The final chapter of CR is complete... I want to Thank everyone who read my story and inspired me to continue on.
I wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year!
2014 is going to be a good year, I can feel it!
With Love ~Dresner
The Hex girls continued on with their lives as normal after that faithful day at Tranquil Heights and the dramatic reunion with Thorn's long lost mother, Claudia. Though the meeting was nothing that Thorn expected it to be, she found closure in the madness and gun fire of that day. She now knew who her mother was and found peace with in herself knowing that her mother was there with her through out her life, even though it was from afar. Thorn realized that she was nothing less than a spitting image of her mother in almost every way and soon her stubbornness and motherly feelings became a little stronger as the days went on. There was only one con about the whole meeting with her mother and that was the deceitfulness of her father, even though it was in a good cause.
Thorn and Her sister then went on tour one more time, but this time they wouldn't return to Oakhaven or to her father. She was done with her father and went on to pursue the dream that Luna, Dusk, and Herself dreamed of since they were children; To be the greatest rock band the world had ever seen.
They soon went on across America and Canada for another tour with breath of fresh air that the fans and tabloids marked as "A new age for the Hex girls."
Going on with Luna's Neo-Classic look and Red, Black, and White color scheme, Thorn updated her look with a thigh-high black dress with a white blouse underneath, a white frilly ascot, black platform maryjanes, and red knee high socks. Her hair received an update as well with clean cut bangs, shoulders length, with red highlights. Dusk took toward a Cyber goth style with goggles, a red ripped long sleeve shirt under a black and white romper with buckles, revealing her midriff, short black shorts, red ripped thigh high stockings, and knee high boots with buckles on them that Karl bought for her years ago. She changed her make up as well for purple eye shadow, red lipstick, and red streaks in her pig tails.
Dusk became a little more proactive with the band and easy going as time went on, but she still had her moments. Minor moments like snapping on there former song writer, who is serving time for attempted murder and kidnapping dressed as a phantom. But some were more personal, like taking long walks by herself with her hair down so no one would notice her or going to dance clubs just to forget everything around her. Thorn and Luna would have to pull her out each time before she began to drink and start screaming her name out to everyone and before anything crazy would happen to her. They worried that she was becoming to attached to the memory of Karl, as they all were, but Thorn insisted that they forget the past and look forward to the future. Luna was still in a depressing rut, even after finding out the truth about her involvement in the Amsel affair.
After the Phantom incident, They put their money together from the Crystal Cover Terror Dome gig and bought a house of their own in Crystal Cover. Thorn refused to go back to Oakhaven and her sisters were a little skeptical at first, but soon found that living on their own was better than living on a bus. A few gigs here and there paid the rent kept the dream alive, even a rich Arab sheikh invited them to perform on his yacht for over four million in cash, but was soon cut short after their old friends in Mystery Inc need help defeating a bunch of Ska-Zombie's in a band battle and unwittingly aided them in a quest for some kind of treasure. The girls began another tour...
The scent of new car smell was still heavy in the seats and beds of the Hex girl's new tour bus, a gift from the Sheikh for all their troubles. Thorn, Dusk, and Luna were busy watching Van Hellsing to pass the time. James turned up the radio to drown out the fake screams from the girls as he drove by a sign with the name Gatorsburg... "Welcome to Gatorsburg, Population three." James read as the sign passed by as they crossed a piss colored river and entered the dead city of Gatorsburg. Dusk looked outside to see a town surrounded by dead trees, empty streets fulled of swamp water, Willow trees and kudzu covering the destroyed shacks, and endless rows of derelict buildings with gator drawings at every turn.
"Ugh, reminds me of Louisiana." Dusk groaned as she laid back down on the couch. "At least we won't meet the devil this time around." Thorn said jokingly in her best fake Louisianian drawl, sounding almost like her mother in someways. The girls laughed as James pulled into a near by service station. "Well girls, we're going to need to fill up if we are going to make it to San Diego." James announced to the girls as he exited the tour bus.
"Didn't the gang bust a group of smugglers here?" Thorn asked as the girls gazed on at the dark beauty of the abandon town.
"I think so, I think shaggy mentioned something about alligator people or reptilians." Luna mentioned with a slight smile as she said Shaggy's name.
