“What's up?” she asked walking right up to him. He could already sense she was antsy. It was as if she knew he was going to say something horrible.
“I have to go,” he couldn't even get further before he saw her eye brows fold inward. He could tell she was getting flustered, quick. “I'll be back real soon. Peter got into a fight and he needs me to bring him to the hospital.”
She stood there beyond angry, unsure what to say. Then she spoke, soft but upset. “Is he okay?”
“I don't know. He just texted me saying he needed me. I swear I'll be right back. No more than an hour.”
“An hour!?” Her voice rose.
“I'm going to run to his house and check if he's okay. If not I'll take him to the hospital. I'll take my dad's car. It should be no more than an hour. I'll try to get back quicker.”
“But dinner...” her voice trailed off.
“Baby, I'm sorry, I swear I'll hurry. I want to spend the rest of Christmas with you.”
“Okay.” She wasn't sure what else to say. Her feelings blended together from angry to upset.
Opportunity to spend time with his love one was flickering away. Especially since he just told her he wanted to spend more time with her. “I'm really sorry,” he muttered but she just kept her eyes on the floor. “Please, don't be angry.”
“Just hurry back.” She turned and went back towards the kitchen.
“Goddamn it! This thing is so freaking dead!” He gritted his teeth and ran towards the door. He scooped up his jacket and hat as he began walking down the steps. He started to text Marshall and Fred as well to tell them to meet him, not knowing they had a hunt themselves.
They arrived near the docks. Marshall peered down the empty docks, looking for some type of creature. They already jumped the realm and were hoping the creature would show itself quickly. It was freezing out and both wanted to be home next to a warm heater. Fred walked closer to the water, feeling the icy chill of the wind hit his face. “This was a very stupid idea.”
“Isn't it always a stupid idea?” Marshall answered. His teeth clicked together fast, he could feel his body getting colder. He began to rub his arms trying to warm himself up. It was always cold around this time in New York, but much colder near the water.
“Where the heck is this thing?” Fred walked to the edge of the huge dock. He peered over to look for the Unknown. Nothing was on the surface of the water. The waves splashed against it, a bit of water hitting his face. “Nothing here. Come on, this is dumb.”
A tentacle came flying out of the water and wrapped around Fred. It easily picked him up, making him scream. Marshall’s eyes grew wide as he watched his friend suspended in air. “Fred!” He roared but the beast had already flung his friend. Fred slammed twenty feet away, right into the concrete and rolled over, a terrible crunching sound ringing in the silent night. “No!” Marshall ran towards him.
The tentacle went to the opposite side of the dock and swung. It went swiping right towards Marshall. Marshall at the last second jumped, but the tentacle was fat. It made him drop mid jump. He slammed on his back with a hard “thud” and laid there for a moment gasping for air.
Fred was already pushing himself up. He had his Rod in one hand. His face was badly scratched up from smearing against the ground. “You have no clue how much I hate water,” Fred said through his teeth. He spit once fully up and held the Rod tight.
Marshall got up slowly. “Tentacle beast? This is like a bad episode of Japanese anime.” He grabbed his Rod and looked towards the water. The Unknown had already retreated himself entirely into the water. “Any idea what we should use to fight this?”
“I got one,” Fred said grinning. He concentrated and moments later the elemental blaster formed up his arm. “I feel like blasting this thing to pieces. What's your thoughts on that?”
“My thoughts...” Marshall concentrated on a new weapon. The metallic arm he was so used to using quickly changed from a hand to a claw. Sharp and deadly, the finger tips reached upward to a foot long. Easily able to chop off anything in front of him. “are to either blast him or slice and dice. Let's do this.” Both boys began their jog towards the edge of the dock again.
Peter put his hand on the alleyway's wall; his stamina was almost completely drained. “Why didn't I take a break? I should of known we'd get a call eventually.” He trained so much since he figured the missions wouldn't come during Christmas. Now, he was exhausted and could barely keep himself up. How was he to fight an Unknown in this shape?
