(((A/N: My OC is inspired by Human Target's Guerrero. This story is based off of this crazy but awesome dream I had. Hope you guys enjoy. Review!)))
1
According to the popular belief system today; Heaven is a place that resides above us, its magic and happiness reserved for only the most pure of hearts. We go there in our afterlife if God, whoever He may be, has judged us worthy of its splendor.
Hell, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. It resides below us and is the darkest most painful nightmares you can imagine, those seats are for just about anyone else; even those who are genuinely good but did not have the decency to accept their savior. If God made up those rules he was seriously disturbed.
What if that wasn't true at all? What if Heaven and Hell existed simultaneously on the same plane of existence? Better yet, what if you could see the line the two places had drawn in the sand?
Heaven or Hell. The afterlife wasn't something Maori thought of regularly. She had enough to worry about on Earth. What with creating turmoil in the local political building, torturing the occasional informant and generally trying to stay alive while doing her various jobs; she didn't think much about after her death, just the death itself. She wasn't a very religious person on principle. She didn't believe in metaphysical forces controlling the outcome of her life or the ending of it.
She didn't think about what came next even after the bullet had entered her abdomen. That damned tiny bullet that didn't have the energy to exit her body in a straight line. The same bullet fired from a scared, quaking fist; the one that tore inside her and bounced around, as if inside a pinball machine, causing irreparable damage.
She didn't think at all as she stared up into the overcast sky, struggling to breathe through the river of blood that clogged her throat and flooded her lungs. Soon she would stop struggling, as all living things eventually did. In time, she accepted this for what it was and let the darkness wash over her, forgetting the cold, unforgiving pavement beneath her, or the excruciating pain in her torso, or the thick, metallic taste of her own blood.
Faded blue eyes flashed open, staring up into the dark, storming sky. Her lips parted with a gasp of pain as both hands moved to clutch her bullet wound. It was no longer bleeding but the gaping wound was pulsating painfully with every breath. She wondered how long she'd been out for. Long enough for the overcast day to turn dark. Lightening struck so close to her that she cried out, rolling away from it. The pain the movement caused should've been enough to make her pass out again but she didn't.
She lay on the ground, her forehead digging painfully into the gravel as she gasped for air. She began to remember what happened but it was coming back slowly, as if from a half remembered dream.
She was in New York, asking questions about a local firm that was financially supporting a medical research facility. The methods of research were being questioned by her newest boss and she needed to find out what was going on. She followed the head lawyer from the firm, waiting for him to be alone before she approached. When she did he reacted in a way she didn't expect. Something that had never happened to her before; something that never will again.
As she approached, she called out to him with a friendly wave. He turned to her and before she could take another step he drew a tiny gun. A .22 with very little stopping power. He must've recognized her immediately because he pulled the trigger and here she was, lying on the ground outside of an office building waiting to die.
She lifted her head, tiny rocks sticking to the indents in her forehead before eventually loosening and falling around the hands that were struggling to lift her torn body. She opened her mouth to voice a call for help that immediately died in her throat.
The tall office buildings were gone, replaced by stunted and deformed trees. The bare branches clawing at all angles as if trying to find some sort of purchase to drag themselves up out of their hell. Maori's head canted to the side slightly and she watched the bark move slowly; silently screaming faces trying to push themselves through. She momentarily forgot her pain as her eyes turned upward, taking another look at the sky. It was full of flashing clouds; some looked as if they were aflame. She looked down at her hands, seeing the gravel for the first time. The rocks were black and perfectly round. She moved to pick one up for a closer look but it opened to her, revealing unending rows of decaying, yellow teeth.
She screamed then, bolting up from the ground in one quick movement. The pain in her stomach screamed with her, causing her knees to buckle. She slumped to the ground again, trying to breathe through the pain and fear. "Where am I?" She croaked miserably, struggling to keep her cool, although somewhere in the depths of her mind she knew her sanity would break eventually. She could already feel it bowing like thick branches in a high wind storm.
"Hell." A rough voice sounded behind her and she spun on her knees, trying to ignore the gnawing she felt through her jeans. She knew the rocks were trying to get a taste of her and her mind bowed a little bit further. As this new, terrifying, red world spun, she saw more than she wished. Her hand groped blindly for the 9mm she always kept tucked in her waistband. It was gone. 'Nothing to fight with.' She thought as her body finished its 180 spin to whomever was speaking behind her.
The small but powerful looking man staring down at her caught her by surprise. He reached a delicate but strong hand out to her, letting it hover in the air, offering its service. She stared at it from her kneeling position and struggled to her feet stubbornly. She didn't need his help. Queasiness overwhelmed her and she nearly toppled again, her stomach doing its own 360 flips. Her new companion knew enough to not try and steady her. She managed to keep her balance as well as her lunch.
