《The Monster Slayers》


 John Dark

    I woke up in my apartment, this was the day where I would need to make my decision. I sighed, I wish I didn''t have to bother, that I could go on like every other college graduate, find a job, get married. I got out of bed, I had already graduated, but today I had a meeting with the suits. I knew I was being childish, it was a good deal, join a team of monster slayers, go around the country, maybe even the world, the pay would be nice. I would have good benefits, as a job I really couldn''t complain, except for the fact that they expected me to kill my own kind.


    I got out of bed, walked into my bathroom, and looked in the mirror, I had an extreme amount of scaring for 22 years of age. My messy black hair stood up on end, and I had some stubble, from not shaving for about two days, and my pale skin looked almost translucent. I proceeded to do my morning routine, which included shaving, brushing my teeth, and of course showering. Once I was satisfied, I looked back into the mirror. with my hair wet from the shower I could see my ears, slightly pointed, not enough to notice unless you were specifically looking for the spiked ends. My eyes were solid black, another give away to my lineage, though one that could also be covered up with contacts, I used to do that but I''ve noticed that most people mistake them for brown. I was fit, not by working out, but by the blood in my veins, my forearms had "tattoos" of chains which wrapped around. The chains went all the way up to my hand, where they stopped, connecting to tattooed rings on each finger, including my thumbs. Luckily for me, most people just thought they were that, tattoos, in reality they had been on my skin since I was ten years old. Another reminder of what the decision I made today meant for me.


    I got dressed, this was supposed to be like a job interview, but I already knew they wanted me. So I wore more casual clothes, maybe just to piss them off, who knows. I wore a pair of gray pants, with a black shirt, and my trademark jacket, it was black, and gray, with a gray hood, and a black everything else. It wasn''t too thick, yet it still worked well when I zipped it up, there was nothing to unordinary about it. Part of the charm I guess, with everything so crazy in my life this was one aspect that was normal. I threw on my black, and gray high tops, and headed for the door. I lived in a one bedroom apartment, I could afford it because the suits looked after me, so luckily I had not roommates. I skipped breakfast, and headed straight to the office building.


    I call them the suits, but in reality they were very important, they protected the world from the truth, that monsters exist. They had teams that they sent all around the country to deal with these creatures, whether their rogue werewolves, trolls vampires, or very occasionally demons. They disguise themselves as the CIA, FBI, Military, whatever they need to say to get what they want. They are classified, but honestly I suspected they had higher clearance than all of those previous listed groups. I knew of them because they have been looking after me for years, they even helped train me when I was younger. granted I had already been trained, just not in the subtleties of killing monsters, I had known how to do it, they taught me how to get away with it. Maybe that was why they had so much interest in me. I drove over to their office building, I didn''t have a nice car, an old Chevy equinox, it had never broke down so I can''t complain much. I suspected that this buildings purpose was to spy on me, make sure I didn''t go crazy, and proceed to kill everyone on Ohio States campus, fair enough, not that I would ever kill someone without reason, but you can never be too sure. I made it to the building, I parked in a nearby parking garage, and walked to the door. This meeting was pointless, I knew what I had decided already, I was going to go work with a slaying group for a week, and then decide after that. This meeting was them telling me where to meet up with the slayers. I sighed, "what am I doing" I said under my breath to myself, then I opened the door to the building.


    The air smelled like cinnamon, it was weird because everytime I walked in hear, usually to check up with people, or to get medical checkups, since no other place knew how to medically treat a half breed such as me, this place had a new smell. One thing that stay the same was the old lady at the desk, Debby, god I hated Debby, I don''t want to be rude, but she''s literally the worst. I walked up to the front desk, the building, which wasn''t gigantic, looked almost like a small insurance building. there wasn''t many people in right now, I with my hearing I could hear the vast amount of speaking going on up the stair to the side of the desk. "Hi, I have a meeting with satan, and his followers" I said with a purposefully bored look, Debbie looked down on me from her desk as if I was a bug that wondered in. "Mr. Ronald is currently in a meeting, you''ll have to wait for him to come get you" she said down here enormous nose. Figures without another word I went back to sit at one of the couches in the lobby, I suspected that this was Ron''s way of showing me i''m not his biggest priority. I didn''t really mind, I red a book on my phone while I waited, there wasn''t like a specific time for this, I just had to show up today before five. It being around 10:00 am I figured I would have to wait for a bit. It didn''t take long before Ron walked down the stairs to greet me.


    Ron was an older man, he had brown hair, which was clearly graying, a long birdlike nose, and a wrinkly face. Even though he was older, you would be able to tell it looking at his stature, he walked like he was the most confident man in the world, on occasions that he would visit the office gym, and workout with me I could tell he was more fit than what his age suggested. He had a suit that probably costed my car on, and a golden watch, the only thing he was wearing that didn''t look like it costed a small fortune, was his tie, which was yellow with pink polka dots. Most likely a gift from his daughter, who I had never met but had heard a lot about. Ron is what you would call a undercover asshole, he was exceptionally nice, but I knew that he could switch extremely fast, he was the director of the teams in the field. Though I had never met a team before I knew they had to make tough decisions, and he was the one that trained a lot of the operatives. I didn''t think he had any magic, but I knew I could be very wrong, in fact when I trained hand to hand in this building, I had never bested him once. Which is surprising, because I am stronger, and faster than the average human being. "how are ya kid" Ron said with a smile, I smiled back, I did consider Ron a friend, but a dangerous one. "good good, hows work going" I said, small talk until we got to a sound proof room, where I would be given the location of my future team.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    We walked up the stairs to a room, the room with a wooden table, and a giant TV. I sat at the head of the table, with Ron sitting next to me on my right, to my left was Ron''s assistant, a man not much older than me, with red hair, and a lot of freckles. His name was Conner, and he was relatively new. I didn''t know him that well but he seemed nice enough. "So are you ready for the debrief" Conner asked with a smile, "do you need something to drink before we get started. "No, thank you though" I replied, I had agreed to do this only because I knew I would keep getting badgered if I said no. Frankly I didn''t want to kill anything, monster or human, but I understood what they did here was important, and Ron asked almost everytime I entered the building. "alright lets begin the presentation" immediately the lights darkened, and the tv flared up. Conner held a remote, and waited for Ron to speak, "The team you will be working with, is known as team amber, named after the leading member" Ron said clicking a button. An attractive woman showed up on the screen, she had short blonde hair, and a body like a runner she was wearing a tang top with cargo pants, and a pair of combat boots. "Amber Sailor she is 23 years old, and is an expert fighter, she is a black belt, with training that covers blade work, bow hunting, and firearms. She also has clairvoyance, the ability to see into the future to a certain extent, as well as track down entities and people over long distances. "she will be the one calling the shots, I hope you decide to respect her, otherwise she may try to kill you". Conner handed me a file, one I had not noticed him having before. "Next is Sam Wilson, known for his incredible marksman skills, as well as his magical construct ability to create guns with magic". The screen showed a young man with a long tan coat on, he had short blonde hair, and green eyes. "He is the second in command of the squad, and has been called the marksman, he maybe tough to get along with at first, but i''m sure you guys will be friends" Ron said as he clicked again, next up was a huge guy, he wore a muscle shirt, and he looked like he would rip it is he moved to much he had a big smile on his fact, with blonde hair, and green eyes, "James Wilson, Sam''s brother, he also has magical construct magic, though he prefers melee weapons such as axes, and hammers". I looked at his file that they had handed me, he was six four, and was about four hundred pound, though it said he was a nice person, and easy to get along with. "next is one you know, Jackson Lau", an Asian man popped up, and I smiled, Jackson was my bestfriend when I was younger, and part of the reason I had agreed to do this. When I had first been place with the MSC, (Monster Slayer Corps) I had immediately started training, during that time I had met up with Jackson, and we immediately became best friends. "you already know about his expertise in blade skills, as well as his augmented speed, and strength, lets move on" Ron said as Conner handed me another file.


