Young Writers Society

Darcy

Gone.
Everything was gone. She was standing in the ruins, remains of the fallen Society, only ashes left of what she almost started to call home. It was impossible to tell where her room was. It was pretty high in the building, so it would make sense that it laid now on top of other ruins, but there was no lead to follow. Her tree, her pictures, her notebooks, her books and her things.. She held tight to the bag and the crossbow, the only things still left.
There were bodies inside. Men and women, not all of them Monstrumologists, and the civilians, firefighters and others, and too many sounds. Anton and Jaeger moved around, finding their rooms and their things, Korina sat on a wall and observed the place with shock still written all over her face and no one else was there yet. Darcy wanted to comfort her, she wanted to comfort them all, but she couldn't move. Not even breathe properly. She couldn't make herself take a closer look at the bodies. Her uncle could have been on of them. Se could have just lost the last family she had - unless Mr Anonymous was telling the truth, but even then she wasn't quite sure she'd want to meet her father. Darcy didn't even have the strength to cry, even though no one was paying attention to her. Where are the others? Where's Alex? Where's Nathaniel? She stared at something that may have been a curtain once, mad at herself. Why didn't she tell him what she really felt? How could she be so... So childish? In their job, anyone could die, anytime, and everyone would understand that they need to live in the moment, and for the moment.. But not her. She had to play hard to get.
Darcy sighed. Actually, that wasn't quite true. She was hard to get, or better said, hard to keep, especially if she'd talk about herself. Every word of what she said to Nathaniel was the truth - yet she felt like the biggest liar ever.

"Darcy!" Nathaniel's voice sounded strange as he called her and the others. Almost strange enough to believe it's her imagination, but she turned to the sound anyway. He found his way to her, and all she could do was stand like a statue and glare at him.

"You're alive," he said, with something in his voice that made her wonder if he thought that she was in his imagination. He hugged her and she hugged him back, and didn't think of stopping him when he kissed her.

Not that she expected it. Not that she ever kissed a boy before. He shouldn't love me. That's wrong, I told him.
She just stared at his eyes as they separated, too dumb to say anything. Not standing on her toes anymore, she was really shorter than him, and he probably thought of her as of someone who needs protection - all tall people seemed to think that when literally looking down at the others. Very much for the first time in her life, Darcy didn't mind having that protection.
"A spider ate me," she blabbed. "They don't understand me anymore, not so good, and I don't know why."
"Um," Nathaniel seemed a bit lost, "I guess that's because of those things implanted in their brains.. They control them with it."
"Yeah, but the monsters-" he put his finger to her lips, hushing her.
"You're changing the subject," he said.
"We weren't talking about anything else."
"True, but you'll still changing the subject."
Darcy looked down, staring blankly somewhere at his chest.
"I do love you too," she muttered, half hoping she's silent enough for him to not hear her words. "But I don't know who I am. What if we turn out to be enemies?"
*

Alex

As Korina tried to work out the meaning of the code, the doors burst open and Torrance came rushing in. At the same instant, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, along with various rings and beeps from others. I groaned - we all knew what that meant. Another attack.

"There have been more anonymous tip-offs," Torrance informed us, coming to our table. "From multiple locations, both in and outside of New York City. We're going to have to break all of the teams up."

Nathaniel stood. "They will be traps again, though, won't they?" I nodded thoughtfully - if they were traps, did we really want to just walk into them?

Torrance frowned. "I said they were tip-offs," he admitted, "but in reality they were voiced as threats. Whether or not we show up, those monsters will be released at each location. We need to head out now so we can head them all off."

Nathaniel nodded. "Of course. Do you have subgroups you want us in?"

Torrance began to speak, but had to answer another call. "Who is this?" He listened for a moment, grimacing, and hung up. "Another one," he growled. "I'll have to go." He handed Nathaniel a sheet of paper with a list on it. "Use these subteams." With that, he rushed out as Nathaniel turned to us.

"The others will be here soon, no doubt," he told us. "I'll go get Darcy, and then we can get supplies and split up. Make sure you get everything you need. And Korina," he added, "can you send the data to Darcy's phone? Then she can see if she can understand anything." Korina nodded, returning her attention to her phone for a moment as Nathaniel left.

I stood up. "I'm going to the armory," I told Korina. I'd need my gun for this - hoping to capture only was almost a moot point if the threat was as big as Torrance seemed to think it was. As I rushed down the hall, I bumped into Adam, who grabbed my arm.

"Hey, Alex," he said, looking confused. "What's happening? Why the mad rush?"

I shook loose, still on my way. "There are monsters appearing all over the city," I called over my shoulder. "We're splitting up into groups to tackle them all at once!"

The armory had already been looted by most of its other users, so it wasn't hard to find my gun and pull it out before heading back to the meeting point - Torrance's office. Most of the others were already there when I arrived, and Torrance was just pulling out his list. I listened for my name and discovered that - oh, joy - I'd been put with Miranda.

She groaned at my name, not even making any attempt to hide her disgust at me. Well, then, someone was feeling polite.

She turned to me, looking unamused with my existence. "Alright, Alex, time's a-wasting," she said flatly. "Let's get a move on." I looked at her for a moment. What did she think I was, luggage? Finally we just left, got into a nearby land rover - I swiveled my head at one that appeared to have explosives attached to it - and drove off, Miranda behind the wheel.

"So where are we headed to again?" I asked over the rover's engine.

"Some storehouse somewhere. Dunno what we're up against, either" she said gruffly. "Odds are it'll try and kill us, and if they do I'm shooting back."

"Aren't we supposed to try and capture it?" I began weakly, but she wouldn't have it.

"Yeah, well monsters are monsters, and if they try and kill me I'm going to kill them!"

"Sorry," I muttered, falling silent. The rest of the ride was completed in awkward silence.

