*Luca*
I wake up with a twitch. I had been dreaming about Soleil. Her eyes had been burning with anger and had looked at me with disgust.
“Where are we ?” I sit up, blinking confused.
“Poland”. Martin says with a huge grin.
“Sure”. Even if I have no idea about what time it is, I am pretty sure we haven’t gone that far. It looks like early afternoon outside. “Seriously, where are we ?”
“No questions. You don’t need to know that, because they don’t need to know that”.
“Can the old one really read my mind ?” I
*Luca* “That must be some kind of new record, huh Darrell ?” Martin puts down four cold beers on the wonky camping table where we all sit, sweat running down our faces. We have been struggling with the tents on the auto campers. Being stronger and faster doesn't really help here. As we are cooling down in silence, Andreas shows up. He puts his iPad on the table and sits down. I notice how he sits stiffly and stares at the screen, but I ignore it, it has to be my parents' problem, not mine. “So.. I was online when we drove here”. Andreas croaks without looking up. “Okay”. Dad grumbles. “You have not told any of Your friends where we have gone, have you ?”
*Luca*Mom is waiting for us when we return. She looks nervous and has a tight look to her face, her whole body actually. She looks at me, the question clear in her eyes and I nod, making the shoulders visible fall down as she lets go of the tension.“Oh my baby boy”. She whispers and Andreas throws himself into her arms, sobbing like the kid he still is if truth be told.“Mom, where is Victor ? It is a bit too early for him to see this”. I nod towards the autocamper.“Martin has taken him and the twins up to the playground. Your father is waiting in the tent. I think it might be time for a talk”. She hugs Andreas again, and reaches out to gently rub my arm.With an arm around each of us, she leads us into the tent. If everything hadn’t been this fucked up I
*Luca*Martin stops the engine, when it is not possible to drive farther down the growel road. In front of us is some marsh land with sandy ground and small pools of water.“From here there is a bit of a way on foot”. He gets out of the car. Breathing in little hufs, checking the area for people.I join him, facing the wind. There is no fresh scent of people in the area, but I can hear the faint sounds from a house we passed half a kilometer back on the road. “Is the house going to be a problem ?”“Nah I don't think so”. Martin is listening intently. “They are too far away. And it sounds like they are on the way to bed”.&nbs
*Luca* “Can you feel anything ?” I hear Martin ask outside. Andreas answers him quickly. “No”. “I better chain you up just in case”. Martin says and out of the corner of my eye, I see how he chains my baby brother up to the other wall. “What ?” I ask when the little nerd keeps staring at me. “Sorry I just can’t help imagining how you will look. If you are like a Howling type or more like the Van Helsing ones ?” He says thoughtfully. “Can’t you just keep Your stupid... argh”. The sharp pain explodes like a gunshot in my forehead and then it pulsa
*Soleil*South of the hospital there is an elongated grass area, where small trees grow along the paths leading in different directions. It is a place often used by joggers, but tonight the place is empty.I suddenly remember that a man was found here a short time ago, murdered by stab wounds to his belly. Maybe people are still a bit scared to come here ? Apparently the murder had been a robbery gone wrong. It makes me think about what both Siri and Tjalfe had said. That not only supernatural monsters kill people.I look towards the small stream behind the widest path. Somewhere out there in the dark is a monster worse than the most psychotic serial killer. Somewhere out there is the dark one. A monster who isn’t just a dumb animal like the hamram, but some creature who apparently is after me. Why ? And how does Davina’s death fit into this ? The mental carpe
*Soleil*I have only just stepped onto the bike trail along the main road when the last buzz leaves me. Now when I no longer have Siri’s comforting mental blanket wrapped around me the repressed feelings start to lash at me like a whip. I stagger into a bus stop, and slump down on the bench. It is impossible to keep a single thought. Guilt, impotence and disgust fighting to take me over, until they form a United front against me, like a big flashing neon sign; It is all Sol’s fault.The bus stop starts shaking around me and I have to grab the bench so I don't slip to the ground. Earthquake ? In London ? Scared out of my mind I look at the road where a car drives by, not affected by the shaking at all. I lift a hand to brush my hair behind my ear and realise it isn’t the ground shaking. It is me. I
*Casper*“And where are you going this time ?” Natascha steps out of the office.“Why are you always breathing down my neck ? Are you jealous or something ?” I give her a cheeky laugh.“It is my job to make sure things go by the book here and I am not interested in meeting my final death because of the shit you pull”. She hisses.“And what kind of shit do I pull Miss Sidorova ?” My eyes slide down to her cleavage, it is showing off a rather nice rack. Even if she is female, the feeling in my pants tells me that I can still get a hard on for a hot woman.“Don’t play coy with me, whelp. You are nothing but a toy. When the boss grows tired of you, who do you think will have to deal with you ?” She sends me an evil glare. “So let's
*Casper*I slow down as I reach the gas station. Once again I have been handed the job of surveilling that annoying bitch. Why Pusscat is so damned obsessed with her I don't get. Okay she is kind of hot, but she is like.. totally frigid. I had made a move on her in the Grotto and she did not put out at all. Why does he want her when he has me ? He says that it is all about the hunt, but I am sure there is more to it and I hate that stupid cow for it.I reach the house she lives in and walk to the edge of the grounds. As expected there is an invisible wall. I spit at it feeling agitated. The spit just hangs there for a moment, before slowly sliding down the nothing. I start giggling hysterically at the bizarre sight. What the hell, predators like me are real, so why not witches ?