    Next up was a black women, she had long pink hair, and a she looked extremely happy. "Cassandra Rain, also known as bullseye, she is a expert marksman, with the magical ability to make flying things explode. Her preferred weapon is a bow, she can also convert inanimate things she touches into other inanimate objects, meaning anything can be an arrow for her" Ron clicked the button again. A young man about my age with red hair, and what looked like green eyes, he was still fit but he looked a lot more lean than the previous selections "This is Edward Garcia, he is the healer of the group he has a powerful healing ability, as well as the ability to steal vitality from others" I widened my eyes, that was an exceptionally rare ability for a healer. I looked into the file they handed me, he was 5''5, and from mexico.


    "what an interesting team" I said as the lights came back on, I looked at Ron "if this works out well be want you to lead this team in the future" he said. I gawked at him, smooth "what do you mean, you already have a leader" I asked incredulously. "We do, but Amber has not been as efficient lately as we would have like, she also new, hints why she doesn''t have a code name. "  Ron stated, "what about the others" I asked. "none of them has the personality that we feel would best suit a leadership position." Ron added, "I don''t either, I don''t want to be a squad leader" I said, I was kind of worried because I felt like they already had future plans for me in the company. "you don''t have to be, this is just something you should think about as you work". Ron said standing up, "okay so when do I go to join up with the team" I asked, with a furrowed brow. "we will be taking you with up tomorrow, you should take the night to go over those files."


    Just like that my life changed, I became part of something much bigger than myself, this is the story of how I became the best monster slayer alive.

 The original John

    John Dark, was getting old, he worked all day, and slept all night. When he was younger he could stay out for hours into the night, meet up with people, get drunk, have a good time. Granted that was then, now John worked for his son, and his wife, he would come home, and almost immediately went to sleep. In fact the only time that John was awake was when he was watching football, admittedly he should pay more attention to John Jr, but he figured he would have more time later in life. The kid was only eight, John doubted he even knew what was going on most of the time.


    The office lights went off, meaning it was time to go, John proceeded to shut down his bulky work computer, grab his keys, and start heading to the door of the office. It wasn''t rare for John to be the last to leave the office, he loved working, it was a hobby, and a passion. Now even if it was fun, he wished he made more, hints why he is so willing to work more hours.


    The drive home was uneventful, John actually felt pretty good, well not super tired after work. John figured he would spend the day watching whatever games his wife had recorded for him. Pulling into the drive way John heard the dog start barking, a good sound, one that represented his family. Walking in the door the dog ran up, giving a little whine as John reached down petting him. Rufus was a mutt, something between a golden retriever, and a German shepherd, but he was a good dog, he had golden hair and pointed ears like a German shepherd.


    "Honey, i''m home John called out, he wasn''t expecting a greeting but got one anyways. "oh hey honey, i''m up in johnny''s room" she called out, John smiled, John jr and his wife hadn''t always gotten along, when she first met him he cried, and cried. Until she set him down or handed him to John, its good to see they were getting along enough for Mary, his wife, to spend time with him. Johnny, being a special kid, due to his certain "genetic differences" was always shunned by other kids, he never had too short hair so that he could cover his ears, and he always had dark eyes, even when wearing contacts, his dark irises would sometimes still be visible.


    After finding out about his physical differences from normal humans, and the fact that Mary had to keep it a secret. Mary had originally taken it bad, staying away from Johnny, but eventually she got over it, there was no reason to fear Johnny, his physical differences weren''t good things, he constantly stumbled and fell, he had bruises all over sometimes. John had always thought that he was more elegant than other kids, always picking things up faster, and always super loving.


    John''s wife came downstairs a second later, John had already taken off his shoes, and got comfortable on his recliner chair. Mary had a runners body, lean, with a small waist, and strong legs, she had been a cheerleader in his high school, in this very town mischestor. The same time John was a nerd, but they fell in love, until she left for a football player, and John found Johnny''s mother. After Johnny''s mother had left, they found each other again, Mary didn''t seem to care that he had a son, and they fell in love. "Johnny stumbled again, but hes okay I put him to bed earlier tonight" Mary said, coming to sit on the couch. "Oh, that not good, how bad was it" John asked concerned. "pretty bad he fell down the stairs, he has a black eye" Mary replied, turning on the TV, and looking through football games. "I''m sure it will all be recovered by tomorrow though" Mary said absently, focused on flipping through the channels.


    "yeah that true enough" John replied gruffly, thankfully every injury that John got, went away like magic the next day. When he was a baby it would take longer, maybe a couple of nights, but now on night he would be good as new. John started to get hungry, so he walked to the kitchen, "do you want anything, babe?" John asked his wife. "Could you get me a glass of wine please" Mary hollered into the kitchen, John walked into the kitchen, they weren''t a rich family but they had a good amount of money. So they could afford good wine every once in a while, tonight was one of those nights, he poured himself a glass, and made himself a sandwich.


    Though just as John finished making himself a glass of wine, he noticed a red splash on the table corner, he walked up to examine it, setting the plate, and wine glasses down as he did. The red splotch had black spots on it, that how he knew what it was, little Johnny''s blood, concerned he called out to his wife. "Did Johnny cut himself today?" John asked, now more worried than he had been about the prior incident. "what?" asked Mary, John could hear her coming into the room, "Oh my god, yeah, he busted his lip when he fell, he must have gotten some of the blood on the table, I''ll clean it up" she said, hurrying to grab a towel to clean up the mess. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    John frowned, I mean it was possible, but the blood was a little high up on the table. John didn''t know for sure, but it seemed like if Johnny had gotten blood on the table his head would have been split not his lip. Looking at his wife who was busy cleaning the table, he frowned maybe she just didn''t see his split head. John decided if his son was hurt, he had best go check on him, make sure he didn''t split his head open, in a spot where Mary couldn''t see it.


    "I''m gonna go check on Johnny, and make sure he''s okay" John said moving to head down the hall, and up the stairs. As John moved to do so, Mary came up, blocking him, "oh don''t worry about him, I already cleaned him up, and I checked him really well for any other accident spots" she said with a smile. John also smiled, she said she preferred to call them that to make sure Johnny didn''t get too scared, showing her love for the child. "how about instead me, and you" Mary said moving her hands up johns chest, "work on making Johnny a little playmate". John kept smiling, he was sure the child was fine, plus he doubted an accident could seriously hurt him anyways, besides he was tired from work. Maybe the night was starting to look up.


    The morning light shined through the window, waking John up, his wife was still fast asleep on her side of the bed, John got out of bed, and got ready for work. After getting fully changed he went downstairs to let the dog out, but as he walked through John''s door, he heard a hiss. John stopped, and listened again, another loud hissing sound, it was early in the morning. John knew that Johnny''s room would still be dark, unlike most kids Johnny wasn''t scared of the dark, in fact he thrived in it. When he was a baby he would cry until John covered the window in his room with a dark blanket, the tradition stuck so John''s room was always dark.