Maori's eyes flickered up into this strangers', their eyes an almost identical shade of blue. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours. The man standing casually, his hands resting in the pockets of a worn jacket; the woman, hunched but upright, with both hands clutching at her wound to stop the blood that had already stopped flowing. Her breathing was heavy from exertion and fear, though if you questioned her about the latter she would be more likely to slit your throat than admit to it.
"What is this, dude?" She said finally, her voice level but demanding. She resisted the urge to glance around; she had no wish to see what new horrors might be lurking in the depths. 'A dream.' She prayed silently. 'This is a dream.'
"Hell." Came the gruff but patient response. To Maori it felt as if he might be speaking to a small child. Her jaws worked impatiently, bulging and relaxing under the smooth skin of her pronounced jaw. Hell could mean anything. Hell was on Earth for Christ's sake! "The afterlife." He added, as if reading her mind.
She thought about scoffing, laughing it off, calling him crazy but the evidence was all around her. She could smell the sulfur in the air, see the damnation around her, and feel the pain of the wound that sent her here as well as the maddening, lazy gnawing she felt on her boots as the monster rocks below tried to taste her. Her instincts told her that what he said was true, and her gut rarely failed her, but her mind struggled to believe in the unreality of it all. She decided to remain neutral to it, go along with it and see what happened. "Who are you?" She asked quietly.
"Rorschach." As if on cue, lightening struck the ground beside them again. Maori turned too quickly and almost lost balance again. She glanced at the smoking hole beside them for a moment before staring at her companion once more. Rorschach. The Terror of the Underworld. There were rumors of his death but none of them were founded or came from reliable sources. She'd never met him personally. He tended to frequent the low life hang outs, taking on smaller thugs, not really accomplishing much if you asked her. She was a more sophisticated class of criminal.
"I thought you were a hero, bro. What are you doin' here?" She asked, her voice amused though the undertones of pain were still obvious. She guessed that if she were in Hell, she wouldn't be healed of her Earthly bounds. Made sense. She swallowed, suddenly aware of her intense thirst. Her eyes flickered about the desolate area, knowing searching for water was stupid but searching anyway. Her eyes found nothing but bare, deformed trees that weren't trees at all but prisons for the damned souls that were left here and what seemed like miles and miles of gravel. She had a feeling that this was the drop off point and the farther you got from here, the sharper the monster rocks' teeth got.
"Most start off here. Have to earn your ticket." He watched her for a moment, seeming to debate with himself. "Came for you. Maori. Means warrior. We need warriors. Even if they are scum." She was taken aback by the sincere disgust in his voice. Before he could compose his face she saw the hatred blazing in those calm blue eyes. She was instantly on her guard again. She supposed dying didn't really change who you were and Rorschach had devoted his life to stopping criminals. It was an obsession she could respect if not scoff at.
Maori's eyes followed the length of the short man's body, searching for some sort of wound that would have killed him but she found nothing, nor did he seem to be in any sort of discomfort. "Made it to other side." He said aloud, reading her mind again. It was spooky the way he was able to do that. She preferred to keep her own council, if she was this easy to read it was unknown to her. She shouldn't have survived as long as she had.
"What other side?" She asked, her throat scratching painfully. Without answering, he turned away and began walking slowly; hands thrust into his pockets, eyes aimed at the gravel crunching below him. She glanced around herself for a moment, unsure.
It was the thunder that got her moving; only it didn't sound like thunder. It reminded her of a dream she'd had where she was walking through an abandoned lot. She was searching for something, only she didn't know what. She would know what it was if she could just find it. When she found what she was looking for it was guarded by a large dog. Its yellow eyes blazed at her, daring her to come just a little closer -Oh my, what big teeth you have Grandma- and grab her item. She stepped a little closer and the dog began to growl and the growling became laughter as its head began to bubble and writhe underneath its furry skin. She woke up before its complete metamorphosis.
The thunder here reminded her of that hideous laughter and she followed after Rorschach. Not because she trusted him or even wanted his company, but because, for the first time in her life, she had no idea what she was doing.
2
Although the terrain was flat in all directions, Maori was panting for breath after only a few hundred yards. Her knees felt like rubber; she was running on will power alone. She refused to fall, not only because she was proud, but because the gravel had begun to stick to her thick boots. Her impression of them was correct, the farther she got from ground zero, the sharper their teeth got.
In her mind's eye she could see herself squirming and screaming in pain as the tiny monsters bore through her skin, becoming frenzied like sharks at the first sign of blood. She shuddered, almost able to feel them under her skin already. She also saw Rorschach, his bright blue eyes staring down at her agonized form without expression. Would he just watch it happen or would he try to save her? Scum or not, he'd come for a reason and she doubted he would let her perish... or whatever it was that happened.