When we finally arrived, I gladly climbed out of the rover. It didn't me take long to find the bodies - two of them, just outside the door. Crouching, I examined them, hoping to find evidence of what was there.

"Miranda, I think I found out what we're up against!" I called. Round, deep incisions gaped at me, but there was little blood left to leak out. I'd seen this before, and I knew what it meant: Chupacabras.

There was no reply from my reluctant partner. "Miranda?" I called again, looking around. I didn't see her - she must have gone inside, alone. And now, no response from her.

I didn't call again. Instead, I held my gun at the ready, quietly going in after her. What was going on in there? There was hardly a sound...

Miranda Tayman:

We slid into the Range Rover and set off. Alex spoke from the passenger seat, "So where are we headed to again?"

"Some storehouse somewhere. Dunno what we're up against, either" I said. "Odds are it'll try and kill us, and if they do I'm shooting back."

"Aren't we supposed to try and capture it?" he said.

"Yeah, well monsters are monsters, and if they try and kill me I'm going to kill them!" If you wanna get your ass eaten be my guess, I thought to myself.

"Sorry," he said. The rest of the ride was silent. We pulled up to our destination, and I slid out of the car. Alex went over to examine the bodies. Does it really matter what killed them? I just sighed and entered the storehouse. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound, it was quiet. Too quiet. I stood just inside of the door, waiting. Alex entered behind me a minute later. "Miranda, what's going—" I cut him off. And then I heard it. A low growling, coming from the back of the storehouse. And then it appeared. It looked like a dog, but I knew it was a chupecabra. It looked like—

"No." I mumbled under my breath.

"Huh?" Alex said. The images flashed in front of me. It roared. I looked back, it was on top of her. I rubbed my eyes and looked down.

"Go away," I mumbled. The chupecabra was coming closer. The images reappeared. Its red coat shimmered in the moonlight, standing over its prey. She was screaming my name, but I didn't stop. The beast roared again, and went in for the kill. I raised up, drawing my pistol from the clip and fired a shot. It went right through the chupecabra's head. It fell to the ground. I fired the other five shots into the beast, and dropped the gun on the ground.

"What the hell was that! We were supposed to capture—" Alex was cut of at the sound of more growling. More cupecabra's emerged, I counted seven. Seven chupecabra's. They were mad at the death of their amigo. I pulled my sword from the sheath, the metal glinting off the light from outside, and I heard the sound of a gun clicking behind me. "Shit," Alex mumbled. One of the beasts charged, and I cut it down. The other 6 started barking, and they charged at once. I raised my sword and anticipated the attack.

"No sense in trying to capture it," I said sarcastically. I thought I heard Alex laugh, but I was probably just hearing things. And then they met me. I cut down two of them without difficulty, but then one jumped at me. I raised my sword, and it knocked me back as it landed on me. I still hadn't heard any gunshots. What the hell was Alex doing. Another one pushed against me, and this time I went down. The beast was on top of me. It slashed at my arm, I felt the wound open, and I felt the warm blood on my arm. The chupecabra had its teeth bared. The images flashed in front of me again. She was screaming my name. This time, I wouldn't run. I didn't fight it. The beast was about to go down on my throat when I heard a bang, and the chupecabra collapsed on top of me, it was dead. Alex killed one. He saved me. I didn't know how many were left. It didn't matter. I heard a few more shots, and then all was quiet. It all went down in a couple of minutes. Alex put away his gun and came over to me. He helped me up, and I stood shakily. "You killed them. You saved me." I said. I was shaking all over.

"We might not be friends, but we are partners, and I wasn't just going to let you die. Now let's go, we gotta get you patched up." I'd forgotten all about my arm. I looked down and assessed it. It stretched from forearm to elbow, and it was still bleeding. Alex pulled a first aid kit out of the rover and wrapped up my arm as best as he could. "This'll have to do until we get back, I'll drive," Alex said. I didn't even fight him. We slipped into the rover and started on our journey back. "Now, what was that all about? That first one? You killed it with the first shot, why the rest? And you almost died, and you didn't even fight? What was that all about?"

I just looked at him. He deserved to know, he saved me, it was only fair...
"It was after I graduated. I was taking a trip with my friend to France," I paused. "We went to a district called Gévaudan." I stopped again, I could feel tears starting to well in my eyes, I pushed them away before Alex noticed. "When we got there, we heard rumors about a beast that had hunted the townsfolk hundreds of years ago. It was described as a massive wolf, with reddish brown fur." I stopped again, my breathing was ragged, and there were tears in my eyes. "We did not believe them. We were girls, we were stupid. One night, I decided we should venture into the woods to "investigate." The creature was real." I started to feel tears on my cheeks, Alex was half watching the road half trying to stare at me. "It found us. We ran. I was a much faster runner than her. She tripped over a stump. It. It got her." I couldn't control the tears; I'd never told anyone. I felt stupid. "The worst part was, I never stopped running, I never stopped to help her," I was shaking in my seat as the tears flowed. "The chupecabra's. They brought back images. And when it jumped. I always thought it should've been me, it was all happening the same, but you. You saved me." I wiped away the last of the tears, but I was still shaking, Alex just stared at me, not sure what to say. "And if you ever tell anyone, I will personally kill you," I said. The rest of the drive was spent with Alex staring at me, thinking of what to say. I regained my composure as we pulled up.

"I guess you do have a soul," he said jokingly. All that time, and that's all he could think of?

"Yeah. Some gingers do," I said, stepping out of the rover into the society. Or, what was left of it.

Nathaniel,

"I do love you too," Darcy says, staring at my chest, "But I don't know who I am. What if we turn out to be enemies?"

I almost laugh, for two reasons: the fact that she has said she loves me, and the fact that we're having this particular conversation here, amidst the ruins of the Society. But I won't laugh. Not now, not here.

"A difference in philosophy doesn't make us enemies," I say, looking at her, "Even if you are maybe part monster. That changes nothing."