    John opened the door to the dark room, looking around for whatever could see, using a flashlight that he kept by the door for emergencies. Nothing, John sighed in relief, he had thought there was a snake or something in the house. John turned to leave the room, when he saw some movement on the bet, the blanket had moved, he shined the light on the bed. Originally John thought the movement was Johnny moving his legs or turning his body in his sleep. But when the movement started to move across the bed toward the door, and John, he realized that was not Johnny


    Worried for his sons safety, he immediately moved towards the bed, pulling the blanket off Johnny in a hurry, John couldn''t believe his eyes. Laying there coiled around his sons legs was a red snake, the only issue was that the snake was glowing. The eyes were solid red, and the snake was almost transparent. The snake moved faster than John as he reached down to try to grab onto the snake. it slithered up on his sleeping sons chest, and coiled up poised to strike John. Johnny was waking, John froze immediately worried that he or the kid would disturb the snake into attacking. As Johnny woke up the snake hissed one time, staring John directly in the eyes, then it seemed to grow more, and more transparent until it was no longer that.


    "Daddy?" little Johnny asked sitting up with a confused expression on his face, John just stared with a dumbfounded look on his face. "uh I just wanted to-" John stopped, what was he supposed to say, he didn''t want to freak out his son "ask about last night" he finished. Sure enough there wasn''t a single issue with Johnny he looked perfectly fine, like nothing had happened. Johnny looked down, "maybe he embarrassed" John said with a frown, "sorry, daddy" Johnny said sounding almost on the verge of tears.


    "That''s okay son, its not your fault" John said reassuring him, with a hug, still freaked out about what happened. Probably from embarrassment, and the shock from being woken up, but Johnny just cried into his fathers shirt. "I didn''t mean to" he said almost hysterically, John pushed him back a bit and looked down at him "its okay son, we all make mistakes, you''ll be okay I promise" John said reassuring his son. he knew he would be slightly late for work, but John didn''t care, his son was more important. John waited until his son fell asleep, all the while thinking about what had happened with the snake thing. "I must have been tired" John said out loud to himself, as if hearing a voice say it would make it true, even if it was his own. John rushed through letting the dog out, and then grabbed a cup a coffee to go. Then John headed out of the door to work.

 The New Slayer

    Amber Sailor, was sitting in the conference room, she was not happy to say the least. After all of this time, she was the one the one that had studied under the previous team leader. She had taken all the extra classes offered to her in the slayer training camp, she had gotten the second highest scores on the tests of all time. Amber deserved to be the leader, she knew that, her team knew that, yet at the first opportunity she gets told that they were grooming a new person for a leadership position. That was a spit in the face, what did she lack, what did this new "slayer" if she could even call him that, have that she didn''t. As far as Amber knew, this kid had no prior experience.


    They were meeting there to get a presentation on the new member of slayer team Amber, though the name would probably change after the new leader took charge. The thought of it made amber clench her fists in rage, she earned this, the ridiculous unfairness of the situation bothered her to a extreme extent. Amber had the urge to hit something, but just before she did something she would regret the door to the conference room opened. A older woman with a sweet face, and a slight slouch from older age walked in, she had gray curly hair, and brown eyes. "Hello team Amber, my name is Marge Waters, I''m here to present your new member to you" She said with a kind smile on her face. "This was not going to go well" Amber thought.


    "You mean our new leader" Sam spoke up, this team had spent years working together, for the past couple of weeks they had worked under Amber. The team was not excited to hear they were getting a new leader, especially one that had no known prior experience with a slayer team. The room seemed to be holding a breath, James looked awkward, for such a big guy he was more shy, and kind than one would imagine.


    If Mrs. Waters was bothered by the outburst, she didn''t show it. she continued to walk to the head of the table. Sam was leaning forward slightly, as if waiting for the response from the woman, Sam could be difficult at times. "Well how do you guys feel about this potential new leadership" Mrs. Waters asked, "I wish we would have been consulted first, we are all very happy with our new leadership" Cass said without a second thought. Cass was always willing to stick up for her friends, and prior to the teams arrival at the building, she had made it very clear she felt Amber was the best leader for the team.


    Amber sighed, she knew that this was going to happen, she didn''t want to be replaced as the leader, but she also didn''t want the team to act poorly in front of the higher ups. That would just make them all look bad instead of just Amber who had intended to have a very strongly worded conversation with Ronald Whitman about this. Not that it would do anything other than get her in trouble, the thought of it made her sigh, she knew that there was not getting out of this new leadership issue.


    "Well if that''s how you feel, I have good news" Mrs. Waters said with smile, the team all looked from Cass back to her. "Mr. Dark has declined the offer of leadership, in fact he insisted on not having any power within the team" Mrs. Waters finished. The team all looked like they had discovered pigs actually could fly, not only did this "Dark" turn down a leadership position, that would mean he said not to Mr. Whitman. "What!?" Sam asked incredulously "this guy to Mr. Ron no" he said looking like he was about to explode, not out of anger, more like literally explode. "Quite, granted after some arguing, it seems that they have decided on a middle ground" Mrs. Waters said with a big smile, Amber had the feeling that she was thoroughly enjoying all of our surprise.


    "Instead of a leadership position, Mr. Dark will work as an advisor to Ms. Sailor, he will have the same power of command as a secondary leader position" Mrs. Waters said, gesturing towards Sam, who occupied that spot, and still looked flabbergasted. "Though Mr.Dark will rarely have to use his authority due to the team already having leadership" She finished, she said it casually, but the team heard those words like they were gods gift to mankind. Amber let out a breath, one that she didn''t realize she had been holding this entire time. Mrs. Waters pressed a button on a remote Amber hadn''t noticed her holding before, the lights in the room cut off, and the presentation screen turned on.


    Amber studied the picture on the first slide, the man was handsome, well built but not bulky, he looked like he would play soccer. This was John Dark, the man that Jackson always talked about, the only man he couldn''t beat in hand to hand combat. Amber studied his face, he had a strong jaw line, and handsome features, his eyes looked incredibly dark, he had long hair, and a regular looking nose.


    "Mr. Dark has been through personal training with Ronald, he also spent sometime in the academy with your team member Mr. Lau". She said, Jackson decided not to show up, and instead had gone to greet John at the front when he arrived. Amber looked around, the whole team where listening intently, even Eddy, who never payed attention to these things. Granted with how much Jackson talked about Dark, its no wonder the team were so interested in him.


    "He is an expert hand to hand combatant, able to best most of the instructors at said academy, he also has training with blades, and firearms. Mr. Dark is also an expert tracker, and has heightened senses, which help him in combat, and with spying situations." Mrs. Waters said, clicking the button on the remote, the screen changed, a close up on his hands was shown, he had a tattoo of a twisting chain that ran up his wrist. "Mr. Dark prefers to use the weapons he has on hand, what we assume is creation magic that takes the form of chains, which he can use as whips, to incapacitate, or even cut through anything he likes" Amber could see James, and Sam sitting up in their seats. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Frankly, we don''t know as much about his abilities as we would like to, but he is thought to be highly dangerous, and has been under surveillance since he was fourteen years old." Mrs. Waters said more serious than before, her smile was finally gone. "We know he possesses the ability to kill monsters, as well as people, he earned a name before he was twelve years old". Amber''s eyes widened. Earning a name as a magical fighter was a big sign of your power, Amber still hadn''t earned a name, others in the team had, through extreme measures. Earning a name meant that you were recognized as a formidable magician by all those who called you by said name.