"Up ahead, do you see?" His sudden gruff voice startled her out of her thoughts and she almost slammed into him when he stopped walking. She took full advantage of the break, bending slightly at the waist to put added pressure on her wound and struggling to catch her breath.
Rorschach turned to look at her, his hard eyes willing her to look where he was pointing. Maori straightened, raised a hand to her forehead to act as a visor and squinted her eyes. The lightening was worse than ever, flashing the blood red clouds like strobe lights. She felt as if the place knew, somehow knew, that she was trying to get away. Trying to ignore the fact that this dead, desolate place was somehow alive; she focused on where his finger was pointed.
At first she saw nothing, her cheeks reddening with impatience. "What am I lookin' at, dude?" She spat moodily. She was in pain and in no mood to play guessing games.
"The horizon." He said, his voice almost serene. She looked harder, her attention span waning by the second. She shifted from one foot to the other, her breath finally beginning to catch up, though it was still shallow and ragged.
"I don't-" She cut her self off because she did. She did see something, a blue so dim it was a wonder she saw it at all. The red, storming clouds ended in the distance and gave way to a perfectly clear blue sky, she could almost see sunshine threatening the edge of darkness. Her heart leapt to her throat at the sight of it, the beauty of it but then it sank again. It was far in the distance and the land was so flat it could've been one mile or fifty. "Is that-?" She began, unable to finish the question. She knew immediately it was the 'other side' he mentioned. He glanced her way, the hint of a smile on his freckled features and nodded.
She swallowed hard, trying to work up as much moisture in her mouth as possible before doing so but it was useless, everything here was dry, dead and miserable. She felt miserable, as if the very air around her was drugged with it, forcing her to breathe in its noxious fumes. "How long until we get there?" She tried to keep the hope out of her voice but it was impossible.
He shook his head slightly. "Dunno. Time is different here." With that he began walking again. His pace was slow and he paused every hundred yards or so to bend and brush off the clinging monster rocks, though Maori knew it was for her benefit. She couldn't walk far before she needed to stop and gasp for breath.
A low groaning sounded to their far left. They both turned immediately, Rorschach's hands clenched into balls on either side and Maori's hands, quick as lightening flying to her waistband for a gun that was no longer there. She cursed under her breath, her eyes darting around the red landscape to find what was causing that noise.
Maori had to consciously press her lips together to shut out the scream that threatened to burst forth when she spotted the creature that was making the noise. Its slimy, formless body rose from beneath the gravel like a worm. It had no arms or legs and moved across the graveled surface much like a seal, throwing its upper body forward and dragging the remaining half along behind it. It moved fairly slow, stopping every few meters to raise its head -if that's what you could call it though; it had no face- as if scenting the air.
Rorschach remained very still, barely breathing; Maori did the same though her eyes never left the grotesque creature. She watched it as if she were hypnotized, her jaw slack, mouth agape. Every time it lifted its head, its mouth would open wide and a low groaning sound would escape from it. Maori searched the recesses of her mind to find the right word to place for the mouth and the only thing that would come was 'a black hole with teeth'. The jaw was lined with rows upon rows of jagged teeth and it would open wider with each scenting. "Let's get movin'." Rorschach whispered.
Maori looked sharply to her left, having forgotten that Rorschach was even there. His voice was hushed as if the thing could hear them, though she couldn't see any ears. "Dude." She breathed. "What is that thing?" She asked quietly, her eyes darting back to it helplessly.
"Demon. We call it Slug." He tugged once on the hem of her shirt to get her going. She glanced once more at the slow moving, gray-ish creature before turning to follow her companion. Her feet shuffled lazily, scuffing the tiny rocks below her. The groaning behind them ceased for a moment, as if it had felt the movement of rocks, and then she heard a scream so terrible she could barely react. It sounded as if the creature had swallowed men and women whole and kept them in its belly to create the chorus of screams, thousands of different voices erupting at one time from the same... thing.
She turned in time to see the Slugs upper body completely upright, it open mouth pointed in her direction as the screams poured out of it. It seemed to happen all in slow motion then, she watched in horror as its mouth opened wider than ever, its hideous lips folding back over its boneless skull so that the first three layers of jagged teeth were jutting out. It shot forward with surprising speed, its first struggling movements deceiving her. She'd barely had time to tense her legs to run or fight when her wrist was grabbed sharply and yanked backward. Her body followed her wrist as Rorschach spun her around and used the momentum to throw her to the right of the oncoming creature, leaving himself its wake.
Maori's body slid painfully along the gravel for what seemed like forever before coming to a stop. She barely looked up when she saw that Slug had veered away from Rorschach and was now squirming after her again. She struggled to a sitting position, unmindful the searing pain in her abdomen or the pinpricks of tiny bites as the gravel below her tried its best to devour the sweat covered flesh. She crab walked backwards, her arms and legs scrambling for purchase as the thing got nearer and nearer. She saw Rorschach darting after them but she knew he wouldn't get there in time.
