Glitch Girl

Honi ran as fast as she could. The snow crunched under her feet. A huge wall was visible ahead, closing the entire city off from the outside world. The girl began to hallucinate, afraid that she would crash because she could not stop, but suddenly she passed through the wall. This was unexpected. Honidesu was surprised, because she did not yet fully know what abilities she had. It turned out that there was a huge forest behind the wall. The surrounding area was filled with countless trees and shrouded in a mysterious silence. Some trees were thin and tall, stretching high into the sky, while others were gnarled, their branches stretching out in a strange and twisted pattern. The air was cold and still, as if the forest was holding its breath. Honi decided not to run anymore, because the only danger for her was in the city. The girl walked for a long time until she found herself deep in the snowy forest. "What should I do now..." Honidesu thought, she wanted to be angry, but at the same time she was scared, because she was in a hopeless situation, she wanted to scream. "I hate it!" Honi screamed and in rage she hit the tree with her fist. When she hit, the girl's hand created glitches with a flash, and the tree immediately fell to the ground. The snow that had accumulated on its branches flew in all directions. Honidesu looked at the fallen tree, and then suddenly heard a sound similar to a distorted neigh of a horse. It was very low, as if it were some kind of sinister laughter, but it definitely resembled an animal. The girl listened and slowly began to move away from the direction of the sound. A terrible creature appeared from behind the bushes, shifting from bony paws to hooves. Its body was covered in thick black fur, and sharp ribs protruded from its chest. The head resembled a horse's skull, but with sharp teeth, and in its empty eye sockets, eerie red lights were shining brightly. The monster walked, leaning all its limbs on the ground, and then stood on its hooves. Before Honi could react, the monster rushed at her. She screamed in fear, but at the same time tried to break free. Her hands tried to hit, causing a stream of glitches, but the monster paid no attention to the blows. The creature's grip tightened, and now its claws scratched her left hand. "Damn it, no, not again... I don't want to! Am I going to die now? No, please!" the girl thought in horror. Suddenly the creature froze, and its eyes changed color to yellow. The creature let go of Honidesu and backed away, the girl expected the worst. "W-what..." she said in a quiet, trembling voice and looked at the beast. The monster howled as if in pain, its eyes began to blink. The monster's body seemed to have lost its orientation in space and was moving in a completely incomprehensible direction, crashing into trees, and its eyes blinked until they completely went out. The beast fell to the ground, its body stopped showing any signs of life. A black cat with a white belly emerged from the creature's body like a ghost. He's looked at the stranger with his big yellow eyes incredulously, trying to study her, and slowly approached her, sniffing. "What kind of monster was that anyway?..." Honidesu looked at the dead monster, and then at the cat. "Did some small animal just save me? Did it possess him?... L-Like a ghost?..." She carefully extended her right hand to pet her savior. The cat began to purr and wag his tail like a dog, which would be strange for a cat, but certainly not for this one, he was special and... square. Honi's hand gently stroked the kitten's fluffy back. "I can touch him... But if his body is material, then how could he do such a thing?... Okay, the most important thing is that he saved me and does not want to hurt me..." Honidesu exhaled and calmed down, the cold distracting her from the painful wound. She carefully rose from the cold snowy ground and looked around. The sun had almost set, but the rays were still seeping through the snow-covered firs. "I don't even know where to go now. It's so cold here..." the girl sighed and took a couple of steps forward, holding her wounded hand. The cat followed her. Honi looked at the cute cat and smiled softly: "You want to be my friend? Hmm, do you have a name?" The cat looked at Honidesu for a while, then took a few more tiny steps towards her, as if approving of her question. He didn't have a name, so he just purred, and then rubbed himself against Honi's legs. "Okay, if that's the case, then you'll be Zhmak! My name is Honidesu, nice to meet you, Zhmak!" the girl giggled and leaned towards the cat. Zhmak purred a little in response, and then buried his muzzle in Honi's hand. Honidesu took Zhmak in her right hand and walked wherever her eyes looked, hoping to find some shelter, and she also didn't want to be near the lifeless body of the monster. She reached a large spruce, almost not feeling her arms and legs. Honi squatted down and leaned against the tree. "If I don't die from the monster's claws, I'll most likely die from the cold..." the girl sighed. She was still holding Zhmak, and his body warmed her a little, so she tried to hug him to herself to warm herself up a little. The sound of someone's footsteps in the snow was heard. Honidesu tensed up, she felt very vulnerable, she had no choice but to accept her fate. She simply hugged Zhmak and closed herself off from the whole world, as if she expected to wake up from this horror. "It would be better if it was Henry or Janet... I'm so scared... I can't run, my body doesn't obey me, it's too cold and painful..." And then, when someone