"Luna, you've been crushing on that hippy since you met him in Oakhaven." Dusk replied with a snicker. Luna rolled her eyes and kicked Dusk off of the couch. "If you can date a backwoods hick from Alabama, then I can dream about a hippy with a stomach as large as the ocean and heart twice that." Luna said with a happy grin and a chuckle. Thorn laughed and continued looking over the town from the window as Luna and Dusk fought about love. She wasn't concerned, after all she had James, the music, and the love of her mother. For her whole life she didn't know who her mother was, but her father did... Closure was all she needed and that is what she found in that asylum.
"Wow! Check out that statue!" Thorn exclaimed as she noticed the huge gator cluster statue in the middle of town.
As the girls gazed at the twisted statue, James was busy looking for a pump attendant to fill the fuel tank for him. The sound of clashing thunder and lighting roared overhead and heavy clouds of red and black gathered in the distance, over crystal cover. "Some storm, that damned place even has weird weather as well as people!" James laughed to himself as he looked on for an attendant.
"That's strange," Luna said as the thunder caught her attention. "Those clouds are blood red..."
"Is it suppose to rain today?" Thorn asked her sister as she looked at the clouds as well.
"Those aren't rain clouds..." Dusk said gravely as her eyes radiated with fear as a loud demonic cackling pierced the sky and echoed all around them. Green streaks of light flew across the sky and crashed around the dead city.
Growling and screeching broke the silence of the town around them and through the thick brush the girls could see soul shattering green eyes drawing closer and closer. The girls instants kicked in as fear and adrenaline raced through their bodies and screamed to James, "Get in the bus!"
James ran into the bus, fearful that the girls were in danger. "What's going girls!?" He shouted as he stepped into the bus as a loud crash rocked the bus from side to side. Loud heavy foot steps could be heard on the roof of the bus and the girls and James backed away toward the rear of the bus, but the foot steps stopped. For a brief moment everything was silent...
The girls hearts pounded in their chests like war drums...
A black stiletto loomed over drivers windscreen with green glowing like spotlights in the darkness. Lighting struck near by and illuminated the night to reveal a grotesque bird man like figure dressed in Egyptian slave rags hanging up side down looking with hungry eyes into the bus.
The girls let out deafening high pitched screams that angered the beast who in turn open his jaws to reveal rows of razor sharp fangs to let out a screech louder than their screams that cracked the glass of the wind screen, But something caught Dusk's eye in the distance...
A large flash appeared from the second floor of some kind of motel to the north and suddenly the creatures blood painted the wind screen and it's body fell from the roof to the ground with a massive thud, followed by a loud crack. "What the?!" The girls and James screamed as more thunderous sounds of what appeared to be gun fire chattering all around them.
Earlier...
Karl and Claudia stepped out of the portal in a town discarded by history and reclaimed by mother nature in the same turn. All around them were graves, a sigh that the gate was in a cemetery, and the ever present sight of the weeping willow tree and the stench of alligators, a sigh that they were near a swamp. It was dark and fog surround them making visibility near zero. Behind them was companies worth of Modern Special Forces styled Stalkers and the Vulture shock troops charging forward and taking up positions until Claudia or Karl said other wise.
"Where are we Claudia?" Karl asked Claudia coldly as he popped his knuckles in anticipation.
"Gatorsburg, an old gator farm town that died out once they ran out of gators to skin. We're three miles from Crystal Cover, but we must make hast after we take the town." Claudia said as she reached into her coat and retrieved a Custom polished sliver C-96 broomhandle pistol. "Take this, It's a gift from me to you. It's good to have you on our side." She said, handing the pistol to him
"Who said I was on your side?" Karl questioned her as he took the Mauser pistol.
"Who said you haven't been on our side this whole time, Eh Major?" Claudia said with a smirk as Karl inspected this pistol and handed him a few magazines to go with his new sidearm. "Iron bullets blessed by Celtic druids and Catholic Bishop's, Seems like your style eh?" Claudia said as she stepped on top of a gator styled tombstone.