    "The name which was originally classified, was "Chain", and the way he earned said name is still classified". Amber saw Eddy narrow his eyes, she knew he would try his absolute hardest to get that information no matter what she, or anyone else for that matter said. The presentation skipped a slide to a chart, which listed personality traits, "Mr. Dark is usually very nice, but he is prone to anger at times where he feels those he cares about are threatened" She said the word like a warning, as if it was something Amber should be terrified of. "Mr. Dark also hates authority, and has been known not to listen to commands, now listen carefully" Everyone looked at her intently she was serious again. "Under no circumstances are any of you to fight with Mr. Dark, nor are any of you to get in his way during a fight" Mrs Waters said. "What about him getting in our way" Sam said with a grin, though Amber could see in his eyes he was thinking very hard about what Mrs. Waters had just said.


    Mrs Waters continued on like nothing had happened, "if you are able to get over his disobedience, you all should have no issues having a good work relationship with him" she finished. Amber rolled her eyes, they said the same thing after every single one of these presentations. "Now then, who is ready to meet their new Team member".


    I walked into the building, I had never been to this specific office building before, but it looked just as nice as the other one, though it was a little bigger. I walked in, and smelled a strong scent of watermelon, I smiled, my favorite flavor. "Well if it isn''t the amazing broken link" my smile widened, I knew that voice, and the insult. "Is that you Lau, you look smaller than before" I said looking at my best friend since I was fourteen years old. "yeah yeah, get over here" Jackson said with a smile, I pulled him into a hug, then as he stepped back I punched him in the chest. The punch was a light one, but fast, he took a step back, the smile never leaving his face. "Look who''s out of shape, not even able to dodge a simple punch" I said with a shake of my head in mock disappointment. "look whose talking, that punch had no force behind, your like a kitten now" Jackson replied holding his head in his hands like Ron used to do when we would mess something up as kids.


    "How the hell are you man" I asked with a little chuckle at his expression, "better now that your joining up, what took so long, I''ve been waiting" Jackson replied still smiling. "well for a week anyway" I said a little mockingly, I had no intention of joining up full time, and I definitely had not intention of taking a leadership position. "yeah sure" Jackson said shaking his head, I had no idea why, I really had not intention of joining up. "Now how about we go meet the team, they timed it right so that you would be able to meet them as soon as you finish" He said grabbing me by the shoulders, and steering me towards the stairs.


    "If you knew they timed it why didn''t you just wait in the presentation" I asked, it seemed like the smart thing to do. "So I can listen to some suit tell me a bunch of things I already knew, I''ll pass" Jackson said furrowing his brow. I laughed, if anyone hated authority more than I did it was Jackson Lau, as children we used to cause so much trouble with the adults in the building, especially Mrs. Waters, our tutor. This whole endeavor brought back so many memories. "Hey do you remember Mrs. Waters" Jackson said looking back at me once we reached the top of the stairs. "I''ll never forget that old bat" I said with a laugh


    I knew I fucked up as soon as Jackson''s face went red, "no" I said, my eyes widening so far they felt they would pop out of their sockets. "I remember the last time you decided to call me that" Mrs. Waters said right behind me. I turned around, I had heard someone walking up to us, but I just thought they would walk past. Not many things scare me, but Mrs. Waters is one of them, she used to make up write pages of Moby Dick when we misbehaved. Despite the insult she didn''t look mad on the outside, but her brow was furrowed, a sign I knew meant she was furious, surprisingly she looked like she hadn''t aged a day from when I last saw her.


    "Uh, oops" I said, I felt my face go red, just then behind me I heard Jackson snicker. I turned around to look at him, as soon as we met eyes he lost his mind. Jackson was laughing so hysterically he didn''t hear Ron walk up behind him, when he stopped, and turned around, his expression matched mine. If I was terrified of Mrs. Waters, Jackson thought of Ronald like a living nightmare.


    After both lectures where had, Jackson and I were taken to a conference room, where the team was sitting. I recognized them all from the photos, though some had longer or shorter hair, indicating that those pictures were taken a couple months ago.


    Standing there I felt kind of awkward they were all staring at me like I was a new car, or worse a new gun, rather than a teammate. "everyone I would like to introduce you to my best friend, John Dark".

 The First Job

    The team stared at the clearly uncomfortable man blankly, based off of the presentation they were expecting him to be a stoic superhero. Instead this man looked like an awkward teen, Jackson looked like he was enjoying Dark''s discomfort a little too much. "Hey, my names Dark, nice to meet you, I hope we work well together" John said.


    Amber looked at him a little annoyed, he looked fit, but he also had a slightly red face, as if he was extremely embarrassed at something. This was the guy that was supposed to replace her, what a joke. "Sadly you guys will have to take time to get to know one another later, currently we have a job we would like you to get started on right away" Mr. Whitman said motioning the two men to take seats at the table.


    All of the team knew that Jackson was terrified of Mr. Whitman, so it surprised no one when he immediately took a seat next to an empty chair without question. What did surprise the team, Amber included, was when Dark rolled his eyes, and said "well that didn''t take long". What surprised them even more was Mrs. Waters clearing her throat, which made John Dark, the man that was originally going to be their team leader. Do exactly what Jackson had done, and move to the seat next to Jackson without a second word.


    Jackson smiled, and nudged John, who nudged him right back, Mr. Whitman rolled his eyes, "right well lets begin your first assignment together". Mrs. Waters pressed a button on her remote, which started the presentation. On the slide was to pictures side to side, they were black and white, looking like they were exceptionally old. "These are the two pictures that were taken in the small down of appleville, west verginia, they are both of the same person", Amber noticed on both of the pictures was a little girl with a smile in the first picture, in the second picture the same smile was worn. Except in the second picture something about the smile looked sinister, the picture gave Amber goosebumps.


    No longer wishing to look at the photo, she looked over at the team, they were all paying attention to the presentation, they may goof off but they took work serious. She looked over at the new member, he was paying deep attention to the picture. "well at least he can get serious when he needs too" Amber thought to herself.


    "Notice the flower dress she is wearing in both pictures" Mr. Whitman said then the presentation went to the next slide. A picture of an identical dress was shown with mud stains over the white and yellow flower designs that had covered the dress. "When she was possessed back in 1864 the priests took meticulous notes stating that the girl, named Margaret, was "out of control, and had the strength of ten men", now at the time we had no idea what had happened. Now we look back, and we have a couple theories, but this situation is an uncommon one in the least." He said, as his red haired assistant began passing out files to all the team members.


    "Now this normally wouldn''t be an issue, except that we were sent this." Mr. Whitman said as the slide changed to a video file, Mrs Waters pressed another button, and the video pulled up and started playing. the video showed an alley, next to what looked to be a parking garage, the alley had a little bit of snow in it, but there was no cars going in or out. the time said it was taken at three am. Suddenly there was a flash of gray light, not to bright but you could definitely tell it was there. A little girl walked out into the alley she was wearing a dress that looked like a clean version of the dress that the group had jsut been shown.


