‘Careful!’ Annable shouted from inside the hotel. ‘Don’t do a John and trip while you approach them.’

John swore at her light teasing, but she didn’t care, a bit of banter always makes the day brighter. Even if it means someone needs to be teased once in a while.

Like Andrew, she joined the cult because she was unsatisfied with her previous life. Working in customer service made her bitter, believing that for the world to be better, was for it to be burned down to the ground and rebuilt. She remembered joining the cult like it was going to prom. Though this time with an opportunity she couldn’t turn down.

Pride rang through her heart, how she was part of a ritual to have her uterus removed so it could be used to birth the rightful rulers of this world. While it pained her that she couldn’t carry them to term, she could at least smile that she did what was requested of her. She also had bragging rights for staying awake during the whole ritual to witness Theodor’s magic first-hand.

Andrew approached the strange figure, yet she knew something was wrong. Her gut told her so. The person on the road stood still, his form only concealed by the night’s darkness. Andrew did his usual greetings to lower their guard, but Annable noticed Andrew froze when he got close to the man, and how his tail revealed itself.

Before Andrew could react, the man leaped towards him and grabbed onto his concealed shotgun. A flash followed with a loud bang, Andrew’s brain matter emptied onto the road.

Everyone stood there in shock, Annable fell to the ground in horror as she watched her friend’s lifeless body slumped to the ground. The figure wasted no time as they fired their assault rifle while they proceeded to advance. The machine gunners fired back, only for the roar of their guns to be silenced as their nest erupted in flames.

Annable ran back inside the hotel, to reach for her bolt-action rifle. ‘Board up the door! Don’t let them in. We need to hold this place for as long as possible!’ She ordered, helping her fellow cultist tip the pool table over and knocking over an antique bookshelf to block the entrance.

That will hold them off, it had to!

Gunshots thundered outside while bullets whistled and cracked passed the hotel, only for them to go silent as soon as it started. A fellow cultist banged on the door.

‘Help! Let me in!’ He screamed.

Annable was tempted to do something, perhaps push the door out of the way. No, I need to check first, she thought to herself.

She peered out the window to see Daniel holding onto his bloodied stomach. ‘Hey! We need to open…’

From the corner of her eye, the figure appeared. She raised her rifle and fired out of the window, shattering the glass as shards flew everywhere, even cutting her hand.

Seeing her error, she ducked to the ground as everyone fired at the entrance. Wood splintered as hot lead sped through the air to punch a fist-sized hole through the wall.

‘Hold your fire!’ Annable screamed, but it was no use as the deafening panic and the barking of guns threw everyone into chaos. Some were too drunk to keep their aim steady as one swung their machine gun around to the other side of the room thinking the figure was there. Only for them to accidentally gun down two of their friends.

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Everyone ceased fire once everyone’s magazines ran dry, one dropped their machine gun as their mistake became clear.

‘Shit! Jesus Christ, shit!’ He said over and over again while he pulled on their hair. They wept while they prayed for them to come back, but there was nothing he could do to save them.

Annable picked herself up to peek out of the window. It didn’t look like a human body, but a mass of bone and gore. She gagged as the stench of burnt pork rushed into her nose.

It’s Daniel’s body, ripped to shreds, his guts spread all over the entrance of the hotel and throughout the road. Yet what made her heart sink to the depths of her stomach, was the figure wasn't there. No body, nothing! It was like they vanished as soon as she took the shot.

She darted her head around, to witness a room of frightened friends.

‘Is everyone okay?’ She said, hoping it would bring back some sense of normalcy, to pretend that this was all a dream. She wanted it all to be a dream, for the nightmare to end.

Everyone in the room mumbled some answers back, John was the only coherent one to say someone died during the chaos. Despite the amount of alcohol he drank, he sobered up faster than anyone else. I suppose fear does that to people; she reasoned.

She had to step up, Annable knew she was the only person to keep everyone together. ‘Okay! We are facing a professional! I need everyone to load up and we’ll…’

She ended her rallying cry as something slammed against the outside wall. The bricks outside sliced and chipped as it sounded like the figure climbed the wall into the second floor. Her heart rushed with every beat, her skull thud as the sound of the glass window slid open followed by a heavy thump.

He’s here, right above us.

Her hands shook, the rifle rattled with every breath she took. No one dared move, they aimed their weapons at the stairs with their fingers shaking on the triggers. Yet they dug their heels in.

‘It’s just one person!’ Annable pointed out while she did her best to hide her trembling voice. ‘We’ll go get them!’ She raised her rifle as she approached the staircase, but no one wanted to move from their spots. Where they were was safe, a place that was doing well so far.

John tapped her shoulder, to tell her that he was there. She gave herself a sigh of relief as two more cultists decided to join her.

They all slowly, silently, walked up the stairs. The second floor felt eerie to Annable as it appeared welcoming and safe. When she knew well that it was anything but.

‘Stay here, I’ll check the rooms.’ The other cultists nodded in response as she crept her way down the hallway. The stock of her rifle dug into her shoulder as every step made her stiff. She faced one door, with a deep breath she opened the door slightly.

Empty, just an empty room.

Annable gasped like she just emerged from being underwater.

Okay, next room.

She made her way over to the second room. She couldn’t help but let out a smile, ‘this room is empty, I know it.’