Second Genesis

by Eric Williams

  Alex shrugged. “He sounded so worried Ninlil, even said he could sense kids nearby and was worried about them.”

  Ninlil’s mind quickly re-played the events when Xairin was released. “He went for the wrist when he saved that girl.” She said under her breath. She turned to Alex. “you don’t think he went to try and save them on his own do you?”

  Alex didn’t think so. “No, Xairin has ptsd, I doubt it.”

  Ninlil didn’t agree. She shook her head. “In quarantine, he killed that gorgon and fought the Alpha over a child, a human child. I wouldn’t be so sure Alex.”

  _____

  Central Park.

  Xairin had been wandering around for almost an hour after eating his eighth rat. In that time he kept hoping he would hone in on the bat’s roost, so far no link had established.

  The park had become a fully-fledged forest. Hints of mankind's works were even more degraded here. Nature had overtaken it. The sidewalks were crumbled. The structures around him were caving in far more than the ruins. Here, deer were plenty. Xairin was full at the present time.

  He sat down near the stream there and saw several butterfly koi swimming. He hoped that a link would resume, but so far, all he was getting was static when he tried to sense the albino. Given it was night, she likely wasn’t in the roost and was probably beyond the range to psychically link.

  Xairin kept pressing onward. He left the park while entering the city. The street name he was traveling was undiscernible due to the decrepit state of the signs.

  Nothing seemed familiar to him.

  He began to wonder if he could even save the people he had seen. There were so many bats and more about to awaken. Xairin’s combat skills that he had realized he had inherited would come in handy, but at the same time, he knew fighting ghouls and fighting giant monstrous bats would be two different things. Still, he had the flame thrower with him, though he hadn’t tested it to make sure it still worked.

  He kept looking about, making sure to use his biosonar and heat vision so that nothing snuck up on him. That part he was being cautious about.

  He started down a new street. The sign was just as worn as the last one. He had to rely on memory. In the end, he figured he could just fly home or if he got lost, at least from the air, he could get his bearings. Part of him wanted to give flying a second go, but he knew he would need to feed again soon if he tried it.

  He realized he was in front of an old theater. The shape hinted it. Looking at the structure, he wondered what a real live musical might have been like. Bastion City didn’t have those. He thought about flying up to New LA sometime to check out one there, or possibly check out Odego City which had risen from the ashes of Charleston North Carolina much like Bastion City had. He figured New LA would have given a better experience.

  While he glared and wondered what it must have been like. His ears twitched, wiggling even. They followed a sound coming his way. When he tilted his head to compensate, he realized another troupe of ghouls were on the loose.

  “If these things make it across the river, Bastion City will have another reason to hate Immortium.” Xairin decided he had to do something.

  He pulled up the flamethrower. It was fashioned like a machine gun, all he had to do was light it, by pressing the igniter, turn the safety off, and pull the trigger. The compressed fuel cartridge contained a synthetic fuel that was more potent than gasoline was, and lasted far longer. He figured he had at least thirty minutes of playtime, at least that's what the gage indicated. Xairin remembered these being auctioned once, they were once used by sanitation teams when the mellitus-32 virus escaped.

  He flipped the ignition at the end of the stock, to his relief it lit up. Next he clicked the safety off. Deciding to give a flash test, he pulled the trigger. A sixty foot flame shot out.

  This is perfect. He thought.

  The short five second flash of light, caught the attention of the pack of ghouls coming his way. Nine of them were snarling at the light.

  The pack consisted of freshly turned ghouls. Eight of them were wearing kevlar, indicating a surveillance team from Bastion City had been slain, and risen again to fight for the opposing side. They were covered in bite marks. Some of them missing parts of their face, showing a clearer view of the razor sharp teeth inside their mouth. The ninth ghoul, was dressed in rags, he looked like a homeless man that had most of his chest eaten out.

  This ghoul pack was different than the others Xairin faced. When he saw them, he noticed that the scav turned ghoul, along with the ones following it, all had the same red eyes that Xairin had. This sent a chill down his spine. He didn’t think that the albino made the ghouls, but figured a vampire created by it, was responsible. If that was the case, then Xairin felt a duty to dispatch the vampire. He remembered Ethan telling the class about what happened when ghouls made more than the Immortium responsible for their creation was able to control. It had to be done. Xairin just wished Alex was here to help.

  They sniffed the air like bats did. Their noses twitched quickly as they searched for the scent of humanoid DNA. Xairin’s scent was in the wind now, along with being in their sights.

  They moved as fast as the others did. They seemed a bit more fresh so to speak. Xairin could smell the rot setting in from the distance. They were more than a hundred yards away and sprinting like athletes to his location. Xairin grabbed the second machete he had found while putting the flame thrower over his shoulder by its holster strap.

  He stood there with the blade at his right side, ready to bring it upward.

  The ghouls moved like a unit. They were in sync with one another. Xairin noticed this group had claws like a vampire did. This is about to get interesting, he thought.

