by Martha Woods
Reluctantly, Skylar pulled away from Liam, schooling her expression to be completely flat. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t forget what is important tonight, let’s go.”
The rest of the group hung back for a moment, concerned with how she had decided to start walking off alone, but after a moment of thought they hurried to catch up to her. After all, even though she was supposed to be amazingly powerful, that still didn’t change the fact that she had only a few days’ worth of practice with her powers, and even though the men with Sarconi were no doubt ordinary humans, many of the group could testify that they were by no means to be underestimated.
They stopped in front of the side door, staring at the arrow that someone had drawn in blood, welcoming them to come inside. Michael growled, his instincts telling him that this was an obvious trap, there was no way that they could fall for it. But what other choice did they have right now but to play along? He pushed the door open, his eyes quickly scanning the room and falling upon the kneeling form of Andrew Moore, his shoulder gripped tight in a grinning Sarconi’s grasp.
“Welcome! I’m so glad you could make it!” He kicked Andrew to the ground, taking a seat on his back. “Sorry about the mess, I got so distracted remembering how you murdered all of my men that I forgot to get chairs.”
“Clearly.” Liam said stepping closer, the rest of the group close behind him. “Couldn’t find you at first that night, given how you hid your tail between your legs.”
“I made a calculated retreat, something that human beings are smart enough to do sometimes. We can’t all be like wild beasts, throwing ourselves headfirst into every problem we find.” Sarconi grimaced. “I’ve found out a lot more about what exactly you things are, and trust me, you are something that should never have been. If there is a god, then I have no doubt that he despises you.”
“That’s rich, coming from you.” Michael clenched his fist, every ounce of his willpower focused on keeping him from leaping at the man in front of him. “You kill people, innocent people, because you like it. If god has a problem with us, then I imagine that you are at the top of his list.”
The mobster only nodded in agreement, not even arguing that his soul was damned for eternity. Instead, he whistled, everyone’s attention being grabbed as a voice began to echo in a lazy drawl through the building, “Have you ever heard the legend of Lilith? Bible thing, learnt it when I was still a little kid in Sunday school. Turns out, before Adam had Eve, he had another wife. Now this wife, she was created from the same dirt that he was, which in contrast to Eve, would have made her his equal.”
The back door swung open, Christian stepping in and striding over towards them, boots clapping against the concrete. “Adam and god demanded that Lilith kneel down before them, to acknowledge that they were her betters and that she was made only to serve them.” He chuckled, “Well, she basically gave them the biblical equivalent of a ‘fuck you’ and given that god banished two people from the garden for having some fruit salad, you can imagine how that went.”
Hayley pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “Is this story actually going anywhere?”
“Sure it is. Lilith was banished from the garden, because she refused to kneel down to someone she considered to be either her equal or inferior to her. It didn’t matter how much power they had over her, she told them to stick it up their asses and was banished from the garden for it.” He threw his hand back towards the door, a grievously wounded Leah being tossed carelessly inside. “This woman refused to kneel down before us, and for that she will be cast out of the garden and the kingdom of heaven. She will be doomed to a death in misery, for the crime of not kneeling before her betters.”
The brother’s snarled, “Mom! You piece of shit!” They surged forward, claws extended and their vision red, forgetting all about why they were here in the first place. Which unfortunately also meant that they lost their focus on detecting any threats.
The others rushed forward to try and stop them, but they were too late to prevent the tripwire from being activated, a tremendous explosion of light shattering the night and temporarily blinding them all. Previously unseen hunters tossed in gas grenades while the group was distracted, a thick cloud forming around them and filtering into their lungs, Liam and Michael hacking and coughing as their claws shrank back into their bodies and they fell to their knees.
Crossbow bolts shot silently through the air, embedding themselves into everyone apart from Skylar’s sides, the burn of wolf’s bane and rue draining their powers and leaving them defenseless. Sky looked around in horror once her vision cleared, surrounded by her loved ones groaning and clutching at their heads, barely able to keep themselves on their knees with how weak they suddenly felt.
“Now, as I was saying,” Christian started, waving the gas away from his face with a minor look of annoyance. “This woman is only one of many heretics that we have to judge today, only one of these terrible monsters that we need to smite before the world can be clean once more.”
Skylar’s eyes went wide once she started to connect the dots. If Leah was here, then that meant...
“So, you just figured it out.” Sarconi grinned widely, Christian clapping his hands twice before the back door opened once more. Cayden was shoved out into the room, shoulder bleeding horribly but otherwise unharmed, clearly desperate to kill whoever was touching him but unwilling to chance it with the gun to the back of his head. Even then, he may have still tried, but the next person to come through that door explained everything and horrified everyone.
Laura’s boots clicked against the ground, a pistol held at her side and a determined look on her face, smoldering with cold anger at the sight of the creatures in front of her, each and every one reminding her of the beasts that took her son away from her. She could almost feel him in her arms, but when she looked down she got a sobering reminder that he was gone, the thing in her arms was merely some cast off monster, who would no doubt grow up to commit horror and rob even more families of their loved ones. Once they were finished with everyone here, the child would have to go, and while none of the hunters particularly wanted to do so, they all understood the necessity. After all, they had already found near a dozen bodies while they were setting up for their ambush, what would the child of such a creature who could so easily commit such a mass murder grow up to do?
