Prologue: Darkness

  Red and blue lights ran across the windows of the townhouses on the left. On the right, the remnants of a small office, now just two brick walls containing about two floors worth of debris, shrouded itself from the lights. Ren parked just a few metres away from the makeshift blockade made by two police cars, gauging the situation from within the safety of his four doors. He could see two officers dressed in blue short-sleeved shirts and black pants near their cars, although one was trying to calm the other down judging by his skittish behaviour. Ren sighed; his eyes still trained on the two of them as he crept out of the car.

  He wasn’t feeling great to begin with. He had just woken up thirty minutes ago, meaning his bomber jacket and jeans were both still stained from yesterday’s lunch. Whatever was happening wasn’t something he was prepped for. He could see over the cars now compared to his hunkered view in the Corolla, although it didn’t give much more context to the officer’s behaviour. Five bodies, all covered in white tarping, were strewn all the way from left to right. A warping in the tarmac gave it away as soon as Ren saw it. Another Foul-Incident. He waltzed over to the two officers, the supportive one from before turning to greet him.

  “Hey sir--uh, this is an exclusion zone—We haven’t been able to get a diversion sign out yet so apologies.” The officer scratched the back of his head as he shifted his eyes away from Ren.

  “S’all good fella, I’m here on the BSS’ behalf. If you could kindly lemme’ through that would be much obli-”

  “Sit tight for just a sec’, we’re taking a few readings still.” Another officer hurriedly walked on over, clearly of a much higher position than the two judging by the small rectangle of his badges and his prim-proper felt cap. A captain, Ren thought. The walkie-talkie on his chest kept sounding off as he talked which gave Ren an indication of what was going on.

  Normally the police and the BSS would have handled this pretty quickly by now and Ren was rarely ever called out for anything more than a quick check of events here and there to get the record straight. This time, a Foul had caused the office to his right to fully collapse, whilst also killing five others. Nothing too unusual for large Fouls, but things weren’t sitting right with him such as the bodies that weren’t under any debris. Especially considering the ‘readings’ the captain was talking about.

  “Readings? What level incident is this, cap?” Ren pressed.

  “Well, what I can say is that the level is still being delegated. Take that as you will. BSS sent you right?”

  “Yeah, uh… sorry you said the level’s still being delegated? Shouldn’t take too long to say it’s three or four tops, no?” Ren was taken aback.

  Foul-Incidents, at least to the best of his knowledge, will always start off with a default value and usually there are major factors that instantly raise the level. From what he’d seen already, the level should be within the three to four range.

  “How about you take a look first.” The captain dropped his head and tilted his eyes towards Ren, before prompting him to follow.

  The two younger officers entered one of the cop cars as the captain and Ren made their way through the scene. Stepping through, more and more disturbing details were cropping up, building more and more of a horrific portfolio of events.

  Past the bodies and into the building, Ren spotted several large pierce marks within the solid surfaces that were left after the roof had collapsed. More white tarping was spotted around the debris, one in particular placed over a large hole in one of the surviving walls. The sunrise began to poke through some of the holes in the large wall to the rear of the office. A good indication that he wouldn’t catch a wink when he got back. He lost track of the captain for a moment, until he found him knelt over a small cylinder.

  “What’s that?”

  “A flare. It was set off pretty early in the day as far as forensics can tell. Military-grade so anyone and everyone should’ve seen it from a mile away…” The captain stared blankly at the disposed flare before turning to Ren, his face drained of colour, before continuing.

  “Forensics found a hand around it. Think you could take a look at it for us with that eye o’ yours?” He stood up and handed Ren a sterilized bag holding a moderate lump inside.

  Ren was reluctant to touch it at first, but swiftly grasped the reality of the situation. Good thing he signed the trait form this morning, he thought. He took the hand out of the bag, its glove torn at the wrist from being severed. Before laying it down on the floor, he clasped it with both hands in a prayer-like gesture, closed his eyes, and knelt. His consciousness gradually slipped away from his body until, darkness.

  Within an instant, a black drill pierced a man just a few feet away. Peter knew him as Mike, a family man just a few months away from promotion. He had just a second to cry out before falling limp. An involuntary shriek from a woman nearby gave her away. Another second, and suddenly she was pinned to the pitch dark by another black spike. Peter knew her as Katie, a young aspiring musician who had just been enrolled for a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship. His instincts kicked in, pushing aside his urge to dwell on their deaths. Peter deftly ran towards the entity’s side, only for its gaze to snap to him.