  They reached for him while each one growled like a human would. He was quick to sever a few arms, making them less of a threat. He leaped into the air, landing on the hood of a white broken down van that had slumped forward from the tires giving out.

  A ghoul tried to climb up the hood, he sliced it's head off, while another tried to climb up the right side of him. This one, he simply kicked in the face, causing it to fall backwards, setting up a head chop on the next one.

  With the ghouls surrounding the van, he leaped again, landing behind another one. He took advantage of it's human like reflexes.

  His right arm got pulled, by one that managed to grab him. He dropped the machete. The things head came for his arm. His left hand grasped the things throat and held it against the back of the van. He tried to struggle free, it had a strong grip like the one previously had.

  His claws elongated and dug into the things neck. It didn’t stop trying to bite him. It felt no pain, no fear, it just kept trying to reach his flesh while his claws ripped into it. His arm was starting to bleed from the grasp. “GET OFF OF ME!”

  Xairin decided to fall backwards, and use his feet to ick the creature upward. This dislodged it. He came to his feet fast, finding himself surrounded. He kicked the one nearest to him to clear an opening and darted into the street. The ghouls were right behind him.

  He needed a weapon. He didn’t want to get too close after that encounter. He looked at his arm, and saw the claw marks on his flesh sealing up. His eyes roamed frantically.

  Quickly, he ran over to a manhole cover. He pulled up the disk covering the sewer entrance with his newfound strength with one arm. Taking a defensive pose, he slung the manhole cover like a frisbee. The impact to the creatures chest caused the ghoul with the tattered clothing to become pinned against a car nearby.

  The chased him as he made a circular sprint, trying to give him some distance, and retrieved the machete. This time, he decided to see if he could pry the door off the van and use it like he did on the ghoul that likely made this pack.

  He pulled the back door off its hinges. He flung the door, taking two ghouls down with the toss.

  Xairin smiled.

  HIs grin was interrupted, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. The hand dug into his clavicle a
nd pulled him backwards. A ghoul had been in the back of the van. Xairin screeched.

  This one, had black eyes. It was a woman in aged clothing. She had been tricked into the van, obviously.

  She managed to bite Xairin in the shoulder. The pain from the bite was like razors shearing his flesh with serrated edges.

  “AAH!”

  He reached up and tossed the thing to the ground, and kicked it in the stomach, sending it flying.

  Xairin reached for his shoulder. The pain was getting worse. He felt it burning like liquid fire trying to spread.

  He decided to run.

  The pack gained a new member when the female ghoul came to her feet. They followed him down two streets until he finally climbed on top of another bus. They couldn’t reach him.

  Xairin sat down, once he realized they wouldn’t leave the area he was staring at. He felt his shoulder. It wasn’t healing like the claw mark did.

  The ghouls assimilation cells were swarming around the bite wound. HIs blood was countering it as best they could. The burning was excruciating. Xairin fell backwards. His body was starting to heat up. He was sweating.

  “OH MY GOD, SOMEONE HELP ME!” He cried out.

  _____

  Bastion City Subway tunnel, zone 92.

  Ezra and Marine were on site near one of the subway cars underground. The train had broken down two hours ago. When the conductor stepped off to inspect the engine, he found something, a bloody scene. Severed body parts.

  The remains were neatly removed by laser cauterization. On the one hand that was found, a barcode that had been temporarily etched into the top of the hand, indicated the remains, belonged to a man that had visited a club called Club Pride, another gay bar in Bastion City.

  The body parts consisted, of being neatly dismembered. Upon closer inspection, one of the medical droids assisting the forensic investigator revealed after scanning the body, a glass object, crushed inside the rectum. There was no question, it was the latest victim. The droid’s scans, concluded the body had been deceased for less than seven hours.

  Ezra was beside himself. In the past two days, the remains of four more victims had turned up, this one made a 5th. Each one, the head was never recovered, but the torso and limbs indicated the same gory end that Xairin had almost faced. This one was no different.

  Ezra got up and walked over to the wall and punched it. “GOD DAMNIT!”

  After scanning the barcode that had been temporarily etched into the man’s hand, his civ profile populated on her translucent tablet. Marine sighed as she read the citizens profile out loud, but lowly. “Hanson Gosling, 19 years old. Current residence, Hamptonville Massachusetts.” She grieved. “He was here visiting. “Shit.”

  She looked down at the young man’s file. He was blond and blue eyed, with a handsome friendly smile. His civ file indicated he was staying at a local hotel, recently checking in two nights ago, and reported missing by a college professor just this morning. He had come here on a field trip to view Bastion City’s new art museum. The young man was studying to be an art appraiser.

  “This poor guy had his entire life ahead of him.” She said lowly.

  Marine’s cold exterior was warming up from the inside. This case was starting to get to her. She even felt remorse in how she treated the only witness to this grizzly murder spree. Marine had always been gruff around the edges, but this group of serial killers had to be stopped. She bit her lips as they curled in her frustration.

