by Azure Boone
The creature had a better living area than many people the attendant knew. A cozy nest box in one corner of its room held several blankets and a nice soft mattress. A toy box that rivaled a rich human child’s. A TV and video game system, a comfortable chair and rugs and pillows, art on the walls.
All it needed was a kitchenette, and the damned thing would have a better apartment than Jason. As it was, it ate better than he did.
Kassern fast forwarded to the offending moment.
Jason entered the little room and took the thing’s favorite toy - its teddy bear. The very concept was laughable to him. But it treasured the stuffed animal, and would rail in fury when he took it.
This was what paid his bills. And honestly, he relished this part. Absolutely loved to watch the creature screeching in frustration, tearing at its fur, shredding the blankets and other toys, clawing at the walls, until it collapsed with great heaving sobs onto the floor. Finally, when it was exhausted, he would open the door just enough to toss the teddy bear back inside. It would look up at him then, through the observation window, with those odd colorless eyes, and its pupils would narrow to the tiniest of slits, as it pulled the toy close under its chin. Jason finished his job by laughing at it, turning out the lights and leaving.
Except that night.
After taking the teddy bear, Jason watched through the observation window while the creature looked around and went to the table where it had left the toy. It searched the floor, then glanced up at him as understanding dawned. Jason grinned at it, and waited for it to launch into its tantrum.
To his surprise, it simply looked to the door. Jason's grin faded as the door to the special room began to shudder, gently at first, then violently. When the door flew open, his expression changed to one of abject terror.
Fascinating, Kassern mused. It had some telekinetic ability.
There was no running, only becoming the monster's test subject with the beast making an odd laughing growling sound deep in its chest.
The attendee had no clue he’d just completed his job, nor that his secret employer had planned for him to serve as the test subject of his own success.
Kassern watched emotionless as the creature made another incision, this one on the calf of Jason's leg after slowly destroying the foot. It removed muscles and tendons, looked at them curiously before tossing them haphazardly away. Kassern grimaced as it casually dropped its mouth to the incision and licked.
The first taste of human blood.
The addictive craving set up immediately as it lapped noisily at the wound.
Kassern froze, realizing another disturbing fact about the creature. Its ability to adapt. During the time Kassern had spent learning all he could, the creature had been learning Kassern's coordinates. He could feel it, poking around in his mind, curious, dissecting, looking for weaknesses. Shit.
Before Kassern could kill it, he realized the damn things were networked together, like one unit with many parts. Killing one wouldn't do a damn thing at this point. Whatever the one knew, all of them knew. As Kassern exited the creature's odd spirit, he became aware that an entire pack of them surrounded him. All watching him with that hungry grin from Jason's memory.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Troy waited, eying the open field for signs of Kassern. Twelve minutes. Come on, come on. "He's coming," Troy whispered, feeling him close.
The girl's screamed at Kassern's explosive materialization in red fire. "There must be five thousand of them," he began, wasting no time. "They're strong, smart, fearless, cruel, and have a perversion for torturing humans and eating their parts."
"Oh my God," Devyn whimpered.
"Troy." Kassern hurried to him and put his hand on his shoulder, passing all the information in real time into his head. Ten seconds later, Troy shuddered with the details, drawing several weapons and looking out the window. "They're coming."
Kassern nodded. "They found me snooping."
"How do we kill them?" Troy hadn't gotten that information from Kassern and sincerely wanted it now.
"They're moving slow," Karly whispered. "That's a good thing, right?"
"I wish," Kassern muttered. "They're in no hurry because they savor the hunt. They want their prey to know they're coming, and to be very afraid. Unfortunately, I didn't get a clear idea of how to kill them. Seems they're networked together somehow, and I'm not sure to what extent."
"Well, let's go find out, I don't want them getting any closer than that right there." They were halfway across the open land and so numerous, they looked like a black wave slowly rolling toward them. The land sloped, making them visible as they came down out of the forest. Troy couldn't see an end to them.