He pulled himself away from the wall and walked onward. He'd been so determined to fight as of late he couldn't give up now. “It could be a Rockus. If so, that's easy enough. I'll set an explosive fire ball near it. Pops ups and falls on its back. Nick finishes it. Simple. Easy.” His breathing became heavier. He grabbed his chest and stood still. “It's the gloves,” he gritted the words through his teeth. He formed them back to a Rod and felt a heavy force lift off of him. He looked towards his Rod.
The Rod was very much the perfect weapon. You can create anything you wanted to but it had such a double edge to it. You hold whatever you created too long and it'll eat at you. It feels as if the Rod tries to rip you up from within. It needs an energy supply and if you aren't willing to give it, it has no problem taking it by force. Peter loved to have the power in his hand, yet sometimes he felt a strange feeling towards it. Fear he believed, but he tried to hide those feelings behind him and focus on his missions ahead.
He marched ahead, feeling far lighter. He hoped to make it to the destination in the next ten minutes. He couldn't help but wondered if he'd be any help to Nick in his current condition.
Nick almost slid on the ice patches. He made his way towards the destination as fast as possible. “You keep messing up. She's going to hate you forever. Pops is going to ground you forever. What the hell are you doing? Just let Peter deal with it.” Nick left his father's car at Kelly's home. Not taking the chance that the Unknown might damage it and he'd get blamed for it. Nick also couldn't let Peter deal with it alone. Nick already felt like the leader of the group. When they fought all together he would almost always lead the attacks. He felt like each one of his friends in the units counted on him to fight. With no text messages back from Fred and Marshall, he felt he had to step up.
He ran past a huge group of people singing Christmas jingles to a home. Nick almost forgot it was Christmas. He was running towards an Unknown to stop him from breaking into his world while people are singing joyful songs. He sometimes wondered how people would react if they knew monsters existed. Fairy tales sound better to the masses, though, he thought.
Every house he passed was beautifully lit up. Lights decorated all the houses from the roof to the front door. Even the mail boxes were done up really pretty. The lawns usually had tons of iconic Christmas decorations. On top of that, some even had an electronic Santa singing to people as they passed by. Even though he was invisible, it still went off. He found that funny as he wondered what people would think if they saw it.
He arrived at the place but saw no Unknowns. “Why are you guys always hiding!?” He screamed. The night air echoed his yells. The beast was still in hiding, though, no movements made. He walked near the houses looking for some type of clue. Besides seeing a few Christmas decorations outside and brightly lit houses he saw nothing. He was quickly getting inpatient. Time was wasting. He wanted nothing more but to get back to his girlfriend.
“Hey, sorry I'm late,” Peter said arriving from the other direction. He placed both hands on his knees and bent over, breathing heavily. “I was training today. I'm afraid I won't be very useful.”
“Why are you training so much?” Nick said, meeting him the rest of the way. “You'll push yourself too far.”
“There's no such thing as too far. We can only become stronger based on training. I just have a focused mind. I can't help it.” Movement from behind Nick made Peter survey the lawns.
“No, pushing yourself too far will set
you back. What if you get injured?”
“Duck!”
“What?”
Peter grabbed Nick and dove for the car. Both hit the concrete hard behind the vehicle “What the hell are you doing?” Nick groaned. Then four large spikes struck the car, one flying right past their feet. “Whoa!” Nick tucked his legs in and looked under the car. He couldn't see the Unknown but it was near. He saw a snowman. There was a reindeer. He saw a scarecrow. Then a Christmas tree. “I don't see anything. What the hell Unknown is it?”
“I don't know if you noticed, but it's December.” Nick looked up at Peter. “Why would a scarecrow still be outside?” Another group of spikes hit the car, one flying through the window, shattering the glass.
