Barbara Greenwood was a mother of four and grandmother of ten. She wasn’t religious, but liked going to church with her friends when she was younger. Her specialty dish for holiday parties was her famous mystery casserole, a combination of vegetables and cream with secret treats hidden at the bottom so her grandchildren would squeal with delight upon finishing. Since her vision started going bad, she stopped reading, but was enjoying a new book on tape by an author her friend recommended.

She had been married to Bruce for fifty-two years before he passed away from cancer two years ago, but it wasn’t that hard a blow. They’d had a good run and it was expected. Occasionally she had flashes of sadness, but with so many good memories, she could just blur out any sadness with feelings of love and fulfillment. Because Bruce served in the army for dozens of years, he knew quite a bit about warfare and guns, and taught everything he knew to his beloved wife as they aged. That was her secret pride; Barbara considered herself one of the safest grandmas in all of America.

Of course, until tonight, she’d never even needed to draw her gun. It was just a heavy paperweight for the most part, but one that she always kept with her. A reminder of Bruce. The men hadn’t thought to take her purse away, which was a miracle, and as she drew the weapon out from it, Barbara realized just how heavy the thing was.

As though this tool of death was holding her entire body down, making it impossible for her to shoot.

Nobody was paying attention to her as she tried to lift it, and regret began to cross her mind. These boys were someone’s children. Why were they out here doing this? There must have been a reason. They were squabbling with each other, could they still do good? Surely she shouldn’t do this. They could be reformed.

Barbara glimpsed at the young woman who Gorilla had struck down. The frail girl couldn’t have been any more than fifteen, and was lying in what looked like a pool of her own blood.

She was someone’s daughter.

What would Bruce do?

He had been a warrior, a prince, and a father, who would always go out of his way to do everything possible to protect those important to him. But not just those important; Bruce wanted to protect everyone who needed it. No matter the odds, he would try to make sure those who couldn’t help themselves were helped. Somewhere in herself, Barbara found the spark of courage that let her lift the weapon higher, filling her body with strength.

Barbara leveled the gun with the back of Gorilla’s head, aiming with what Bruce had taught her. It almost felt like he was right there next to her, reminding her to brace for the kick. To wait until you were as close as possible. Because any man, when faced with a gun, will lose all sense of reason. If he doesn’t run or drop to his knees in fear, he will charge you. And there is nothing more terrifying than a savage who realized they could’ve just died.

Was this really the best time for Barbara to pull the trigger?

She couldn’t be sure. There was no perfect answer. But the scene slowly replayed in her head of Gorilla smacking that girl. Of Fish stomping the poor cashier. This was certainly the right thing to do, but she would need to apologize afterward. If she didn’t, it would always come back to haunt her, and she didn’t want to live the remainder of her life with that weight.

She pulled the trigger.

***

--About one minute before the gun went off--

“What the hell are you doing?” Fish said, letting go of Golf-Ball and turning to the new intruder. “Who...the fuck..?”

“Why’d you let this guy in?” Golf-Ball asked, his voice overpowering fish. The question was asked at Toucan, who turned and hopped in place.

Before Toucan could answer, Ern started speaking.

“Ah, don’t worry about me boys,” he said. “I’m just coming in to buy some milk and maybe pick up a microwave dinner. Though the corndogs rotating over there do look pretty tasty. Oh, but of course, after seeing all this mayhem, perhaps you could give me a discount? Blood on the ground is...pretty unsanitary, to say the least, and I don’t want to be a nag, but if I need to call corporate, I will.”

“Grab him,” Golf-Ball said, aiming his gun at Ern. “Don’t move, kid. Just sit down in the corner and relax. We’re out of here in a second. Forget you saw-”

An explosion rang out.

The bullet whizzed out from the gun and passed inches from Gorilla’s head, shattering a bottle of liquor right by his face. It continued on until it tore a hole through a fin atop Fish’s mask, the momentum causing him to stagger.

Everyone stopped as the store became completely quiet. The only sound were the infrequent drops of rain outside. All eyes had moved to the old woman, who was still holding the revolver out, but had been knocked backwards against a wall. She had an angry look on her face, and her gun was swaying.

“You better stop what you’re doing,” Barbara said, trembling. “Or next time, I won’t miss.”

Any normal, rational person, would have glazed over her threat. With a quick examination, it was pretty easy to tell that shot had taken a great deal of her strength away. The gun was too big for her, and she was sweating. Her finger was on the trigger, but the hammer wasn’t pulled back, so it’d be incredibly difficult for her to take another shot.

