Darkness Awakens_Chronicles of Hunter

by Frank Perez

  Since the moment he opened his eyes following his journey with the padre, Hunter had seen the surrounding colors.

  Small wisps at the beginning had turned into full-blown auras surrounding everyone around him. All different. Some were a muted dark color, others so bright they almost blinded him. He looked over at Ren again, a brilliant blue color permeated from her, tinged with some muddy shades of orange. Pure love for those around her but worried. Somehow he could read people through the colors. I do not understand how but somehow if I concentrate on them the colors tell me everything about that person. He shook head to clear the colors and turned his attention back to the road. As if life wasn’t strange enough…

  The drive back to Ren’s apartment was without incident. Each of them lost in their own thoughts. They climbed the stairs to Ren’s apartment slowly. Hunter looked over at Ren’s aura, she’s afraid, he thought to himself as he reached out to take her hand, knowing she needed the human contact. Ren smiled at him and said, “Thanks. I definitely needed that.”

  “No probs. Remember, I’ll be right by you, no matter what comes.”

  The smile on Ren’s face was all the answer he needed. She opened the door, and they stepped through the threshold, their gazes turning as one towards the couch. “It feels like I haven’t been here in months, though it’s only been twelve hours.”

  “I know what you mean. Let’s get to it and see if there’s anything we can find. Then we’ll figure out what we do next.”

  *~*

  The Kraxus awoke from its slumber. Something had disturbed the trap that it had set in the apartment above. Lifting its snout, it breathed in, trying to catch a scent. The gamble had paid off. Rather than traipsing trying to locate them it had lain a trap and wait for a while, hoping the humans would return. It sniffed again.

  Only the humans. No Robed Ones.

  It would not be caught out again like it had been the first time. The Prince Consort had been clear in its instructions when the Kraxus had reported. Destroy them both! And any Robed One around as well! Its muzzle parted in a growling leer.

  This time, blood would spill.

  *~*

  Ren went over to the couch where she’d last held Bonnie and sat down. She looked over at Hunter who had stopped in the doorway, a bemused look on his face. “What is it Hunter?”

  In the moment that it had taken Ren to walk to the couch Hunter had been mesmerized by the amount of information available to his senses. He could clearly see traces of all the different colors within the room. Traces left behind of… Michael in the corner, the other one… The battle. All clear to me. I can actually see what went on here even if I hadn’t been here. He looked over at Ren about to tell her when he noticed something else. Something that had been completely overlooked the first time in all the chaos that had been happening. There’d been another presence here at the time. Right behind where Ren had been holding Bonnie! A dark presence, almost… evil in nature. That had been the culprit behind Bonnie’s disappearance. It had nothing to do with either Michael or the other robed figure.

  He looked closer. Reading the colors better. Apart from the initial presence he noticed a newer, cleaner red colored mist that had drawn itself around Ren, “Ren. Don’t move. Sit still.” He traced the room with his eyes following the trail of the mist. Back towards him and out the door. Turning, he came face to face with the Devil itself.

  *~*

  Hunter darted his eyes back towards Ren. She hadn’t moved. Not a muscle. He looked closer. A look of pure terror was etched on her frozen face.

  Hold on Ren. Whatever’s happening. I’m coming.

  A deep growl assailed him from the figure at the door. Hunters’ eyes looked at the monster before him. Well over six feet tall with a skull sitting atop a muscled torso, covered in red fur. He wasted no time trying to communicate with the creature. The dark colors swirling all around its body told him what he needed to know.

  It’s a mind trap. Right this very second, it is scouring through Rens’ head picking out the information that it needs and then it will dispose of her. Her usefulness at an end. “Not gonna happen you mangy furred dipshit,” Hunter screamed as he lunged at the Kraxus, wrapping his arms around its neck. The Kraxus’ leer turned into a howl as Hunter poured his entire being into stopping the beast’s mental attack on Ren.

