Chapter 5

Elisa had been searching for an hour nonstop before she found a way out of the school. The stairwell seemed safe, but since leaving the bathroom, she felt as though she was in danger everywhere. When she finally made it to the front lobby, she was so happy she didn't even notice the bloodstained metal grating that made up the walls and floors anymore, she didn't even notice the giant beast that was guarding the front doors to what had been her school until she ran into it.

It might have been a dog once, if dogs ever got to be the size of cars.

Its skin, or what was left of it, was hairless. The closest thing it had to hair were the bony fragments that stuck out from its back. Its head was as large as her torso, and its legs were as tall as she was. Its teeth were short, but incredibly sharp looking, and each of its feet ended in thick, brutal claws. It growled from deep in its chest, and stepped toward her. She was frozen in terror, unable to do anything other than mutter to herself.

"No, no, no, no, no…" she said, over and over.

The beast reared back and howled, a howl that reverberated throughout the building, and shook Elisa as hard as a physical blow. The howl forced her to move, and she spun around and ran as fast as she could, searching for anywhere possible to hide from the monster that had already begun to chase her. She passed a door made of what appeared to be copper, and when she tried the handle, it turned easily. She jumped through just in time to escape the monster's crushing jaws.

The room was small and dark, and it stunk. She searched for a light source, and flipped a switch next to the door. A feeble light shone from a naked bulb hanging from a thin chain in the middle of the room. When she had some light, albeit a very dim one, she scanned the room for anything she could use. The room contained very little in the way of furnishings, and it looked like a prison cell, or something similar. A large table dominated its center, and a dingy, stained sheet covered the table like a small tent. She walked to the table, and pulled the sheet off of it.

She regretted it instantly.

A body was hidden under the sheet, with an axe sticking out of its chest, which explained the way the sheet had been covering it. She stood for a moment, speechless at the sight of yet another body, the second one she had seen in such a short time. Then an idea struck her, and she said a quick prayer for the departed, and reached for the handle of the axe.

BOOM. The creature had found her hiding place.

The door bulged inward, crunching loudly. One more hit like that, she thought, and it'll be in here with me. She rushed forward, standing next to the door, at a safe distance to avoid the shrapnel as it exploded inward. BOOM. The door blew inward, and the creature entered the room and stood, head moving from side to side, searching for her. She moved with lightning speed, through the door, and down the hall. She glanced over her shoulder, and a shock of excited joy washed over her as she saw the beast in pursuit.

Her plan was working, now came the hard part.

She slowed her pace, and glanced back again. The beast stopped for a split second, and then launched itself into the air. She had rehearsed this part in her mind several times; she fell to the ground, and pushed back with her hands, moving her body so that the creature landed in front of her. Then, with the axe, she hooked its front left leg, and used its own momentum to pull its legs out from under it. She stood quickly, still holding the axe, and hopped toward the beast's head.

She stood over the beast's head, raised the axe high, and let it fall hard.

The beast squealed, and thick blood poured from the gaping wound between its eyes, but it still tried to stand. She chopped again, this time nearly splitting its skull in half. She chopped again, and again, and again, until a thin film of blood covered her forearms. She chopped until her arms were sore, and then she rested. When she finally surfaced from the haze that had covered her during her chopping frenzy, she felt disgust for the abomination that she had encountered, and even more disgust for what she had done to it.

For a long while she sat, breathing heavily, unable to move from the exertion. Then she stood, and walked confidently to the double doors that led to front courtyard of her once peaceful school. She stopped briefly at the door, as a wave of nausea passed over her.

A message was written across them, in blood.

"Look behind you," Elisa read aloud, and was startled by how loud her voice seemed in the empty entrance way. She stood for a moment, debating whether she should indeed turn, or bolt through the doors and face whatever danger might inhabit the hell outside. Once again, her curiosity won over her sense of fear and she slowly turned to see what new threat or atrocity waited to assault her.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing behind her. She could have laughed, if she hadn't been so utterly afraid of whatever was playing this unwholesome joke of her. She spun around to open the doors, and fell into the arms of a person standing in front of her. She pulled away in surprise, and then instantly recognized the face of the person who had surprised her so rudely. "Mike!" she screamed, "I thought you were dead!" she embraced the young man tightly. "You scared the hell out of me, don't you ever do that again." She sobbed into his shoulder, wanting nothing more than to stay there in his strong embrace for all eternity.