As I say this, Alex and Miranda drive up. They too are shocked by what they find, and stumble around the ruins just as the rest of us did. By this time, policemen are cordoning off the area, forcing everyone back, including us.

"Hey," Jaegar shouts angrily, "This was our home!"

"Move back, sir," one of the policemen says, pushing Jaegar and, for once, he just glares and does as he's told.

We automatically walk towards each other, grouping up. We're silent for awhile. Then, of all people, Korina speaks up.

"We need to get hotel rooms, or something," she says, "We need to figure out what's going on and how to fight it."

Alex nods, numbly, "Yeah. Yeah."

Miranda snorts, but doesn't say anything.

"I'm going to call Torrance," I say stiffly, "We'll see what he wants to do, and then we'll deal with the situation here."

I pull out my phone, and punch in Torrance's number. He picks up on the second ring.

"Tallow. What is it?"

I swallow, "The Society. It's...it's...gone. It's destroyed, sir. We're there now."

Silence on the other end. Then, "I see. Well. All the missions on the mainland have been completed. We should all meet up by the Brooklyn side of the bridge in an hour's time. We'll figure out what to do then."

He hangs up. I turn to the others.

"Okay. We're going to meet Torrance and the others in Brooklyn in an hour. Let's get going."

Korina

Nathaniel said, "Let's get going." I started following the others, but my cell rang. Flipping it open, I was pretty curious. Not a lot of people have this number.

"Hi, honey."

I groaned. Of all the times and all the people... "Mom? I told you not to call me while I was at school!"

I could almost see her shaking her head sorrowfully at Dad right now. "Kori, sometimes it seems like you're always in school. When are you going to transfer back home?"

I glared at a couple of the others who were straining to hear our conversation and dropped my voice. "This is home. Just because you couldn't stand being the parents with the missing daughter and the crazy one, you and Dad decided to move away! I'm not coming back yet!"

Mom sighed. "Honey, we've had this discussion before. She's been missing for years. She's probably dead."

"She's not dead!" I yelled. I caught alarmed looks from my teammates and lowered my voice again. "She's not dead."

I hung up, and Alex walked over. Instead of the question I expected, though, he asked, "It works as a phone and a scanner?"

Maybe he was smart enough not to ask me about my screaming at the phone, after all. I eagerly explained, "Well, there's a setting on the scanner where if it's interrupted, it will route the information to one of the memory chips, and basically save it for later. Then I can just stop scanning where I left off when I'm done taking the call. But it wouldn't ever be likely to happen. The only people who have my number are my parents and the Society, and I try to discourage my parents from calling me during school. At the very least, whatever happens here, they'll be fine. They moved to California after-" I stopped when I realized I was simply babbling now, saying almost anything that came across my mind. One of the signs of early shock. No wonder.

Alex asked, "After what?"

After Isa disappeared and Mom and Dad wouldn't believe me. They thought I was crazy. You people would understand, but I don't want pity. "Nothing."

H grabbed my shoulder before I walked away. "Is it related to why you were saying, 'She's not dead'?"

I spun and glared at him. He actually fell back a step or two. "It's not relevant to the matter at hand!" I walked over to Anton and snatched the keys from his pocket. "And I'm driving even if he'll kill me when he wakes up."

I yanked open the car door, conscious of the gaping faces pointed towards me. Maybe if I was driving, I could avoid the inevitable questions a while longer.

Everyone has a breaking point. After committing genocide, dealing with my parents, feeling my uselessness, being unable to save my sister, and finding the society in ruins, I had found mine.


I drove silently, ignoring any of the muttering actually addressed to me. Soon, we were approaching the bridge. A few feet away, and a huge explosion blossomed before my eyes. I slammed on the brakes, but we were going over the broken lip.

As we fell towards the murky water, the foremost thought in my mind was If we survive this, Anton is going to kill me very slowly and painfully.

Alex

Miranda snapped her pistol up, firing a shot into the chupacabra's head. It collapsed, dead before it hit the ground, but she continued firing, five shots that achieved nothing but making the limp body seem to shudder, before she dropped the pistol, her breathing unsteady. The mangled chupacabra looked like a more bloody version of the corpses outside.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded. "We were supposed to capture..." I stopped as I saw her face - shaken. She looked like she was about to vomit.

More growling filled the air. Suddenly there were more, baring silvery, red-stained fangs. I backed away, but Miranda pulled out her sword. A chupacabra snarled at Miranda, snapping in her direction, and I raised my gun. Capturing them alive didn't occur to me anymore - Miranda's life was on the line.

Click. Empty.

I cursed.

A beast howled, leaping at Miranda. She knocked it away with her sword, sending it scrabbling on the smooth concrete floor.

"No sense in trying to capture it," she said, somehow finding sarcasm in the middle of a fight for her life. I laughed even though it wasn't funny, simply because there wasn't anything else for me to do.

Wait. No. I had an extra magazine of bullets. In my bag! I dove into it, finding it and yanking it out. I wrenched the empty clip out, jammed in a new one, and whirled around to find four chupacabras lying down on the ground - and Miranda pinned to the ground, a small puddle of blood forming already. She stared into its ravenous, bloodshot eyes, a terrible, horrified resignation in her eyes. The thing snarled, pulled its head back, lunged at her throat--

My hearing went dull for a moment as my shot rang out, sending one tiny piece of metal slamming into the beast's skull. It yelped once, falling down. The others hesitated. I fired again and again, letting them have it, blindly putting bullets into them. They had to die.

They were all down, and I stopped, breathing hard for some reason. As the last echoes of my gunfire vanished, there was silence except for the sound of Miranda and I panting. I let my gun drop down, staring at the dead bodies. I wouldn't have thought anything of it a week ago, but now I felt shaken by my deed. Darcy would've killed me.

