Kourriel's Cult
By Metabad
A lone woman was running through a hedge maze, tears running down her cheeks. She looked absolutely horrified. Sharp sickles cut through the hedges, revealing the cloaked, hooded figures wielding them. She turned left, then she turned right, just barely dodging these sharp weapons. Until she ended up running into a dead end. The woman turned around, the cloaked figures brandishing their sacrificial tools, she tried getting through the hedge, but her pathway was blocked by the sharp barbed wire behind it, she moved her hands through the hedges and she cried desperately when she saw them bleeding. She fell to her knees and covered her face. One of the robed figures approached her and raised his sickle, the sun reflecting against the metal, all that was visible were their silhouettes as he brought it down on her head.
---
Deep in the heart of a remote city, there stood an ancient castle with a long history of mystery and darkness. It was said that anyone who entered the castle would never return.
Within its deep dark dungeons were a group of prisoners behind the dank rocky bars. In one of the cells, a woman with long pink hair walked back and forth, while in the cell next to her, a blue haired woman clutched the bars.
“How are we ever going to get out of here?” The pink haired woman asked.
“I really have no idea...” The blue haired woman responded.
“Would you two shut up? I’m trying to think.” A woman with orange hair wrapped in a ponytail asked.
“It doesn’t matter.” A tall man with a buzzcut responded. “We’re all going to die.”
“Well, might as well get to know each other before we’re sent off to the gallows.” A blonde man said.
“Who goes first?” The other man asked.
“How about Ms. Sunshine over there?” The blonde pointed at the ponytailed girl.
“Whatever, if we’re gonna die anyway, my name’s Eliza Parker.” She introduced herself.
“Hm, nice name. I’m Kate, Kate Hudson.” The pink haired woman replied.
“And I’m Judy Brenwick!” The blue haired woman exclaimed.
“Christian Murphy.” The man with the buzzcut introduced himself.
“Jack Bale, nice to meet you all.” The blonde man said.
A hooded cult member wearing a phantom mask stepped up to a podium, ready to make an announcement. “Attention, children of Kourriel.” The robed figure raised his arms. The other dark cloaked beings turned toward the lead cultist. “The time has come for us to test our prisoners. We will release them from their cells, they may run, but we shall begin the hunt.” The head cultist placed his hands down on the stone slab in front of him. “We shall seek out these offenders, those who escape may go free, but those who get caught will be sacrificed in Kourriel’s name.”
“For Kourriel!” The other cultists raised their fists.
“What are they talking about?” Kate asked. “Who’s Kourriel?”
“The spirit of some loner, if the stories are true,” Judy informed her. “Definitely not worship material unless you ask these crazies.”
“Whatever their deal is, we need to find a way out of here.” Jack said, looking around. “We should split up into small groups.”
“I’ll go with Kate, she’s been my best friend since High School, I owe her that much.” Judy said.
“I’ll go with Jack.” Christian said.
“I guess that leaves me all by my lonesome. Terrific.” Eliza sighed.
“If we meet up, we’ll converge later.” Jack said, just then, they heard rusty, creaking noises. They looked in front of them, and saw that the rusted over metallic bars were sinking into the ground and ceiling. They stepped out of their cells, free, at least for now.
The Cultist leader pointed at them as they stepped out into the hallway. “In all fairness, we shall wait until they are out of this room...we shall give them five minutes total. Then, the hunt shall begin.”
“For Kourriel!” The cultists raised their fists once more.
The five prisoners ran out of there as fast as they could.
“Sire.” One of the cultists stepped up to the podium. “What if they escape from our lair?”
“It does not matter.” The lead cultists smirked from underneath his mask. “Plenty members of our congregation exist within the city walls as well...they will not get far before getting caught by their watchful eyes.”
---
Kate and Judy sprinted through the murky dungeon, their hair flying out behind them. Judy was in the lead, able to move much quicker.
Jack and Christian too were running alongside each other. Eliza split off from the others. Once they left the hall, the cultists began to follow the group, brandishing sharp sickles that shined in the moonlight.
Judy tripped a little, letting Kate lead. Kate stopped for a moment and grabbed her arm. “You alright?”
“Yeah, just...got a little disoriented.” Judy said as she hoisted herself up. “This is a lot to take in.”
“No kidding, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner this nightmare ends.” Kate reassured her. “Maybe then we can get some answers.”
“One can only hope.” Judy muttered.
“Let’s keep going.” Kate glanced back, seeing that the cultists were gaining up on them. They ran for their lives. They ran for a short while, before turning a corner into another corridor.
Jack and Christian ran through, a distant light turned on. They spotted a locked door in front of them, and a gun placed on the floor next to it.
Christian took it. “You think it’s loaded?”
“Only one way to find out.” Jack said as Christian handed the gun to him, he shot the lock off and they both barged into the room. They wound up inside what appeared to be a large bunker, bullets strewn all across the ground. Jack picked up as many as he could while Christian explored the place. Up ahead, he saw a wounded man on the ground, cuts were all over his body. “Were you captured as well?”
“It’s too late...for me...” The dying man wheezed out. “No matter how many you kill...more take their place...” He appeared delirious. “You have to...burn the city...kill everyone...”
Jack was taken aback by this, clearly this man was not well.
“Destroy it all...they’re all evil...only then will we...be free...” He looked at him. “You’ll see that I’m right...” With one last gasp for breath, his body went limp. Jack and Christian exchanged uneasy glances.
Eliza went through a mysterious bloody corridor, suddenly a spear jutted out from the wall, had she not crouched, she’d have been a goner. “Indiana Jones styled booby traps, great.” She sighed. She rolled under a few other spears, then saw some guillotines swinging down ahead of her, she timed her jumps, just narrowly avoiding these blades, when suddenly a bear trap clamped down on her leg. “AGH!” She shouted as it pierced her flesh, blood trickling down her leg.
Kate ran to the left, Judy ran to the right. The cultists seemed to just walk calmly toward them, yet no matter how fast the two girls were going, the robed figures managed to catch up with them. Kate saw a torch on the wall and grabbed it, the cloaked figures closed in on her, but she raised the torch and pointed it at them. “Don’t come any closer!” She shouted, waving the torch around. The cultists backed up a bit, Kate inched herself toward the doorway, not taking her eyes off of the cultists. Judy soon joined her and took her by the arm. They ran down the long, dark twisting corridors. Red florescent lights flashed throughout the hallway. Once they got to the end of it, they were blinded by a bright light.
Jack and Christian were still trekking through the dungeon. A line of spikes jutted from the ceiling and came down. Jack rolled out of the way, Christian was left behind, the two men looked at each other.
“I’ll get you out of here.” Jack said, his friend nodded, and then he ran off. Christian saw a few cultists coming in from behind. He raised his gun and tried to fire, but all that was heard was a clicking noise, he was out of bullets. Up ahead, he saw Jack pulling a switch, the spikes slowly rose up, Christian ran as fast as he could, and just as the cultists were about to enter a sprint, Jack pulled down the lever, impaling the cultists almost immediately. The men nodded at each other, then the two ran.
Eliza grunted and cried as she tried to break free from the bear trap, the insidious device clamped tightly around her leg, the sharp edges sinking into her flesh, she looked back and saw some cultists entering the room. She clutched onto her head, she was getting a throbbing headache. Suddenly, she had a vision of herself, completely naked in a church, a target was painted on her head, the cultists reached over to her, holding her arms up, and then she screamed as hands began grabbing her from behind. In reality, Eliza was losing a lot of blood, and the cultists raised their sickles.
To their surprise, Kate and Judy were outside, they shielded their eyes from the bright light of the sun, and looked around at the lush green grass with awe.
“I can’t believe it, we’ve made it...” Judy sighed with relief. Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, relieved to be out of that situation. They walked down the sidewalk, it all seemed to be over. Just then, a police car drove in next to them.
“You girls lost?” The cop asked.
Kate and Judy stared at the cop, they leaned against the window. “We’re fine...but we’re not sure about the others.”
“The others?” The cop raised an eyebrow.
“Y-yeah...it’s a long story.” Kate sheepishly admitted.
“Why don’t you come in and tell me all about it?” The cop asked.
“Sure.” The cop opened the backdoor for the two girls to get inside. They sat down, and he started driving. During the ride, they told him everything. The creepy cathedral-like place they had just gotten out of, the cultists that pursued them, and how they fortunately got out of there, but they weren’t sure if the others were so lucky.
“Sounds like you two gals have been through quite the ordeal.” The cop said as he stopped at the side of the road.
“Yeah, no kidding, it probably all sounds a little crazy.” Judy chuckled nervously.
“Nonsense, this whole town has gone a little crazy lately, disappearances happening everywhere. This at least explains a bit of it.” Kate nodded in response to a cop. They saw a blonde woman in a police uniform walking to the car. “Hey, Bernice.” The cop smiled at her.
“Hello, Officer Thomas.” She opened the side door and sat next to him.
Thomas looked in the rearview mirror. “How about you two girls get some shut eye? No need to worry, we’ll protect you.”
“Thank you, sir.” Judy said, stretching.
“I could use the rest.” Kate yawned, the two lay down and fell asleep. The two police officers looked at each other, raising their hands.
“Hail Kourriel.” Bernice said.
“Hail Kourriel.” Officer Thomas said, grinning. He gripped the wheel and turned the car around.
Back with the others, Jack and Christian found themselves in the kind of room they’d least suspect. "What the hell is this place?" Jack asked.
"It's a mental hospital." Christian answered.
"Were these people crazy?" Jack asked.
“With these cultists around, who even knows for sure?” Christian muttered to himself. “I have to wonder how many people are in on this, considering that guy we ran into earlier...maybe he had a point...”
“No need to get hung up on him, he was a nut.” Jack scoffed. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”
They proceeded upstairs, wails and screams were heard in the rooms across the hallway, even if they weren’t being pursued right now, they wouldn’t want to go in those rooms anyway. The two found an elevator terminal and saw it open up, they ran into it and pressed the button for the top floor.
“This is insane, why us?” Jack muttered.
“Well, at least we survived this long.” Christian sighed with relief. “We’re lucky in that regard.”
“Yeah, maybe we are...” Jack looked off in the distance. The elevator stopped. They stepped out into the room, and found themselves in a laboratory. They looked at each other, then looked ahead.
“Maybe we can find some supplies if we can rummage around the place.” Jack suggested.
“It’s possible...” Just then, Christian covered his nose. “Augh! What’s that smell?!
“Beats me...” Jack muttered.
They moved on in the direction of this putrid smell until they saw something new. It was a rotting green corpse strapped to a large table, it looked like that of Kourriel’s corpse, but much taller, far bigger than any normal human would be. There were glass tubes sticking out of its shoulders and back.
“No way...is that...” Jack Bale stepped forward for a closer look.
“Hold it.” Christian Murphy held his hand out in front of him, preventing him from going in any further. “We don’t even know if its awake, we should be cautious.”
Jack nodded and stepped back a bit. “But it doesn’t make sense, I thought Kourriel’s body was burnt up at Wentworth’s Lodge.”
“Looks like these cultists brought him back, albeit in this altered form.” Christian stroked his stubble.
“You’d think they’d have the technology for this?” Jack asked. “If anything, I’d thought they’d be too set in their old fashioned ways.”
Christian was about to say something else, but fell silent when he saw the large corpse struggle against the cuffs. It opened its single revealed yellow eye from underneath its bandages. Christian began to back away before looking at his brother in arms. “Run...RUN!” The two ran out of the room as fast as they could.
Kourriel’s new body broke free from the cuffs, looking at its arms. A chainsaw was grafted to its left arm, a dark sickle-like blade coming out of its massive right wrist. It had a long pointed tail, massive claws on its fingers, a gaping maw with sharp teeth, its ribcage was wide and open, the bones looking like spikes that protruded out of its chest, its massive muscular body was hunched over. It spread its claws out widely as it roared. “Abigail!” It raised its chainsaw, revved it up and began cutting apart the lab equipment.
The metallic doors slid open. Kourriel lumbered out, the beast grabbed a steel pipe, snapping it in half. It shambled over to the two fleeing men and looked around. “Abigail!” It roared. The two ran over to some steel crates, took out their weapons, and fired at the zombie behemoth as it pursued them. It struck Jack in the chest, knocking him back.
“Jack!” Christian called out.
“Go on without me, I’ll be fine!” Jack yelled after him. Christian stood there, hesitating. “Go, or else he’ll kill you!” Jack yelled once more. Christian nodded and hesitantly ran down the narrow metallic corridor. The hulking creature slowly lurched toward the running man, who unloaded his rounds in the beast’s muscular chest, the bullets simply bouncing off of it. He fired once more at it, and it let out a roar of pain. He moved in closer, the creature was swaying back and forth, but then swiped at him with its broken steel pipe, it scratched his cheek, and he turned around and took off.
"Kill! KILL! KILL!" Kourriel screamed, swinging his blade in a huge arc in his direction.
"No! Stop!" Christian yelled.
Kourriel raised its blade to lunge at Christian, but he crouched to avoid it, dove to the right, and kept running. "Come on!" Christian called out. "We have to go! It's no use, he's a monster! We'll never beat him!"
Kourriel picked him up by his collar and pulled him into the air, tossing him against the wall. It roared with anger before striking him aside with its steel pipe, it swung downward, but Christian ran by it and unloaded his bullets into the abomination. With one more blast, it roared and fell to its knees.
"Come on!" Christian said, running into the elevator. It opened, taking them to safety.
"We did it!" Christian cried, collapsing into Jack's arms. "We did it, we're free!"
"What about the others?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," Christian replied. "I hope they're alright."
"We have to get out there and help," Jack said.
Back at the police station, Kate and Judy were waking up. Judy looked around in a daze. “They took us back here...”
“Hopefully we’ll be safe here...they did say they’d be watching over us, after all.” Kate said. Just then, they heard a loud crashing noise. “What was that?!”
“I’ll go check it out...” Judy muttered before cocking her gun, she got up and inched herself toward the direction of the noise, where she found a horrible mess. "What the hell?! No! It can’t be!" Judy wailed, rushing forward over the broken glass. “Eliza!” She cried, crouching down next to her. She lay on the ground, her throat slashed, blood pooling around her. She fell to her knees beside her corpse. “Eliza...” Judy cried as she saw blood trickling from her nose. “I’m so sorry...” She stroked her hair. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, but then sighed with relief when she saw that it was only Kate.
"It's okay, I'm here, Judy," she said, stroking her hair. "We can do it, we can beat this. We have to."
"I can't, Judy. I'm so sorry." Kate cried.
"Don't worry, Kate. I'm going to get you out of here. We're going to get out of this city together."
"Judy..."
"Just hang in there. We're going to get help." She said. "We're going to get out of here."
"I'm sorry, Judy. I love you..."
"I love you too, Kate."
"Judy..."
"We're going to beat this, we will! The others are coming, they’re coming for us!"
“Don't think I won't kill you both, I'll feast on your flesh, your blood, and your hearts! I'll tear them all out of your pathetic little bodies!" A cultist walked through the broken window, stepping on the glass bits littering the floor. He swung a blade, but Judy leapt over it, grabbing it in mid-swing and cutting the cultist’s arm off. The hooded figure yelled in pain and dropped to his knees, clawing at the blade lodged in his back. Judy tore the blade out of his back and threw it to the ground. The cultist looked up at her. Judy wrestled with him a bit, until she took off his hood, revealing the cultist to be none other than Officer Thomas, his face a mask of pure rage.
“No...no, it can’t be! This isn’t real, this can’t be happening...” Judy clutched onto the sides of her head and started hyperventilating.
Thomas placed his remaining hand on his chest, then raised it. “Hail Kourriel.” He lunged at her, but then was shot in between the eyes. He slumped over, dead.
Judy buried her face in her hands, tears welling up in her eyes. “We’re not even safe here...this really is a hell on Earth...”
Kate rushed to Judy's side. "Judy, we''re going to get you to a hospital."