    The little girl walked out, and for a second all the snow that was falling stopped, then a screech came from the screen. it was so unexpected that almost everyone in the room jumped and looked startled. The camera hadn''t had any audio prior to this screech, and the little girl didn''t look to move her mouth so it almost seemed to be edited in. Amber looked around, all of her team looked shook, Jackson and Dark looked perfectly fine, in fact Jackson had his trademark smile on. Amber would be willing to bet that if Mr. Whitman wasn''t here he would have laughed. Amber looked back at the camera, the little girl looked to have not done anything after the screech. Either she couldn''t hear the terrifying screech thing, even more terrifying thought, she was expecting it.


    Amber shifted in her chair, she had seen a ton of monsters, but that scream had sounded somehow more terrifying than anything she had seem before. She knew she was being dumb, how could a little girl be that terrifying, but it didn''t matter, she could almost feel her mouth go dry.


    Then after a while the little girl looked directly up to the camera, which must have been some kind of video camera or something like that, she smiled. Amber''s mouth dropped, this little girl, while slightly fuzzy looked exactly like the photo, this was something Amber had never seen before. Then the little girl jumped, it was so fast if the camera hadn''t seen the blur of her going by Amber never would have known it happened. In fact it looked to her as if the child had bent her knees, and then got flung up wards. Amber figured she never came down, because the video ended there.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Mrs. Sailor your team will go to Appleville, and investigate this, I want you to take meticulous notes about all you find, and then after you have determined if the creature is dangerous or not, we will decide our further course of action" Mr. Whitman stated looking directly at Amber.


    "We have already emailed all of the documents needed, in the files are copies of the pictures, as well as some listed theories by our experts who analyzed the footage" Mrs Waters added, after the lights had gone back on in the room. "Alright well you had better get on the RV" Mr. Whitman said to the group, after then leaving.


    John


    "Well it makes sense why we all met in Kentucky now" I said after Ron, and Satan spawn number two had left (Mrs. Waters). "Yeah, we had better hit the road, it was nice meeting you John" The kid named Edward said, "thanks it was nice meeting you guys too" I said back with a smile. Technically he was eighteen, and not a kid, but he was the youngest of the group, so kid was how I was going to address him until I knew him better. "Ooh I can''t wait to catch the evil ghost child" Jackson said, he was always so excited to be in danger. I rolled my eyes, which the leader Amber seemed to notice, she looked at me, making eye contact, then she looked away. Ron probably tried to make me leader just so she would hate me, what an annoying man.


    Everyone had left, except me, Jackson and James who had begun walking up to us. Most people would have been scared of a six foot four giant walking towards them, but I had read his file, and he was probably the nicest in the team. "hi, glad to have you on the team I''m James" James said with a wide smile, "John, nice to meet you man, i''m excited to see what you can do" I said smiling back. "John come on, you have to see the rover" Jackson said, before grabbing me, and yanking me out of the door.  I smiled on the way, it was nice to have my best friend back.


    The "Rover" as they called it, was actually a giant black RV, with was looked to be a horribly spray painted picture of Edwards head. It had red hair, and green everything else, "Wow" I said, "yeah, Eddy likes to paint" Jackson said, then he leaned over "but he''s not very good at it". James walked out behind us, "Welcome to your new home for the next week, or longer if you decide to stay", he said. I knew that teams usually got to go to motels, but in rare cases that wasn''t an option there would be enough beds inside for us all to sleep. "Oh, and fair warning, Eddy likes to drive, so do ask" Jackson said walking onto the bus.


    The bus was way more spacious on the inside, I suspected either magic, or amazing design, there was bunk beds that lined the wall, they weren''t huge but they could fit a person, there was a table that looked to be a small version of a dining room table. There was a TV, and mini fridge, right next to a drink cooler, there was a bunch of windows, and a small shower in the back, covered by a door. I was honestly surprised, but I didn''t let it show, the team probably thought I was slow after the miss hap with Mrs. Evil. In the front was too chairs the windows where super tinted, which was allowed because of government stuff. The team had all already settled in, the bag that I packed was on a bunk in the back which I assumed meant that was mine.


    "alright team, lets get a move on, we can rest up on the drive there then we will decide what to do from there". Amber said at the front of the Rover, in the passenger seat. Eddy put it in drive, and started driving. "It will take about four hours to get where we are going, you should try to settle in during that time" Cass said with a kind smile as I sat down on my bunk.


    "fair enough" I replied, I looked around at the team, everyone was doing there own thing, except for Sam, who kept looking up at me. I decided the best course was just to ignore it, and let the situation handle itself. I know I''m a genius. I went over and sat next to Jackson who was at the table across from James, going over the case.


    "Any thoughts?" I said to them as I sat at the table, "it says it could be a ghost possession" Jackson replied not looking up. "I doubt it, ghost possession does occasionally grant extra strength, but the draw backs are severe" I said looking at the picture on the table, taken from the video, and cropped on her face. "If it was a ghost possession she would look like Joaquin pheonix''s Joker, in little girl form" James gave a laugh at that. "unless maybe its a weaker ghost, maybe one who got a magical boost" Jackson said, sounding lost in thought.


    Say what you will about the goofball, he could get down to business when he needed to. That could be it, I guess we will have to check for signs of magical interference when we get there. "It could be a new species, Mr. Whitman seemed to hint that might be it" James said, as Sam came over to sit next to his brother. "I doubt it a new species of supernatural creature hasn''t been discovered in like a hundred years" Sam said. "A hundred in twelve, this could be the discovery of a lifetime" James said, with a smile, his brother shooting down his idea didn''t bother him one bit.


    "I think its some roided vampire, one that has no issue showing up on cameras" Sam said with a confident smile. "If so, we will have no problem putting her down", "true, but that''s unlikely" Jackson said typing something on a laptop. "Unlikely, but not impossible, what do you think Dark?" Sam asked looking at me. Jackson actually stopped what he was doing, and looked up at me, I noticed James was also staring at me now. I suspected that Jackson already knew the theory I was working on.


    "I think its the reason the wanted me here" I said with a easy smile, "a demon". "A demon!?, I doubt it, its been like ten years since the last demon was known on earth." Sam said, "any demons still here are the weaker poltergeist kind" he added loudly, looking around at the table. Jackson was still looking at me, "For our sake, I hope your right" I said then went back to taking notes on the dress.

 Appleville

    The Rover pulled into a motel parking lot, next to a small car rental place, Amber walked in to get everyone rooms, Sam, and James would share a room, Cass, and Amber would also be sharing one. Eddy apparently preferred to sleep in the Rover. Meaning that me, and Jackson would share a room, which I expected meant he would throw stuff at me while I tried to sleep.


    After putting our stuff in the room, and getting a greasy food at the diner across the street in the small town, we all gathered on the Rover, to go over plans. Amber stood there holding a piece of paper ready to get directions "okay so I''d like Cass, and James to go search in town see if any of the civilians have noticed anything weird has been happening around here". James smiled widely, and Cass nodded keeping her face from showing any emotion.


