Part 1
(Run…)
“Mmmm-oo-r-r-rr-e!”
(Run…)
“Mmmm-oo-r-r-rr-e!”
(Run!! Legs, damn you, run!) I could only shutter before the sight of the malformed horror movie like creature that stood towering over me. Its nearly broken wax body clinging together by strands of pulsating red veins, and with those blood-stricken eyes gazing deep into my soul, paralyzed me with fear.
“Mmmm-oo-r-r-rr-e!” The wax monstrosity raised its hands reaching out for me. The instant it made contact, unconsciously my body moved on its own.
“G-Get off!” I pushed the creature down to the ground, causing my shoulder to, once again, bleed profusely. “Dammit…ow!”
“Get down!” Instinct took over and I ducked at the call of a familiarly shrill voice. On the ground I watched as shadows warped and flickered in tune with a massive, intense burst of heat zooming across my back. When I looked up the wax creature had been consumed by flames. “Honestly…why do you continually bring about problems for me?” That demeaning tone could only have been her; the object of my torment, Anesha. “Stand back. You’re in the way.” Rudely, but maybe only in my mind, she pushed right by me and up to the creature being immolated.
“Hhhuu-hur-hurt!! H-ell-ppp!” It begged pitifully.
“…Anesha, wait!”
“Hmm? Are you daft? This thing…” She raised her boot into the air. “Is even less alive than that filthy homunculus from the other day.” With great force she crushed the head, splattering what looked like blood across the ground. “It only lives for the seed’s energy - it’s mana!”
“Then it was never alive?”
“No. It was just a doll with the ability to speak and need. Nothing more.” Though she said that, I observed what looked like bones fragment inside the melted wax.
“…The fire, it’ll attract attention.”
“Hmm? Don’t concern yourself. I-”
“Cast another ward over the complex?”
“…” A swift kick came to my knee.
“Ow! Why!?”
“Don’t interrupt me.” Anesha waved her hand and the fire swirled, incinerating the remains completely. “Now with that minor inconvenience cleared away…where did that thing come from?”
“Uh…the Rockwell estate, I think.” With that response Anesha’s expression soured…soured more so than before.
“What good does that do me? I’ve no idea where that is.”
“It’s downtown…er…” Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll take you there?”
“Good. Come!” Anesha sat atop her broomstick and pointed her index finger at the other end, just above the spiky amethyst spines.
“You can’t seriously want me to hold onto the end of that? My arm is still messed up and…!”
“Hmhmhm. Calm yourself, I merely jest. Now then, hurry.” It surprised me to see Anesha smile, let alone giggle in anything other than a sadistic manner. That demon in women’s clothing would have been beautiful…if not for her twisted personality. She scooched forward and gestured for me to join her.
“Fine…”
Part 2
The wind whizzing by my ears and freezing cold air helped distract me from the absolute horror I was enduring at that time. Just below, more than forty feet down, was the street - no the earth! Anesha and I flew atop her broomstick at a crazy fast pace! Everything below moved by so quickly, it was a blur. Slight murmuring came from in front of me. I couldn’t really tell what Anesha was mumbling about, but it didn’t sound good.
With my arms wrapping around her waist, I could feel a shockingly solid frame, and abs underneath her weirdly thin dress. On the outside, Anesha looked like a normal, very pretty girl…in weird clothing, but she felt so well-built that it was more like I was holding a model. Without really meaning to, I was enraptured with her strange clothing, and ended up thoroughly inspecting every piece she wore. Her platform boots gave her about 3 or 4 extra inches in height, and looked to be decked out with actual silver chains and facets. She wore long black leggings that ran all the way up to her dress, which sat just above her knees with an intentionally torn fringe, hemmed by that purple stitching, similar to her hat. The sleeves ended at her forearms, flaring out like a flower and revealing another thin looking shirt underneath. Each of her fingernails were painted a dark shade of purple; by that point I could tell it was her favorite color.
All of my studying was cut short as we suddenly descended at rapid speed, making me almost lose control of my bladder. Just stopping short of the ground, we’d reached the Rockwell estate. “Yeah, this is the place.” I said. A vice like grip grabbed my wrist and before I knew it, I’d been flipped onto the hard-unforgiving dirt with a thud. “Ow! Why this time?” Admittedly I had an assumption that it was to do with all my ogling.