He jerked to Devyn. "Baby? You and Karly need to have a heart to heart about a certain confession that will get us the hell out of here."
Devyn nodded rapidly, but the look on her face screamed I have no clue what I'm supposed to confess!
"Giddy up, brother, this could be a long fight," Kassern muttered. "Ladies, do not leave this cabin. It's the only thing I can shield at this point."
"Then why don't you stay in it?" Karly demanded.
"Because I don't know enough about the damn things and I'm not going to wait in here to find out."
"What will happen if…" Karly couldn't finish.
"They can't kill me. But they could get to either of you if we're not driving them back."
"Wouldn't it be better to just kill them?" Devyn asked.
Kassern tossed her a grin. "That is definitely plan A."
****
Devyn watched in horror as two lone men walked out of that rickety cabin to face the numberless mass of nightmares.
Confess. Confess! She spun to Karly. "You have to help me, I-I-I don't know what to confess, I've tried to think of everything, I've confessed everything I can think of since I was two years old!"
Karly hurried over and embraced her, trying to soothe wordlessly.
"This is so stupid! How hard can this be?" Devyn sobbed into her friend's shoulder.
"Oh, God!" Karly pushed Devyn aside and hurried to the window. Devyn followed, her blood freezing in terror.
Kassern and Troy ran toward the mass and Devyn's terror turned to awe. Troy used the crossbow, the red bolts of energy leaving gaping holes in the target and returning to his hand for rapid load and fire. Extremely rapid. She held her breath when he reached the pack and the crossbow transformed into a long staff with curved ruby scythes on both ends.
Devyn noticed Kassern then. The angel was a slow-walking tank of kick-ass, wings firing bloody bolts of power as he too swung his staff.
The creatures dropped like puppets with their strings cut, but dread filled Devyn when the things became more and more aggressive, moving in faster. Eerie howls and screams carried in the air, audible in the cabin, and sending chills of dread down Devyn's spine. "Oh God, oh God, I can't see them."
Body parts covered the ground in the wake of Troy and Kassern's slow moving massacre. "What…what's that?" Karly whispered.
"What?" Devyn stared out.
Karly pointed. "Am I seeing things, or are those body pieces moving?"
Devyn's heart skipped a beat as she watched. "Oh hell. Yes. They are."
"What the fuck are they doing?"
"They're…oh my God, they're coming this way."
"Devyn, dammit," Karly begged, holding her by her shoulders. "What are you hiding girl? Just spill it, nobody cares anymore, please, just confess it."
Horror immobilized her. "Fuck Karly!" she gasped. "I don't know! Don't you think I'd confess if I fucking did?"
A thud on the roof startled them, followed by a skittering noise, like claws on metal, accompanied by thumps.
Karly and Devyn huddled together. "Oh shit," Karly whispered. "What the fuck is that?"
Glass shattered, somewhere above and they screamed.
"Oh shit, oh shit," Karly cried. "What the fuck do we do?"
"I thought Kassern said he had this
place shielded," Devyn scanned the ceiling for where the threat might be.
Clutching each other, they crept toward the stairs. "Think Devyn, there's something in that head of yours you missed."
"We need to hide," Devyn whispered, pulling Karly to the kitchen with a vague idea of cramming into a broom closet or a cupboard. A quick glance around revealed a small opening in the wall next to the fridge. Access to a crawl-space?
She crouched and worked her nails into the crack and pried the cover to the little hatchway down.
"Come play."
They screamed and spun toward the gurgling voice behind them. Oh God. They backed up simultaneously until their shoulders hit the wall.
The five foot sasquatch-looking thing grinned at them from a snout of crowded sharp teeth. The heaving of his massive body increased as his colorless eyes scanned them like rare treasure, trying to decide which one he wanted first.
Devyn carefully nudged Karly toward the back door just to her left. Her gaze darted around the kitchen, seeking anything she might be able to use for defense. Her hand sought along the wall for something, anything. "Run," Devyn barely breathed. "To the car."