No, I told myself. Those things had been about to kill Miranda. They were hunting hounds, ravenous for blood, and they had hurt her and brought her down to kill her. Maybe some creatures had the capability for compassion in them like Darcy thought, but these didn't. These were killers, and they had to be killed. Otherwise, I was no better than a murderer.

Miranda stared at me, and I walked over to her, helping her to her feet. She looked shaken - even more shaken than I would have expected her to be.

"You killed them," she said, shaking. "You saved me."

"We might not be friends," I told her, "but we are partners, and I wasn't just going to let you die." There was a vast difference between killing unnecessarily and defending a life. "Now let's go. We gotta get you patched up." As if just remembering it, Miranda looked down at her bloodied arm. We walked back to the rover and I wrapped her arm. "This'll have to do until we get back," I told her, pulling the bandage tight. Miranda didn't flinch - she didn't even look indignant at being helped by a rival, which was really off, now that I thought about it. "I'll drive," I offered unsteadily. She just nodded. Again, she didn't seem the least bit concerned that I was taking over.

For a few minutes, we drove in silence. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. "Now, what was that all about?" I asked Miranda. "That first one? You killed it with the first shot - why the rest? And you almost died, and you didn't even fight? What was that all about?"

Miranda was silent for a moment. Then, she began to speak.

"It was after I graduated..."

As she recounted her tale, I couldn't help staring in little snatches. Before long tears were pouring down her cheeks, and she wasn't making eye contact, just spouting out a story she'd probably never told anyone.

"The chupacabras," she finished. "They brought back images. And when it jumped.... I always thought it should've been me, it was all happening the same, but you. You saved me." I wasn't even keeping my eyes on the road anymore. She seemed to notice I was staring, and wiped her tears away. "And if you ever tell anyone, I will personally kill you."

I spent the rest of the ride wondering what to say, if I should say anything, if I could say anything. All I could think of suddenly was the Fear Liath, how it haunted my memory to this day. Ever since my encounter I had been spurred to study, to research, to capture monsters. Maybe Miranda and I weren't so different after all - maybe she just handled her past differently.

I still felt like I had to say something as we neared the Society. Maybe to let her know I was with her. Miranda was regaining her composure. I remembered her joke in the middle of the fight - maybe I should try to lighten things up.

I slowed the rover to a stop, still not even looking outside - I knew this place by heart anyways. "I guess you do have a soul," I offered jokingly.

She looked at me flatly. "Yeah," she said. "Some gingers do." She slid out of her seat without another word, leaving me to recite various curses in my head. Apparently lightening the mood wasn't going to work. Now I felt like an absolute jerk.

I hopped out, running after her to apologize, but I stopped dead in my tracks.

The Society had been replaced by a pile of half-burning rubble.

Numbly, I moved through the crowd that had gathered, hardly even hearing the sirens going off. I had to see the others, to know that they were okay. What if they'd gotten back earlier, and... I couldn't think about it.

There! Familiar faces. I counted, fear and growing relief making my heart pound. When I finally reached eight, I let out a heavy breath. We were all here. We were all alive - although at first I'd thought Anton was dead, which had surprisingly made my heart stop. No, not surprisingly. He was a member of the team, and a fellow human being. I couldn't find it in me to wish him dead.

Cops and firemen arrived just as we all began congealing into one solid group, and we regrouped fully outside of the crowd, silent. It hadn't quite sunk in at that point that my home, my records, everything was gone. The surviving monstrumologists - which could've been just the nine of us - was all that was left.

Finally, Korina spoke up, saying something about hotel rooms and fighting 'it', whatever it was. I nodded blankly, murmuring, "Yeah," in response. Nathaniel pulled out his phone stiffly, clearly trying to act unshaken, and spoke briefly. Hanging up, he turned to us.

"Okay, we're going to meet Torrance and the others in Brooklyn in an hour. Let's get going."

So Torrance was alive, at least. That probably meant that there were several more who hadn't been inside when the building was attacked. It registered in my brain that this was good, but I didn't really feel anything. I just nodded and started following everyone else.

Suddenly Korina's scanner - phone - whatever it was - rang, and she answered. She groaned, talking irritatedly to someone. After a few moments, she yelled at the caller, then snapper her phone shut.

I walked over to her. She looked stressed, and I wanted to know what was going on - maybe I'd be able to help. She looked defensive, though, and suddenly I wondered if it was the best idea to ask who she'd been talking to. Instead I asked about her phone-scanner-thing.

She smiled, looking relieved, and began talking eagerly about her phone. I had no idea what she was trying to communicate, but before long she'd rambled on to her parents and California before she cut herself off, looking regretful.

"After what?" I encouraged. I didn't mind listening.

"Nothing." She spun to walk away, but I grabbed her shoulder.

"Is it related to why you were saying, 'She's not dead'?"

She glared at me so hard I stepped back. "It's not relevant to the matter at hand," she snapped, and then turned and took Anton's keys from his pocket. "And I'm driving even if he kills me when he wakes up."

We climbed in, gaping a little at Korina's sudden ferocity. What was going on with her? I'd never seen her act like this before. As we crossed the bridge, though, my thoughts were driven away by a sudden flash of light and sound. I heard the screech of brakes, saw the edge of the bridge coming up to us... under us... above us...

There were screams and yells as the car slammed into the water and began to slowly sink. I wrenched the door open, unbuckling my seat belt, and jumped out into the water - better swimming than in a sinking death-trap. As the others climbed and jumped out, I saw Korina trying to pull Anton out of the car. I swam over, grabbing hold of a limp arm, trying to tread water and support half of the unconscious guy's weight while Korina pulled a gun out as well.

"That's not important, leave it!" I cried over the sound of traffic going insane and spectators screaming by the shore. But by then she'd managed to pull it out, and we started swimming awkwardly towards the shore. A few others came to try and help support Anton, but I wasn't sure we could make it...

