Again Archives (no posting)

[Rooster Cult]

The next few days where about as uneventful as it ever got in the Hunter’s facility. The days went on in a boring rhythm. Every hour of the day was scheduled and Ahzzya hadn’t been out of the hunter’s facility for weeks. Eventually Rokko did come back, but he kept as far away from Ahzzya as possible. Never speaking to him or answering his question. Also it seemed as if Rokko’s limp had worsened and he would every now and then have to be excused for hours on end. Rumor had it that Rokko’s condition was getting worse. Everyone knew that Zvers were venomous, and there was no known treatment to get the venom out of someone’s system. He was going to die, people were saying, he didn’t look as if he had a month left to live. All this talk made Ahzzya even more desperate to talk to Rokko.
It was early afternoon something interesting finally happened. All the Hunters were called to the lecture room at once, before the scheduled time. Every one packed into an elevator like sardines, but Ahzzya hung back as the people crowded forward.
“Geesh, what’s all this rush for?” Ahzzya asked Korom as he watched everyone rush forward. “Are they giving out free money or something?”
Korom chuckled a little “nah,” she said, “Not free money. But they are handing out missions.”
Ahzzya looked back at her, “You mean missions to kill Zvers and stuff.”
“Now you’re getting it.” Korom smiled and patted him on the head, much to his great annoyance. “People report Zver sightings and every month teams of Hunters are sent to check them out. Sometimes the Zver sightings are a false alarm, but most of the time it isn’t. It’s really the only interesting thing that happens here.”
Ahzzya found himself nodding slowly. “I can tell.” He replied. He was still hanging back as he watched the others packing into the elevators. He was not a fan of getting into a small elevators with a bunch of people he barely even knew. After a little while Korom grabbed Ahzzya’s hand and starting to drag him to the elevator.
“Are you seriously going to just stand there and let everyone get all the good missions?” Korom asked with a friendly smile. “You are such a noob.”
“Hey! I am not a noob.” Ahzzya protested as he was stuffed into the elevator. “I just don’t really like strangers.”
“So you’re an anti-social noob?” Korom teased. She was pressed uncomfortably close to Ahzzya.
“No I’m not-”
“You are totally anti-social. It’s obvious.”
“No it’s not-”
“I’m pretty sure you don’t even like people.”
“That’s beside the point.”
“Oh so you admit it.”
Ahzzya let out a defeated groan and tried to bang his head against the dimmed glass elevator door. But the glass cleared and he fell through the glass, faceplanting into the ground.
“Noob.” Korom said.
“Shut up.” Ahzzya groaned. He got up and rubbed his forehead. “Just because I don’t like to get into crowded elevators does not make me a noob.”
Korom shrugged, “that isn’t what makes you a noob, that’s what makes you anti-social.”
“If a kid refuses to go into a stranger’s car does that make him anti-social? No, it makes him a really smart kid. That’s the same thing with elevators.” Ahzzya muttered this under his breath. “Then what makes me a noob?”
“The fact that you wait for everyone else to get the good missions. The best missions are always passed out first. You’ll miss them if you wait for everyone else to get there before you do.” Korom explained, she was trying her best not to laugh at him. “Also, you are pretty new.”
“Whatever.” Ahzzya muttered. The lecture room was bigger than all the other rooms in the Hunter’s facility. It was shaped almost in a Roman auditorium style with a chalk board and sunken in platform in the center and raised seats surrounding it. He watched as a crowd of people were piled around a table. They were like a bunch of starving wolves descending on a wounded animal. The image made Ahzzya shudder and hesitate, but Korom grabbed his hand again and dragged him towards the thickest part of the crowd.
“Common, are you afraid of people too?” She asked, a bit of laughter in her voice.
“No I just don’t like-” His voice trailed off as he was smashed into the group of people. Ahzzya let out a grunt of annoyance, he was starting to understand what sardines felt like. “Let’s just pick one and get out of here.”
“How about this one?” Korom asked, snatching up a piece of paper before anyone else could get to it. “It’s in a nice neighborhood and it has good pay.”
“Pay?” Ahzzya responded
“Yeah, we don’t do missions for free.” Korom teased, “Noob.”
“Gah. Stop calling me that.” He said with an exasperated sigh, “I’m fine with anything, let’s just get out of here.”
“Antisocial.” Korom said with a giggle as they mode their way out of the crowd.
“SHUT UP.”

