Mark and Veronica shared a worried look, their faces dimly lit by the young woman’s mobile phone. In the harsh surrounding darkness of the cave, they could only hesitantly pause. For a long second, they pretended as if they’d heard nothing at all. Had it been a figment of their imagination?

TOC TOC

Another knock, exactly as it had been before. Clearly not imagined.

“Anyone there?” Mark asked, watching Veronica’s eyes widen as she quickly turned towards the wooden door, shoulders tense.

“Yes,” a voice replied- male. There was a pause. “Did you get lost in the woods?”

Veronica glared at Mark, and seeing his shrug, she turned towards the door. “Will you open the door?”

“Not feeling very tempted currently,” the man on the other side said. “I can smell the sex from over here. I’d rather not choke during introductions.” A small pause. “Quick question, my girl over here can be a little fidgety at times, doesn’t like crowds much. Could you come out with only one girl?”

“One… girl?” Mark and Veronica glanced at one another. He frowned as she made a show to stare around the cave. She gestured at him to continue talking. “Well, I mean, there’s just the one here, so…”

“Oh, great. Then we’ll wait here when you’re ready. No rush, it’s not like we’re exposed to a possible feral popping in or anything.”

Veronica frowned but nodded, moving to reach into her backpack and pulling out the can of spray paint. Her eyes narrowed as she took out her lighter with her other hand, holding them close to one another. Mark scowled and shook his head vigorously. A little spritz of fire was going to help them with exactly nothing at all. Not even as a bluff. If these strangers were armed… He reached into the backpack and pulled out the gun. It didn’t have bullets, but… maybe it could work as a bluff.

Into his pocket it went, its weight an almost comforting one as he moved towards the door, Veronica close behind. He pointed for her to put away the paint, to which she shook her head. She shook her head. There was a heated, wordless discussion. Mark gave up. “Well, we’re coming out.”

Using his free hand, he nudged the door open. But there was only darkness on the other side. Mark very suddenly realized he couldn’t see anything at all.

The moment he’d stepped through, a hand reached out from the shadows and shoved him to the side. It sent his body tumbling into the ground. The unnatural blackness broke, light returning immediately after. Makr barely caught a glimpse of fire and the noise of pressurized paint before he was pinned face-down to the ground.

The male’s voice from earlier spoke coldly. “Kill her.”

“No you don’t, b-”

Veronica’s words had been mixed with the distinct sound of the spray can going off and a burst of flame. Then she shrieked, and all sounds came to a very sudden stop. There was the metallic clink of the can falling to the ground, closely followed by the lighter. But not one more noise.

Silence.

Then… the sound of droplets. Not from the rain outside, but from within the tunnel.

“Yuck!” a new voice spoke. Mark couldn’t see, as he was being held against the dirt. But he heard a wet thud following the proclamation. “She was human. What the fuck? Noah, what the fuck!?”

“What do you mean, human?”

“Maidens don’t go down that fast, you numb-skull. She. Was. Human. I killed a fucking female human. Fuck, the boss is going to be so pissed at me. Why the fuck did you tell me to kill her!?”

“How should I know she was human? Don’t dump this shit on my lap.”

“Fuck you, Noah, you gave the order. If the Boss asks, that’s the fucking truth.”

“No you don’t, no one’s telling him shit, just… just dump the body out for the ferals or something,” the man growled. “How do you get two humans alone out here in the boonies, anyway? They should be dead. Inspect their stuff.”

“What did you do to her!?” Mark growled, trying to fight against the grip of steel that was preventing his head from moving at all. His arms flung to fight off the attacker.

A groan escaped him as they knelt on his back, one hand reaching out and pulling the firearm from his grip. “Noah, this one has a gun.” The attacker paused. There was a click. “No bullets.”

“A gun? What type?”

“Standard revolver, smells like gunpowder and lead.”

“Boss is going to kill me if it turns out this shithead is one of ours. Who’d be shitty enough to send one without giving a call?”

“Hey!” Mark roared, even as his nose was kept firmly against the dirt. “What the fuck did you do to her?” He took in a deep breath. “Veronica!”

There was a sigh. “She’s dead, sorry about that.” The tone was dismissive, almost annoyed. “Real grand mess killing a human woman like that. We have principles, you know?”

The heartbeat of silence brought the feeling of his stomach dropping straight through a pit. “You fucker, you fucker, what the fuck is wrong with you. I will fuck you up!”

“I said sorry, didn’t I? You… Shery, would you get him up? I don’t like talking to the back of a head.”

With the same incredible force that had knocked him down, the hand holding his arm tightly against his back had him stand up just as easily. Mark’s eyes immediately turned towards the open door he’d come through. There lied Veronica.

She was on her back, her body still. Too still. He couldn’t see what had happened. The angle blocked his view past her knees, but he noticed the blood pooling around her ankles.

Bile rose up from Mark’s throat. He turned away. “Fucking hell.” He swallowed it down, the cold dread mixing with anger. He clenched his teeth and turned towards the two that stood in front of him.

A male and a woman. The male wore a drenched leather trench coat of some sort. He was looking away from Mark, and had a bed of gray hair and pale skin. “Brye, clean that mess, will you? I don’t want the smell to attract any ferals.”

