- Chapter 2: Horror? I hate horror! -
I was going to be late.
The sweet babble of birdsong fills the early morning air, mixing together with the steady thump of my sneakers on asphalt. The sun slowly begins to inch its way higher and higher over the treeline, starting to turn the endless void overhead from a dark purple to an increasingly brilliant shade of blue.
Seeing as my normal mode of transportation was currently off limits, I'd been forced to rely on naught but my physical might and sheer will. Like the heroes of old, I set out upon a great journey with only the possessions I could carry upon my person and the knowledge I could carry within my mind, ready to conquer the world.
I snort. Which was all to say that because my broke ass couldn't even afford alternative transportation, I found myself jogging along the edge of the highway at an ungodly hour.
The highway was pretty much dead this early in the morning, especially on a Saturday like today. Perfect, given that I couldn't be doing what I was currently doing otherwise.
Adrenaline burns through my veins as I move faster than I'd once thought possible. Mile upon mile of dense forest passes by at an accelerated rate, my feet pulling me along at borderline superhuman speeds. A happy laugh escapes my lips as dirt and debris is left swirling in my wake, this would never not be awesome as all hell!
With the wind whispering in my ears, I lift up my left wrist. The electric mouse-themed watch I'd bought from some thrift store or another stares back up at me, and I quietly curse as the stylized yellow hand draws ever closer to six thirty.
Aw, fuck it.
A simple gesture and a visualized calculation. A whisper of power, pulled from within and without. Thankfully, the glow wasn't that bright at this level.
After taking a moment to readjust my backpack's straps to a more comfortable position, I throw away any semblance of restraint. A hundred and one percent is put into every single step, driving me forward with the force of a hurricane.
If I was sprinting before, then now I'm flying, the wind howling in my ears as the world passes by in a flash.
My stomach growls. Yeah, me too buddy, me too.
I knocked smartly on one of the large mahogany double doors, stepping back a bit after I did so. Tunelessly whistling, my gaze passes over the contract location, taking note of anything and everything.
'Know your surroundings well, lest you pay for it later.' Rule number seven of the Exorcist's Guide.
The place was both exactly like and completely unlike what I had expected. Situated some ways outside of a medium sized town, it was a large and clearly somewhat rundown mansion built in a beautiful old Victorian style. It fit the creepy house on the hill stereotype to a 'T', with cracked window panes and peeling paint and all.
The grounds were no different, absolutely massive and ominous as heck. From the lone hill the house stood on, I could see acres of ancient sprawling forest stretching out in all directions, the dirt road I came from winding its way down and into darkness some ways below. There was no other sign of civilization, no sign of life beyond this quaint little murder hut.
True isolation if you would, a little pocket of reality completely cut off from the rest of humanity.
A cool breeze washes over me, wind's icy claws ruffling my hair and clothes. High above, clouds were starting to gather and darken, heralding the approach of an oncoming storm.
"That's not ominous at all," I blandly note. "Four outta ten though, bit too cliche."
A flash of yellow catches my eye, up in one of the third floor windows. Clamping down on my desire to look directly at whatever it was, I carefully watch for any further signs of movement out of the corner of my eye.
But nothing. Rats.
I scowl. What was the stupid thing again? Verat… verout…?
It takes a moment, but I eventually manage to pull the chant out from the depths of my memory. Snapping my fingers in remembrance, the archaic Latin is muttered under my breath. "Ve… veritatem revelare."
It happens in an instant, the tingle of magic running through my system the moment the full chant passes through my lips. Colors become more colorful and noises more noisy as the world suddenly sharpens.
The best way to describe it was.. it was like I'd been experiencing everything in 720p and had just been forcibly changed to 8K ultraHD. The world was simply better than before, clearer and more vibrant and… and just more alive.
The simple beauty of the moment ends just as soon as it began, the true face of the world visible for me to now see and feel. A wave of icy malevolence slams into me, nearly bowling me over with its horrific intensity… every hair on the back of my neck instantly stands on end.
I motorboat my lips, staring squinty-eyed up at the mansion. So this was how today was gonna go, huh?
The mansion was positively reeking unholy venom, the sheer pressure of the monstrous evil weighing me down like a sack of bricks. I felt like I'd been plunged into an ice bath, the raw hatred and terror that filled the air crushing my lungs and making it hard to breathe. Fucking A.
I curse quietly. How did I not feel this before this point?! Had there been a suppression effect or something? I honestly had no clue.
Every fiber of my being was telling me to run. To get as far away from this place as possible ten minutes ago.