  *~*

  Hunter looked around himself at the scorched red dust on the floor. Dark figures moved through his consciousness, The Brethren he thought. It looks like I’m back on the same planet that I saw in the Padre’s dream but this time I’m here. He focused on a spot in the distance that seemed to draw him in, transporting over to it. The red dust replaced by hard red rocks beneath his feet. He was inside a huge cave of some sort. The beast from Ren’s apartment knelt down before an even bigger, more powerful Brethren. A name floated into his awareness ~ Prince Consort. The two creatures obviously speaking to each other within their minds. Based on the body language, it’s obvious that the one that has Ren trapped reports back to this one. Another life force hit his awareness, beyond two creatures before them. Further down, he thought more caves. He pictured in his mind where the new force was coming from and willed himself to it.

  Bonnie floated in a bubble of pure white ether within another bubble of red. Swirling mists surrounding her on all sides. She looked serene and at peace as if meditating. Outside the two spheres though, surrounded by a horde of different Brethren. Some were holding back as if they were examining the anomaly. Others were making attacks on it, trying to pierce the sphere with many weapons, to no avail. Hunter actually relaxed a little. Whilst not in the best place, Bonnie was currently safe, within that bubble of energy. Something or someone had obviously taken an interest in keeping her from harm. Hunter concentrated and sent his thoughts to Bonnie, hoping she would hear them through the two barriers. Chin up kid. We’re coming to get you. He looked down at the surrounding Brethren, drones. Just puppets doing what your masters tell you to do. He dismissed them from his mind as irrelevant and moved back to the surface.

  The red dust swirled around him once more. Ignoring the pull of the forces that he now knew to be those of The Brethren and Bonnie, he concentrated his attention on the barrier in the sky. Green lines of power still pulsed through the sky but they were much dimmer than the ones he had seen created in his daydream. Almost like the batteries are dying in a toy. Not good. There’s more to what’s happening at the moment than just Bonnie. Something much larger. He probed the barrier, expecting to be repelled back. His essence went straight into it with no push-back of any sort.

  What type of barrier is as easy as this to penetrate? He went deeper trying to get an understanding of it. He took only a moment to understand the absolute brilliance of the barrier. So simple and yet, the most effective thing that could have been created! He smiled. Also, one of the hardest things for anyone to do and yet, Luxfer has kept The Brethren at bay for millennia by doing this. It also explained the sphere surrounding Bonnie-at least what it was, not who had done it.

  He drew himself away from the barrier once more. He was running out of time. Soon the Kraxus would return its full attention back on Ren again. With his newly acquired sense of his own powers it would be a simple matter to destroy the Kraxus upon his return. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to do so while it was mind-linked to Ren. The chances of her being destroyed along with the Kraxus were too great. His only option was to incapacitate it and remove it somewhere else. Hunter prepared himself for the return.

  Ren sat on the couch frozen. She couldn’t move a muscle. Her eyes however took in the entire scene before her.

  One moment Hunter had been looking at her with a funny look on his face, telling her not to move, the next-the creature had appeared from nowhere behind him. She’d tried to yell out to him, to warn him but she’d frozen up, unable to even move a finger.

  Hunter had turned around not knowing what waited behind him. Run Hunter, she’d screamed in her mind, unable to utter
even a single sound. Instead of running though, she’d watched on as Hunter threw himself over the creature encircling it in his arms.

  That’s when she’d felt the presence in her mind.

  Unable to resist, she sat there as the creature had pulled her mind apart. Memories were pulled out of her brain and examined. Anything to do with Bonnie, carefully scrutinized. She felt violated, and it horrified it beyond anything that she had ever encountered. She could feel the tears falling silently down her face as she looked over at the creature and Hunter. Please Hunter, she pleaded silently Help Me!

