The Virtual Realm (War Of The Elements Book 1)

by Daniel Perusko

  She could leave it at that. She could take the gun and drive away from there and call 911. She had the upper hand now. That was one option. She could also shoot him in the head like he shot her mother. Yet what was this feeling? Pulsing power was coursing through her arms. She had never felt so strong and so... full of hate. She gave a brief glimpse down to the cold bringer of death in her hands. A quick death was too good for him. This cold, impersonal method of death was too good for him. She wanted to feel his skin as his blood raced with terror. She wanted to feel his pulse leaving him. She wanted to look into his eyes as the last droplets of life bled out. And somehow she knew that in her current state, she could do it. A demonic smirk possessed her as she tossed the gun away, snatching the murderer and would-be rapist in her bare hands.

  She clutched his neck tightly with one hand, shoving him into the garage wall so hard it cracked the stone. She was wringing his neck like a drenched washcloth, squeezing every remnant of life out of him. He flailed violently in a panic as the predator had now become the prey. With his other arm now mangled into an unusable mess, he used his good arm to try to force the woman’s arm off of his neck.

  Shark’s arm didn’t even budge an inch. It was as if it was nailed to the wall. Noticing he was making no progress, he began punching repeatedly with feral strength as he struggled to live. This too, was proving fruitless.

  What was going on here? He hadn’t even met a man that was physically stronger than him. This woman did not look overly athletic. Did he somehow become weaker? No, that couldn’t be the case. What was with this woman? Her strength was like a monster’s. Was she even human? In his oxygen deprived delirium, he began to fully believe this woman might be the devil. His blood ran cold with terror as his eyes caught their final image, a demonic grin plastered on Shark’s face. That insane glow in her eyes, that blood-crazed smile. The last thought that crossed his mind before death was that hell existed after all, and he was definitely going there.

  He finally ceased his struggle, his arm falling limp, a terrified gaze burned into his eyes. Shark, wearing a self-satisfied smile, let the now dead creature drop to the floor. This still wasn’t enough for her. She had killed him too quickly. He deserved to suffer more. Her demonic roar resonated through the garage as she continued to beat on his dead body. A barrage of punches and kicks to his body and face—a full assault. His face was beaten into such a pulp he was now unrecognizable. Shark was completely bathed in his blood as she huffed for breath, finally having her fill as her blood fueled frenzy died down.

  The bolts of pain began to shoot up and down her body. Her fists were throbbing, already having swelled up to the size of baseballs.

  Her entire body had collapsed to the ground from the burning soreness throbbing painfully through every single muscle. But what hurt most of all was her right arm, where the man had repeatedly smashed it for dear life. It was definitely broken. She didn’t feel any of it while she was killing him, but now, it was catching up with her.

  How did I do that anyway? That man was at least two times my size, and I held him down with one arm as I took his life. I never knew I was so... strong, she briefly concluded before the pain overwhelmed her. Maniacal laughter bounced through the complex. A requiem of agony and sickening happiness as her tears of grief and newly formed psychosis fell onto the concrete floor.

  I killed a man. I actually killed a man. And it...

  It felt so good.

  Present Day:

  Blood kept her alive, but it also fueled her desires; more specifically, men’s blood. It gave her an orgasmic high to exact revenge upon these miserable worms. Was it evil? Was it justice? She didn’t give a shit either way. For her, it felt better than anything in this world to watch a man squirm as she crushed his spirit, along with his body, and that’s all that mattered. All that was to be found in her consciousness was the wicked glow of eternal hellfire.

  “Kill me,” the one-eyed man pleaded from the bottom of his cursed heart.

  This was it. This was what she was waiting for. No longer was he trying to plead for his life. He had resigned himself to his fate, now begging for his death. For Shark, this was the best part of tormenting these useless pigs. The thought of her having forced him to give up on life gave her an unrivaled high. She may as well have been a god to this man right now. She held his very life in her hands. She leaned in close, whispering one heart-stopping word into his ear.

  “No.”

  The man began lashing out, thrashing like a savage beast, trying to free himself from this hell, but all to no avail. His restraints would not budge. He chanted feverishly.

  “Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me!”

  His desperate plea was only met with a sensual giggle from his captor.

  “How pathetic. You thought you were such a big man earlier. Now just look at you, crying like a little girl. If I wasn’t looking right at it, I wouldn’t even believe you have a dick. In fact, I think that will be the next thing to go.”

  The man felt the touch of cold steel brush against his balls. If this were ten minutes ago, he would’ve cared. In spite of that, his passion for life and his own wellbeing was beginning to fade. Maybe it was the blood loss. Or maybe, this wretched succubus had finally made him give up. Realizing words would get him nowhere, he simply remained silent as his lips quivered wildly in horrific anticipation of what was to come.

  Shark grinned inwardly. She was ready. Ready to take his manhood, his identity, away from him. She could tell now his spirit was beginning to break. How much farther could she push him? How much farther could he fall into the depths of despair? She was eager to find out. Just as she began to slice into his manhood, her disgusting euphoria was interrupted by a voice inside her head.

