The Hunt Is On

Vince and Jacob follow up on their suspicions but come up short, until a fight in the woods gives them new scars and new revelations.

Late at night, the blaring headlights sped down the road, illuminating everything in sight. From the trees to the buildings, the street lights seemed devastatingly overpowered by the cars going past. What few there were, anyway. Sat on the side of the road was one tiny box-like deep blue car. It was a modern make but somehow still looked very old. The headlights were off to aid the stealth that was required at the moment for the two passengers of the car. Vincent and Jacob were parked outside of a small apartment complex, not connected to the university, watching the second floor. The two were waiting for some sign of strange behaviour from the student that lived in the complex they were watching. Sebastian Morris was a relatively new face to them and, apparently, to the entire university. Recently, Sebastian had made his presence known in the library when Erik had discovered something extremely strange and almost otherworldly. A substance that separated blood plasma from the blood and turned it black. Both Vince and Jake had gotten strange vibes from this guy and Vince especially wanted to investigate, but during the night, Jacob was becoming less and less of a believer.

Vincent stared obsessively out of his window, looking up at the second window to the left on the second floor. The light was on and occasionally the silhouette of Sebastian could be seen walking past it. He had his curtains drawn, which was as normal as having blinds or those paper things you could buy cheap from Ikea. Vince just continued glaring into the window, as if his staring into the window was going to immediately trigger some strange activity that would prompt him to investigate. Meanwhile, the ever-present crunching noise of food being consumed kept distracting him.

“Can you eat any louder? I don’t think he can hear you”, said an agitated Vincent as he turned to the passenger seat where Jacob was sitting.

“What? It’s not like he can hear me”, Jacob replied, reaching into the packet and shoving a fist full of popcorn in his mouth. This was probably his utmost favourite travel snack, sweet and salty popcorn. Vincent could never stomach it and never understood why he liked it. After a few minutes of watching, Jacob let out his fifteenth sigh of the night.

“Come on man. We need to start. Stalking this guy is just gonna waste the cover of the night away and he’s not even doing anything anyway!” Jacob insisted, trying to coerce Vince out of the car and into the nearby forest where they’d planned to go anyway. Vincent looked up at the window again and saw the light go off and he sighed.

“Fine. Let’s get going”, he griped before putting on a flat cap and exiting the car. Jacob threw his scrunched up packet into the back and put up his hood. Together, they both put on long black duster coats and proceeded into the woods. It was dark and the trees felt heavy somehow. The moonlight bathed the ground, lighting the way for them somewhat, though even without the light of the moon, they knew their way around just fine.

“I really don’t see why we have to do this in a forest. We can always just go into town…”, Jacob began but then Vincent stopped and glared at him.

“Before I remind you exactly why we don’t do that, let me ask you what in the hell you thought you were thinking of, going on a hunt in the light? You know the rules, we never go out on the streets and do that!”, Vincent shouted, before looking around to see if anyone was within earshot.

“I don’t know what you mean…”, Jacob mumbled to himself.

“Don’t bother! I read the newspapers and look on the internet! Two killed in Manchester, man and woman. Ring any bells?!”, Vincent continued to rant, throwing his arms around. Soon enough, Jacob got angrier and grabbed Vincent by the coat.

“You don’t get it! I have the hunger every second! Every day! It’s all well and good for you, isn’t it?! You just put them to sleep, make a hole in their arm or leg, somewhere nobody sees and you continue on your merry way! Done for the week, right?! Well, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for all of us Vince! I have to do things that my parents would dump me in an institute for! I DON’T ENJOY IT!!” Jacob screamed, staring deep into Vince’s eyes. Vince stared right back and saw the yellow eyes of his friend, his teeth bared and on full display for all to see. Calmly, he took Jacob’s hands off his coat and dusted himself off.

“Let’s just get this over with”, he murmured. The two stood in silence for a moment but the silence was quickly broken by a disfigured screech that echoed throughout the night. Vincent and Jacob looked at each other for a moment before running deep into the forest to investigate.

Meanwhile, at the Kingston Estate, Erik was sitting on the sofa, examining a full vial of the black ooze that used to sit in the middle of the living room of the house. In his other hand was the transparent jelly that it turned into when he touched it. He wanted to know what mysteries were hidden within the vials but he had nothing.

“Staring at them is just gonna hurt your brain”, Toby remarked as he opened a cider bottle and offered one to his friend. Erik shook his head and continued looking at them. Toby may not have cared that much but he did and there was definitely something about this whole scenario that just didn’t seem like a simple coincidence.

“Do you think we should’ve gone with them?”, Toby asked, feeling his stomach. It had certainly been a while since Erik had fed but he didn’t want to do what he usually did. Not again. The front door opened and Max walked in, dragging a very heavy looking bag which was strangely huge and wrapped up with thick ropes. It flopped on the floor and both of them looked at it for a while, hoping it wasn’t what they suspected.

