Katie expected a lot to happen that night, and she wasn’t disappointed. After several nights of mostly silence and her doing quite the poking, this apartment complex was finally getting haunted! Despite the few...minor issues, Katie got the excitement she sought after.
A few minutes after finishing the bath, when Katie was sitting on the ground in the suite and casually minding her own business, she suddenly heard a few clicking sounds from one of the walls of the living room. By the time she looked up, she was intrigued to find a darkened humanoid shape on the wall. It was as if someone was sealed inside the walls, and now, he was trying to climb out.
The man in the wall.
The nice person that she was, Katie decided to give that person a little help by carving into the wall with her Knife to help him break out. Yes...the wraith-killing, soul-destroying Knife. By the time she was done, the human shape was gone, and it definitely wasn’t coming back anytime soon.
Talk about dealing with horror properly.
Another time, as Katie was in the bathroom and brushing her teeth, ready for bed, her reflection in the mirror suddenly tilted her head and let out a cold grin.
In front of the mirror, Katie swallowed the toothpaste. She stared at the reflection for a few seconds before tilting her head as well. It took her a while to manage the cold grin, mostly because she was having trouble stopping herself from outright laughing, but in the end, she matched her reflection again.
That was enough to bring things back to normal.
Finally, as Katie climbed onto her bed and turned off the lights, she came to the fascinating conclusion that there was a dark figure standing right next to her. Distinctly, with her superhuman eyesight, Katie could see the figure was actually a man. A man with nothing on his face. No eyes. No nose. Well, it wasn’t actually nothing. As Katie stared at him, a slither darted across his face. It got wider and wider until it became a giant mouth with countless sharp fangs sticking out.
Katie turned on the lamp at the counter, and the figure disappeared. Shrugging, she turned the lamp back off, closed her eyes, and fell asleep as if nothing happened.
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The next morning, when Katie’s eyes snapped open, she found herself looking up at a gaping mouth in the middle of an otherwise empty face. Her combat instincts took hold before her brain, and she pounced on the unfortunate being, tackling him to the ground. By the time Katie tried to catch herself, it was already too late, and her Knife was already in the figure’s chest.
“No!” The girl cried in anguish as the wraith screamed in agony and perished. Sometimes, jump scares just weren’t the way to go...
Katie was a little sad, but luckily, as the supernatural phenomenons kept on popping up, it was clear that her accidental kill that started the day didn't faze these wraiths. They continued to go after her one by one. Uncharacteristically, they weren’t going for her life. All they wanted to do was scare her off, but Katie was enjoying their tricks way too much to leave.
At this point, she really wanted to pat herself on the back for choosing to live here. Where else could she find a place to live with so much fun all day round? And these wraiths...despite their odd behaviors, they were actually being so charitable, working tirelessly 24/7 just to entertain her! Oh...she even felt a little bad for the single wraith she killed! And the guy in the wall...she really hoped he survived!
Katie actually slept in that day. By the time she got out of the bathroom, it was already 10 AM. She made herself a brief breakfast with bread and milk. As she drank down on the glass of milk that had the hallucination of a bloody face inside, Katie texted John to see if he had a job for her.
He didn't, or at least he said he didn't. Katie proceeded to ask him if he told the mafia where she lived. It was a text he didn't reply to.
“Hmmm…” Setting her phone on the desk, Katie couldn’t help but grin at the thought of mafia gunmen. She was already at the point where there was little fun to be had with straight-up killing people. Could she massacre any mafia assassins sent after her? Of course. If she wanted to, she could even burn this whole haunted building down. But why bother with that? She wasn’t here to be a champion of justice or a defender of the innocent. She was here to have fun!
Snapping the necks of the assassins was good and all, but leading the same assassins into a haunted house...oh the looks of horror they would have when they realize what was happening! That would be delicious! Mafia gunmen vs wraiths! Such an unfair fight!
