*Note to the reader: Very Mature Audience! No trigger warnings, prepare to be horrified! 🤗 Merry Christmas 🎄
The Front Line Tent, on the Colonial side
Queen Anne’s War
December 24, 1708
The war had been dragging on for some time. The colonial soldiers were beginning to recognize the diminishing endurance of the European forces, as French, Spanish, and British soldiers were having an increasingly difficult time resisting. Help from Native allies was making a difference, and the colonial soldiers were beginning to recognize that the conflict would end soon. They’d be able to claim victory with a ceasefire.
However, there was one thing plaguing the area, something terrible and alarming. Stories of horrific happenings. People disappearing. Bodies recovered with gruesome wounds. Limbs missing, heads removed, and worst of all, some of the victims were completely exanguintated.
Every ounce of blood had been drained.
Leadership wasn’t sure what to make of it, worried it might be new, frightening tactics by desperate European special forces. Or, even worse, something else.
Something they didn’t want to face.
Colonel Phineas was going over several requisition orders sitting on his desk by candlelight inside the tent when he heard, “Sir,” outside his tent door.
“Enter,” Phineas replied, “do so quickly.”
The canvas tent door was moved aside, and his aide, Private Jude, ducked to walk in, removing his cover. He held the door for their Native operative, who stopped at the soldier’s side.
“Private,” Colonel Phineas glanced at them and returned to his work, “Why have you and the savage entered my tent at this hour? Isn’t it obvious I am quite busy?”
“Yes, sir,” Jude concurred, nodding his head, “But there’s a situation with one of our scouting parties.”
The Colonel looked up from his paperwork, “How so?”
“They’ve gone missing…”
*
Rio Rancho, New Mexico - 2007
Car Dealership at the top of the Highway 528 hill
The Regulator surveyed the parking lot, taking close stock of all the vehicles. He’d need something with a big V-8, a large trunk, and a back seat. Something black. There was a muscle car fitting the bill near the back of the front lot. A two-door Charger, gloss black. The windows were heavily tinted, probably not a legal grade.
Charles smiled.
He looked to his side, extended his arm, and tapped Chris on the back of the elbow. The heavier set probationary Knight looked back at him, slightly surprised as he hadn’t been paying attention.
“There,” The Regulator cinched the straps on his weapons shoulder holster a little tighter. He’d be moving quickly very soon.
“The Charger?” Chris asked, squinting as he looked toward the vehicle Charles was interested in. It was quite a ways off, and though he’d been getting in better shape, Chris still wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep up.
“Distract the security guards over there,” Charles pointed to the booth where three rental cops were watching TV, their backs to the security camera monitors. “Just like we did at the impound lot that one night.”
“You know,” Chris stood, “you could be a little nicer to me. I’m one of the good guys.”
“Technically,” Charles reached for his retracted bo staff on his weapons belt, “I’m not.”
Chris scrunched his face and hurried across the parking lot, watching the security guards in the booth as Charles took off in the other direction. The Regulator maneuvered his way through the cars, getting closer to the Charger. He slowed and glanced back at Chris, who was several feet from the office.
The Regulator continued to the car. He quickly picked the door lock and took his motorized screw driver from his pocket, finding the panel that covered the Electronic Control Unit.
Charles had been in the mountains with Claudio just a few days earlier, speaking with the old man about the situation. Shannon been taken, and Amy had been killed at Maximus’s place. Charles didn’t bother trying to hide how worried he was. Claudio had helped train the young man into a highly capable operator in the Dark World, but knew The Regulator was worried about his friends.
There was great reason to be.
“The young Knight Shannon,” Claudio had told him as they stood on the old man’s porch, watching the sunrise over the mountain range. “Her parents were killed not that long ago. Much longer for her…when she was a child. This plagues her, which is no surprise.”
“There’s so much death,” Charles said. “So much pain.”
“There will be more…”
Charles looked to the mountain, where he found some momentary comfort.