  His heart sank.

  The silver lining was, he gained a better view of it now. Its head was comprised of the top half of a human skull, only its top jaw was cut away in an arrow-like shape. Its eye sockets had no holes, and the sides of its skull was adorned with two large bent horns that pronged upwards. Below its pitch-black neck laid a spiked bone mantle, its grand display of horns and sheer broadness perforating the darkness. The rest of the figure was completely cloaked in darkness, simply unable to be seen.

  Drenched with sweat, he sprinted further. Surely the spikes wouldn’t catch him if he was fast enough. This time, another scream, as a body slid to his feet. Not enough time. Each second, another of his group was torn from their mortal coil. He peeled a black mist from his forearm, flinging an inky bolt towards the entity trying desperately to distract it. It disappeared. Someone rushed past Peter and dove forwards to the entity, combat knife already in-hand. Peter, again, did not have a second to spare. He watched as they were pincered by two spikes materializing from the shadows.

  That’s it, he thought. Peter knew now. They were coming from the darkness.

  He stopped, a fatal error for sure, but he had to try. He hastily ignited a flare from his pocket, breaking the darkness around him. The entity immediately glided towards him, its lower half melding with the darkness beneath like oil. Light should stop it, he thought. It summoned another black drill, this time plucking it from the darkness and hurling it like a spear. Peter rolled to the right.

  “That was silly.” The entity uttered.

  Peter couldn’t comprehend his mistake before his head was severed from his body, clutched by the entity’s elongated fingers. In his last conscious moments, he saw it. His hand, still clutching the flare, only it was five feet away from him. And then, darkness.

  Chapter 1: Thanks, Roxie

  Nameless was found drifting within a dark ocean, a body among a hollow and endless place. It did not fall or rise, it simply stayed, still holding itself like an unborn babe. What was it? It thought. Akin to a synaptic pulse, it’s thought brought it to being and it’s fingers snapped open from its clutches. Muscles spasmed as it’s consciousness began to collect, not fully but just enough to emit motion. It could not see, only feel, and think, for now at least. Seeing would come later, it thought. Somehow the nameless knew how to keep itself afloat and started rising from the darkness. Again, it could not see but somehow it knew where to go, what to hold onto. Hold onto?

  It clutched something solid. A handhold.

  Heaving itself up took no effort as their body rose further from the depths. Something was beginning to brighten, was it the sense of vision? No, that had already come, developed upon the climb. Another place, it thought. As it ascended the ethereal ladder it’s muscles were becoming strained as sudden effort erupted across it’s vessel. Muscles? Again, somehow it knew these things, these items of apparent note. It climbed and climbed, for it was the only action that could be done. The light was within reach now.

  It heaved further and further, until it eventually crawled out from the inky dark and led on a surface exhausted. It drew its first breath. Gathering it’s bearings it could see an environment surrounding it built by many hands. Perhaps another being? Someone who could make sense of this sudden conception? It gathered further details. A set of walls with a shelter above stood in front hosting more darkness within whilst large pillars of alabaster formed a square around nameless and the shelter.

  Once more, it attempted to rise, this time pushing on the floor below to propel itself upwards. After several strained seconds its muscles failed, and it immediately dropped back to the floor with a wet thud. It fainted.

  The darkness, unending and massive, was interrupted suddenly by a thumping. A rhythmic beat within its skull, not its ears. It perceived its surroundings once more and witnessed a vessel, a creature moving out from an opening in the alabaster square. Had it the energy, the nameless would have attempted intimidation but alas, it simply looked forwards whilst sprawled out onto the floor. Closer and closer, the creature’s appearance became more determinable. Moderate size, long waves of blonde and some sort of worked textiles were the most apparent items. The creature crept up slower now, bending its torso down so that the waves of blonde cascaded and hung down to the floor. Within the perfect synchronisation of beats another sound broke through the loop. A voice? It was unintelligible, however…yes there were items the nameless could pick up on. Words, letters, syllables. Communication. The creature was trying to communicate with it. Within a few seconds, it had garnered enough of an understanding to coalesce a response.

  “Hello?” the voice called out in between the thuds. A feminine, slightly raspy voice that indicated a level of caution.

  The nameless’ skull began to whirr with thought. Its mouth operated like a set of pulleys and cranes as the bottom jaw slowly articulated a sentence in response.

