Red Waters

by Charles Rye

  Sensing that the person was standing near her, she swung her fists up and drove them into the crotch as hard as possible.

  The person groaned from the intense pain

  "Never piss off a cat with heightened senses," She hissed angrily.

  "Well then, we'll have to see how you use those senses to stay alive," the man announced removing her blindfold.

  Aurelia blinked, letting her eyes adjust before looking up at the man standing over her, a grim expression on his face.

  He was wearing an outfit similar to that of the one the man Caliphar killed protecting her, but this man had a scar running from the left side of his lower lip to his chin and another that ran from the top of his right eye across his forehead where it disappeared under his dirty brown hair.

  He removed Caliphar' blindfold, then went around removing the others' blindfolds.

  He returned to stand before Caliphar, his arms crossed with his chest puffed out.

  "I heard you killed one of my higher ranked commanding officers," He said looking down into Caliphar' eyes.

  "Yeah and I really enjoyed sending that bullet through his spinal cord," Caliphar retorted with a smirk.

  "Are you just going to bore us talking or are we going to have a chance to kill more of your men or mangy mutts?" Sif interrupted as she looked at the man.

  "Speaking of mangy mutts, we have your's and it seems one of you has managed to turn it on its true owners. We simply can't have that so if we can't correct his behavior, we'll have to have him put down," the man announced with a sick grin.

  "You bastard! Don't you fucking dare harm him!" Koriphus shouted loudly, his hands surging with electricity in anger.

  "You're dead now, you sick motherfucker!" Royena yelled angrily, hissing.

  "Well now that it seems I've gotten you riled up, perhaps you'll agree to play along if you want to save that mangy mutt,"

  "Fine, we'll play nice," Aurelia suddenly spoke up, avoiding eye contact with her friends.

  She stared straight into the man's eyes, unblinking.

  "Good girl," He smirked.

  "So what do you have planned for us, lock us in some room with a bunch of Destroyers or soldiers and see who comes out alive first? Hmm‚" Aurelia questioned still staring at him unblinking.

  "Something like that, you see we have a bunch of newly made Destroyers and I need a way of training them. You and your lot can be my test subjects," the man replied.

  "To be fair I'll unchain you but won't give you any weapons, since you seem to be so keen to be able to do well without them, He added looking at Aurelia with a smirk.

  "I don't mind getting a little bloody," She grinned in response.

  The man then proceeded to unchain them all, letting them fall to the floor.

  "Son of a bitch," Soraf and Caliphar muttered at the same time.

  "I suggest you all get to your feet to have a better chance at fighting,"

  Aurelia, Soraf, Caliphar and the others straightened to their feet, dusting themselves off.

  "Bring on the bitches!" Aurelia exclaimed, growling at the man.

  "So eager, you must have one serious death wish,"

  "Not really, I'm just having a really bad day and am getting extremely tired of complete dick eaters like you pissing me off!" She hissed angrily, glaring at him.

  "And I will do whatever the fuck it takes to end this annoying crap!" She almost yelled.

  "Then perhaps you can relieve some of that pent up rage before you die,"

  "I'll relieve my anger by snapping your fucking neck!" She snarled.

  He backed away from her and threw the metal door open as a pack of over twenty Destroyers burst into the room, growling and snapping their jaws fiercely.

  "Good luck, you'll need it. Not that I really give a fuck if you survive or not," He laughed harshly, slamming the door closed as he disappeared through it.

  The Destroyer standing at the front of the pack growled loudly and snapped its jaws at Aurelia, trying to intimidate her.

  "Gonna have to try harder if you wanna scare me, you ugly bitch," Aurelia remarked, gesturing for the Destroyer to approach her.

  The Destroyer stepped forward but before it could attack, Aurelia jumped on top of it and wrapped her hands around its throat, strangling it.

  Caliphar struck the second Destroyer directly in the jaw with a roundhouse kick as it attempted to lung at Aurelia.

  "You okay?" He asked looking down at her.

  She quickly twisted the Destroyer's neck, hearing a satisfying crack as its spinal cord snapped.

  "Yeah, just great," She replied turning to look at him.

  "Mind giving us a hand over here?" Soraf called, she had her hands around the neck of a Destroyer with spikes down its back.

  Royena and Sif were fighting off a pair of Destroyers, when Aurelia jumped on top of the Destroyer that had cornered Royena.

  She knocked it against the wall, its head hitting against the concrete, the force breaking its neck.

  Zandrem grabbed the other Destroyer by its tail, distracting it from Sif, causing it to turn on her.

  "Come on bitch, try me!" She taunted pulling on the Destroyer's tail to annoy it.

  Growling angrily, it snapped its jaws at her.

