“Did you spot something?” Simon asked, slowly getting up from his chair.

I frowned. “No, I don't think so. Actually… I can't be sure. How can you tell if there is something out there but you just can see it?”

“Well for starters, stop squinting and stand up straight.” Simon put his hand between my shoulder blades and pushed me upright. “Now, look out there and tell me if anything looks wrong. Don't try to look for anything specific. Just tell me if something is off, yes or no.”

I did as he said. Something was definitely off. But what? “Yeah, something is different.”

“Good! Now that we know something is different we just have to try and figure out what.” Simon sat back down in his chair and closed his eyes as if he were meditating. “Tell me when you spot it, or rather, her.”

He had said that Vika was on overwatch. Which I guessed meant she would be watching over us, probably with some kind of rifle. But what was that low brushing sound I was hearing? It was like something long and thin was being dragged across the ground. I closed my eyes to try and hear it better.

At first my dull human senses weren't up to the task. Then there was that fluttering feeling in my mind and I felt the night come alive around me. Things didn't get louder. They became clearer.

Sounds I hadn't noticed before, like the flight of bats and insects above us became apparent. But whatever the dragging noise was, it had stopped.

I inhaled deeply through my nose, ignoring the smell of grilled meat and vegetables. A slightly bitter and sharp vegetal note came to me on the breeze. It reminded me of the time I was playing near the tomato plants and accidentally fell in. I remembered how the broken branches had oozed a greenish fluid as if they were bleeding.

I called over the link as I crouched down next to Simon.

Simon's eyes snapped open. He put a finger to his lips and gestured to follow him as he got down on the ground. The dust from the red bricks left marks across his gray sweater.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Once again I heard that dragging noise. I asked, playing the sound back to him across the link.

Simon explained, while giving me zero clarity as to who or what Torheit was.

There was a sound of metal hitting flesh and winning as Vika fired her suppressed rifle from somewhere I couldn't see. Then there was a sound of panicked footsteps coming towards us. Someone was running, desperately trying to get to us before Vika could get another shot off.

I didn't know what to do. Simon said to stay but they could have grenades or something just as nasty. We were out in the open, too exposed. I looked over at Simon, he was slowly counting down on his fingers and when he hit zero all hell broke loose.

There was the sound of wire going taut followed by wet gurgling noises and a series of dull meaty thuds as if someone had dropped a half dozen cantaloupes onto the ground. “Oh God… Oh God no….” Said a female voice in Hund-Katzen followed by the sound of vomiting.

There was another wet thud and the vomiting stopped. I went to get up and see what happened but Simon stopped me.

There was the musical sound of something hitting a high tension wire somewhere between us and the villa followed by a scream that was cut short by another dull thud. We waited for a few minutes, listening for any signs of more intruders.

I asked.

As if to answer my question there was a high pitched cry of surprise followed by a sound like wet leather tearing then several more thuds.

Simon stood up and reached for a towel that was hanging off the grill. A half meter long baton made of some kind of black metal floated back to his hand, reeking of blood. He cleaned it off with the towel then it seemed to vanish into thin air.

I asked as I looked up at him from my place on the ground. That metal baton was the same one he had strapped to the back of his pack when they took out André.

Simon reached down and took a scrap of meat from my unfinished dinner plate, absentmindedly chewing as he looked out over the garden.

I did as my father asked and let him help me to my feet. I could smell blood, vomit, and something like freshly mown vegetation. I didn't want to look. I didn't want to see what had happened.

“Easy does it.” Simon said as he guided me up the path to the villa. “Easy does it, Hase.”