《[ lina ]》 [ chapter 0 ] I was never introduced to her. I just - - - - noticed - - - - her one day. I asked her if she was new here. She was wearing the uniform, so I thought she was a new hire. She didn¡¯t answer, just made a faint smile, and since she looked busy, I chose to let the conversation die prematurely. Her name tag simply said [ lina ] and I thought it was weird that the name was not capitalized. Other than that she appeared normal at first. She¡¯s a blonde, a bit taller than me, but definitely not above average, with eyes of non-color, which you could have called gray or brown if you really wanted to. Plain features, no tattoos, nothing . . . Intriguing. I was a little disappointed because I was bored of the people here. . . . The next day I saw her, I found out she had a fang. Like, on her wrist. Slightly curved like cobra¡¯s, bone-white. I don¡¯t fucking know if it should even be called [ fang ] but I don¡¯t suppose we have a name for something like that, do we? For a second, I thought it best to ignore it politely. [ lina ] glared at me, she knew that I saw it. Her expression was almost blank. I don¡¯t know if I imagined her making a slight grin or not. What do I say what do I say what do I say what do I say- She put a finger to her lips, silencing me. And so I said nothing. It was the [ unimportant detail ] 1 at [ unimportant detail ] 2 where I worked so I just left and escaped this situation. I should have never returned. . . . I tried to not be weirded out by her. I googled [ wrist fangs ] [ wrist protrusions ] [ wrist spines ] [ bone mutation wrists ] [ . . . ] but it got no useful results. And it wasn¡¯t all that was different about her, I learned quickly. . . . [ lina ] could detach her [ unimportant detail ] 3 arm. I witnessed it on the [ unimportant detail ] ? after work. She was smoking with one arm and her other arm was on the table in front of her. It didn¡¯t look like a prosthetic to me, but then I have never met people with those. I didn¡¯t ask. She didn¡¯t explain. Actually, I don¡¯t think I ever heard her speak . . . She didn¡¯t have a [ unimportant detail ] ? ear. She just didn¡¯t. Instead, there was a patch of bare skin. Her other ear, well . . . Often she was bleeding black liquid from it. Once I even got her tissues to clean it up. . . . Later I realized no one else was - - - - noticing - - - - her differences. - LOOK SHE IS BLEEDING SOMETHING BLACK FROM HER EAR - - SHE SHOULD STOP [ unimportant detail ] ? - - WHAT THE FUCK - It¡¯s what I wanted to yell but my coworkers didn¡¯t show even a hint of being bothered by [ lina ] so I stayed silent. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. . . . Okay, [ my name ], - I thought to myself one of these days, - There is a very simple explanation, girl . . . You just got a bit sick. It¡¯s called schizophrenia when you see strange things no one else does, right? It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay, people learn to live with it and have okay lives . . . After a [ unimportant detail ] ? of this, I went to my superior to try asking about her. - Yeah, [ lina ]? What about her? Did something happen? - Weird how? Wouldn¡¯t say I - - - - noticed - - - - anything. - I mean, maybe one strange thing is that [ hysterical coworker ] seems to be getting along with her, heh. I also considered just being direct with her and asking what¡¯s up, but I was too scared at that point. I gave up. I decided to just do my best ignoring her for a while. What I considered delusions didn¡¯t get in the way of my work too much. And I was not ready to admit I was delusional and seek help. So I just existed with a nightmare in my waking life that was [ lina ] - - - - . . . I should have run. I should have run. I should have run. I should have run. I should have run. I should have run. I should have run. I should have run. I should have run. I should have- . . . It really is my own fault that I am being dissected by her right now. . . . I ended work as always. Left the workplace. Made a turn at the street towards home, through the park. It was a sunny, perfect summer evening, beautiful light was pouring through trees... And there was [ lina ] standing right in the middle of the path, waiting. Waiting for me, I realized moments later. Awesome, [ my name ], - I thought, - We¡¯re starting to see her outside work. Tomorrow first thing I¡¯m registering for psychiatrist appointm- [ blur ] She crossed [ unimportant detail ] ? distance between us in an instant and crashed into me. Her ¡®fangs¡¯ - turns out she had them on [ both ] arms - dug into my flesh. I collapsed. I wanted to cry for help, to push her away, to fight back, but I couldn¡¯t. [ lina ] ripped clothes off my stomach and tore it up. . . . And so here I am in the present, bleeding on the pebble path, with my entrails on the outside. With [ lina ] running her fingers through them, as if she was searching for something. [ omitted detail ] [ omitted detail ] [ omitted detail ] There was sort of gentleness to her moves. It¡¯s like she was not more violent than it was necessary. It didn¡¯t hurt very much. It just felt- WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WR- She opened me in a few other places, but that didn¡¯t seem to satisfy her. She shuffled and disappeared from my field of sight. [ unimportant detail ] ? [ unimportant detail ] 1? I heard a clicking noise. When she returned to my sight, she had one of her arms replaced with an insect-looking limb with a sharp edge like of a mantis. And now she had a thin white spike on her forehead. Kind of like her ¡®wrist fangs¡¯, I guess, but much longer. She was smiling, faintly as always, just maybe more - - - - honestly - - - - than before. She¡¯s a fucking unicorn. Alien? Insect? Robot? . . . A fucking SCP . . . WHY WHY WHY WH- I tried to wriggle but it was no use. What followed was [ lina ] cutting my skull. My vision was turning blurry and I could only see her vague shape shifting around as she [ worked ] on my head with her ¡®mantis limb¡¯. I¡¯m tearing up, I realized. Even though I was beginning to feel detached from what was happening. An unpleasant-yet-pleasant chill suddenly enveloped my head. Is that how it is when your living brain is exposed? Then- [ kl;''c,zd4x4df4f4dgvdg.dzp`dsr/?0?? ] I think she touched my brain. . . . I think I heard her sigh in relief. I think she lowered her head towards mine. I think a drop of her black liquid fell on my face. I think her ''unicorn horn'' stabbed into my brain. . . . Into some specific organ that I wasn¡¯t educated to know about, but it probably had an intriguing-sounding name like all of them. And then I was no longer [ unimportant detail ] 11 - - - -
1 End of the night shift 2 Packing plant 3 Left ? Independence Day ? Right ? Handling unpacked food ? Month ? About a hundred meter ? There was no one but me and her as far as I could see 1? The park never had many visitors so it¡¯s not surprising 11 Alive