This idea was enough to make Katie rub her legs against each other. She quickly finished her food before standing up. For a decent minute, she pondered just staying in her lair and having fun with those ghosts. However, she quickly changed her mind.
Come on, Katie! You can stay home whenever you want, but the city out there...who knows what sort of fun is happening right now? Do you really want to miss running into a man-eating monster or a Dark Pantheon operative? No!
“Ok, boys…” She waved her hand at the invisible guests in her house. “I’m going out for a walk. Well...a drive. I don’t really know when I’ll be back, but... anyway. See y’all later!”
She proceeded to go to her closet, which was opened up and revealed over thirteen identical black jackets. Katie ran through them one by one before choosing one particularly unfortunate jacket to put over herself. Packing her handguns and Knife into the pockets, she turned and stepped out of her suite.
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“Ok...that was definitely beef. Damn it!”
Katie whispered to herself as she walked out of a restaurant. The food she just had was good, but even as Katie rubbed her now full belly, she had to admit she was expecting a bit more here.
Katie spent hours wandering across the city in her SUV, looking for the slightest sign of trouble. When nothing happened, she tracked down one of the best restaurants in the city. Her logic was simple. The Sect of Ascension had countless locations in the form of restaurants, constantly feeding unsuspecting customers human flesh, so why wouldn’t it reach into a city as big and populated as Los Angeles?
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Even now, she still didn't know if the Sect was in Los Angeles, but this restaurant definitely wasn’t one of its locations. As she walked out from the meal with her hunger for food satisfied, her hunger for blood and pain was left even stronger than before.
As she got into her car in dismay, she couldn’t help but reach for her phone again. She needed another task from John, and if he refused to give her one, well...as long as blood was flowing, she didn't care who it was from.
In that sense, she and Khorne had quite a common language…
Thankfully, something interrupted her plan to seriously mess up her professional relationships and reputation. A few figures ran right past her car, making their way across the restaurant’s parking lot with superhuman speed.
Katie wasn’t the only one that saw them, but most other bystanders in the lot simply ignored these figures. Their subconsciousness was altered in a way similar to the powerful curse placed onto the students by the Dark Pantheon.
“Yes!” Inside her car, Katie slapped herself out of sheer excitement. As her cheeks were still red, she hopped off her car, slammed the door shut, and proceeded to run after the figures. She had absolutely no idea what was going on, and she didn't care! Whatever you people are doing, I want in!
The figures were fast. Fast enough to make sure Katie needed to move at full speed just to keep up. From time to time, she would fall a little behind, and she would quickly give herself a small cut on the arm to get an extra boost.
A few bystanders looked at her like she was crazy. They ignored the figures in the front, but they could still see her. Regardless, Katie rushed by all of them without batting an eye.
It took her a while, but eventually, Katie was finally able to get a good look at these figures. There were five men and women of all ages, all dressed in black t-shirts and clothes. These people looked like they were from the same faction, and judging by what she saw, they definitely weren’t part of the mafia or any other ordinary human faction.
One of the men running in the front sensed Katie behind them, and he turned around and gave Katie a confused look. Wait...who’s she? Is she one of us? But Katie acted so naturally as she gave him a casual nod. She was also wearing all black, and the man in the front turned back to the much more urgent task at hand. Ok...maybe she was from a different squad? Plus, she had to be one of them! Why else would she be able to see them and be on this chase?
The group ran and ran. They were long out of the parking lot. All Katie knew was the people in front of her kept on changing their direction as if they were chasing someone. They have ran for miles when they made their way to an abandoned part of the city filled with abandoned buildings, empty streets, and tiny alleyways.
That was when the group suddenly came to a stop. Katie casually joined them, looking so relaxed and smooth that the others didn't even raise a question. The leader of the group, a man, suddenly rested his hand on his temple. All of a sudden, bright light blared out of his eyes. Seconds later, his eyes snapped open, and he turned to the side and pointed at an alleyway.
