Mark’s head pounds and he grits his teeth, afraid that he couldn’t keep his promise to Amy. He disappeared, sliding down into the shadows. Fury smiled, eager for an actual fight.
“I love hide and seek,” he whispered. “I always win.”
He turned around and grinned, walking in such a motion to avoid the shadows. The clouds in the sky shifted again, and this time, Mark had a new advantage. The shadows moved in Fury’s direction, and they shot out, taking the shape of large vicious claws.
Mark peeked up, the top of his head only visible from the ground. He hid in the shadows as they moved, hoping that he could dodge another attack.
Fury stood there, unfeeling, and his arms were ripped. Large wounds crisscrossed his arms and back, ruining his outfit. He promptly took off the shirt and turned around.
More bones protruded from his body as he inspected the shadows, cold and calculating. They pushed out of his legs and arms and wrapped around them. Mark grimaced, wondering what attack he would do next.
Instead, Fury made armor out of the new bones he grew around his body. They covered his arms and legs, solidifying together into one giant mass.
“Come out now or else I’ll leave,” Fury declared.
Mark sunk back down, refusing to do as told. Why come out if he was going to leave?
Fury puffed up his chest, upset at being ignored. He kneeled down into a starting position and grinned.
“I like the small ones,” he said to himself. “More fat.”
He shot out, faster than before. Mark chased him through the shadows, sharp and protruding, but they couldn’t get through his armor. With ease Fury crashed through his barrier, the door, and into the main building.
Mark could no longer hide in the shadows as the main building was poorly lit. He jumped out and ran after him, quick to stop any more harm. Fury cackled as he ran through the halls, and left indents in the walls.
He would slam into a wall whenever he hit a corner but would keep going, enjoying the chase. Mark tried to keep up with him but he couldn't. He used a lot of energy earlier and was incapable of running forever.
Fury could run as long as he wanted, not restricted by a heart or lungs.
He was a bull in a china shop, his horns pushing up against school posters, decorations, and shattering glass windows. He started tearing off whatever got close enough within reach.
Just like all of Deceit’s children, he enjoyed any chance to cause chaos and discord.
He slid to a grinding halt and looked around. Fury looked around as if something amazing had occurred.
"Blood," he said to himself.
He turned around and ran in Mark's direction.
Mark ran away, this time faster, death on his heels. He ran to the right down a hallway and Fury went left. Mark stopped, panting and confused.
He started to run again, following him in the dark. Some of the hallways were lit, or there was only one light on. He jumped into all the shadows he could find and came out through the other side in a different hallway, trying to reach Amy and the children before Fury did.
He ran down the main hallway, his sneakers squeaking and heart racing, trying not to pass out from the sudden exertion. He entered the main lobby, with a large rose window, the colors shining onto the wooden floors.
The kaleidoscope of colors was the only light source in the lobby, and Mark worried that if it came down to a fight he wouldn’t have enough shadow to work with.
“We can go to the bathroom later,” said a voice from afar.
Slowly Mark walked towards the source of the voice and relaxed when he saw it was just Amy.
She was corralling them all into a large utility closet behind a stairwell. She was exhausted, and her witch costume no longer looked cute but now creepy.
Amy wasn’t handling the stress very well, and her entire body was pale and sweaty. Amy looked more like an evil witch, preparing to put the children inside an oven to be cooked.
“Stay here,” she whispered. “Don’t say a word.”
She shut the door and nearly jumped out of her skin when Mark approached her.
“We have to go,” he wheezed. “That monster is looking for the children.”
“Let me help,” she pleaded. “We can-”
“Amy no,” Mark groaned. “He’s invincible. With every attack I do, he doesn't feel a thing.”
“Let me trick him then,” Amy insisted. “You can get away with them while I make him think he’s somewhere else!”
“He can’t feel, but he can definitely see. Can you make him believe he’s in pain?”
“I don’t think I can."
Amy and Mark left the nook behind the grand staircase and looked around the lobby. Crashes could be heard in the distance as Fury approached them. Mark held Amy’s hand and grimaced when he felt something wet.
“What happened,” he asked.
“I cut my hand while running,” Amy replied.
Fury came running down the halls, serious and focused. Amy gripped Mark’s hand and screamed. Her eyes glowed pink and Fury rammed right into them. They went flying into the air, and they landed on the floor, crumpled and dead.
Fury smirked, victorious as usual.
Amy and Mark watched from afar as he stood there, grinning, falling for her illusion. She put her finger over his mouth to gesture don’t make a sound.
Fury walked up to what he thought was Mark's corpse but was simply an illusion. "Not strong enough," he grunted.
Fury needed a new host. Its arms were shredded by Mark, and he needed something to eat if he wanted to heal back up. He tore off Mark's arm and chewed, hoping that he could regain some energy.
He waited, but his wounds did not heal. He was puzzled and ate more and more. Amy and Mark watched him, confused as to what he was doing, wondering why he didn't leave yet.
Fury stood up in frustration and decided that he needed to just find a new body. He took a few steps but stopped when he heard someone approach.
“I need to use the bathroom,” the boy in the bear costume announced.
