It's not my fault.

She was screaming. I had to do something. It's not my fault.

God, a murderer. A killer. That's not me. No, that's not me. My hands moved on their own. I couldn't help it. I couldn't stop myself. I squeezed and squeezed until her last breath had left her body. Until I felt her blood on my fingers. What's...What's wrong with me?

No one saw us yet. No one heard us yet. Yet. The sidewalk was still full of self-absorbed citizens. I guess they didn't bother to help a screaming woman in need. Did they not care? They had to, right?

She'll wake up. Yeah, she'll wake up. She's not dead. She's not dead. She's not dead. She's just...unconscious. I wouldn't kill someone. I'd never kill someone. I don't have to worry. She'll be okay.

But I still have to be careful. I had to go before someone else could see me. Walking out in the open half-naked with this woman's blood on my hands would only make me a bigger target. Teleporting from rooftop to rooftop was out of the question 'cause running out of magic would practically kill me. I had to get out there. But how?

I sized up the (definitely alive) woman, lying -- um -- resting on the ground. Her built figure might be a bit difficult for me to lug around. Compared to her, I was a pretty small guy, despite being overly fit for my age. Her fur coat. That might just work.

Apologizing to her cold body, I dragged her behind the dumpster and removed her coat. She wouldn't mind if she wakes up and one little thing's missing, right? Luckily, the coat was a good fit for me, covering the entirety of my body including my spikes and horns. (I considered putting on her heels too, but it's not like I could walk very far in those. Nobody can.)

The coat's right pocket weighed heavily. As I clawed around in each of the pockets, a wallet found its way into my palm. Looking inside, this woman was STACKED. Benjamins upon Benjamins! She wouldn't mind if I just, uhh...took it? Nah, nah, of course not. Rich folks wouldn't even notice a missing credit card.

Holding her jacket close to me, I inched my way towards the bustling sidewalk. Standing around this lady's de...cold body won't solve anything. As I stepped out into the light, only unexcused pushes and shoves greeted me. Nothing like a big city welcome. The inescapable flow of the crowd dragged me along down the street towards any direction it desired. Trying to keep my head down as much as possible, I searched for anything that resembled a grocery store. So far, there was nothing but corporations, trinket stores, cafes, movie theaters, parks...

Huh. This city's beautiful, isn't it? I wonder why no one steps outside of themselves to appreciate it. Maybe it gets boring after seeing it every waking morning of your life. Sure beats living in a busted up one-story "home" in the middle of the dark woods.

That's when I saw it. A brightly lit, double-doored store. Absolute heaven on earth. Everything about it was agonizingly fluorescent save for its sign. Matter of fact, where was the sign? Getting closer, it seemed like the letters were entirely scratched off. Well, I've seen worse, so it looked trustworthy enough. Like the type of stores you'd see on TV with smiling models in cheaply branded clothes, dancing around to forgettable pop music with overpriced fruits or back-to-school items in their hands. A Stereotypically Bigshot Store That I Really Shouldn't Care About. ASBSTIRSCA. A fitting name if I do say so myself.

Officially forcing my way out of the crowd with mumbled apologies, I tip-toed through the automatic sliding doors, trying my best to look as normal as a monster could possibly be. My own image on the surveillance camera must've been daunting. Here I am, this tall, stinky, oddly shaped figure with an oversized fur coat, no shoes, and no shirt. God, I probably look like a flasher.

Briskly maneuvering my way through the store, I grabbed whatever my hands would allow me to carry. A simple white button up, four boxes of crackers, a few cans of simple foods, and a case of packaged waters. I was too afraid to try to squeeze myself into any pair of pants around, considering how unpredictable this tail of mine was, so these tight (itchy) shorts would just have to do for a while. And as much as I would've loved to buy shoes, the sharp mini claws of my toes would only poke holes through the toplines. Dangit. No shoes for Zypher, I guess.

Self-checkout was a no-go. The line was dreadfully long and if I dared to spend any more time standing around, I would've garnered much more attention than necessary. People were giving me strange looks already, so it was best that I didn't add to their suspicions.

