Track 09 - Last Smoke / Tree Leaves

"Thinks he can just send a demon to my forest. Kill MY friends!"

There was a blinding explosion as glass shot out of the restaurant and onto the street. With a loud sound to combine it all, the restaurant once known as Displo's erupted in flames.

Mommy and her posse watched from a safe distance. It was the only enjoyable part of this. She regretted volunteering to deal with Displo. She hated torturing robots. "They don't feel pain like regular people. They can just ignore it." She often remarked. But when it came to the explosion she took much pleasure in watching Displo try to stumble out of the building only to be swallowed up by the explosion.

Satisfied she walked away, steadily followed by a small crew of demons. As she walked away she placed a phone call.

"Yes?" The called one spoke.

"It's done."

"Good."

"And the others?"

"Who cares? We got one. They'll get the message."

"Very well. See you soon."

She hung up, not in any rush to get home. After all it was such a beautiful night. Still a distance to her car, it gave her all the more time to enjoy the evening.

There was nobody else walking this late at night, though if there were they would have seen Mommy in her intimidating demeanour leading a pack of demons all dressed identically.

A few cars were parked on the street and the few remaining open shops were empty. There was no activity anywhere.

Except for one thing. A few blocks later, as Mommy rounded a corner she heard something. A vocal duet, two voices singing in harmony down an alley, poorly lit. She had heard it just as it reached its crescendo and it was steadily failing. There were two voices and someone cheering. She recognized one of the voices and a person cheering. Preferring not to intervene she stopped at the alley's end, waiting for the performance to conclude.

She listened in as the second performer's voice vanished, the other one concluding the song. The person cheering had stopped to, the 'concert' reaching a close. She heard a brief discussion between two of the voices, further confirming who it has. A large smile grew on her lips, mind wondering what exactly those two would be doing out here late at night.

Not wanting them to reign on their parade she let them finish up.

Two of the three performers eventually stepped out of the alley. A girl with long auburn hair and a boy with bright blue hair. They were talking, a sombre look on both faces.

"That was a good show you to did." Mommy said earnestly, stepping into the entrance blocking either one.

"Mom!" The girl said and gave her a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Surprised the boy just said, "beep?!", not expecting to see her.

Mommy looked down the alley. There wasn't much of note, graffiti, trash cans, discarded palettes, and one out of place thing. Lying face down, clearly deceased was a man with green hair, pants and a black coat. There was a lit cigarette next to him, a small trail of green smoke flowing from the dying ember.

She didn't remember his name. He was just someone on a long list of 'employees' she had. Someone she had hired to get rid of the blue boy standing in front of her. And she hadn't trusted him much either, figuring him some sort of rat, undercover agent, or disguised enemy of hers.

She looked to the boy. "So you took him out, huh." She said approvingly.

"Beep?"

"Maybe you aren't so bad after all. Come on, let's go get a midnight snack." She said cheerily. She ruffled the boy’s hair, the blue-haired boy looking confused at the situation.

And the three were off, a small crew of demons following them.

Elsewhere...

Now Playing...

Artist: Bull of Heaven

Song: Superstring Theory Verified

It was all quiet in the park. There was, for a time a campfire, and someone stringing along on a guitar. But a scream later that was all put out.

For now this was just an empty park in the middle of town, quiet and slumbering like the rest of the city. Large and blanketed in trees, paths and shrubs it boasted its one ecosystem across the town.

A few beings lurked in the park though kept their appearance concealed.

There was one person lurking openly however. An adolescent boy stalked the trees. He had scared those late nighters, timing his appearance with the telling of their scary stories. A mane full of black hair, a mocha-coloured hoodie, black pants and running shoes covered him. The hoodie was bloodstained, but not a result of any particular attack, it was something that was ingrained into him. Human in appearance he had long since lost his humanity. He didn't identify as anything anymore, though a certain cloud-headed individual would have called him an 'abomination'.

It would have been evident reading his face but he wore a mask upon it. A stage theatre frowning mask modified to his liking. Mocha-coloured like the hoodie, it had red marker outlines around the mouth and eyes. It looked to have been carved out of wood. No visible eye slots, black paint in place of the eyes. It didn't hinder the boy's movements.

It hid a distorted face, twisted smile and impossible proportions but for now the mask would do. Much as he wanted to show the world what he had become he knew that time would arrive later. It would scare all who gazed upon it.

He held a knife, specks of blood coating the blade. They had long since dried, causing rust on the knife.