However.

There was darkness in her eyes.

While the thugs had imagined Fish being a killer and having psycho eyes, what they saw beyond Barbara’s green spectacles was something too cruel to understand. A gaze devoid of empathy; picturing them as nothing but targets. The eyes not of someone who kills for enjoyment, but the look of someone who kills because they have no other choice. Someone who wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger again, and couldn’t be convinced otherwise. The fear of death had been forcefully driven into them. Even Ern, who lived on the border between life and death, couldn’t help but feel his skin prick at the sight. With a single shot, Barbara had become the most powerful person in the room.

But for how long would that last?

Golf-Ball was the first person to act after that. He slowly lifted his hands above his head and took a step back, making sure to keep his eyes on the barrel of the gun at all times. His own gun was not forgotten, but he wasn’t planning on using it. At least not first, anyway. The first to draw would be the first one to get shot, and he wasn’t going to die tonight.

“Relax, grandma,” Golf-Ball said. “We’re not gonna hurt anyone anymore. We got what we came for, now we’re just gonna leave. That’s okay, right?” Anime-Mask hadn’t exited the back room yet, even though he called out saying the safe was unlocked. How long was this gonna take? How much time had passed since then? It felt like an eternity, but it couldn’t have been more than two minutes.

“I don’t believe you,” Barbara said. There was no reason not to believe him, in fact, if she was thinking correctly, everything pointed to him telling the truth. She probably understood this deep down, but at that moment, her senses were flared to the max from firing the gun. Reason was completely thrown out the window.

She was like a cornered animal, except she was the one cornering the predator.

“Seriously, grandma?” Golf-Ball continued. He was the only person who had moved, though out of the corner of his eye he could see the girl starting to sit up. “We’re really not trying to do anything stupid here. My...friends may have made mistakes, but we’re all really sorry for that. Let’s just all pretend this never happened...please?”

“Hey, are you sorry about what you did to me?” Ern interjected. “I still plan on calling corporate if you don’t get me my discount.”

“Shut up, kid,” Golf-Ball said. Then he froze as Ern walked right by him without a care in the world. “Wait, stop moving kid. Just sit down and freeze. I don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“Ha. If anyone is doing the hurting here, it’s the old lady with the big gun.”

“It’s rude to call ladies old, sonny,” Barbara said. “And you, with the golf mask, stop calling me grandma. You’re not one of my grandkids.”

“Sorry,” both of them said simultaneously.

During the entire back and forth, Fish and Toucan had been completely still. Only Gorilla had dropped down to the ground, clutching his head. The gunshot had temporarily robbed him of his hearing, and the blur by his head made him dizzy. He had dropped his pistol and fallen atop it without realizing, and couldn’t help but shiver. Turmoil consumed him. There was only one thing he could do as he continued to tremble, faced with someone so fearsome:

Beg.

“Please don’t kill me, ma’am.”

***

Only two people in the store didn’t notice the gunshot go off.

Caitlyn was currently in a daze, and though her ears rang, she was too focused on the enigmatic figure that seemed to gaze over the store. The dark snake was positioned against the back wall, stretched fully and flat. There was something bright in the center of the specter’s head, and Caitlyn was too curious about what it was.

The other person who didn’t notice the shot was the robber in the back room. It was pure coincidence that he didn’t hear the shot: at the very moment it happened, he had unlocked the safe, and was paying attention only to the clicking of the safe as it swung open. He shoved the headphones he was using for cracking the safe into his front pocket and started shoving the cash from the safe into his small backpack. Still annoyed at all the barking from his comrades outside, the safe cracker, who was wearing an anime mask, believed they were still operating under the original plan they had devised. The thought that something so incredulous had happened wasn’t even in his consideration as he continued to shovel things into his bag. It was mostly money, but there was also a gun and some books. Supposedly, they were accounts for drug running, but he didn’t care. It was their job to rob the safe, and that’s what he was going to do. He picked up the heavy leather book and shoved it into his bag before getting up to leave.

At least pretend to be professional, he thought as he followed the hall to the front of the store, listening to the shouts coming from the front. He wasn’t listening to what was said, so when he saw the old woman with the gun pointing it at his partners, Anime was stunned.

“Wait, what the hell is going on?” Anime asked, now noticing the new hostage that had shown up.

“Put the gun down, young man,” Barbara said, waving the revolver back and forth. It was starting to strain her wrist. “You should just sit tight until the police come. I’m not afraid to shoot.”