“You must find her,” Claudio said. “The Dark World is on its heels. Been hit hard in these final days, and it will be looking to strike back….”
Charles found the ECU and disconnected the tracking module. The car was now jailbroken. He looked up, watching the security guards still distracted by Chris.
He smiled.
*
1708 The Cave
Later that Christmas Eve,
A soldier nears the cave.
Snow had been falling for some time, adding to the several inches on the ground from winter’s harsh arrival. Private Maliki watched as a sultry woman sauntered to the cave opening, wearing a long, skin-tight black dress. She looked back, smiling as if she knew he were watching. She gently reached toward her long, fiery red hair, which should have been wet from the snow, but wasn’t. The sultress softly moved her hair from her shoulder, her eyes flashing red, highlighting her long, white fangs.
She entered the cave.
Maliki fixed his cover tighter, held onto his Colonial, army-issued musket, and hurried through the snow to follow her. He took a deep breath, making his way into the cave, a terrible odor assailing his senses. His eyes grew narrow, and his nostrils burned as the smell of death hit him sharply.
The woman in there was the devil, a demon in the flesh.
He could see multiple bodies piled in the corner, all ripped to shreds, their flesh vacant, almost hollow looking and gruesome. At first, it was confusing, then Maliki knew why they appeared that way. Their flesh contained no blood. He made his way into the cave, keeping his eyes front as he listened carefully to the dripping water. A fire in the center of the cave melted the snow from the outside.
“Thinking about making a move for your weapon?” the woman’s voice echoed against the walls. “You could,” she appeared behind him, moving from the entrance and walking toward the soldier. Maliki nearly leaped as he sensed her now behind him. She’d been there all along.
“Ill advised,” she continued, “It might anger me.”
“I’ve seen what you do,” Maliki said, “You’re…you’re something I can’t even describe.”
“Sure, you can, Maliki.”
His mind began racing, fear coursing through his veins. He’d never told her his name. How on God’s green earth…?
“I know all about you,” she said, “Your induction into the army, before being legally eligible. Your lust for carnage and mayhem. I know a great deal.”
The sultress moved closer to the fire, finding a large stone where she stopped, neatly moving her long dress beneath her as she sat. The woman moved her long dress between her legs, and her thighs peeked through the material. Maliki looked away, unaccustomed to being around a provocative woman.
“You know, being followed,” she said, “I might be inclined to feed you to my hell hound.”
“I’ve seen no hellhound,” Maliki looked at her, a sudden rush of defiant bravery taking him over. “Those are mythical beasts in England. These are the colonies. Was such a creature stowed away on the Mayflower?”
“Oh, you are feisty with Lillith! I might like that,” the demon moved in a flash, unseen by the young soldier as she swiftly reached and grasped his chin. The sultry woman leaned forward, getting very close to his face.
“I have so many options, Maliki,” she walked around him and smiled, “I could seduce you…”
He could feel his heart racing, like it would beat out of his chest. She wrapped her hand around his wrist, “Or I could tear your limbs from your body. Toss you into my pile in the corner. Bleed you later…when I so desire.”
“I…” Maliki felt his words leaving his throat, shaky as his courage was disappearing. Lillith pushed him toward the ground, great strength forcing him to a knee. Maliki attempted to resist as she pushed him onto his back and knelt over him, stradling him as he dropped his musket.
“I see no hound…” Maliki managed to say.
Lillith smiled, her lips rising over her protruding fangs, which grew as he looked into her glowing red eyes. She pointed behind her, and Maliki shifted his attention toward the back of the cave, an intense growl coming from the shadows.
“Believe me,” she said, “My hound can call himself whatever he wants…”
The car dealership, 2007
Charles placed his skeleton key in the ignition, having twisted the red and orange fuel and fire wires together to activate the car’s ECU. He turned the key and the motor roared to life.
Chris watched as several security guards turned their attention to the Charger. He looked at the others, who were raising their radios to make a call.
