Secrets of the Akkira: Chapter 1

A re-write from the original. I changed a few things and moved it around, tell me what you think lol

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Supernatural

The summer heat beat down roughly on me despite the sun being long set in the horizon. A slight breeze teased me, as it was gone as quick as it had come, and it was never felt again. The humidity was the worst part of this night. It was difficult to breathe the air with the water nearly outweighing it. It was like scuba-diving with a leaking air tank.

I leaned back on the roof of the high school I was on and I crossed my arms. “Guys, where are you?” I spoke aloud without parting my teeth.

I took off my red fedora to wipe the beads of sweat from my brow.

I swear, I'm going to torch someone.

My bets were placed on Terrance being sent after me tonight. He's a friend and all, but he chases skirts like he was going to die tomorrow. Makes me wish everyone else would let me get him a ticket to Scotland, let him chase skirts there.

The air began to get heavier, and I looked over the side of the building I lay upon. The air above the concrete began to distort as I looked, becoming green-tinted, then faded to black. I reached for the blade strapped on my back, getting ready to strike.

Looks like they won't make it. How typical.

I watched closely as a left claw, paper-white and bony in appearance, ripped its way through into our world. Its face and body came next, the face matched that of gargoyles, with black, soulless eyes. It had two non-functioning wings on its back. As for its back legs, they were shaped roughly similar to that of a horse's. This was a basic ghoul soul.

I pulled out my blade that gleamed in the moonlight, “Guess it's now or never.”

I leaped down a few feet behind it and I swung my sword diagonally to slice off one of its useless wings. Green blood erupted from the wound, reeking of brimstone and spoiled mayonnaise. It gave off an inhuman scream and it turned around with a large claw stretched out.

I came to realize the monster was much bigger up close, being a good two heads or so taller than me when it was on all fours. With its empty eyes, it looked right at me. With its oversized claw, it swung down.

I jumped back and sliced narrowly, putting a cut in its palm. I groaned at myself for missing so terribly. He didn't seem to notice so he tried again, but it came a little short and I put a large gauge in it's wrist, allowing its blood to spill faster. Within a half second of his next bellow, I had sunk the blade deep in the asphalt and placed my hands together, filling them with energy to create a fireball with my pyrokinesis.

However, it didn't form, sparks burned for but a split-second and they died out quickly.

The humidity.

“Uh-oh.”

When he struck this time, I flew back and hit the road, literally. Pain roared through my body and I tried to yell out, but no sound came. In moments the beast had me pinned under his left claw, while raising it's right claw. I closed my eyes, and waited for the kill, but it never came.

I opened my right eye slightly, and saw that the ghoul's claw was tied up with vines, constricting his movements to near nothing. I turned my head just slightly to see Terrance a little distance away, with a hand raised to control the vines. “Hey, Cole, how's life?” He made a fist and pulled back, causing the vines to pull the monster back and release me.

In anger, I forced pure energy into my fist and punched the ghoul right in the jaw, shattering the bone into a jigsaw puzzle. I jumped over to remove my blade from the pavement, “Took you long enough.” I sprinted towards the beast and chopped at the spinal cord, paralyzing the ghoul from the waist down. The force of gravity worked with the pulling force of the monster to allow his claw to rip free, but also for it collapse under its own weight.

As the ghoul turned to face us, Terrance clapped his hands so that his fingers were slapping his opposite palms. He pulled them apart and layers of gravel and stone began to form around his right hand. He lunged forward with great speed, clocking the beast on the side of the face and separating the left lower-jaw from his face completely. Blood and saliva to spewed onto the ground.

I twisted around, giving the blade more force to amputate its right hand. As it was stumbling trying to gain balance on one hand and a bloody stump, I ran up to the side and cut one last time into its skull.

The beast stopped moving, and I pulled my blade out as its body became ash where it once stood.

“Terrance, no girl is worth leaving your teammate to fight a ghoul alone.”

He gave me a look, “What if she was hot?”

I clenched a fist, fixing to punch his lights out, but I just sighed and began to walk towards the road.

“Hey where are you going?”

I placed my hands in my pockets, “Home.”

“But the Focus is right here!” he called out as I got further away.

“I don't know where it's been, rather, who's been in it.”

He scoffed and climbed into the driver's seat and hit the gas. He drove right past me in a hurry.

I slowed the flow of my energy, allowing my uniform to morph back into my original clothes. My hat and sword vanished as they too were made of energy.

The thought of that monster made me wonder just where it was destined to go from here? As Akkira, we know that once a ghoul was destroyed it was sent to the mediator, which we call Verse. From there, it was given judgment on where it was to go, either Heaven or Inferno. These days, we don't know much about the afterlife. Anyone that does is in higher ranks with access to files no one can see. All we know is the ghouls are cowards that escaped judgment and we were born to send them back. That's our entire life. We don't even know how we control our energy, just that it was a gift to us from the afterlife.

A white Chevy drives past me, making me wonder if life would be better if I was like them. Just a normal human being with no powers. They can't see the ghouls or any demons. At times, they can't even see us, as long as we are in uniform. Something about our energy makes our beings vibrate at higher levels than they can see or something.

Our lives aren't easy. Some of those people dream of having superpowers and killing monsters just like these. But this is no dream. It's nothing but sweat and blood. They find the thought of being heroes amazing; the thought of killing, thrilling. They can take it from me, I feel nothing from slicing up those monsters. It's just me going through the motions.

Though there was always a part of me wondering what would happen if I was in their situation, if I would run. And if so, what for? We never know their side of the story. The ones that have any sense in their heads are too intelligent to come anywhere near us. We never know anything about them. We just do what our ancestors have done forever. We do it for those normal people. One cut from a ghoul and you're good as dead.

I shook my head. I was in no place to question anything, I'm just a ninth rank, the second lowest in the society. At times I think the society forgot about us. Being stationed us in one of the backwoods towns of the state of South Carolina doesn't get us much attention in the eyes of the higher-ups. We may very well spend our entire lives here. Not that it matters.

I tried to clear my head as I walked down the shadow-stricken road that was leading me slowly but surely back home.