"Alright men!" Claudia called to the company, "We are to move a click west toward the old inn just up the road. I want the Stalkers to take lead and recon the town for any hostile entities. Vulture troops, I want the Solothurn set up on the second floor and MG-42's on the first to give them cover. Light troops I want you to take up positions in the town after the Stalkers have cleared it. Any question!?" Claudia shouted to the men. The men shook their head and readied their weapons.
"MOVE OUT!" Claudia shouted as the Stalkers charged into the fog with Vulture troops bring up the rear. Karl and Claudia followed suit with the Vultures as they exited the cemetery and began a long walk toward town. "So tell me Claudia, where did you find the Stormtroopers?" Karl asked as hr stuffed the Mauser pistol into his belt.
"We recruited them from Belka and Volkhov." Claudia explained. "We came to Verusea on accident if you can believe that. Research teams in Germany were taking readings on a place called "The Henge" on the bases of discovering the purpose for the site itself, as well as clues to the legendary Die Glock. I was their with the Sorceress detachment of the Wolf brigade and we found that if we charged the structure with our energy, it would open a portal to another world. In some cases we found ourselves in contact with an world called "The Ghost Zone", but the most interesting was the parallel dimension of earth. The earth that we encounter mirrored our world to the letter, but with different continents and parallel cultures. One of those continents is Verusea, the very continent that you and Ben journeyed across. We sent Scribe Ellison after his time at Darrow university was over and began building a Brimstone chapter in Verusea to keep the paranormal at rest, but it seems that in that world they have made piece with spirits or their faith in the Black Sun as kept the creeping creatures away. Either way, It proved to be nothing but a useless expenditure."
"We contacted the Doctor and he ordered that we begin looking for anything worth taking back to our world, but the power of a Sorceress is limited and the strength of the henge itself proved to be problematic. Three witches died as batteries for that damn man made gate to the unknown, So we abandon it. Luckily Scribe Ellison brought a handful of troops and a Witch to communicate with us here in our world. Ellison built the Vulture Battalion from the ground up and even created an arms manufacturing industries known as "Grunder Industries" and "Belkan Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken" or BWM to supple and fund the Brimstone society in Verusea, as well as design cutting edge weapons and armor like the StG-45M Assault Rifle, Vampir Inferred systems, and Kampfküriss Typ 92 Ausf.V "Helghast" Power Armor." Claudia pointed out to the weapons and gear on the Heavy Vulture Troops. "Mostly the Shocktroopers of Vulture Battlaion find themselves in a more basic role of guard duty and fighting off bandits in and around the copper mine. But, If I remember correctly, the heavy troops saw action against Oseanian troops near Arkbrid. Not sure though."
"They look intimidating, that's for sure. An MG-42 is a forced to be feared, but a fire team of five or six of them each held by one of those guys must be a punishment to an enemy..." Karl said with admiration as he gazed like an awestruck child at the Shocktroops and their weapons. Some of the Shocktroops were scanning the woods with their integrated air filtration and night vision masks with their red spectacles glowing in the darkness of the swamp. The black armor, black uniforms, futuristic German weapons, and the soul shattering intimidation factor of the mask combined with the Stahlhelm screamed attitude, something that Karl became intoxicated with. A part of him yearned to be a Vulture trooper, Another scoffed at the idea and reassured him that the power of the Black sun was enough, but another side disapproved of the latter and only wanted to come home safely and to return to normal.
Two lighter troops in Panzer Black uniforms with MP-40 SMG's hanging from their sides walked by at a brisk pace with a large cannon like rifle on their shoulders with another man close behind with a large backpack and carrying two ammo boxes marked with "S-18/100 Special". "A 20mm Anti-Tank Rifle?" Karl asked in a rather surprised and impressed voice, "Is it 1940? Are we invading France Frau Marlin?" Karl asked in a fake German accent with a chuckle.
"What we are going to face is going to need more than just a handful of storm troopers, a witch, a Schwartz guard, and a Solothurn." Claudia replied. Karl smirked at the title of "Schwartz Guard" (Black guard).
They approached a plantation style inn called "The drowse gator" with a broken sigh that buzzed uncontrollably. The sound of old player piano sang in the night as the marching column of troops found themselves at its front door. Karl and Claudia entered the Inn first with Vulture troops swarming in behind them to take up there positions.