Fred pointed the elemental blaster over the dock. “Get out from under there you ugly piece of...” A tentacle flew out of the water, heading right for Fred. He jumped back, aiming his elemental blaster where he stood. The tentacle came up and he fired. The force of the blue electric wave was so big it almost knocked Marshall off the dock. It created a gust of wind as it flew past Marshall and into the tentacle. It blew into chunks everywhere. Green and purple liquid sprayed all over the dock. The beast could be heard underwater, loud and in agony.
“You made it mad,” Marshall said, laughing. He readied himself. He was ready to strike the next tentacle to emerge from the darken waters. Slice it into pieces as it tried another attack on the boys. Yet, nothing came. He waited another few moments but still nothing. No sound from the water either. “Maybe it was just a tentacle beast.”
Fred rose from the ground. He could feel a good chunk of his energy was eaten away but he was still in the fight. He wasn't about to fall out just because he used his trump card. He figured he had another shot or two before he was counted out. He smiled before speaking up. “I wish it was that easy. He'll be up. Probably really pissed off too. Who can blame him? I just did some serious damage.”
Five tentacles flew up from the water and smashed onto the front of the docks. The boys jumped back not expecting so many. The Unknown planted its tentacles into the ground and flew from the water, screeching, as it threw its body onto the concrete. It was a jelly-like monster. Huge fat blobs surrounded its main body, while the tentacles were made of some strong shells mixed with its soft body material. Its green eyes looked menacing but the gigantic body would make it a slow moving Unknown. Especially on the ground. The boys had the advantage now.
Marshall darted to the left while Fred went right. Fred was letting the elemental blaster build up. He could feel the heat growing within.. It was as if the weapon was a part of him. Now he waited for the right moment to strike. The Unknown gave another nasty screech. Fred kept to the side, just out of its field of vision.
Marshall went around the creature then went forward. He lifted his claw hand and swiped down once close to the back right tentacle. With one solid slash the tentacle was severed. It was like cutting butter with the claws. They were as sharp as his imagination can make them. They ate away at his energy the longer he kept them on; however, he could feel the power coursing through them. He let the purple blood paint his face as he relentlessly attacked. He slashed the next tentacle with the same ease, his body was now covered in the Unknown's blood.
Fed aimed his elemental blaster at the creatures head. He was aiming for the soft center, taking steady aim. He let out a soft breath; he could feel something like tension building up inside him. His head began giving a weird ticking sound that he couldn't simply ignore. It was getting louder the longer the fight went on. As if it was a countdown timer.
Marshall slashed a chunk of soft jelly out of the creature’s side. Blood was spraying out more. “This is the most disgusting thing ever.” He thought as he tried to wipe some of the blood off. The Unknown slid his tentacle around him and tightly lifted him in the air. It began squeezing tighter, trying to crush its new prey.
Fred tried to find a spot to strike but was afraid he might hurt Marshall. “Are you kidding me? How did you get caught?!” He looked to the back end of the creature. If nothing else he could hurt it enough to make it drop Marshall. He shot the blast near its backside, the creature roared with anger as it almost stumbled forward. However, it refused to let go of Marshall.
Marshall was screaming from the terrible pain. It felt as if he was suffocating. He couldn't feel his arms anymore. He was using all his strength to fight back; making sure the creature didn't snap him in two. He yelled for Fred to help but Fred wasn't sure what he could do.
The jelly-looking creature shot his other free tentacle right into Fred's stomach. Fred flew back and hit his head hard on a pole near the sidewalk. He went unconscious almost immediately. The beast screamed again, this time for victory.
Nick grabbed his Rod. He was trying to figure out what could do to damage a scarecrow. He'd never faced an Unknown like it. It was mostly made of straw, so fire would be his weapon. He hadn't used the elemental weapons enough to really fight well with. He was a more hands-on person. “I need your help.”
“What can I do?” Peter asked panting.
“Form those elemental gloves.”
“But-”
“I need just two shots. You got that in you?”