Amy and Mark didn’t move. They gripped their hands tighter in fear, hoping that the illusion did not break. Fury grinned.
“I can take you,” he offered.
The boy ran away and Mark ran after him. Fury turned to look. The illusion was broken and he was thrown into a rage.
"Come here," he bellowed. He grabbed Mark by the arm and he screamed. Shadows leaped up from the floor. The little light from the rose window gave him a fighting chance.
The boy ran off, back to hide in the closet and Amy’s eyes glowed again, trying to create another illusion.
It’s harder to trick them once they break the first one, Amy thought. Just make it realistic.
The shadows furled around Fury and latched onto him. They dragged him off Mark and he screamed. Mark grinned, knowing that he could win. Fury screamed in anger as the shadows curled around his body, crushing it.
He did not feel pain, but only anger for losing for the first time in his undead life. Suddenly, the shadows collapsed. The room was dark. The clouds had moved again outside, blocking the rose window.
Amy shook, unable to create an optical illusion in the dark, another lamb for the slaughter.
“Mark,” she whispered. “Where are you?”
Mark didn’t say anything, afraid that Fury would find him in the dark. He held his breath and tried not to move as Fury walked in the dark.
“What makes you think you can hide from me,” Fury cackled. “I can smell blood all over the two of you.”
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A soft sound could be heard in the dark and Amy cried out. She covered her mouth and shook as she heard the last sounds Mark would ever make. Loud splashes of blood could be heard as it fell onto the floor, and the cracking of bones joined them, creating a horrible song of death.
Soft squelches permeated the dark. Mark’s body sounded like it was being prepared to be turned into a glass of fine wine, as Fury used his indomitable strength to step on his body, over and over.
He was long dead, and Fury knew. He kept going, enjoying his game of hide and seek.
The sounds continued in the dark, and Amy shook in terror, unable to help or do a thing. She cried silently, hands over her mouth, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to find her as long as she stayed quiet.
The clouds moved again and Amy saw his body.
Mark’s eyes were wide open in shock, and he was on the ground, in a pool of blood, missing an arm. His limbs were mangled and broken, and Fury was eating a chunk of his arm. His entire abdomen was mashed into a pulp, and Fury made loud noises as he bit into Mark's arm, his demonic hunger never filling. Amy screamed and Fury licked his lips, savoring his prize.
He looked her straight in the eyes as he did it, enjoying the terror in her.
He could smell it.
“Don’t worry, you’re next,” he laughed.
Bits of Mark fell out of his mouth and Amy shrieked even louder.
“Sorry,” he coughed. “Bad table manners.”
Amy created another illusion, but this time she knew she had to make it believable. She ran, and Fury caught her by her hair. He slammed her to the ground and she let out a shriek. Her head rattled and everything went dark for a second.
He grabbed her by the hair again, and slammed her down, getting Mark's blood all over her hair. Amy rolled away on her side and knew she had to do it now before the lobby became dark again.
Fury walked right on over, her screams exciting him, and he caved Amy's head in with his foot.
Her face was no longer there, and her head split open like a melon. She was completely unrecognizable, her bright pink hair giving the only indication of who the body belonged to. Her fingers twitched a little and then stopped as she died in a pool of her own blood.
“I win,” Fury shuddered. “I always win hide and seek.”
He walked off, their bodies dead and mangled on the floor, the colors from the rose window giving the horrible scene an ethereal feeling. Amy's corpse faded away, and the illusion ended. She heaved, breathing hard and spent.
It worked, she thought. I let him hit me twice and he fell for it.
Amy was regretting her choice, as her head now felt like the inside of a dryer the way everything was spinning. She crawled over to the utility closet and the children greeted her.
“I’m sorry,” the little boy in the bear costume cried. “I won’t do it again.”
“It’s okay,” she slurred. “You didn’t know.” She was about to fall asleep but then jerked right up.
I can’t sleep right now, she told herself. I have a concussion. If I sleep now I won’t ever wake up.
She got to her feet and told the children they would play a new game.
“This time, we’re playing tag,” Amy whispered. “You gotta catch me. I’m it.”
“I don’t want to play,” the girl in the frog costume whined.
“It’s okay,” Amy slurred. “You can just follow behind.”
The kids exited the utility closet, and for the last time, Amy’s eyes flashed and she used her ability. It felt good to use her ability to make someone feel better. Ever since she joined the Defense Program, all she created were horrible scenes.
This time she made it seem as if Mark’s corpse were not there, that she was not covered in blood, and that she was smiling. The illusion of her ran off, and children chased her, believing it was all real.
She followed as the children weren't very fast with their short legs. The illusionary Amy took them out to the parking lot, back to the Jeep, and then she disappeared. The children were upset, and then they noticed the real Amy was behind them the entire time.
“That’s cheating,” the girl in the goat costume complained.
"It's okay," she mumbled. "We can play later."
They sat outside of the car, talking quietly, and Amy tried to stay awake. She fell asleep for a few seconds and was shaken awake.