A bolt of lightning flashed brightly, causing Slug to pause in its pursuit for just a moment. Maori tore off her outer shirt and began piling the tiny rocks into it as she continued scrambling backward, trying to give herself some space from the monster. Her arms gave out beneath her and her head slammed against the ground painfully. The thing was hovering over her now and she was staring into the maw's black abyss. Drops of saliva fell around her, sizzling against the ground it touched. She could faintly hear Rorschach's roar, telling her to roll away. With a final cry, she raised the bundle of rocks she'd accumulated and threw it down Slugs gullet.
The thing paused in its attack for a moment, straightened and cocked its head to the side as if it heard something. All at once the rows of teeth disappeared into its faceless form; she could hear the wheezing as it struggled to remove the blockage. Then her companion was behind her, his hands tucked under her arms and dragging her backward, away from the choking creature. She watched in horror as its gray, slimy skin turned a blue-ish tint and then turned black and began bubbling.
Rorschach had dragged her 50 feet before it finally exploded, spraying chunks of black goo high into the red sky. He leaned over her then as she lay on her back, ignoring the feeling of the rock monsters trying to eat her hair, and waited. She could hear the spray of gunk as it landed on and around them. Rorschach's form protected her from most of it. When the rain of monster meat stopped, they looked at each other awkwardly for a moment before he sprung to his feet, dragging her with him.
As soon as she was steady, he released her as if she was acidic. And to him she supposed she was. He had devoted his life to protecting innocents from people like her and here he was, forced to try and protect her. 'Not that he did a great job of it.' She thought bitterly, wiping traces of black tar from her bare arms. She bent and began brushing the gnawing rocks off of her. "What the hell was that, dude? I thought we were dead, how did I just kill that thing?"
He watched as she brushed herself off, not offering or trying to help her. "You didn't." He said calmly, plucking a rock from his hair absently and tossing it to the ground. "Went away for a while. It'll be back. They always come back." He said the last thoughtfully, raising a hand to scratch the side of his stubbled cheek. Maori could hear the sandpapery sound and took comfort in the normalcy of the gesture. Some things never changed, not even after death.
3
The journey was slow going. The pain in Maori's abdomen seemed to get worse the closer they got to their destination. She had to stop more frequently, though she was too proud to ask for a break. Instead whenever she needed to rest, she would ask a question; anything that popped into her head. Rorschach would stop to answer as if he couldn't walk and talk at the same time. She guessed he knew what she was playing at and did her the kindness of not mentioning it and playing along.
She learned a lot about this place through the questions she proposed whenever she was in a desperate state. For instance, she learned that everyone but the purest of good people started their journey into the afterlife from the very spot she'd started. They left Earth and came to Hell, keeping the injuries they'd died from so that by the time they made it to the Other Side –Rorschach hesitated to call it Heaven- they would be worthy of its entrance.
She'd gotten Rorschach to talk about his death only briefly, and his journey to the Other Side not at all. His injuries were so heinous; she wondered how he'd gotten across such a vast distance alone. Because he'd made it, he was instantly made a general in their army. Something that was, apparently, unheard of in such a short span of time, not that time meant anything down here. He got word of any worthy spirits entering the afterlife and often helped them along so that he could use them as warriors.
Heaven and Hell; the two sides were at war as they have been since the dawn of time. The two had drawn a line in the sand, kept the peace for millennia but something was different now. Rorschach believed it had something to do with how vicious the world had gotten in recent centuries or had something to do with the lack of faith that was being presented. Either way, the Other Side was disgustingly short on spirits to fight in their army and Hell was beginning to spread its darkness, attempting to take over the Other Side completely. So, Rorschach risked being captured here multiple times to help people he deemed worthy cross over and join the ranks.
The battles were fought at regular intervals by demons and sprits from either side. They needed a neutral battle ground. That's where Earth comes into play. The battles were often disguised from the living as gang wars, mass murders or serial killers. Each of them would go back to Earth as themselves, though their appearance to the living would be completely different, keeping them from being spotted. There only seemed to be a few rules: Never kill innocents. Never speak with people you knew. Always, always kill a demon once spotted. Since we saw each other as we truly were, this last didn't seem to be too hard to follow.
The thing Maori had trouble grasping was following orders. She'd always been her own boss, making her own decisions, following her own rules; but since she was getting a free ride into Heaven she couldn't just pass on fighting against this wretched place. In fact, she could feel a vague territorial urge to destroy it on the basis of threatening what was to become her new home. She couldn't see it or hear it but she knew it would be beautiful beyond her wildest imagination and she would already fight and die –again- to protect it.