Nathaniel,

I barely notice Korina's outburst, or the fact that we're driving through the city. I'm gripping Darcy's hand, but I can't look at her. My mind is curiously blank, as though if I think of what has happened, I won't be able to handle it. But I have to think about it. There's no question in my mind that this is the work of the Bloodletters. It has to be. Suddenly, I am angrier than I have ever been, a white-hot pulse pounding in my head. The Bloodletters have destroyed the only home I've had since my parents' deaths. They have attempted to kill people I care about. This started out as duty, to protect the city from their attacks, but now, it's gone beyond that. I will hunt down those who are responsible for all of this, to the man, and I will not stop until they are dead. Any qualms about killing I may once have had are gone.

I look up, and Darcy is looking at me, a glimmer of concern in her eyes. I force a smile and shake my head. We've reached the bridge. Torrance and the others will be on the other side and we can make a plan then. I calm slightly. The next second, my ears almost pop with the force of a gigantic explosion. The road in front of the car falls away, taking us with it. My head hits the seat in front of me and lights pop before my eyes.

With a splash and a sucking sound, Anton's car hits the water. The windshield shatters and the cold, filthy water of the Hudson river floods in. Screams and shouts turn into gasps and gurgles as we all struggle with our seat belts and doors. I force Darcy's belt and drag her out the left-hand door with me. She wrenches her arm free of mine and shoots towards the surface. I turn back to see if all got out of the car. Korina and Alex are struggling to get Anton out of the car. I make a move towards them, and as they get to the surface, I help support Anton's limp form as we all slowly swim towards shore. We weren't that far from the island, thank goodness, or else we never would make it.

Various other survivors are staggering out of the water as well, collapsing next to us on the stony lip of the harbor. Darcy and Jaegar are already standing, but the others are still sitting or lying amongst the pebbles and trash. I stumble to my feet.

"They're a step ahead of us. Every goddamn time," I try to growl, but it comes out a cough.

"They blew the other bridges too," Jaegar nods further downriver. He's right. That bridge is smoking as well, a gaping hole evident, even in the dark. I can't look at it for very long. How many people have died? Probably a lot, hundreds maybe. It's rush hour. People coming home from work and school. Families and couples. All dead. My hands are fists, the nails digging deep into my palms. I breathe in. Calm. Calm. I turn to the others.

"We need," I begin, "We need...to..." My voice trails off. I've just seen something else floating in the river, something I'd hoped to never see in my life. There are people swimming to shore, debris from the explosion. And, mixed in with it, a white, jelly-like substance, looking like so many jellyfish. But, with a sudden certainty, I know it is not. This is the Bloodletters, after all. Monsters are their came. And they apparently have access to the smallest monster of all. It must have been set with the bomb.

"Pwdre ser," I whisper, and fall to my knees, "Typhoeus magnificum."

Darcy looks up sharply, "What?" She springs to her feet, "What did you say?" She grips my shoulder. I point to the white jelly. Darcy blanches.

"Did you touch it?" She whirls on the others, "Did any of you touch it? TELL ME."

She's shouting, the others looking at her in confusion.

"Touch what?" Alex says, a note of fear in his voice.

"The jelly," Darcy snarls, pointing like me, "The pwdre ser."

"What? What the hell is it?" Korina asks.

"A bacterium," I say, trying to remain calm, "It is responsible for legends of zombies. It causes the skin to fall off, while keeping the muscle beneath intact, induces rapid dental and nail growth, and causes the brain to think only of feeding. On human flesh. It is the ultimate monster. But I think it must have fallen after we got out of the water. I can make an antidote if anyone touched it. If you have, it will begin as numbness that will spread, followed by an aversion to any light. At that point, you're screwed. So if you touched it, tell us. Now."

So, I'm not joining the StoryBook but I wanted to share with you guys a novel called the Monstrumologist. It's a crazy scary, fictional novel and I still have nightmares from reading it. It gives me chills thinking about it. So if you're into scary stories I suggest this! OK, that's it. xD Continue.

That is, in fact, what this SB is based on...

Darcy

Korina said she will drive - it was Anton's car, and they all knew he'll probably be pissed later, but now he was unconscious and they needed to move. So no one objected.

Nathaniel seemed worried, glaring at her and Korina now and then, and everyone else seemed to be doing a random something to distract themselves.
Having been eaten by a giant spider, finding Society in sad remains, figuring everyone was alive and not knowing anything about what happened, Darcy just now started feeling shocked. She was shaking, from the inside. Even when they left to face the monsters, she still had temperature and wasn't quite herself - now, after everything else, she was sure, if she got a doctor, she'd be told to get in bed and drink a lot of tea. And sleep. Darcy just really wanted to shut herself off and forget about everything. 
Where is my uncle? Was he at the Society as it got destroyed? Is his body somewhere there? Maybe I even saw it among the ruins of our home.
Darcy suddenly felt like laughing. Home? No. It was never home. The people around her were her teammates, but she still didn't belong to them, she never will. Her home was far across the ocean, where monsters would stay calm when she'd approach them, where hills were green around her house and where legends lived. Darcy craved for the moments of silence, desiring to be alone, somewhere in the woods under the moonlight, far from this town, these people and this damned life she was forced to live. She saw the others eyeing her as if they want to say something. Everyone eyed everyone - except for Korina, who focused on driving - but no one said a word to comfort each other. Darcy supposed no one had anything to say, not even really knowing how sad the others were.
To tell she was sad.. That would just be a lie. She was wondering what's happened, she was tired and wanted to take a shower - but sad? Hurt? Angry? She couldn't make herself feel anything. She just didn't care.

And then the explosion cut her thoughts. Before any of them managed to move, the car was falling towards the surface of dark water.