Mary Jane, Julia, and Annie returned. Annie had blood on her hair and nails, somehow Julia was impeccably clean, and Mary Jane had blood all over her fists and face.
The children moved away, afraid that someone new was there to hurt them.
“It’s okay,” Amy slurred. “They’re friends.”
The children were still wary of them and Mary Jane rolled her eyes. “Please tell me one of these children can fly,” Mary Jane said coolly.
“My auntie can," a child said, raising his hand as if this were school.
“Great,” Mary Jane sneered.
She noticed that Mark was gone when she scanned the crowd of tiny faces.
“Where’s the guy,” Mary Jane asked.
“Didn’t make it,” Amy whispered.
Julia helped Amy get up and put her into the car.
She took out napkins from her face and cleaned some of the blood off of Amy’s body as Mary Jane’s body went numb.
I killed that guy, she thought. I should have never split up. They were weaker than us, and I left them to die.
She glanced at the children, one who had wet himself, and their silly costumes.
How can we keep them alive if he died and she barely survived?
“What should we do with them,” Annie asked.
"Let's take them somewhere safe," Mary Jane suggested.
Annie's fingernails grew, long and sharp, grotesque claws, and she went up to a nearby SUV. She pierced it with her thick nails and opened the car from the inside. The alarm went off and she opened the bottom and turned it off. Mary Jane was stupefied as she deftly hotwired the car and it roared to life.
“Where did you learn that,” Mary Jane asked.
“Grew up in a bad place,” Annie replied.
I thought everyone here was a rich asshole, but I guess I was wrong, Mary Jane thought.
Amy had to coax the children into the SUV and they all got inside. “It’s a little tight,” Julia complained. “Some of us should take the Jeep.”
“Mark had the keys,” Amy said, despair in he voice. She leaned in the front passenger seat and started to sob. The children became afraid again, as they now saw Amy as the new Mrs. Nala.
“He’s gone and I don’t know what to do," she cried. "We were going to get married next year and he's gone!"
They had met when they were eight, dated since they were thirteen, and knew that they would be together forever. Some people just knew when they met someone. Amy and Mark knew.
Apparently forever for Amy and Mark was only ten years.
Julia looked away awkwardly, not knowing how to console Amy over the loss of her childhood sweetheart.
"I'm sorry for your loss," she mumbled.
She was about to reach over to comfort her but pulled her hand away, not knowing what to say to the stranger.
“Please Jules, I love you, but shut up,” Annie sighed. "You're being inconsiderate."
They drove off, back into the woods, having no other clue where to go. This time they went to the lake. There was a gift shop near the pier, filled with snacks, canoes, an office, and a public bathroom, and strangely, the electricity worked. The kids cheered because they could have candy for a second time that night. They ran around the gift shop as Mary Jane pushed a decorative statue in front of the entrance so no one could get inside.
“Let’s stay here,” Mary Jane said. “You guys can stay with the kids and I’ll head back.”
“Are you crazy,” Annie screeched. “We are not losing another person.”
“I have two abilities. I’ll be fine. I want to find my boyfriend, Dexter, and someone who can get us out of here,” Mary Jane stated. Her voice was deadpan. She was tired, it was 3 AM, and the boots were starting to hurt her feet, yet she was still adamant about leaving, now that she knew that they were all safe, and she wouldn't have any guilt if they died now that the children had three chaperones.
“Levi’s strong too,” Annie pleaded. “He can take care of himself!”
“I think he’s always bluffing,” she said. “I won’t lose him.”
Mary Jane shuffled through the gift shop until she found an astral’s favorite snack: beef jerky. She quickly scarfed down the bag, trying to replenish the iron so she could continue using her ability for the rest of the night. Some of the children had found corners of the room to sleep in, exhausted, coming down from another sugar rush, and they started to doze off, bags of food in their laps, mouths covered in colored something, and Amy held the sticky hand of one of them.
It was more for herself if anything.
“Please stay,” Julia whispered. “You’re the strongest of us all.”
“Jules you can make people explode, you’ll be fine,” Mary Jane sighed.
“It hurts to do it,” she protested. “Stay!”
Amy glared at Julia and laid into her. “Let her find her boyfriend,” Amy snarled. “Don’t let her lose what's important to her like I did.”
Julia held back tears and started to shake. She couldn't handle losing Mary Jane. Mary Jane was the strongest of them all, physically and mentally. Julia was afraid that if she left they would either die or they would die inside.
“I know I’m in charge of Team 8, but what are you guys going to do when I’m gone,” Mary Jane complained.
“You, you’re leaving,” Annie stammered. "Why!? When?"
“Yeah,” Mary Jane sighed. “When training is over I’m going to do ambassador work for the Union. My mom helped me get the job. Not everyone likes this shit.”
She gestured around to the messy gift shop, the people covered in blood and trauma.
“Don’t leave,” Mary Jane commanded them. “Don’t stop me either.” She moved the statue out of the way with one hand and opened the door. Without looking back she walked over to the SUV, still running, about to die.
Mary Jane couldn't drive, but she figured it was time to learn. She drove off, 100 miles an hour, believing that she was invincible, unable to stop.