“…” Anesha looked away. “Guess I can’t…even now.” She mumbled that to herself, clearly hoping I wouldn’t hear her. The air was rough as Anesha took very deliberate deep breaths. “This is the estate, no?”
“Yeah…” My shoulder and my back ached but bringing that up to Anesha would’ve likely received an ‘I don’t care’. “That thing, the homunculus came from the basement.”
“Basement? Show me.” I started for the back, but Anesha didn’t follow. “Why not use the front doors?”
“It’s locked…I think.” Even with my hardest pull and push the massive wooden double doors remained shut. “See?”
“Hmph!” With a snap of her fingers the threshold to the building blew open. “Magically sealed. My assumptions are all being met. Now, hurry and show me this basement.”
“Ok…” Even though it was probably one of the least most impressive things I’d seen done by that point; snapping her fingers and blasting open the doors was still amazing to me for some reason. Maybe it was because of all the regal and dismissive gestures that she employed, but everything Anesha did made her seem larger than life.
The loud clopping noise of Anesha’s boots on the floor made me feel uneasy. If there was anything in the building that was hostile, it would’ve definitely heard us coming a mile away. There was no doubt in my mind that the carnage in the basement wouldn’t faze Anesha, and I was right. She walked into the room, unperturbed and began to study the walls, paying no mind to the operating tables covered in hair and grime or the pools of blood splattered across the floor.
“I see now.” The glowing letters continued emanating light as Anesha drew her fingers across them. She flicked her finger and the wall disappeared. “This place is a disgusting mire of filth and simply amateurish craftsmanship that even as a child, I could’ve achieved. Come here.”
“What did you do?” From the distance that I stood, nothing beyond Anesha was visible. Just darkness that seemed to extend on endlessly. As I approached though, behind her, there was something slithering and trembling.
It wasn’t until I was standing right next to Anesha that I noticed what terrible secret that basement really held. The walls hadn’t disappeared, they became transparent, acting as a divider for what was on the other side. Tens of them, all malformed humanlike beings slinked around in the shadows, some being unable to stand due to their clearly broken legs or lack of legs entirely. Their deformed heads, tumorous growths, bulging guts from malnourishment and melted skin dragging across the ground…they were monsters. They crawled toward the glass a d ran their hands up and down while mouthing out words that I couldn’t fully hear.
“…” My legs gave out as I fell to the ground, horrified at the sight. “A-Anesha…what are these?”
“Unfinished homunculi. They’re most likely incomplete works their creator felt the need to keep around, for whatever reason. Not properly disposing of one’s own trash…how irresponsible.” So matter of fact, Anesha’s cold words came as she walked back to the center of the room.
“Why’d you want me to see this?” She began tracing something into the ground with her index finger.
“So that you’d understand what adversities you will face in time. Ignite!” The small glyph that Anesha drew into the ground began to burn. “Now, follow me. This building will soon be engulfed in flames.”
“What!? But what about them?”
“Again, with your compassion for homunculi?”
“There’s no reason to just let them die! They’re so pitiful…” The fire grew slowly.
“Pitiful? Yes. No reason to let them die? That, I disagree with. See for yourself, if you were to free them, then you’d regret it.” She directed my attention back toward the glass.
I turned and was faced with a mound of flesh standing at the wall. An enormous homunculus, nearly eight feet tall with no eyes, but a gaping maw covering the entirety of its wide and muscular body faced me. The mouth was filled from back to front with nothing but teeth. It began pressing against the divider as if it could see me. The rest of the homunculi began crawling over each other, pushing against the glass while reaching for me. Their fingers dug into the glass until they broke, leaving trails of blood on the window. Some tried to bite through the divider, their mouths following me, hungering for me. The harrowing sight was all I needed to see.
Part 3
On the hill overlooking the Rockwell estate, Anesha and I watched as the manor burned to the ground. People started coming out of their houses, concerned with the fire as it quickly became a massive inferno. “Will this be okay? It won’t move to the other buildings nearby, right?”
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“No. I’ve got total control of the flames.” Anesha took a seat on her floating broom’s handle and stretched. “I’m quite tired. Hm? What are you doing?”