"WE AIN'T GOT NO ROOMS!" The howl of a old hag protested as the men rushed up the stairs. Karl gazed over to the right toward the sound of the piano to see an ugly woman in a raggedy pink dress eyeing the black uniformed men lustfully.
"I do not care." Karl said coldly, stonewalling the woman who gave him a scowl. "Leave this place madam, Things are about to get a little messy." Karl gave an unnerving chuckle.
"I SAID..." The woman yelled until the Karl approached her and stuffed the barrel of his Mauser pistol in her face. "And I said leave this place..." Karl told her in a firm, yet terrifyingly cold, tone as he slowly cocked the hammer of the pistol. "Am I clear, Ma'am?"
She nodded and called to her Son and Brother to pack their things, But they were soon thrown out by gunpoint by Black shirted Vulture troops who in turn threw them into the brothers tow truck and sent them on their way.
"Rather forceful, Eh Karl?" Claudia said with her brow raised as Karl clutched the pistol firmly in his hand and biting his lip in ecstasy. "Did you... Enjoy that little moment of yours?" She asked critically.
Karl looked at her with a sick little smile, "Now Now Madam Marlin, I was respectful."
"Major!" A heavy trooper called to Karl. "Major Dael, STALKER's report an oncoming vehicle of some kind! What are our orders?"
Karl thought to himself for a moment, "Let them come in... If their hostile we can at least give them a proper welcome..."
Karl turned toward the stares to see the Solothurn team rushing up the stairs to the second floor balcony and MG teams preparing their weapons in the other rooms. A large smile covered his face from end to end and his grip became tighter and tighter on his pistol with every second, Karl wanted this fight and Claudia could sense it on him as it radiated off of his aura.
"Jawohl!" The trooper replied as he reported back to the Stalkers on his radio.
Karl lead Claudia up the stairs to the balcony to check on the Solothurn. Claudia wasn't as interested in the fight as Karl was and would have much rather stayed down stairs with the gator decor or played a song for the men on the piano, But Karl was beginning to worry her. She didn't expect him to be at ease with his powers so quickly, nor did she expect for him to be so... Sadistic and bloodthirsty... "He would have pulled the trigger on that hag..." Claudia thought to herself. "What stopped him from it is the next question..."
Thundering through the halls and out the door to the balcony where the Solothurn team were calibrating the range for the gun. The two ammo boxes and Back pack were opened to revile large ten round magazines for large gun and one of the men, an officer, was looking through the lenses of a "Scissor Scope" Range finder/Binoculars, while the other's readied the weapon. The officer manning the ranger finder turned and saluted Karl and Claudia, "Madam Marlin, The 20mm is ready for action we are just now getting it ranged in."
"What type of shell are you firing Herr lieutenant?" Karl interjected as he reached for one of the magazines for the gun.
"20x105mmB Ausf.H Tungsten and sliver rounds, Blessed by the Belkan church and blessed with holy water. We also have regular Armor piercing and High explosive rounds just in case." The Officer reported. "Grand..." Karl said with a smirk as he walked over to pear into the ranger finder. Through the scope he could see a massive statue in the center of town and abandon and derelict buildings all around town. In the distance came the white headlights of a incoming vehicle.
"Lieutenant, do we engage?" The gunner asked as her aimed the Solothurn toward the vehicle.
"Nein, Hold fire and let it pass. If their armed, then fire at will..." Karl said coldly as the large bus pulled into the abandon service station.
Karl let out a low "hmmm" as he pulled his face away from the scope. Beyond the horizon were blood red clouds gathering over a near by city with thunder and lightening challenging each other for dominates of the sky. Karl's eyes briefly glowed with the teal energy of the Sonnenrod as he gave a brief smile, "Storms a brewing, Real blitzkrieg eh?" He said in a low and confidant tone that even made the Solothurn crew shiver a little.
"Sir, Stalkers report that the bus is apart of something called the "Hex girls"." The officer reported from his hand radio.
Karl rose his brow and his demeanor changed from hard and heartless to compassionate and worried, "Was?(What? in German)" He asked in a urgent tone.
"The girls! What the fuck are they doing here?!" Karl shouted.
"They must be on tour..." Claudia was stopped mid-sentence and gaze into the sky. Balls of green light few from the clouds and crashed into the ground around the city. "Its... Its begun..." Claudia said fearfully.
