Dancing In The Void

They watched with hungering eyes as the sky was swallowed by shadows.

The ink-like shade painted across the mirror of the world. Birthed from the lightless moon, it spread outward leaving behind a miasma of malice and decay. The doors had been opened, and the dead crawled back into the existence they forever left behind. The people gathered outside of their homes, awoken by the feeling of dread that gripped and beckoned them. The black sun slithered over them and the cold it brought coursed through their bones.

“What the hell is that?” A woman cried out from among the masses. She stepped forward. Other people looked up in unison, startled by the unnatural atmosphere.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” Another one answered.

“An eclipse maybe?” An elderly man tried reasoning.

“I don’t… think so, it’s moving so fast…” others joined the conversation.

The woman felt the cold embrace her. A scream far off in the distance, followed by an explosion of flames and the shattering of metal and stone. The screams continued louder and more numerous, waking the night with their song. She pulled out her phone, attempting to call her working husband.

The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailabl-

“God, God fucking...” She cursed trying once more.

A long heaving moan was heard from behind her. She turned around slowly. Before her was a small crossing between buildings, everything inside pitch black. She stepped back twice, her hands and legs trembling in fear. The woman’s phone shattered on the ground when the two pure white eyes appeared in the shadows in front of her. Its twisted mouth curved into a sickening smile. She shrieked. The people around her screamed as well and ran off in every which way.

But she did not budge, her legs frozen, and her eyes staring at the beast’s. It crawled from the crossing, its massive body grasping at the buildings like a spider. It reached towards her with one of its numerous limbs, and its rotting fingers lingered just short of enveloping her. Tears streamed down her face. The creature pulled back briefly before piercing her frail body with its claws. Blood spurt out onto the pavement. Her body was flung aside without care, crushing her skull and one of her legs. The monster then dragged its body away, poking inside the already abandoned windows as it crawled over the buildings like a hellish insect. The woman stared forward in shock. Her short and rapid breaths gurgled at the blood that built up in her throat. Faraway she could see people running, some desperately trying to find a vehicle or something with which they could flee. She lay there awaiting her death, but her soul could not let go. The physical world clung to her consciousness. She turned her body as her eye color changed into a foul stone-like gray. Her hand reached onto the street, pulling her body slowly over the gravel.

“Hel-p.. me…” She whispered, as her lips unwillingly curled into a smile. “He-he-help… me, he, ha.” Her teeth began chattering, and she could not help but laugh.

Katherine watched silently as the nightmare spread outwards across the sky. She had failed. In her bold and reckless attempt at saving humanity, she had condemned it. She gulped repeatedly. Then she slowly walked towards the stairs where Evan laid, whimpering and sobbing quietly. Her gaze met his tearing eyes, and a gut-wrenching feeling welled up within her causing her eyes to water.

“No…” She softly began, her trembling voice heard by no one.

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this…” She continued a little louder, her hand gripping painfully tight around her halberd.

“Everything. All I’ve ever done…” Her lips twisted into a depressing smile. Katherine closed her eyes and leaned forward shaking her head.

“In the end it was all for nothing.” Katherine said, bursting into tears.

She heard slow footsteps behind her. Mephistopheles’ shoes tapped loudly on the wet stones as he walked towards her.

“Y-you? Did you know?”

“At your mansion. That is when I found out.”

“You had every opportunity to tell us at the auction-”

“I had no reason to tell any of you! How could I have known you’d be so stupid?” He shouted.

“Stupid?” She turned towards him, pointing her weapon menacingly towards him. “Me and my lineage have always prayed for centuries that an angel would finally be found. The soul of an angel was all that was needed to finally finish the ritual. And when Constantine tells me that he found one in his bedroom, you expect me to just let her be… forsake everything that we’ve strived towards? No, you soulless shit, I planned to have her die since the day I first laid eyes on her silver wings.”

“Put down your weapon Katherine. I’m not here to fight you. You’ve done enough harm tonight.”

His words stung like venom. She lay down her weapon slowly, staring into nothing. Mephisto walked past her, kneeling next to Evan and picking him up carefully over his left shoulder. He took him to Constantine, who was on his knees, but still able to stand.