They both bolted then skidded to a screaming halt. The thing blocked their path, shaking its head in a wobbly fashion, grinning, approaching, slow and deliberate.
Karly screamed and launched herself at him, transforming mid-leap into a she-wolverine with red dagger length claws bared.
The thing caught her by the throat and Karly growled and swung her right hand, slicing the grotesque face open from eyebrow to snout.
Roaring its pain, it snarled and shook its head before throwing her like a rag doll across the room. Karly hit the wall hard, cracking plaster with her head, shoulder and hip before crumpling limp and soundless to the floor.
Devyn was barely aware of the panic taking her. Where were her weapons? Oh God. She bolted for the stairs. Half way up pain erupted in her ankle, like white hot knives sinking down to her bones.
She screamed, holding on to the rails against the force pulling her backward. She looked over her shoulder, horrified to see the thing grinning while it tugged at her foot. She kicked wildly with her free foot and landed a hard one to the monkey-man face.
It squealed and growled, angling its head at her before jabbing a long claw into the back of her thigh, a couple inches above her knee, bone deep. He niggled the talon around inside her flesh, and purred.
Devyn screamed. Rigid in agony, she could only pray and beg him to stop.
He grinned and chortled like a human infant, apparently pleased. Turning back to her leg he slowly dragged his nail toward him, slicing through muscle, tracing her bone. Every few seconds he looked up from her leg to her face, giggling anew at each agonized expression or horrified sound.
Devyn couldn't open her mouth wide enough for the scream that wracked her body. The thing paused in the task to laugh uproariously, slapping his knee with his free hand. She writhed and twisted but it only made it worse. Black spots finally entered her vision and convulsions shook her body as she lay on the stairs. A sharp heat slammed her abdomen as the creature slowly sliced her open. This was it, she'd die. Darkness seeped in, and Devyn grasped for it.
''Devyn…Devyn…"
Devyn reached for the voice of her mother, not caring it meant death. She screamed for her to help, help take her away from the pain.
Her mother hovered over her, smiling with tears. The pain of Devyn's body now flooded her heart. Her mom was so happy to see her. So why did it hurt so much?
"It's okay Devyn." She nodded. "We love you. We forgive you. We understand."
She stroked my face and I clasped her hand to my chest. "Don't leave mom, please don't leave me."
"Sweetie, I have to."
"Take me mom, please."
She shook her head, tears streaming. "It's not time for you baby." She smiled proudly. "You have to live. You have to remember. You can't run from it anymore."
"What mom, what am I running from?"
"Oh sweetie. Just remember, I love you. Your father and I love you very much and there is nothing you could ever do to change that. It wasn't your fault Devyn. You were too young to understand."
"Understand what mom?" Devyn sobbed, feeling the weight of some crime she couldn't remember.
Devyn heard a familiar roar. A man she knew. And loved. "They're dead! They're both dead!"
Troy? Who was he talking to? She struggled to open her eyes, let him know she was not dead. Not yet. She pried her lids open and stared. But she wasn't in the cabin. She was in her home, with her mom and dad. Only they were full of blood. And dead. "They're dead! They're both dead. You killed them!"
Devyn shook her head at her sister. She didn't kill them. No, she'd never do that. She looked around and saw her druggie friends, saw them beating her parents. Saw them tie them to the chair. Watched.
Oh my God, she watched. She just watched.
Frozen in fear, frozen in terror, for her life. She'd brought her friends there. To steal from them…for drug money. They weren't supposed to be home. They weren't supposed to be home.
She'd killed her parents.
The pain ripped through her skull and her mouth opened to release it. But it couldn't be released, it could never be released, the pain was hers to keep forever.
But she screamed anyway. She screamed in spite of it, because of it. She screamed for them, for her, she screamed like she should've then. She broke through the silence, the silence trapping her.
"I’m sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
There was nothing else.
There was nothing. Else.