    "Jackson, you and Sam will go to the warehouse, its not far, let us know what yo see when you get there". Jackson looked at me apologetically, I shrugged back, and waited for my instructions. "Eddy you will stay on the comms, and keep us updated on if HQ has any updates, as well as the other teams progression in their tasks" Eddy smiled, I was starting to realize that Eddy preferred tech to people. "John you and I will go, and check the old house where Margaret used to live, everyone meet here after you finish up". Amber said


    I started to follow Amber off the bus, when I heard "your first job, Johnny, don''t mess up". I stopped walking, a spark of anger started in my stomach, I turned around, and looked at Sam. I must have let a little anger slip out, with magic users, emotions can leak out through mana, if you aren''t able to control it, it happens a lot. Sometimes when a user is extremely angry, or sad, some of that mana can slip out, which explains why every person in the RV looked ready to jump me. I kept my voice from betraying my emotions "it''s John please".


    I looked around, Jackson was the only one that didn''t looked surprised, he mouthed sorry. I turned around, and walked off the bus.


    Jackson and Sam


    The group rented cars, one for each group, so that they could drive in the small rural town. The car was quiet, Jackson and Sam never had got along to well. Sam liked to tease people to a beyond anger point, Jackson always saw him as more of a bully because of that. Though he trusted John, who was like a brother to him, not to start a fight, he knew how Sam could be. Jackson sighed, problems for later, "whats up with your friend man, why did he go all psycho" Sam said in a annoying way. "John doesn''t like to be called Johnny, just leave it alone man" Jackson said with an eye roll


    "Maybe they should have told us that at the meeting" Sam said, realizing he was talking to the wrong person about this he went silent. Jackson turned up the music, The Red Hot Chili Peppers was on, "nice" Jackson thought to himself. Wasn''t his favorite band, but he like it, they had good music, very chill.


    "where here" Sam said a moment later, he pulled off into the alley, and they both got out of the car. As soon as they stepped out of the car the smell of death hit their nose, "ugh, smells like Amber''s cooking" Sam said covering his nose with his jacket sleeve. "True" Jackson replied, "whatever died, shit itself twice before it did, they continued into the parking garage. It made sense no one had noticed the smell the block looked extremely abandoned, the building were falling down, they had plants growing up the sides.


    They passed the spot where the girl had been, immediately the the temperature dropped like twenty degrees. Jackson looked over at Sam, they both nodded, Sams green revolver, which looked like it was from the days boys were made of cows. Jackson tapped his wrist which dissipated, two daggers popped out of thin air, they were curved with a golden hilt, and what looked like blue blades. Star Metal, specialized for killing nasties.


    Jackson entered first, Sam following behind him holding his gun up, and ready, no longer covering their nose the smell bombarded them. Every step they took into the garage the smell worsened, there wasn''t a single car, Jackson could believe it, considering the smell. "Jackson" Sam whispered. Jackson turned around, Sam who was holding his gun in one hand, and pointing up with the other looked terrified. Jackson looked up, his mouth dropped, in what looked like dried blood was a circle, which wasn''t the bad part. In the middle of the circle nailed to the ceiling was a dress, the dress.


    Jackson looked down at Sam, "Trap, go back" he said, he turned towards the door when he felt a whoosh of air. Immediately Jackson jumped, which his enhanced strength he cleared the gray figure that zoomed past crashing into a pole. The creature had no hair on its body, its body resembled that of a human, except it had a extended jaw, with gray skin, its eyes were larger than any humans, and solid red. A ghoul luckily a lesser ghoul, not to dangerous, except in large groups, the high ghouls had wings, and were giant, not fun.


    Faster than the eye can see, Jackson sprinted forward, and stabbed his blade through the creatures skull. It kicked once and then went still, Jackson sighed what a horrible trap, one ghoul even a rookie could handle that. "Uh Jackson" Sam said, Jackson rolled his eyes "thanks for the hel-fuck" facing them was about ten ghouls, there was a dead one that Sam had obviously shot.


    All at once all the ghouls rushed at the two slayers, "had to be ghouls" Sam muttered as he began shooting one gun while he summoned another. Sam had a known hatred for the gray terror humans, and honestly I didn''t blame him, they ate everything near, they were tenacious.


    Jackson slashed one ghouls head off, then rushed another, they would be fine, but this could still be a dangerous situation. Jackson zoomed through them, before he knew it he had killed four ghouls, another lunged at him, he did a back flip kicking the ghoul back, which gave Sam a perfect shot, which he used. The shot from the pistol was silent, but the ghouls head kicked to the left, it landed on the ground dead.


    "well that was fun" Sam said panting slightly, "true, but if they set a trap here, that means the others could be in danger, we had better let them know" Jackson replied looking around. he looked at his shoulder, then moved his hand to flick off a piece of ghoul brain off his coat, at least he hoped it was ghoul brain.


    James


    James was excited, he was a relatively shy guy, because of that he had never had a girlfriend. Cass in fact was one of the only girls that had ever showed him any kindness, besides amber, but she was like a sister. Due to this James had been in love with Cass for a while now, he never did anything about it, because he didn''t want her to feel awkward at all. The had made into the towns version of "downtown", it was practically deserted, the few people they had talked to hadn''t noticed anything.


    The only lead that they had gotten this whole time was from a man who looked like he was on a all drug diet. "Lots of gray people around here" he had said with a toothless smile, it was so ridiculous that when he told Cass she laughed, and called him a dork. Which made him smile, and forget all about what the toothless man said.


    They were now walking down a street that looked like it was abandoned, they didn''t really expect to find anything due to the fact they were on the other side of town from the garage. "So what do you think of that new guy" Cass asked James, "honestly I have no clue, I guess we will have to wait and see how he fights" James said thoughtfully.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Cass laughed, a beautiful sound to James, it made him smile wide every time, "What?" he said, unable to stop smiling. "I think its funny how much to base people off of their ability to fight" Cass said still laughing a little bit, James felt his face heat up. "Well to be fair thats an important part of this job, there are like infinite amounts of monsters out there" James said still smiling.


    "That''s true, its almost concerning how many more monsters have been showing up this year than last year." Cass added, suddenly her face looked concerned, "still beautiful" James thought. "Well if we keep up all the work, who knows maybe we will all get a promotion." James said with a smile. "true, lets hope that-" Cass started "ahhhhhh" came a sound from the building they were passing, James''s face hardened, Cass and James looked at each other, then rushed into the building.


    Cass had summoned her bow, how James had no idea, James summoned a large green axe, then headed into the building. The building was covered in old looking crates, maybe an old textile mill, it was a small building though, looking more like a barn than a mill. "lets look for the sound" James said moving forward


    Suddenly there was a huge boom as a giant gray creature landed, it was taller than James, by like three feet, and a lot wider. It was gray, had a jaw like an alligators jaws, and claws the looked like knives. Its teeth were huge, and it looked like it could use them. "Found it" Cass quipped, grabbing a box, and converting it to a blue arrow, "I''ll distract it, you charge" Cass ordered, James nodded.


    Cass fired her arrow, James saw it strike, a blue explosion of electricity, James hardened his body with magic reinforcement, (merging his skin cells with mana temporarily). James charged forward, slamming the blade of the axe into the creatures chest, the creature which was temporarily stunned screamed. It twisted extremely fast slamming an arm into James, who stepped back. Thanks to the hardening he barely felt the blow, his shirt could not say the same, the shirt had ripped where it was hit, leaving it in tatters.