She referred to me, on my hands and knees begging her. “Please! I’m absolutely begging you, Anesha. I have to know everything. All of this is too much! I know you don’t want to waste your breath on me or your time, but I really NEED to know! What is going on? Please!” I pleaded with my own personal demon. Her typically callous gaze began to relent.
Anesha sighed. “Those homunculi wanted the mana that you’re exuding. It must’ve been because you were frightened. That mana is, of course, from the seed of Yggdrasil. The seed has the ability to…”
“I know that!”
“You!” Anesha jumped down from her broom and drove the toe of her boot into my gut, knocking the wind out of me. “What did I tell you? You! Will! Respect! Me!” Each word, she stomped her foot on my head, driving my nose into the dirt.
“I’m…sorry…please forgive…me…”
“…”
She remained quiet with her boot still holding my head down. “I just want to know…what all of this is for? Who are you? What’s your goal? Is there…anyway we can make it…so I don’t die?”
“…” I was allowed to lift my head, or at least I guessed I was as Anesha removed her boot. “I am Anesha Kyteler. Simply put, my goal is to harness the power of the seed that is growing in your chest to become the Goddess of this world. That seed can rejuvenate this world and make it into a paradise, an Eden for humanity. Those monsters - the homunculi and more, most likely in the future, will come after you as this world will continue to be perverted into its truer form. A form lost long, long ago. They lust for the seed. There is no place on earth they could find a more rich and powerful source of mana.”
“You’re doing all of this just to be a Goddess?”
“…Yes. Just to fulfill my destiny and rule this world as its Goddess. I am the ruler this planet - no - you foolish humans need! I placed a spell on the seed so that I will have absolute control over it once it is ready in little under a years’ time!” Anesha’s eyes became fiercer as she spoke.
“…Why me?”
“You didn’t hear that either?! How silly! Fate…it is fate! Hm. Hahaha! A joke, I said that before and now I realize how ironic it is! You were only chosen as I ran low on time and options. The seed required an incubator and you were in the right place at the right time. The others met the same end.”
“Others?”
“They were simply incubators before you. Two men, I’ve forgotten their names now, but I placed the seed inside of their chests and within a week, the seed had ignited their blood to such a level that their bodies were nothing but scorch marks on the ground. Make no mistake, you’re alive not because you’re special, but because the men before you had their flesh coat the seed. If not for that, then you’d have ended up the same way in a week of the seed of Yggdrasil being implanted within you.”
“…”
“Do you understand everything now, Fate?” A grossly merciless smile. Her eyes stared at me with a crazed and evil look. I wanted to kill her…but stood no chance.
I was powerless to lift a finger against her, because she’d simply cast the spell from before and I’d become a vegetable. “Yes…I understand.”
“Then, I’ll offer a few free pieces of information, since you’ve been such a good boy tonight.” With a condescending pat to the top of my head, Anesha sat back on her broom. “I erected a barrier over this entire city. It was quite the miraculous feat. Now, praise me.” I was too scared to take the chance and assume she was being playful. Sheepishly, I obliged by offering halfhearted applause. “I wasn’t serious, you fool. Continuing on, that barrier is made to keep our real enemy away. The Great Witch’s Cabinet. They will continue to pursue us until they retrieve the seed…and if I’m assuming correctly, so will the creator who housed those monstrosities.”
“Wait, what?”
“Like I said before, they lust for the seed. Those glyphs required constant maintenance, which in my mind means that the creator can’t be too far away. They were also quite lackluster in their illustration. However, the person who taught the homunculus in the park that crude version of magic, must know some their self, no?”
“What do I do?”
“What do you do? Simple, you listen to my orders and stay alive. The seed will protect you as it’s host, but if your head were to get lopped off or your body were to receive too much damage, even with its healing ability, you’d still die.” Her small hand drew close to my face. She stroked my chin with her fingers and drew them up the side of my cheek. “You need not worry yourself. Naturally, I’ll keep an eye on you. I keep my possessions safe after all…”
“…” I remained quiet as Anesha let out a yawn, loudly.
“It won’t be long now. The fire will kill all of those monsters and it sounds as if the authorities are on their way now. You’d best hurry home.”