4
"Maori." A hissing voice sounded softly. Maori stopped in her tracks, glancing all about her. The voice didn't come from any one direction. It came from everywhere, all around her; even inside her own head. Her breath caught in her throat as fear clutched hold of it. "Maori." The voice whispered again, this time followed by a short sinister giggle. She couldn't tell if the voice of was male or female, but she felt the need to answer it.
Rorschach had continued walking a few steps before realizing that his companion had stopped. He turned to watch her, hands stuffed in his pockets as he waited for her to catch her breath. "Maori?" He called to her uncertainly. Maori turned to look at him, her eyes filled with fear and desire. Rorschach took a step toward her, his hands loosening themselves from his pockets automatically as he did so. "Maori." He said, his voice a little harder. "Whaddya doin'?"
Maori's eyes struggled to focus on him. "I don't-" She began dreamily. "Don't you hear that?" She turned away from him slowly, taking an unsteady step toward the deranged forest that had grown thicker with their journey toward salvation. "Come with me. You are so tired. You can rest with us." The pain in her torso began to subside and strength began to creep back into her limbs. She felt the first prickles of happiness begin to form in the bottom of her stomach. She could vaguely hear Rorschach calling her name again and she opened her mouth to answer him. "No!" The voice hissed harshly. "You must not listen to him. Only us."
"Only you." Maori whispered, still in that dreamy voice, taking another step toward the deformed forest. Rorschach closed the distance between them and gripped her upper arm fiercely.
"Don't." He spoke through gritted teeth, shaking her to snap her out of her daze. "Don't listen. It's a Siren." He said louder, shaking her a little harder. Maori's eyes fluttered a little and began to refocus.
"I just wanna see." She said quietly, trying to wrench her arm out of his vice-like grip. When she couldn't rip her arm free she began to panic, kicking him hard in the shin to try and get him to release his grip. It didn't even loosen. Instead he spun her around, locking both arms across her chest, gripping each of her wrists tightly. "NO!" She screamed in a voice that was shrill, panicked. She began struggling harder, unsure of why he was stopping her from getting to the Other Side. She just wanted to feel the warmth of the sun again.
"Maori!" He shouted in her ear, struggling to gain her attention. He spun her around to face him, gripping her face tightly in his hands, heedless of the blows about his legs and stomach. "Look at me!" He shouted, shaking her head so that her eyes opened and locked with his. "Not real!" His voice still raised; as if he were speaking to a deaf person.
She could hear him shouting at her, could feel his hands clutching her face painfully. She craned her neck away from him, the blue horizon so close she could almost reach it if she stuck out her hand. 'It's not real.' His harsh voice echoed in her head and her teeth clenched hard on that reality but she couldn't deny what she was seeing; what she was feeling. She aimed a booted foot hard at his groin and he released her with an agonized grunt. When he released her it was as if all her strength had leaked out of her and her legs buckled underneath her, crawling instead toward the bright blue of her new home, ignoring the stabbing pains of the monster rocks beneath her. "Yes, yes." The voice hissed softly, making the words ending in S sound like it was coming from a snake. "Come with us."
A heavy weight knocked the wind out of her, bright white pain flashing across her line of vision as her wound was pressed into the gravel. A gloved hand gripped her hair and forced it to gaze at the place where the darkness ended. "Look!" The gruff voice commanded, his breathing heavy. "Really look." Her head shook painfully, straining her neck and hurting her abdomen. The pain caused the dazed, dreamy feeling to be erased, her eyes focusing completely for the first time in the last few minutes. The dazzling blue gave way to red flashing clouds. The tall elms shortening, twisting themselves into deformed creatures. Her body ceased its struggle against him as the world reformed itself. "Ya with me?" Rorschach asked uncertainly, leaning down over her to look into her eyes, his breathing heavy.
"Yeah." She said breathlessly, the weight of him lying on top of her far from comfortable. "Yeah, I got it, dude." Slowly, Rorschach released his grip on her and stood, ready to pounce on her the second he thought she would try to run for it. She lay there after he released her, the monster rocks taking tiny pieces of flesh whenever they bit down, though no blood came with the tiny nicks. Maori didn't know if she would be able to get up again, the false strength the vision had given her sapped the remaining reserve she'd managed to hold on to. Strong hands gripped her shoulders and hoisted her to her feet, keeping her steady. She gazed at him for a moment, opened her mouth to awkwardly thank him but doubled over in pain before she could get the chance. A shriek so loud and so piercing it felt as though it would make her head explode caused her to clap her hands over her ears. It was coming from all around her, inside of her; she couldn't escape it no matter how tightly she held her head.
