Eight o’clock. That is the current time now. The sun has begun to set, slowly leaving the city in darkness. V’zul, Katie, and Richard all sat inside the house, patiently waiting for nightfall.

Richard laid on his rugged couch, petting his dog's head. V’zul sat on a green wingback chair, and Katie strolled through the house, investigating all the rooms and studying her environment. She placed her hand on the old-wooden wall and gently dragged it, feeling its textures. Katie looked outside the window to see how far the sun had gone down. She removed her hand and rubbed her fingers

together.

“Human ingenuity. Fascinating how such simple creatures can create so much.”

With V’zul. Richard pointed at a small, red box on the mantel above his fireplace.“Be a sport and bring me that box, will ya?”

V’zul stood up and grabbed it, and handed the box to him.

"Not to sound racist or anythin'," Richard said. "But are you a Native American?"

"Yeah, why?" He sat back down and placed his hands together.

"Just curious. I haven't met your folk in a very, long time."

Richard opened the box and began to show him vintage photos of young adults.

“Who are they?”.

“This,” Richard placed his finger on the photo of a young adult male. “This is my father. He was born in nineteen twenty-nine. A good man he was, always worked hard and helped others.”

V’zul nodded his head as he observed the photo.

Richard drew more old pictures and showed him.

“This is my mother, and this one is my fathers father.”

“You have quite the family.”

“Had,” Richard blurted. “They’re all dead and gone now. Age took every last one of them. Funny enough, I’m older than my dad was when he passed.”

“How old are you?” V’zul raised his leg to rest on his knee.

“Ninety-nine. What about you? What’s your age?”

“I’m thirty-six, sir.”

Richard placed the photos back in the box and looked at the wood in the fireplace. “Young. Well, tell me. Why are you doing this stuff? And how did you meet that woman?”

V’zul pulled his cross out and tightened his grip around it. “My parents would take me to church every Sunday. They taught me virtue and to always help people who couldn’t help themselves.”

“Go on.”

“I wanted to be a priest when I grew up. Always wanted to help those less fortunate.”

“So what about her?”

V’zul looked at the doorway to see if she was there. She was not, but her slow footsteps could be heard creaking the wood in the hallway.

“I met her in my youth. She randomly showed up at our house. On a dark and rainy night.” V’zul closed his eyes and lowered his head. “She was asking for help because she had nowhere to stay. And even though my parents were frightened at the sight of her, they allowed it because she proved to mean no harm.”

Richard nodded his head and sat up. “Then you two just became good buds at some point and grew from there?”

“Yes.”

“In all my years, I never heard of a man falling in love with an otherworldly entity. Especially religious folk.”

Katie appeared in the doorway and knocked on the wood. “We’re about to lose the sun.”

V’zul placed his necklace back and stood. He walked and helped his older friend to his feet.

“I will take Richard upstairs and stay with him."

Katie’s body began to change as the sun vanished. Her hair coiled around itself, transforming back into long dreads. Her nose vanished, leaving a flat surface. The white skin she had shifted to a dark purple, and her fingers transformed into long-purple claws.

She lifted V’zul and Richard off the ground and carried them upstairs. Her red eyes glowed in the dark as they entered his room.

“Alright,” she placed them down. “Don’t leave this room until I’m done. Honey, you know what to do if it gets in here.”

He nodded his head. His wife snapped her claws and summoned a white pistol. Smoke floated from her hand, and a faint sizzling noise was heard. She tossed the gun to V'zul and changed her trench coat into a long coat.

“I’ll be back.”

She closed the door, walked into the dark hallway, and sat in the chair V’zul was in. A minute passed, and quick footsteps could be heard from the kitchen. She got up and followed the noise, scraping her claws against the wood. Katie entered the kitchen and saw a tall, red man wearing a black suit. He sat on the counter eating a sandwich, swinging his arrow-shaped tail back and forth.

He looked up with widened eyes and smiled at her.

“What is this?” he said, surprised. “Shouldn’t someone like you be after the souls of these creatures?”

Katie snapped her claws and summoned a black pistol. She aimed and shot at the entity. Reacting to her aggression, he vanished and appeared in the living room.

“What are you doing?” he shouted.

She turned around and shot through the walls. He vanished again and appeared back in the kitchen.

“Here, I thought we’d be on the same side. Disappointing.”

He caught her bullet and teleported in front of her. She pulled her hand back and thrust her claws, aiming at his stomach. He moved to the side and caught her wrist. He grinned as he lifted her up and launched her through the wall and into the living room.

“Okay,” she said. “This one has skill.”

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The man teleported above her and slammed his fist down. Before he could connect with her skull, she swiftly raised her gun and shot him through the mouth. He shrieked and lost direction. Katie caught his neck and slammed his face onto the ground.