The car was filling with it. Someone jumped out before, someone was trying to pull out someone else.. Darcy stared at the water from the other side of her windshield, not even bothering to hold her breath. The water was cold and made her hair float around her, and Darcy closed her eyes, pretty sure her lungs are failing her. At least I'm not dying in the stomach of a giant spider.

Window next to her broke; a giant tentacle entered the car and wrapped around her. Darcy didn't feel like she'd defend even if she had the strength to.

But then she was out. On the shore - or what could be called so - before any of the others. She stood up, realizing her body shakes so hard she's barely standing, and observed as her teammates came out of the water. Nathaniel seemed relieved to see her alive, but turned serious and frightened too soon.

Oh, no, Darcy thought as she followed his stare. She found it hard to control her voice, hoping she at least managed to seem calmer than she felt. Why didn't I try to run? Why didn't I want to get out of that car? 
She asked them if anyone's touched the monster Nathaniel spotted, and distantly stared at him as they all checked themselves. Would he be sad if I didn't come out? Would there be tears? Darcy doubted it.

"I think we're all clean," Adam announced, helping Miranda check Anton. He was still unconscious, though Darcy was pretty sure he'll wake up soon. She turned to Nathaniel as he spoke.
"Good then," he said, stretching as he got up. "At least no one is hurt. It would be harder to make the cure with all the mess around."
Alex was chewing his lip.
"Should we check the other people?" He asked. Darcy glanced at everyone, holding Nathaniel's hand - they had a couple of guns, but none of the bigger weapons were pulled out of the sunk car. If they were to fight anything, they will need to either find new weapons or go diving for their own. She wasn't quite sure which idea she hated more.
She realized she's been squeezing Nathaniel's fingers somewhat stronger than she had in mind.
"Sorry," she muttered, loosening her grip, and he looked at her, seeming puzzled.
"For what?"
Darcy stared at him for a moment, before pulling up his shirt. Miranda's lips curled into a smirk, but they all turned serious fast enough. Nathaniel frowned.
"Darcy, what the-"
"Dude," John said, "I hope making that cure isn't all that hard as you say."
Nathaniel followed Darcy's glare; from the right side of his chest, to the middle of the shoulder, he had a thin line. To a doctor, it probably wouldn't look worse than a scar, slightly lighter than the colour of the skin, seeming almost transparent.. but it didn't take a genius to realize what made it, nor why he can't really feel normally in his hand anymore. It always started like that, Darcy knew, and it was impossible to tell how fast or how regularly the infection will spread.

Nathaniel seemed a bit lost.
"You should perhaps stay away a bit, I'm not sure how long-"
"Shut up," Miranda cut, on Darcy's great surprise. "Don't be an idiot and play a hero, just tell us how to make the damn cure."
Darcy opened her mouth to speak, the same time as Anton made a strange sound and frowned a little, but this time it was the other girl who interrupted.

"You won't be needing it just for yourself," Korina said, looking at Nathaniel and with fear in her eyes. "It touched me too. I found a trace of it on my foot."
*

Nathaniel,

It can't be. It just...can't. After all we've been through, all I've been through, it can't be like this.

"You should perhaps stay away a bit, I'm not sure how long--," I mutter, but Miranda cuts me off.

"Shut up. Don't be an idiot and play a hero, just tell us how to make the damn cure."

Everyone looks surprised, Darcy most of all, but no one objects. I nod.

"You won't be needing it just for yourself," Korina says, pale and breathing shallowly, "It touched me too. I found a trace of it on my foot."

Deep breaths, I think, trying to focus. It's difficult, because from the right side of my chest, all the way down my right arm, I am numb. I can tell that the same thing is happening to Korina. I glance down at my chest again. The pale strip has widened and I can see the blood vessels beneath my skin, rich, dark liquid pumping through them.

"Right," I say faintly, "We'll need a sample of the pwdre ser. It's basically like making an antivenom if you're familiar with that. We had bottles of the cure at the Society...Maybe if we go back to the Academy..."

"Not enough time," Darcy snarls, "You'll turn before then. We have to do it here and now."

"Fine," I say, walking to the shore and scooping up a pile of the pale jelly. Adam gasps and Korina looks terrified, but I smile grimly, "I'm already infected. It doesn't matter how much I touch it now. We need a bottle."

Jaegar pulls one out of his bag and I stuff some of the pwdre ser through the small opening. I pull out my field kit.

"Now," I mutter, "We just need another disease...common cold, no...flu, no, that's a virus...ah. E.coli!"

I pull the vial out and dump it in the bottle.

"Uh, Nathaniel," Alex says, "Why are you mixing in another deadly disease?"

"Because E.coli is dangerous to the Typheous bacterium as well! Not only will our own bodies begin producing antibodies against the pwdre ser, but also against the E. coli, likewise for the magnificum itself. While the pwdre ser is fighting another disease, we can fight it better, as our bodies deal with E.coli in a more effective manner. That's the theory, anyway," Honestly, I don't know if it will work. I've never tried it before, but I'm not about to tell any of them that.

Korina is looking even paler, and a patch on her foot is almost completely transparent, showing through to the muscle beneath. I am breathing rapidly, shaking the bottle to mix the pwdre ser with the E. coli.

"Right," I say shakily, "I think it's ready." I pull out a tranq dart from my bag and unscrew the tip. Dumping out the liquid inside, I replace it with some of the foul mixture from the bottle.

"Korina, I don't know if this will work, but I think it will. This is going to be painful, but just hold on, okay?" She grits her teeth and nods. With a quick motion, I jab the dart into her leg. She grunts in pain. I quickly fill the dart again, not caring about cross-contamination at this point, and shove it into my own leg.

Anton Wolfe
Cold. Bloody hell it was cold. I was shivering. Why wasn't my body warming up like it should? Oh, right. No energy left. F***ing great. Was I wet? Yes, I was soaked. That was it, I had to force my eyes open and see what those morons had done to me. Easier said than done. I just couldn't. I was too tired. The only thin I could do at the moment was keep conscious.. This probably didn't even count as conscious, but it was close enough.