[Rooster Cult]

Unlike the lecture room, the break room was strangely quiet. There were only a few people here all cluttered in small groups, talking to each other about their missions and trying to create strategic plans. Teams, that’s what Korom had called them. Hunters would team up and go on missions together. They were like cliques in high school or guilds in video games, some were really popular and took on the hardest missions, only allowing the best of the best to join them, and others were just small bands of friends. Korom had told him that this would probably be one of the quietest rooms, right after she called them a team. Ahzzya had wanted to argue, tell her that he had no interest of that. But she looked so excited when she called them a team that Ahzzya couldn’t say no. Now Ahzzya sat across from Korom, his arms crossed on the table and his chin lazily resting on them as if his neck couldn’t keep his head up.
“This mission is for a collection of Zver sightings in a town maybe two or three hours west of here.” Korom was saying as she looked over the sheet of paper containing their mission info. “They say that there is a large group of Zvers-”
“Define large.” Ahzzya interjected.
“Maybe 6 or 7, I don’t really know, they don’t say anything else about it.” Korom flipped the paper over and inspected the blank back side for a second before turning it over. “Well anyway, there is a large group of Zvers and they always travel in a pack.”
“A pack?” Ahzzya said with a grunt, “Sounds like our job just got a whole lot easier. Now we don’t have to go around looking for each of them.”
“It’s almost funny how wrong you are.” The voice came directly from Korom, making her tense up. “I mean it would be, if believing that couldn’t get you killed. But it can, and it will. Famous last words you know? The truth is, when Zvers travel in packs, that’s when they’re the most dangerous.”
“Rokko,” Korom’s voice took on an icy tone that Ahzzya had never heard her use before. “What did I tell you about sneaking up on me?”
“I don’t recall you saying anything.” Rokko replied dismissively. He was picking on the silvery string wrapped around his arm and had a sad looking smile plastered on his face
“I said that next time you did that, I would slap you.” She was speaking in the same cold tone she used before.
“Then obviously, you lied” Rokko didn’t have time to even look at Korom before she fulfilled her promise and smacked him across the face. Rokko let out a curse as he stumbled back. Rokko’s near fall made Ahzzya suddenly wonder whether Korom was that strong, or Rokko was that weak.
“What are you even doing here?” Ahzzya asked.
“What you should really be worried about, is the fact that the Zvers are in a large group.” Rokko made sure to avoid Ahzzya’s question as he rubbed the now red hand print that Korom gave him. “Any hunter can take on one Zver at a time, but a group is deadly. You two wouldn’t last out there for one minute.”
“Yeah right.” Korom seemed to be practically fuming at Rokko’s accusation. “Ahzzya and I can take them, easy.”
“No, no you can’t.” Rokko hesitated, “Dylan and I couldn’t even take on a group with five Zvers in it, and we were the two strongest hunters at the time. What makes you think that your outcome would be any more favorable?”
“W-well, uh…” Korom stumbled over her words, trying to find a perfect comeback, but nothing would come.
“Ok, so maybe we can’t handle them.” Ahzzya interrupted. “But what’s your point anyway? First you call me a virus and then say that He, whoever He is, wants me killed, then you completely avoid me after that, and now you’re saying that our mission is too dangerous. What’s your point?”
Rokko stopped and half glanced at Ahzzya. Ahzzya searched Rokko’s face, trying to read Rokko’s emotions. But Rokko’s face was completely blank, maybe a little annoyed, but overall blank. “My point is that I promised to protect you. And I will keep that promise.” Rokko’s words came out slowly, like he was carefully choosing each word, like he was hiding something. “I want to go with you on the mission.”
“Are you crazy?” Ahzzya was shocked that someone in such a feeble state as Rokko would suggest such a thing. “You can hardly stand; what makes you think that you will be able to go on a mission, none the less allowed to go?”
“It has occurred to me that I might be a little, insane-”
“Slightly.” Korom said with a snort.
“But this idea is not crazy.” Rokko glared at Korom. “If I am going to die before next year, then I don’t want to slowly waste away in a cot, or worse. I’d rather die saving you, Ahzzya, from a large group of Zvers.”
Ahzzya blinked, for a second baffled. But then it made sense, if Ahzzya was in Rokko’s position, he would feel the same way. It would be better to die saving someone else and keep a little bit of your dignity instead of wasting away, or worse. “Wait a second.” Ahzzya said. “What does ‘or worse’ mean?”
Rokko’s eyes widened and he muttered a curse. “Uh… nothing.”
“Really, nothing?”
“Yes nothing.”
“Yeah right, tell me what it is.”
“No. Like I said, it’s nothing.”
“Tell me or I’ll tell that guard with the mustache that you’re trying to go on a mission with us.”
Rokko cursed again. “Fine whatever.” Rokko turned to Ahzzya and said quietly. “‘Or worse’ means becoming one of them.”
“Who’s ‘them?’” Ahzzya asked.
“You should just take what you can get.” Korom suggested to Ahzzya. “Rokko’s not gonna bend any further.”
Ahzzya considered insisting, but the hard look on Rokko’s face seemed to be saying was Korom had just said, Rokko was not going to bend any further. “Fine.” Ahzzya said with a sigh, “I’m ok if you come if Korom is.”
“Yeah, fine, whatever.” Korom still had that unsettling cold look on her face though.
A smile alighted on Rokko’s, an actual, true smile, the first one that Ahzzya had ever seen on Rokko since he came here.