“I got him... I got him...” Constantine said quietly, as Evan instinctively wrapped his arm around his neck. “You’re alright buddy, you’re gonna be ok. Come on.” He tried reassuring him, but the tremble in his voice betrayed him.

“Why do you keep fighting?” Katherine asked. “It’s over, they’ll kill all of you. All of us.”

No one answered her. Mephistopheles walked up the stairs towards the pedestal then he picked up his daughter in his arms. His stoic gaze gently watched her beautiful delicate face. He turned around and walked down making his way past Katherine.

“It’s not too late. You can still undo this, please, just. Help us.” He told her.

“I’m afraid you’re wrong. It is too late. For me at least.” Katherine said on the verge of a complete and utter meltdown.

The neighing of a horse echoed throughout the plaza. Everyone looked in awe as a shadow charged from the forest. It grabbed Katherine by the chest with one of its gauntlets and her weapon with the other, placing them both on the horse. Before Katherine could fight back, the strange being delivered a swift blow to her head and everything went dark. The horse galloped into the other side of the now smoking forest, and vanished.

“The fuck was that!?” Constantine shouted.

Mephistopheles stumbled back, sudden realization of what Katherine had unleashed filled him with dread. “I-I don’t know. But Constantine, we have to get out of here, right now. Get to the cars.”

The way back through the forest was substantially shorter and more pleasant than before. The flames have all nearly extinguished, in part due to the enormous amounts of blood and body parts that littered the trees as well as the rain, which had stopped by now. Wrath was waiting for them besides a small van. She looked exhausted. And human. Despite the dawn being hours away, Wrath’s monstrous appearance had already faded.

“I take it, it went just as well for you as it did for me right?” She tried to smirk. Their pitiful sights confirmed her thoughts.

“What happened to Katherine?”

“We don’t know, something just came out of nowhere and... took her.” Constantine replied.

“Ok.” She said, unable to hide her disappointment.”Put him in the van, it’s open. There are some seats and benches.”

Constantine complied.

“You should put her there too.” She told Mephisto moments later.

“Right. Wrath, we couldn’t stop it, it was too late.”

“I saw... I couldn’t kill Baal. He fled with a few other soldiers.”

“That’s the least of our worries right now.”

“I killed them all. Only he and a couple others escaped like I said. But the rest, I butchered like a frothing madman. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to stop, but then I woke up and my strength had vanished. I was almost happy.”

“How long are you gonna be like this?” He asked, walking behind the van and gently placing Uriel on the bench inside next to Constantine and Evan.

“Probably until tomorrow night, maybe two days. Maybe more, I haven’t done this in a while…” Wrath climbed inside and sat down. “What happened to him?” She worriedly inquired when she saw Evan.

“His arm. She cut his arm.” Constantine said, panting heavily.

“Give me your coat, he’ll bleed to death like this.” She demanded. He complied and Wrath tore off the sleeve then carefully and tightly wrapped the wound.

“Place him over there. He should be alright until we make it back to the mansion.” As she spoke the engine of the car roared, and Mephistopheles drove them away.

“What about her?” Constantine asked after he put his friend on the bench. Evan and Uriel were both fast unconscious.

“I…” Wrath opened her mouth. “Don’t know.”

Constantine nodded. He stared at Uriel’s wings. They were now a strange and different shade of black, not the beautiful and pristine silver he remembered them as. Her face was as still and beautiful as a painting. Following Wrath’s advice, he tore off more parts of his coat and wrapped makeshift bandages around Uriel’s hands and feet. The iron nails were gone, melted along with the cross like phantoms, but the wounds they inflicted were all too real. He wondered if what Katherine had said was true but in his mind only Nikolai remained. He thought back on her words, realizing the horror she went through all those weeks ago. The same horror he himself went through all those years ago. How she must have called out to him hundreds of times, and he was powerless in helping her. Even worse was how when he tried saving her, he failed miserably, not just once, but twice. But then, the realization and memory of who it was that took her from him in the first place became clear to him. With it, a feeling of scorn welled within him.

“Wrath-” He began.