Ever since the hellhounds bit me I had been like that. Low stamina, always tired, never able to sleep and horrible headaches if I didn't drink more of their poison. I was ruined, I knew that. The doctors had told me that I was lucky if I made it to 50. Not that I intended to get that old. When the day came where I no longer could hunt I would do myself a favor and hang myself. But I probably had another... What, 10 or 20 years until that?

If I could, I would've shook my head to clear my thoughts, but I had to be satisfied with mentally shaking my head. My supply of poison had been buried, probably destroyed. That wasn't good. I would have to get some more or the headaches would drive me crazy. At least I had saved my gun. My gun.. Where was it?

I opened my eyes and gasped for air. I was laying on some rocks, and it seemed like the rest of the team was there too, 'cause I could hear their voices. I sat up slowly, my head spinning as I did. My dagger were there, but the gun was not.. My keys were gone too. I frowned. If anyone had touched my car I would bash their scull in.

"Where's my gun?" I asked. My voice sounded hoarse. The others turned to look at me, seemingly surprised. "Where's my gun?" I repeated, louder this time.

"Here, I have it." Korina held it out to me, and I snatched it from her hands out of pure instinct.

"Thanks," I said when I saw her guilty face.

It was wet. I was wet. In fact, everyone was wet. What the hell had happened? I looked up a bit, and realized that someone must've blown up the bridge. The Bloodletters, no doubt. Had we been driving over the bridge when it happened? .. My car. I there had been any color left in my face, I just lost it.

"Where's my car?" Suddenly everyone seemed awfully reluctant to answer. I was shaking again, but not because I was cold. "Who sank my car!?" I jelled. I was going to lose it again, like I did with Alex, but this time I didn't care. That car and the gun was everything that I had left of my parent. The person who had taken the car away from me was going to pay, dearly. I got up slowly and put the gun in my pocket. "Why so silent?"

"Anton, calm down, it's just a car. You can get a new one." I twitched, barely able to hold back the boiling blood in my veins. Nathaniel was trying to keep the peace, as always.

I smiled calmly, which seemed to catch him of guard. "No, actually I can't. I had two things left from my parents, the gun is one, the car was the other. So now I want to know whose brilliant idea it was to take my car when I was unconscious." My voice was steady and calm, but I knew that my eyes betrayed me. They were probably glowing like they always did when I was angry. Oh, and the fact that I was reaching for my daggers probably came across as pretty threatening too.

"I did it."

I swirled around to face Korina, pulling my daggers as I did and forcing her to back. I had finally stopped shaking, 'cause now I had found something to target. Satisfied that I had found the right person I did something I hadn't done willingly in years. I let my anger take over without trying to fight it. I just let go.

The others were shouting and pulling their own weapons as I slashed after Korina. She jumped backwards, stumbled over a rock and fell onto her back. It all went black.

Well, it was more like red than black, but a very soothing nuance of red. I floated around on that red cloud for a bit, finally able to relax as my anger was being drained. But then I heard something. Some type of sound that I couldn't say what it belonged to. It sounded even calmer than my red cloud, so I let myself follow it.

"I know you're angry, but you have to calm down. You don't actually want to hurt her. Korina is sorry for what she did, and she risked her life to save your gun. Calm down now. Breathe. That's right, listen to my voice."

When I finally understood what was happening I realized that it was Darcy's voice, and she was more or less sitting on my chest. The others were pinning me down. I blinked, and glanced over at Korina. Her arm was bleeding.

"Are you there?" Darcy asked in the same soothing tone.

I nodded, to tired to say something. I was shaking again, from the cold, and my eyelids felt heavy. No, I couldn't fall asleep now. I could die.

The others slowly let go of me, watching wearily as I stood up on wobbly legs and sheathed my daggers. I wasn't going to kill Korina. I wasn't going to apologize for whatever I did either 'cause she had deserved it, but killing her wouldn't bring the car back.

"We need to get to Torrence and the others."

"And a hotel room or something, before Anton gets hypothermia." Was that Darcy again? Why did she even care?

Korina

I think the cure worked, but it will take time to be sure. My skin looks normal again, as does Nathaniel's, and I can feel my foot again, but it could be, well, I don't know.

"Where's my gun?" I turned, seeing Anton had woken up. He repeated again, louder, "Where's my gun?"

I mumbled, holding it out, "Here, I have it." He grabbed it from my hands.

"Thanks." Like he'd be thanking me for long. I waited for him to come to the realization that things weren't quite right. His face paled. He shouted, "Where's my car? Who sank my car? Why so silent?"

I knew he was unstable. Why did I have to be such an idiot? "Anton, calm down, it's just a car. You can get a new one." No, Nathaniel, he can't. I knew what it was to him, and I still had to be an idiot.

Anton confirmed my unspoken thoughts and reached for his dagger. I took a deep breath. None of the others should get hurt because I had a temper tantrum and decided I needed to control my life. "I did it."

I stumbled backwards as he slashed at me with his knife. He got my arm, then Darcy tackled him and shoved him to the ground, speaking soothingly.

I was lost in my own thoughts. I could understand his anger, in a way. If my entire family was dead, with no hope of return...well, I don't know what I would do. Maybe I would bottle up my anger like Anton does. I hadn't even lost anyone, still having my hope that I could save Isa, that I would save Isa, and I already bottled up my minor frustrations. What was it like to bottle up all of your feelings?

Darcy said, "And a hotel room or something, before Anton gets hypothermia." I looked up in surprise, and mutely followed them, stopping quickly to rip one of my sleeves up some to bind the gash in my arm. With some surprise, I realized I had changed in the very brief time I'd spent with these people. Before all this, I'd be in a panic from these events. Now I was just...numb. Although I suspected I might be able to think more coherently once I got some sleep. It had been a long day for all of us.