Peter looked at the determined Nick. He could feel a sense of conviction in the boy. “Yeah, I think I can manage that.”
“All right. Stay here. I'll let you know when I need you.” Nick said. He walked from out of the car and faced the Scarecrow.
The face looked so happy it came off as scary. Its eyes and mouth were plastered in an overly cheerful way that made him want to run away. Its body was made of straw, sharp, and mixed with spikes that looked extremely sharp. The right side of it was made of bone. The purple hooks on its hands made it even deadlier up close. It was dressed in reddish-colored clothes that made it stand out in the wintery background. “Man, I hate anything related to Halloween,” Nick said forming his Rod into a big wooden bat.
The creature laughed. It was hollow and heavy, as if to provoke him to fight. He laughed back. “I like an Unknown with a sense of humor. You guys are far too serious all the time.” Nick pointed the bat at him. “Batters up.” Nick strutted towards the creature. It laughed again and then turned around. Spikes lined up, pointing towards him. He flinched as the Scarecrow threw its hands up. A bunch of the straw spikes flew out. He jumped to the side but wasn't fast enough and he was struck with three of the straw spines. They were only a few inches long but they were sharp enough to break through skin. He cursed under his breath as he ripped them out of his arm. One of the longer, deadlier, spikes laid only inches away from him; impaled deep into the car door he leaned against.
“I thought you were supposed to be a funny one.” He got up and gritted his teeth. “You're just as nasty as the others. My turn.” As the Scarecrow turned around Nick came full swing. The bat connected right where the Unknown's face was. The Scarecrow's whole upper half bent backwards, as if it was about to snap in half. Then it came right back up and unleashed one of its hooks at him. He threw his bat up and the hook grabbed on to it. It yanked it out of his hand and flung it behind itself. With its free hand it tried to swipe at Nick. He rolled to the left, out of reach. He then darted behind the creature trying to recover his weapon.
The Scarecrow laughed and shot out more spikes and pines from behind. Four of the spikes impaled the ground right near his feet, one grazing the side of his leg. He rolled again, forward, snatching his bat in the process. He ran up the stairs and hid behind the porches wall.
The Scarecrow laughed more. An evil, sinister, and loud laugh as if it were toying with its prey. It was amused to watch Nick run around in circles. As if this was all just a big game and the prize was to finally kill the victim.
“Are you okay?” Peter shouted from behind the car.
“Just fine and dandy!” Nick said sarcastically. He touched the wound on his leg. He had been in far worse situations. He wasn't about to give up so easily. “So the bat didn't
do a thing. My plan is still in effect, though.”
“Yeah, about that plan. You never told me what it is.” Peter checked his hands. They were shaking. He could feel the energy slowly leave his body. “I can't keep up these elemental gloves much longer. I need to act.”
“Soon. Just listen for my call.” Nick tightened his grip on the bat.
The room was flickering. The once brightly lit room was now barely keeping any light on in it. Fred had to wonder what was happening. He'd never seen the room like this. “Hey, other self, you here?” He asked the room. There was no response.
He got up and walked to the walls. He could feel the hollowness. As if he could punch it with only a part of his strength and it would shatter. He wondered if this is what he was supposed to do. Break the walls down and let himself out of this containment.
He heard screams from afar. He shot his head back to where he came from but nothing was there. Yet he could still hear a faint sound from that area. “Hey other self, is that you?” Again there was no response. Despite that the yells kept coming from that direction.
“This is freaking me out,” he muttered under his breath. He took a step to the side and for one split second could hear the yell. It was loud, as if it was right in his ear. All he could hear was a scream. So loud, so scared, dying. It was one he had heard before. It was Marshall.
“Marshall!? Where are you?” He looked in every direction but saw nothing. He touched the walls, trying to push them in. They felt like they would give in at any second. “Marshall where are you? Answer me man!” he screamed.
Exterminators Infected (The Exterminators Book 1) Page 21