“I know what you want to ask.” She said, as if she was reading his mind all along. “Why am I still helping you?” She looked up at Mephistopheles, who silently drove on the abandoned country road under the creeping dawn. “Truth is, even I don’t know for certain. I wanted to kill Katherine for what she did back at the auction. But then again, I was indifferent to killing you there too. I don’t know, it's just…”

Constantine looked at her, and he remembered the young girl with the strange eyes he saw earlier that day. He turned to his wounded, unconscious friends. Who could he rely on to keep them safe, now that Katherine was gone? Uriel’s demonic father that had been hunting her all this time and this monster that stole away the love of his life and turned her into such a horrible revenant? It was a harsh and bitter pill, but one he chose to swallow for the sake of the friends he still needed to protect.

“Uriel’s not dead.” She suddenly said. “Azazel will try to take her again. I can’t allow that. I know Katherine just basically fucked the entire world over, but I’ll be damned if I'll let him get his hands on an angel, or whatever she is.”

“Well, I have no one else.” Constantine said, trying to sound indifferent. ”I can imagine he would help since she’s his daughter, but if you want to join us, I won't fight you.”

Wrath couldn’t help but smile. “I know that it’s a stupid reason, but it’s the only one I have.”

“It will have to do for now.” Constantine reluctantly accepted the answer. But he realized something else was churning inside her mind. He could not tell if she was lying or genuinely did not know why she was helping them still. “Why did Katherine want to crucify Uriel? What was that ritual all about?”

“She thought Uriel was an angel. We all did honestly, but she wasn’t. You probably know, for demons and angels and humans alike, who your mother and father are determine what you are. But your true being is found within your soul. Unfortunately, it was not Uriel’s soul that Katherine needed, it was her angelic power, a power that well… wasn’t there. Not fully.”

Constantine listened curiously.

“The sacrifice of a being as holy as an angel would be enough to sever the link between this world and hell. It would prevent demons, wights or shadows from entering our world.”

“But Uriel is an angel, and a demon?”

“So it would appear. The sacrifice of a half-breed like her… I can’t know if it was fate or some cruel god, but that seems to have the exact opposite effect. The doors have opened, and now all the beasts of the night can come out of hiding.“

“Do demons have a power similar to that of angels?” Constantine asked after a brief minute of silence.

“In certain ways yes. Although Angels are much stronger in raw, let’s say, strength.” Wrath said. “In theory anyway.”

“Could the blend of those two powers be the reason why the gates of hell were opened? Because, if demonic power was all it took, what would have stopped demons from killing one of their own and opening them long ago?”

“Its entirely possible that that’s what happened.” Wrath looked at him and smiled. “You’re pretty smart, I didn’t think of it in that manner. However, I doubt it is that simple. I think there is more to Uriel’s heritage than you being her father, right Mephisto?”

Mephistopheles looked onward as the two of them discussed. “No, I don’t know…” He gulped silently and shut his mouth, stopping himself from telling them the truth.

Nikolai limped forward. Her entire body ached painfully, especially so on the left side. Her scars were always hurting, but now they felt like burning hot plates of metal wrapped around her body. She looked down, a couple of miles out she could see the smoldering remains of the forest she torched. Turning around, she saw the blaring lights of the city that hid behind a black smog. Nikolai kept walking, until she reached a road that would lead her there.

What now? She asked herself. Katherine’s most likely dead or dying. . Either her or … them. She walked towards the abandoned road. An eerie silence surrounded her. Whatever happened, I still have to finish my mission. I’ll need to find some clothes first. As soon as possible though.

The journey was slow, and agonizing. The gravel and dirt beneath her feet felt like poisoned razors. Each step was more sickening and disgusting to her than the previous. She finally reached an intersection. Nikolai read the signs. Ahead was the city, and to her left was St. Michael Abbey, about eighteen kilometers away.

They would help me won’t they? Doesn’t matter, I’ll make them help me. She decided, changing her path. A strange sound reached her ears causing her to stop. Nikolai listened closely. Screams, thousands of them and all coming from the city.

Something is wrong here.