"Hospital?" Judy asked, her voice hoarse. "No...no hospital can help me now."
"You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine." Kate helped Judy to her feet. She wobbled, but held up. She grabbed Kate's hand, helping her stand. They started walking, on their way out, they found the chief of police sick on the couch, his skin was pale, his eyes were sunken in.
“Oh no…” Judy gasped, holding her hand up to her mouth.
“They took over…” The Chief weakly muttered. “I couldn’t stop them…get out of the city, and watch yourselves.”
She escorted her out of the police station, when they heard the clicking noise of a gun.
“FREEZE!” Bernice said, coming into view, her pistol aimed at them. Judy and Kate raised their hands.
The elevator Jack and Christian were in continued going down, until suddenly, everything went black and a whirring noise was heard.
“Shit!” Jack yelled.
“The power’s out!” Christian groaned. "Are we going to die here?!"
"No, we're not going to die," Jack said. "We'll find a way..." Just then, Kourriel’s claws burst open the elevator door, its muscular arm reaching through as it roared. The creature swiped at them, they backed up.
“This...thing, whatever it is...it doesn’t give up, does it?” Jack fired at the arm, and the creature yelled as it slid out of the elevator door and seemed to fall. The two men sighed in relief when suddenly, the elevator shook, clattering noises were heard next to them, then the roaring sound of a chainsaw was heard above them, it was driven right through the metallic ceiling, sparks were flying everywhere as the blades rotated around and around, carving out a hole in the elevator. In a panic, Jack pried the elevator doors open, he backed up against the wall and made a run for it, jumping across the deadly chasm. He grabbed onto the other side of the entranceway to the floor, then extended his hand. Christian ran out and grabbed onto his free arm just as a hole was formed in the elevator ceiling, the massive undead creature broke through it, the metal clattering against the floor, Jack hoisted himself up, pulling his friend with him at the same time. Once they got on the floor, they fell to their knees and panted.
Christian began sobbing. "My God, my God..." Kourriel climbed up the cables and jumped at the floor. The creature reached its claws down and grabbed Christian by the collar of his jacket and hurled him up into the air.
"Christian! No!" Jack yelled, before Christian was thrown back down to the ground. Kourriel raised its blade, striking Christian in the shoulder. He cried out in pain, before Kourriel plunged the blade into his chest, just above his heart. Christian let out a pained and anguished groan, blood pouring down his chest as he fell to the ground. It turned to look at him, before a bullet struck it in the forehead, and it slumped forward, falling to the ground.
“Bastard...” Jack muttered under his breath, holstering his gun. He looked at Christian bleeding out and knew he had to call for an ambulance soon, he ran past the scene of carnage, leaving the creature behind, who opened its visible eye, it seemed it wasn’t done for just yet.
“Listen, we don’t want any trouble.” Kate said, keeping her hands raised.
“Be quiet! Where’s Officer Thomas?” Bernice demanded.
“He...he...” Kate stammered. Bernice glared at her, she was about to pull the trigger when Judy did a legsweep, tripping her and making her drop her gun. Judy quickly ran over and grabbed it, aiming it at her face.
Bernice narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare...” Judy’s hands shook, her finger on the trigger, she closed her eyes tightly. Suddenly, she heard a shot ring out. When she opened her eyes, Bernice was lying there, dead, but she wasn’t the one who shot her. They looked in the distance and saw a man in a black trenchcoat with a scarf covering his face, he had a wide brimmed hat and slunk off into the night.
“What the hell?" Kate muttered. "That was brutal..."
"Brutal or not, whoever that was, they just saved our asses." Judy remarked.
"Should we follow...whoever that was?" Kate asked. "Is that a good idea?"
"Probably not, but what other choice do we have?" Judy shrugged and the two girls followed the mysterious figure.
As they followed the figure, the girls realized they were heading toward an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The man disappeared inside, and the girls cautiously followed him in.
Inside the warehouse, they found themselves in a dimly lit room filled with crates and boxes. "So, you two want to talk to me or not?" the man in the trenchcoat asked.
"Who are you?" Judy demanded.
The man looked at her with piercing eyes, red muscle tissue surrounding them. "I'm someone who knows what you're up against. Someone who can help you."
"How?" Kate asked, crossing her arms.
“There are enemies all around you, don’t trust anything you see.” The man shifted his eyes back and forth.
“Are you crazy?" Judy asked.
“Perhaps this whole city is...” The man muttered to himself.
"Well, what were you doing up here then?" Kate asked.
"I'm huntin’ these cultists down, stranger." The man cocked his gun.
"What do you mean?" Kate raised an eyebrow.
"Did I stutter? I’m not huntin’ elephants, that’s for sure." He remarked as he reloaded his ammunition. He looked at the two girls. “You Sheilas can come closer, I'm not an animal."
Judy rolled her eyes. "Well, that's reassuring. But why should we trust you?"
"You don't have to trust me. But I can offer you protection. There are dangerous people out there, and you need someone who can keep you safe."
Judy chewed her bottom lip, thinking it over. "What do you think, Kate?"
Kate hesitated, glancing between the stranger and Judy. "I don't know. This whole situation...I don’t like it at all."
"I know it's scary," The man said. "But I’ve got no reason to hurt you. And if you come with me, I'll keep you safe."
After a few moments of silence, Judy nodded. "Okay. We'll go with you."
The man nodded in response. "Good. Let's go."
They followed him through the dark, empty streets, his trench coat billowing behind him. Kate kept a hand on her weapon, ready to use it at a moment's notice. Judy stayed close to her, her eyes darting around nervously.
“By the way, I don’t think I got your name...who are you?” Kate asked.
The man held up an index finger. “Shh!” He motioned for the girls to hide, and they did so. A cloaked figure walked by.
“Who goes there?” The cultist asked in a raspy voice. He eyed the trenchcoated man curiously, then pulled at his scarf, revealing sinew and exposed muscle tissue, his entire face was skinless and red. Despite the pain he was going through, he raised his hands. “Wait...you’re...” The man tried putting on a charming smile, he clenched his teeth, fighting through the pain of his skinless face being exposed to the harsh wind. “Ahh, the brother of our lord and master.” The cultist bowed to him. Royce’s lips curled into a scowl. “Forgive me...”
“Wait...he’s related to the freak these things worship?” Kate whispered. Judy just shuddered, she looked away from the man’s horrifying face.
The cultist placed a sleeve on Royce’s shoulder. “You’re welcome to join us, Lord Royce, we can heal you of your pain.”
Royce responded nonchalantly “Oh, you’re gonna fix me right up? Well don’t that just sound...” with a sudden movement, he pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed the cultists in the chest. “...swell?”
The cultist hacked and coughed, and with a swift movement, Royce slit his throat, he pulled the cult member’s hood off, revealing a rugged face with deep lines etched into his skin. The dying cultist clutched onto his neck and fell forward, coughing up blood. Royce looked back at the two girls and put his scarf back on, wincing in pain as the fabric touched his exposed muscle tissue. “Agh...c’mon, Sheilas, the sooner we get outta this shithole the better.”
"We can take care of ourselves," Kate said, her tone defiant.
“Oh, come on now, givin’ me the ol’ suspicious act again?” Royce rolled his eyes.
"Where are you taking us?" Kate asked.
"I was planning to take you to my hideout."
"Why would we go with you?"
Royce sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to force you to come with me. But if you want to survive, you need to be smart. And right now, you're not being very smart."
“Why should we trust you? You’re related to that thing they worship!” Kate yelled defiantly.
“Don’t ever call my brother a thing again.” He grabbed Kate by the neck. “Ya think I want this? Ya think it’s fun walkin’ around without a face, lady? Let me tell ya, it’s not pretty, I know.”
Kate gasped in fear, Judy glared at him, his grip on her neck loosened. “Listen, just...hear me out, alright?”
The two girls eyed him warily.
Royce put his hands in his pockets. “These freaks in this town heard of my brother’s old cottage, and that incident at Wentworth’s Lodge, they all got kicked up in a frenzy, figured if they worshipped him, they’d be spared...but my brother don’t like that much, he just wants to rest, see? He wants to be left alone, never liked attention, so what do you think he’ll feel about this?”
“Wow, I...uh...” Kate trailed off.
“...Never thought of it that way...” Judy finished her sentence for her.
“Y’see, I just want my brother’s best interests at heart, I ain’t always a hero, but I’m not all bad either. And right now, it’s personal. Our goals line up, so we can either keep fightin’ with each other, or team up and take down this cult ourselves, what do you say?” Royce extended a hand.
Kate and Judy nodded and shook the man’s hand. “Whatever gets us out of this hellhole faster.” Kate said.
Suddenly, his cellphone rang. “Oh, excuse me a moment.” He held up his phone, pressed the touchscreen and held it up to his ear. “Hello? It’s me, Royce.” He paused for a moment. “Ah, yes, yes, what can I interest you in?” He pressed his gloved hand against the speaker, glancing back. “You Sheilas can walk with me while I talk.”
The girls nodded and did just that. They trudged through the hard sidewalks and damp muddy grass. It was dark outside, and they heard thunder in the distance. As they walked, Royce continued his conversation nonchalantly over the phone. He seemed to be talking about a deal with the person on the other line. Judy and Kate paid it no mind, as they felt it wasn’t their business, although they were rather perturbed by how calm he was even without a face. “Oho! You’ll cut through the crowd with that right there.” Royce remarked. “How ‘bout ya try that on for size, then get back to me? Don’t get yourself killed now, haha! Take care, mate.” He hung up the phone and looked back at the two girls. “Shouldn’t be much longer now, Sheilas.” He had a sly grin on. They couldn’t help but shudder at the pure red muscle tissue contorting into a smile with a lack of flesh.
“So, umm…care to fill us in on your brother?” Judy asked.
“Well my friends, it was a dark and stormy night.” Royce said, he heard thunder in the background. “Not unlike the one we’re having now, actually.” He chuckled at his own observation. “Anyway, three high school friends decided to take a weekend trip, you prolly know ‘em, their names were all over the news last year…they had themselves a little car accident., wound up in a secluded cottage in the woods, belonging to none other than my dear brother Benji.” Royce tilted his hat over his eyes. “They’d soon realize it was haunted, even the ones who didn’t believe in such things soon would find themselves believin’ otherwise.” He closed his eyes. “One o’them had a lil scare, he warned the group about strange occurrences that happened to him and wanted so badly to get out. The friends brushed it off and settled in for the night, but as they slept, strange noises and eerie whispers woke them up. Until they were attacked by my brother’s vengeful spirit, the first one who attacked got away, but eventually disappeared, the remaining found themselves stalked.” He stopped in his tracks and looked behind him, he saw a mysterious figure in a black hooded cloak disappearing in between the trees. “Damn bastard.”
“Huh?” Judy raised an eyebrow.
“Ahh, nothin’ important, just some nobody, now where was I…” As Royce continued to recall the tale, the girls looked around only to see the mutilated bodies of Cult's previous victims. They shuddered at these sights, letters carved into their foreheads, but what did it all mean? One thing was for sure, this forest was the site of gruesome murders committed by the cult. Royce continued walking, not paying much mind to any of this.
“Then we have the incident at the lodge, tricky business that one, I was there myself, greeted by an old man who introduced himself as Wentworth, the caretaker of the lodge. Some new acquaintances showed up, but they disturbed Kourriel’s resting place, so they had to be gotten rid of. The remaining friends thought that old man Wentworth was pickin’ ‘em off, but they soon realized that the old timer was not who he claimed to be was a man of the cloth, the lodge soon became haunted, just as his Cottage was a couple years ago, yes I admit, my brother Kourriel was actually the killer, he played mind games with ‘em, but he was only gettin’ back at those who disturbed his restin’ place.” He looked up at the sky. “Now, this whole town’s in a frenzy, seeing Kourriel as a deity, they’re tryin’ ta lure people to summon Kourriel so he can to finish his work, when all he really wants is to be left alone.”
Right then and there, the figure cloaked in black stepped out of the shadows, he wielded a sharp and rusty sickle caked with dried blood, as if it had never been washed. He slowly advanced on the three, and they started to run.
“He must’ve used that to carve letters into the forehead of each victim!” Kate yelled.
“How the hell can the people of this town be so insane?!” Judy asked in between breaths.
The three tried to escape, but they found that their way was blocked by a stack of broken and fallen trees. “Ah, crikey…” Royce grumbled.
Meanwhile, Jack Bale continued to run, his boots soaked by the downpour of rain. He was holding a cellphone up to his ear. “Come on, come on, pick up...” He had dialed 9-1-1 for his friend earlier, but the phone just kept ringing. He found some nearby shelter and immediately ran inside the lone cottage in the forest. He took out a board and some nails, and soon, the doors and windows were barricaded shut. As he felt that he’d be safe there for a while, he stumbled upon a hidden basement. The stairs creaked with every step he took. Up ahead, he saw a blue coffin, and from out of nowhere, a cloaked figure leaped at him. Jack grunted as he struggled against the attacker, the two grappled against each other. He kicked the cultist in the chest, who stumbled back. He quickly drew a sickle and ran straight for him. Jack grabbed him by the wrist and made the cultist slit his own throat, choking on his own blood as he collapsed and went limp. He had managed to overpower the cultist and kill him Jack looked down at the body, visibly shaken.
As the police drove down the road, they found some cloaked figures dead. “They can’t be too far.” One of them said to themselves. “Hail Kourriel.”
Jack turned on the TV, he saw only static, but when he adjusted the antennae, he saw that people were being tortured to death and dismembered into mannequins while they are alive on a metallic conveyor belt, a graphic close up of the torso was visible, it looked diseased, contained in a machine of some sort, with a metallic surrounding environment. He saw a series of plastic faces adorning the walls. It looked like the final result of what happened to these people. The only thing that was heard in the background were numbers being counted up one by one.
“What the hell is this?!” Jack exclaimed. “God damn it, where’s the news when you need it?” The screen cut to another person, this one was alive, but he was connected to wires that looked like it was draining out his bodily fluids. The screen cut to a close up of some human eyeballs looking to be experiencing sheering pain. With one last look at a diseased body wearing a mask, the screen cut to a red liquid, incomprehensible whispers were heard, and quickly a steel sickle flashed across the screen before disappearing just as fast. Jack grabbed the remote and tried to change channels, but to no avail, no matter what channel he flipped, it would always cut to the same red whispery footage, interrupted by numbers and horrifying sights every few seconds.
“They’ve taken control of everything…” Jack buried his face in his hands. “This whole town’s gone mad.” He jumped in his seat when he heard loud banging at the door, similar loud knocks were heard at the windows, and he could’ve sworn he saw another cloaked figure coming out of the corner of his eye.
“Hey, you know, we all go a little crazy sometimes.” The cultist said in an unhinged tone.
“Oh, hell no.” Jack raised his fists. “You’re not going to get me…” He looked around, grabbed the remote, and clobbered the cultist over the head with it, it wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was all he had.
“Agh, that smarts…” The cultist rubbed his hooded head. “Now that’s no way to treat a guest. Say, how about a little song instead?”
“This has to be some sort of sick joke…” Jack grumbled. The cultist turned on the radio, and an old timey swinging jazz song started playing.
“They gather 'round, in the dark of night,
With candles flickerin' and flames alight,
A cult that worships an unknown being,
A spirit that they swear they're seeing.
Oh, it's a horror story, that's for sure,
A cult that's got the town in a blur,
Spirits hauntin' every street,
And no one knows who they're gonna meet.
They chant and sway, in a wicked dance,
Their movements almost seem entranced,
The spirit's power, it holds them tight,
They'll do its bidding, all through the night.
Oh, it's a horror story, that's for sure,
A cult that's got the town in a blur,
Spirits hauntin' every street,
And no one knows who they're gonna meet.
Don't go wanderin', in the woods at night,
Or you might just see a wicked sight,
The cult's out there, doin' their thing,
And who knows what that spirit might bring.