I stiffen as one of the doors opens with a drawn-out creak, just wide enough for a pair of pale blue eyes to stare out at me from the darkness within. The most stereotypical British accent ever reaches my ears, for some reason sending shivers crawling up my spine with every word. "Hello... Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, of course!" I lie through my teeth, putting on my best smile as I give the slightest of bows. "Sam of Sam's Salvation Service, at your service!"
"Ah. The... exorcist." The eyes say, somehow sounding sincere and mocking at the same time. "I humbly apologize for the misunderstanding, but we do not need your services right now."
I lick my weirdly dry lips. "There was a phone call this morning…"
"An accident."
Buuuuullshit. "Ah."
"Yes." is the eyes' sympathetic response. Were… were those fuckers glowing ever so slightly, or was that just my imagination? "My apologies once again, but we do not have work for you, so if you would leave the premises post-haste? Thank you and have a pleasant day, little one."
And with that the door closes, not with a loud bang, but with a soft click.
A minute passes. And then another.
I release the breath I didn't know I was holding, trickles of sweat already beginning to run down the sides of my face. Hey yeah, for some random reason, I felt like leaving right about now.
Already I was beginning to step away from the house, going back down the pathway down into the forest below. This place… this place was a job for later. Trying to tackle it by myself right now was borderline suicidal. I needed to get somewhere safe, before putting in some calls.
I'd barely made it twenty feet. Tap tap. Tap tap. A new noise reaches my currently enhanced hearing, distinct from any other I'd heard so far. Curiosity overwhelms preservation, like the dumb-ass I am.
I slowly turn back to the mansion, tracing the source of the sound. Looking up, to the window where the flash of yellow had been before, I could see it.
I could see her.
Medium length blonde hair framed hollow green eyes, the face of a girl around my age scrunched up in futile hope as she desperately tapped the cracked window. She was mouthing the same word, over and over again.
Help.
"This is a trap, you know?" I say to no one in particular, except perhaps myself. "It's… it's obvious."
I needed to report this place in, see if I could convince any people to come and help me. That thing, whatever it was, was beyond the level of a trash stray devil or simple spirit. Since the stupid test was still going on, I wasn't anywhere near the level I wanted to be for this. So I couldn't. I shouldn't.
My nails dig into my palms, hard enough to draw blood, as I inwardly scream. Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Painfully aware of the pleading gaze of the unknown girl, I do the smart thing. I do the correct thing. I… I turn around and begin to walk away.
Each step is harder than the last.
After what seems like an eternity, I've reached the edge of the clearing. I'm standing at the divide where the open air turns into dense forest, ready to head back to both civilization and safety.
I grimace. I was retreating in the face of an overwhelming force, an action that no one would fault me for doing. Yet… yet that didn't stop me from feeling like absolute shit.
"...You're a fucking idiot." I say, the edges of my lips already starting to turn upwards despite myself. "If you do this, you deserve to die. Again."
Smart and correct didn't necessarily mean right, goddammit. The light sword ignites in my hand. I'm already sprinting towards the mansion.
Magical barriers could normally be broken in three ways. One, someone with sufficient power could simply overwhelm the barrier. Two, someone with sufficient expertise could 'lock-pick' their way through it. Three, some idiot with a death-wish could blow the entire power supply of a shitty knock off lightsaber to maybe temporarily disable the thing.
It was funny… I'm not sure that third way was ever taught to us. Wonder why.
Standing right on the other side of the fast approaching glass, I see the girl's eyes widen. Bitter acceptance turns into overwhelming joy turns into incredulous shock, as she slowly seems to piece together my oh-so-brilliant plan.
...And oh yeah. She's in the way of my dynamic entrance, huh?
"moooOOOVVEEE!" I roar out, even as the window comes ever closer.
It takes a few moments for the words to register, which was a few moments too many. The girl is only just opening her mouth to scream when I blast through both the barrier and the window in a flash of technicolored light, thousands of tiny glass shards falling into the room around us as I slam into her.
We go flying in a tangle of limbs and panic. I grunt in pain as an elbow slams straight into my nose, involuntary tears already blurring my vision. Fuck, that smarts!
After a few seconds of confusion, we eventually separate into two heaps on the floor. Silence fills the air as the girl props herself up to stare down at me. "Urgh… Y-you..."
Her voice was the one from the phone call.
"Hi! I'b Sab!" Blood starts drip from my now clogged and probably broken nose. Yeah, ouch. I slowly push myself to my knees, before offering the girl a jaunty salute. "I'b here t' rescue yo!"
The house shakes as below us, something very large roars.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Canon will slowly be edged into, as straight following the main character's exact steps seems boring to me. This isn't based on anything in particular, except maybe general mercenary-like 'heroes' like Harry Dresden and John Constantine.