  Ezra had regained himself and walked over. “Please tell me someone found something?”

  The area was teaming with agents and droids sectioning off the area. Green glowing orbs came floating in, scanning the area with red beams, searching for DNA and any forensic evidence that might be useful. Nothing showed up.

  Marine was looking at her tablet, viewing the data being collected and fed directly into the database by a live stream. “Nothing yet Ezra.”

  A young detective, detective Hannibal Quessenberry came trotting over. The brown eyed, man, with jet black short hair, a welcoming smile ,and clearly had just made detective based on how chipper he was. He knelt down to pick up a severed foot, sliced by a laser, right above the ankle. “Man, this case sucks!” He said.

  Hannibal was newly appointed, and studying under Marine and Ezra. Commander Fentrose had decided to make the partnership a trio, hoping that fresh eyes would expedite the case, that and test Hannibal’s resolve.

  Hannibal came walking over to Ezra while looking at Marine. “Did the scanner drones pick up anything?”

  “Not a damn thing Hannibal, not a damn fucking thing.” She said sarcastically.

  The young man huffed. “Well your witness didn’t pan out, we’re going to have to figure out something else guys.”

  Ezra scoffed. In the past few days, older remains had turned up, all indicating the same culprits behind it. The first victims were never reported missing, given they were living in the less reputable parts of Bastion City, drug users, that had been confirmed being LGBT. Clearly those responsible started with weaker prey, and decided to evolve their hunting. The body count was much higher. Ezra mumbled. “Despite our best intentions in wrapping this case, nothing is panning out. One witness, who couldn’t I.D. and no forensic evidence to go on at each turn. We’re at 68 murders now. Something has to give…”

  Ezra had entered every bit of information Xairin had given him from the link they shared. Not a single match had turned up. Ezra had considered everything from an Interpol agent being involved to help cover tracks, to an immortal, to even a malfunctioned droid given no DNA had been discovered yet. Xairin’s report indicated that it couldn't have been a droid, and the strength he felt from the link, affirmed an Immortium was unlikely. It was a clever group of individuals that was at fault for these heinous crimes. Ezra and Marine were stumped.

  “What do you want me to tell Fentrose?” Hannibal inquired.

  Ezra and Marine both looked at one another and spoke in unison. “Just figure it out Hannibal.”

  The man walked off while Marine and Ezra looked at one another. “There has to be someone responsible for either editing the recordings, or something. Maybe one of the accomplices is a hacker Ezra.” Marine said scoffing.

  Ezra looked at the ground while mumbling. “I guess I will call Mr. Thunder and see if he has anything else he can give us. Besides, I still need to let him know his droid is ok.”

  Their commlinks lit up, flashing while calling out with a woman’s voice. “CALLING ALL UNITS, CALLING ALL UNITS. THIS IS A CLASS 7 EMERGENCY. REPORT TO THE OLD BROOKLYN SECTOR. BASTION CITY BRIDGE AT BASTION CITY OVERLOOK, ZONE 1. CODE G11B.”

  Ezra and Marine looked at one another. “OH YOU GOTTA BE SHITTING ME!” Marine said.

  Hannibal was quiet, he had a curious look on his face while trying to recall what a code G11B was. “Okay guys, refresh my mind, what the hell is a code G11B?”

  Marine in her usual abrasive manner, spoke with a sarcastic tone. “Just a ghoul encounter, damn things are probably trying to cross the bridge.” She smirked. “Come on detective Quessenberry, time to man up or… well you know.”

  Ezra looked at Marine while putting his hand on her shoulder. “I thought you said ghouls couldn’t cross water due to it throwing off their equilibrium?”

  Marine shrugged. ‘They won't cross water Ezra, I never said they wouldn’t try and cross a bridge.”

  _____

  The street with the aged sign.

  Xairin had been asleep for almost an hour as his wound he acquired from the female ghoul slowly healed. His blood had won the battle, but he was weak. The fight to survive had taken a lot out of him. In order to heal the and overthrow the assimilation cells from the ghoul’s non-compatibility, his body forced a temporary coma, while inducing his nosferatu features. His red eyes opened. His body had become covered in purple veins and his skin pigment had become almost white as paper.. His hair had receded. For the first time, Xairin was in his nosferatu form.


  Like all nosferatu forms, his nose became batlike along with some other facial features. His ears were long, and pointed. His face had monstrous qualities, along with his clawed hands and feet. The claws on his feet had ripped through his shoes. His wings had remained concealed, but the rest of him, looked barley human now.

  He got up slowly. The ghouls were still there, trying their best to climb up the metal but were unsuccessful.

  Xairin opened his mouth, revealing his canines, and lateral incisors had grown two inches, while the rest of his teeth had become like white razors. His large cat like growling commenced, not a loud growl, but a low one, drawn out.

  He was too weak to even think about allowing his wings to come out of the sheathing slits around his shoulders. In this form, he was finding himself to having a more animalistic mentality. He was having trouble thinking clearly. All he could think about was drinking blood.