Oh, it's a horror story, that's for sure,
A cult that's got the town in a blur,
Spirits hauntin' every street,
And no one knows who they're gonna meet.
So beware, my friends, and take care,
Or you might just end up in their lair,
The cult that worships the unknown,
Their spirits chill you to the bone.”
The cultist was dancing and swaying to the song, sometimes mock singing into a wooden broom handle. Jack couldn’t believe any of his senses, was this really happening? Or had he gone absolutely mad? He tried to throw a punch at the cultist, but the next second he was gone. He watched the TV screen shake and warp until it cut to news footage of a decrepit old man with hollow sunken in eyes and unkempt wiry white hair, he had a thick mustache and looked slightly overweight. His skin was pale, his ears were pointed and his eyes were bloodshot.
“What do you see around you?” The elderly cultist asked in a wheezing, growly voice. “On the city streets, and within the forest…it is all around you, children of Kourriel, the reckoning is nigh, the final battle will occur between our lord and the mortals.” Jack started at the screen in shock. The head cultist raised his hand. “Who do you want the victor to be? Yes. This is the night.” The screen cut to footage of buildings on fire, rain falling from the sky. “The end of everything.” It cut to people fighting in the streets. “Those faithful to Kourriel will go with him, those who are unloyal will perish. You have seen the signals, we are in control, the summoning has begun.” People were getting stabbed on the sidewalk. “Chaos, chaos reigns, it has arrived, for all who remain when Kourriel is brought back, beware!” He moved his hand in a sweeping motion. “You shalt be condemned, you will feel his wrath upon you. No matter how many of us you may think you can kill, we shall return stronger than ever. You heard me right, children, brothers and sisters.” The head cultist pointed at the screen, his eyes widening, his eyebrows narrowing. “For our immortal lord and master returns tonight! So remember, now is the time to destroy. Your lord and master Kourriel needs you to do this, as do I! The souls of our brothers, sisters and children, all of whom have joined us, they need you now more than ever!” He had a crazed, desperate look in his eyes as he raised his hands. “Wield your weapons, enact the will of Kourriel.” He raised his sickle with both hands. “Praise be unto him, his immortal soul will be saved, it is not too late! Slay our enemies so that he may have a safe and fortuitous return” Out on the streets, swat members were keeling over, crowds were in a ruckus. People were being taken out of their cars. “I beg you, believe me, Kourriel needs you…Amen.”
On his final message, the power went out, the lights went black. Jack looked around in a panic. “Oh shit, no…that couldn’t have been real…it had to be fake. It’s all special effects, it just has to be.” He paced around. “They got to this whole city, now they have the TV Station, and the radio, and…the phone!” He ran over to the phone and grabbed it, he dialled 9-1-1. “Hello? Police? Firemen? An ambulance? Anyone, anybody out there, please help!”
The other end was silent until he heard a raspy voice that was barely audible speak. “Hail Kourriel.” With that, the line went dead. Jack closed his eyes tightly and hit the phone against the table. “God damn it! Even the phone lines too! Is nothing safe from those freaks?!” He tossed the phone across the room, then sat down and buried his face in his hands. “I can’t take it anymore, I just can’t…”
“Yes, it does seem hopeless, doesn’t it?” The cloaked figure from before leaned against the wall.
“I’m going to kill you…” Jack clenched his teeth.
“You seem very sure of yourself…or are you?”
Jack started at him. “Okay buddy, if you know something, now’s the time to spill it.”
“Open your eyes, my friend...one could always use an open mind. I mean…what if we’re actually right? We kill, we spell Kourriel’s sacred name all over their foreheads. There has to be a reason, right? It can’t just be madness, it can’t!” As if on cue, the screen came on, showing various rotting faces, all with letters of his name carved into their foreheads. “It’s a tribute, praise unto he, the great Kourriel. Let’s hope we don’t incur his wrath. For if we do, it could be the end times.” The TV went black once more.
“Crazy…” Jack muttered under his breath. “What’s your game? Why haven’t you killed me?”
“My friend, why do any of us kill? Oh, sure, the others have got to sacrifice these prisoners right away, every single person we bring to this town! Where’s the fun in that? Where’s the sportsmanship? No time to play with your food, no time to get intimate with the lovely ladies, no time to get in their heads and convert others to our side, how are we supposed to grow like that?” He laughed maniacally. “Maybe those lovely ladies will join us too. Oh, it would be great to get a piece of them...and in more ways than one, right? Know what I mean? Huh?”
“You’re pathetic.” Jack spat.
“Hey, you know what they say…if you can’t beat us…” The cultist extended his hand. “Join us.”
“What?” Jack asked, blinking.
“You heard me.” The cultist was unwavering. “Become indoctrinated in the Children of Kourriel. You only live once, why waste your life running from us? You know we’ve taken over this town, every source of communication…it’s only a matter of time before we take the world.”
Jack bit his lip, looking back and forth, he knew he couldn’t run forever, and the longer he ran, the more tired he would get. “Let me show you what happened to your friend.” The cultist turned the dial on the TV, a static image came up of a man in a hospital, his throat was slit with a scalpel, and needles were jabbed into his neck, before driving the scalpel into his heart, the medical staff raised their hands. “Hail Kourriel.”
“Of course he bled out long before then, but we had to be sure.” He shut the TV off, Jack could feel himself cracking in this place, he got down on his hands and knees.
“Very well…if that’s what it takes to survive…then I accept…” Jack extended his hand.
“Welcome to the brotherhood, Jack.” The cultist shook his hand.
“Wait, how do you know my-” He was cut off, the cultist in front of him removed his mask, and Jack could only see himself right in front of him. He blinked and shook his head in disbelief, the next second, he saw Christian Murphy. He slapped himself, and when he regained his bearings, he just saw an empty cloak in a pile in front of him, he picked up the robes, looked at the hood and smiled maliciously.
---
The cultists guided Jack back to the desolate castle, a few cultists appeared from nowhere with their sickles, but one of the cultists aiding Jack raised his hand. “He is with us now, he has seen the truth.” They nodded, and guided him further into the castle.
“To think, this used to be my prison…” Jack muttered to himself, he looked around at all sorts of ancient carvings in the walls, and soon came across a shelf filled with artifacts of all kinds.
“We may each take one.” The Cultist said. “Choose wisely.” Jack browsed the shelves, analyzing each ancient object, none seemed to catch his interest until he spotted a mysterious amulet, he put it on and began to feel a strange sensation in his hand.
“An excellent choice, my friend.” The cultist clasped his shoulder. “You will truly become one of us…you know what must be done.” Jack slowly nodded in response.
---
Kate and Judy stopped by a shack owned by Royce.
“Welcome, what can I interest you in?” The two girls browsed the weapons along the shelves, putting together different weapons. “Moldin’ a weapon to suit your specific needs, oho!” Royce rummaged with something underneath the desk and gave them his own custom weapon. “There you are, as you wished. Anything else I can ‘elp you with?”
“We should be good now, thanks.” Kate nodded.
“Don’t get yourself killed now, haha!” Royce laughed, slinging his own sniper rifle over his shoulder. With that, they set off.
---
Jack was walking down the dark corridor in his new black hood and robes. A few other cultists walked nearby, and he couldn’t help but overhear them.
“We are ever so close to Kourriel’s reawakening.” One of them said.
“Yes, indeed.” The other nodded. “All we need are his remains, but thankfully, we know where they are.”
The cultists laughed a bit. “Of course, Wentworth’s old lodge, I heard our lord and master’s old body was burned there a year ago.”
“Thankfully, the old codger died of a heart attack not too long after that.” The cultists let out a malicious laugh.
“We should have no opposition from here on out, our prisoners will be slain, Kourriel’s enemies will be no more.”
“Hail Kourriel.”
“Hail Kourriel.” The cultists raised their hands.
“Excuse me.” Jack stepped forward.
“Hm?” The two cultists turned to face him.
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation, I’m a new member of this sect.” Jack raised his hand. “Hail Kourriel.”
“Ahh…I believe you were one of the prisoners we had, yes? So good of you to see reason.” The cultist replied with an eerie sense of calmness.
“If I may, I’d like to go and retrieve his ashes to prove myself to the rest of you.” Jack said. “I promise, I will make you proud.”
“Quite a bold claim…and such an important task as that…” The cultist twiddled the fingers of his right hand. “But be forewarned, failure will disgrace you in our eyes. The only option from there is death.”
“I will not fail you.” Jack bowed to them.
“Good, see to it that you don’t.” The cultist pointed in the distance.
“There’s one more thing…the others don’t know I’m part of your cult, I’ll go undercover, but I don’t think they’d buy me getting out of here unscathed.” Jack stood his ground and spread his arms out. “So hit me and make it hurt, don’t worry, I can take it.”
The cultists looked at each other. “A smart one, isn’t he?”
“Very well.”
They grabbed their sickles and raised their hands. Jack suddenly experienced what felt like a wave of sharp curved blades flying toward him, stabbing and scratching him up. Once they were satisfied, they stopped. “Is that enough?”
Jack grunted a little, but otherwise showed no signs of pain, it seemed his tolerance for pain was high. “That’ll do.” He turned around. “Alright, I’m off.” He rushed over to the window and grabbed at his own neck, starting to choke himself. “ACK-RGH-GRK!” He leaped out of the window as if he was tossed out of it, then scraped against the side of the building with his fingers in order to slow down his descent, until he got low enough to jump and land relatively safely, pounding his fist into the ground and raising his head. He started limping out of there.
---
Kate, Judy and Royce were walking down the sidewalk at night, a chill filled the air, the breeze brushing against their faces, blowing their hair back. Royce winced in pain, given his condition. Suddenly, they saw Jack, badly cut up and limping toward them.
“What happened? You alright?” Judy asked.
“Ran into…those cultists…” Jack muttered while breathing heavily. “Some abominable experiment came after us…killed Christian…I couldn’t do anything to stop it...” He clutched onto his wounds. “They…nearly got me…I escaped just in time…” He eyed Royce suspiciously, gritting his teeth as he looked at the exposed muscle on his face. He looked over at Judy. “I need to talk to you…in private.”
Judy went over to him and helped him stand. “Hey, hey…alright, let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“How about the old Wentworth Lodge?” Jack suggested.
“Sure, sure…anything to help.” Judy looked over at Kate and Royce. “I guess this is where we split up, we’ll meet up again soon.”
“Thank you…” Jack said weakly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, allowing her to take him to the Lodge.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Kate asked. “I heard that’s where that freaky spirit last was.” She caught a glare from Royce. “Erm…no offence.”
“If the legends are true, he was banished from there.” Judy shook her head. “Those cultists are out of their damn minds.”
With that, Judy helped him walk to the Lodge.
“Hmm…” Royce eyed Jack suspiciously.
---
Jack took Judy to the lodge, it took a while but they got there without getting noticed. Jack got off of Judy and slammed the door behind him, and it started to thunder and rain.
“I’m sorry about Christian.” Judy sighed.
“Yeah…it was horrifying.” Jack shuddered.
“So what got you to bring me all the way here?” Judy asked.
“I need to talk to you about that.” Jack motioned for her to follow him as he walked off into the fireplace room.
“Uh, okay…” Judy had a bewildered expression on her face, but she followed him.
Jack sat down on a bench, motioning for her to sit next to him. She sat down and looked at him. He wrapped one arm around Judy to comfort her, then clasped the other in front of his face. “How do I put this…” He reached his hand in his pocket and looked up at the ceiling. “There’s really no easy way to say this…”
He took out a cloth filled with chloroform from his pocket and swiftly covered it over Judy’s face, his other arm grabbing her tightly and keeping her in place. “Don’t struggle…don’t scream…just let it happen…otherwise, I’ll have to do much worse…”
Judy was shocked and tried to break free, only letting out muffled yells. “MMMM…MMMmmmMMMM!”
“Shhh…shhhh…just let it happen…you’ll see Christian again…it’s alright.” Jack held the cloth over her tightly, trying to get her to stop struggling.
She struggled until she heard Christian’s name, then slowly slowed down and looked at him before falling unconscious, she passed out on his lap. Jack crouched down near the fireplace and collected some remaining ashes, scooping them up in his hand. He placed them in a nearby urn and picketed it, then hoisted Judy over his shoulder and looked out the door, knowing he couldn’t open it without raising questions, he looked at the window. He opened it and climbed down, trying not to attract too much attention as he rushed back to the cult’s castle where he was imprisoned not too long ago.
---
Royce and Kate showed up at the old lodge, Kate lightly knocked on the door. They waited for a minute, but grew suspicious, it was awfully quiet in there.
“Didn’t she say she’d meet us here?” Kate asked.
“S’right.” Royce tilted his hat over his eyes, he rapped on the door again, and heard no answer. He spun around and kicked the door in, and the two entered and searched inside. There was no one in there.
“If she was ‘ere before, she’s gone now.” Royce remarked, browsing around. Both their faces went grim.
“If anything happened to her, I swear…” Kate clenched her fist.
“I wanna get outta here if ya don’t mind.” Royce shifted his pupils back and forth. “This place brings back nothin’ but bad memories on my end.”
“Let’s go…” Kate walked out the door. Royce ran after her. “Alright, Christian’s dead, Jack and Judy are now missing…and Eliza’s corpse was thrown through the window.” Kate spat.
“It ain’t lookin’ good for ya, that’s for sure.” Royce remarked.
“How could this get any worse?” Kate sighed.
“Seems like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Unfortunately, I feel like I know why Jack and Judy are gone.”
“If she said she’d meet us here, and Jack needed to talk to her, then…” Kate sounded pissed.
Kate sighed and crossed her arms. “The cult seems to have tricked Jack and told him to kidnap who knows how many of us, that’s my best guess. We know Judy for one, Eliza and Christian were gone before any of us including Jack so that must have been different. Unless I can save Judy, I might be the only one left.” She looked at Royce.
“Well, we can’t allow anyone else to fall for those cult tricks, now can we?”
“No, we can’t let it happen anymore.” Kate shook her head. “How could Jack do that? He knows how dangerous they are. There’s no way they can be trusted, those crazy bastards have already overrun the town.” She felt forlorn as she looked outside the window. “I failed Judy…just like Jack failed to save Christian.” She looked down, feeling completely hopeless. “What good am I now?”
Royce looked at her. “Don’t you be mournin’ now, she’s still alive! And that’s further than most of ‘em get. Any capture is a sentence for certain death, but if we can get her back, it’ll be right as rain.” He heard thunder and looked up at the sky. “And what a rain it is, pourin’ in quite heavy.”
---
Jack walked back into the castle, walked into the dungeon and tossed Judy’s unconscious body in front of him. “There, I got her for you, and Kourriel’s remains.” He presented the urn.
The cultist looked at Judy’s body, then smiled at Jack. “Oh, you have done us a great service, my new brother.” He gently took the urn from him. “Thanks to you, we will no longer have to rely on that empty berserker clone from that lab…no, with this, our lord and master will truly return.” He raised the urn up high above his head. “He will cleanse this world of the nonbelievers…and you have earned your place in our new order.”
“I’m just glad to be serving a worthy cause.” Jack saluted the cultist. “If there’s anything else I can help you out with, just ask.”
“It is good to have someone of your statue join us, Brother Jack. Feel free to introduce yourself to the others, so they no longer see you as an enemy, but an ally.”
“Of course.” Jack walked further into the depths of the catacombs while the cultist lifted Judy’s unconscious form by the shoulders.
---
Judy woke up, cuffed against the wall. The door ahead of her was locked.
“No, please, no…” Judy struggled against the cuffs restraining her. “Not again…” She barely choked out.
---
“Well now, this should be interesting…” One of the cultists said. The other two nodded and left the room. The remaining cultist looked at them leaving then saw Jack come in outfitted with his new amulet.
"Ah yes...Jack this fits you perfectly! There is but one thing you still require…" The cultist went to a secret chamber, opening it up, he looked at a space in the wall and out came a dark sacrificial dagger. He handed him the weapon, once Jack gripped it, it just felt right in his hands, like he was meant to have it.