  With no warning, she saw Hunter wink at her silent plea. A huge smile on his face. He looked down at the creature in his arms and seemed to squeeze inwards, like he was giving it a huge hug. The effect on the creature was instantaneous. It lifted its snout upwards and let out a huge guttural growl of pain. Hunter just continued to squeeze. Ren felt herself able to move again. Whatever the creature had been doing to her had obviously broken apart with Hunter’s hug. Looking back at Hunter, she saw him give a final powerful squeeze. The creature in his arms screamed once more and dissipated in a red cloud. Ren heaved a powerful sigh, glad the ordeal was over. Never in her entire life had she ever felt so hopeless. So damn powerless and she was still no closer to finding out what had happened to her daughter. She looked up as Hunter approached her. Sitting next to her he didn’t hesitate in putting his arms around her, hugging her close. “We’re not powerless Ren. There’s hope.” He reached out one of his hands and wiped away a tear, “We’ve got more going for us than we realized. Bonnie’s safe.”

  "I’d love to believe that Hunter. But, we keep getting attacked and do not understand what we’re up against. My girl," she said with a catch in her voice "is still missing and I don’t know what to bloody do about it."

  Hunter leaned forwards and gave Ren a gentle caressing kiss on her forehead, "That’s the thing Ren. Believe me when I tell you that Bonnie is safe, safer than we are at the moment. And as for what comes next," he paused and looked straight into her eyes, "I know exactly what we need to do."

  *~*

  Hunter placed a fresh cup of coffee on the table in front of Ren. Her eyes were unfocused having just listened to Hunter's story. He sat down on the chair next to her, giving her time to take it all in. "You actually believe all this is true Hunter?", she asked in a quiet voice. "I know there have been some really weird things happening but... God!" she looked up at him, "or Goddess I should say."

  "I know Ren. It's a lot to take in." He sipped at his coffee, "between the padre and what just happened with this demon, I feel like I've lived centuries." He looked into Ren's eyes, "It's not just a fairy tale or horror story," he amended "This is for real."

  "OK, Hunter. Let's say for argument's sake that this power of yours is real, that what's happening is all because of some power struggle, and I can't believe I'm saying this out loud," she said shaking her head "Good versus Evil. It still doesn't explain why Bonnie has been taken. You've not mentioned her in anything so far. What has she to do with any of it?"

  Hunter looked away and sighed "I honestly can't tell you, Ren. There's nothing I've been told that ties everything that's been happening together. Maybe they only took her as a way to get to me."

  Ren snorted, almost blowing out the mouthful of coffee she'd just taken, "Bullshit! And you know it, Hunter. Before any of this happened you'd met Bonnie maybe once in your life. No way in Hell that it had anything to do with you." She sighed, gathering herself again, "That aside Hunter, you said that you knew what to do next. What's our next move?"

  Hunter leaned back in his chair holding the steaming cup of coffee in both hands, "This is going to be tough Ren. We wait for Michael to come back."

  "Why?"

  "Because he's more than even he thinks he is Ren. To get Bonnie back, I'm going to need his help and my instructions were very clear. I can't just tell him who he is, it would possibly destroy his mind and take him years to come to terms with." he paused "and time is not something that we have a lot of."

  Chapter 8

  Michael moved in behind Hunter. Somehow in the small time that he'd been gone their positions had been reversed and now Hunter stood there knowing more about what was happening than he did.

  The tiny bits of the story that Hunter had told him rang true - but it's not the whole truth. I need not read your aura to see that Hunter. It's written on your face. But no matter how many times he'd asked, Hunter had been elusive in the details. The same look that Jonah had looked at him with. Like they were trying to see something in me, but what?

  He closed his eyes for a moment, gathering himself. "The Flaming Sword?" he asked aloud again. "Could this mystical weapon truly exist?"

  Hunter looked back at Michael. They'd been over this a hundred times already. "Your old teacher seemed to think so. So you tell me Michael, was he prone to exaggeration or crazy schemes, fantasies?"

  Michael stopped to think again.