I stood awkwardly in a short line, waiting for the cashier to be done helping a man in front of me who was having trouble getting all of his coupons in order. The family standing behind me had their eyes burning holes into the back of my head, whispering to each other about how this store "just lets anybody in these days." My hands trembled uncontrollably with all of the unwanted attention. The hood covering my head still didn't feel like enough to hide me away from everyone around me.

Finally, Mr. Coupon Man bagged his items and skipped away, probably happy about all the money he saved with his sorry pieces of paper.

"Hello, sir! Would you mind handing me your items?" The checkout woman held her hands out to me with a practiced, beaming smile on her face.

"O-Oh! Of course..." She took the items from me with that same smile, but her expression completely changed when she saw the claw marks on the cracker boxes. Not just claw marks. Holes. Many, many holes. I almost forgot about my claws until the look on her face brought that feature back to my conscience.

"Would you like me to get you a new-"

"No!...N-No, I'm fine."

"Alright, alright. I understand." The steady beeping sound of the scanner made me twitch. I was quick to pull out my -- well -- the alleyway lady's wallet and pulled out the exact change when the cashier asked for it. I didn't have time to watch the cashier fumble over coins.

"Would you like a ba-"

"Yes!...Th-That'll be fine..."

She dropped each item into a bag at a painstakingly slow pace and as she handed the heavy plastic to me, I accidentally grabbed her hand instead. Her eyes went wide at the sight of my hand.

Not here. Please, not here.

Before any noise could escape her mouth, I grabbed my bags and ran for it.

The street lights were already beaming against the sidewalk by the time I left. What a day. Banished by my own girlfriend, practically disowned, accidentally, uh...putting a woman to sleep. What's the point of all this? It's not a dream, is it?

A huge group of people swarmed around an electronic store window. Shoving my way through the sidewalk traffic, I joined the back of the crowd and stood on my toes to try and see what they were looking at.

"Breaking News! Be careful out there folks!" The news channel. "In our busy city of Roseorn, an unexpected murder has occurred in the alleyway. Rudy Nicklewitch, the city's mayor, was the victim."

The billboard.

The tall woman on the billboard.

...Oh shit.

News reporters interviewed her sobbing family, barely caring about exploiting their grief for views. This is my fault. All of their pain is my fault. I shouldn't have grabbed her so hard. I should've let her run. It should've been me.

I wanted to turn myself in, but what would they even put on record? As far as everyone knows, I'm dead. As far as everyone can see, I'm not exactly human either. Shoot, if someone even saw me out in the open, they would do worse than just throw me in jail...

The news cut back to the anchor with a picture of a blurred dark figure in the corner.

"Witnesses around have described the perpetrator as a creature with large, diamond spikes protruding from its back. Protect yourselves, citizens. Be on the lookout for Diamondback. In Mayor Nicklewitch's stead, Mr. Gotō will..."

Diamondback? They mean me, don't they?

A slideshow of pictures of Mrs. Nicklewitch with patriotic music began to play. I couldn't stay any longer to watch. Looking at her photos only reminded me of the life fading from her eyes. I sidled away from the crowd, continuing my lonely walk back to my busted up house. The weight of the groceries in my hands and the fur coat on my back couldn't compare to the weight of guilt sitting on my heart.

I was still Zypher Cho, right? Zypher Cho wouldn't hurt anybody. Zypher Cho wouldn't kill anybody.

But Diamondback would.

A tear rolled down my cheek as an unexpected smile cracked on my lips, giggling to no one in particular.

My sight blurred to absolute darkness as voices swirled in my head, assuring me of my death in an unknown language. 

An image of a wooden red gate plagued my vision. 

~~~

A/N: Ah, the good ol' red gate. Question for y'all! What would you buy at the store if you were in Zypher's shoes? For me, I'm thinkin' food, food, food, and more food lol. Don't forget to vote if y'all liked the chapter <3