  “H…h-h…el-oh…” Its voice sounded deeper than the creature’s, evident from the deep rumbles and scratchy distortion that echoed from its throat.

  The creature, perhaps a female of its kind, jolted away in surprise as it hovered its hand near its side. Just as she stepped back, the thuds head began to quicken. It was her, it thought. She was the source of these thuds. Ah. It was her heart. But why was it loud, louder than everything else? Its hands slapped with a wetness onto the floor once more, pushing itself up further this time, however it still faltered and slammed back down. It would wait longer this time.

  “Please, uh, d-don’t move.” Her voice was shaky this time. The timid stutter made it clear she was fearful of it.

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  “Okay.” It was clearer this time, much more cohesive. The female froze, unaware of what to do next. Was she going to kill it? It would’ve been the perfect opportunity. No, her fear had stopped her from acting fast. Something about it had frightened her, but what?

  She snapped back into reality. Reaching into a large sack with straps, she pulled out a black rectangle adorned with a metallic fork. Curious, it sent a question.

  “Your name?”

  “I-its Roxie.” She hesitated before giving her name. Her demeanour was beginning to change, clear from her slowing heartbeat.

  “I need help.” It said somewhat callously.

  “Sure… just don’t make any sudden moves, okay?”

  It nodded weakly, letting her creep towards it as she stowed the forked rectangle on her side and prepared to lift. She slid her hands beneath its skin and the concrete. Mucus coated her hands up towards the wrist and she winced in response.

  The next few minutes were gruelling as she tried her best to pull the nameless. No matter what angle she tugged at its body would not budge, even with the slime acting as a lubricant. Tired, she pressed her hands on her knees.

  “Just…a sec…” She said between gasps of air. She reached into her sack again and grabbed a red packeted rectangle this time. Tearing the top revealed a brown bar.

  Fuel, it thought. It held its mouth agape as if to beg without the hard part of asking first. Her hand stopped as she smiled slightly and knelt down offering the bar to it. With a loud crack its teeth snapped shut around the bar leaving just the butt of it within the packet. She was visibly dissatisfied seeing the bar disappear, however, it had solved a problem. The nameless began to rise once more, its large arms still shaking as their triceps desperately tried to straighten them, until it surpassed the boundary. It stopped as its torso stuck up straight and then continued to push on the ground with its two beefy legs this time.

  It hadn’t been able to see its own appearance, what with the ground covering its belly-side, and noticed a large difference between it and the girl. Its frame was nearly fully uncovered apart from its waist where various hides and leather swung from a belt and cloth sash that sat skewed on its hips. Its skin was mostly white, but the undersides of its limbs were of slight green pigmentation. As for its physique it practically boasted its strength as sharp lines and clear-cut squares of lean muscle pushed out from underneath its slick skin. Lastly, it easily stood a head and shoulders taller, and its face was nearly featureless apart from a large skeletal-like jaw and a tall rectangular forehead. No wonder the girl was intimidated earlier.

  “Thanks, Roxie.” It said. It held its fist up to the girl and extended its thumb upwards. A gesture of recognition, it thought.

  The girl was still clearly perturbed, possibly even more so at seeing the sheer size of it. Was she regretting what she’d done? If so, it was certainly too late now. It began to take slow steady steps past her. Each foot that met the earth gave an incredible vibration through the ground as the concrete’s surface cracked and even shattered under the crushing weight. Gradually the steps became more controlled until only a slight rumble was felt beneath.

  “Wait! You can’t!” She said. It had already reached the opening and had entered halfway. It pulled its head out of the opening and turned to her.

  “Why?”

  “You, um…you might hurt someone.”

  “Hurt?” It questioned her. Why was that relevant? It was just trying to find a way out.

  “Your steps…t-they’re breaking things. Look, lemme’ just call a friend…” She reached into her side pockets and pulled out another rectangular object, a device encased in purple and black.

  Her heartbeat raised again. It clearly wasn’t a welcome sight and if any others of her kind were to appear it would surely draw attention. Too much attention. Its calves began to tense up grotesquely before suddenly cracking the ground underfoot and launching itself through the doorway. Several windows shattered as the sheer force began to reverberate through the building, sending shards of concrete and wood into the walls inside.

  She instinctively ducked and leapt to the floor, covering her head with her hands. The nameless could be heard stomping through the building and away, down the streets. The streets, full of people.

