathan,” Areus approached. “I think you should go rest. Raquel, Erick, and Luna are already in position, our work is done.”
“I can’t sleep yet. I have to supervise the pupils’ meeting.”
“Relax. Perfection isn’t reached by overexertion.”
“And that—”
Nathan fell into a deep sleep on the grass while Areus watched, then burst into uncontrollable laughter at the irony of a killer going to sleep with the angels after impaling someone with a tree trunk.
[Areus Dracon/Nathan Dracon]
Meanwhile, a duo of students ran, one helping guide the other whose eyes were bloodshot and full of blood.
“How are you holding up?” whispered the guide.
“I’m fine. I can continue.”
Bang.
A single shot, distant yet terrifyingly close, caused the guided student to collapse motionless. The blind girl felt her companion’s hand slip weakly away, followed by a thud as something metallic hit her neck. Without her guide, she too fell, something metallic striking her head.
“Thank you, for giving a piece of your life for him,” said a voice.
Bang.
The girl’s body dropped near her companion as a kneeling figure prayed beside the mercilessly slain, his eyes empty but filled with sorrow and fatigue.
[Erick Dracon]
Farther off, other students heard the shot but were close to the edge of the forest, the road in sight, so they couldn’t stop for the commotion. Suddenly, a red-haired man appeared, blocking their path. He struck one student with a blow that shattered his face.
All stopped, staring into the man’s angry, veined eyes...."
–Read more in its original Castilian language at https://fictograma.com/ , an open source Spanish community of writers–