He walked awkwardly, feet not facing straight as he did. He was still getting used to it, only having been brought back a few hours ago. In one lifetime everyone called him Jeff and, in his short life he didn't achieve much. He had defended his brother, defended his brother again, found he liked the violence and, knife in hand found his talent. One immolation later he found himself among the land of the dead where he continued to hone his skills amongst the unliving.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

This was his first time back in the saddle and even though he wasn't moving as he thought he was loving it. Cold air stinging his hands, giving the knife a death grip, stalking among the trees and hunting. It was the life.

At least, it would've been if he could find his target. Jeff approached another tree. This one looked big enough to hide in. Like a beetle crawling he hoisted himself up and stabbed blindly into the foliage.

There was nobody here except few squirrels that summarily ran away.

He was given this task off a rumour. That he be granted passage back to Earth as long as he could hunt and kill one goat-headed fellow. The only intel he received was that this monster slept in this park. The other piece of the contract was to be as brutal as he wanted, which he gladly enjoyed.

He pictured the 'goatman' stalking trees, watching him closely. It made Jeff all the more excited as he jumped in each tree.

If he could find him!

So, approaching the forest he entered the perimeter, looked around for a bit then began checking every single tree. All he had done so far was scare a group of kids.

Another tree, jump up and stab. Look through the leaves and all Jeff saw was a robin's nest, the babies looking at him surprised. He sighed, letting himself fall off the tree.

Not a soul to be found and he was starting to get fed up. It didn't help that the whole forest was filled with fairies and sprites. They had all steered clear of him, but he could see them fluttering away, glowing wings lighting as they flew around the trees.

He had the assumption at first that they might be helping the goat-headed man but later figured that couldn't be the case. They weren't scheming nor were they paying him much mind. If they had raised alerts the goatman would've gone after him.

He hadn't wanted to kill any fairies but his boredom was growing insatiable. Maybe if the goatman heard them scream he would make appearance. He walked forward, pretending to keep looking. He waited till one of the fairies was in reach he grabbed it.

Sparing the reader the gruesome details the blue fairy he caught expired. It let out a quiet shriek and faded but otherwise did nothing to help his search, wings landing on the ground.

The park was among the largest in the city. Large enough that Jeff had not run into the other denizens yet. However, such a shriek had not gone unheard. It got the attention of a few others.

Across the park there were two people, both in search of somebody. The third one, who had heard was silently watching Jeff, curious to his appearance in this place.

Now that the third one had seen Jeff's murder, she knew to intervene.

She would have acted first, had not the one of the former not appeared.

Something huge landed in front of Jeff, causing him to take a step back.

It was a woman. She wore a black tiara, a white and blue jumpsuit, black belt coalescing into a cape. Her eyes glowed brightly, swirls of orange and purple. She stood up, easily towering over him.

She didn't look human. While Jeff had considered just attacking her right then and there he paused. A person of this size intimidated him. It would take a lot of stabbing to bring her down. He needed to lure her into a sense of security first.

She smiled at Jeff. "So, you're the one they sent..~" She said, sizing him up. "Well I guess it makes sense they'd send someone his size. Sort of. You're a scrawny one aren't ya?"

"Where is he?" Jeff hissed.

"Name's Nikusa. What's yours?" She pretended not to hear him.

Jeff growled in response. He pointed his knife at her. "Where. is. he?"

"Ohhh, himmm? He doesn't live here anymore. Gone. Vanished!" She said bored.

"Where?"

"I said he ain’t here. What're you, deaf? I. Don’t. Know. Where. He. Is." She laughed at him.

Jeff's whole body language changed. "Then I'm done here."

"Hm. Don't let me keep you." She glanced to the side, noticing something moving on either sides of the trees.

Jeff started walking towards Nikusa,

"HehehehaahaaHAHAAHAA-" Jeff giggled as he walked by Nikusa, turning suddenly to gut her. He plunged his knife into her exposed stomach, the knife not even piercing her clothing.

However, she had predicted this and grabbing Jeff's knife threw him and the weapon into a tree. She slammed him against it, shaking the leaves with the hit. She had no problem outright gripping the blade, the edge not cutting her. She threw Jeff back into the clearing, the killer landing with a thud.

He had not done any damage to her, at most getting some orange rust on her hand. She bent down and rubbed her hand against the grass, cleaning it. The attack knocked the wind out of him.