Maori was becoming accustomed to Rorschach's strong grip and took no notice when he held her upper arm tightly and began moving her away from the forest. "Come on." He whispered quickly, causing her to look up at him.
"You can't hear that?" She yelled so she could be heard over the blood curdling shrieks. He shook his head briefly, dragging her along with him, his eyes darting all around them. His blue eyes fixed on something just above her head and he began dragging her along faster. She struggled to maintain her balance, hobbling along with him while trying to keep her ears protected, though it was no use. The sound echoed in her brain at a tremendous pitch, getting sharper with every moment. Just when she couldn't take any more it subsided, moving from inside her skull, finally gaining some kind of direction. Rorschach growled softly, pulling her along while darting a look behind her every few seconds.
Maori turned to see what he was looking at. "No." He growled, "Keep movin'." But his warning came too late. Her eyes caught the winged creature just as it took a dive toward them. She cried out in fear, forcing her feet to move faster.
The creature laughed wickedly, its clawed, purple hands just missing the frizzy tendrils of her brown hair. She watched it climb into the red sky, its large wings thin enough for her to see the veins running through them. The creature looked female because of its broad hips and exposed genitals. Besides the purplish color of its skin, the clawed hands and feet, and wings, the thing looked vaguely human. She supposed that maybe it once was. Maybe the creature had tried and failed to make it to the Other Side.
"Don't look at it." Rorschach said, pulling her arm so she would be facing forward again. Maori looked at him for a moment, allowing him to see that she was still aware. But she couldn't help but look behind her, needing to see where the Siren was. Having her back to the enemy wasn't something that was familiar to her and she hated it.
As if reading her mind, the thing soared over head, passing them and fluttering to the ground, 100 meters in front of them. Rorschach came to a halt, still gripping Maori's arm tightly. They stood for a moment, staring down the creature blocking their path. There was something intrinsically sad about this lonely creature. It seemed to only want respite from the loneliness of this place. Her gut gave a tug of sympathy and she immediately averted her eyes, beginning to feel the spell this thing cast upon its victims. Maori shuddered, unable to imagine the unwitting souls it had been captured and kept in this wretched place. "Now what?" She whispered, her eyes flitting to the man beside her.
He was quiet for a moment, staring toward but not directly at their pursuer. "Need to get past the end of its territory." He said just as quietly, nodding toward the place the creature was guarding.
Maori shifted from one foot to the other, impatient and fearful. They were like sitting ducks out there in the open just waiting for another monster to come out of the shadows. "And how do we do that, dude?"
"Dunno. An offering maybe." He said quietly, turning to her with a look that twisted her stomach.
She shook her head violently, taking a step away from him though still in his clutches. "Oh no. No way are you giving me to that… thing!" She spat at him, beginning to struggle in his grip once more. He watched her levelly, unconcerned with her struggle since he was able to hold her still fairly easily.
"No. Not you." He spoke serenely, releasing his grip on her and taking a step toward the Siren. Maori stumbled, almost fell but managed to remain upright. She watched him walk toward this creature and faltered. She could care less if he decided to give himself up so that she could go on if it was guaranteed that she would make it. The Other Side was still untold miles away. There was no way she would be able to protect herself against creatures more dangerous than this siren if she were alone.
She started after him, forcing herself to keep up with his pace. "Let's just think about this for a second, dude." She began, trotting painfully ahead of him and turning her back on the creature to face him. One hand was clutched to her wound, the other was held out in front of her to stop him. "You can't just give yourself up. I mean," She paused, not knowing how to continue without telling him directly that she needed him to survive. He watched her internal struggle for a moment before nodding.
"Just distracting. Don't worry." He said the last with a hint of amusement Maori didn't quite like. Before she could respond to it, he sidestepped past her.
She opened her mouth to protest again but stopped herself. Rorschach knew this place better than she ever cared to. He'd been here countless times and had never gotten stuck. She had to believe he knew what he was doing.
Helplessly she watched his slow approach. The creature began rolling her hips in excitement, her clawed hands running down her breasts and belly before reaching her sex. The forked tongue lolled out of her black mouth, wetting her lips with something that looked like blood. Rorschach paused for a moment, seeming to gather his resolve before closing the distance. Maori walked slowly behind him, keeping her distance until she was sure Siren was sufficiently distracted. She watched sickened, as purple hands gripped the sides of his face, running them through his red hair.
Rorschach remained stock still, keeping his eyes away from hers though allowing the creatures hands to roam his body. He grunted in pain as the Siren became more excited, using her claws to pull him closer to her. Maori closed the distance as quietly as she could while the thing was preoccupied. She paused a few feet away from the couple, gathering the remainder of her strength. Just as the Siren ripped jagged lines into the fabric of his coat with her claws, she made a mad dash for the invisible line of the territory. She passed quickly, the Siren's hand darting out to seize Maori with a hiss but just missing.