  “Oh shit!” she thought, eyes widened by crisp realization. Bolting to her feet she rushed towards the shattered apartment. Its interior, or what was left of it, indicated that it was a dining room, complete with a kitchen corner section built into the apartment’s left-most corner. Looking through the window above the sink, she saw a brief glimpse of the creature’s carnage. Cars with large, crumpled dents in the middle of them, pavement shattered, and worst of all distressed people.

  Roxie looked to her right, spotted the blown-out doorway to the apartment, and rushed through. She could see a somewhat clearer picture now, people clearly in distress just outside, but just a few hundred metres more down the street and there was hardly any damage to be seen. Was it trying to be careful? Still no sign of it, at least not from this angle.

  The nameless peered down below at the crowded street from atop one of the nearby buildings, a simple corner-shop that provided enough cover from the scene and was located nearer to the street’s end. Disarray and confusion, shouts, and laboured communication. It had tried to make sure none of the creatures were harmed during its escape, unfortunately it was still getting used to the power these legs provided.

  Understanding was the first priority, to drown in the senses and process the raw yield into information. Somehow more of the creatures’ language and culture below was flooding into the nameless’ mind without even needing their influence. It was like it had seen these things before, heard them being spoken a thousand times over.

  And what of the girl? Trustworthy, no, but helpful, nonetheless. It would not plague her and the nearby residents further, seeing their distress was enough to make that decision clear. And then it hit.

  A wave of hunger, crashing and thrashing within its stomach like a second, angry mind that could only speak through gurgles and groans. A beast so damnably frustrated as to distract any and all thinking towards only itself.

  The nameless could not smell but it could sense things, a special way of detecting prey but only those of the living. It could feast on the humans below, a helpless banquet washed down with a delightful cascade of blood and organs. But it didn’t. It could picture the scene clearly in its mind, but it could not act, paralysed simply because it did not desire to. Fine, it thought, a second option.

  The creatures had taken to storing their kills within their abodes, proudly displaying them in jars and such from what it could see earlier. An easy thing to take, however it would have to be careful not to be seen. Perhaps an entry into the nearby hovels, one where its residents had left to help those within the streets? A perfect plan, simply fool-proof. Nary a flaw to be seen.

  It leapt with newfound purpose across the space between the corner shop and the apartments, forgetting its steps were like that of thunder to these creatures. Pacing from roof to roof, it spotted an open door at the other end of the street. Just as planned, it thought, and slinked down from the roof clinging to the apartment’s side to slow its fall.

  A large crowd of people had now congregated at the other end of the street, panicked and confused but thankfully no one was injured. Distant sirens could be heard getting nearer, soon the police will start removing everyone from the neighbourhood. Better find this thing quick, Roxie thought, pacing down the road where the creature’s footsteps lessened and then abruptly ended.

  Looking at the damage this thing had caused, it was clear that major repairs would be required, something which Roxie dreaded to think during the current economic climate. The measure of payment would be more than anyone could realistically save up in this suburb, and tradesmen would most definitely bump up the price by using the recession as an excuse for doing so. All these thoughts spiralled into what she recalled her mother saying, about how the store will go bust by the end of the month.

  Most of these houses were known about to her already. These people kept to themselves but one way or another they would stop by the shop to collect a few last-minute items, a carton of milk, some snacks, maybe a scratchcard, small stuff really. A few of them were friendly enough to say their names, a few more were kind enough to share what they were doing for the day. Anger flashed back into her mind, she knew the danger ahead but she wanted repentance for this, with some level of guilt settling in now.

  As she walked further and further, she looked below, around and to the top of the townhouses. Clearly, this thing was not trying to be stealthy as roof tiles had been blow out from their holding and the small walls that surrounded some of the open roof areas had chunks missing. She followed the trail of broken roofs until it stopped, right at the end of the townhouse row. Just past this house was where she remembered a few summer days as a kid playing on the swing set in the park before heading home after school, and then as she got older, she’d pass by with nothing but a nostalgic glance every now and then.

  She walked closer and around to the alley, spotting two sets of large dragging marks from the top to the bottom of the townhouse and a pile of bricks scattered near it. Quietly, music started playing from the front of the house, whilst a series of thuds could be heard from inside. It couldn’t have made itself more obvious if it tried, she thought.