  She kicked it square in the jaw, knocking it to the ground as she quickly pulled out a switchblade from her boot and stabbed it in the throat, slowly removing the bloodied knife.

  The creature slowly bled out, whining in pain from the wound in its jugular.

  "We about done here? I'd like to escape this Hell hole, now please," Zandrem called looking around at the others.

  They had killed all but one Destroyer, the largest one that blocked the door, with jagged spikes that ran from the top of its head to the tip of its tail.

  "What the fuck is this, some kind'a freakin' boss battle crap?" Soraf remarked sarcastically, glancing at the creature.

  "This isn't a video game, we from this we ain't coming back from the dead," Aurelia retorted looking at Soraf.

  "Then we just won't die, we kill the ugly bastard," Soraf replied with a grin.

  The Destroyer snarled at them, dragging its sharp claws against the concrete floor as it bared its razor like fangs.

  "Easier said than done," Zandrem muttered under her breath.

  "We'll do our best," Aurelia said confidently as she stared into the Destroyer's cold black eyes.

  It growled at her, sensing she was unafraid and took it as a challenge.

  "You can tell I don't fear you, after just killing all of your pack mates," She spoke to it, not caring whether it understood her or not.

  Growling louder, it locked eyes with Aurelia as it blew air out of its nose.

  "May I borrow that blade?" She asked turning to Zandrem, who was still holding her bloodied knife.

  "Sure," Zandrem replied with uncertainty in her voice, handing Aurelia the switchblade.

  Aurelia took the knife by the handle, turning back to face the Destroyer as she unexpectedly threw it at the creature, the blade hitting it dean on in the throat dropping to creature.

  "Damn!" Caliphar exclaimed in astonishment.

  "Let's get the fuck out of here," Aurelia growled, stepping past the dead Destroyer with the knife sticking out of its throat.

  Zandrem reached down and yanked the knife out of the Destroyer's bloody throat, wiping the blood off on her pants.

  Aurelia used her claws to pick the door lock, slowly pulling it open to reveal a long dimly lit hallway.

  "Is it clear? Sif asked, almost whispering.

  "Looks clear to me," Aurelia answered surveying the hallway.

  "We don't have our weapons; we don't know how many fucking soldiers and Destroyers are between us and the exit out of wherever the hell we are,"

  "And what we're going to do if we get out of here,"

  Caliphar, Koriphus, Soraf, Zandrem, Roy, Sif and Royena all looked around at one another before looking at Aurelia.

  "Why are you all lookin
g at me like that?" She questioned looking back at them.

  "What do we do if someone or something gets in our way?" Royena replied still looking at Aurelia.

  "We kill them,"

  "I don't think they figured we'd find a way to get past those Destroyers. So as far as I'm concerned, we've got the upper hand," Aurelia answered with certainty.

  "Follow me and be as quiet as possible, we need the element of surprise, not them," She whispered slipping through the door.

  The others followed her in a straight line, surveying the hallway as they went long making sure a soldier or Destroyer would not catch them off guard.

  "I see a door at the end of the hall, let's check it out," Aurelia announced, glancing over her shoulder at the others.

  "Anybody else getting a creepy feeling like we're in a bad horror movie?" Royena suddenly asked looking at the others.

  They looked back at her and all nodded in agreement.

  Finding a way out

  They reached the end of the long hall without being ambushed by either a soldier or Destroyer. Everyone looked relieved except for Aurelia.

  "Something doesn't feel right, guys‚" Aurelia whispered, wishing she had her AR.

  "What do you mean?" Caliphar queried, looking at her with concern.

  "We didn't get jumped, despite having eyes on us the entire time we've been in this hall," She pointed out, nodding her head toward a motion sensor mounted above the door.

  Caliphar glanced up at the monitor he had not seen earlier.

  "Son of a bitch‚" He muttered under his breath.

  "Least now we know those twisted fucks are more than likely expecting our next move," Soraf murmured.

  "So much for having the upper hand," Royena grumbled her expression disgruntled.

  "We might still have it," Sif interrupted.

  She took Royena's switchblade and tossed it at the monitor, destroying it.

  "If we didn't have their attention already, we definitely got it now," Roy muttered with a glance at Sif.

  "That was the point. I just gave those dicks a reason to come out into the open," Sif explained, gazing back matter-of-factly.

  "What open? We're in a narrow hall!"

  "Exactly! They'll have no choice but to come to us now. We still have the upper hand," Sif said with a grin.

  "That makes complete sense now‚" Roy muttered, rolling his eyes at her.

  "Shut up you two, I hear something on the other side of the door," Aurelia hissed, glaring at the pair.

  They all become very quiet and still as heavy footfalls echoed through the door.

  "Definitely got their attention," Roy quietly affirmed.

