Chapter 39

“Repent! The end is near!” An old man with a sign chanted.

Lina Dunham was an up and coming news reporter for channel sixty-four. She was sent down to Black Watch Asylum to cover the story about the protests.

She’d seen a homeless man with a sign preaching about the end of the world and how it was all coming to an end. She thought the man was nuts, but when she saw the clouds suddenly form up above and crackle with violet-colored lightning, she couldn’t help but think the old man was onto something.

“No more Black Watch! Shut it down!” The protesters shouted.

The protesters were still protesting against the Asylum but the peaceful protests had gone violent. People were now obstructing the streets, blocking traffic. Those in the parked cars would come out, angry, and get into an altercation with the protesters.

The protesters had also turned violent, barging into nearby places of business and causing a ruckus. When the sky began to rain, instead of calming the fire of the protesters it only spurred them into more violence. Now the whole place was turning to chaos.

There were a dozen cops stationed by the gates of Black Watch Asylum but they didn’t move against the protesters. They were outmanned. She had interviewed one of the cops earlier who said there would be reinforcements coming soon. The National guard. Still, there were too many people here and not enough cops to enforce law and order.

“Lina, try and get an interview with that man with the sign.”

Lina heard the voice coming from her headset. She wanted to ask why it was necessary to interview a crazy old man, but she didn’t. Instead she pushed against the crowd of protesters and made her way to the old man who stood at the corner waving a “The end is Near” sign.

“Sir! Sir, we were wondering if we could get a few words!” Lina shouted over all the noise.

The old man turned to her. “The end is near! Repent to god before it’s too late!” He shouted.

The stench coming from the man’s breath made her eyebrows sizzle. She pulled back and shoved the microphone up to his mouth. “Sir, why do you think the world is ending?”

“’The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare!’ Look at what’s going on around you! People turning against one another as those with money hunt the less fortunate, is this what humanity has come down to? God is angry with us, just look up at the sky! The purple lightning in the sky, since when have we ever seen such things? The thunder so loud it is literally shaking the buildings down to its foundations. When the lightning strikes, it will burn everything, just you watch!”

The man ended his tirade then looked directly at the camera, “Repent before it’s too late! Accept god into your heart and all will be forgiven!”

Lina received orders from her ear-piece and turned to the camera. “We’d like to remind viewers that there is no evidence of humans being hunted for sport within the walls. It’s all pure speculation at this point.”

As soon as she finished her sentence they heard a thunderous crash come from the walls of Black Watch Asylum.

The protesters rioting, and causing fires paused in their steps and stared at the wall.

Those in their cars pressed on the breaks and stared at the wall.

The whole world seemed to pause as everyone turned to the wall at once. They saw a golden spear protruding out of the wall as the giant gates swung back and forth. The spear had pierced the door but it hadn’t opened it.

Not long after the doors exploded off its hinges as something collided with it, knocking it down. The thick gates of Black Watch Asylum were on the ground, on top of it stood a violet-scaled demon with black horns that sprouted out of its temples and curled downward. It looked around with eyes like a fiery lake.

Its gaze stopped at Lina, and she could’ve sworn the thing was looking inside its soul, devouring it. She felt her heart palpitate and her knees shake. Its gaze moved on from her. She blew out a breath in relief.

The protesters were silent, nobody moved. Whether from disbelief that such a thing was happening, or from fear, nobody moved or spoke.

Even the police officers didn’t make a move, several of them were too afraid to draw the demons attention.

Surprisingly it was the man beside her that began speaking first. “Fear not! We’ve already known Satan would be released, but he shall be defeated and sent back to the lake of fire! God is testing our faith! Rebuke the demon, cast it away!”

Lina moved away from the man, afraid the demon might associate her with him. The demon looked at the man, fiery red eyes making the old man perspire cold sweat.

The golden spear behind him rose with a sudden jerk, and floated in mid-air beside the demon. The old man went silent as he stared death in the face. Instead of attacking, the demon looked at a building connected to Black Watch Asylum and suddenly disappeared.

“Jesus Christ!” The old man swore, falling to his knees.

Lina looked towards the camera man with her eyes wide open. “Did you get that?”

The camera man nodded his head in affirmation.

“Oh my god!” Someone screamed.

Lina looked over and saw the protesters were looking inside the Asylum. When Lina saw the conditions of the Asylum she couldn’t help but gasp in horror.

The Black Watch was a private prison, and with its tall walls and tight security, no one was able to get a glimpse inside the walls. With the prisons technology they also made sure no images were leaked out of the prison.

To many people, this glimpse of the Asylum was their first look inside the notorious prison, and what they saw shocked them.

Buildings on fire, people lying dead in the streets or running around yelling and screaming.