    Thanks to this James noticed the sharp bone sticking out of its arm, an explosion hit the creatures head, followed by three more to the body, the creature turned and screamed. Not giving the creature time to go after Cass, James slammed his axe into the arm of the beast, the best part about summoned weapons, is that they weighed nothing to the user, unless he or she wanted it to. Meaning James could make the weapon lighter to move quickly, and then rack up the weight to make the weapon more effective.


    Which is why the arm came off immediately, another piercing shot it the creature in the head, it bounced off, meaning the skull is had to be extremely strong to repel a arrow with magic. Another explosion arrow hid the creature int he back, Cass was the best as sneaking, she was invisible to James, and the creature. James focused on a barrage of attacks on the creatures body, finally the creature began to slow down, James clothes were almost in tatters, but he was fine on magical power though. Another four explosions, the creature stumbled back, falling against a support beam, James charged him slamming his axe into its chest.


    The creature screeched loudly, but James kept pushing his axe deeper, the creature went quiet, then stopped struggling all together. "well that was fun" Cass said, James didn''t her come next to him, and jumped, she laughed. Come one wuss, lets call it in"


    John


    Maybe God is real, and he just wants me to have a bad day, I mean like currently I was having the worst time ever. Since we had gotten to this small farm house Amber hadn''t said a word to me, and everytime I say something she totally ignores me. Next time I see Ron I''m going to slap him harder than Will Smith.


    "Do you sense anything?" Amber asked suddenly, I was so shocked I delayed my response, "uh no - sorry" I replied. She sighed, great I had annoyed her, by existing, to be honest I was already having a hard time liking her, she looked like someone I used to know, someone I very much would like to cover in peanut butter, and feed to bears.


    "So why''d you do it" Amber said casually, too casually like she was trying really hard to make it seem like a casual question. "Do what?" I asked confused, "Join the team, and leave me in charge" She said stopping, turning to look at me. "oh" I said lamely, I took a second to think about my answer, "well?" she asked after a second. "I am doing this because I don''t know what I wanna do, this whole week of work, I don''t even know if I want to do this." I said "how can I lead people who know they want to do it" I said, there more reasons, but that would get me off the hook.


    Amber looked confused at my answer, "that''s the full reason?" she asked me looking at me incredulous. "well that, and being a leader sounds like a lot of extra work" I replied with a laugh, to my surprise she laughed too, well chuckled really. "yeah well, I agree, I''ve wanted to do it since I was young, its a lot harder than I thought" She said with a sigh, it showed that to a certain level she was struggling with her problems. "well you know, if you ever need advice you can always ask me" I said giving her a thumbs up, which she probably couldn''t see in the dark woods of the house.


    The woods around the Farm had grown in the like two hundred years, who would have thought. "maybe your not too bad" I thought looking at Amber. There was a knock far off in the woods, I summoned my chains silently I felt them coil around my arms, the rings appeared. My arms were now covered in red chains my preferred weapon.


    Quick explanation of my chains, they''re awesome I can swing them like a whip stab them out, and they will pierce almost anything. Based on how much energy I place into them they can be as sharp as razors, or dull as bats, either way the will do damage. They also cannot tangle, and will immediately reappear around my arms in a instant.


    Amber who had spacial capacity magic, summoned a short sword, it had a black blade, with a gray guard, and a brown hill, the blade was more narrow than normal short swords. In the other hand she had a pistol with a silencer. She held the gun, and knife call of duty style she had glasses on, which I assumed helped her see in the dark. I could see as clear as day, better in fact, I was born to the darkness, it was part of me.


    Amber and I moved forward cautiously, keeping an eye out for any movement, I looked around often, I assumed my eyes where the best out of the two of us. I held out my hand, Amber stopped, I tapped my ear I had hoped she read in the file given to her about my superhuman hearing.


    I signaled that they were not far, Amber nodded, and signaled I take the lead, I nodded. Say what you will about Amber she was smart enough to realize I had the advantage in the situation. as we moved, we saw a slight light, as we got closer it was followed by another, and another. We made it to the tree line, when I saw what beetle juice would look like if he did crack.


    In the middle of the field was a clown, the clown was covered in a translucent glue, his yellow clown suit was covered in blood stains, because of course it was. Clown man was standing the middle of a but of glow sticks hanging from trees. There was something huddled on the ground in front of him, Then I smelled it blood. Something was covering the scent, which is why I was just now smelling it, I also hadn''t smelled the clown himself. I looked around for the culprit, but didn''t see anything just the clown, I signaled the sign for body to Amber. I couldn''t see her eyes through the opaque goggles, but I saw her shake with anger.


    I waited for the signal, when I would immediately attack clown man, I waited she was thinking, she moved moved three fingers up, I smiled. The first went down, my smile widened, the send went down, I adjusted my stance, the third went down.


    The clown was decapitated instantly my chains returned without any blood on them, the crimson chains glinted in the blue light, but they still held their red color, proof of their magic origin. "well then that was fast", Amber said stepping out of the bushes, she looked impressed, Or at least I think she did, I couldn''t her her eyes. Her mouth looked impressed I promise.


    I looked around the clowns body, its next had a back of some kind, I reached down and grabbed it. I ripped it off the body which proceeded to disapear, Amber jumped a little bit "that boring I wanted the nose" I said focusing on the bag. "What is that, I don''t know for sure but I think its blocking my smelling" I said, "can you destroy it" Amber asked looking at the body the clown was huddled over. I through up the pouch, whipped my chain up, splitting the sack.


    My eyes widened, "ghouls" I said loudly, Amber turned in surprise, "what!? where?". I looked at her "Everywhere."

 Night of Horror

    John


    I would like to be able to say that Amber and I stood our ground, and fought off hundreds of ghouls.


    But that would be a big lie, we ran, I swung my chains hard, running energy through them, making them glow crimson, giving them a sinister look. I chopped down ghouls left, and right, I could hear Amber firing her weapon rapidly, but no matter how many we killed there was always more.


    "How far are we from the house" Amber asked, through the shuffling sound of our running.


    "I''m not completely sure, but soon" I could see the outline of the trees in the distance, but with us being slowed down by the creepies it was hard to tell.


    A ghoul landed in front of us, Amber''s bullet hit it just as my chain sliced it in half. Not far now, another minute at our inhuman pace we would break through the tree line to the old farm.


    I had to slow down my running, so as to not leave Amber behind, we had run maybe a mile, and while she hadn''t slowed, the constant fighting, as well as sprinting seemed to be taking its toll on her.


    As soon as we broke through the treeline we ran to the house, Amber called in we were in distress, but the team was scattered, who knew how long it would be until they made it to the old farm house.


    We ran up the old porch, without turning around, I could still smell the rotting flesh stench that the ghouls gave off. We opened the door fast, we didn''t kick it open so that we could lock it behind us.


    I turned inhumanly fast, and shut the door behind us, I flipped the lock just as fast, then I curled my chains around my fists. This would allow me to do severe harm to whatever I punched, or touched, allowing to me to kill enemies, in close hand to hand combat situations.


    I waited at the door, I could hear Amber panting behind me, I knew that she had her gone trained on the window of the door, and just like that we waited.


    One second passed, then another, a full minute passed of silence before we sighed in relief. Amber basically collapsed, and started sitting on the ground.


    "Well that could have gone better, for a first mission I mean" I said with a smile, I still had plenty of energy, being superhuman had its perks.