Another scream, this one was much much closer, and it sounded a lot younger. Nikolai rushed towards it, a mix of curiosity and concern welling within her. A couple abandoned houses on the side of the road, surrounded by young trees. Along them, she saw what she initially thought were humans. Nikolai inched further behind a wall, watching them crawl forward on uncertain steps.

“Oh god.” Nikolai sighed. The way they moved, the strange chattering and giggling sound they made, she realized she had seen them before, on the night she died. They were about four bodies in total. Another shriek came from the same direction. Nikolai’s hands began trembling. She saw what they were encircling. Backed up against a wall was a little girl, no older than eleven. She was screaming frantically for someone, the name of a boy. Nikolai watched her.

No, I can’t just let you here.

The snake that coiled around her skin went alight with flames when she walked forward. Her feet crinkled through the dried leaves, turning them to ashes. She placed her hand on the head of the closest laughing corpse. Immediately, the fires coursed within its putrid body, and tore its head apart from the inside in an explosive myriad of blood and flames. The others turned towards her. A strange gurgled howl came from their mouths. Nikolai lashed her hand against another one and her flames latched onto it like rabid hounds. It dragged the body to the ground as it desperately thrashed about trying to rid itself of the pain, but to no avail, for shortly afterwards it was nothing but dust and fleshy, melted bones. A third one lunged towards her headfirst. Nikolai was surprised, it’s movements were incredibly slow compared to hers. She grabbed the body by the neck and slammed it on the ground while it was still in the air. It flailed around trying to free itself, but Nikolai’s vice-like grip crushed its frail neck with ease. The flames spread from her hand all over the body in a smoking spectacle. Soon the flailing corpse was nothing but a burning sack of meat. Her eye stared with wonder and glee as her flames charred the skin inch by inch. Nikolai rose and looked into the distance. The last one was shambling away as fast as its rotten legs could move. Nikolai slowly opened and closed the fingers on her left hand. Her index finger turned redder and redder with each second, until it became a blazing white flare, brighter than all the other fires that adorned her skin. She arched her hand back, and shot it forward. A blinding flash singing along a thunderous boom, and the corpse fell limply on the ground, the left side of its head now a gaping, searing hole.

“Haah… haaa…” She gasped for air. Nikolai stumbled from side to side, her hand hanging numbly downwards. Whiffs of smoke were coiling along her palm and fingers. It was agonizingly painful. Her finger felt as if someone tore the muscle and skin off and only her bone remained. She screamed, slamming a fist into her chest and falling on her knees. When the pain subsided, she rose. The little girl was still there cowering and weeping softly. Nikolai dared to inch forward, stretching her right hand towards her, still clutching her left to her breast.

“It’s ok.” She said quietly. “You’re alright now. They can’t hurt you anymore.”

The girl slid her hand off of her face, revealing her young and tender eyes, beneath were a couple large pulsing gashes. Part of her right cheek was torn and hanging down revealing her bloodied gums and teeth.

“Wha-what is your name dear?”

She did not respond.

“Please answer me.” Nikolai begged. “ Do you have a family? Where are your parents?”

“Y-Yuuya. My name is… Yuuya.” The little girl stuttered, her voice unclear and her jaw aching painfully when she spoke.

“Do you have a family? Parents? Where are they?” She asked again.

“They kil-killed them. My brother, my brother he… saved us both. Where is he, where is my brother? I want my brother back…” She said, quivering and barely stopping herself from sobbing again.

“Is your brother still alive?”

“I d-don't know.”

Nikolai bit her lip. She stepped forward and Yuuya pulled back in fear.

“I won’t hurt you. Please, let me help you, you’re hurt.”

“Y-you’re on fire. Why are you on fire? Are you one of them?”

“No, no dearie no. I won’t hurt you, I promise. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll take you to the abbey, they’ll take care of you there.” Nikolai reached her hand out once again, this time however, Yuuya grabbed it with her little hand and pulled herself up.

It was afternoon by now. Nikolai and Yuuya had walked for a couple hours, all in complete silence, before they reached what appeared to be a small shopping complex. Faraway in the distance Nikolai could see the high cross of the abbey.

There must be a pharmacy somewhere in there.