“Is there…really no other option? Can you take the seed somewhere else, give it to someone else…?”
“If I were to remove the seed from you, you’d die instantly. I’d have to dig a hole into your neck and pull out the seed as it burned your head clean off.” The thought of that drove home how hopeless the situation was. I was going to die and there was nothing to stop it. “Now then…off with you.”
“Wait, I can’t just ride with you again?”
“Absolutely not! …Find another way back to your home. I’ll keep an eye on you, so you’ll be safe. Hurry along!” With a falsely innocent wave and smile, Anesha floated upward into the sky and then shot off into the distance. My body began to ache again. Was it stress? I wasn’t sure. I just wanted to go home and sleep.
Part 4
Finally reaching my complex, just past 4:30 am, I walked into the corridor and nearly collapsed on the steps. The sound of the fluorescent bulbs humming over head was bizarrely calming. I’d grown accustomed to the noise as I’d spent most of my adolescence in that building. It was old, in need of a good cleaning and with more questionable types around it than I’d have liked to admit, but it was my home. The other tenants kept to themselves for the most part, often quiet despite my mother’s insistence on being friendly with everyone.
*Buzz, Buzz, Buzz*
My phone’s buzzing signaled that a message had come through. Perry posted something in the Occult Research and Study club group chat. “…Way too tired for this today.” I walked to my front door and entered the apartment without entertaining the messages.
“Fate!?” My mother surprised me as she sat on the couch, cross-legged and typing on her laptop. “Where were you!?” She said in a huff, her purple pajamas and red hair let down, showing that she was getting ready for bed herself.
“Oh…I was…” My shoulder was still in pain, but the bleeding had slowed down considerably. I could hide it under my jacket, so I began to let my guard down. “Truth is…Chester took us to a nightclub and…”
“Bull!” Quickly shut down. “I know Chester and I know he’d never go to a club. You were out looking for the Owlman, weren’t you?”
“What about the Owlman!?”
“Huh?” I must’ve frightened Mom as she got a bit pale. “Oh…it was on the news and stuff. Also, I watch the videos you guys post online…” Hearing anything even slightly supernatural at that point was bad. I was so on edge, that I was actively watching my own shadow out of the corner of my eye.
“…Oh, right. Wait! You watch our videos? How did you find them?” Our website wasn’t very popular and for sure wasn’t easy to find.
“Hahaha! Never doubt a Mom when it comes to supporting her son!” Mom puffed out her chest with confidence.
“Geez…now I have to worry if I said anything weird in those videos. You didn’t do anything like telling your friends or whatever, right?”
“What? Can’t I?”
“No way! That’s too…having my mother telling her friends to watch our investigation logs is way, way too cringe!”
“Bah! Hang on, you never answered me! Tell me the truth! Where were you?”
“We were at the underpass again…” I lied.
“Really? Well, listen, if you’re really going to try and track this Owlman down, then make sure you remember your martial arts training!” She mocked Kungfu while still seated on the couch.
“Yeah, right…you mean playing fighting games? That’s about all I’ve got.”
“Also…could you explain the scar on your neck to me now?”
“…” Caught. I was about to head into my room and finally go to bed, but she’d stopped me right in my tracks.
“…You’re not going to say anything?”
“…It’s not that important…you know?”
“I saw it while you were sleeping the other day. I came into your room and was going to wake you up to let you know I was leaving, but then you rolled over and I noticed your scar.”
“…I…”
“It looked terrible from what I saw. Also, it explains why you’ve been wearing those turtle necks lately.”
“…Yeah. I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“You know what makes me worry?” She got up from the couch, looking distressed. “When my son stops going outside and starts hiding scars! It makes me think you’re involved with some kind of gang or drugs or whatever.”
“It’s not like that at all, Mom.” Mom wasn’t going to give up, I could tell by how her blue eyes sat transfixed on mine. “…I got in a fight with Gabby’s boyfriend the other day…” It wasn’t a lie. “He…kind of beat me up. It was embarrassing…okay?”
“Did he do that to you!? I’ll call the fucking cops if he did!”
“No. That’s separate. I didn’t want to be around the college until everything cooled down. That’s why I’ve been staying inside. As far as the scar, I went to the doctor’s office and they said it isn’t anything to worry about.”
