AN: It's me! I know, yay! This here is just the prologue for my second story, think of it as a teaser of some sorts. It is a horror, and it is violent so please be mindful of that. This story will also have gore. And as usual, Nicole and Gumball are the main characters but there will be no romance between the two. Yeah, I see how sad y'all are.
Basically, I watched The Void a few days ago and it got me thinking, if it's the place for things that the world wants to dump its mistakes, what if there was something in there, just waiting to get out?
I have no idea if this has been done yet, so I apologize if it has. I can't find any horrors that are like mine and I searched hard. Anyway, enjoy the prologue! As always, please leave any reviews or insults, any feedback is good feedback!
Malevolence
Prologue
She stirred soundlessly, raising her head to listen. Her hearing had been sharpened to a razor-edge over the eons and she slipped from her den to search the dark forest for the source of the distant shouting. She had heard them coming after her before she saw them, the pathetic insects always were too loud for their own good and this simple fact made them so much easier to hunt. In the distance, the darkness was peeling back, and she saw the torches the bugs carried. Their every cry was a bellowing shriek, and they would call into the night in a weakly hidden attempt to draw her from the shadows in which she resided. Slithering up a tree, she looked down upon the group that was baying for her blood and she felt a laugh begin to stir within her. They had come in numbers this time, it seemed that half the village had come for her. Though they outnumbered her by a great margin, she was not worried and she crooned in satisfaction. The men were shielding the women, she could see the females huddled together with their heads bowed in prayer.
The rest of the group was made up of men, and they had surrounded their child-bearers in a protective circle. Again, she laughed. These cats called themselves hunters, yet she could see how frightened the majority of them were. The farm implements they were toting were little more than twigs to her, though some did carry spears, but those crude instruments did little to sway her. From her vantage point, she could see them advance with stalwart resolve, they looked to be a brave group of multi-colored cats, but they could not hide their true feelings and she closed her eyes to focus on her other senses. Their fear washed over her in a flood, it was thick and titillating and she bristled in anticipation. She drunk in deeply, savoring their growing fear, cats always had the sweetest tasting fears. She was hungry and watching her prey deliver themselves right to her home was quite the wonderful surprise.
But the night was still young, she had plenty of time to toy with the sheep before feasting. She drew back and with the sound of some giant sheet unfurling, a pair of great membranous wings unfolded from the dark that enshrouded her. The night had quickly fallen still, nothing dared stir among the trees and this filled her with a certain kind of smugness. The forest and its inhabitants knew who she was and they were right in fearing her, even though she had no interest in feeding on them. The villlage she had stumbled upon one dreary night had been filled to the brim with these walking cats.
Though the fur was annoying at times, she could not pass up the chance to enjoy herself and she drooled at the prospect of another feast. After all, she was hungry, the bones that littered the floor of her den were picked clean. She needed more and here they were, how nice of them. She took flight, her wings blew a gale of wind that whistled through the trees and branches underneath her snapped as she pushed off with her powerful legs. The glow of fire was now fading, they had heard her take flight and instead of facing their inevitable death with courage, they had decided to flee like the cowards they were. It mattered little, she would feed tonight and there was nothing they could do to stop her. She dived into the tree-line and soared after the retreating group at a speed no mortal thing could match. Before she had made any considerable distance, she smelt warm flesh and she realized that the scent was close.
A bit ahead of her, a lone man was cowering behind a low bush, his fear had frozen him in place. She could hear his beating heart and the closer she got to the cowering insect, the louder it became. She reached the man in seconds and she dipped low with a clawed hand. She struck him at lethal speeds and his head came off at the neck with a loud snap that echoed through the silent forest. The still twitching body fell to the forest floor, sending up a small cloud of leaves that settled over the corpse like a blanket.
She left the body where it lay, she would come back for it at a later time. There was more meat waiting for her, all she had to do was follow their scent. From the direction she was traveling, she surmised that the cats were heading for the small clearing they called home. This complicated matters, she could fight them but not out in the open and she briefly entertained the thought of going back to the meat she had left behind. She shook her head with a dismissive growl, she was hungry and she would feast on them all. She had been growing tired of the insect's stupid games and she wanted to sleep until more of the inept animals arrived. They would not stop pursuing her until they were all dead and she flew faster, their scent was getting stronger now.