*Soleil* "Oh! I never thought we would get away from Scotland”. I kick off my shoes and throw the backpack on the floor. "It was getting cramped up there”. "We're getting ok at it actually”. Luca closes the door to the small apartment and slams the lock. "We handed out some serious ass kicking” I huff. "Yes, we could win every time if you did not try to decide it all”. "You can just accept that I'm always right”. He grins. "I do when you realize that it's not about being right, but about what works !" I star defiantly up at him, but surrender as he pulls me into him. "I'm just happy you came back”. He bends down and kisses me. "So am I". The butterflies flutter joyfully inside me, and I pull him down in a deeper kiss. I twist my fingers into his tousled mocha brown hair and indulge in the feel of his lips and exploratory tongue. “Well, what do you say ? English or history ?” He withdraws and deftly avoids my aggrieved gaze. "Seriously ? You want us to read our hom
*Narrator* “Magnificent !” The lord of the wind's eyes shone with obvious joy. “I could not have done thatbetter myself”. "You were entrusted to bestow on this man your strength, and now this !" The lady of the earth thrust her arm out against a settlement, engulfed in flames. "We were just letting out a little smoke". The lord of the fire grumbled. "We just happened to realise that If humans do not gather as a people, then they will never overcome the brood and not at all the queen”. “It might very well be right. But this is not the solution”. She sighed heavily. “They were meant to live happily, not to be subjected to more tyranny”. A small lake began to trickle up from the ground beneath them and manifested itself in a figure like the other three. "It's over”. The lady of the water said. “There is no hope anymore. Tonight they will gather, and your kinship will be wiped out”. "Oh, I can not get air". The lord of the wind sobbed with laughter. "Very funny !" Snarled the fir
*Tjalfe* The villagers have never seen Hrazgouls so close before. Only a few, fleeting glimpses have been had. They always come after the Bakorshas have finished emptying their prey of blood, to eat the remains. In the morning, when the residents venture out into the daylight, there are only pieces of clothing, shattered bones and stinking piles of entrails left in rust-red stains on the ground. When one of them has tried to escape over the mountains, the remaining ones do not even get to see the Bakorshaer’s servants before the death cry of the fugitive resounds across the valley. Now they come in between the houses. One being more abominable than the next. Giant beasts with luminous, yellow eyes, whose long gaps flashes with large serrated rows of teeth. Their upright bodies were covered with dense coarse fur, while the broad shoulders and long, bulging arms end up in a paw-like hand so large that it could effortlessly crush the skull of a man. In between them comes smaller cre
*Tjalfe* Although darkness reigns behind the houses, it is easy to find the victim. The child’s screams drive Saren forward, and the fire blazes furiously in his hand. He finds the child just as life leaves the body. Like a breastfeeding infant it lays the arms of a Bakorsha, whose teeth sit deeply buried in the child’s thighs. With an insane scream, Saren sends a long beam of fire towards the monster. The heat is so high that it instantly sets both the Bakorsha and the child corpse on fire. When the last rays leave Sarens hand, both fall on the ground, charred and annihilated. The embers reveal the next victim and her assailants. It is the child's mother who lays helplessly on the firewood block while one of the dark ones brutally mates her and rips her flesh to blood with its dirty nails. Three others are biting into her arms and neck, where they greedily empties her of blood. Saren raises his hands to obliterate the creeps and free the woman from her afflictions, but nothing h
*Tjalfe* Malicious laughter and agitated voices intrudes in the dark, first from the west, but gradually the sounds spread until they surround the whole village. Bringing promises of carnage and death. The people flee back out of their houses, and all search for the relative safety of the fire. Quickly they get their torches lit and turn front towards the enemy, who is still hiding in the shelter of the darkness. Only now do they become aware thatthat their medicine man stands among them without a torch. The fear of Bakorsha had for a moment made them forget the new danger that had manifested itself in their midst, but then the burning house begin to give in to the ravaging of the flames, and it seems to dawn on them what they had witnessed as they scouted out the windows. Those closest to the medicine man hurried awayfrom him. This is a mistake and part of me wants to warn them, but it is too late anyway, and a shadow flies past and grabs one of the men. His howl is drowned
