Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated

Assuming me going silent for so long after my last post generated any such rumors. Although I guess the exaggerations wouldn't have been all that great given all the bandages still wrapped around my arms. On the other hand I'm no longer too looped out on pain killers to type up a coherent entry (yes being looped on pain killers is dangerous. So is being in too much pain to think straight. Fucked if you do fucked if you don't.). It's also come to my attention that there's something I neglected to add to my list of things every Runner should own, I wear it all the time and it's become as natural to me as wearing pants so I didn't think to list it. In the big confrontation last Thursday my leather motorcycle jacket probably saved my life*.

I hid out under the amphitheater (plastered with those fucking posters from the Panopticon now) until nightfall then slipped out. Fortunately even though people aren't supposed to be in the park after hours the city sprung for some street lights (presumably so passing cops can tell if there are people in the park who shouldn't be). It wasn't long before I heard growling and whispering from some of the bushes but every time I headed towards the noises they started coming from a different location. Apparently when this guy was infected with whatever caused him to mutate into this Rake like form is also giving him something similar to the teleportation like abilities shown by some Fears. While I was headed for a clump of bushes where I'd last heard the growling with my new steel baton extended it leaped at me from behind and clamped it's jaws down on the arm holding the baton. Fortunately the fangs didn't penetrate the leather or I might have wound up just like him. I pulled my knife with my left hand and slammed it into the Beast's throat which forced it to let go. I whipped around to face it and to my horror saw that my earlier fears were correct, I could see the wound closing before my eyes. Only two things gave me hope, the first that the wound was closing slowly not nearly instantaneously like when Hunter shot the real Rake in the face. Secondly the Beast was still bleeding red. I've met Slenderproxies who don't do that anymore so it gave me hope that the Beast was still human enough to die. It was a hard fight, it's claws ripped the arms of my jacket as well as my arms underneath it to shreds but fortunately I was able to keep it from ripping my face off and the plastic inserts in the torso of my jacket kept my guts in my belly where they belong. Eventually the Beast went down with blood trickling from countless slowly bleeding wounds. I knew it wasn't going to stay down though so I sawed off it's head with my knife and doused both the head and the body with a couple liters of kerosene I'd hauled along in my back pack and set it ablaze. I hightailed it out of there before the fire drew any attention and covered my arms with tightly wrapped gauze at the first chance I got both to keep from leaving a blood trail from the fire to my home and so I didn't bleed out. Once I got home I passed out. I must have been running on pure adrenalin just to get that far. For the next few days I only woke long enough to douse my wounds in rubbing alcohol, change the dressings, and eat before taking some pain killers and passing out again. I haven't heard any growling or whispers since so I'm sure it's dead. Oddly though there have been no reports about the fire or a body in the park. There are so many things out there from Panopticon to the Lonely Hearts that could be covering this up that I don't even want to think about it. My wounds don't seem infected but I'm still feeling a little weak. I think I need to get more iron after all the blood I lost in the fight but I'll be okay for now.

Until next time Stay Alert, Stay Alive.  

*The model I wear is expensive and comes with hard plastic inserts that are meant to protect a motorcyclist in a crash. Those inserts aren't going to stop a bullet but they're great against blunt force like fists, crowbars, and baseball bats and somewhat helpful against knives and claws. Most of you probably can't afford an investment like my jacket but even a second hand leather duster or bomber jacket will be better against fangs claws and knives that bare skin or a T-shirt.