Karl looked into the sky as more of the green orbs rained down from the blood clouds like katyusha rockets, "Hmhm, A December snow is upon us..." Karl said coldly as he stared into the sky. "On such a warm day none the less..."
He turned his attention toward the town where the Anunnaki minions began throwing themselves against the tour bus and crawled on top of its roof...
"FIRE!" Karl yelled just before the Solothurn's massive round flew out of the gun, it's shock wave blowing back his coat tails.
"Angriff! (ATTACK!)" He shouted as he leaped off of the second floor and charged at break neck speed toward the town with pistol and knife in hand.
The girls could comprehend what was going as machine gun fire bounced off of the bus and the ground. The sickening roar of demonic beasts pieced the air, as did the thunder of a massive gun in the distance. The beasts broke through the windows and were quickly mowed down by the fire.
"IT'S A FUCKING WAR ZONE!" Dusk shouted as another cannon shot echoed through the air and ripped to pieces two of the beasts.
"Get to the back!" James yelled as he pulled the girls toward their room at the back of the bus. An anunnaki broke through the back of the bus, snatched James in it's scaly arms, and ran off toward crystal cove. "JAMES!" Thorn screamed in terror as two more anunnaki beasts broke through the windows with their jaws drooling with anticipation.
"GET AWAY!" The girls screamed as they came closer and closer. Their claws dripping with blood, gun shot wounds raking their chests, and eyes void of anything but mindless hunger and hate. The girls closed their eyes, knowing that it was the end...
Dusk kept her eyes opened, unable to close her eyes... She wanted those beasts to see her eyes as they killed her, to haunt them for the rest of their retched exsistance...
Dusk had excepted her fate... She wasn't going to die with fear... She was going to die defiantly...
Suddenly the windows shattered entirely and the beasts were torn to pieces by a melee of teal energy and swings from a black coated figure with a sliver sidearm. The black coated figure ripped the first beast in two with a single trust from his energy charged fist and the second was decapitated with a swing of a large blade. The movements were timed and flawless, cold and calculated, without any sign of wasted energy. Dusk took a glimpse at his eyes to see that there were only burning orbs of teal, but beyond that she could see a familiar figure...
The bodies of the beasts fell to the ground in tatters with blood soaking everything but the girls and the coated figure. Thorn and Luna opened there eyes to see Dusk staring intensely at a black coated figure with his back turned toward them, his blood soaked blade and sliver pistol shining brightly in the flashing lightening.
"It's him... I know it is..." Dusk said in a whisper as she stepped slowly toward the figure. Her heart pounded and burned with the yearning desire to see him after all these months...
"Karl?" She asked as she reached out to his shoulder.
The figure snapped around quickly with the heavy pistol pointed toward her sisters and he fired without hesitation. Dusk screamed in terror as she looked toward her sister, in fear that this figure murdered them in cold blood... But Thorn and Luna were unscathed...
Behind them were two dead Anunnaki minions raked with gun shots...
Dusk turned back to see the figure was dressed in a clean grey german style uniform with jackboots, black trench coat, a blue and white checkerboard scarf, and a peaked cap like army officer would wear. The face of the figure was familiar, as was the Goat-T on his face. It was him...
"Karl!" Dusk screamed in excitement, rapping herself around him and pressing her lips against his warmly. Karl returned the kiss and the two love birds reunited with a long embrace. The other sisters rushed to him and hugged him tightly... They were saved...
"Girls, It isn't save here." Karl said calmly as he put away his gun and blade.
"Major! The beasts are retreating! haha!" One of the men called from the outside.
Dusk looked at him questionably, "Major?"
Karl nodded, "Gutt! Set up defenses around the town, They might come back again!" Karl shouted as the site of more stalkers and vulture troops took a lot of pressure off of his shoulders.
"Oooh, I've got a solider boy. Watch it girls!" Dusk said flirtatiously as she locked lips with Karl one more time.
Karl chuckled and lead the girls out of the bus, toward the Inn where the HQ was set up. He informed them on everything, but left out a few details about Brimstone. The girls didn't care, they only cared that he was alive and well. But Thorn was still torn up about James...