Children always learn what kind of person they are going to be from their parents, and all signs pointed to something horrible arising in the future.
“Abigail!” Skylar screamed, “What the fuck are you doing with my baby?”
Laura steeled her gaze, feet planting themselves securely into the ground. “I’m letting you things know exactly what this feels like, how horrible it is knowing your child is in danger and there is nothing you can do about it!” She blinked tears away as she sniffed, “I’m still showing more mercy than you showed me, but do not make the mistake of thinking I won’t kill her.”
Sarconi cooed, slapping the back of Andrew’s head. “What a shame Andy, looks like she’s not that concerned about you anymore.”
“Oh please,” Andrew scoffed, “I’ve been a shit father for years now, you honestly think I’m that much of a bargaining chip? I was probably just a slightly better dad than you were, did your dumb dick smoker of a kid ever care about you?”
“Huh. You know that’s a pretty good point. Usually if I want to drag someone out into the open, kidnapping a deadbeat dad isn’t the best plan.” He grabbed Andrew’s head, turning his face so he could stare at his daughter’s tear-filled eyes. “But look at her over there, in spite of everything you’ve done, no matter how many times you weren’t there for her, she still cared enough for you to risk everything and come here. And look where it got her, father beaten, daughter at gun point, the rest of her family lined up and ready to be killed.” He started to laugh, a cruel sound bouncing off the walls and crawling under everyone’s skin, supernatural and hunter alike. “She such a good person, she loves so m
uch, and she’s going to lose it all tonight. Imagine what the look on her face is going to be like.”
Andrew scowled up at him, spitting quickly up into his face and saying, “It doesn’t matter that you’re going to kill me you know. When you die, and that’s going to be tonight, I’m going to be waiting for you in hell. And I can tell you this much...” He chuckled as Sarconi wiped the spit off his cheek with a grimace. “I’m the only one of them that’s going to die here. Can’t say the same for the rest of you.”
“We’ll just see now, won’t we?” He flicked off his fingers. “You know just for that I’m going to take my time killing her, it’ll make what you went through look like a picnic.”
“She’ll be fine in that case, she’s tougher than me and you hit like a little girl.” He nodded his head at Christian. “I bet he would have made me feel something, but he’s not one of your lackies is he? Shit, I bet that after tonight even if you make it out you won’t have much time left in the world, will you?”
“Maybe, maybe not. Maybe after this I’ll just pop him and leave.” Sarconi shrugged, standing up. “Doesn’t much matter for you anyway.”
“Please, don’t hurt him!” Skylar begged the people in front of her, tears streaming down her face and her hands shaking. “Why... Why are you doing this? What did we ever do to any of you? We were just trying to live!”
“You things never just live, you always spread, and to do that you kill. You kill innocent people and you take what doesn’t belong to you.” Christian swept his arm slowly around the room, each of his people bowing their heads. “I’m a protector of humanity, of our world, and these are my followers. You’re just another step in the process.” He snapped his fingers. “Get them in position.”
Wordlessly, the hunters pushed Leah and Cayden to their knees, Sarconi grabbing Andrew by his collar and hauling him upwards. Skylar fell to the ground, frantically begging for them to stop, the rest of her group yelling and screaming, curses and pleas falling from them in equal measure. “This is it Andrew, looks like our times up. Got anything you want to say?”
Andrew took a deep breath, his heart racing in spite of his otherwise calm appearance. “Skylar, look at me.”
She looked over, tears falling down and her lip quivering in fear. “Dad... Please, I don’t... I don’t want you to go...”
“You’re strong Skylar, you can make it through this.” He closed his eyes, smiling gently. “I love you.”
The gunshot deafened everyone, Skylar’s mouth falling open in mute horror as her father fell limp to the ground, blood pooling around his head and Sarconi wiping off his hand on his pants. The rest of the group stared on in shock, not quite able to process that he was just... Gone.
It all came rushing to Skylar at once, her nails digging into her palms and her head falling forward, a scream of pure anguish rushing out of her mouth and slowly increasing in pitch, the hunters covering their ears when what little glass that remained in the garage started to shatter. Then as quickly as it started, the screaming abruptly stopped, everyone shaking their heads in disorientation and slowly taking aim at her.
She looked up at them, the expression of rage on her face enough to give everyone who was there nightmares for the rest of their lives, her eyes turning blood red and her skin starting to blacken. They watched in fascination while her skin started to crack and fall to the ground in ashy chunks, smoke filtering through the cracks until her body was covered in a shimmering mist of blackness, the only thing visible through the cloud those two blood red eyes, narrowed in rage that was so concentrated they could feel it. They took aim, firing without hesitation at her shifting form, not knowing what she was but knowing they could kill it.
Or at least, they fired at where her form had been.
They could do nothing except look on in shock as her body melted into the ground, those eyes staring up at them till the very end until all that was left was a shimmering sheet of black on the concrete, and soon enough that vanished.