She looked over at Yuuya. The little girl was exhausted. With each passing moment every step grew a little slower, every breath a little heavier. She bandaged the wound as best as she could with a couple supplies they found along the way, but the bleeding barely slowed. They made their way to the entrance, a sliding glass door. The mechanism no longer worked, thankfully. Nikolai pulled Yuuya close behind her and peeked inside. Along the wide hallways were similar shambling bodies like those she met earlier. A bit more numerous than last time however.

“Stay close, we’re gonna have to get past them. Don’t let go of my hand.”

Yuuya nodded meekly.

Nikolai’s flames flared across her left hand. She placed her palm on the glass door, and after a couple minutes it was all a bright red liquid. She tore it down with one arm, forming a large entrance through which they could pass. Then Nikolai carefully wrapped her arm around Yuuya’s chest and pulled her inside. The little girl cowered behind her bare leg. The corpses were slowly encircling them, screeching and howling like hounds. Then they laughed a sickening and deaf laugh.

Nikolai stepped forward defiantly. Her hand was raised high into the air. The flames coiled and twisted between her fingers and into the ceiling in a mesmerizing kaleidoscopic manner. A wicked grin creeped upon her lips as she prepared to unleash her fury upon them. But as her blaze grew hotter, more and more the beasts fell back, some of them even turning to run. Soon, all had scattered and fled like roaches. She relaxed her arm, dousing the fires until only her ember scars remained.

“How interesting.” She muttered. “Come on, we need to find something to bandage your mouth.”

As they walked through the abandoned mall, they spotted a pharmacy and rushed inside. Nikolai placed Yuuya on the counter and ran through the shop, finding a couple medical kits and some bottles of pills. She had noticed along the way that most of the mall had already been raided and very few things had remained. Broken glass and tossed-about junk lay everywhere. Fortune smiled, as it seemed the pharmacy was not quite as affected.

Nikolai threw the objects she gathered on the counter besides Yuuya, startling her.

“W-what are you doing?” The girl softly asked.

Nikolai hesitated. She put a thin black thread through a long needle, tying it on the end.

“I’m gonna stitch your cheek back, we can’t leave it like that. You’ve already lost enough blood as is. And I fear we’re not going to find another place like this in a while so best we do it now.”

Yuuya looked first at her with wide, scared eyes then at the needle in her hands. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she stopped herself from crying and accepted what had to happen. She looked back at Nikolai and nodded once. Shortly afterwards Yuuya found herself bound to a short table. Her head was strapped the most, not being able to move it at all. Nikolai placed a black cloth over her eyes.

“It’s best if you don’t see this. Here, bite down on this.” The girl bit on the soft plastic and steadied herself.

“I'm going to give you some of my blood. Don’t worry, I’m a universal donor…”

At least... I used to be. Hopefully that hasn’t changed.

“... So everything is going to be ok.” She said, as she wiped the little girl’s skin with a pad drenched in medicinal alcohol. The little girl grunted in pain, biting down on the strap. A couple of moments later, Nikolai's blood was flowing through Yuuya’s veins.

Nikolai sighed and recollected herself. After a deep breath she grabbed the needle and thread with a trembling hand. Slowly she placed it in the center of her left palm, heating the tip until it became a searing red. Yuuya’s scream chilled the already cold air of winter as it then echoed through the deserted hallways.

Nikolai wandered from empty shop to empty shop, trying to salvage what she considered useful. Yuuya was fast unconscious in the pharmacy, with her face stitched together to the best of Nikolai’s abilities and bandaged just as well. She had packed plenty of food and water and finally found some decent clothes. She hoped it was something that would last her for a while at least: simple black socks and equally black shoes, very soft, smooth and similarly elegant. She had also found a silken one-sleeved dress perfect for her. It would allow her to maneuver her left arm and leg without the fear of setting her clothes on fire at a loss of concentration.

Such a lovely dress! She thought. It truly was, a cascade of white speckled with gray and black squares in a pattern similar to a chessboard. The sleeve was made of lighter material than the shirt, and hung lightly over her skin. The dress itself reached down to her knees, where it became a skirt that gave her ample coverage. She looked at it and herself in a mirror, twirling around and smiling. Then she looked up and caught a glimpse of her face, the scars that adorned it next to her ever burning eye. Her smile faded immediately and she turned around and walked away.