“No need to go anywhere. This should last us all for a while” Max said as he slit open the bag in the middle and it revealed the torso of a dead body. Erik gagged and tried not to look at it whilst Toby got up and began to freak out.

“Jesus, Max! Why did you drag this in here?! Where did you even get it?!! Did you… go out somewhere?” he whispered, trying not to let any coincidental passers-by hear the commotion.

“Of course not! I just looked in the obituaries and found this guy. Buried almost instantly so I guess some of it is still kinda fresh. I really don’t know”, he stammered, as if only now realising what he’d dragged into the house. Everyone looked at the body on the floor and stood still for a moment. All of them had a look of disgust in their eyes, but also longing as if longing to feed on something. Max looked up at the other two and sighed before dusting his hands together. He looked over the mid-section of the body. He knelt down next to it and cracked his knuckles, before holding up his hand. The appearance of his hand transformed as he held it up. His skin darkened into a greyish colour, his arm becoming veiny and somewhat thicker. The tips of his fingers were misshapen, becoming huge black claws that slowly became pitch black, the closer it got to the ends of his nails.

In the next moment, after this gruesome transformation, Max slammed his hand down, claws first, into the body. Right into the centre of the chest, just to the left, he drove his hand in and the crack of the ribcage could be felt all around the room and Erik shivered a little. The squelching of the organs being moved around a little was sickening but the next sound afterwards was worse. Max forcibly pulled out the body’s heart and held it in front of his face. The blood from the organ slowly dripped down his arm and Max looked at it for a while. His mouth began to feel loose, saliva collecting in his mouth and his stomach begging for sustenance. He looked up at Erik and Toby and nodded before putting the heart in his mouth and taking a large bite out of it.

Erik just kept looking at the body, trying to ignore the squelching noises made by Max as he ate the heart. Toby then shook his head and walked up to the body.

“This is sick…”, he mumbled.

“Yeah, but there isn’t much we can do about it…”, Max replied just as quietly, in between mouthfuls of flesh and blood in his mouth. Toby knelt down next to the body and groaned, holding his head as if getting a headache from the sight.

“I’m only taking a bit. I don’t want the whole thing…”, he said, looking up at the two. Erik nodded and Max just ignored the statement. Toby then looked back down at the corpse and took up the arm. Holding the forearm in the middle with both his hands, he used his strength to snap the bone in half. Once that was done, he wrung the arm back and forth as if doing a Chinese burn, causing the flesh and skin to rip. He took up the half of the arm that had the hand on it and took it back to the sofa, beginning to eat into the ripped end. Erik didn’t look at either of them and only stared at the body.

The chest was wide open in the centre and his inner organs were visible to all. The blood dripped from his severed arm and stained the suit he was lying in. Erik stared at it, having flashbacks of the state he left his last hunting victim in. He then felt a hand on his shoulder that took him out of his reverie and turned to look at Max, his arm back to normal but blood still staining it.

“I know you are thinking about the last times but you gotta keep yourself alive, mate. Besides, he’s already dead so it won’t hurt him”, he assured Erik, to the best of his ability. Erik didn’t react, trying his best not to get angry or say anything irrational. It was alright for them, they didn’t have the effect on the hunted as Erik did and what he did even disgusted himself. He remembered how he saw himself the last time. A monster. Still, a part of him knew that he had to do it at least somewhat irregularly to stay functional. Slowly, Erik got to his feet and knelt down next to the body.

“Could you guys look away for me?”, he asked quietly. They both nodded and got up to look out of the window instead. Looking back down to the body, Erik took a deep breath and focused himself. Whenever he did this, it hurt like hell but he always felt good afterwards, no matter how guilty he should’ve been. He leaned over the head of the body, which was still covered, and opened his mouth. He continued opening it until it took over his nose. His mouth extended to the far corners of his face, overtaking his eyes and his forehead. All that remained of his face was a giant, gaping hole with small, sharp teeth at the top and bottom. From the black, a long, pointed tongue slithered outwards and circled the head. It stopped just before the white covering and then suddenly stabbed into the section where the forehead was. 

The tongue pulsated for a few seconds, seemingly sweating whilst it pumped liquids from the head into Erik’s head. A minute passed and the entire body seemed to shrivel and become thinner. Eventually, the tongue withdrew and the hole closed, returning Erik’s face to normal. He was less pale than before and seemed a lot more fresh than usual. He sighed contentedly with a slight smile before opening his eyes and frowning again at the thin look of the corpse. The insides were decayed and smelled awful. Erik got up and sat down on the sofa, staring at the floor again.

The smell alerted the others to the ending and they turned around. Max walked over to the body and wrapped it up, picking up the legs.