  Julia, I’m afraid fun time is over. I need you to come up here right now. There are important matters we all need to discuss.

  That voice was one she had grown quite accustomed to over the years. The voice belonged to the one person in this world she would listen to; Raven.

  You’ve gotta be kidding me! I’m seriously at the best part here. C’mon!

  Shark used her conscious thoughts to protest back to him.

  No buts. Finish what you’re doing there and get up here now. Time is of the essence.

  Shark’s frustrated grunt echoed through the room. She eyed her prey up and down in disappointment as she sighed.

  “You’re a lucky bastard, you know that. I wanted to put you through a few more hours of fun. Oh well, time to die now.”

  The bloodied mess of a man simply hung limp, remaining mute. He thanked his lucky stars that he was finally being shown mercy. Of course, he would’ve rather been allowed to live, but it seemed the chances of that were impossible.

  Shark made sure of that as she shoved her great blade through his heart, silencing his body and mind, forever.

  Shark stomped out of the room, grumbling to herself.

  Damn Nicholas. I swear I’m going to kill you too one day.

  I welcome you to try.

  Shark chuckled. Why did she follow this person again? Why did she let anyone tell her what to do? Ah, that’s right, there was only one reason. Raven’s strength was limitless. Even she realized there was no way she could oppose him. It was also Raven that crafted her into a finely tuned killing machine.

  July 10, 2015

  Back then, she had blacked out after scoring her first kill. When she woke up, she was entombed to a mattress by blankets of dark velvet. When she sat up she noticed there stood a man, staring right at her.

  The mysterious man, with his black hair and black eyes, was the definition of tall, dark, and handsome. Still, she found it extremely creepy that his eyes were locked on her in this way. Then all the memories came rushing back like a subway car slamming straight into her brain. Her mother was no longer in this world. The light of Shark’s life had been taken away forever. At that moment she literally took the life of the man responsible into her own hands, squeezing hi
s vitality right out of him. An eye for an eye, so they say.

  But it wasn’t enough. Wasn’t revenge supposed to make someone feel better? Certainly, while she was killing him, it felt amazing beyond anything she had experienced. Why then, would this pain not go away? Why did her heart feel like a desolate wasteland? Empty. She was completely empty. What purpose was there now for living in this world? Why did she even live? She knew one thing for sure. After what happened, she couldn’t look at any man the same again. Before, she simply saw them as troublesome gnats that wouldn’t go away. Now, she perceived them all as monsters, and the man in front of her was no exception.

  As she remembered the callous way her mother was murdered, it felt as though millions of burning swords were stabbing every single nerve ending of her body. She hunched over on the bed, clutching at her heart in pain. As the anguished tears flooded, she lifted her heavy head up ever so slightly to stare maliciously at the target in front of her. All she had wanted was to be left alone with her mother, but men had destroyed her life time and time again.

  Every single one of them was evil. As she gazed at the masculine form of arrogance before her, she vowed to wipe each and every male off the face of the earth with her own two hands. She would repay them a thousand fold for what they had done to mom, and to her.

  She immediately sprung up from the bed without a word, lunging at the enigma before her. He dodged her tackle with ease, placing his back against the wall as he motioned his hand in a taunting gesture.

  “What’s wrong? Hit me.”

  “You don’t even have to ask!” Shark shrieked as her fist came flying, her fresh teardrops hovering in the air for a mere moment before gravity took its course.

  He cocked his head to the side as he narrowly avoided the fatal jab. Her herculean powered fist exploded through the wooden wall, sending splinters everywhere as she smashed a hole straight through it.

  “Stand still you piece of shit!” Shark commanded.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you didn’t want me to move.” Raven spread his arms out as he remained stationary. “Okay then, try again.”

  “You think this is fucking funny?” Shark threw her fist straight at him, but she merely hit a wave of yellow light that deflected her backwards.

  “What the hell!” she yelled.

  “I deflected your attack with my telepathic barrier.”

  “Telepathy doesn’t exist!”

  “Ironic that you of all people would say that,” Raven snickered.

  “The hell are you talking about?” Shark was getting agitated. Not that this was difficult to accomplish. She was like a tiger that would tear people apart if they got near. Raven was not afraid in the slightest, as he felt he could handle the wild beast.

  “I’m saying you’ve been using telepathy.”

  “Bullshit!” Shark shouted as she shot her first directly at Raven for a second time. Yet again, her blow was blocked by the barrier.

  “How do you think you overpowered that man like that? You typically don’t hear of women overpowering large men, now do you? Did you ever stop to wonder just how you choked him to death with your bare hands?”

  “So you saw everything?” Shark growled.

  “Of course.” Raven’s stoic expression changed into a satisfied smile. “You were magnificent. That expression on your face was priceless. It’s been awhile since I witnessed anything so entertaining yet repulsive at the same time. It was like watching a train wreck.”

  “I hope you enjoyed the show, because it’s the last thing you’ll ever see!” Shark threatened as she lunged towards Raven again, only for him to sidestep her like a matador.

  “You really are stupid aren’t you?” Raven laughed. “Can’t you see by now that you can’t hurt me?”