    Amber gave a weak head nod in return, "How many do you think there were?" she said without looking up at me.


    I didn''t have a clear answer, but based on the scent that had lingered through the woods, "a incredibly large amount, bigger than any nest I have ever seen or heard of" I said sitting down next to her, with my back against the hallway wall.


    "They must be breeding around here" She said, her breath finally back to normal, "something must be keeping them here though."


    "Yeah, and it''s not the people, somehow they are eating without taking too many towns people, this many could easily wipe this little town off the map." I said looking at the cracked, and old wood ceiling.


    "Plus they avoided the house, as if they weren''t trying to do damage, it could be because whatever drew them here is in the house, or because they somehow have the knowledge to go without causing too much damage" Amber said, finally standing up.


    "We need to wait on the team to get here, we probably shouldn''t risk going outside at night, they have been known to hunt around this time." She said looking at me, like she expected me to argue


    "I agree, we should radio to let them know we didn''t die though" I added, the team would probably we worried about Amber, I doubted Jackson was worried for me.


    After Amber radioed into the team, which were just now on the way, considering they had been on opposite ends of the rural town. Amber started looking around the old house, we had wanted to check the woods, since we were hoping the darkness would draw in whatever had once lived here, and that was were the family had originally buried their dead relatives.


    I stood, and started following Amber through the house, the old farm house didn''t have any working lights, most of the walls had been gratified, Amber had her night goggles, but I was willing to bet my eyesight was better than that piece of equipment.


    "You weren''t running very fast out there" Amber said after a moment of silence, "I mean your file said you had speed around that of Jackson, maybe faster"


    I was silent for a moment, thinking of what to say without getting her mad at me, "I wanted to make sure you made it too" I admitted after a moment.


    Probably not the best thing to say to the team leader, but its better than saying "your slow".


    Amber stopped an turned around to look at me, she still looked like a cyborg with the big goggles on "thank you". This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    Now if you didn''t know, I am amazing at handling awkward moments, probably the best. "Uh, yeah" I said with a goofy smile, nailed it.


    Amber turned around, and kept looking around the house, which was in horrible condition, it looked like no one had updated the house it forever. Other than graffiti of course.


    We turned a corned, and came around stairs that lead up to the second floor, next to them was a door that was open, it looked to lead to the basement. I didn''t want to split up, I was positive I could handle myself, but Amber might still be tired after the sprinting.


    "Lets stick together" Amber said surprising me, I nodded, then realized she was looking up the stairs, "yeah sure" I said.


    As we walked up the pristine stairs, which sounded like they would fall apart with each step, we heard a slight jingle coming from bellow.


    "Looks like the team is here" Amber said turning around to face an unmoving me.


    I smelled something I hadn''t smelled in a long time, the smell of dying animals, mixed with rotting eggs.


    I held up my hand, the other hand going to my lips to signal silence, she immediately understood, I hadn''t smelled the team. No the scent I was picking up was that of a lesser demon.


    I couldn''t tell her was I was smelling, Demons, even lesser ones had superhuman hearing, chances were that if there was one in the house, it already knew we were there.


    I stepped down the stairs extremely quietly, behind me I heard Amber do the same, I was impressed with how quietly she could move on these broken stairs.


    We made it down the few stairs we climbed when I head it again, a jingling sound, like a very soft bell, I immediately knew it was coming from the basement.


    I signaled it to amber who nodded, I used signalling to tell her to stay here and wait for the team.


    I originally thought she was going to argue, but after a moment, she nodded. I couldn''t have her behind me if I needed to make a quick escape, and in a fight I had more versatility in this house.


    I stepped on the first stair, very softly, no sound, these stairs had been made of cement, meaning I could be quieter going down them, I thanked whatever deity''s there were, that I had chosen to wear gym shoes, and not boots.


    I continued down the stairs, which had a wooden wall on both sides, blocking my view, I reached the bottom soon without any problems, then very carefully I peaked my head around the big wall.


    Just as I had predicted, the little girl from the pictures was standing there in the middle of the basement room, on her white, flowery dress was a red stain, it didn''t take a genius to guess what that stain was.


    Also in the room was a table, which looked to be an operating table, on it was the biggest ghoul I had ever seen. I was unsure exactly what I was looking at, because unlike High Ghouls, this creature had no wings. Also where its left hand was, there was a giant crab like claw, covered in a blue chitin like shell.


    The little girl, which stunk of demon, was standing over the creature, holding what looked to be a blue decorative knife.


    I stayed there watching, the demon began to make slices on the creature, which never reacted in the slightest, I couldn''t see its eyes from my vantage point, so I was guessing it was dead.


    I was standing there, when up the stairs there was a crash, as if someone had just burst through a wall, I was originally worried, until I smelled James, and his magic. The cavalry had arrived.


    Upon hearing the crash the demon looked up, not like normally either, her head jerked upwards unnaturally fast. Her neck looked like it was broken from the angle that she was looking up.


    Then something even creepier happened, she looked down at me, just as fast. My eyes, and hers locked, I had been blown.


    Knowing there was no point in hiding, I stood up, and stepped out. The demons eyes never left me, then she started smiling.


    The demons teeth were yellow, and some where missing she looked like she had started smoking meth as a baby. Then she began to speak to me, her voice was unnaturally deep, another tell tale sign of demon possession, if you weren''t already sold on the idea.


    "Ah, so it seems the hunters have arrived" The little demon said with a murderous smile. She was speaking the demonic language, so it came as a shock when I understood, and replied in the same language.


    "Where you expecting us" I said smiling that I had the chance to shock her, her little eyes opened, and her smile immediately vanished.


    "How are you able to communicate in the ancient language, this is sacrilege for a human to understand me" She said, visibly enraged now.


    I could hear the team struggling with the door, above, my guess was that after I had been spotted the little demon closed the door, and was keeping closed through some magical means.


    This gave me the perfect chance to speak to the demon in private, to find out its weaknesses without showing mine to the team.


    "Who said anything about being human" I said with my smile growing wider.


    "Wait you can''t be the pr-" she started just as the door above was burst open, I immediately launched my chain at the little demon.


    Just before my chain reached her, she grabbed something on her operating table, then she vanished. I smiled, I knew I had rattled her, now chances were she would leave the town rather than face me again.


    "Guys the little girl, she was here" I yelled as they came down the stairs.


    "Are you okay" Amber said coming up behind me, "yes I''m fine no need to worry" I said stepping out of the way so they could come into the basement.


    "What the hell is that" Sam said looking at the monstrosity that was on the table, I shrugged letting him know I didn''t have a clue.


    Once James stepped off the stairs with Jackson behind him, he looked at the table "We fought something similiar in the warehouse" He said, summoning a great sword as he took a step towards the table.


    "What the hell is it" Jackson said looking at the seemingly dead creature in disgust.


    "I''m not sure but it looks a hell of a lot like your mother" I replied without thinking, I guess no one was expecting it, because nobody laughed.


    "whatever it is, we need to get it too a lab" Amber said, pulling out her phone I assume to call someone higher up to pick this creature up.


    "Why do you think the creatures haven''t been coming towards the house?" Eddy asked, looking around as if he was just realizing something.


    Admittedly it took me a second to realize, because the little girl was here, keeping them away. My eyes widened, the the screaming started all around the house.