Young Writers Society

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0200h-Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean 50,000ft up (about 15km)

Lethero looked around the plane with the group of men and women he had to lead. All of them were from every walk of life, and looked almost ordinary, but what couldn't be seen on the outside made them special. Everyone of them would've been scoffed by normal society; deemed Satanists, lunatics, demon-possessed, and monsters. Not able to fit in in the real world they had found a home in A.P.O.S.F. Where they could fight to protect society from the things that go bump in the night.

Thinking back a few days ago, Lethero remembered receiving phone call that the president was attacked. No sooner after that, he had formed a team, and with the help of psychics and seers, they discovered the summoner's location. A place in the middle of the New Mexican deserts.

"Commander Lethero," said the pilot over the intercom, "we have almost reached the drop zone."

Lethero gather everyone around him. He looked each in the eye and said, "You all know why we are here. We are to enter and eliminate everyone, no prisoners. Strict orders from above. Haydes and Finch, I want you two to keep your minds open, look for any psychic energies that aren't ours. Jack, you'll keep you ears open. Wrights immediately after landing, I want you to do a quick one mile sweep of the area with your astral projection. Carolyn, I want you to protect Wright's body. Hayes and I will keep our noses working and sniff out any trouble."

"What about me sir?" asked Nicarga, the smallest person in this group.

"If any of us sense anything, we'll notify you, and you, Scarr, and Rose will summon magical barriers. Is everyone clear on what you have to do?" They all nodded.

"We are at the drop zone." said the pilot. I green light blinked on next to the plane door, and we all jumped out. Our parachutes deployed and we safely floated down into the dark abyss.

**Hey Leth, you forgot to mention Carolyn, I think...**

Mikayla touched down and disconnected her parachute. Sitting down, she sent herself out of her body and it fell to the ground. She could see others looking at her limp body with odd expressions even as they began to do their jobs; invisiable, she smiled, and began to sweep the area. Left, right, left, right, all very tight and military.

She rose up higher into the air and looked down on the ground from above. She could feel no breeze, and she felt no fear. There was nothing living exept themselves and a few animals. Content, she floated down again. She could see people down below and she took care to go through all of them in her spirit form, avoiding the telepathic people. She'd gone through one of them before, and she didn't like what she saw inside their head when they sensed her.

She chuckled noiselessly; how that would tickle the people as she ran through them! She hadn't even met them yet. She settled down into her own body and sat up again. She walked over to Commander Lethero.

"Nothing, Commander. Just us and animals." she said. "I went a kilometer each direction. I'll do it again in half an hour, or now if you want me to increase the radius." She paused and looked at the Commander, waiting for an answer. The others were talking behind her; they have quite delicious accents, she thought. A faint smile lit her lips. She took care to wipe it off her face. They weren't on a picnic, after all.

Everything went orderly when they touched down. Wright's immediately passed out after touching the ground, with Carolyn standing over it. Though Lethero couldn't see anything, he knew the psychics were probing the desert with their mind. He looked over at them, and they both gave a thumbs up, confirming everything was clear. A few minutes later, Wright sat back up, once again in control of her body.

"Nothing, Commander. Just us and animals." she said. "I went a kilometer each direction. I'll do it again in half an hour, or now if you want me to increase the radius."

"No, that was fine," Lethero replied. "But want to ask you if you can see anything. Any small revelation of what is to come?"

"Sorry, Commander, but I got nothing coming to me right now."

"Alright, if you do notify me immediately." Lethero turned back to everyone else. "Alright people, we're moving out. The approximate location is that way," Lethero said pointing away from the sun. "Hayes and I will take point, mages will take up our rear, everyone else spread out and keep your senses open for trouble. We don't know what this person or persons are capable of, but if they have the balls to attack the president, we'; have to stay on our toes."

Jack

"...have to stay on our toes."

New Mexico was, to say the least, not my favorite place on Earth. The sun was sweltering, beads of sweat already gathering on my forehead as I glanced around. The feeling of the exposed skin on the back of my neck slowly getting cooked to a tender, crispy red was entirely unpleasant, but bearable. I fixed my sunglasses and turned towards the Commander, listening as he barked out orders. Keep my ears and eyes open, and stay alert. Got it.

We started moving, and I found myself huddled somewhere in the middle of the group as we shuffled across the dry red dirt littered with low-lying shrubbery. Lethero took the front, followed closely by Hayes and Finch as they conducted an ongoing visual sweep of the surrounding landscape. I cast my own gaze from side to side, scrutinizing the flat plains with a critical eye. After all, we weren't hiking out in the middle of some desert for nothing. We knew they were out there, and there was little doubt in my mind that were were being watched.