The man gestured at the body, glaring at the woman.

It took Mark a heartbeat to realize she was not human. “You said to kill her.” She stood like a predator, a slight forward slouch. Her eyes were gold and pierced right through Mark. She wore a black leather collar and an over-sized brown shirt. Atop her head were two triangular black ears, aimed squarely at the trench-coat wearing human.

“And you didn’t check,” Noah replied.

“How was I supposed to check? I saw some fire shit. I had a split second to decide if she was going to roast me or not. You gave the order. I carried through.”

“And the Boss won’t hear about this because he’d have our heads on a plate. Just get a fucking move on, we don’t have all day here.” The male turned around to look at Mark right as he’d said this. One of his eyes was missing, and a deep burn covered the left side of his face. Noah smirked. “Wow, not even a flinch.”

“Fuck your ugly ass face,” Mark growled.

“If your girl were alive, we might have talked things through, but that’s just bad luck. Anyway, let’s cut this short.” Noah stepped forward, reaching into his coat and pulling out a black piece of glass, spherical in form and the size of a baseball. The man held it in front of Mark’s face for a long second. There was a short laugh. “Yes, this is what you think it is. Now, you tell me what I want to know, and I’ll let you go back into the forest along whatever way you came from.”

He spat at him. “Up yours.”

“Brave. Brye?”

“No comms in here, no weapons, no stones, no nothing. This shit is too weird. They can’t have made it all the way from Sinco unprotected like this.”

“You heard the gal, I want some answers.” Noah grinned widely, leaning closer. “How did you get here? Who brought you? Do you have backup?”

“You should get the other half of that face roasted, it’d be an improvement.” Mark glowered.

The man sighed. “Well, whatever, it’s always easier to dispose of idiots.”

Noah stepped forward. Mark struggled, but he might as well have attempted to bend steel with sheer force of will. The one keeping him held in place did not budge an inch. His eyes widened as he looked at that black sphere. Whatever it was, it was not good news. Especially if Noah’s smirk was so wide.

But he couldn’t escape. His arms were gripped too firmly by the woman behind him.

He didn’t get the time to think of something else to attempt. The man stepped closer and pressed the sphere against his chest. It was cold and hard. Firm.

Mark held his breath, flinching. He expected pain, or worse. Whatever this thing was, its purpose was not friendly. Maybe some sort of shock device?

A moment passed, then another. He opened his eyes to look down at the blackened item.

It was still there, pressed against him, having done… nothing?

Mark realized the man was equally surprised at the turn of non-events.

“It… failed?” Noah muttered, eyes widening.

The young redhead lunged forward. His arms might have been held firmly, but he still had enough room to smash his head against the man’s nose. A trajectory of inertia that ended against Noah’s face that lasted only a split second. The effect was immediate. With a grunt and a crack, Noah stepped back, reaching for his face as blood spurted out. “Stupid little shit,” he grunted, wiping the nose and glaring.

The glare turned into a look of terror as he saw he had dropped the black sphere.

And Mark had kicked it his way.

It took Noah a split second as he tried to lunge out of the way, not even considering blocking it somehow. But he was not fast enough. The ebony spherical piece of glass hit against his shin. The man shrieked as the sphere split in two, and purple and red light bathed his body. The scream became louder, a shrill cry for help. The man’s body began to glow in a deep pink light, the glow spreading over every inch. The formless light dissolved instantly, being pulled towards the black object.

Noah clawed at the dirt, desperately trying to stop the inevitable. But the light was spreading fast, faster than he could move. His legs were gone within half a second, barely a heartbeat, and the next it was reaching up his torso. The light intensified as his scream died out, only light remaining behind, clawing hands sinking into the dirt before they lost all ability to keep purchase, enveloped in the blinding glow and flung into the shining purple light within the sphere.

The scream came to an abrupt end as the glass orb clicked shut.

A deathly silence fell.

“No fucking way,” the woman holding him whispered, faltering.

The grip keeping him in place loosened ever so slightly. It was enough for Mark to quickly pull himself free and stumble forward. He gave the black spherical thing a wide berth to avoid so much as risk touching it while moving fast towards the cave entrance. His steps were uneven as he moved, feeling out of balance. He looked over his shoulder at the woman who’d held him in place.

She had dull gray skin and a buzz cut of brown hair. Her face was slack, eyes wide, and her fingers were reaching up to touch the leather collar around her neck. There was a slight shimmer in the black leather. “I’m…” Tears ran down her face, but there was a slight smile.

Brye stepped out of the tunnel, holding onto the ankle of Veronica’s body and stopping as she saw the scene arrayed before her.

Her eyes flickered from Mark to the other woman, and then to the black glass sphere.

Eyes widening, she dropped the corpse.

“Well shit.” Her eyes moved to the other woman. “We need the human, Shery.”

“Wh-?”

“Priorities, we’re going to go feral if we let him get away.” Those golden eyes turned towards Mark. Deathly focus. “I’ll let you play with the new toy after that. Deal?”

The woman named Shery touched her choker, nodding. “Deal.”

Mark turned and ran.

He didn’t make it very far.