Rorschach acted quickly, punching the creature hard in the throat while she was distracted by Maori and twisting his body away from hers. The siren screamed in rage, reaching out to gather her would be partner back but only managing to shred the back of his coat as he passed over the line with Maori who had her hands clapped tightly over her ears. Rorschach put his hand to the small of her back to get her going again.
Maori hobbled along with Rorschach, glancing behind her once to see the winged creature flapping angrily in the air, staring after them with eyes that would kill if they could. When they were far enough away that the creatures angry shrieks could no longer be heard, Maori stopped, clutching at her stomach, meaning to collapse onto the ground.
Rorschach grabbed her before she could hit the ground and forced her upright again. She groaned in frustration. All she wanted was a few minutes rest. "Can't." His deep voice rumbled softly, reading her mind annoyingly. "Rocks sharper than ever." He pointed down to her boots, the hard soles beginning to get tiny chunks torn out of them. She shuddered, wondering how long before they ate through her boots and her feet were exposed. She looked up at him trying to hide the desperation in her eyes before nodding.
Maori was startled by the look on his face. She couldn't exactly read it but she knew it had a great deal to do with the sexual assault he'd just endured. When she'd first heard about the group of costumed vigilantes she'd found out all she could about them. It was easy enough given who she was. She could find anyone, anywhere; it was a talent she exploited to the nth degree.
The only member that intrigued her was Rorschach. Before he was arrested she could find out almost nothing about him besides his torture techniques. But afterward, she was more interested than ever. He was mentally and physically abused as a child before he was taken to a school for problem children. He was the only one of the group with no interest in money or fame. For a while she thought he did it simply because he enjoyed torture and dismemberment. Before long she realized just why he did the things he did. He never gave up on humanity, not once. It was disgusting really, the amount of faith he placed into his fellow man.
She shrugged away from his grip and turned back to face their destination, unable to meet his tortured gaze. She'd decided to keep her eyes to the ground to stave away the discouragement of watching the never changing sliver of blue. When she looked now her heart gave a tremendous leap. The sliver of blue had grown exponentially, exposing more of the land before them. She saw the sparkling body of water, surrounded by trees so green and full of life they could never have existed on Earth. She gasped aloud at the sight, unable to rip her eyes away. She could almost see birds fluttering lazily along the surface of the water but didn't allow herself to believe they were that close. Rorschach allowed her to drink in the sight for a moment before nudging her onward. The view seemed to renew her strength and she continued forward without complaint.
5
The couple walked silently for some time. Maori attempted watching the blue and red horizon while she walked but it was impossible. It seemed that if she didn't focus her full attention on her feet she would lose her balance and have to be embarrassingly straightened by Rorschach. Every time she stopped, she couldn't help but be fascinated by the rocks, biting out tiny chunks of the hard bottoms of her boots. It was lucky she hadn't worn sneakers the day she died or her feet would've been exposed by now.
Rorschach hurried her along. Not as patient with her much needed breaks as he was previously. Maori thought he was either anxious to get home or there was something really bad coming and he was hoping to avoid it entirely. "So what happens if you die in the war, dude? You just sent straight back here?" She asked breathlessly, almost completely doubled over from the strain of walking for so long. Her knees were threatening to buckle and she knew that if she fell now, the monster rocks would tear into her with vigor. Their teeth were getting whiter, more needle like. Their jaws were gaining strength and for some reason she knew that when they tore into her flesh they would burrow themselves under her skin.
"No." Rorschach answered her, not stopping this time. "Have to leave body before death or your soul is trapped on Earth."
Maori tried to snort laughter but it came out as a gurgled gasp. "Like, what? Ghosts?" She wasn't going to be able to stand for much longer. It didn't seem like she'd have to anyhow. The sparkling water she saw was no longer on the horizon. It couldn't be more than a mile ahead of them. Her companion ignored her question and picked up the pace but she couldn't dream to keep up. She was hobbling along as fast as she could tolerate. No matter how much her brain screamed at her legs to make them move faster, it was simply an impossibility. The distance between them grew. "Hold up there, hoss." Maori called ahead, breathlessly.
Rorschach stopped, turned and walked back to her, closing the distance that had grown between them. She stopped for a much needed break and he straightened her by gripping either shoulder. She could sense that the situation had gotten suddenly more serious than it had been. She swallowed, her dry throat clicking, and listened carefully. "Last test. Can't help you here. Have to get through on your own now."
Maori looked over his shoulder. The Other Side couldn't be more than a hundred yards away now. She could see the light meeting the dark in a perfectly straight line along the ground. She knew instinctively that she would have to make it over that line if she meant to be free of this place. When her eyes returned to his they were stony, determined. She would not give up without a fight and though she was at the end of her rope, there was no way she would fail. Hopefully.