"This dagger here killed her very family...I entrust it to you and hope....you can finish her off."
Jack twirled this new dagger around, then held it up, pointing its bladed tip at multiple things. "With this weapon and my skills? Shouldn't be a problem." He smirked.
The cultist smiled back at him from underneath his hood. "I feel as if you have come here for purpose, Jack. There is more to your future then a simple soldier of fortune. But a fellow cultist, by our side! Once we summon our lord and master, the world shall know your name! They shall chant it...they shall embrace it! Jack Bale, slayer of Kourriel’s enemies!"
"I am honoured to hear that." Jack bowed to him. "I feel as if I was destined to come here and embrace this way of life...I will not let you down."
"I know you will not disappoint me Jack. You shall make a fine ally!” Suddenly they heard a commotion outside. He looked out the window and saw a crowd forming in the town around a little show.
"Hmmmm...There aren’t any special events going on as far as I'm aware..."
"Should I go investigate?" Jack asked.
"It would be appreciated, Jack...thank you."
Jack nodded at him and started walking out of the castle.
Down at the gathering Kate was with Royce. When they went there, everyone started flooding in. They were willing to risk everything for this, Royce looked at Kate. “Are ya ready, Sheila?” He asked.
"I'm good to go...what about you, Royce?"
"Ready for anything." Royce nodded.
"Perfect...let's set the city free from their tyranny." Kate loaded up her newly purchased guns, Royce getting his weapons prepared. The castle doors opened, and out poured numerous cultists brandishing silver sickles that glinted in the moonlight. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, Kate held a smoking gun, carefully having aimed it, one of the cultists fell over, but the others kept moving. Royce and Kate both started blasting away.
The cultists who got close by swung their sickles, but Royce unloaded some buckshot in the cultist’s chest, causing him to fall off a bridge, he saw one nearly get Kate, but he tackled her out of the way. “GET DOWN, SHEILA!"
Jack soon walked out in what looked like black armour.
“That’s Jack!” Kate yelled. “Where’s Judy?!”
Jack hid nearby and fired at Kate, but Royce quickly got in front of her, hitting his shoulder instead. Kate looked at his shoulder and caught Royce as he was shot. Kate raised her own gun and began firing back. A few more cultists suddenly started chasing Jack. All hell was breaking loose. Kate looked at Royce. "You okay?"
"Yeah...I'm fine." Royce looked at Kate and then back at the crowd of cultists heading straight for them.
"Damn it...I've been spotted." Jack raised his amulet, which glowed with black energy in the center, it began firing spheres of dark energy wildly. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
"He may be in different armour...but I'd recognize that brutal fighting style anywhere." Kate muttered, then looked at Royce. "We have to get out of here, before he has a chance to get to you!"
Royce glared at Jack he helped Kate to the side. "This ain’t gonna go on much longer, I won't allow it! You stay here…and when I get back, Jackie-boy will be with me.” He looked over at Kate. “I’ll be alright, I promise, go in and save your girlfriend.”
Kate nodded. "Best of luck, Royce..." She went off, clutching her shoulder.
Royce headed off, his jacket billowing in the wind behind him. He did parkour, and with every shot fired, he hid behind a cultist, who took the attack for him. He jumped in the air and landed in front of him, his fists clenched. "I would suggest standing down, stranger."
Jack turned around. "The prodigal brother betrays his own flesh and blood…”
“Mate, if you knew what my brother really wanted, you’d be sidin’ with me. Who do ya think knows him better? The only family member he ever got along with, or a buncha freaks in hoods that never even met him?”
“I'M the freak? Look at you, you don’t even have a face…”
“Scars that I’ll never heal from, such is life…” Royce fired at him with a shotgun, but he deflected it with his amulet. "Though I must admit, yours looks pretty good…could be a mighty fine fit."
"Disgusting, I’ll make you pay!” Jack's hand began to take on a life of its own, moving on its own accord and attacking anyone who got too close.
“You’ve been deceived, along with the rest of the town…ain’t my job to keep you clowns in check..or maybe it is now, who can say for sure?" Royce shrugged.
Jack angrily punched at him, but Royce swiftly dodged the blow and held a knife up to his neck, he stroked his face with the silver blade.
"Unfortunately you aren't going to listen to reason right now…I dunno if they put you under a spell, or if ya just came from the loony bin, but for whatever reason, you’re bein’ manipulated. They don’t care about ya, they’re just gonna throw ya away once they’re done with ya. You’re nothin’ more than a piece o’ meat to them...you need to understand that this ain’t what my brother would’ve wanted. He was a recluse his whole life, what makes ya think he’d approve of his new freaky lil’ fanclub?"
"No..." He pressed the sharp end of his gun up against his knife blade, pushing it away. "They opened my eyes, showed me the truth, they aren’t faking it, I'd know if they were..." He turned around, attempting to pistol whip him.
He stumbled back from the blow, but quickly regained his bearings and swung the knife, trying to slice his torso, which Jack just narrowly dodged.
"The truth as they see it, stranger. I could tell you the sky’s supposed to be green, doesn’t make it true…unless sewage and radiation’s getting’ worse than even I thought. Furthermore here is somethin’ for you."
He pulled him in close, the blade held up to his abdomen, poised to strike if he struggled.
"Kourriel is my brother...and if you bozos bring him back, you’re in for quite the slaughter…but not in the way you think."
Jack was pulled towards him, he raised his gun against his blade. "I know what I saw...I know what they told me...and I know they were sincere about it..." He leaped back and fired in mid-air at him, Royce rolled out of the way. "I'm just trying to make up for my mistake...I WON'T LET YOU LIE TO ME!"
Royce ducked behind some rocks, Jack started walking forward, firing wildly at him. He stopped for a second to reload, and that’s when Royce tackled into him, pinning him down "God…damn it Jack! Listen to me why don’t ya?"
Jack glared at him. "You gonna kill me now? Because that's the only way you'll get me to stop...I've only done what I know is right...I don't regret a damn thing I've done..." Jack said as he continued to struggle against his hold.
"You should." Kate and Judy walked in between them. "Jack, the cult has been using you, they lie and deceive people."
"No...I know what I saw, they were telling the truth. We're the evil ones here!" Jack yelled.
"You can't honestly believe that, we just wanted to live, to get away from these monsters and live peacefully. There's no way we would ever willingly harm innocent lives." Kate crossed her arms. "Besides, Royce's story checks out, Kourriel never even met this cult, how do you know that this is what he wants?"
"Rgghhh..." Jack just growled and kept struggling.
"Of course you don't, you're under their spell now." Kate sighed. "You can fight it though, but only if you're willing to. Please Jack, fight it for us...I may not know you very well, but we all promised we’d get out of here, you know I wouldn’t hurt you...if there's anyone you should believe, it's me."
Jack said nothing more, merely glaring daggers at her.
Kate looked at Royce. "I'm not sure if this is working...you might want to knock him out..." She whispered.
"That can be arranged.” Royce delivered a swift blow to Jack’s pressure point, knocking him out immediately and he placed him down beside the two girls who looked at Royce.
Kate put a hand on his shoulder. "You did good." Judy walked over to Jack and picked up his comatose body. "Tell me...how hard is it to break free from this magic?"
"To be quite honest, I have no bloody idea." Royce looked over at Judy. "Are you alright?"
"I’m...I’m fine...go get Jack some help...anyone who can try to break the cult’s hold over him."
"Alright...and...I’m glad you’re safe, Sheila." Royce lifted up Jack and then went to look for help.
"I'd probably be in better spirits if Jack weren't like this." Kate looked down at Jack. "Why dont we get him down on a bed so you can stop holding him?"
"Yeah, we probably should. My arms are getting kind of tired." Royce walked over to the nearest bed he could find and gently placed Jack down.
---
Kate found herself in a subway station, it had no power. She ran to a switch to pull it and activate the emergency power, when suddenly, the monstrous mutant Kourriel clone leapt down from the ceiling. It let out a guttural roar and called out. “Abigail!”
Kate fired off her pistol as the creature lumbered toward her, it didn’t seem affected by the bullet however, it just raised its massive claws and struck her aside. She was knocked down, but she wasn’t out, she slowly shambled to her feet and the beast backed up. It let out a roar as Kate ran over to the corner and fired at it. She flanked the monster’s right just as it was about to swing at her and drew back a bit. It then charged at her and rammed her body into the wall, she grunted and coughed up blood, she knew she had to act quickly if she wanted to survive, so despite the pain she was going through, she ran right past its ride side just as it raised its claws. She unloaded her bullets into the monster as it revved up its chainsaw hand. It drew its weapon closer and closer to her, but she rapidly fired at it, and as it let out a guttural scream, it yelled out one more time. “Abigail!” and then collapsed to its knees.
With power now supplied to the train, she ran to its controls and operated it, the entire subway was barren, devoid of life, but she could have sworn she saw some creatures from out of the corner of her eyes, their eyes and mouth sewn shut with a flesh-like substance, maggots crawling all over them. “It’s not real...it must be the stress...it has to be.” Kate rubbed her arms nervously, then started up the train.
---
Things seemed peaceful for a moment, Judy was in the back seat, enjoying the train ride, when suddenly, the wall was burst through. The cargo was set on fire, and the monstrous Kourriel clone rose up from the flames. It spread its arms out and roared and growled, then slowly approached the young woman. It revved up its chainsaw and was about to swing at her, but Judy shot it in the chest, buying herself some time. Unfortunately, it was for naught as the beast smacked her into the wall with its free hand.
“Urgh! You’re the monster that killed Christian!” She raised her shotgun and blasted it back into the fire, it let out a low pitched grumbling sound. She unloaded some more buckshot into the beast as it approached her, it cornered her, looking about ready to finish her off, but she shot it in the face, and it roared to the heavens as it collapsed on the metallic floor, its body slowly burning away.
---
Royce walked up to Jack’s unconscious body, which was now tied down to the bed, he contorted his skinless lips into a grin and twirled his knife in between his fingers. “Sorry, mate, but as I said before...you got yourself a nice lookin’ face.” He held the knife up to Jack’s hair.
Jack slowly came to. “What the...” He grunted as he struggled against his restraints.
“Oh, you weren’t supposed to wake up yet, awkward...” Royce swiftly stabbed into Jack’s stomach, Jack opened his mouth, but Royce quickly slid it up through Jack’s upper body until it reached his lungs, he tried to scream, but no sound would come out. He drew it out, then stabbed him once more in the chest. “There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it? Maybe if you got yourself a girl, you could’ve avoided all this...bah, too late now, mate.” He grinned. “Just gotta be careful with this...don’t wanna ruin this and blow my chances.” He held the knife up to Jack’s cheek. “Careful now...gotta be a real craftsman with this, do it like a surgeon, here we go...”
---
Kate and Judy ran into the catacombs, where they saw a ritual taking place. The head cultist was at a podium, reading an old, worn book which had a few burn marks on it. He held a knife in his other hand. One of the other cultists took an urn to the centre of the room, then poured the ashes onto the stone floor. Gregorian chanting was echoing all around them. It was pitch black, the moon was full. As this horrible ritual progressed, the two girls noticed a thick black fog pouring in through the cracks in the walls. Kate gasped and looked through a larger hole in the wall, and there was a thick black fog rolling in from the surrounding woods, surrounding the castle. As the thick black clouds slowly crept in, they could hear screams of pain from the cultists. They soon realized that they were trapped inside, this was no ordinary mist, it was alive and determined to consume them all.
As they fought to survive against the fog's relentless attacks, another cultist brought in Jack’s old amulet and placed it on the wall, the fog coalesced into the center of the amulet, it was surrounded by what looked like black fire and then lowered into the ashes.
The monstrous Kourriel clone crashed through the wall, its body still set ablaze, it ran amok, completely out of control. The cultists restrained it as best they could, the head cultist held the cursed artifact up, and the black fiery orb went into the mindless beast, who began gritting its teeth and thrashing about. The cultists grip over him grew harder, despite the fact that they too were on fire, they ignored this searing pain in the name of the spirit they worshipped.
The two survivors could only watch as this cursed artifact brought back their undead leader. The beast’s rotten skin was congealing and contorting horrifically in ways that shouldn’t have even been possible, almost looking like an ancient demon. This black fog was leaking out of its new wounds, its body was slowly disintegrating. The truth was now uncovered, the ashes, the amulet, the fog and the clone, it was all manifesting together into their old lord and master.
Finally, with one more gasp of breath, the creature perished in dark flames, and out rose a black spirit. He had long, black claws, his spectral body was exactly like the fog, that of a thick black cloud, demonic horns jutted out from his head, his eyes flashing between red and black before going yellow, yet bloodshot. His teeth were sharp, and he left behind a black mist as he floated there.
“Hail Kourriel...” The surviving cultists all bowed to their leader that they worked so hard to bring back. The ghost could only look at his own ethereal form in disbelief.
“Where...am I? Who are all these people...?” The demonic rumbling voice of Kourriel spoke as he gazed at all the hooded figures kneeling to him. “This is not the same...no...yet again, my rest is disturbed...” He brandished his claws. “You will all die!” The spectral creature brought his claws together, his body turning into a black orb that trailed around the room, it went through the cultists, who screamed as their bodies were disintegrated, their cloaks burning to ash. The fearsome spirit continued going through their bodies until they had all perished, but it wasn;t going to end there, his ghastly form seeped through the cracks, slaying the surrounding cultists in a similar fashion. The fog closed in on the city, and then crept toward Kate and Judy, who shook. A giant pair of spectral claws were formed, and were closing in on the two girls.
“W-wait, stop! We mean you no harm!” Kate extended her hand, and a small snake slithered down her arm. “Here...your remaining family...she’s okay...no harm has come to her, see?”
The spirit stopped, forming his base form as he floated up cautiously to the two girls. “Abigail...?” He reached his clawed arm out, and the snake slithered up his fingers, across his hand, and over his arm. “Oh, my dear sweet Abigail...how I missed you.” He hugged his beloved pet.
“We just want you to rest easy...and if this is what it requires for you to be at peace, then so be it.” Judy folded her hands together.
Kourriel floated over to the two girls and stroked their faces, he fell silent as he stared at them, but merely uttered two words. “Thank you...” He began to float up in the air along with Abigail, a beam of light shining down on them both. They grew translucent until they vanished into thin air. Kourriel was finally able to move on into the afterlife peacefully.
“I...I guess it’s over...” Kate whispered.
“Not only that, Royce was right. His brother never wanted this in the first place.” Judy sighed with relief. “I hope no other towns are taken by these freaks.”
They looked up at the sky and saw some military planes flying ahead, a green helicopter touched down. “Come on, get in!” One of the Military personnel said, the two girls got on board, and when it took off, the rundown town grew more and more distant, until they saw it consumed by a mushroom cloud.
“Phew...we did it...” Judy rested her head on Kate’s shoulder, who smiled and stroked her hair.
“There was no saving that place...all we could do was end it, and move on.” Kate looked out the window. “We’re finally free.”
“Where do you think we should go from here?” Judy asked.
Kate just shrugged. “Let’s just deal with whatever life gives us, and hope for the best.” The girls smiled at each other and kissed as the helicopter flew off toward the sunset, the orange lights beaming down on them.
---
A few years later, Judy and Kate were walking down the beach, the cool sea breeze blowing through their hair. They walked by a familiar face, and when they looked at him, they saw Royce, but now, he had skin over his face, which looked a lot more like Jack’s face, but he now had a goatee, along with five-o-clock shadow and stubble on his cheeks.
“Hey there Sheilas, thanks for all the help. I’m doin’ much better now. Don’t be strangers.” He said in his signature raspy Australian accent, he let out a cheeky laugh as he walked away. He whistled a tune to himself as he walked, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a cane. “It’s a long road, to Tipperary, it’s a long way, to go!”