I looked around at the other people nearby, some just staring in shock at the bridge. A few days ago, I'd be like that. I stopped thinking about that, though, staring in horrid fascination at a couple of old women. Blood vessels visibly snaked across their faces, and their skin looked a lot redder than it should of. "Um, guys..."

Alex

The air was tense as we waited for the cure to set in, but after an eternity of about fifteen minutes Korina and Nathaniel were both looking better. I'd have felt relieved, but I was too tired. We all were.

Anton was beginning to stir as well. Finally he began murmuring about his gun. "Where's my gun?" He'd passed out and was sopping wet, and the first thing he asked about was his gun? I shook my head, but Korina handed it to him.

"Here," she said. "I have it." I wondered if she was hoping to make it up to him for sinking his car.

"Thanks," he mumbled, grabbing it from her like a toddler taking his blankie. I held back a grin at the mental image as he began looking around. Suddenly he looked pale.

"Where's my car?" he demanded.

Nobody answered. He started to shake, but I got the feeling he wasn't all that chilly. I could see in his face that he knew. "Who sank my car!?" he shouted. His eyes were getting weird again, like that time with the pistol, and I tensed as he climbed to his feet, pocketing his gun. "Why so silent?" he snarled.

Nathaniel, sensing his anger, stood as well with a placating gesture. "Anton, calm down, it's just a car," he reasoned. "You can get a new one." It's not like his car was top quality, anyways, I thought.

Anton smiled in a disturbing and not-at-all-friendly manner. "No, actually I can't. I had two things left from my parents; the gun is one, the car was the other. So now I want to know whose brilliant idea it was to take my car when I was unconscious." He spoke evenly, but I could see his red eyes glowing - literally glowing - with mad rage. I saw his hands moving towards his knives. He was going to hurt somebody...

"I did it." Korina stepped forward suddenly, and Anton whirled to look at her, leaping and slashing. As Korina ran, I saw a blind, animal look on his face - almost the same look I'd seen in the Chupacabras' canine eyes.

Shouting, I ran after him. He was going to kill her, I knew it - he'd lost control and tried to kill me for less - and I had to stop him. I grabbed an arm, yanking it back as he lunged again, and others were jumping in, until we wrestled him to the ground. Korina stood off to the side, clutching her arm, but Darcy took my attention as she knelt over him, essentially sitting on him. I focused on keeping him from stabbing her - what did she think she was doing? - while she spoke.

After several moments, his breathing returned to normal, and he lost the blind, animalistic look in his eyes, looking around dazedly. "Are you there?" Darcy asked him, and he nodded. He was shivering, and his skin felt cold and clammy. Reluctantly, I let go of him as he started to rise, sheathing his knives. He said nothing to anyone.

Finally, someone spoke. I wasn't even paying attention to who. "We need to get to Torrance and the others."

Darcy nodded. "And a hotel room or something, before Anton gets hypothermia." And without much more reaction from anyone, we all stood and set off without a word. Korina tore off part of her sleeve, wrapping it around her injured arm. I felt a brief stir of anger at the fact that the injury was there, but mainly I was too tired for anything more than weary concern.

We stopped for a moment as we reached the crowds of people around the shore. Korina looked around, her eyes widening. "Um, guys..." I followed her gaze and saw some old women, although it was hard to tell from the blood red veins and skin that hung and snaked across their faces.

"Crap." I fingered my gun, wondering when the infected would turn hostile. "Looks like we're not the only ones that ran into that thing."

Miranda:

"Um, guys..." Korina trailed off, and I looked where she was pointing. There were 2 old ladies in the middle of the street. Although, they didn't look like old ladies. Their skin drooped, and their faces were red from enlarged blood vessels and blood clots. The shambled through the crowd, people were running away from them. They didn't look aggressive yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Crap." Alex stroked his gun. "Looks like we're not the only ones that ran into that thing."

"I hope you didn't think we were the only ones that did," I said. "But I've got a plan. We need to get rid of them. Kill them."

'Why?" Darcy piped up. "They're not hurting anybody."

"No, not yet. But they will. And it's not like we can bring them back to the society..." my voice trailed off. "So who's with me? I only need one, just in case."

There was a moment of silence, and then Jaegar spoke. "I'll go with you, even though I don't know what you're doing."

"Good, so let's go." I grabbed my pistol, left the sword behind, and followed the old ladies. We caught up to them fairly soon. They were even more hideous in person, and the stench... I gagged, but I bit my tounge. "Excuse me?" The ladies turned and looked at us. "I. I have a cure." They looked excited but I knew they were beyond saving. "Just follow us." I started walking, with Jaegar and the ladies right behind us.

"What are you doing? We don't have any more of the cure." Jaegar said. I leaned over to him.

"Well, we're not going to execute these people in the middle of the street," I said as we headed into the alley.

"What. Did. You. Say." One of the old ladies said. She starting growling, and I realized they might have been able to control it this early in, but it was still there. And I guess they had good hearing too. One of them jumped. I reached for my pistol, but I couldn't pull it out in time. Her eyes bulged, and so did the veins covering her. A resounding thud sounded out throughout the alley, and the lady dropped, eyes rolled back. She laid on the ground, blood seeping out of a wound in her head. I looked over at Jaegar. He didn't have his axe with him, but then I looked at his metal arm, there was blood smeared on his hands.

"Thanks," I said. I almost forgot about the other lady. She started running at Jaegar; I pulled out my pistol, and fired a shot through her brain. Her head snapped back, and she collapsed, dead. I put another round into the lady on the ground, I doubted Jaegar was strong enough to cave in her skull.

"So, what do we do about the bodies?" Jaegar just looked at me.

"Leave 'em," I said. "If we touch them, we could get infected." He looked worried, but I turned and walked back to the group, and he followed me.