They stood in front of the Inn where Claudia came to reunite herself with her daughter one last time. The girls were shocked and she told them how she lived through the attack by the rogue's. Karl raised his brow, but shrugged it off. "It's a long story..." Claudia told him.
"Something is happening in Crystal Cove! A vortex is opening!" One of the men called.
"What the hell is going on!?" Claudia called out to the man.
"SHIT! GET DOWN! EMISSION!" He screamed as a massive ball of light appeared in the distance, sending a shock wave across the land.
Karl and Claudia thought quickly, but It was to late...
Karl rapped Luna and Dusk in his armed and turned his back to the shock wave in a vain attempt to protect them. Claudia did the same to Thorn as a massive ball of light engulfed the land around them...
Dusk could not comprehend any of the thoughts that ran though her mind as the tour bus pulled away from Gatorsburg. The hellish memories of the past were gone, as was the images of the demonic hound like creatures that attacked her and her sisters, The gun toting men in armored suits, and the figure who gave everything to save them. They did not remember a thing and acted as if everything was normal.
When she asked if Thorn remembered Claudia, she shook her head and asked "Who is that?" The same reply came from Luna.
Dusk was alone once again...
"He came just in time..." She whispered to herself as she sat on her bed holding Karl's cap in hand. It was the only thing that remained of him after the explosion. Then he was gone and all of reality was changed to something different and, surprisingly, positive, Luna was back to semi normal and Thorn was a little bit stronger in heart and mind than she use to be.
And for herself?
Dusk was happy, for the first time since she met Karl over a year ago in that run down backwoods service station in rural New York. She loved him more than anything and she knew, as did her sisters, that he was the one for her and she prayed that one day he would return.
"If he didn't die the first time, he must still be alive..." She said to herself as a tear fell from her face and landed on one of the sliver buttons of the cap. Dusk stood up and placed the cap on her shelf next to her bed. "I'll be waiting Klokateer, you know I will." She said with a loving smile as she turned to look out the large window out the back of the bus. The bus took a sharp turn past some hills and something caught her eye.
Atop one of the hills stood two figures, one clad in the very black trench coat that Karl wore when he came back from the other world.
"Could it be?" Dusk said as the bus rounded the corner. "It couldn't be..."
"You miss her already, eh?" Claudia asked Karl. Karl ignored the question and watched as the red, black, and pink tour bus rounded the corner and into the unknown. Claudia looked at him with sympathetic eyes as the stone like figure that Karl became began to tear up, yet his express remained blank. War hardened him, The black sun changed him, and forged the man that stood before her. Love, Loss, Hatred, Pain, and Suffering were the tools made him who he was. Through out his life he had become acquainted with each one, even sharing a bed or two with one of them. Yet it never corrupted him or broke him...
"What happened Claudia?" He asked her as a warm coastal breeze swept across their faces.
"The evil entity of Crystal Cove is destroyed, thank god, and everything that it effected was erased from existence." Claudia explained, "We remember because of our power. Everyone else won't remember a thing..."
"Does this mean I can go back to to my life as a roadie?" Karl asked innocently.
"No... They don't remember you. You were apart of the event as much as anyone, both of us were. The darkness that we cast upon their minds has been erased." She replied gravely.
"In other words its..."
"Like we never existed..." The two said in tandem.
Karl turned around and began to descend the hill, but Claudia placed her hand on his shoulder and asked him who would he turn to.
"I'm not sure, but I'll find away..." He replied. "No, not anymore Karl." Claudia protested as he turned to face her. She reached into his pocket and pulled out a pendent of The Brimstone Society and placed it in his hand. "You need a home Karl... Your not a solitary creature, you enjoy it, but, you will never love it. Come home, come with me, come to Brimstone." She said as she held Karl's hand.
Claudia looked deep into the eyes of the man that wipe an entire army off of the face of the earth with out a second thought, the man that traveled across universes for a young girl, the man that reminded her of her own humanity and drove her to make up with her daughter. She could see into his eyes and could almost relive all the pain, the bloodshed, and hell that Karl had gone though and could share his pain as if it was her own.
"Tell me Karl, where are you going?" She asked him.
Karl took one last deep breath of the coastal air before giving a solemn nod.
"Home..."