The End
A lone woman was running through a hedge maze, tears running down her cheeks. She looked absolutely horrified. Sharp sickles cut through the hedges, revealing the cloaked, hooded figures wielding them. She turned left, then she turned right, just barely dodging these sharp weapons. Until she ended up running into a dead end. The woman turned around, the cloaked figures brandishing their sacrificial tools, she tried getting through the hedge, but her pathway was blocked by the sharp barbed wire behind it, she moved her hands through the hedges and she cried desperately when she saw them bleeding. She fell to her knees and covered her face. One of the robed figures approached her and raised his sickle, the sun reflecting against the metal, all that was visible were their silhouettes as he brought it down on her head.
---
Deep in the heart of a remote city, there stood an ancient castle with a long history of mystery and darkness. It was said that anyone who entered the castle would never return.
Within its deep dark dungeons were a group of prisoners behind the dank rocky bars. In one of the cells, a woman with long pink hair walked back and forth, while in the cell next to her, a blue haired woman clutched the bars.
“How are we ever going to get out of here?” The pink haired woman asked.
“I really have no idea...” The blue haired woman responded.
“Would you two shut up? I’m trying to think.” A woman with orange hair wrapped in a ponytail asked.
“It doesn’t matter.” A tall man with a buzzcut responded. “We’re all going to die.”
“Well, might as well get to know each other before we’re sent off to the gallows.” A blonde man said.
“Who goes first?” The other man asked.
“How about Ms. Sunshine over there?” The blonde pointed at the ponytailed girl.
“Whatever, if we’re gonna die anyway, my name’s Eliza Parker.” She introduced herself.
“Hm, nice name. I’m Kate, Kate Hudson.” The pink haired woman replied.
“And I’m Judy Brenwick!” The blue haired woman exclaimed.
“Christian Murphy.” The man with the buzzcut introduced himself.
“Jack Bale, nice to meet you all.” The blonde man said.
A hooded cult member wearing a phantom mask stepped up to a podium, ready to make an announcement. “Attention, children of Kourriel.” The robed figure raised his arms. The other dark cloaked beings turned toward the lead cultist. “The time has come for us to test our prisoners. We will release them from their cells, they may run, but we shall begin the hunt.” The head cultist placed his hands down on the stone slab in front of him. “We shall seek out these offenders, those who escape may go free, but those who get caught will be sacrificed in Kourriel’s name.”
“For Kourriel!” The other cultists raised their fists.
“What are they talking about?” Kate asked. “Who’s Kourriel?”
“The spirit of some loner, if the stories are true,” Judy informed her. “Definitely not worship material unless you ask these crazies.”
“Whatever their deal is, we need to find a way out of here.” Jack said, looking around. “We should split up into small groups.”
“I’ll go with Kate, she’s been my best friend since High School, I owe her that much.” Judy said.
“I’ll go with Jack.” Christian said.
“I guess that leaves me all by my lonesome. Terrific.” Eliza sighed.
“If we meet up, we’ll converge later.” Jack said, just then, they heard rusty, creaking noises. They looked in front of them, and saw that the rusted over metallic bars were sinking into the ground and ceiling. They stepped out of their cells, free, at least for now.
The Cultist leader pointed at them as they stepped out into the hallway. “In all fairness, we shall wait until they are out of this room...we shall give them five minutes total. Then, the hunt shall begin.”
“For Kourriel!” The cultists raised their fists once more.
The five prisoners ran out of there as fast as they could.
“Sire.” One of the cultists stepped up to the podium. “What if they escape from our lair?”
“It does not matter.” The lead cultists smirked from underneath his mask. “Plenty members of our congregation exist within the city walls as well...they will not get far before getting caught by their watchful eyes.”
---
Kate and Judy sprinted through the murky dungeon, their hair flying out behind them. Judy was in the lead, able to move much quicker.
Jack and Christian too were running alongside each other. Eliza split off from the others. Once they left the hall, the cultists began to follow the group, brandishing sharp sickles that shined in the moonlight.
Judy tripped a little, letting Kate lead. Kate stopped for a moment and grabbed her arm. “You alright?”
“Yeah, just...got a little disoriented.” Judy said as she hoisted herself up. “This is a lot to take in.”
“No kidding, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner this nightmare ends.” Kate reassured her. “Maybe then we can get some answers.”
“One can only hope.” Judy muttered.
“Let’s keep going.” Kate glanced back, seeing that the cultists were gaining up on them. They ran for their lives. They ran for a short while, before turning a corner into another corridor.
Jack and Christian ran through, a distant light turned on. They spotted a locked door in front of them, and a gun placed on the floor next to it.
Christian took it. “You think it’s loaded?”
“Only one way to find out.” Jack said as Christian handed the gun to him, he shot the lock off and they both barged into the room. They wound up inside what appeared to be a large bunker, bullets strewn all across the ground. Jack picked up as many as he could while Christian explored the place. Up ahead, he saw a wounded man on the ground, cuts were all over his body. “Were you captured as well?”
“It’s too late...for me...” The dying man wheezed out. “No matter how many you kill...more take their place...” He appeared delirious. “You have to...burn the city...kill everyone...”
Jack was taken aback by this, clearly this man was not well.
“Destroy it all...they’re all evil...only then will we...be free...” He looked at him. “You’ll see that I’m right...” With one last gasp for breath, his body went limp. Jack and Christian exchanged uneasy glances.
Eliza went through a mysterious bloody corridor, suddenly a spear jutted out from the wall, had she not crouched, she’d have been a goner. “Indiana Jones styled booby traps, great.” She sighed. She rolled under a few other spears, then saw some guillotines swinging down ahead of her, she timed her jumps, just narrowly avoiding these blades, when suddenly a bear trap clamped down on her leg. “AGH!” She shouted as it pierced her flesh, blood trickling down her leg.
Kate ran to the left, Judy ran to the right. The cultists seemed to just walk calmly toward them, yet no matter how fast the two girls were going, the robed figures managed to catch up with them. Kate saw a torch on the wall and grabbed it, the cloaked figures closed in on her, but she raised the torch and pointed it at them. “Don’t come any closer!” She shouted, waving the torch around. The cultists backed up a bit, Kate inched herself toward the doorway, not taking her eyes off of the cultists. Judy soon joined her and took her by the arm. They ran down the long, dark twisting corridors. Red florescent lights flashed throughout the hallway. Once they got to the end of it, they were blinded by a bright light.
Jack and Christian were still trekking through the dungeon. A line of spikes jutted from the ceiling and came down. Jack rolled out of the way, Christian was left behind, the two men looked at each other.
“I’ll get you out of here.” Jack said, his friend nodded, and then he ran off. Christian saw a few cultists coming in from behind. He raised his gun and tried to fire, but all that was heard was a clicking noise, he was out of bullets. Up ahead, he saw Jack pulling a switch, the spikes slowly rose up, Christian ran as fast as he could, and just as the cultists were about to enter a sprint, Jack pulled down the lever, impaling the cultists almost immediately. The men nodded at each other, then the two ran.
Eliza grunted and cried as she tried to break free from the bear trap, the insidious device clamped tightly around her leg, the sharp edges sinking into her flesh, she looked back and saw some cultists entering the room. She clutched onto her head, she was getting a throbbing headache. Suddenly, she had a vision of herself, completely naked in a church, a target was painted on her head, the cultists reached over to her, holding her arms up, and then she screamed as hands began grabbing her from behind. In reality, Eliza was losing a lot of blood, and the cultists raised their sickles.
To their surprise, Kate and Judy were outside, they shielded their eyes from the bright light of the sun, and looked around at the lush green grass with awe.
“I can’t believe it, we’ve made it...” Judy sighed with relief. Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, relieved to be out of that situation. They walked down the sidewalk, it all seemed to be over. Just then, a police car drove in next to them.
“You girls lost?” The cop asked.
Kate and Judy stared at the cop, they leaned against the window. “We’re fine...but we’re not sure about the others.”
“The others?” The cop raised an eyebrow.
“Y-yeah...it’s a long story.” Kate sheepishly admitted.
“Why don’t you come in and tell me all about it?” The cop asked.
“Sure.” The cop opened the backdoor for the two girls to get inside. They sat down, and he started driving. During the ride, they told him everything. The creepy cathedral-like place they had just gotten out of, the cultists that pursued them, and how they fortunately got out of there, but they weren’t sure if the others were so lucky.
“Sounds like you two gals have been through quite the ordeal.” The cop said as he stopped at the side of the road.
“Yeah, no kidding, it probably all sounds a little crazy.” Judy chuckled nervously.
“Nonsense, this whole town has gone a little crazy lately, disappearances happening everywhere. This at least explains a bit of it.” Kate nodded in response to a cop. They saw a blonde woman in a police uniform walking to the car. “Hey, Bernice.” The cop smiled at her.
“Hello, Officer Thomas.” She opened the side door and sat next to him.
Thomas looked in the rearview mirror. “How about you two girls get some shut eye? No need to worry, we’ll protect you.”
“Thank you, sir.” Judy said, stretching.
“I could use the rest.” Kate yawned, the two lay down and fell asleep. The two police officers looked at each other, raising their hands.
“Hail Kourriel.” Bernice said.
“Hail Kourriel.” Officer Thomas said, grinning. He gripped the wheel and turned the car around.
Back with the others, Jack and Christian found themselves in the kind of room they’d least suspect. "What the hell is this place?" Jack asked.
"It's a mental hospital." Christian answered.
"Were these people crazy?" Jack asked.
“With these cultists around, who even knows for sure?” Christian muttered to himself. “I have to wonder how many people are in on this, considering that guy we ran into earlier...maybe he had a point...”
“No need to get hung up on him, he was a nut.” Jack scoffed. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”
They proceeded upstairs, wails and screams were heard in the rooms across the hallway, even if they weren’t being pursued right now, they wouldn’t want to go in those rooms anyway. The two found an elevator terminal and saw it open up, they ran into it and pressed the button for the top floor.
“This is insane, why us?” Jack muttered.
“Well, at least we survived this long.” Christian sighed with relief. “We’re lucky in that regard.”
“Yeah, maybe we are...” Jack looked off in the distance. The elevator stopped. They stepped out into the room, and found themselves in a laboratory. They looked at each other, then looked ahead.
“Maybe we can find some supplies if we can rummage around the place.” Jack suggested.
“It’s possible...” Just then, Christian covered his nose. “Augh! What’s that smell?!
“Beats me...” Jack muttered.
They moved on in the direction of this putrid smell until they saw something new. It was a rotting green corpse strapped to a large table, it looked like that of Kourriel’s corpse, but much taller, far bigger than any normal human would be. There were glass tubes sticking out of its shoulders and back.
“No way...is that...” Jack Bale stepped forward for a closer look.
“Hold it.” Christian Murphy held his hand out in front of him, preventing him from going in any further. “We don’t even know if its awake, we should be cautious.”
Jack nodded and stepped back a bit. “But it doesn’t make sense, I thought Kourriel’s body was burnt up at Wentworth’s Lodge.”
“Looks like these cultists brought him back, albeit in this altered form.” Christian stroked his stubble.
“You’d think they’d have the technology for this?” Jack asked. “If anything, I’d thought they’d be too set in their old fashioned ways.”
Christian was about to say something else, but fell silent when he saw the large corpse struggle against the cuffs. It opened its single revealed yellow eye from underneath its bandages. Christian began to back away before looking at his brother in arms. “Run...RUN!” The two ran out of the room as fast as they could.
Kourriel’s new body broke free from the cuffs, looking at its arms. A chainsaw was grafted to its left arm, a dark sickle-like blade coming out of its massive right wrist. It had a long pointed tail, massive claws on its fingers, a gaping maw with sharp teeth, its ribcage was wide and open, the bones looking like spikes that protruded out of its chest, its massive muscular body was hunched over. It spread its claws out widely as it roared. “Abigail!” It raised its chainsaw, revved it up and began cutting apart the lab equipment.
The metallic doors slid open. Kourriel lumbered out, the beast grabbed a steel pipe, snapping it in half. It shambled over to the two fleeing men and looked around. “Abigail!” It roared. The two ran over to some steel crates, took out their weapons, and fired at the zombie behemoth as it pursued them. It struck Jack in the chest, knocking him back.
“Jack!” Christian called out.
“Go on without me, I’ll be fine!” Jack yelled after him. Christian stood there, hesitating. “Go, or else he’ll kill you!” Jack yelled once more. Christian nodded and hesitantly ran down the narrow metallic corridor. The hulking creature slowly lurched toward the running man, who unloaded his rounds in the beast’s muscular chest, the bullets simply bouncing off of it. He fired once more at it, and it let out a roar of pain. He moved in closer, the creature was swaying back and forth, but then swiped at him with its broken steel pipe, it scratched his cheek, and he turned around and took off.
"Kill! KILL! KILL!" Kourriel screamed, swinging his blade in a huge arc in his direction.
"No! Stop!" Christian yelled.
Kourriel raised its blade to lunge at Christian, but he crouched to avoid it, dove to the right, and kept running. "Come on!" Christian called out. "We have to go! It's no use, he's a monster! We'll never beat him!"
Kourriel picked him up by his collar and pulled him into the air, tossing him against the wall. It roared with anger before striking him aside with its steel pipe, it swung downward, but Christian ran by it and unloaded his bullets into the abomination. With one more blast, it roared and fell to its knees.
"Come on!" Christian said, running into the elevator. It opened, taking them to safety.
"We did it!" Christian cried, collapsing into Jack's arms. "We did it, we're free!"
"What about the others?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," Christian replied. "I hope they're alright."
"We have to get out there and help," Jack said.
Back at the police station, Kate and Judy were waking up. Judy looked around in a daze. “They took us back here...”
“Hopefully we’ll be safe here...they did say they’d be watching over us, after all.” Kate said. Just then, they heard a loud crashing noise. “What was that?!”
“I’ll go check it out...” Judy muttered before cocking her gun, she got up and inched herself toward the direction of the noise, where she found a horrible mess. "What the hell?! No! It can’t be!" Judy wailed, rushing forward over the broken glass. “Eliza!” She cried, crouching down next to her. She lay on the ground, her throat slashed, blood pooling around her. She fell to her knees beside her corpse. “Eliza...” Judy cried as she saw blood trickling from her nose. “I’m so sorry...” She stroked her hair. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, but then sighed with relief when she saw that it was only Kate.
"It's okay, I'm here, Judy," she said, stroking her hair. "We can do it, we can beat this. We have to."
"I can't, Judy. I'm so sorry." Kate cried.
"Don't worry, Kate. I'm going to get you out of here. We're going to get out of this city together."
"Judy..."
"Just hang in there. We're going to get help." She said. "We're going to get out of here."
"I'm sorry, Judy. I love you..."
"I love you too, Kate."
"Judy..."
"We're going to beat this, we will! The others are coming, they’re coming for us!"
“Don't think I won't kill you both, I'll feast on your flesh, your blood, and your hearts! I'll tear them all out of your pathetic little bodies!" A cultist walked through the broken window, stepping on the glass bits littering the floor. He swung a blade, but Judy leapt over it, grabbing it in mid-swing and cutting the cultist’s arm off. The hooded figure yelled in pain and dropped to his knees, clawing at the blade lodged in his back. Judy tore the blade out of his back and threw it to the ground. The cultist looked up at her. Judy wrestled with him a bit, until she took off his hood, revealing the cultist to be none other than Officer Thomas, his face a mask of pure rage.
“No...no, it can’t be! This isn’t real, this can’t be happening...” Judy clutched onto the sides of her head and started hyperventilating.
Thomas placed his remaining hand on his chest, then raised it. “Hail Kourriel.” He lunged at her, but then was shot in between the eyes. He slumped over, dead.
Judy buried her face in her hands, tears welling up in her eyes. “We’re not even safe here...this really is a hell on Earth...”
Kate rushed to Judy's side. "Judy, we''re going to get you to a hospital."