Her joy was shattered when he whispered into her ear.

"Oh God it hurts Elisa, help me it hurts…it…hurts…so…bad…" The strangled words that escaped his lips were drenched in pain, and it made Elisa hurt to hear it. She immediately shot back, and was floored by what she saw happening to her boyfriend. He blinked, and a thin trail of bright red blood flowed from the corner of his eye, like a single tear. Then the blood came faster, and in greater amounts, soon blood was pouring from everywhere. His eyes disappeared behind torrents of red fluid, and when he opened his mouth, a garbled cry fought its way out amidst a river of red.

Then something else began to happen. As Elisa backed away, Mike advanced, but as he advanced, large chunks of flesh dropped from his face and arms. In a matter of seconds, he was reduced to nothing more than a shambling pile of gore. Elisa wasn't aware that she was screaming until her voice cracked and she stumbled over the demon beast she had slain with the axe. Mike was still advancing and Elisa was now desperate to put some distance between her and this, this thing that shambled after her. The axe came into her peripheral vision and she instinctively grabbed at it. She stood defiantly brandishing the weapon and summoning the courage to stand against this disturbing new threat.

"Stay back, you, whatever the hell you are!" she made a threatening mock swing with the axe, and still the walking corpse advanced. "I'm not kidding you freak, take one more step and I'll put this thing between your eyes." She swung the axe in an arc, aiming for the skull of the fiend, and heard a sick CRACK as the blunted blade made contact.

The effect was immediate, but nothing like what Elisa had expected.

Instead of crumpling to the ground like she thought anything would do when its skull was cleaved in half, the walking corpse burst into flames. For several minutes it burned, and when the last cinders went out the corpse, and the axe, were gone.

Elisa was know frantic, and tore at the doors, not caring if they were locked or if any messages were left for her on them, all she wanted was to leave, and the sooner the better. She stopped, breathless for a moment as she stepped out onto the walkway that led from the front door of the school to the street. The world outside the school was the same as always, even the sheets of rain that had been pouring before her ill-fated nap. So what was all that about in the school, She thought, what the hell is going on here? She turned and pulled at the handles of the doors, anxious to see if the school had returned to normal as well, and found that the doors, the same ones she had just come through, were locked.

She pounded on the door to no avail. She looked into the small window, and for a split second she thought she saw something. It appeared to be a man but she couldn't tell. She yelled to the man, but he vanished quickly, making her think he had never even been there. So there she stood, alone again, in the cold rain, unable to decide where to go from there.

Home.

And so she started off, on her way to the only place she felt would be secure.

***

Gabriel felt an intense pain run throughout his entire being, and as he slowly regained consciousness, he became aware that he was hanging from something sturdy. Then the recollections of the events before he blacked out jarred him into awareness. His eyes shot open, and he expected to see the familiar visage of the Crucifix Demon, but instead he saw a man. A very thin man, covered in rags from head to toe, a thick bandage covered his eyes. He stood for a long time, silently scrutinizing Gabriel.

Gabriel glanced around, and realized that he was still in the cavernous room with the hanging bodies, he surveyed himself, and noticed the wounds on his wrists, and the pike he had wielded against Ich and Gar, still deeply embedded in his abdomen. I…I should be dead, He thought gravely, then he turned his attention to the raggedy man. "Who are you old man, another demon sent to torture my already ravaged body?" he asked bitterly. A dry laugh welled up within him, and he found himself laughing at his own misery, unable to do anything else.

The man looked at Gabriel's, and even though the bandages covered them, his hidden eyes were enough to silence him.

"No, Gabriel," said he, "I am the prophet you were sent to find."