[Rooster Cult]

The bad news about the whole Rokko going on a mission thing that that he had been given direct orders not to leave the Hunter’s facility. The good news was, he knew how to drive; more or less. Fortunately the Hunter’s facility was in the middle of the desert, so no matter how many times Rokko accidentally went off road he didn’t really crash into anything. But for some reason whenever they passed a boulder Rokko would accidentally swerve towards it. About 5 miles into the car ride Korom started a heated argument with Rokko about whether or not he was trying to get them all killed, and that argument lasted until they reached their destination. The majority of the three hours of the trip were spent with Korom and Rokko yelling at each other like an old married couple and Ahzzya banging his head repeatedly on the dashboard. By the time they got there all of them had migraines and both Korom and Rokko had almost lost their voice.
Ahzzya stumbled out of the car, carsick from Rokko’s random swerving. He slammed the door behind him and glared at both Korom and Rokko.
“Next time, let’s just turn on the radio.” Ahzzya suggested, Rokko and Korom both crossed their arms angrily in reply.
The neighborhood the mission took place in was like every other one, box like buildings that were made of safety glass and layers of snow covering the ground. There were no signs of Zvers, but then again, those beasts were intelligent. Ahzzya took his sword out of a scabbard which he had taken from the training grounds. He had also finally got his mom to send him his sword from back home and felt relieved by the familiar weight and the way his fingers slid into the grooves of the hilt. He was about to start looking around for something to kill when he heard Korom start up the argument again.
“What’s wrong with you?” She asked and Ahzzya let out a sigh before turning around to the impending chaos. “You keep twitching and looking around. May I ask why? Is it because you are wondering why your friends are so late in their assassination attempt.”
“I already told you, I’m not trying to kill you.” Rokko protested
“Oh, right, like every psychopath tells the truth right.” Korom scoffed
Ahzzy let out a sigh before weighing in, “Korom, Rokko is probably just nervous from the last time he was amb-“
“Oh yeah. That’s all I am to you, huh?” Rokko interrupted. “Just another crazy psychopath. Everything I say is crazy ramblings and everything I do has the intention of a psychopath. There isn’t a sane bone in my body. I’m just crazy Rokko.”
“Yeah, exactly. You. Are. Crazy.” Korom answered, her voice rising to a yell. “You talk to people in your head, you have delusions of different realities, you see things in the basement in the base, plus other things including the odd way that you speak , your social withdrawal and your lack of hygiene. I looked it up, you have Schizophrenia. Isn’t it obvious?”
It wasn’t obvious to Ahzzya, at least not as obvious as Rokko’s next intentions. With his fingers curled around his pistol, his face pulled into a snarl that showed unnaturally sharp teeth and the subtle growl in the back of Rokko’s throat. Rokko had just lost his temper and was about to prove Korom’s psychopath comment true.
Ahzzya suddenly jumped between them, “HEY.” He shouted loud enough to snap Rokko out of his murderous pose. “Stop it. We’re supposed to be killing Zver’s not each other. Calm down both of you. What the heck are we going to achieve by murdering each other right now? Nothing! So suck it up both of you and learn to get along.” He looked at both of them as Rokko let go of the gun with a look that said ‘we’ll settle this later’ and Korom stood there, speechless. It seemed she hadn’t noticed that Rokko was about to shoot her, or maybe she hadn’t expected Ahzzya to break up the fight. “Good.” Ahzzya crossed his arms, “Now let’s go get rid of this Zver problem and get back before anyone notices that Rokko ran away.”