"Hospital?" Judy asked, her voice hoarse. "No...no hospital can help me now."
"You're going to be fine. You're going to be fine." Kate helped Judy to her feet. She wobbled, but held up. She grabbed Kate's hand, helping her stand. They started walking, on their way out, they found the chief of police sick on the couch, his skin was pale, his eyes were sunken in.
“Oh no…” Judy gasped, holding her hand up to her mouth.
“They took over…” The Chief weakly muttered. “I couldn’t stop them…get out of the city, and watch yourselves.”
She escorted her out of the police station, when they heard the clicking noise of a gun.
“FREEZE!” Bernice said, coming into view, her pistol aimed at them. Judy and Kate raised their hands.
The elevator Jack and Christian were in continued going down, until suddenly, everything went black and a whirring noise was heard.
“Shit!” Jack yelled.
“The power’s out!” Christian groaned. "Are we going to die here?!"
"No, we're not going to die," Jack said. "We'll find a way..." Just then, Kourriel’s claws burst open the elevator door, its muscular arm reaching through as it roared. The creature swiped at them, they backed up.
“This...thing, whatever it is...it doesn’t give up, does it?” Jack fired at the arm, and the creature yelled as it slid out of the elevator door and seemed to fall. The two men sighed in relief when suddenly, the elevator shook, clattering noises were heard next to them, then the roaring sound of a chainsaw was heard above them, it was driven right through the metallic ceiling, sparks were flying everywhere as the blades rotated around and around, carving out a hole in the elevator. In a panic, Jack pried the elevator doors open, he backed up against the wall and made a run for it, jumping across the deadly chasm. He grabbed onto the other side of the entranceway to the floor, then extended his hand. Christian ran out and grabbed onto his free arm just as a hole was formed in the elevator ceiling, the massive undead creature broke through it, the metal clattering against the floor, Jack hoisted himself up, pulling his friend with him at the same time. Once they got on the floor, they fell to their knees and panted.
Christian began sobbing. "My God, my God..." Kourriel climbed up the cables and jumped at the floor. The creature reached its claws down and grabbed Christian by the collar of his jacket and hurled him up into the air.
"Christian! No!" Jack yelled, before Christian was thrown back down to the ground. Kourriel raised its blade, striking Christian in the shoulder. He cried out in pain, before Kourriel plunged the blade into his chest, just above his heart. Christian let out a pained and anguished groan, blood pouring down his chest as he fell to the ground. It turned to look at him, before a bullet struck it in the forehead, and it slumped forward, falling to the ground.
“Bastard...” Jack muttered under his breath, holstering his gun. He looked at Christian bleeding out and knew he had to call for an ambulance soon, he ran past the scene of carnage, leaving the creature behind, who opened its visible eye, it seemed it wasn’t done for just yet.
“Listen, we don’t want any trouble.” Kate said, keeping her hands raised.
“Be quiet! Where’s Officer Thomas?” Bernice demanded.
“He...he...” Kate stammered. Bernice glared at her, she was about to pull the trigger when Judy did a legsweep, tripping her and making her drop her gun. Judy quickly ran over and grabbed it, aiming it at her face.
Bernice narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare...” Judy’s hands shook, her finger on the trigger, she closed her eyes tightly. Suddenly, she heard a shot ring out. When she opened her eyes, Bernice was lying there, dead, but she wasn’t the one who shot her. They looked in the distance and saw a man in a black trenchcoat with a scarf covering his face, he had a wide brimmed hat and slunk off into the night.
“What the hell?" Kate muttered. "That was brutal..."
"Brutal or not, whoever that was, they just saved our asses." Judy remarked.
"Should we follow...whoever that was?" Kate asked. "Is that a good idea?"
"Probably not, but what other choice do we have?" Judy shrugged and the two girls followed the mysterious figure.
As they followed the figure, the girls realized they were heading toward an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city. The man disappeared inside, and the girls cautiously followed him in.
Inside the warehouse, they found themselves in a dimly lit room filled with crates and boxes. "So, you two want to talk to me or not?" the man in the trenchcoat asked.
"Who are you?" Judy demanded.
The man looked at her with piercing eyes, red muscle tissue surrounding them. "I'm someone who knows what you're up against. Someone who can help you."
"How?" Kate asked, crossing her arms.
“There are enemies all around you, don’t trust anything you see.” The man shifted his eyes back and forth.
“Are you crazy?" Judy asked.
“Perhaps this whole city is...” The man muttered to himself.
"Well, what were you doing up here then?" Kate asked.
"I'm huntin’ these cultists down, stranger." The man cocked his gun.
"What do you mean?" Kate raised an eyebrow.
"Did I stutter? I’m not huntin’ elephants, that’s for sure." He remarked as he reloaded his ammunition. He looked at the two girls. “You Sheilas can come closer, I'm not an animal."
Judy rolled her eyes. "Well, that's reassuring. But why should we trust you?"
"You don't have to trust me. But I can offer you protection. There are dangerous people out there, and you need someone who can keep you safe."
Judy chewed her bottom lip, thinking it over. "What do you think, Kate?"
Kate hesitated, glancing between the stranger and Judy. "I don't know. This whole situation...I don’t like it at all."
"I know it's scary," The man said. "But I’ve got no reason to hurt you. And if you come with me, I'll keep you safe."
After a few moments of silence, Judy nodded. "Okay. We'll go with you."
The man nodded in response. "Good. Let's go."
They followed him through the dark, empty streets, his trench coat billowing behind him. Kate kept a hand on her weapon, ready to use it at a moment's notice. Judy stayed close to her, her eyes darting around nervously.
“By the way, I don’t think I got your name...who are you?” Kate asked.
The man held up an index finger. “Shh!” He motioned for the girls to hide, and they did so. A cloaked figure walked by.
“Who goes there?” The cultist asked in a raspy voice. He eyed the trenchcoated man curiously, then pulled at his scarf, revealing sinew and exposed muscle tissue, his entire face was skinless and red. Despite the pain he was going through, he raised his hands. “Wait...you’re...” The man tried putting on a charming smile, he clenched his teeth, fighting through the pain of his skinless face being exposed to the harsh wind. “Ahh, the brother of our lord and master.” The cultist bowed to him. Royce’s lips curled into a scowl. “Forgive me...”
“Wait...he’s related to the freak these things worship?” Kate whispered. Judy just shuddered, she looked away from the man’s horrifying face.
The cultist placed a sleeve on Royce’s shoulder. “You’re welcome to join us, Lord Royce, we can heal you of your pain.”
Royce responded nonchalantly “Oh, you’re gonna fix me right up? Well don’t that just sound...” with a sudden movement, he pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed the cultists in the chest. “...swell?”
The cultist hacked and coughed, and with a swift movement, Royce slit his throat, he pulled the cult member’s hood off, revealing a rugged face with deep lines etched into his skin. The dying cultist clutched onto his neck and fell forward, coughing up blood. Royce looked back at the two girls and put his scarf back on, wincing in pain as the fabric touched his exposed muscle tissue. “Agh...c’mon, Sheilas, the sooner we get outta this shithole the better.”
"We can take care of ourselves," Kate said, her tone defiant.
“Oh, come on now, givin’ me the ol’ suspicious act again?” Royce rolled his eyes.
"Where are you taking us?" Kate asked.
"I was planning to take you to my hideout."
"Why would we go with you?"
Royce sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to force you to come with me. But if you want to survive, you need to be smart. And right now, you're not being very smart."
“Why should we trust you? You’re related to that thing they worship!” Kate yelled defiantly.
“Don’t ever call my brother a thing again.” He grabbed Kate by the neck. “Ya think I want this? Ya think it’s fun walkin’ around without a face, lady? Let me tell ya, it’s not pretty, I know.”
Kate gasped in fear, Judy glared at him, his grip on her neck loosened. “Listen, just...hear me out, alright?”
The two girls eyed him warily.
Royce put his hands in his pockets. “These freaks in this town heard of my brother’s old cottage, and that incident at Wentworth’s Lodge, they all got kicked up in a frenzy, figured if they worshipped him, they’d be spared...but my brother don’t like that much, he just wants to rest, see? He wants to be left alone, never liked attention, so what do you think he’ll feel about this?”
“Wow, I...uh...” Kate trailed off.
“...Never thought of it that way...” Judy finished her sentence for her.
“Y’see, I just want my brother’s best interests at heart, I ain’t always a hero, but I’m not all bad either. And right now, it’s personal. Our goals line up, so we can either keep fightin’ with each other, or team up and take down this cult ourselves, what do you say?” Royce extended a hand.
Kate and Judy nodded and shook the man’s hand. “Whatever gets us out of this hellhole faster.” Kate said.
Suddenly, his cellphone rang. “Oh, excuse me a moment.” He held up his phone, pressed the touchscreen and held it up to his ear. “Hello? It’s me, Royce.” He paused for a moment. “Ah, yes, yes, what can I interest you in?” He pressed his gloved hand against the speaker, glancing back. “You Sheilas can walk with me while I talk.”
The girls nodded and did just that. They trudged through the hard sidewalks and damp muddy grass. It was dark outside, and they heard thunder in the distance. As they walked, Royce continued his conversation nonchalantly over the phone. He seemed to be talking about a deal with the person on the other line. Judy and Kate paid it no mind, as they felt it wasn’t their business, although they were rather perturbed by how calm he was even without a face. “Oho! You’ll cut through the crowd with that right there.” Royce remarked. “How ‘bout ya try that on for size, then get back to me? Don’t get yourself killed now, haha! Take care, mate.” He hung up the phone and looked back at the two girls. “Shouldn’t be much longer now, Sheilas.” He had a sly grin on. They couldn’t help but shudder at the pure red muscle tissue contorting into a smile with a lack of flesh.
“So, umm…care to fill us in on your brother?” Judy asked.
“Well my friends, it was a dark and stormy night.” Royce said, he heard thunder in the background. “Not unlike the one we’re having now, actually.” He chuckled at his own observation. “Anyway, three high school friends decided to take a weekend trip, you prolly know ‘em, their names were all over the news last year…they had themselves a little car accident., wound up in a secluded cottage in the woods, belonging to none other than my dear brother Benji.” Royce tilted his hat over his eyes. “They’d soon realize it was haunted, even the ones who didn’t believe in such things soon would find themselves believin’ otherwise.” He closed his eyes. “One o’them had a lil scare, he warned the group about strange occurrences that happened to him and wanted so badly to get out. The friends brushed it off and settled in for the night, but as they slept, strange noises and eerie whispers woke them up. Until they were attacked by my brother’s vengeful spirit, the first one who attacked got away, but eventually disappeared, the remaining found themselves stalked.” He stopped in his tracks and looked behind him, he saw a mysterious figure in a black hooded cloak disappearing in between the trees. “Damn bastard.”
“Huh?” Judy raised an eyebrow.
“Ahh, nothin’ important, just some nobody, now where was I…” As Royce continued to recall the tale, the girls looked around only to see the mutilated bodies of Cult's previous victims. They shuddered at these sights, letters carved into their foreheads, but what did it all mean? One thing was for sure, this forest was the site of gruesome murders committed by the cult. Royce continued walking, not paying much mind to any of this.
“Then we have the incident at the lodge, tricky business that one, I was there myself, greeted by an old man who introduced himself as Wentworth, the caretaker of the lodge. Some new acquaintances showed up, but they disturbed Kourriel’s resting place, so they had to be gotten rid of. The remaining friends thought that old man Wentworth was pickin’ ‘em off, but they soon realized that the old timer was not who he claimed to be was a man of the cloth, the lodge soon became haunted, just as his Cottage was a couple years ago, yes I admit, my brother Kourriel was actually the killer, he played mind games with ‘em, but he was only gettin’ back at those who disturbed his restin’ place.” He looked up at the sky. “Now, this whole town’s in a frenzy, seeing Kourriel as a deity, they’re tryin’ ta lure people to summon Kourriel so he can to finish his work, when all he really wants is to be left alone.”
Right then and there, the figure cloaked in black stepped out of the shadows, he wielded a sharp and rusty sickle caked with dried blood, as if it had never been washed. He slowly advanced on the three, and they started to run.
“He must’ve used that to carve letters into the forehead of each victim!” Kate yelled.
“How the hell can the people of this town be so insane?!” Judy asked in between breaths.
The three tried to escape, but they found that their way was blocked by a stack of broken and fallen trees. “Ah, crikey…” Royce grumbled.
Meanwhile, Jack Bale continued to run, his boots soaked by the downpour of rain. He was holding a cellphone up to his ear. “Come on, come on, pick up...” He had dialed 9-1-1 for his friend earlier, but the phone just kept ringing. He found some nearby shelter and immediately ran inside the lone cottage in the forest. He took out a board and some nails, and soon, the doors and windows were barricaded shut. As he felt that he’d be safe there for a while, he stumbled upon a hidden basement. The stairs creaked with every step he took. Up ahead, he saw a blue coffin, and from out of nowhere, a cloaked figure leaped at him. Jack grunted as he struggled against the attacker, the two grappled against each other. He kicked the cultist in the chest, who stumbled back. He quickly drew a sickle and ran straight for him. Jack grabbed him by the wrist and made the cultist slit his own throat, choking on his own blood as he collapsed and went limp. He had managed to overpower the cultist and kill him Jack looked down at the body, visibly shaken.
As the police drove down the road, they found some cloaked figures dead. “They can’t be too far.” One of them said to themselves. “Hail Kourriel.”
Jack turned on the TV, he saw only static, but when he adjusted the antennae, he saw that people were being tortured to death and dismembered into mannequins while they are alive on a metallic conveyor belt, a graphic close up of the torso was visible, it looked diseased, contained in a machine of some sort, with a metallic surrounding environment. He saw a series of plastic faces adorning the walls. It looked like the final result of what happened to these people. The only thing that was heard in the background were numbers being counted up one by one.
“What the hell is this?!” Jack exclaimed. “God damn it, where’s the news when you need it?” The screen cut to another person, this one was alive, but he was connected to wires that looked like it was draining out his bodily fluids. The screen cut to a close up of some human eyeballs looking to be experiencing sheering pain. With one last look at a diseased body wearing a mask, the screen cut to a red liquid, incomprehensible whispers were heard, and quickly a steel sickle flashed across the screen before disappearing just as fast. Jack grabbed the remote and tried to change channels, but to no avail, no matter what channel he flipped, it would always cut to the same red whispery footage, interrupted by numbers and horrifying sights every few seconds.
“They’ve taken control of everything…” Jack buried his face in his hands. “This whole town’s gone mad.” He jumped in his seat when he heard loud banging at the door, similar loud knocks were heard at the windows, and he could’ve sworn he saw another cloaked figure coming out of the corner of his eye.
“Hey, you know, we all go a little crazy sometimes.” The cultist said in an unhinged tone.
“Oh, hell no.” Jack raised his fists. “You’re not going to get me…” He looked around, grabbed the remote, and clobbered the cultist over the head with it, it wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was all he had.
“Agh, that smarts…” The cultist rubbed his hooded head. “Now that’s no way to treat a guest. Say, how about a little song instead?”
“This has to be some sort of sick joke…” Jack grumbled. The cultist turned on the radio, and an old timey swinging jazz song started playing.
“They gather 'round, in the dark of night,
With candles flickerin' and flames alight,
A cult that worships an unknown being,
A spirit that they swear they're seeing.
Oh, it's a horror story, that's for sure,
A cult that's got the town in a blur,
Spirits hauntin' every street,
And no one knows who they're gonna meet.
They chant and sway, in a wicked dance,
Their movements almost seem entranced,
The spirit's power, it holds them tight,
They'll do its bidding, all through the night.
Oh, it's a horror story, that's for sure,
A cult that's got the town in a blur,
Spirits hauntin' every street,
And no one knows who they're gonna meet.
Don't go wanderin', in the woods at night,
Or you might just see a wicked sight,
The cult's out there, doin' their thing,
And who knows what that spirit might bring.