“Fan out, everyone keep your eyes open!” Christian cocked his revolver, head on a swivel looking around at each corner of the room. “I don’t know what the fuck that thing is but it’s not going to get the better of us!”
Cassandra slowly started to laugh, pitch increasing until she was cackling loud in the garage, the only sound anyone could hear while they looked around. Hayley looked over at her like she was insane, only getting a manic grin in response. “You people should have never come here, you have absolutely no idea what you have just unleashed.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” Christian spat towards her, still looking around. “She’s just some garden variety freak.”
“I’m sure in your time, since someone killed whoever it was that has you so angsty, you’ve killed many terrifying creatures, haven’t you?”
“Do not talk about my son that way, you have no idea what we went through!” Laura set her jaw, eyes flashing in anger when Cassandra simply scoffed.
“Everyone’s lost people you pathetic shrew, how do you think your child would feel about you holding a gun to a baby’s head? You spit on their memory, and you damn yourself.” She giggled, a sight that Hayley and Michael both knew to not be a good sign. “It doesn’t matter though, you never answered my question. You’ve killed many creatures over many years, gotten many scars from the horrible battles no?”
“Yes, I have. What exactly is your point?”
“My point is that like you, I have traveled the world and seen many creatures. Killed many, witnessed the deaths of many more, been passenger to countless lives. But unlike you, I have come across creatures like Skylar before, I have seen what they are capable of. And I have never seen one of them die.” She grinned, Christian and Laura’s eyes widening as they fully realized the implications of what that meant. “You’ve just unleashed true horror upon yourselves.”
A small scream echoed across the room before cutting itself off, every head in the room turning to where a hunter had just been standing, yet all that remained now was a gun and a flashlight rolling back and forth. Another scream from the other side, and the same things left behind, not even a single trace of blood.
Sarconi made to move towards the door, counting the steps he would have to take before he could reach the van, yet when he tried to lift his foot he found it rooted to the ground. He looked down, mouth dropping open when he saw blackness crawling up his leg like ink, slowly starting to crush down on the limb underneath it. His heart began to thunder in his chest when the figure of a woman slowly rose from the ground, staring into his eyes and snarling, “Where on earth do you think you’re going?”
He couldn’t answer, tendrils of smoke winding their way around his limbs and throat, pulling his arms and legs wide until he was almost at his breaking point. Tears of fear pooled in his eyes, his heart fit to explode as she leaned in, lips almost brushing his ear when she uttered a sentence meant only for his ears.
“This is for my father.”
Those gathered watched in horror as smoke flowed into every one of his orifices, pushing eyes and teeth out of their way as it rushed to fill his body. He could do nothing except convulse, even Christian praying that he wasn’t still conscious for something so horrible. The smoke suddenly heated up, like it was coming off a forest fire and easily melting through his body, his life coming to an end as he was finally, mercifully pulled apart, smoky limbs flinging what pieces they had gathered of him across the room.
Every hunter in the room began to fire at her, Leah and Cayden leaping forwards out of the line of fire and the others laying flat against the ground. Skylar stomped her foot into the concrete, blackness rushing across the floor and grabbing the two men that had held Leah and Cayden at gunpoint, their limbs being entwined and leaving them helpless for what she intended. She forced their arms up, guns still clutched in their hands and soon pressing against their temples. Though they tried to resist when she took hold of their index fingers, they were powerless to resist when she settle
d for breaking them, forcing them over the trigger and pressing down, dual gunshots echoing in the room.
It didn’t take much for Laura to realize she was next, shooting desperately at the floor as the mass advanced upon her, chunks of concrete flying in the bullets wake but doing nothing to stop the shadows. She screamed as they pierced up into her feet, climbing quickly along her body and covering her up to her neck, the child in her grasp being gently removed and passed along the ground towards the group. Christian fired at the form of Skylar as she walked towards Laura, the bullets passing through with a wisp of smoke and nothing else, dread building up in him with each step she took.
“You tried to kill my child. How could you do that?” Skylar tilted her head at the shuddering woman in front of her, whatever righteous bravado she possessed before exiting her quickly. “You know the pain of losing a child, and I’m sorry you had to go through that. But why would you try and put another mother through that pain? Do the lives of children other than yours truly not mean anything at all to you?”
“P-Please, I... I don’t....”
“Shh, it’s alright. You’ll be able to see them soon.” Skylar brushed her hand down Laura’s face, wiping away a stray tear. “You can find peace in that.”
Laura gasped at the heat she could feel coming off that hand, the rest of the smoke around her body beginning to heat up in kind. She looked over her shoulder at Christian, sniffing and smiling weakly at him one last time. “I’m so sorry my love.”
“No!” Christian screamed when her body dissolved into ash, his wife falling softly to the ground and blowing away in the wind. He howled, firing shot after shot at the creature in front of him, trying to shake off his men when they grabbed him around his shoulders, pulling him back to the exit. “Get the fuck off me! That thing kills my fucking wife and you think I can just leave? Fuck you!”
“I’m so sorry sir.” The hunter slammed his fist into his temple, knocking him out cold and hoisting him over his shoulder. “Everyone out now! Get to the cars we need to go!”