I should stop fooling around and get going.

As she made her way out, something caught her eye, a nearby shop. It was a mask shop, in shambles, with the walls crumbling and the counter overturned, almost completely emptied. Her curiosity drove her inside. There, lying beneath some rubble, was a slightly yellowed, pale white plague doctor mask. Nikolai picked it up and thoroughly cleaned the dirt and dust off of it. The mask was made out of porcelain, and the inside was padded with soft linen with three separate straps of changing lengths. The right side and eye socket was entirely missing, it seemed it had broken away during the chaos that took place in the mall.

Interesting. Nikolai ran her fingers gently along her fiery scars. Now that I think about it. It would be best, if no one ever knows who I am. No one has to ever see these scars again.

She put the mask carefully in the backpack she stole and carried on her way.

I need to find her some clothes too, the cold’s gonna affect her more than it will me.

While she searched for some clothes that would fit Yuuya, she found a simple black cloak with a side opening for her arm.

Not exactly an angelic appearance, as a warrior of God, but this will have to do.

About half an hour later she found herself back in the pharmacy. Yuuya was peacefully sleeping on a makeshift bed Nikolai had made for her out of some clothes and drapes. Nikolai tossed the backpack on a nearby table. She gently walked up to Yuuya and shook her awake.

“I’m sorry to wake you dear, but we have to get going. We should get to the church before it gets dark. Here let’s get you out of those clothes.”

Yuuya yawned and complied changing in the clothes her guardian had brought her. Her right cheek was hidden beneath a sanitary pad and a couple patches. It still ached painfully, but at least now the pain was dulled by the medicine and the stitching Nikolai had done.

“Are you hungry? Thirsty? I brought some food and water, there wasn’t much left but this will do until we get to the church.”

Yuuya nodded and gulped what she was given like a starving wolf. She skipped most of the chewing part, as she couldn’t really move her jaw that much, but peanuts and chips could be eaten slowly, and did not require much chewing in the first place. While she ate, Nikolai toyed with the mask she had found, inspecting every inch of it.

“What’s with the mask?” Yuuya stammered out seeing her so deep in thought.

“I’ve decided. It would be best if I hid myself from now on. These scars… Best if people don’t see them anymore.”

“What people?”

Nikolai was silent. She hadn’t given it much thought, those things she killed earlier that day and littered through the mall, why were those creatures there? Where was everyone? Was this her fault? Uriel’s crucifixion, was this somehow related? She shook her head. She wanted to ask Yuuya what happened, where did the corpses come from, but she wouldn’t force the girl to talk just for her sake. She was in enough pain as is.

“Yuuya, what day of the week is it?” Nikolai asked.

“Its… t-thursday.”

Its been… five days already? Nikolai wondered to herself.

“Yuuya, you’ve seen what I’m capable of, this fire of mine. I was given a task, to cleanse this world from evil, using that power. By the looks of it, something very wrong has happened here. And I’m afraid. I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it. I just want… everything to be back to how it was. For that, I feel… I need to become someone else entirely.” Nikolai confessed, feeling her soul pour out of her.

Yuuya stared at her blankly. Her young mind did not understand her fully, but the innocence behind them warmed her soul.

“What’s your name?” Yuuya asked her after a brief moment of silence.

“Nikolai.”

“Nikolai, are you God?”

A strange new thought bloomed in Nikolai’s twisted mind.

“I’m.. I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked.” Yuuya backed off when she saw Nikolai’s still expression.

“We’d best get going. The abbey isn’t far off.” Nikolai solemnly said, adorning the plagued mask and hiding its straps beneath her ragged white and black hair.

The abbey appeared like a flea in the distance, and up close, it was a meager and crumbling old cottage. It had one measly tower and the makings of a separate altar, but nothing aside from dull browns and sickening yellows painted them both. Nikolai grasped Yuuya’s hand tightly, feeling her excitement at the lights and noise coming from within. It seemed people were inside, the church was not affected by whatever chaos stormed through the land. She did not return the sentiment, in her eyes the building looked just as decrepit and destroyed as the mall they had left behind.