*Tjalfe* I am watching from my spot inside the storm, watching as things unfold below me. The people look up at the storm, which suddenly hangs over their heads. Panic and confusion arises in the village. Everyone let go of what they have in their hands and run into the middle of the square to seek shelter around the bonfire. Humans are no longer one, they have been divided by fear, and everyone care only to keep himself and his offspring alive. Everyone pushes and hustles to get closest to the fireplace andfarthest from the edge of the circle, for now that the sun's rays are hidden behind the heavy slate-gray clouds the Bakorshas will arrive prematurely. In the middle of the village a large bonfire is burning, and torches have been laid nearby, so they can be quickly ignited. The people has learned that the Bakorshas are not enthusiastic about fire, and that it sometimes happen that the sharp-toothed monsters will abandon the attack and instead throw themselves at another vict
*Tjalfe* The valley is a beautiful, small oasis between the high mountains, which in its time had attracted the inhabitants. They had lived in peace and perfect harmony. The mountains had shielded them from the worst winds, so the crops were diverse and the people of the city had never experienced distress. The only entrance to the village is an opening to the west where the surrounding mountains remain broken by a narrow passage. The view over the pass makes it possible to detect travelers coming from distant parts of the continent in good time, and show them hospitality. No one knew of anything but tolerance and no one dreamed that travelers could come up with anything but peace. It ended when the dark ones came. From then on, the valley became a prison for the people. During the day they were trapped, and at night they were harvested like grapes on stalks. There was no way out off there, all passable roads were blocked by Hrazgouls, the servants. Many had tried to flee, but eac
*Lefu* A tear rolls down my cheek. "Goodbye, Katje". I whisper softly. "I swear your death will be avenged”. "Now you see what they are capable of”. Strano puts his hands in the pockets of his night-black Armani jacket. "It is only the beginning”. I hiss angrily at him. "How can you choose them over your own ?" "You still do not understand, do you ?" Strano rolls his eyes. “They would not be here if it were not for you. Remember that”. “You knew it all from the start, right ? That there were several dogs and that I knew about them. That's why you did not kill me right away when you came up here and picked me up. That’s the truth right ?" I can’t help but seek assurance that I am right. He gives a small sigh. “I saw an opportunity and I took it. When the girls sacrificed Elisabeth, I could not prove that they were involved. I bet you would throw in the dogs as bait if you got the chance, and that Lyndsey would bite”. "What about her ?" I nodded down toward the figure with the
*Luca* My gaze is fixed as I step forward towards Harry. The dark blonde ulfhedin might be the pack leader, but this is my prey, and I do not shy away from the warning snarl of the alpha. Harry must have come to the same conclusion, for he goes silent and withdraws. I stop in front of the charred statue. My nails slide down the rough surface. Although the texture feels like charred wood, the shell is massive. I withdraw my arm and fire. The charred crust cracks, and I have to strike through once more to penetrate into the goal. When the shell breaks, a rain of coagulated blood sprays over me. I stick my paw into the evil bitch, find what I am looking for, and pull hard. The heart is still pumping weakly as I hold it up in front of the statue. I growl triumphantly and squeezeit in my powerful fist. The heart stops beating, and the red flesh-filled tissue gives way and explodes in a cloud of dust. It is over. "What do we do now ?" Soleil's cousin stands in front of the grotesqu