“There!” He ordered. “He’s coming down that way! Get ready!”
Ok...get ready! Gotcha! Katie raised her eyebrows. But...get ready for what? Ah well...time to improvise!
Around her, the other five men and women spread out across that alley. All of them knelt down, and a bright light appeared from their eyes as they covered their tracks. All of a sudden, Katie had trouble finding them. They were still there, but the moment she looked away from them, her brain would start forgetting their presence. It was the perfect method of ambush. Anyone walking in here unsuspected would have no idea what was going on before he was struck down.
All sorts of melee weapons appeared in their hands. A sword. A baton. Even a lance. A crossbow...ok, bad example!
Of course, Katie couldn’t really conceal herself magically, but this didn't stop her from kneeling down behind the cover of a dumpster. One of the men frowned at her. Seriously? A dumpster? He was about to say something when a figure appeared down the alleyway, forcing him to keep his confusion to himself.
The figure was a young man in his twenties. He was also dressed in black, but he clearly didn't look as well as the squad Katie just joined. Countless wounds covered his body. Katie could distinctly see bright energy circling around the injuries, working tirelessly to make the wounds just a little bigger and the bleeding just a little worse. Despite his wounds, even as the man stumbled across the ground, he still had a look of alertness in his eyes. His injuries wouldn’t be nearly enough to bring him down.
Quickly, he made his way into the middle of the alley, barely giving a glance to the would-be ambushers. Suddenly, just as the ambushers were about to come out of cover and tackle the man, the man suddenly reached into his pocket, grabbed onto something, and darted them at the ambushers.
Piu. The sound of objects piercing the air filled the alleyway, but the sound only came after the objects themselves. Before any of the ambushers could react, all five of them found multiple needles in their bodies. The needles were tiny, but all of them were filled from top to bottom with a sort of volatile energy Katie had never seen before. Their eyes filled with horror and confusion, the five figures struggled to move. To defend themselves. To remove the projectiles. But it was too late as, with a final scream, all five of them exploded where they stood.
As the blinding light disappeared, there was nothing left of the five figures that Katie spent a while jogging along. Even their bodies and clothing evaporated under the energy that tore their souls to pieces.
“Ok…” Still hiding behind the dumpster, Katie casually scratched the back of her neck. She was speechless. These five pursuers looked so badass and professional! They were coordinated! They were fast! They were armed and well hidden and they were destroyed by their prey in an instant? Why are you even doing the hunting if you’re that weak? Get a desk job or something!
So...now what? Katie sighed again as she stood up behind her make-shift cover to face the fleeing man. “Hello there!” She waved right before another needle flew right into her neck. The man didn't even bother talking to her. After all, as far as he could see, she was just another enemy sent to hunt him down.
“Uh…” Katie growled as she closed her eyes and stretched her arms out. Here we go…
Volatile energy attached to the needle penetrated its way into Katie’s body. It was designed to rip her apart from the inside, but as that energy tried to do its job, things became a little more difficult. In fact, once inside Katie’s body, the infinitely uncontrollable energy found itself being ground down with every passing moment.
It did explode, but it was never enough to rip Katie apart from the inside. In fact, Katie barely felt it. She has always had a surprising level of resilience to attacks that went off inside her body. Much like the seed Kameron placed inside of her, the energy attached to the needle was also snuffed out with ease.
“What the…” When she was still perfectly fine, Katie slowly opened her eyes in confusion. At first, she suspected this was a case where she would open her eyes right as the explosion went off, but that didn't happen either. So...I was spared? Why? What do you have against me?
Before she could raise the question, the man in front of her dashed by her and disappeared around the corner. Once again, he didn't bother with talking to Katie. Once his attack failed, he turned and ran like hell. Decisive, but...definitely not the wisest thing to do given what was really going on.
For Katie, this was terrible news. Why?
“I guess that means...” Katie sighed and stretched her legs for some warmup. “it’s time for more cardio!”