A place of holiness should be clean, not disgusting like this.

Nikolai scouted the area around before daring to go close. The road had gotten progressively worse as they got here, where it seemed to end in a large dusty field surrounded by a few tall but thin trees. On the road they seemed to avoid any sort of shambling horror or strange people, everything was abandoned and this place seemed no different.

“It seems safe. Let’s see inside.” She said as she inspected the door before walking close to it. It seemed to be locked and reinforced from inside as it bulged slightly outwards. “Stay back, just in case.”

Yuuya hid behind her cape, clutching tightly at her leg. Nikolai raised her right hand and knocked on the hard wooden door once, twice, thrice, before from the inside called out.

“Who goes there?” In a gruff voice.

“Uh, a girl. Two in fact. We’re normal people.”

The sound of locks unlocking and chairs being thrown aside was heard before the doors swung slowly open with an ear-splitting creak. From inside a young man with a short stubby gray beard poked his head.

“You don’t look much normal. Who’re ya?”

“That is not your concern. Will you let us in? I have a child with me, she’s hurt.”

The old man looked at the girl and shook his head.

“We’re packed. Beyond so even. People swarmed in the moment they saw the beasts avoid this place. Wounded and sickened most of them.“

“You’re not gonna let us in?” Nikolai’s voice sang through the mask, her tone chilling Yuuya’s blood.

“We’ve no food or water for you too woman. We’ve sent people to find something, anything. None returned.”

“You would leave a wounded child out to die?”

“There’s dozens of wounded children. We can’t possibly save them all.”

“Alexander! Let them come in for the love of god.” The voice of a deep and somber man boomed.

“Yes, yes Father.” He obeyed, swinging the doors open. “Come inside Miss. My... my apologies for earlier.”

Nikolai’s body was motionless. After a moment of pressing silence where only the soft wind could be heard, she gave Yuuya a small indication with her hand. The little girl broke off and walked inside slowly.

“Her mouth. See she gets something for her mouth.” Nikolai’s raucous voice echoed.

“Come on inside, before anything comes too close.”

There aren’t any, foolish man, they appear to hate the sun.

She complied, making her way inside. As she walked past him, her bloodshot eye glared straight into his weary brown eyes making him step back and look away. He then quickly locked the door and placed some chairs back under the handle.

Nikolai was appalled. Littering the entire floor of the small church were well over a hundred people. Most of them were injured women and children. Others were men, drenched in blood and trying to pass off their own injuries for the sake of everyone else. The rest, those who had just taken refuge were moving from place to place caring and feeding the sick. The blood, the stench of decay, the pus and vomit and corruption that painted the church made Nikolai feel her stomach churn and her heartbeat slow. They all looked at her with tired and frightened eyes before going back to those around them.

“Filth.” She spat with disgust. “Unclean filth. What happened here to make everything like… this?”

“You did not see?” The same old man she heard earlier said, making his way from behind a pillar. “A great darkness spread across the sky some days back. Next thing we knew, everyone was fleeing, dying, or becoming one of them. People took refuge here, the corpses all seem to avoid this place rather than try to attack us. Still we decided not to take risks and barricaded the doors and the back altar.”

“You’re the abbot?” Nikolai said.

“Yes I am. I know this is all unsanitary and unclean but, we simply were not expecting… anything really. It was all so sudden.”

“Do you have food? Supplies? Medicine? How do you plan to feed one hundred people, abbot?”

“We tried sending people off as Alexander told you, but we don’t know what happened.”

“You sent them to the mall right?” Nikolai couldn’t help but laugh.

“It was the closest possible building that would be of use.”

“Haha… They’re all one of... them now. I passed through on my way here, there wasn’t anyone alive.”

“They, y-you? How..?” The abbot took a step back. “Who are you? How are you still alive?”

Nikolai only laughed and made her way through the crowd. Those that were standing stepped aside and made room for her. Even those sprawled tried to make way. She found herself on the steps of the altar behind a short wooden podium.

