Universe of Sues (Skin Deep) [Finished, but irrelevant now]

I shouldn't even be alive right now--by all rights, that man should have killed me. But he didn't. I still don't know why. Maybe I was too obviously hurt, too obviously terrified. Maybe it was just some sliver of pity--I don't know. I never asked.

I was running. That I can remember, even if I can't remember who I was running from--or what. And I can remember the pain, like something caustic had gone through my insides, melted them, twisted them. But that was my first memory, that feeling of sheer horror. And then I was face to face with the man with the gun, his finger tightening almost, almost--

My head felt heavy, suddenly, like someone was pushing it down, and I lost unconsciousness there. I wonder, still--if I had remained standing, for one more second, would he have shot me?

The man didn't talk much to me, in the time I spent with him. But I didn't try to talk to him, either. I was too busy trying to understand this world I had woken up in, with these "Sues" that every sane man seemed to fear. They moved like lightning, struck like earthquakes. They carried weapons with impossible angles. They got inside your head, took out pieces of your mind until you wanted nothing more than to sit at their feet like some kind of pet. Don't look at them. Don't listen to them. Run away, and don't look back, and pray you die quick.

I never saw one. Not while I was still with the man. He dropped me off at one of the free towns and left, afterwards. I haven't seen him since, and I don't know what I'd say if I did see him again.

I live here, now, working in exchange for my stay. The people here don't trust me, not completely, and that's unlikely to change anytime soon--I keep to myself, all the better to avoid the questions I can't answer. It's alright, though. I'm not planning anything. The wound across my back has long healed, but the scar still pounds whenever I exert myself. And I'm still as thin as I was when I came here--if I tried to start anything, I'd be cut down in a hurry. That's what I think to myself, because it's true.

So I'm content, alone, in my small, dark, underground room.

Don't you know? I was content.

Someone brought in a dead Sue, last night. It's rare, but I'm told it happens from time to time--someone manages to kill a Sue, miracle of miracles, and they bring the body in to see if she's got anything useful on her. Weapons, or technology that we can use. Anything to make life here a little easier. I was busy when they dragged her in, but nobody was watching me afterwards--I managed to sneak over to where they were keeping the body and take a look on my own. I don't know why I did that. Curiosity, probably. Most likely curiosity.

She was wearing a ridiculous outfit, something with not enough skirt and too many laces. Her ears were set far too high, catlike, even furred. Her hair was painfully bright, colored in streaks like a rainbow, and on her one remaining hand I could see the claws, sharp and hooked like talons.

God help me. She was the first person I'd seen who looked human.