“Bitch!” he shouted.

Katie pulled his head back and slashed his face with her claws. The man teleported behind her and stabbed her back with a black knife. He jumped and wrapped his legs around her, stabbing relentlessly into her body. Purple blood leaked out of her wounds and latched onto his leg.

“The hell is this shit?!”

The blood on his body ignited, quickly covering his leg in purple flame. He screamed and lost his grip, falling onto the floor. Katie popped her neck and turned to face him. To his horror, the flame traveled up his leg and covered his entire body. He forced himself to stand and swung his knife at her. It stabbed into her arm, but she had no reaction to the sharp pain. Katie grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm back.

“Not as skilled as I thought."

Annoyed by his constant screaming, she slashed through his wrist, separating his hand from his arm, and began to stab the now victim to death with his own knife.

----------------------------------------

V’zul leaned against the door, holding his pistol. Richard sat in his bed, shaking from the screaming coming from the other side. His dog whined and shook with his owner.

“Hey,” Richard raised his hand and beckoned V’zul to approach. “Is this normal? Y’know, the screamin’ and the slammin’?”

V’zul nodded his head and focused on the door.

The window behind them abruptly opened, and a blue woman with horns —and a red suit —began to climb through the window. Richard panicked and screamed as he fell of the bed and crawled towards V'zul.

He turned around and aimed his pistol at her. “Stay where you are!”

She stopped halfway through the window and raised her hands.

“A priest,” she said in a seductive tone. “I haven’t dealt with your kind in a long while.”

He reached and grabbed Richard's shoulder to pull him next to his leg.

“You come to finish him off?”

“No,” she laughed. “We were just gonna have some fun with him again.”

“Fuckin’ demon!” Richard shouted. He looked up at V’zul and pointed at the intruder. “Shoot her, god dammit!!”

She looked down at him and placed her finger on her lips.

Pop! The gun fired and launched a white bullet into her head.

She quickly crawled through the window and charged at V’zul. He fired two more shots and dived to the ground when she threw a punch. She missed and blew a hole in the wall.He lifted his cross as she grabbed his leg; she hissed and recoiled. Now panicked, she dashed through the hole, vanishing from sight.

“Richard!” V’zul shouted, frantically getting to his feet.

“I’m alive!” he laid on the ground covering his head.

V’zul stepped in front of the hole and aimed his pistol down the hallway. She sprinted down the hallway back to the room with a terrified expression. She grabbed his arm and threw him through the wall. He collided with the refrigerator, and a few jars that sat on top fell and broke on his body.

The house fell silent.

A few quick footsteps were heard approaching him. Dazed and blurred, he rolled over to see his wife knelt beside him. She lifted him up and sat him in the chair.

“I’ll be back.”

Katie bolted through the fireplace, putting the fire out. She ran outside and looked to her left. In the distance was the demon. She had sprinted down the road and was already a mile away from the house. Katie chased after her, quickly gaining speed.

She looked over her shoulder, seeing only the black silhouette of a monster chasing her. In only a few seconds, she was already a few inches behind her.

“Holy shit!” the demon cried out.

She summoned a black submachine gun and shot at her pursuer.

Katie ignored the bullets ripping into her flesh and tackled the woman. She sat up and punched the demon in the face. She attempted to aim the gun at Katie’s stomach but was quickly halted. Katie grabbed her forearm and squeezed it, breaking her arm.

She covered her mouth before she could scream and stabbed her claws into the neck of the demon. With inhuman strength, she ripped her head off, and blue blood poured out of the stump and traveled down the street. Katie stared at the corpse for a moment before grabbing her leg. She dragged it back to the house and tossed it into the living room.

“Done.” Katie vanished into the hallway.

He looked down at the body and leaned back, closing his eyes. "Christ."

Richard looked at the bodies. The other one was burnt and full of wounds. He covered his mouth and closed his eyes.

“God,” he said to himself. “How can something like this even exist?”

She appeared in the doorway and approached V’zul. “Are you hurt?”

He pointed with his right hand at his arm.

She reached over and lifted his arm. “Here, I’ll fix it.”

“No,” he raised his hand, stopping her. “I’ll trust it to a medical professional. Please, check on Richard.”

Katie looked over her shoulder and saw him staring at the bodies.

“Hey, you.”

He didn’t respond.

“You alright, old timer?”

He grabbed his chest and clenched his teeth. He fell to the ground shaking and coughing.

“Shit!” V’zul shouted. “Katie! Get us to a hospital!”

Katie wasted no time. She lifted him and Richard over her shoulders and kicked down the front door. She sprinted to the car, placed them in the back seat, and got to the front seat. Richard's dog ran outside, barking after her. She slammed on the gas and sped off as all the lights on the neighbor's front porch lit up.