“I’ll get rid of this”, he said almost silently and he dragged it away and out of the door. Toby turned to Erik who stared at the floor still, not moving and barely breathing. Toby placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and patted him, knowing that he preferred these moments to be coated in silence for a few minutes.

Back at the forest, Jacob and Vincent were running through the trees and bushes, pushing the leaves and branches out of the way as they tried to locate the source of the noise. They both stopped in a clearing, looking around cautiously for what the noise could’ve been. It was cold outside and the cold air was seeping into their clothes and skin but it didn’t affect them. 

“Can you see anything?”, Vince asked in a very worried tone.

“No… you?”, Jacob asked back. Vincent shook his head, looking visibly unnerved. This was the first time that he’d ever been unable to sense something, no matter how far it was. He turned to look at Jacob who was looking more annoyed than usual. He was new to this experience as well and he didn’t enjoy it at all. Suddenly, the howling screech could be heard again, this time louder and closer. It sounded less like a cry and more like a battle shout. Both of the boys were immediately on to the sound and ran in its direction, searching for their surroundings.

“There!!”, Jacob shouted and Vincent looked where he was pointing. A huge black figure was quickly getting smaller in the distance and they both began to charge after it. The figure was quite far but both of them were fast. Fast enough to keep gaining on it. As it got closer it began to form in shape. Six long, muscular limbs appeared to be attached to a rounded body and it seemed to somehow even have wings. The distinct flapping of an enormous wingspan could be seen s it tried to get away. Just as Jacob got close and reached out to grab it, he made a leap and lunged at the shadow before landing in another clearing. It was an empty field deprived of trees or bushes, most likely old farmland. He looked around and saw nothing.

“What was that thing?”, Jacob asked, regaining his breath. Vincent had no answer for him and continued to look around for the creature. Suddenly, a spine chilling screech was heard from above them and the giant creature descended upon the two. Both Jacob and Vincent rolled out of the way and looked to see what it was. Neither of them were prepared for what they saw. 

Landing on the floor on six thick muscular legs was a giant bat-like monster. It had a giant mouth similar to that of Erik’s which had three tongues protruding from it like tentacles. Its nose was non-existent and had giant circular burn marks where its eyes were supposed to be as if they were ripped out and the holes burned to closure. Its circular hairy body was similar to that of a fly but its legs were akin to a spider that lost two legs. 

It had an enormous wingspan that looked stolen from a bat. Vincent and Jacob stared at it for a while, trying to figure out if they were dreaming or not, but there was no time to think as the monster chose its target and charged Vincent. It was a fight or die situation and neither of them felt like dying. Vincent bared his teeth and roared at it, charging and giving it a swift punch to the right eye. The monster was knocked off balance but quickly got back up. Not letting it regain strength, Vince leapt on to the beasts head, which was roughly the size of his body, and sunk his elongated fangs into its forehead. It let out a howling screech in pain and drastically waved its head around, trying to get Vincent off. He kept his teeth sunk in as long as possible but, the taste of the blood was different. He wanted so badly to vomit, it was disgusting.

Letting go, he was thrown meters away. Vincent got up, feeling out his shoulder and felt his mouth at the same time. The blood of the creature looked exactly the same as the black plasma Erik found. He spat it all out and tried to look around for Jacob, shouting his name in the process. The monster began to charge again but was stopped. Vincent looked behind it to see a familiar giant bear-wolf biting at its leg. Jacob pulled and pulled and eventually ripped off one of its legs, black ooze spurting everywhere. Vincent ran up to it and leapt on to its head again, raising his hand in the air and forcing his hand deep into its brain. The creature screeched once more and reached down to where Jacob was, grabbing him with its giant mouth and shaking him around. The monster tore at his fur and flesh before letting go and hurling him into the forest.

In a fit of rage, Vincent screamed and crawled down to its eye, stabbing it in the eye socket with his hand, shoving his fist deeper and deeper until his whole arm was in there. The beast shook its head violently, breaking Vincent’s arm in the process and throwing him into the forest as well. Vince rolled on to his back and watched as the monster continued to advance, blood falling from its brain and eye.

It didn’t seem like it wanted to go down, not until it stopped and looked up. Another winged figure descended from the sky and crash-landed on the creature. Vincent covered himself as the wind blasted him in the face. He removed his arm after a few seconds and looked to see the monster on its back and some kind of demon lurking over it. The creature had huge black wings of its own but more like that of a bird. It had horns protruding from its head and a giant row of shark teeth for a mouth. Its skin was grey, yet it wore normal clothes and it had giant claws for hands. Its feet were different as well, like that of an eagle, with talons at the ends of its feet, but had insanely muscular legs. The demon creature was standing over the monster, beating it senseless with its fists until it was barely moving. When the demon finally stopped, it looked over at Vince who hastily got up and bared his own claws, ready to fight again.