Oh, it's a horror story, that's for sure,
A cult that's got the town in a blur,
Spirits hauntin' every street,
And no one knows who they're gonna meet.
So beware, my friends, and take care,
Or you might just end up in their lair,
The cult that worships the unknown,
Their spirits chill you to the bone.”
The cultist was dancing and swaying to the song, sometimes mock singing into a wooden broom handle. Jack couldn’t believe any of his senses, was this really happening? Or had he gone absolutely mad? He tried to throw a punch at the cultist, but the next second he was gone. He watched the TV screen shake and warp until it cut to news footage of a decrepit old man with hollow sunken in eyes and unkempt wiry white hair, he had a thick mustache and looked slightly overweight. His skin was pale, his ears were pointed and his eyes were bloodshot.
“What do you see around you?” The elderly cultist asked in a wheezing, growly voice. “On the city streets, and within the forest…it is all around you, children of Kourriel, the reckoning is nigh, the final battle will occur between our lord and the mortals.” Jack started at the screen in shock. The head cultist raised his hand. “Who do you want the victor to be? Yes. This is the night.” The screen cut to footage of buildings on fire, rain falling from the sky. “The end of everything.” It cut to people fighting in the streets. “Those faithful to Kourriel will go with him, those who are unloyal will perish. You have seen the signals, we are in control, the summoning has begun.” People were getting stabbed on the sidewalk. “Chaos, chaos reigns, it has arrived, for all who remain when Kourriel is brought back, beware!” He moved his hand in a sweeping motion. “You shalt be condemned, you will feel his wrath upon you. No matter how many of us you may think you can kill, we shall return stronger than ever. You heard me right, children, brothers and sisters.” The head cultist pointed at the screen, his eyes widening, his eyebrows narrowing. “For our immortal lord and master returns tonight! So remember, now is the time to destroy. Your lord and master Kourriel needs you to do this, as do I! The souls of our brothers, sisters and children, all of whom have joined us, they need you now more than ever!” He had a crazed, desperate look in his eyes as he raised his hands. “Wield your weapons, enact the will of Kourriel.” He raised his sickle with both hands. “Praise be unto him, his immortal soul will be saved, it is not too late! Slay our enemies so that he may have a safe and fortuitous return” Out on the streets, swat members were keeling over, crowds were in a ruckus. People were being taken out of their cars. “I beg you, believe me, Kourriel needs you…Amen.”
On his final message, the power went out, the lights went black. Jack looked around in a panic. “Oh shit, no…that couldn’t have been real…it had to be fake. It’s all special effects, it just has to be.” He paced around. “They got to this whole city, now they have the TV Station, and the radio, and…the phone!” He ran over to the phone and grabbed it, he dialled 9-1-1. “Hello? Police? Firemen? An ambulance? Anyone, anybody out there, please help!”
The other end was silent until he heard a raspy voice that was barely audible speak. “Hail Kourriel.” With that, the line went dead. Jack closed his eyes tightly and hit the phone against the table. “God damn it! Even the phone lines too! Is nothing safe from those freaks?!” He tossed the phone across the room, then sat down and buried his face in his hands. “I can’t take it anymore, I just can’t…”
“Yes, it does seem hopeless, doesn’t it?” The cloaked figure from before leaned against the wall.
“I’m going to kill you…” Jack clenched his teeth.
“You seem very sure of yourself…or are you?”
Jack started at him. “Okay buddy, if you know something, now’s the time to spill it.”
“Open your eyes, my friend...one could always use an open mind. I mean…what if we’re actually right? We kill, we spell Kourriel’s sacred name all over their foreheads. There has to be a reason, right? It can’t just be madness, it can’t!” As if on cue, the screen came on, showing various rotting faces, all with letters of his name carved into their foreheads. “It’s a tribute, praise unto he, the great Kourriel. Let’s hope we don’t incur his wrath. For if we do, it could be the end times.” The TV went black once more.
“Crazy…” Jack muttered under his breath. “What’s your game? Why haven’t you killed me?”
“My friend, why do any of us kill? Oh, sure, the others have got to sacrifice these prisoners right away, every single person we bring to this town! Where’s the fun in that? Where’s the sportsmanship? No time to play with your food, no time to get intimate with the lovely ladies, no time to get in their heads and convert others to our side, how are we supposed to grow like that?” He laughed maniacally. “Maybe those lovely ladies will join us too. Oh, it would be great to get a piece of them...and in more ways than one, right? Know what I mean? Huh?”
“You’re pathetic.” Jack spat.
“Hey, you know what they say…if you can’t beat us…” The cultist extended his hand. “Join us.”
“What?” Jack asked, blinking.
“You heard me.” The cultist was unwavering. “Become indoctrinated in the Children of Kourriel. You only live once, why waste your life running from us? You know we’ve taken over this town, every source of communication…it’s only a matter of time before we take the world.”
Jack bit his lip, looking back and forth, he knew he couldn’t run forever, and the longer he ran, the more tired he would get. “Let me show you what happened to your friend.” The cultist turned the dial on the TV, a static image came up of a man in a hospital, his throat was slit with a scalpel, and needles were jabbed into his neck, before driving the scalpel into his heart, the medical staff raised their hands. “Hail Kourriel.”
“Of course he bled out long before then, but we had to be sure.” He shut the TV off, Jack could feel himself cracking in this place, he got down on his hands and knees.
“Very well…if that’s what it takes to survive…then I accept…” Jack extended his hand.
“Welcome to the brotherhood, Jack.” The cultist shook his hand.
“Wait, how do you know my-” He was cut off, the cultist in front of him removed his mask, and Jack could only see himself right in front of him. He blinked and shook his head in disbelief, the next second, he saw Christian Murphy. He slapped himself, and when he regained his bearings, he just saw an empty cloak in a pile in front of him, he picked up the robes, looked at the hood and smiled maliciously.
---
The cultists guided Jack back to the desolate castle, a few cultists appeared from nowhere with their sickles, but one of the cultists aiding Jack raised his hand. “He is with us now, he has seen the truth.” They nodded, and guided him further into the castle.
“To think, this used to be my prison…” Jack muttered to himself, he looked around at all sorts of ancient carvings in the walls, and soon came across a shelf filled with artifacts of all kinds.
“We may each take one.” The Cultist said. “Choose wisely.” Jack browsed the shelves, analyzing each ancient object, none seemed to catch his interest until he spotted a mysterious amulet, he put it on and began to feel a strange sensation in his hand.
“An excellent choice, my friend.” The cultist clasped his shoulder. “You will truly become one of us…you know what must be done.” Jack slowly nodded in response.
---
Kate and Judy stopped by a shack owned by Royce.
“Welcome, what can I interest you in?” The two girls browsed the weapons along the shelves, putting together different weapons. “Moldin’ a weapon to suit your specific needs, oho!” Royce rummaged with something underneath the desk and gave them his own custom weapon. “There you are, as you wished. Anything else I can ‘elp you with?”
“We should be good now, thanks.” Kate nodded.
“Don’t get yourself killed now, haha!” Royce laughed, slinging his own sniper rifle over his shoulder. With that, they set off.
---
Jack was walking down the dark corridor in his new black hood and robes. A few other cultists walked nearby, and he couldn’t help but overhear them.
“We are ever so close to Kourriel’s reawakening.” One of them said.
“Yes, indeed.” The other nodded. “All we need are his remains, but thankfully, we know where they are.”
The cultists laughed a bit. “Of course, Wentworth’s old lodge, I heard our lord and master’s old body was burned there a year ago.”
“Thankfully, the old codger died of a heart attack not too long after that.” The cultists let out a malicious laugh.
“We should have no opposition from here on out, our prisoners will be slain, Kourriel’s enemies will be no more.”
“Hail Kourriel.”
“Hail Kourriel.” The cultists raised their hands.
“Excuse me.” Jack stepped forward.
“Hm?” The two cultists turned to face him.
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation, I’m a new member of this sect.” Jack raised his hand. “Hail Kourriel.”
“Ahh…I believe you were one of the prisoners we had, yes? So good of you to see reason.” The cultist replied with an eerie sense of calmness.
“If I may, I’d like to go and retrieve his ashes to prove myself to the rest of you.” Jack said. “I promise, I will make you proud.”
“Quite a bold claim…and such an important task as that…” The cultist twiddled the fingers of his right hand. “But be forewarned, failure will disgrace you in our eyes. The only option from there is death.”
“I will not fail you.” Jack bowed to them.
“Good, see to it that you don’t.” The cultist pointed in the distance.
“There’s one more thing…the others don’t know I’m part of your cult, I’ll go undercover, but I don’t think they’d buy me getting out of here unscathed.” Jack stood his ground and spread his arms out. “So hit me and make it hurt, don’t worry, I can take it.”
The cultists looked at each other. “A smart one, isn’t he?”
“Very well.”
They grabbed their sickles and raised their hands. Jack suddenly experienced what felt like a wave of sharp curved blades flying toward him, stabbing and scratching him up. Once they were satisfied, they stopped. “Is that enough?”
Jack grunted a little, but otherwise showed no signs of pain, it seemed his tolerance for pain was high. “That’ll do.” He turned around. “Alright, I’m off.” He rushed over to the window and grabbed at his own neck, starting to choke himself. “ACK-RGH-GRK!” He leaped out of the window as if he was tossed out of it, then scraped against the side of the building with his fingers in order to slow down his descent, until he got low enough to jump and land relatively safely, pounding his fist into the ground and raising his head. He started limping out of there.
---
Kate, Judy and Royce were walking down the sidewalk at night, a chill filled the air, the breeze brushing against their faces, blowing their hair back. Royce winced in pain, given his condition. Suddenly, they saw Jack, badly cut up and limping toward them.
“What happened? You alright?” Judy asked.
“Ran into…those cultists…” Jack muttered while breathing heavily. “Some abominable experiment came after us…killed Christian…I couldn’t do anything to stop it...” He clutched onto his wounds. “They…nearly got me…I escaped just in time…” He eyed Royce suspiciously, gritting his teeth as he looked at the exposed muscle on his face. He looked over at Judy. “I need to talk to you…in private.”
Judy went over to him and helped him stand. “Hey, hey…alright, let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“How about the old Wentworth Lodge?” Jack suggested.
“Sure, sure…anything to help.” Judy looked over at Kate and Royce. “I guess this is where we split up, we’ll meet up again soon.”
“Thank you…” Jack said weakly as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, allowing her to take him to the Lodge.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Kate asked. “I heard that’s where that freaky spirit last was.” She caught a glare from Royce. “Erm…no offence.”
“If the legends are true, he was banished from there.” Judy shook her head. “Those cultists are out of their damn minds.”
With that, Judy helped him walk to the Lodge.
“Hmm…” Royce eyed Jack suspiciously.
---
Jack took Judy to the lodge, it took a while but they got there without getting noticed. Jack got off of Judy and slammed the door behind him, and it started to thunder and rain.
“I’m sorry about Christian.” Judy sighed.
“Yeah…it was horrifying.” Jack shuddered.
“So what got you to bring me all the way here?” Judy asked.
“I need to talk to you about that.” Jack motioned for her to follow him as he walked off into the fireplace room.
“Uh, okay…” Judy had a bewildered expression on her face, but she followed him.
Jack sat down on a bench, motioning for her to sit next to him. She sat down and looked at him. He wrapped one arm around Judy to comfort her, then clasped the other in front of his face. “How do I put this…” He reached his hand in his pocket and looked up at the ceiling. “There’s really no easy way to say this…”
He took out a cloth filled with chloroform from his pocket and swiftly covered it over Judy’s face, his other arm grabbing her tightly and keeping her in place. “Don’t struggle…don’t scream…just let it happen…otherwise, I’ll have to do much worse…”
Judy was shocked and tried to break free, only letting out muffled yells. “MMMM…MMMmmmMMMM!”
“Shhh…shhhh…just let it happen…you’ll see Christian again…it’s alright.” Jack held the cloth over her tightly, trying to get her to stop struggling.
She struggled until she heard Christian’s name, then slowly slowed down and looked at him before falling unconscious, she passed out on his lap. Jack crouched down near the fireplace and collected some remaining ashes, scooping them up in his hand. He placed them in a nearby urn and picketed it, then hoisted Judy over his shoulder and looked out the door, knowing he couldn’t open it without raising questions, he looked at the window. He opened it and climbed down, trying not to attract too much attention as he rushed back to the cult’s castle where he was imprisoned not too long ago.
---
Royce and Kate showed up at the old lodge, Kate lightly knocked on the door. They waited for a minute, but grew suspicious, it was awfully quiet in there.
“Didn’t she say she’d meet us here?” Kate asked.
“S’right.” Royce tilted his hat over his eyes, he rapped on the door again, and heard no answer. He spun around and kicked the door in, and the two entered and searched inside. There was no one in there.
“If she was ‘ere before, she’s gone now.” Royce remarked, browsing around. Both their faces went grim.
“If anything happened to her, I swear…” Kate clenched her fist.
“I wanna get outta here if ya don’t mind.” Royce shifted his pupils back and forth. “This place brings back nothin’ but bad memories on my end.”
“Let’s go…” Kate walked out the door. Royce ran after her. “Alright, Christian’s dead, Jack and Judy are now missing…and Eliza’s corpse was thrown through the window.” Kate spat.
“It ain’t lookin’ good for ya, that’s for sure.” Royce remarked.
“How could this get any worse?” Kate sighed.
“Seems like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Unfortunately, I feel like I know why Jack and Judy are gone.”
“If she said she’d meet us here, and Jack needed to talk to her, then…” Kate sounded pissed.
Kate sighed and crossed her arms. “The cult seems to have tricked Jack and told him to kidnap who knows how many of us, that’s my best guess. We know Judy for one, Eliza and Christian were gone before any of us including Jack so that must have been different. Unless I can save Judy, I might be the only one left.” She looked at Royce.
“Well, we can’t allow anyone else to fall for those cult tricks, now can we?”
“No, we can’t let it happen anymore.” Kate shook her head. “How could Jack do that? He knows how dangerous they are. There’s no way they can be trusted, those crazy bastards have already overrun the town.” She felt forlorn as she looked outside the window. “I failed Judy…just like Jack failed to save Christian.” She looked down, feeling completely hopeless. “What good am I now?”
Royce looked at her. “Don’t you be mournin’ now, she’s still alive! And that’s further than most of ‘em get. Any capture is a sentence for certain death, but if we can get her back, it’ll be right as rain.” He heard thunder and looked up at the sky. “And what a rain it is, pourin’ in quite heavy.”
---
Jack walked back into the castle, walked into the dungeon and tossed Judy’s unconscious body in front of him. “There, I got her for you, and Kourriel’s remains.” He presented the urn.
The cultist looked at Judy’s body, then smiled at Jack. “Oh, you have done us a great service, my new brother.” He gently took the urn from him. “Thanks to you, we will no longer have to rely on that empty berserker clone from that lab…no, with this, our lord and master will truly return.” He raised the urn up high above his head. “He will cleanse this world of the nonbelievers…and you have earned your place in our new order.”
“I’m just glad to be serving a worthy cause.” Jack saluted the cultist. “If there’s anything else I can help you out with, just ask.”
“It is good to have someone of your statue join us, Brother Jack. Feel free to introduce yourself to the others, so they no longer see you as an enemy, but an ally.”
“Of course.” Jack walked further into the depths of the catacombs while the cultist lifted Judy’s unconscious form by the shoulders.
---
Judy woke up, cuffed against the wall. The door ahead of her was locked.
“No, please, no…” Judy struggled against the cuffs restraining her. “Not again…” She barely choked out.
---
“Well now, this should be interesting…” One of the cultists said. The other two nodded and left the room. The remaining cultist looked at them leaving then saw Jack come in outfitted with his new amulet.
"Ah yes...Jack this fits you perfectly! There is but one thing you still require…" The cultist went to a secret chamber, opening it up, he looked at a space in the wall and out came a dark sacrificial dagger. He handed him the weapon, once Jack gripped it, it just felt right in his hands, like he was meant to have it.