“Shoot? Old lady, that gun looks way too big for you. I bet if you pulled the trigger your hand would fall off.”

As he spoke, Anime started to step forward, but Golf-Ball swung a hand out to stop him. They met eyes.

“She’s not joking.”

“You’re scared of some old lady?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Fish said quietly. He pointed to the hole in the fin on his mask. “You see this? Fucking old bat nearly killed me. Dumb bitch…”

“Hey, I don’t actually mind getting shot,” Ern said, nodding to the robbers. He sat down next to the teen girl, making sure to stay away from the puddle of coffee and blood. “But if you do, could you aim for like, anything but my face? I’d like an open casket funeral, if possible. There are a lot of cute girls that would probably kiss me on the lips, and I’d rather not disappoint them. I’m sure you understand.”

“Shut up.”

“Be quiet, sonny,” Barbara said. She couldn’t see Ern, but found herself annoyed at the jovial tone. “Call the police and make sure they’re coming.”

“Who,” Ern started. “Me?”

“Anyone.”

“Ah, sorry. I don’t really like talking on the phone.”

Golf-Ball looked at Ern in confusion, but couldn’t gleam anything off the boy’s face but a smirk. This was starting to get worrisome. They were already behind schedule, and if they got caught by the cops right now…

Well, he didn’t want to think about it.

Was it best to just try and make a break for it? He could tell the old woman was shaking, but she still had her finger on the trigger. Now that his panic was starting to lessen, more options were becoming available. If Gorilla could get up and away from the old woman, they’d all be able to just sprint out to their getaway car as fast as possible. According to the original plan, the cops weren’t supposed to be notified, but with the gunshot, there was a possibility someone outside could have called them. Leaving someone behind wasn’t an option, since they all knew who each other were underneath the masks.

His eye twitched as the revolver barrel moved to him, and he slowly set his gun and bag on the floor.

***

In a completely unrelated part of town, a tall man with raven black hair slowly left his car. Even though it was late at night, he was wearing sunglasses, and adjusted them. He checked his phone for messages.

The job should have been complete by now, but he hadn’t heard anything. That bothered him.

Should he make a call?

No, it was better to stay as far away from this as possible. How frustrating was it to play this role? Unable to take things into his own hands and just sitting on his tower, moving pieces across the board. After so long doing it, he was starving for some action. Starving to tear the throats of his enemies out and devouring them. What he wouldn’t give to just throw it all into chaos.

Alfonse gazed up at the moon. It was barely visible behind the clouds, but a thin light slipped through.

“Hey, you good? I’m hungry, so let’s get this dinner over with.”

It was one of his partners. Or his enemy. It was difficult to separate the two from each other, these days. Alfonse sighed and shook his head.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said. “Just relax. Nothing can start without the three of us.”

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and followed the group into the restaurant.

***

Caitlyn’s focus was broken on the shadowy figure as it moved, springing from its location to a new person who’d entered the store. She couldn’t place his features at all, but he looked shorter and thinner than any of the robbers. More importantly, though, was the dark shadow curling around his body and making its way into his shirt. How she could make out these details, she wasn’t sure, but it almost seemed like it very gently pushed his shirt around as it moved.

It was a hallucination, she knew. But it was hard not to focus on it. Was this what it felt like to hallucinate?

The new visitor sat down next to her, and in between him shouting with the robbers in a condescending tone, pulled a small carton of milk from the refrigerated shelf behind him.

“Ah, sorry,” he said. “I don’t really like talking on the phone.” Then he reached over Caitlyn to grab something, and set whatever it was down before her.

Her glasses.

“You alright?” He whispered.

Caitlyn didn’t answer and slowly moved to put her glasses on. The pain in her head was subsiding, in fact, now that she thought about it, all the hurt was completely gone. She still had blood and coffee staining her face and clothes, but it didn’t feel like more was spilling out, and with her glasses on, the ache from her eyes had vanished. For a moment she felt anticipation that she might be able to better see the shadowy snake, but there weren’t any signs of it. She must really have been hallucinating. Was it because of the blow to the head? Ah...that was scary…

Then she realized she knew who the teen next to her was.

Because Caitlyn only moved to Seattle a few months ago, and didn’t know anyone in the city, she didn’t have many friends at school. That was fine by her; sitting around in the library and studying or reading was more fun than dealing with any trouble. At first, it was difficult being an outsider, because people liked to ask questions, but very quickly they stopped. Caitlyn was a boring person by nature, and people easily overlooked her.

This person was the exact opposite.