Rorschach released her and walked away without a backward glance. Maori watched silently as he reached the line and crossed over easily. She felt longing as well as emptiness fill her stomach as she prepared herself for what was to come.
She stepped forward slowly, keeping her hands clutched tightly to her abdomen. Her eyes darting all around her, the anticipation worse than the fear that threatened to cloud her senses. Her instincts told her to run for it but she knew that would be her worst mistake. Instead she walked forward, slowly but confidently. She made it within 20 yards of the line when she heard a low growling sound. She'd wondered how close she's be allowed to get, though a big part of her wished it had just forgotten about her.
The growling sound grew steadily, turning into what sounded like a smokers' cough every few seconds. The rocks just a few feet in front of her began to writhe and grow into a mound before pouring off of the beast emerging from them. She instantly recognized the huge dog-like creature from a nightmare she'd suffered years ago. Its skin seemed alive with parasites, crawling all over the things fur and under its skin. Maori shuddered at the sight, goose bumps rising on her skin. She was surprised she could still have that physical reaction. After not bleeding for so long and the lack of saliva in her throat, she figured those bodily functions were gone with her death.
The beast in front of her began to chuckle dryly through the growling, its shoulders rising and falling with each guttural chortle. The sound of it was maddening. She took a step forward and to the side of it, wondering if she would be able to just side step it while it was in its fit. It followed her move, laughing ever louder.
It seemed to be growing in size but the change was so subtle that it was almost a trick of the lightening flashing around them. Maori's hands lowered to her belt, feeling relief as she fingered the cold metal buckle. She knew the longer she waited, the bigger it would get. It seemed to be filling up with the evil that surrounded this place and she would rather attack it now while it was the size of a large dog.
Her mind cleared perfectly as it always did when she knew her life would be on the line. She straightened her shoulders, her trembling lips forced into a hard line of determination. Her excruciating pain was forced into the back of her mind. She didn't have time for pain now. "Maori." The beast called out to her, chuckling huskily at the sound of her name as if challenging its meaning.
Maori strode forward, marking each step carefully so she didn't lose her balance and be devoured by the gravel before she even got a chance to battle her own personal demon. The creature was now the size of a small horse, its shoulders hunched together, like a cat readying itself to spring, as she approached.
Her large steps turned into an all out run at the beast. With a final dark laugh the creature pounced. Maori watched the thing sail through the air seeming to grow as it did so. Her nimble fingers unhooked the blades that lived in her belt buckle and prayed silently that, unlike her gun, they were still there. The lightening glinted off both blades like diamonds shimmering in the rocks that held them and she threw each blade at the creature before diving underneath it, risking being devoured.
The dry, maddening laugh turned into a howl of pain as the demon landed awkwardly on the gravel, it's massive claws pawing desperately at the blades that had flown true and embedded itself into each yellow eye.
Maori struggled to her feet, her entire body screaming as she felt the rocks that had manage to cling to her; dug furiously under her skin. She attempted extracting them but it would take too much time. She watched the mad dog struggle for a moment, its once blazing eyes nothing more than oozing sockets now. She turned to run but got tripped up. One of the rocks had finally made it through her boots and was now working its way into the flesh of her foot. She fell to her hands and knees, her flesh instantly alive with pain.
She clapped her bubbling hands over her mouth to stifle the scream that threatened to erupt. The last thing she needed was the beast to hear her and charge. In that moment, she knew she was lost. She couldn't make it across the line, she couldn't move. She could hear the soft gnawing sounds the rocks were making as they tore into the lining of her ear canal, devouring her ear drums and deafening her.
Maori lay on her back; hands clapped over her mouth and tilted her head upward to gaze at the Other Side one last time before she was taken. The line was no more than five feet away from her. She began pulling herself forward, pulling more rocks into her but it didn't matter, she was almost there. Her last sight was Rorschach pacing back and forth along the line. Then, her eyes burst and she felt the gelatinous goo drip down her cheeks in a river.
She couldn't stop the agonized scream that issued from her dry throat. Distantly she heard the gallop of massive paws behind her. Still she screamed. "Pull!" Rorschach roared, unable to stay quiet, though Maori could no longer hear anything. With a final yell she pulled herself forward and felt the warmth of sunshine on her hands. She felt the rocks ejecting themselves from the tunnels they had burrowed into her flesh. She pleaded with a God she knew didn't exist for the pain to stop or for her to pass out from it but neither happened. Gloved hands wrapped around her wrists and a searing pain wrapped itself around her ankle.
Maori gagged from the pain as a brief tug of war over her took place. It ended when her booted foot collided with the soft, wet nose of the demon. It released her torn ankle with a disgruntled sneeze and before it could get another grip, Rorschach pulled her completely across the line.