approached her, Honidesu felt like she was covered with something. She carefully looked at the green jacket with white fur, and then at the female figure standing in front of her. The stranger had short ginger hair with an X-shaped clip on the left side, pink eyes and freckles. She was wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans and black boots. She sat down next to Honidesu to warm her up and looked at her with kind eyes. "It's okay, I won't do anything bad, but it's not safe here, I can help you..." "O-okay..." Honi muttered. The stranger helped the girl with the cat in her right hand up and they headed towards the city. Honidesu noticed that the ginger had two axes, which she carried in a special pocket for weapons on her back. Honi was silent the whole way and looked down in embarrassment. "Isn't she cold without a jacket? She's too kind to me..." she thought. "Okay, here we go!" the ginger broke the silence. Honidesu looked back and saw that they were standing near a wall with a large stone leaning against it. The stranger moved the stone and behind it was a passage. They went inside together, then the redhead pushed it back so that no one could get into the city. "You have a wound, I think you need medical attention. Sorry, I didn't introduce myself, my name is Bonnie, Bonnie Lain. And you?" she said in a sympathetic tone. "H-Honidesu..." the girl muttered. "No, I don't need to go to the hospital! It's not that serious a wound..." "Nice to meet you, you have a very interesting name! Are you sure you don't need to seek help?" "Please don't!" Honi answered with concern in her voice. "Okay, whatever you say. But I can't just leave you like that! Do you live far away?" Bonnie asked. "Actually, I'm not sure if I have a home..." Honi admitted. "And that monster..." "Yeah, I hate those sinister mockers!" Bonnie exclaimed menacingly.  "Is that what they did to you?" "Sinister mockers? That's probably the name of these monsters..." thought Honidesu, and then nodded. "Hey, it's okay, I guess you can stay with me then! I can't leave you on the cold street with such a wound... Let's go!" It was already dark outside, with each passing moment the snowflakes were falling thicker and thicker, and the wind was howling louder and louder. Honi occasionally looked around in the hope that she would not see a policeman or an agent there. The girls reached the entrance, entered the elevator and went up to the 7th floor. Bonnie opened the door to her apartment. She took off her shoes, as well as the weapon carrier. Honi returned Bonnie's jacket and took off her shoes, letting go of the cat. The girls entered the room together. There was a cozy and calming atmosphere there. The room had a light green sofa and armchair, under which there was a fluffy carpet. The walls were painted light green and white. There was a TV on the wall, under which stood a white nightstand with various things. The room was very clean. Zhmak immediately ran to the sofa and happily jumped on it, lay down and began to wag his tail. Bonnie looked at the square cat and giggled: "Oh, he's with you? How funny and cute! Does he have a name?" "Zhmak..." Honi answered awkwardly. "I met him only today and he himself wanted to come with me..." "Zhmak? What a funny name, hee-hee! I've never seen such cats, he looks very unusual..." Bonnie looked at the fluffy animal with interest, not taking her eyes off. "Yes, he saved me from a monster..." "Really? Wow! You are very lucky to have found such a friend!" Bonnie sat down on the sofa and stroked Zhmak, he began to purr and continued to happily wag his tail. "Hee he's just like a dog, but a cat, what a cutie!" Honi giggled a little too and sat down next to them. "Oh yeah, Honidesu, I have to help you, don't move!" Bonnie tried to take off Honi's jacket. The girl tried not to look the ginger's eyes. "Why are you shy? Everything is fine, if anything, I live here alone," Bonnie giggled sweetly. "No, it's fine..." Bonnie began to treat the wound on Honi's left hand. "Listen, Honidesu, are you by any chance a refugee?" "I..." the girl thought about it. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it now, it's just..." Honidesu raised her head and looked at the ginger with embarrassment. "I know it's hard for refugees..." Bonnie sighed, "so I'd be glad if I could help you and keep you here. I think we could be friends." A smile appeared on her face again. Honi felt like she didn't deserve this kindness, didn't deserve to be someone's friend. "I don't care if you don't have money, don't worry, we'll figure something out! And I really want you and Zhmak to be my roommates!" the ginger exclaimed and hugged Honi. Honidesu shuddered a little, and her left arm began to hurt from the pressure. "Ouch!" "Oh, sorry!" Bonnie loosened her grip and stopped hugging Honi. "Right, your arm!" "It's okay," Honi smiled, and then a wave of glitches ran along her arm from shoulder to fingertips. "Wow... h-how do you do that?" Honidesu looked at her arm and was embarrassed. "Ah? Oh..." Her arm stopped glitching, and the wound healed as if it had never been there. "So you have some kind of cool abilities?" Bonnie asked admiringly. "W-what? N-no, I don't know..." the girl smiled awkwardly. "You don't have to tell me, but I think it's really cool!" Honi was extremely awkward, but in the end she came up with what to say: "Please, don't tell anyone! No one should know about me..." "Okay, no one knows about what I do either, so I'll keep quiet!" Bonnie continued to look at Honidesu with delight. "What are those stripes on your cheeks?" "It's a