“Seriously?” Mom pulled my head up in order to check the scar. I had to hold my jacket in place to avoid exposing the other wound I’d sustained. “…” She looked over the scar and touched it with her fingers. I got nervous, expecting to vomit all over her, but I felt nothing. No vomit, or even her hand, really. “They said there was nothing to worry about when it comes to a scar like this?”
“That’s what they said…”
“Get a second opinion. Whatever doctor sees that and says that it’s fine, needs to be fired, then punched in the face.” Mom walked back to her seat and continued working on the laptop. “Go to bed…we’ll talk more tomorrow. I’ve got to finish fixing these backups.”
“Good night, Mom.” Finally, my mother relented and allowed me to head to my room. As soon as the door closed, I nearly passed out. When I laid up against the wall of my secure, little room, I relished in the peace and quiet of my nonchaotic space. The numerous classic horror movie posters on the walls looking back at me, my game systems stacked up on the curio stand next to the books I’d collected about film and video editing, my personal space was deeply personal. When anyone would enter my room, they’d say I needed to clean it. I felt all the clutter around gave it personality, honestly.
Toward the bed, I dragged my beaten and exhausted body, but then my eyes were drawn over to the window seated at the back of my room. The alley behind my apartment complex where I first set eyes on Anesha; for obvious reasons that view gave me a near anxiety attack, but… (All of this is kind of cool, though…right?) The occult loving freak in me was fascinated by everything that was happening. Witches, homunculi, magic? I’d always dreamt of uncovering stuff like that, but when it’s dropped onto my doorstep I couldn’t even enjoy it. “Aggh…shit.” I started fussing around in bed until my shoulder popped and started hurting really bad again. Fortunately, the wound hadn’t gotten any worse from the looks of it. “Better bandage this back up.”
By then, I’d learned to store a first aid kit underneath my bed just in case I got hurt again. With my back against the wall I pulled out my phone to check the proper method for bandaging my shoulder. When the phone turned on, the screen read out that multiple messages had come through.
Perry messaged a lot, but being totally exhausted, I just wanted to quickly skim through them. The messages read… [Up editing the footage and browsing the internet. I found a bunch of weird news headlines that are just breaking right now! I’ll leave these here, so we can talk about them tomorrow.] He posted 3 separate articles.
The first one read off: Giant footprints found in Ireland!
The second: Chilean man claims to have been attacked by strange monster known as Basilisco Chilote!
The third: Owlman returns! Greenville in terror!
When I read the last one, my skin began to crawl. The irony was getting to me. (This is…what Anesha said, right? The world will be perverted, or something…) So many strange and interesting stories were opening up, but deep down I knew it wasn’t good. That all the dangerous creatures I’d seen to that point would only make my life harder, but I was really excited too. “What now…?” I couldn’t tell if it were a dream or a nightmare come true.
Part 5
“Anesha was…a problem that should’ve been dealt with ages ago. We have only ourselves to blame.”
“…The human world is vast. We’ve not had direct contact with those…I struggle to even call them this, people, in hundreds of years.”
“Hahaha! You stuffy old men. You just sit around and don’t know how to enjoy life!”
“Edith! This is no laughing matter!”
“Reagan is correct. If not for your lack of aging, you’d be no different from us.”
“Hahaha!”
“…That wasn’t my point. My point was that we cannot track her, we cannot break the barrier she created to enclose us and worst of all, with her having the seed in her possession it won’t be long until humanity knows of the existence of our civilization. Caelan, your thoughts?”
“Hmm…if I had to say, I’d think we’re in a better situation now than in previous years. As of late, we’ve recovered much of our strength and if not for the barrier that young Kyteler had placed on our home we’d have pursued her, captured her, and punished her accordingly by now. For the time being, though…we’ll have to send someone who doesn’t fit the parameters of the barrier until we can rewrite it.”
“My oh my, that’s an idea! I’ll decide on who to send, since Anesha was my responsibility. Is that okay, Reagan?”
“I’ll leave it in your hands. Remember, this is of the utmost importance. Our people, the lives of witches and warlocks alike rely solely on the Great Witch’s Cabinet. We must bring Anesha to justice.”
End of chapter 5