With a screech that could shatter glass, she broke from the dark tree line and soared high into the impenetrable darkness. The night's sky would provide her with optimal cover and she could watch them flitter about in a panic. She circled their small village where a fire was burning and she growled deeply. Fire, she hated fire and she cursed whoever had discovered it. The heat wasn't so bad, she particularly despised the light as it would burn her skin like no other. She dropped down to get a closer look, recoiling viciously when something bright shot past her with a whistle. Whatever it had been, it had torn a small hole in a wing and she could smell her burning flesh. Her blood boiled with rage, how dare they strike at her!
They should be revering her, but instead they curse and spit at the very mention of her existence. She abandoned her hunt in favor of a massacre and started her descent, folding in her wings to generate the maximum amount of speed. She knew who had fired that projectile at her, he had another burning arrow centered on her and she aimed directly for the cat. When she was close enough, her wings opened wide to slow her and she reached for the insect who dared attack her. She could see his eyes, they were wild with fear, but this cat stood his ground and when she was right on top of him, he loosed his arrow directly into her shoulder. At first, she did not register the burning pain in her shoulder, nor the sizzle of her flesh as it was cauterized.
She fell on the man, making sure to plant her foot onto his knee. The knee shattered beneath her foot, she felt the weak bone crumple away and she smirked inwardly when the man screamed. She drove an open palm into his face, her full weight was behind this strike and his head was crushed between her hand and the hard ground, his scream was silenced before it could finish. She rose to her full height, the body under her twitched twice before lying still. She turned to the other insects, the men were advancing yet the women were still huddled together. Her wings shrunk away, they weren't needed now and she pulled the arrow from her shoulder with a hateful growl. Pain, she had not felt that in some time.
The men were closer now and she stood still, the body of the bastard who shot her cooling between her feet. Another cat, this one's fur was colored a deep gray, moved to her as if to strike her with his pick-axe and she was upon him before anyone could react. She clenched her hand into a scoop and plunged it into his chest, his rib-cage gave way like it was made of sticks and she gripped his frantically beating heart firmly. The cat had no time to utter even a squeak as she wrenched the quivering muscle from his chest and burst it between her fingers. He was dead before he knew it and she threw the pulpy mess away, the warm liquid that ran down her hand reminded her of her hunger but she ignored it. She focused on her anger and she lunged again, this time impaling a young cat in his late teens through the gut.
She lifted him from the ground and drove another hand into the screaming lad. Before either of the men could do anything to help, she flexed her arms and tore the teen in two so easily, he may as well have been made of paper. The two twitching halves that had been the boy thudded to the ground on either side of her and she raised her black eyes to the trembling cat closest to her. The fear was too great for this man, who had snow white hair hanging down to his shoulders, and he fell to the ground clutching his chest.
She could hear the rapid spasms of his heart and she stomped viciously, crushing his head like an over-ripe watermelon. She noticed again that the women were still huddled together and she smiled, huddling only made it easier to fell them with a single strike. She stepped to a young cat who looked to be in his twenties, said cat was brandishing a pitchfork at her. He swung blindly and succeeded in grazing her across the arm, she snarled and responded in kind, aiming for the soft skin of his throat. Much to her surprise, he managed to duck under her splayed claws and jabbed at her mid-section, the prongs that sank into her became rimmed with blood. She smirked, their actions were only delaying the inevitable, every bite of pain she endured only fueled her rage.
Wrapping a hand around the pitchfork's wooden handle, she forced the makeshift weapon through her and placed a soft hand on the cat's shoulder. Whether he was too scared or surprised that she had done this was not revealed as she jerked his head to the side and sank her teeth into his throat. The other villagers, believing she was now at a disadvantage, rushed her as she tore a wet chunk from the man's neck. He fell onto his back, his hands going to his throat in a vain attempt to quell the river of crimson that flowed from the gaping hole in his throat. She swallowed, grimacing as the fur tickled at her throat and her hunger dissipated enough for her boiling rage to completely take her over.
Though she had a pitchfork embedded in her, she moved like a snake and had her hand around another man's neck before anyone could so much as blink. She clenched with all her might and she felt satisfaction as the bone turned to powder in her grip, the struggling cat's movements ceased instantly. The women were speaking now, chanting in fact. What the words were, she did not know but they filled her with some strange new sense. It was cold and she felt a shiver run down her back, was this fear?