If we were, whoever it was that was doing the watching was good, I'd give them that. There wasn't a single sound besides the cautious footsteps of our own group and the quiet whisper of the almost nonexistent wind. Occasionally the faint rustling of a lizard scurrying into a bush or a hare darting the opposite direction could be heard, but that's all it was. Animals, and us. Just like Wrights had said.

A feeling of unease settled over me. There was supposed to be at least one person out here, if not more, who was potentially a danger to us. The team had traced the location of that person (or persons) back to this location, give or take a few hundred yards. And yet there was nothing besides rocks and a few dried up plants within nearly twenty miles all around.

Someone voiced my thoughts before I had a chance, though I couldn't tell who it was as I concentrated on picking up any sounds in the surrounding area. "I've got a bad feeling about this," they said, and a low ripple of affirmation rolled through the group.

"They're just scared," I put in, drawing my attention momentarily back to the group. "They know they're in trouble and now they're just trying to delay the inevitable by hiding from us. They're out there somewhere."

"Agreed," said Mikayla, looking around wearily. She had to admire the guy; said what he thought, he did, and thought right. "I can feel a vision coming, it's just on the outskirts of my mind... Something's going to happen, alright. I might just..." Her eyes settled on the telepaths behind Lethero. They were scanning their surroundings constantly, she knew, and it wasn't her place to do their job for them. Besides, it wouldn't be practical to slow them down with her limp body. She might ask later if she would scout for possiable ambush sites, houses, building or the like. Yeah, that's what I'll do, she thought to herself. She sighed and looked with a critical eye over the group. She gripped her naginata; it was a comfort thing. Most of the group members were sweating, and she didn't blame them. As she was thinking this, the vision hit her like an elastic band snapping in her head.
"Sir!" she gasped, before being sucked in.

"Sir!" Wright yelled before she suddenly passed out. Lethero hurried back to her and saw that her eyes were glowing a pale white from a vision. Her entire body was twitching as if from a seizure, and her lips moved, saying unspoken words. And then, as suddenly as it began, it ended. When she blinked her eyes they returned to normal.

Lethero held out his hand and helped back onto her feet and asked, "What did you see?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. "All I know is in less than a mile, we're going to come across a small building, inside of it are stairs leading to the underground. After that I don't know, but I got a feeling that wherever these stairs lead to, it's not in the mortal realm."

"Were you able to see if the building was guarded?"

"No, sir."

"Alright, let's get moving people. Finch Haydes, I really want you to be on the lookout. If there is something out there that wants to attack us, I want to know about it before it gets anywhere near us."

The team made slow process walking through the desert, but in about an hour they made it the building that Wrights say in her vision. It looked like an ordinary wooden building, with a single door and some windows, except for the fact that it was the only building for miles around.

"Ok everyone, surround the building. Wright, you know what to do."

Wright passed out again, but not in a vision, but an astral projection. Carolyn stood over her body, and kept glancing worriedly at Wright's unmoving body. But no sooner did Wright leaver her body, she returned. "Sir! Above you!"

~Jasmine Hayes~

I glanced around the area every now and then, seeking out any movement in the distance. The team had only just arrived at the building, and it seemed a highly suspicious place. Not only that, it reeked of the supernatural. I narrowed my eyes, casting a quick look at the unconscious Wright, who lay immobile on the floor.

She remained still for only a second, waking with a sudden gasp, and the shout of "Sir! Above you!" immediately put everyone into prime battle positions, each person scanning the skies warily for any trace of danger. Nothing. But then, Wright's timing was sometimes off, I thought silently. The attack could happen in any moment.

"Cover! Now!" Lethero shouted, and we ran towards the building, staying by the walls with the snipers poised and ready at the edge of the group. Finally, a distant shape in the sky became visible, and it looked like it was approaching fast. I frowned, quickly weighing up the pros and cons of Lycan form against an airborn enemy.

Miles Finch

I watched as Jasmine watched the coming form. What good was invisibiltity if your shotgun can't become invisible as well when you're holding it?

I turned invisible anyway. Hopefully the thing wouldn't be able to notice that there was a floating gun or I was screwed.

As it came closer, I turned my head up towards the sky and got ready to attack.

Jack

Suspicious buildings. Strange flying creatures bent on attacking us. Yep, I'd say that New Mexico was making a beeline straight for the bottom of my 'Least Favorite Places On Earth' list. With surprising speeds.