“Yuuya dear, where are you?” She called out, and the young girl emerged from the crowd. Nikolai nodded her head. “I know why this scourge has come upon this land.” She called out to everyone. They all fell silent and stared at her. “You, you are all sinned. Impure, contaminated. The beasts you ran from these past nights, they have come to drag you all to hell where you belong!”

“How dare you cur!” Alexander shouted.

Nikolai smiled beneath her mask.

“A man of god, Alexander named. You were going to condemn two lives to death. And you dare call me a cur? Thank your Father for having some crumb of decency within him, or I’d have you roast alive where you stand.”

People began screaming and shouting, demanding she be thrown outside, some even started walking towards her.

“But alas… I know how to clean you all. I know how to wash away the sins you have all committed.” Everything went silent again. “This little girl asked me a question earlier today.” She looked towards her, and Yuuya smiled, within her young heart a feeling of wonder and admiration blooming. “I could not give her the answer. Because I was lost. Not anymore. Yes, I am god. I am the god who has come to rid you from your mortal sins, I have come to cleanse you all and save you from the damnation that awaits you in the claws of your fellow man. I say here and now, worship me and accept my every command, and you shall witness salvation. Or keep blindly following the worthless god that abandoned you long ago, and you will rot in the deepest fires of hell. Live or die, choice is your right.” Nikolai’s voice boomed. Her left hand shot upwards, the scars and flames in full view of everyone, before her fire shot outwards in a myriad of red and orange binding to the rotten wood of the altar and setting it all ablaze.

People screamed, people rushed outside, most merely stared dumbfoundedly, unable to do anything. Nikolai walked forward and took hold of Yuuya’s hand, who just kept on looking up at her with a smile. They walked outside of the now burning church. When she turned around, she saw about two dozen people, wounded and healthy alike. They stood before her, reeling and afraid. She laughed and shut the church doors behind her in a loud thud.

“You demonic whore!” Alexander shouted, rushing towards her. “What about the people inside? Where is their supposed choice?” He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Nikolai’s advancements.

“Salvation comes in many manners, Alexander. The people inside already made their choice, but their bodies were too frail to carry on in this filth-ridden world, so cleansed them all with fire. You should be glad, why are you not glad? Their souls are free now. Do you hear their screams of joy? The chorus they sing, so utterly beautiful.”

Yuuya looked up at her, then she closed her eyes and listened. Alexander and the abbot besides him both fell on their knees watching as the church they had lived their lives in burned to the ground before them.

“Now then, have you all decided? Come with me, and the beasts of the night will never harm you all again. Refuse me, and well... “ She adjusted her mask slightly, sparks and embers flashing over her hair from her left eye. “You will face them alone. And the night is approaching, make your choice.”

The abbot stumbled forward, head hung low and tears welling in his eyes.

“I accepted those people into the church, hoping I’d be able to save them from those fiends. How can you ask of me to follow you, whoever you are? A murderer?” He fell on the ground on his frail knees, standing on his shaking arms.

“Old man, God has murdered more people than the devil. Their death was not sacrifice, it was release. I saved them. What I ask of you, you all, is come with me. Let us save more together. Alone is too much for one to bear, even Jesus had his apostles.”

“You would burn them all?”

“I will save them all. I will purify this world. With or without you. Make your choice priest. Would you accept me as your one true god?” she asked calmly.

He sobbed and pulled his head up to look at her still mask and whispered the words:

“I accept.”

Alexander shouted at him, calling him heathen and betrayer before a man pulled him back causing him to fall, and rushed in front of Nikolai, kneeling beside the priest. One by one they all stepped forward and kneeled until only Alexander remained.

“How could you, Matthias?” He asked the abbot. “You denied everything, for, for what?”

“For salvation. I am just a man, Alexander. I can not go against hell. She however, is more than I could ever be, and I should be merciful she did not kill us all outright, but offered to shield us from-”

“Listen to yourself you bloody fool. You’ve shat yourself in fear ever since she stepped foot inside our church. And now you kneel before her like some dog. No... I will not accept this demon. My true faith, my true God will endure, even in this hell.” His hateful eyes stared at Nikolai’s singular blue eye hidden between her white strands. “You… will regret this.” His voice fell coldly before he turned and ran.