  Steam was rushing out of her nostrils by this point. She was downright pissed that she couldn’t kill this man, but there was nothing she could do about it. She focused all of her fury into the wall instead, but this time nothing happened. There was no hole, not even a crack. The only thing she did was hurt her hand. She was completely stumped.

  “It seems you don’t have control over your power,” Raven informed her.

  “What power? What are you talking about? You said I can use telepathy but I’ve never read anyone’s mind ever.”

  “Who says you have to read minds? That is one of the many possible uses. Your knowledge of telepathy is extremely limited, allow me to educate you.”

  “I don’t want your damn education. Just go away and never show your face in front of me again.”

  “That’s not happening,” Raven smirked. “I am going to teach you how to harness your power. Don’t you wonder why that last punch had no effect?”

  Shark scoffed in disgust. She had to admit he had a point. She did want to know.

  “So... talk,” she demanded.

  “Very well. First off, our telepathic powers are fueled by fluidal energies. Fluidal energy is all around us. Every person has their own fluidal energy. They can even store this fluidal energy in objects by touching them. All telepaths harness this fluidal energy differently, depending on their aptitudes and personality.”

  “Get to the point. What does this have to do with me?”

  “I’m getting to that part, so settle down.” Raven shook his head in disappointment. This woman had the attention span of a fly. Nevertheless, she would be quite the useful tool later on if given the proper instruction. Raven, having accepted his uncharacteristic role as a teacher for the time being, resumed his lecture.

  “Most people don’t awaken their telepathic abilities in their lifetime. But you, you’re different. Make no mistake; you killed that man using telepathy. Without it, you’d be the one lying in a pool of your own blood.”

  “So my ability is what, super strength?”

  “Precisely. If I were to guess, your life or death situation caused you to release your fluidal energies, which in turn triggered additional adrenaline from your adrenal glands, facilitating increased oxygen flow to your muscles, in turn causing you to possess superhuman strength.”

  “That’s not telepathy,” Shark spat. “I’ve heard about shit like that before. People lifting cars and shit.”

  “That’s true, but they do not possess the amount of strength that you do in that state. Also, I’m certain that after I am done teaching you, you will be able to summon this power at will. However, your power does have a downside.”

  “Which is?”

  “The human body is not meant to sustain such super strength for a long period of time. The longer you use it, the more abuse your muscles will take. If I hadn’t found you, you would have been hospitalized for a week, and your arm would’ve been in a sling for months.”

  “So you’re saying you healed me?”

  “Yet another benefit of harnessing the power of fluidal energies,” Raven smirked. “To train you, I’m going to have you push your body past its normal limits. There will be wear and tear on your muscles, but luckily you have me. I’ll simply heal you after every session. Eventually you’ll gain full control over that behemoth like strength of yours.”

  Raven had neglected to tell her the worst side effect of all from this power. Every time she used the super strength, it would shorten her lifespan by a small chunk. If she used it daily, it’s likely she would die of a heart attack by fifty years old. It didn’t matter, twenty to thirty years was more than enough time to accomplish what he needed to do. He’d probably dispose of her before then anyway.

  Shark let her pearly whites show a vicious smile. “Now we’re talkin’. Do you know what I’m gonna do when I learn to control that strength?”

  For the first time, Raven was at a loss. He could’ve just read her mind to get the answer, but that wouldn’t be as interesting.

  “What will you do?”

  “I’ll kill every single man I come across, including you when I get the chance.” Her spirit overflowed with evil.

  So amusing—this was t
he most broken woman he’d ever met in his life. Amazing how one traumatic experience can change a person so drastically.

  “You’ll never be able to kill me, but I’ll make a deal with you,” Raven said. “I’ll teach you how to control that strength of yours and let you kill all the men you want. You can go wild!” His snide voice escalated in passion before dropping down into solemnity. He wanted to make his next sentence crystal clear to her.

  “In exchange, when I ask you to do something, you do it. Oh, and I may pick up a couple of allies who are men. If you kill them, I kill you.”

  He extended his open hand outwards towards her.

  “Do we have a deal?” He extended an open hand towards the psychopath.

  Shark found this all to be repugnant. She wanted nothing more than to tear him apart. Fortunately, she wasn’t completely stupid. She knew she stood no chance, and at least this way she could increase her power. It was troublesome, but right now she’d have no choice but to accept the deal. She suppressed her anger, managing to calm herself down for the first time in days. If she was going to suffer then all of mankind would suffer with her. She had found her purpose in life. It was to be the hand of wrath; a hand with which to crush her enemies mercilessly. She shook Raven’s hand firmly, feeling as though she just made a deal with the devil.

  “I believe we have a deal, Mr.?”

  “Nicholas.”

  “The name’s Julia.”

  “Well, Julia, I believe we have a long and fruitful relationship ahead of us. Let’s get started.”

  ~~~~~

  Three and a half years later, after traversing a couple of teleportation chambers and a single door, she found herself yet again face to face with Nicholas, who now called himself Raven. His three allies were already present. Her lips perked into a sultry smile.

  “Hey, babe.” She walked over and planted her lips against Raven’s, kissing him deeply.