A natural socialite, Ern was the kind of person who could easily get along with anyone he wanted, forcing himself into conversations without a care in the world. He was the guy who knew everyone and was liked well enough, and who couldn’t be ignored when he tried talking to you. Not the most athletic, or the smartest, Ern was simply a busybody comedian who made himself the center of any group he entered.

He didn’t really match those actions with his appearance, though. Ern was scrawny and wimpy-looking, with large spectacles and pale white skin. His hair was raven black and thick, cut almost like a bowl that wrapped around his head. His clothes were fashionable enough, but because of his tiny size, everything made him look like a child. Ern was a year older than Caitlyn, or at least in a grade higher, but looked like he was two years younger. Perhaps it was his nonthreatening appearance that made people like him? Regardless, seeing him made Caitlyn frown. The expression on his face was one of absolute confidence, like nothing could ever go wrong.

“Hey,” Ern said, back to the entire store. He stood slowly, still holding his milk. “Before we start doing anything we regret, and that includes all of us, why don’t we take a second to think about this. Because this might all be a bit above our level.”

“Shut up kid,” Anime said, waving his gun at Ern. Still aware of Barbara’s revolver, the man took a step towards Ern, putting a shelf between himself and the gun. “Or I’ll shut you up myself.”

“You got what we needed, right?” Golf-Ball asked. Anime nodded. “Let’s just get out of here. I don’t want any more trouble.”

“No, you’re going to wait here for the cops to show up,” Barbara said. She was nearing her limit, and the adrenaline she didn’t know she had was draining fast. “Young man with the glasses, can you see if the girl is alright? And please, call the police. Make sure they’re coming.”

“She’s fine,” Ern said, glancing at Caitlyn. He winked. “And like I said, I don’t want to call the cops.”

“You better not,” Fish said.

“If he tries,” Anime said. “”I’ll blow his fucking brains out. Now get back on the fucking floor kid.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Ern said, sitting back down. “I just thought I could get some food, don’t worry about me.” Then to Caitlyn, he silently continued: “Thought I could get it for free.”

A moment of silence passed over everyone as a police siren blared out in the distance. But it was getting quieter rather than louder.

The sound made Barbara relax for a moment, which was when Gorilla took the time to strike.

He lunged out for the gun, pushing it backwards and away from himself, snapping Barbara’s finger back as she screeched. The gun went off and shattered a glass case beside them. His force pushed her backwards, shoving the old woman deep into the packages of food behind her and he wrestled the gun down to the ground.

She gasped out in breathless pain as he hit her stomach.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Gorilla was a large man, and he had a violent temper. What made it worse was that not only had he been humiliated twice tonight, but they were both by women. His rage would not be easily quelled. Gorilla grabbed the thinning white hair and pulled her forward, then slammed her head face first onto the ground. The first time it impacted her glasses shattered and her nose snapped. The second time her face left a mark of blood on the ground. The third and forth just made the splatter bigger. She was no longer struggling against him, nor making any noise, but that didn’t stop him from standing up and tossing the old woman into a stand full of bottles, which all crashed down on top of her. He grabbed her, flipped her over, and sat on her chest, pushing his gun into her bloody mouth.

“You are dead fucking meat,” Gorilla said. “I’m gonna fucking kill you! I’m gonna fucking kill all of you!”

“Relax motherfucker,” Golf-Ball said, feeling the pressure rise more and more. He was about to lose it himself. “Everyone, let’s just relax and get out of here. Alright? Let’s fucking go!”

Nobody responded to him, other than Fish, who just gave a half-hearted grunt. The gang was too busy staring at Gorilla continuously screaming gibberish at the broken old woman. Fuck. It was all falling apart. Everything was going down the shitter.

Well, if that was it, that was it.

No reason not to just leave right now.

Golf-Ball turned to the store entrance and got ready to leave, expecting to see Toucan standing there silently. Instead, it was pure darkness.

***

--A few minutes earlier--

“Oh fudge, I’m late…”

Markus pulled out the earbuds and shoved them in his pocket. Truthfully, he wasn’t a big fan of recent Kanye, but the old stuff still slapped. When he saw the new release, he couldn't help but hope it was reminiscent of the original stuff. The new song was decent. Nothing special. But it helped waste some time.

Too much time, actually.