  Roxie began moving slowly towards the front of the house, before spotting the shattered doorway where this thing clearly could not have gently fit through. Her heart rate quickened as the realisation set in and regret started to rise. She could have just left the authorities to handle this, but she couldn’t help but feel guilt for not trying to remediate the situation. She walked through the doorway and crept up to the kitchen door, before turning through.

  There, with it's head pushed up against the ceiling, it’s huge slab of an arm stuck in the fridge, and with Blue Oyster Cult’s ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’ softly playing away, was the creature. They both froze, one from surprise and the other from sheer paralyzing fear.

  The creature, it’s mouth agape, simply grabbed another bowl from the fridge and slammed it straight through it’s jaws. It’s other arm latched onto a fruit bowl and sucked down a handful of bananas, oranges and apples. Another helping of beef mince from the freezer and it still wasn’t done. It only stopped when it realised the girl was still stuck in place.

  “What?” It pointed its sharpened, shark-like head towards her.

  “Uh…could you s-stop?” She could hardly move her mouth, the fear spreading through her like a white-hot tingling fire.

  “I hunger.”

  “…This isn’t r-right.”

  It froze again, perplexed by what this concept of ‘right’ was. Confused, the creature removed it’s hand from the fridge and stood idly. Her surprise snapped her back, able to form words and move limbs.

  “I can find you something to eat, if you stop stealing from these people.” She tried speaking to it like a person rather than a hulking monster.

  She nodded, a gesture of agreement. It nodded back.

  “Wait here, and don’t touch anything!” She ran out from the kitchen and back into the street.

  Mr Doe worked a hotdog stand nearby, again something she remembered visiting often during her lunch breaks at school. She sprinted round the back of the townhouse, past the playground and into the next street. The police seemed to be here much quicker than anticipated, and they looked to be a special kind too. A tall black and chunky 4x4 was parked near the street corner, and officers were going door to door directing people to evacuate.

  She spotted the hotdog stand, and clearly no-one would be manning it during the commotion. Roxie swatted down a wad of cash, grabbed three dogs and buns, and dashed back towards the townhouse.

  Rushing back in, surprising her again, nothing had been touched, and the creature was still stood idly by the fridge.

  “Here, three hot dogs for your patience.” She spoke out of breath, displaying her lack of fitness in recent years.

  She placed the dogs in it’s huge hands and watched as it analysed them, puzzled by the formation of bun and meat together.

  “Hot…dog. I don’t understand. It is not warm, and it is made of pig flesh, not dog.” It raised the hot dog towards it’s non-existent eyes as if getting a closer look.

  “That’s because---it looks like a wiener dog, ya know? They’ve got long torsos. And it’s cold because it’s not been cooked yet, sorry.”

  “I have not seen such creatures. Regardless, thank you, Roxie.”

  She was half-stunned, at both the fact that the creature’s speech was becoming more coherent by the second and that it had remembered her name. Then, she remembered the presence outside. The presence of a large, most likely hostile to this creature, force.

  “Shit uh, we need to go, big guy. Like, right now.” Her words tried to cut through the gnashing of teeth and deep grumbling.

  “…very well, where is our destination?” It sucked down the last dog and looked straight towards her.

  They both heard them, ten or so sets of hurried footsteps towards the front of the house.

  “Anywhere but here—like ten rows down or so, I don't know!” She flustered, dreading the thought of the violent chaos that would ensue if this thing became cornered.

  Just as the group of heavily armed officers stepped foot through the doorway, the ground quaked for a second and a crash was heard from above. An officer turned into the kitchen and found a small crater that cracked the floor tiles and shook the cabinets and fridge down to it. A few planks fell from above, where the officer turned their head and spotted the large hole extending through both the first floor and the roof.

  The officer relayed what they saw with urgency.

  “Get eyes on it now!” The commanding officer craned his head back to the street where the remainder of the force was.

  As they scrambled to get a better view, he pushed through the doorway and towards a young man. He was dressed in a long black trench coat with his white shirt and black-tie peeking through the open front, a formal attire essentially. His hair was perfectly straight, down to the jaw, and almost a pure white if it weren’t for the tinge of blonde. His complexion was a pale-grey and his deep umber eyes hardly offset the monotone colour.

  “You’re up, Arthur. I need you to catch it before my men do.” The officer stood almost a head taller than the man.

  “Not to worry, what category is it may I ask?”

  “Good question.”