  They quickly jumped back as the door flung open, soldiers and Destroyers swarmed through it.

  Aurelia ducked just as a soldier swung his gun at her head.

  She sprung back up and grabbed the barrel as he recoiled from the attempt.

  Having a tighter grip on it than the soldier, she was able to shove the butt of the gun into his face, knocking him unconscious.

  Sif unexpectedly thrusted Royena's switchblade into the throat of the Destroyer that had her pinned against the wall, blood staining her hand as it trickled down the knife's handle.

  She shoved the blade in deeper and yanked it downward, slitting the Destroyer's throat wide open.

  Its blood splattered onto the concrete floor, and she pushed its body off her.

  "You will not resist, prisoner," a soldier ordered as he tried to grab Caliphar.

  "Like hell I won't!"

  Caliphar jumped back out of the soldier's reach before landing a powerful roundhouse kick to the soldier's face, knocking him flat.

  Caliphar kneeled over him, looking into his eyes.

  He wrapped his hands around the man's throat and applied steady pressure, watching as the man's life slowly drained away.

  Taking advantage of the fact he was distracted, another soldier came up behind Caliphar, readying his gun.

  Aurelia noticed the soldier behind Caliphar and signaled to Soraf, who wasted no time in tackling the soldier to the floor, hitting the man's head against the floor as she did so.

  "What are you going to do? You have no weapons," the soldier spat angrily.

  "I don't need a weapon to kill you," Soraf responded with a malevolent grin, extending the sharp claws of her right hand.

  The soldier stared at her claws and laughed harshly.

  "You won't be laughing in a minute," She growled.

  She slashed her claws across his throat, leaving five deep gashes that immediately began to bleed profusely.

  The man grasped at his throat, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

  "That won't help you,"

  Soraf's malicious grin widened as she pulled the man's hands away and sank her claws deeper still into the wounds, balling her hand into a fist to rip a chunk of flesh from his throat.

  "A little help over here, guys!" Royena's voice rang out as three large Destroyers closed in on her, snapping their jaws viciously.

  Sif pulled the switchblade out of the soldier's throat and rushed to Royena's side.

  Along the way, she thrust the switchblade into the head of the Destroyer in the middle, causing it to howl in pain.

  Ripping the switchblade from the Destroyer's head left a long wound that extended to the middle of the creature's eyes, blood trickling down its extended snout.

  The Destroyers flanking their mate growled angrily at Sif, both taking a threatening step toward her and Royena.

  "Back off!" Sif growled loudly at them, holding the switchblade out in front of her.

  The sound of loud clapping drew everyone's attention to the commanding officer from earlier.

  He was standing in the doorway, gazing around at them.0

  "Impressive," He growled in his gruff voice, ceasing his clapping.

  Anger overriding her better judgment, Aurelia sprang to her feet and rushed him, slamming him against the wall with her arm pressed into his throat.

  "What the fuck is wrong with you, you sick, demented motherfucker?" She hissed, glaring at him.

  He pushed her off him with ease before straightening his uniform haughtily.

  "There is nothing wrong with me. However there is plenty wrong with you and your kind."

  "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She growled angrily, her eyes glowing a faint red in the dim light of the hallway.

  "Your race is genetically inferior and must be terminated for the superior race to rise up and seize control of this world!" He declared.

  "You are all abominations. Filthy and revolting abominations that plague this planet!"

  Aurelia slashed her claws across his face, leaving long scratches along his right cheek.

  "You are not superior. You are nothing more than an asshole that has a giant stick up your ass!" She growled angrily.

  "Quite a colorful mouth you've got." He grinned at her with a patronizing amusement.

  "And if I were you, I'd call off your bitches and stand down before we kill every last one of your attack dogs and soldiers," Aurelia hissed, raising her bloodied claws threateningly.

  "I'd like to see you try," He challenged, narrowing his eyes.

  "Don't test me. I am not in the mood. I'll do whatever the fuck it takes to get me and my friends safely out of this Godforsaken Hellhole," She growled as her friends gathered around her.

  "Men," the commanding officer barked in his gruff, demanding voice.

  Several soldiers suddenly grabbed Aurelia, Caliphar, Soraf and the others and tied their arms behind their backs.

  "You cowardly son of a bitch!" Aurelia spat angrily, struggling against her restraints.

  "Take them to the testing room. I want them to see their disobedient mutt," He ordered his men.

  The soldiers roughly dragged Aurelia and the others along the narrow hallway, followed by the commanding officer.

  Aurelia glanced over her shoulder and noticed the smug grin stretching his thin l
ips.

  "Sick, twisted son of a bitch‚ When I get my chance I'm killing you, as slowly as possible," She thought to herself as she glared at him with a dark expression.