“Oh, shit,” one of them said.
Charles mashed the gas pedal, the transmission in reverse, and the rear end of the car sped from the parking space. He cranked the wheel, and the mechanical monster careened around the corner, stopping at the end of a 180-degree turn. Charles put the transmission into Drive and stomped the gas pedal.
The car roared forward as a shadow fell over several cars parked ahead. Something was flying over them.
“Oh shit…”
Chris watched a huge, flying creature swoop over the black Charger as it raced toward the security office.
Suddenly, one of the cars located near the office was smashed into the concrete, its wheels collapsing inward. Chris saw the werewolf lycanthrope on top of its roof, snarling in the light from the street lamp. Its fur was standing on end, and the creature’s mouth hung open, saliva dripping from its lower lip, its huge teeth slathered in blood.
It grasped something in its clawed fingers, something that wasn’t his.
Chris covered his mouth with his hand. In a muffled voice, he said, “That’s someone’s arm…”
Charles watched the hellhound crush the car, sharply turning its head toward him as the Regulator neared the security office. The werewolves’ glowing green eyes were fixated on Charles.
The Regulator’s gaze narrowed, and he let off the gas.
“Tiberious…”
*
The cave...
Lillith was stradling Maliki, her hideous fangs inches from his throat, when the moonlight from the cave entrance was suddenly blocked. Private Jude rushed through the opening and raised his musket, pulling back the flint hammer.
“Hell awaits your soul,” the soldier said, “Demon!”
He fired, striking the sultress in the side with a .50 caliber lead ball. Lillith was tossed from Maliki as she shrieked. Jude lowered the musket and began walking toward Maliki, “Are you alright? We’d better lea…”
The terrifying shrill came from the shadows. Lillith burst past Maliki, headed straight for Jude. A terrible, huge werewolf creature emerged from the shadows as well, leaping from a large boulder in the dark and grasping Maliki by the face. The last thing the soldier saw was fangs and a gaping maw crushing his eye sockets.
Lillith struck Jude with a terrible force, ripping the soldier’s body in two. She moved his head aside and buried her fangs into his throat, crushing the rest of him into the cave wall, where she stopped and fed.
Lillith released her bite, leaning her head back as she shrilled into the night, the soldier’s blood spraying over her body. Her large, leathery wings wrapped around the demon and her prey.
*
Charles slammed the brakes and stopped the car in front of the security office. He opened the door, stepped out, and unholstered his HK UMP .45, raised it, and aimed at the lycanthrope. Charles fired, littering the werewolf with a barrage of silver-tipped bullets. The beast fell to the ground, bleeding from its injuries.
Chris unsheathed his .45 semi-auto from his shoulder holster, cocked the weapon, and fired twice at the lycan’s face. It roared in agony. The sound of something overhead flooded the area, and the probationary Knight ducked slightly, looking up as he directed the muzzle of his large weapon in the same direction.
“Have you forgotten?…” Everyone in the parking lot heard Lillith’s words.
Charles was replacing the clip on his HK when he slowed, looking toward the sky as the creature hovering overhead changed direction.
“You loved me once,” the sultry voice said, “Charles, you cared for me, not long ago. Just a glimmer of time in a sea of eternity, and you were in love with me…”
The Regulator pulled the hammer back, chambering a round as he grasped the gunstock, ready to fire.
“We can have that passion again, my love.”
Charles shook his head, “Show yourself,” he said.
Chris watched as the werewolf was slowly rising from the snowy asphalt, the silver-tipped bullets being expelled from the wounds at its side. Its face was reforming as well, quickly looking like there’d never been an injury whatsoever.
“Oh dear God,” Chris stammered.
“We can have that passion again…”
Charles raised his weapon…
Great instalment to The Dark World!
I am so happy that I was able to have this little peace this morning so I can read. I took that bit of horded time to come and check on how your latest project is going, and I am glad that I did. Great job as always, Gabriel.