“Your arm is broken. We need to get both of you to a hospital”, it said in a distorted and unearthly voice. Vince didn’t answer but looked confused. The demon began to walk towards him but also began to change. Its horns retracted into its head, the shark teeth disappeared and its legs became more human as well as the wings seeming to disintegrate, leaving a trail of feathers as it walked. Vincent felt like he shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. In front of him was Sebastian Morris, the new guy.

“I can explain later. Right now we need to get you and your friend to a hospital!”, he shouted, waking Vince from his thoughts. The two searched the forest for Jacob and eventually found him, crawling across the floor, trying to get away. His body was almost torn apart. 

Giant gashes had formed on his body and they weren’t properly healing like usual. Vince and Sebastian picked him up and took him to Vincent’s car where Sebastian drove them to the hospital.

On the sofa where the other three were sitting, Max’s phone rang. Though he was outside dealing with the body that was previously in the house, Toby answered instead.

“Hello?”, he answered. There was a whirlwind of illegible chatter that emerged from the phone which made Toby hold it away from his ear for a brief moment. Stuttering, he kept trying to get a word in but the noise from the phone continued.

“Okay, slow down. What do you mean attacked?”, he asked loudly. Erik suddenly turned his head, being alerted to the aggressive word he used and listened closely to the phone call.

“Okay, which hospital? We’ll be on our way soon”, Toby asked as he continued listening and then hung up the phone. Erik looked at him with worry, awaiting an explanation.

“That Sebastian guy called on Vince’s phone. He said they got attacked tonight and they’re at Florence Memorial Hospital. We need to get moving!”, he frantically exclaimed as he got up off the sofa and ran out the door, Erik quickly following. They looked for Max who was nailing a coffin back together and prepping it to be returned to the graveyard it came from. Max looked up and noticed the urgency in their faces.

“Vince and Jake are in the hospital, we gotta go!”, Erik yelled and Max ran past them and into his father’s Aston Martin where Toby and Erik followed. Arriving at the hospital, they burst into the waiting room, Erik immediately going to the woman at the desk but Max and Toby were already starting to make their way to A&E. Sebastian was already sat in the waiting room with a few bandages on his arm.

“Where are they?”, Toby asked him, trying to catch his breath.

“Relax, they’re both being attended to by nurses and I think they’re both gonna be okay”, Sebastian said calmly as he stood up, giving Erik a side smile quickly before turning to the A&E entrance. Through the double doors that lead further into the hospital emerged Vincent with one hand in a sling and bandages on his shoulder. He slowly approached the group with a frown, only staring at Sebastian.

“Are you alright? What happened?”, Erik frantically asked. Vincent shook his head, looking back at the A&E where, supposedly, Jacob was.

“Let’s talk outside”, he muttered, walking out of the door to the area where the taxi pick up was. Everyone slowly followed, with Sebastian bringing up the rear. As soon as the door closed, Vincent tore off the sling and grabbed Sebastian by the collar of his shirt, pushing him up against the wall. Max and Toby both grabbed Vincent, trying to stop him but he refused to let go.

“Vince what are you doing?!”, Erik tried to quietly shout, not alerting anyone’s attention.

“He’s a f*****g liar! He’s different and he’s dangerous!”, Vince grunted, reaching for Sebastian’s throat with his hands while Sebastian grabbed his wrists, trying to wrestle him off.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, he strained to answer, trying to keep his breath when Vincent was inches from strangling him. Vince was not convinced at all and kept on trying to grab at his throat until he made it and began gripping firmly.

“Vince stop! You’re going to kill him!”, Max said loudly, trying to pry Vince’s arm away.

“Fine! Fine! You’re right!”, Sebastian gasped, as a pair of horns protruded from his head and vicious teeth formed in his mouth. Toby and Max backed off and Erik stood in bewilderment. Vince finally let go and glared at Sebastian before retreating.

“Yeah, I’m like you guys”, he said, feeling his throat and breathing heavily as his horns and teeth retracted.

“No! You are not like us! You’re not one of us!”, Vincent yelled, wincing as he still felt the effects the fight had on his arm and shoulder. There was a brief silence outside as the four boys looked amongst each other for some kind of explanation of what was conspiring. All of these events consecutively were far beyond coincidence at this point, but why now? And did this have some kind of ulterior meaning? These were the questions spinning around in Erik’s head as he looked at Sebastian, who stared right back as if asking for someone to take his side and be the peacemaker.

“Okay, just… how did you find out you were… whatever you are. And why reveal it to us?”, Erik asked. All three of them were looking at Sebastian now who looked extremely worried. He gave a deep sigh before looking Erik in the eye and said, “I’ve known since I was a little kid, and you’re right, it’s no coincidence that I bumped into you guys in the library. I’ve been looking for you all for a long time.”