He wasn’t exactly sure what the plan was, or exactly what he was doing. But his job was more or less pretty straightforward. Walk into a building, kill everyone inside, and leave. It was highly likely the robbers inside were armed and dangerous, but not to someone like him. Make it a slaughter and have fun with it. Too easy to get his blood boiling, but it was at least some work. Recently, things had been too peaceful in the city for him. On his way over to the convenience store, Markus pulled a small vial from another pocket (he wore cargo pants with many pockets) and popped the top off. Inside was cool blood, which he sucked down quickly.

That helped him focus.

Put him in the murderous state of mind.

He felt it sink down into his body, mixing in with his own black blood. That brief euphoric feeling energized him and Markus shivered. He cracked his knuckles.

“Yo, yo,” he chanted, keeping to the alley shadows as he progressed towards the location marked on his phone gps. “Killin’ on the street, like ya holla pass a dolla...hmm. Like a baller? Shock collar? Boom, pop. Straight thug in the streets, psycho murderer in the sheets? Ah, somethin’ like that. Dang. Run it back.” This was just mumbling. His rap game was weak.

He could smell the blood from a mile away. There was a lot of it, and it was fresh. Markus smiled and sniffed it all in greedily, savoring the flavor. Oh, perhaps this was an aged person? Seems like...a woman? An old woman, bleeding profusely? That wasn’t a usual flavor, and Markus felt himself getting excited. There wasn’t anything in the job description given by the Boss that said he couldn’t just kill everyone there. Actually, that was probably intended. Leave no witnesses, that sort of thing. Which meant he was about to get a big serving of fresh blood...and the unique taste of an old woman as well.

Oh?

There was something else mixed in there as well…

Something gross.

Markus blinked. He was wearing sunglasses, even though it was dark outside, because it was the best way to conceal his bizarre eyes. Like all vampires, his sclera were black and his irises red, with white pupils. That was frightening enough for a normal person, but add to that his black skin and heavy dreads and Markus knew the cops would be called on him in this neighborhood. Still, the rancid smell of blood gave him pause.

What was that? What was going on?

Now, more than bloodlust propelled him forward. There was also curiosity tickling his mind.

In only a few seconds, the convenience store was within his vision. It was a lonely business; all the buildings surrounding it were dark. There seemed to be some kind of commotion going on inside, but there was too much talking for Markus to differentiate the voices and words. He could make out a few different people inside, but definitely not all of them. He couldn’t see the old woman whose blood he smelled.

There was one man standing outside: a rotund gentleman with a bird mask on.

Heh. How peculiar?

Well, you need to start somewhere.

Surrounding the building, about ten or fifteen feet out in a dome, was a barely visible wall of air. A barrier. Of course, a barrier like this would be too easy for Markus to bypass. This was more of something to keep civilians out of the way. Well, and to keep all the normies inside as well.

Slipping through it was like pushing through a silk curtain.

He kept his threatening aura hidden. While it did have uses, including throwing normal humans into uncontrollable panics, the strength could bleed through the barrier and affect the outside world. As funny as it would be to cause a terror incident in this small neighborhood, striking down individuals was even better.

Markus slowly walked up to the man with the toucan mask, studying him. He could read the man’s vitals just from smell. Twenty-six years old, overweight, and unhealthy. Not a lot of muscle, but probably some decent strength just from his sheer mass. Like an extra large meal at your local fast food joint. Toucan would be a good snack for a boost of energy. Might as well make the most of it.

“Yo, s’up bruh?” Markus asked, stepping out of the shadows, pointing his pinky at the man. “What’s with the mask?”

Toucan never had a chance to respond.

Faster than the human eye could observe, a small black strand of blood shot from Markus’s pinky fingernail and through Toucan’s neck. It speared the man’s neck and immediately expanded into hundreds of microscopic threads, digging into the robber’s jugular veins. Once entered, they expanded like thorny vines, slicing into the flesh and sticking. Siphoning blood out and back to Markus, who smiled.

With that blood came short term memories. Standing outside watching the store. The splash of black in front of his face. The sound of a gunshot. And lastly, Markus.

“Any last requests?” Markus asked, walking forward as the bloody thread reaching from his finger to Toucan’s neck continued to dig deeper, making its way into the man’s chest. “A preferred way to die?”

Toucan couldn’t move. He was frozen, and the best he could do was twitch. Tears poured from his eyes as he tried to beg for his life, but it didn’t matter. His body was being drained of blood, and being destroyed in the process. Every muscle was revolting against him, trying to strain, but unable to react. Threads were slicing his body apart from the inside, and he felt like everything was melting inside his bag of flesh.

“Oh! I think I understand! You wanted to die a horrible and painful death, didn’t you!”

It wasn’t what Toucan wanted, but it was what he got.