She flung the limp body in her hand at the women but her shot went wide and missed. Their chanting continued unabated and she noticed that their voices were growing in volume. There was still men between her and the small group of females and she strained to listen to the words they were speaking. A kitten no older than twelve stepped from behind the chanting women, he was staring at her with wide, fearful eyes. She saw this as her chance and she sent a sliver of shadow to the boy. It burrowed into his mind and she willed him to run to her, so she could embrace him. Without hesitation, the boy broke into a lumbering run, heading straight for her. He was well aware of what was happening but he couldn't stop himself, she had him now and she would use his death to break the concentration of one of the women. One of the men saw this, moved to block the child's path and shouted an urgent warning to the women.
They responded with a loud chant that sent a shockwave through her very core. In that very instant, she realized what they were trying to do and she cursed them angrily. How dare these insects use this kind of power against her, it was nothing short of blasphemy. Her will was momentarily broken by another shockwave, this one was stronger than the one before and the shadow she had sent to the boy shattered. The boy looked around fearfully and at the behest of one of the men, ran for one of the huts that dotted the village. She roared in anger and fear, she was not going anywhere, she will not be banished. These people were nothing but insects and she would crush every single one of them under her feet. Like lightening, she darted forward and struck the man that had warned the women in the side with an open hand, caving in his rib-cage.
The air exploded from him in a loud grunt and he went down as she moved for her next target, a well-built older cat with a spear. He went for her face but she dodged to the side and hit him in the shoulder. The socket shattered in her grip and she hooked a claw into his cheek. Though her victim was able to scream, it wasn't for long as she tore his lower jaw from his face and threw the useless piece of bone over her shoulder. She moved forward again but another shockwave hit her, making her stumble in pain. The women were chanting faster, they knew how close she was and they were scared, she could smell it. She pounced over the dwindling group of protectors and managed to dig her claws into the back of one of the women. The woman was hoisted screaming into the air, where she lost the top half of her head to a set of razor sharp teeth. One of the women gave in to her fear and turned to run but was felled by a strike that broke her spine in two. There was three left and she reached for the youngest of the three with a bloody hand.
But before she could lay her hand upon the shivering girl, a spear burst through her chest and she dropped to one knee. A set of heavy hands pushed her onto her stomach and the spear was forced deeper until it pierced the ground, pinning her to the spot. The women backed away from her flailing claws, their chants were reaching their climax and she screamed in rage and denial. These weaklings were naught but sheep, how and where could they have learned this kind of power?
She planted her hands into the ground and pushed, the spear pinning her gave a little but another spear pierced her. The darkness beside her was parting, it shimmered like silver and she tried again to escape. She was forced to the ground as the women's words filled her ears, she coughed and the dirt beneath her puffed up in small clouds. This was not right, these sheep were her prey, this was not happening. She roared in agony, flailing her powerful limbs at anyone she could, but she was unsuccessful. The women raised their eyes to hers and they spoke one word. The sudden pain that engulfed her was indescribable, it was as if every bone in her body was being systematically broken and she could feel the power their chanted words held. She needed to escape, to get away and curl up in the cool dark. One of the women stepped forward and removed her hood.
She was the eldest of the three and this cat with striking blue fur glared down at her. There was no fear in her eyes, only hate and the female cat spoke again, another single word that reverberated throughout her head. A thunderclap exploded above, fire coursed through every vein in her body and suddenly, she was gone from that small village. Though her eyes were open, she could see nothing, except for the never-ending dark that assailed her vision. Her rage knew no bounds and she lashed out at her surroundings, she was trapped in this vortex of nothing, perhaps forever. She screeched, her fury escaping her in long, drawn out screams. After she had screamed herself hoarse, she sent out dozens of tendrils in the vain hope that they had made a mistake in the chant. The women had been in a rush, the words they had spoken were complicated and they could have mispronounced one of the more important verses.
She gave up after what felt like hours, there was nothing, not even a crack. She knew there was nothing to do now but sleep. With a growl, she closed her eyes. As she felt her mind leave her body, she understood that she would most likely sleep in the dark forever. But maybe, in the many years to come, the words that bound her to this empty place might lose their strength. And when they did, she would break free from her prison, she would find the people responsible for her unjust imprisonment and she would feast.
AN: It's short, I know. But it's a prologue, not a complete chapter. I don't want to give too much away straight up. Hopefully you did enjoy this and the first chapter will be up some time in the future. As for the Joy Virus, that went nowhere, unfortunately. I was halfway through the second chapter after finishing the first and it just...stopped. I still have it though and hopefully, I can continue it at a later date, but for now, I have this one. Have a good one, guys!