tattoo..." the girl giggled nervously. "Well, it must be painful to get a tattoo right up to your eyelids..." "Well, yeah..." "That's tenacity!" Suddenly, Honidesu felt hungry, it was the first time for her, she was scared by this feeling and grabbed her stomach, Bonnie noticed it and asked: "What is it, Honi? I can call you that, right?" "Y-yeah, sure... I don't know, it's just a weird feeling..." "You're probably hungry? I'm hungry too, so I thought we could order pizza to celebrate our first meeting!" the ginger exclaimed happily. Bonnie picked up her phone and ordered pizza. About ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. Bonnie got up from the couch and went out into the hallway. Soon, she returned to the room with a flat, square box. A delicious aroma was coming from it, the smell alone made her mouth water with anticipation. Honidesu saw hot steam rising from inside the box, and her heart began to beat with excitement. The ginger placed the box on the coffee table and opened it. Inside was a circle of dough cut into several pieces, covered with cheese, on top of which were long slices of bacon. Bonnie giggled at Honi's reaction and said: "It's a carbonara pizza." Honidesu carefully took a piece, brought it to her mouth and bit into it. The taste was unusual, but pleasant. "Wow, this is very tasty, I think I feel better!" she said happily. "Of course, food always cheers up!" Bonnie giggled. "I wonder if Zhmak can eat? Where is his mouth?" Honi began to examine Zhmak, she took him in her hands and looked closely at his face, turning him at different angles. She still couldn't find a mouth, there was only a nose and big round yellow eyes, looking at her questioningly. "What, nothing at all?" Bonnie was surprised. "He's really strange..." "Well, then he doesn't need to eat!" the ginger giggled. Honidesu put the cat on the couch and continued eating pizza. Zhmak happily wagged his tail and settled down comfortably next to the girls. Bonnie decided to turn on the TV, they were showing the news: "Wanted girl..." - before the announcer could finish his speech, Honi abruptly snatched the remote control from Bonnie's hands and switched to another channel. "What are you doing?" Bonnie was surprised. "Um... it's just that I don't like watching the news..." Honi answered nervously. "Oh, I understand, don't worry, I wanted to switch too. Do you like horror movies?" "Y-yes, I like horror movies. It will be interesting to watch..." "Great, then it's decided!" Bonnie switched to a channel with horror movies and they both started watching the one that was just starting. It was already 12:00, the girls didn't notice how time flew by, they fell asleep, Zhmak with them too. The next day, Honidesu felt awkward because she woke up on Bonnie's shoulder. She was no longer asleep. "Ah! Oh no, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for you to see me like this!" Honi exclaimed, embarrassed. "Don't worry, I don't care, you looked cute when you were sleeping," Bonnie giggled, teasing her friend. Honi sat up and turned away, looking at the floor. Bonnie got up from the couch and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. The ginger returned after a while, found another toothbrush and offered Honidesu to do the same. Honi brushed her teeth for the first time, it was a very interesting activity for her, because before, when she still lived inside the computer, life was much simpler and there were no needs in it. But now she had to do everything herself - brush her teeth with a toothbrush and rinse her mouth with tap water... Amazing! And the taste of toothpaste was simply magical: her tongue tingled slightly from the mint, but it became soft as velvet, and her mouth felt fresh... Bonnie made breakfast and thought about what they could do today. She did not have to think for long, because she looked at her right hand, and her face suddenly dimmed. "Oh no..." "What is it?" Honi asked. "My bracelet... I... I think I lost it..." Bonnie stood up abruptly from the table and started looking for it around the house. Honi and Zhmak immediately joined the search. They turned all the rooms upside down, but the bracelet was still missing. "Have I really lost it forever?" Bonnie whispered lostly. Honidesu felt guilty, because yesterday Bonnie had saved her from the cold, but now it seemed like she had lost something because of her... Bonnie looked at her friends with determination and said: "I'm going to go back to the forest! It's the only place I could have lost it." Honi immediately remembered the monster she had met in the forest, her heart began to beat very fast, and her lips tightened in fear. "She's going to go back to the forest? For the bracelet? It seems like it was really important to her... I don't want to go back there, but leaving her there alone would be wrong... She saved me from a cold death... Damn it!" Honi confidently exclaimed: "I'll go with you. We'll find your bracelet!" "Oh, Honi, thank you, that's very kind of you, but it's dangerous out there!" Bonnie warned. "I know," Honi replied, "but I feel like I have to do this. So let's just stick together and be careful." "Wow, okay, thank you... By the way, throw on one of my jackets so you don't freeze!" Bonnie put on the green jacket and took the weapon carrier with her. Honidesu listened to the ginger and put on the black winter jacket. Zhmak also wanted to go with the girls and followed them. They reached the wall. Bonnie moved the large stone covering the hole again, and she, Honi, and Zhmak went out into the forest, returning the same stone to its place.