My enhanced eyesight easily picked out the strange black shape overhead that was growing closer and closer with each passing moment. Around me everyone was setting themselves up into defensive battle positions, with the heavy-hitters towards the front. I pressed my back to the dusty side of the building, reaching down to my hip to pull out one of my guns. Pistol. Good.

The thing was only seconds away, but it had the sun behind it, making it almost impossible to distinguish exactly what it was. A bird? A plane? Superman? the thought drifted across my mind more as pure reflex than an actual conscious thought. I allowed myself a quick mental snicker before I turned my complete attention back to the approaching creature. It was only a hundred yards away. Fifty. Twenty. Ten.

Then it was upon us, screeching with such ungodly fury that it had nearly everyone covering their ears. I grit my teeth together and forced my eyes open - when had they closed? - trying to block out the invading noise that had my head ringing. Nails on a chalkboard didn't even come close to the agony that assaulted me, and most undoubtedly the rest of my group. Though I counted them lucky, as they did not share my enhanced hearing.

"It's a demon!" someone shouted over the shrieking. I looked over to where the creature had dropped into our midst, blanching slightly at the sight. I hadn't been on the team long - only four months - but I'd thought I'd seen my fair share of pretty freaky things. Apparently not. The thing before us was huge and jet black, glaring at us with pinpricks of swirling red. It almost could have passed for a crow or a raven, if crows or ravens stood at nearly ten feet and had claws sticking out of their abdomens and wings that spanned over thirty feet in each direction.

Gunshots rang out, ripping through the air before the demon let out another piercing scream, it's beady eyes focusing intently on our group as though trying to determine who to attack first. More shots punctured the air and the creature flapped its wings irritably, buffeting us with a strong wind. I planted one foot firmly against the wall behind me, heel digging into the dirt where building met ground, bracing myself against the dust that was blown towards us. Sand scraped against the exposed skin of my face and I winced.

I cocked my pistol and took aim, squinting against the harsh sunlight as I finally found my target and pulled the trigger. The bullet went speeding towards the demon's head, silver metal gleaming in the light for a split second before it was swallowed by the blackness that coated the monster.

The beast didn't even seem fazed, but its red eyes swiveled towards me. Its beak opened to let loose another screech of rage that did not belong to this world, and in that moment New Mexico made it to the bottom of my favorites list.

Mikayla saw what going to happen without even the need of a vision. Yep, that guy was skrewed. Time for some step-in.
She swung her naginata from her back and lept into the sky, cleaving the weapon in an arch by its base. Her arms screamed; it was heavy. The blade just ruffled the creature's - uh - something, and she was at it again, swinging the naginata. She let out loud whoops, getting the thing's attention at last. It hissed at her; the guy on the wall blinked and brought his pistol up again. The deamon dived towards her. "Shit!" Mikayla cried. She ducked as close to the ground as she could, holding her naginata blade-up above her head. It was madness!
The guy shot again, hitting the blackness of the creature's body. It turned for him - Mikayla brought her blade back up.
"Shoot for its head! Or its heart - or something !!" she shouted. "Care for some freeking input? " It was only her first day on the team. Sure, she'd seen some hardcore stuff before - but this thing just wouldn't roll over and push up daisies without a fight.
Push up daisies? Mikayla questioned herself. Don't die on me now, brain. Daisies???

Corry

Great, the only other telepath had to be a guy. What was it with female brainers, why couldn't there be more of them?
It hardly mattered though, since there were a few in our group who seemed more brainy than the average chick...more than a few had dark pasts too, those would be fun to look through.
But not yet, focus on the task at hand
Right, right, the-
"Care for some freeking input?"
I shook my head so hard I hit myself on something. What had I done? Dream-walked again? Somehow, we were no longer in the airplane, and we weren't standing on the sand I'd seen from the windows above.
I only had time to take in a huge building before something black swooped right overhead. Instantly I focused on its mind and found something there that both surprised and scared me.
It was afraid.

**Okay, um... Is the person that Carolyn was supposed to be guarding still outside of their body?**

Miles

I grabbed my pistol and shot the thing. Right towards the heart. It didn't seem fazed one bit. It didn't even stare at me, like it had with Jack. Pathetic.

Then, if you don't mind me bragging, I made the best shot ever. Right in the bird-things eye. Yeah, that REALLY pissed it off, but it made me feel good about my aim.

"Sightless in one eye, the next one to go," I whispered to myself. "Or, next three, anyway." Since when did demons have four eyes?!

I shot but missed because of, excuse me, the fact it's wing flew out towards me and almost chopped off my head. Crap. Not good. I stayed in it's blind spot and shot it's foot. Ah, sweet bliss of a demon scream.