The silence of solitary confinement filled her ears. Before panic could take her, a deep voice broke through the oppressive nothing. "You are forgiven."
The words whooshed like a warm tidal wave. Red fire erupted and Kassern was there in her spirit, inside her somehow, his ruby sword swinging down on her. With every swing, she realized he was cutting through something that held her tight and with every slice, she felt lighter, more free. Devyn suddenly floated up. She finally turned and watched Kassern continue to swing at something. Devyn stared in horror at the shiny black demon with many limbs. Many limbs in pieces now. She'd been wrapped tight in his dark limbs, never knowing, never aware of it. He'd been there so long, so quiet, hiding where she couldn't see. Darkness and silence were his powers. The Guardian of Guilt, Sentinel of Shame. Blocking the path to forgiveness and freedom.
No more.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Devyn gasped and sat up. She looked around, confused first, then amazed. Had she died? She could've sworn no. Troy. Devyn shot up then froze at remembering that disgusting thing had sliced her up. She reached and felt the back of her thigh and found no sign of a cut. She jerked up her shirt and found nothing on her abdomen either.
She glanced around. Where the hell was she? Looked like the inside of an onyx rock. Shiny black walls, floor, ceiling. Seemingly carved with a hand tool. She eyed the opening in the wall and hurried toward it. Troy rushed in with Kassern and Karly behind him. Her chest filled with joy and she ran him over with her embrace.
"Thank God," he whispered in her ear. "I love you."
"I love you too."
They finally pulled apart and Devyn wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Where are we?"
Troy stroked her face, the desperate look in his gaze saying he wanted to devour her where she stood. "The sanctuary. As soon as you confronted your sin, we were transported."
Devyn let out a shaky sigh of relief, leaning in to the warm support of Troy's embrace. "Now what?"
"We'll be here for about nine months."
"What?" burst out of all their mouths.
"Sorry, guess I should've mentioned that in the fine print of our little triumvirate. We are all in this for the duration, I'm afraid. I mentioned the circle we had to form?" Kassern's brows raised as he looked from Devyn to Troy for recognition. "Pretty sure I did. At least I meant to."
> "You mentioned a circle and your brothers coming, yes."
"There you have it. We each have one month to form our part of the circle. My mission is complete for now."
Kassern sighed and lowered his head. "Feel free to look around, I'm being summoned for interrogation."
"What for?" Karly asked.
"I have a lot to answer for. Nothing I regret, that's for sure." He angled a grin at her.
Karly chewed her lower lip. "Well…are you going to be in trouble?"
He shrugged, like he wasn't the least worried. "Nothing I’m not prepared to handle." Kassern pulled Karly in his arms and kissed her. When it was nearing the get a room point, Troy and Devyn turned around.
Several moments later, Karly gasped for air. Damn.
"Stop worrying. I love you."
Devyn couldn't help but smile at how Kassern said it. Like that was the eternal solution for everything. For Karly, it was.
She squeezed Troy's hand, feeling the same about their love. Images of him in that warrior outfit made her stomach flutter. He was so sexy. Wonder if he could make it appear at will. She'd like to make love to him in that form. Mmm.
"I'll see you guys in a few. Feel free to roam the mountain. Appropriate human facilitations have been added for your stay." Kassern bowed slightly then disappeared.
****
Kassern eyed his commander, Uriel, as he entered the onyx chamber where he’d summoned the twelve Elite Warriors chosen for their little secret mission. The curiosity in the large cavern stifled him. He couldn't blame a single one of them, he'd want to know what he was in for just the same.
Uriel took his seat at the head of the long, onyx table and Kassern met his emerald gaze head on. As usual, there were no answers on his perfectly guarded face, and for once, Kassern resented that particular quality. He had a feeling he wasn't the only one resenting it, this interrogation slash briefing involved details each angel wanted to know. As it was, Kassern hadn't missed the many scientific stares he was getting. The test angel had returned from the most troublesome realm with a shitload of explaining to do.