When the doors to the Asylum were broken down, hundreds of prisoners began running for the exit. There were a dozen police officers standing just outside the gates. They were speechless when the demon appeared, too frozen to make a move, but now their training kicked in. They saw prisoners trying to escape from a prison and began drawing their weapons.

“Turn back!” They shouted.

The prisoners didn’t listen, they ran for their lives. The cops were about to get aggressive when they saw what was behind the prisoners. Hundreds of mutilated corpses that should’ve been dead were on their feet chasing the prisoners.

The cops shrunk back in horror, some younger cops running away from the scene. The protesters ran away as well. The only people left behind were the camera crews, the crazy old man with the sign, and the cops who stood there with their guns drawn.

…

Nate ran towards the building attached to the Black Watch Asylum drunk with power and anger. He burst through the doors. Dozens of workers looked up at him terrified.

Looking at the monitors Nate saw them watching videos of previous hunts. He knew the cameras on the players who came to hunt prisoners had to be monitored by someone, and that was here.

“Who’s in charge.” Nate said in a booming voice that shook the employees out of their seats.

“Y-you can’t be in here.” One of them said, a man with freckles.

Nate plunged the spear through the man. The other employees screamed. He turned to the next person with a blank expression on his face. “Where?”

They pointed to a room in the back. Nate walked past them and reached out with a dozen ethereal blades, cutting all the employees and killing them. The dark demon within him squealed with glee.

He felt no remorse for killing those employees. They watched as the rich bought their way into the Asylum and committed horrible acts against the prisoners. In Nate’s mind, these people were just as guilty as the players he’s killed. He didn’t spare a single one as he slaughtered his way to the back office, leaving behind dozens of dead employees in his wake.

When he reached the back he broke upon the doors and found a quivering man in a uniform. Nate vaguely remembered this man on his first day, the man who was eating a pretzel, who blew up that white kid who tried to make a break for it.

Nate walked over to where he cowered behind the desk. The man pulled out a pistol and shot at him. The bullets slowed then came to a stop a few inches from Nate’s head then fell to the floor. The guard paled.

“You in charge?”

The man wanted to lie but looking at Nate’s face he didn’t dare. He nodded his head.

“I want you to release all the collars on the prisoners, and spread the videos of every hunt you have in existence, spread it to all the news outlets, social media, everywhere. Now!”

The man didn’t dare to dispute Nate’s order. He went behind his office and began clicking away, making himself look busy.

“There, it’s done.” The guard said.

Nate pierced the man shoulder. “Ah!!!” The man cried out.

“Do you take me for a fool? You released the prisoners from their collars but you didn’t spread the videos. I want those videos spread everywhere online, do you understand me?” Nate said in a dangerously low voice.

The man quaked in fear. Nate was standing on the other side of the desk, there’s no way he could’ve seen what the guard had done, yet somehow he knew.

“T-there, this time I really sent it!” The man shouted after a few minutes of clacking away.

“I know.” Nate replied.

“No!” The man screamed as the golden spear approached his head. With a single swipe Nate took off the guards head sending it spinning in the air before landing on the desk. Anyone who walked into the room would be greeted by the guard’s head on a desk facing them.

A flash of blue lightning flashed in the distance drawing Nate’s attention. He was alerted to it because the lightning in the sky was violet, yet here there was a blue trail of lightning streaking through the sky approaching the Asylum.

The streak of lightning separated from the clouds and began angling towards the open window nearby. It touched down and scorched the ground with an explosion of bright light. When the light dimmed, Kiru’s form was revealed.

He looked at Nate in shock, then looked around at the carnage. “What have you done?” he whispered.

“What I had to.” Nate responded without a shred of guilt or remorse.

“Have you lost it?! You killed all these people!” Kiru shouted.

“In my eyes they’re just as guilty as the pricks who spent millions for the chance to hunt prisoners, I wish there were more of them so I could slaughter them all.”

Kiru shook his head at Nate. “What happened to you Nate? Your demonic side has taken complete control! How can you bow to it after what happened to your family?”

“I’ll tell you how, as soon as you tell me how the magic council can sit on their ass all day and watch all the horrible shit that happens to prisoners in Black Watch Asylum. I have the moral high-ground here Kiru, so don’t go spouting off to me when you don’t know shit! You don’t know what it’s like to be hunted like an animal! You don’t know what it’s like to hide in bushes hoping you won’t be spotted! You don’t know what it’s like trying to sleep as your friend is yelling from torture! Fuck these people!”

Nate had spittle coming out of his mouth as he grew angrier and angrier. “I will burn it all to the ground! I will expose this fucking place and let the world pay for its brutality. For what happened to me and my people!”