  Jonah was not someone that would say anything unless he believed it. Sometimes he would play the advocate, the provocateur. Taking a ludicrous position in a debate. Doing so to make others think. To get them to go beyond themselves in search of a greater truth, or as he was so fond of saying, 'a truer version of the truth'. This time, however, there was no gray area. At the front of the book of notes that he had handed Michael just before sacrificing himself, there was a written sentence in his handwriting.

  Find the sword Michael - The Cat Below The Others.

  Nothing more, nothing less. A simple command with no other meaning. He sighed once more, "No he wasn't. Simple fact, if Jonah wanted this sword to be found then he must have thought that it actually exists."

  "That's what I figured based on what you've told me about him. So let's just assume that this sword is real and go fetch it." He looked over at Ren who had just read through the notes in the book. "We just need to determine what the cat below the others means. You knew him, Michael. Any ideas?"

  "No idea. Jonah didn't have a cat, let alone more than one." he blew out a harsh breath, "I really wish that I'd been able to locate him when I escaped. It would've answered a lot of questions."

  Ren was flipping through the book that Michael had brought with him. Holding it up to them, "Surely this isn't finished. I would assume that there'd be other notes if that's all he did." She looked over at Hunter "Maybe it was just the first one he could get his hands on to leave you a message? He'd just helped you escape and maybe... just the first thing he grabbed?"

  Michael looked up at Ren as she looked through the book again, "The cat! Jonah must've meant the catacombs." he took a deep breath and added "when I first went to talk to him, we met up in a catacomb underneath the citadel. One of his private places where he could work in peace. What if there are others below those?" It makes sense. If the things that he was working on were things that had to be kept from everyone you would definitely need somewhere that others wouldn't be able to just stumble across!"

  Hunter smiled at Ren. She gave him a small smile and shrugged her shoulders. "We've nothing else to go on so might as well have a look. Ren can stay here and read through Jonah's notes to see if there's anything that can help us in it. That devil won't be coming back in any hurry." Turning back to face Michael, Hunter added "You and I will go. Jump in and out before anyone knows we're there. No heroics and no contact with anyone else."

  Ren kept her eyes on Hunter as they dissipated. Their parting hug had been longer and deeper than any other contact that she'd had with him. My God, she thought I'm falling in love with him! With one last smile, she had reached out to caress his face, Stay safe damn you. You're the only thing keeping me sane at the moment.

  At the same time that she'd been thinking this, Hunter had reached out and traced his finger down her cheek. His voice had come through if only in her mind, loved you from the start, Ren. Should have manned up long ago. We'll be back real soon and then we'll get Bonnie back. Promise.

  She stood there
a moment longer. Humans are capable of anything. Yesterday I would have completely lost it seeing people disappear in front of me. Today, it's the most natural thing in the world. Lifting her shoulders, she turned towards the kitchen. A cup of tea and then down to some serious reading.

  *~*

  For some, time heals the spirit. Introspection and forced quietness will allow them to concentrate on their own flaws and how they might gain a better understanding of their own place in the universe. For others, however, this couldn't be further from the truth. Wounds inflicted upon them over time by anyone, magnified and built upon until their current state of mind is nothing but lethal. The road to Hell is not paved with good intentions but with pure evil and hatred.

  The Jackal was clear in his mind on which of these paths he travelled. Having been saved by The Master a very long time ago he'd been taught his place. Not willingly at the start. It had taken the Master at least six times of beating him within an inch of his life for the Jackal to understand that he was in the presence of a power much greater than himself. So long ago, he thought, the memories coming unbidden...

  *~*

  The woman was lying back on the makeshift bed, towels and other bits of scattered cloth strewn all around the tiny hovel that she called home.

  She was one of the unnamed. A member of an outcast society seen as a blight on the otherwise perfect city of Skendi whose inhabitants were all tall, proud and perfect. The unnamed ones were those that lived on the fringes. Tasked with taking care of the things in life that the Perfect ones would never sully their hands with. They lived in tiny towns along the edge, never allowed to contact their betters.