"This dagger here killed her very family...I entrust it to you and hope....you can finish her off."
Jack twirled this new dagger around, then held it up, pointing its bladed tip at multiple things. "With this weapon and my skills? Shouldn't be a problem." He smirked.
The cultist smiled back at him from underneath his hood. "I feel as if you have come here for purpose, Jack. There is more to your future then a simple soldier of fortune. But a fellow cultist, by our side! Once we summon our lord and master, the world shall know your name! They shall chant it...they shall embrace it! Jack Bale, slayer of Kourriel’s enemies!"
"I am honoured to hear that." Jack bowed to him. "I feel as if I was destined to come here and embrace this way of life...I will not let you down."
"I know you will not disappoint me Jack. You shall make a fine ally!” Suddenly they heard a commotion outside. He looked out the window and saw a crowd forming in the town around a little show.
"Hmmmm...There aren’t any special events going on as far as I'm aware..."
"Should I go investigate?" Jack asked.
"It would be appreciated, Jack...thank you."
Jack nodded at him and started walking out of the castle.
Down at the gathering Kate was with Royce. When they went there, everyone started flooding in. They were willing to risk everything for this, Royce looked at Kate. “Are ya ready, Sheila?” He asked.
"I'm good to go...what about you, Royce?"
"Ready for anything." Royce nodded.
"Perfect...let's set the city free from their tyranny." Kate loaded up her newly purchased guns, Royce getting his weapons prepared. The castle doors opened, and out poured numerous cultists brandishing silver sickles that glinted in the moonlight. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, Kate held a smoking gun, carefully having aimed it, one of the cultists fell over, but the others kept moving. Royce and Kate both started blasting away.
The cultists who got close by swung their sickles, but Royce unloaded some buckshot in the cultist’s chest, causing him to fall off a bridge, he saw one nearly get Kate, but he tackled her out of the way. “GET DOWN, SHEILA!"
Jack soon walked out in what looked like black armour.
“That’s Jack!” Kate yelled. “Where’s Judy?!”
Jack hid nearby and fired at Kate, but Royce quickly got in front of her, hitting his shoulder instead. Kate looked at his shoulder and caught Royce as he was shot. Kate raised her own gun and began firing back. A few more cultists suddenly started chasing Jack. All hell was breaking loose. Kate looked at Royce. "You okay?"
"Yeah...I'm fine." Royce looked at Kate and then back at the crowd of cultists heading straight for them.
"Damn it...I've been spotted." Jack raised his amulet, which glowed with black energy in the center, it began firing spheres of dark energy wildly. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
"He may be in different armour...but I'd recognize that brutal fighting style anywhere." Kate muttered, then looked at Royce. "We have to get out of here, before he has a chance to get to you!"
Royce glared at Jack he helped Kate to the side. "This ain’t gonna go on much longer, I won't allow it! You stay here…and when I get back, Jackie-boy will be with me.” He looked over at Kate. “I’ll be alright, I promise, go in and save your girlfriend.”
Kate nodded. "Best of luck, Royce..." She went off, clutching her shoulder.
Royce headed off, his jacket billowing in the wind behind him. He did parkour, and with every shot fired, he hid behind a cultist, who took the attack for him. He jumped in the air and landed in front of him, his fists clenched. "I would suggest standing down, stranger."
Jack turned around. "The prodigal brother betrays his own flesh and blood…”
“Mate, if you knew what my brother really wanted, you’d be sidin’ with me. Who do ya think knows him better? The only family member he ever got along with, or a buncha freaks in hoods that never even met him?”
“I'M the freak? Look at you, you don’t even have a face…”
“Scars that I’ll never heal from, such is life…” Royce fired at him with a shotgun, but he deflected it with his amulet. "Though I must admit, yours looks pretty good…could be a mighty fine fit."
"Disgusting, I’ll make you pay!” Jack's hand began to take on a life of its own, moving on its own accord and attacking anyone who got too close.
“You’ve been deceived, along with the rest of the town…ain’t my job to keep you clowns in check..or maybe it is now, who can say for sure?" Royce shrugged.
Jack angrily punched at him, but Royce swiftly dodged the blow and held a knife up to his neck, he stroked his face with the silver blade.
"Unfortunately you aren't going to listen to reason right now…I dunno if they put you under a spell, or if ya just came from the loony bin, but for whatever reason, you’re bein’ manipulated. They don’t care about ya, they’re just gonna throw ya away once they’re done with ya. You’re nothin’ more than a piece o’ meat to them...you need to understand that this ain’t what my brother would’ve wanted. He was a recluse his whole life, what makes ya think he’d approve of his new freaky lil’ fanclub?"
"No..." He pressed the sharp end of his gun up against his knife blade, pushing it away. "They opened my eyes, showed me the truth, they aren’t faking it, I'd know if they were..." He turned around, attempting to pistol whip him.
He stumbled back from the blow, but quickly regained his bearings and swung the knife, trying to slice his torso, which Jack just narrowly dodged.
"The truth as they see it, stranger. I could tell you the sky’s supposed to be green, doesn’t make it true…unless sewage and radiation’s getting’ worse than even I thought. Furthermore here is somethin’ for you."
He pulled him in close, the blade held up to his abdomen, poised to strike if he struggled.
"Kourriel is my brother...and if you bozos bring him back, you’re in for quite the slaughter…but not in the way you think."
Jack was pulled towards him, he raised his gun against his blade. "I know what I saw...I know what they told me...and I know they were sincere about it..." He leaped back and fired in mid-air at him, Royce rolled out of the way. "I'm just trying to make up for my mistake...I WON'T LET YOU LIE TO ME!"
Royce ducked behind some rocks, Jack started walking forward, firing wildly at him. He stopped for a second to reload, and that’s when Royce tackled into him, pinning him down "God…damn it Jack! Listen to me why don’t ya?"
Jack glared at him. "You gonna kill me now? Because that's the only way you'll get me to stop...I've only done what I know is right...I don't regret a damn thing I've done..." Jack said as he continued to struggle against his hold.
"You should." Kate and Judy walked in between them. "Jack, the cult has been using you, they lie and deceive people."
"No...I know what I saw, they were telling the truth. We're the evil ones here!" Jack yelled.
"You can't honestly believe that, we just wanted to live, to get away from these monsters and live peacefully. There's no way we would ever willingly harm innocent lives." Kate crossed her arms. "Besides, Royce's story checks out, Kourriel never even met this cult, how do you know that this is what he wants?"
"Rgghhh..." Jack just growled and kept struggling.
"Of course you don't, you're under their spell now." Kate sighed. "You can fight it though, but only if you're willing to. Please Jack, fight it for us...I may not know you very well, but we all promised we’d get out of here, you know I wouldn’t hurt you...if there's anyone you should believe, it's me."
Jack said nothing more, merely glaring daggers at her.
Kate looked at Royce. "I'm not sure if this is working...you might want to knock him out..." She whispered.
"That can be arranged.” Royce delivered a swift blow to Jack’s pressure point, knocking him out immediately and he placed him down beside the two girls who looked at Royce.
Kate put a hand on his shoulder. "You did good." Judy walked over to Jack and picked up his comatose body. "Tell me...how hard is it to break free from this magic?"
"To be quite honest, I have no bloody idea." Royce looked over at Judy. "Are you alright?"
"I’m...I’m fine...go get Jack some help...anyone who can try to break the cult’s hold over him."
"Alright...and...I’m glad you’re safe, Sheila." Royce lifted up Jack and then went to look for help.
"I'd probably be in better spirits if Jack weren't like this." Kate looked down at Jack. "Why dont we get him down on a bed so you can stop holding him?"
"Yeah, we probably should. My arms are getting kind of tired." Royce walked over to the nearest bed he could find and gently placed Jack down.
---
Kate found herself in a subway station, it had no power. She ran to a switch to pull it and activate the emergency power, when suddenly, the monstrous mutant Kourriel clone leapt down from the ceiling. It let out a guttural roar and called out. “Abigail!”
Kate fired off her pistol as the creature lumbered toward her, it didn’t seem affected by the bullet however, it just raised its massive claws and struck her aside. She was knocked down, but she wasn’t out, she slowly shambled to her feet and the beast backed up. It let out a roar as Kate ran over to the corner and fired at it. She flanked the monster’s right just as it was about to swing at her and drew back a bit. It then charged at her and rammed her body into the wall, she grunted and coughed up blood, she knew she had to act quickly if she wanted to survive, so despite the pain she was going through, she ran right past its ride side just as it raised its claws. She unloaded her bullets into the monster as it revved up its chainsaw hand. It drew its weapon closer and closer to her, but she rapidly fired at it, and as it let out a guttural scream, it yelled out one more time. “Abigail!” and then collapsed to its knees.
With power now supplied to the train, she ran to its controls and operated it, the entire subway was barren, devoid of life, but she could have sworn she saw some creatures from out of the corner of her eyes, their eyes and mouth sewn shut with a flesh-like substance, maggots crawling all over them. “It’s not real...it must be the stress...it has to be.” Kate rubbed her arms nervously, then started up the train.
---
Things seemed peaceful for a moment, Judy was in the back seat, enjoying the train ride, when suddenly, the wall was burst through. The cargo was set on fire, and the monstrous Kourriel clone rose up from the flames. It spread its arms out and roared and growled, then slowly approached the young woman. It revved up its chainsaw and was about to swing at her, but Judy shot it in the chest, buying herself some time. Unfortunately, it was for naught as the beast smacked her into the wall with its free hand.
“Urgh! You’re the monster that killed Christian!” She raised her shotgun and blasted it back into the fire, it let out a low pitched grumbling sound. She unloaded some more buckshot into the beast as it approached her, it cornered her, looking about ready to finish her off, but she shot it in the face, and it roared to the heavens as it collapsed on the metallic floor, its body slowly burning away.
---
Royce walked up to Jack’s unconscious body, which was now tied down to the bed, he contorted his skinless lips into a grin and twirled his knife in between his fingers. “Sorry, mate, but as I said before...you got yourself a nice lookin’ face.” He held the knife up to Jack’s hair.
Jack slowly came to. “What the...” He grunted as he struggled against his restraints.
“Oh, you weren’t supposed to wake up yet, awkward...” Royce swiftly stabbed into Jack’s stomach, Jack opened his mouth, but Royce quickly slid it up through Jack’s upper body until it reached his lungs, he tried to scream, but no sound would come out. He drew it out, then stabbed him once more in the chest. “There, that wasn’t so hard now, was it? Maybe if you got yourself a girl, you could’ve avoided all this...bah, too late now, mate.” He grinned. “Just gotta be careful with this...don’t wanna ruin this and blow my chances.” He held the knife up to Jack’s cheek. “Careful now...gotta be a real craftsman with this, do it like a surgeon, here we go...”
---
Kate and Judy ran into the catacombs, where they saw a ritual taking place. The head cultist was at a podium, reading an old, worn book which had a few burn marks on it. He held a knife in his other hand. One of the other cultists took an urn to the centre of the room, then poured the ashes onto the stone floor. Gregorian chanting was echoing all around them. It was pitch black, the moon was full. As this horrible ritual progressed, the two girls noticed a thick black fog pouring in through the cracks in the walls. Kate gasped and looked through a larger hole in the wall, and there was a thick black fog rolling in from the surrounding woods, surrounding the castle. As the thick black clouds slowly crept in, they could hear screams of pain from the cultists. They soon realized that they were trapped inside, this was no ordinary mist, it was alive and determined to consume them all.
As they fought to survive against the fog's relentless attacks, another cultist brought in Jack’s old amulet and placed it on the wall, the fog coalesced into the center of the amulet, it was surrounded by what looked like black fire and then lowered into the ashes.
The monstrous Kourriel clone crashed through the wall, its body still set ablaze, it ran amok, completely out of control. The cultists restrained it as best they could, the head cultist held the cursed artifact up, and the black fiery orb went into the mindless beast, who began gritting its teeth and thrashing about. The cultists grip over him grew harder, despite the fact that they too were on fire, they ignored this searing pain in the name of the spirit they worshipped.
The two survivors could only watch as this cursed artifact brought back their undead leader. The beast’s rotten skin was congealing and contorting horrifically in ways that shouldn’t have even been possible, almost looking like an ancient demon. This black fog was leaking out of its new wounds, its body was slowly disintegrating. The truth was now uncovered, the ashes, the amulet, the fog and the clone, it was all manifesting together into their old lord and master.
Finally, with one more gasp of breath, the creature perished in dark flames, and out rose a black spirit. He had long, black claws, his spectral body was exactly like the fog, that of a thick black cloud, demonic horns jutted out from his head, his eyes flashing between red and black before going yellow, yet bloodshot. His teeth were sharp, and he left behind a black mist as he floated there.
“Hail Kourriel...” The surviving cultists all bowed to their leader that they worked so hard to bring back. The ghost could only look at his own ethereal form in disbelief.
“Where...am I? Who are all these people...?” The demonic rumbling voice of Kourriel spoke as he gazed at all the hooded figures kneeling to him. “This is not the same...no...yet again, my rest is disturbed...” He brandished his claws. “You will all die!” The spectral creature brought his claws together, his body turning into a black orb that trailed around the room, it went through the cultists, who screamed as their bodies were disintegrated, their cloaks burning to ash. The fearsome spirit continued going through their bodies until they had all perished, but it wasn;t going to end there, his ghastly form seeped through the cracks, slaying the surrounding cultists in a similar fashion. The fog closed in on the city, and then crept toward Kate and Judy, who shook. A giant pair of spectral claws were formed, and were closing in on the two girls.
“W-wait, stop! We mean you no harm!” Kate extended her hand, and a small snake slithered down her arm. “Here...your remaining family...she’s okay...no harm has come to her, see?”
The spirit stopped, forming his base form as he floated up cautiously to the two girls. “Abigail...?” He reached his clawed arm out, and the snake slithered up his fingers, across his hand, and over his arm. “Oh, my dear sweet Abigail...how I missed you.” He hugged his beloved pet.
“We just want you to rest easy...and if this is what it requires for you to be at peace, then so be it.” Judy folded her hands together.
Kourriel floated over to the two girls and stroked their faces, he fell silent as he stared at them, but merely uttered two words. “Thank you...” He began to float up in the air along with Abigail, a beam of light shining down on them both. They grew translucent until they vanished into thin air. Kourriel was finally able to move on into the afterlife peacefully.
“I...I guess it’s over...” Kate whispered.
“Not only that, Royce was right. His brother never wanted this in the first place.” Judy sighed with relief. “I hope no other towns are taken by these freaks.”
They looked up at the sky and saw some military planes flying ahead, a green helicopter touched down. “Come on, get in!” One of the Military personnel said, the two girls got on board, and when it took off, the rundown town grew more and more distant, until they saw it consumed by a mushroom cloud.
“Phew...we did it...” Judy rested her head on Kate’s shoulder, who smiled and stroked her hair.
“There was no saving that place...all we could do was end it, and move on.” Kate looked out the window. “We’re finally free.”
“Where do you think we should go from here?” Judy asked.
Kate just shrugged. “Let’s just deal with whatever life gives us, and hope for the best.” The girls smiled at each other and kissed as the helicopter flew off toward the sunset, the orange lights beaming down on them.
---
A few years later, Judy and Kate were walking down the beach, the cool sea breeze blowing through their hair. They walked by a familiar face, and when they looked at him, they saw Royce, but now, he had skin over his face, which looked a lot more like Jack’s face, but he now had a goatee, along with five-o-clock shadow and stubble on his cheeks.
“Hey there Sheilas, thanks for all the help. I’m doin’ much better now. Don’t be strangers.” He said in his signature raspy Australian accent, he let out a cheeky laugh as he walked away. He whistled a tune to himself as he walked, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a cane. “It’s a long road, to Tipperary, it’s a long way, to go!”
The End