Two and Three

The soldier helped me get back on my feet. I was still in shock, when a loud scream broke our silence.

We ran outside, it was coming from a couple of houses ahead of ours. I told the man to call for back-up but not only he dismissed my comments; he also dragged me to the scene. Literally, he dragged me, despite my protests…

Once inside the house, we saw that it was a mess. The officer tried switching on the lights, but all were broken. He rummaged through his suit, until he found a torch. He gestured me to light his path…

It was an empty house; all walls were covered in blood, it forming mad scrabbles… Looking through the disaster, we found Oscar, or what remained of it… We were investigating when another scream followed…

We ran to the master bedroom. Travis was there; held immobile by horrible gashes to its arms and legs. Emma was there too, lying immobile on the floor, with massive wounds in her back. Removing a knife from the woman's back, a little kid greeted us with a cold smile.

“R-Ritchie?! What do you think you are doing? “

The kid didn’t answer. He gave me one murderous smile, a smile so cold and callous that only a true monster could give it. 

“Didn’t you hear me? Drop that knife right now!”

I suddenly noted Ritchie’s face. It had five black marks, all expanding from the centre of his face. Its eyes were unnatural, they weren't focused on anything, it was like if he was under the influence of something…The officer was unnerved by that stare, and made a threatening gesture with its gun.

Ritchie simply sighted…

“Out”

All I could do was look in horror, as a huge black hand came out of Ritchie’s mouth. Then another, and then… I vomited when I saw it. Travis was just speechless.

In front of me stood a creature… No, in front of me stood a monster. It was black, black as night. Its human-like body was held together by stitches, as if it were a ragdoll. Every part of him, every limb, every joint, even its face, was stitched together.

Such being moved in such a way, it moved like if its tendons were made of concrete. Such a stiff gait, a stiff and disjointed gait… It moved until being face to face with the poor Scotsman. The creature then put its hand on its face.

“IN!!”

The man was screaming, flailing and trying to get out of the creature’s hold, inadvertently making more blood flow out of his body. The officer began shooting at the creature, but all bullets went through it. The creature then jammed his hand into Travis's mouth, much to his horror.

“IN!! IN!!”

The creature kept shouting “In” while gripping the man’s face. It then noticed all the blood around it. TRhe creature then started clawing at the blood. It then gave up, moving in its unnatural way towards Ritchie.  A horrible cracking noise assaulted my ears as the creature’s arms and legs suddenly began growing in length, as it began contorting in such horrifying shapes…

It then grabbed the unconscious boy by its face and held it high. It began shouting “In” as before, but this time, I threw myself at it. I don’t know what grabbed hold of me… I just… I just wanted to protect the boy. I pinned the creature to the ground, trying to not vomit by hearing those disgusting breaking sounds…

The creature didn’t make an attempt to free itself.  It simply stood still, and it wasn’t because I was applying strength. It didn’t want to move.

“Done”

The creature gave a big sight. My eyes widened and I quickly recoiled, as its body slowly melted in a huge black fog. It was so foul and it burned, like pepper spray…  I got up immediately, seeking to hide from that malignant miasma… But it engulfed me, no matter where I went.

Something told me to not breathe. I contained my breath, not matter how much I struggled for air… I could feel hands trying to pry my mouth open. I heard poor Travis letting out an ear-splitting scream, and a malignant voice laughing heartily.

I was getting dizzy, for a minute I felt a hand inside my mouth... The world was slowly fading to black... It felt like I was going away....

But then the cloud dissipated. I gasped for air, taking many mouthfuls of it… Allowing my lungs to expand… And I see Travis. Or what remained of him… His body withered, as if he had been left in vinegar for too long.  His skin turned to an ugly blackish color; it became thin and too stretched, his eyes were gone… 

 God… His face… His face was frozen in an endless scream…

As soon as I regained my breath, I threw myself at Ritchie. His eyes were open… but for all intents and purposes… He was gone.  Tears were bubbling behind my eyes. I… I… I felt devastated. What was I going to tell his father? That a black cloud of death got his son? That those bloody terrorists attacked him here? I couldn’t say any of this to him… I was going to be called mad. Or worse…

I hugged the poor kid’s cold body. I wasn’t his father, but I felt so much pain… Two persons gone… One after the other…

A huge tremor shook me out of my grief. A loud sound assaulted my ears… It sounded like metal clashing together… I heard desperate begging and crying… Immediately, I ran outside.

The officer followed me, as we came into an abominable visage. People were running; the streets were aflame… Disaster was reigning… A long pennant hanged from a building, depicting the same stylized mask from before… Along with the motto “His reign is the best… For us all.”