"Nice try pipsqueak. You'll have to do better than that."

Now enraged Jeff stood up and pulled out another knife. He had been hurting for a kill. If it meant he had to work for it he didn't care. She was going down.

Just before he could lunge at her something shot from the tree behind him. It stopped him.

A glob of neon green liquid. It burned the grass as it bubbled into the ground. Whatever it was let off a strong chemical scent as it dissolved the grass, leaving a black patch.

Two neon green eyes and a mouth glowed up in the tree. There was an outline of neon green hood. As he looked he saw that whoever it was in the tree glowed neon green, their attire having it emblazoned throughout.

On either side of the attackers face he saw glowing were two nuclear warning symbols.

"You don't want this fight." The muffled voice said from above. Jeff could see the figure moving a finger in front of his face mockingly.

Jeff looked back to Nikusa who was smiling ecstatically. He had to rethink his strategy. Clearly she was stronger than she looked. And the green guy had some sort of power he couldn't contend with.

But before Jeff could move the third watcher made their appearance, further amused by the display. She threw the signal.

From either side Jeff heard guns being drawn. Out from the sides of trees came several people of different races and species. They held pink guns, pistols, rifles and weapons. There was a leader amongst them, though the darkness kept them concealed.

The only thing visible of them in the fairies light was they all wore pink garments. To Jeff it was looking more like an ambush. Though, unbeknownst to him, Nikusa and the nuclear guy had no idea these people would be making an appearance.

The nuclear guy shifted uneasily in the tree, racking his head he may need to kill a whole lot. Nikusa didn't react, only grinning more at the appearance of a third party.

It was a tense situation though no party made a direct move. A bunch of fairies congregated among the armed squad. As Jeff looked he saw their faces held scorn.

"He the one?" Unseen, the leader of the armed ones spoke. Jeff looked around, eyes settling on one particular figure holding a pink sniper rifle. There were white flowers emblazoned on it. It was around this person that most of the fairies congregated around. Jeff could only make out that it was a woman.

The fairies nodded in unison, pointing at Jeff. He realized what he had done. He may have felt no remorse but knew when it was time to grovel and back down. He sheathed the knife. "I apologize for that. It was not my intention to harm the fairy. I am merely looking for someone."

He wanted no more than to gut each of them but also knew when he was outnumbered.

"And what of those two?" The leader asked the fairies. She pointed at Nikusa and the nuclear fellow in the tree. They just shrugged, some shaking their heads.

"We're not with him, if it's not obvious." Nikusa said with a huge grin. "We're just having a late night walk that's all." She said with a grin.

The sniper turned back to Jeff.

"And who are you looking for? This forest is home to the fairies and my friends. If they dwell here I know them."

She pulled the hammer back on the rifle, loading a bullet in the chamber.

It didn't faze Jeff. "I am looking for the goat-headed man."

"A goat-demon used to stalk these forests. Baphomet probably. He's gone now. But you've killed one of my comrades. That's unforgivable."

"I'm just an innocent guy. It was just an accident. I am a demon-slayer." Jeff said innocently.

"Alright. Say I believe you. Fairies? Do we forgive him?"

There was a bunch of heads shaking. The common answer was no.

"Thought so."

"You’re making a mistake." Jeff watched as

"So the goat demon's gone." Nikusa mused. "Do you have any idea where?"

The sniper shook her head. "Gone. Vanished. Probably back to the same hell this one will go."

"Hm." Nikusa said, her grin getting wider. "Killer guy. How about you tell us who hired you? Maybe we'll let you go."

The sniper lowered her gun slightly, glancing to Nikusa sceptically. Nikusa didn't pay her any mind and the sniper could read her face well. She meant to egg him on.

"You will?" Jeff said flatly.

"Oh, sure." The sniper added, playing along.

"A family of demons."

Nikusa glanced to the sniper as her face contorted, an anger rising in it. "Thinks he can just send a demon to my forest. Kill MY friends." The sniper muttered fiercely. "After all this." She said, voice quivering.

Nikusa's smile widened, knowing exactly what she had done. "Let's call that a bonus."

The sniper raised her gun again, putting a finger on the trigger.

"Stand back Nikusa." She muttered. Nikusa nodded and complied, getting out of the way. Unseen, the nuclear guy did as well, shifting himself in the tree to get a better look.

"Wait." Jeff said finally.

The sniper raised her free hand.

And they all opened fire.

The next chapter will be called The Grim Morning.