[Rooster Cult]

Korom was right, Rokko was extraordinarily twitchy. He kept glancing around with a crazed look and fiddling with the strings on his hands. It was unsettling, even though he was the usual one to panic in the group. Ahzzya had never seen Rokko that nervous and he wasn’t doubting Korom anymore. It was obvious now that something wasn’t right.
But even so, everything else seemed fine, it was just as cold as everywhere else, there were no people out and about, and it was as quiet as a tomb, so quiet that Ahzzya could hear his own heart beating. But even so, Ahzzya felt an odd tension in the air. Maybe they were being stalked, maybe an ambush was already underway. The thought sent icy prickles down Ahzzya’s spine, ten times colder than the air around him. His eyes kept flickering to the roofs of the buildings looming over him, and soon all of them were just as antsy as Rokko.
The chill of the icy air, the sound of footsteps crunching through a thin layer of ice, and the arctic scent of cold air. Ahzzya wondered if this was the same for every Hunter’s first mission. He had never really hunted Zvers before, he only killed them if he saw one outside. But now he felt more like the hunted than the hunter, he felt like a thousand eyes were watching him, burning through his skin, hungry, just waiting to attack. He wanted to rage quit, to turn around and walk away, to give into the cowardice slowly eating away at his mind.
“Great, you just as bad as Rokko.” The voice shattered the tension so quickly that Ahzzya almost had a heart attack. It was Korom, keeping up her usual cool demeanor with a teasing smirk. “You’re twitching like you’re having a seizure, seriously.” Her smile slowly melted into concern. “You aren’t having a seizure are you?”
That was such a strange thing to say at a time like this that Ahzzya almost laughed, almost. Instead he crossed his arms and glared forward. “No, I don’t.” He grumbled in an annoyed tone, “and I am not having a seizure.”
“Oh.” A look of understanding dawned on Korom’s face. “That’s it. You’re nervous.”
“No!” Ahzzya protested as he took a step back. The point wasn’t just that he was just embarrassed to be nervous. The point was that he saw himself as the leader now. And if his resolve crumbled, well, he could guess the consequences would not be good.
“You totally are!” Korom said, her face twitching into one of her ridiculous teasing grins. “I can see it. You are horrid at lying. You’re just too ashamed to say so because you are too manly to have emotions.” Korom pretended to bring out her ‘guns’ before messing with Ahzzya’s hair like he was a little child. “Don’t worry though. Everyone gets nervous on their first job. Of course it doesn’t help when the ‘ex best Hunter’ is acting like a scared little baby.”
Ahzzya noticed Rokko giving them a look, apparently he had strayed to the other side of the road. At first he thought that Rokko was just planning Korom’s murder, but then he noticed Rokko making “come over here” hand gestures, and he was doing a really good job of making the gestures look angry. Ahzzya found himself walking across the road. He approached Rokko in a few seconds, not even noticing how he had abandoned Korom in the middle of the conversation.
Rokko was staring wide eyed at an entrance to a narrow alley. “What’s wrong?” Ahzzya asked in a hushed tone. He could see by the look in Rokko’s eyes to keep quiet.
“I saw one.” He said, his voice sounding really crazy at the moment. “He was watching us, I was sure of it.”
Ahzzya vaguely noted Korom coming up beside them. Fortunately, she smart enough not to make an offensive comment. “Where did it go?” Korom asked. In her hand she had a blow gun. That was her weapon of choice, just like Ahzzya’s choice of weapon were swords and throwing knives and Rokko’s weapons were a gun and his barbed string.
Rokko gestured with his head towards the alley. “Down there.” He said. There were a few moments of silence, and Ahzzya was sure all of them really didn’t want to go down a crowded alley for a bunch of deadly monsters that may or may not be there.
“Alright then.” Ahzzya squared his shoulders, trying to take on a leader roll. “What are we waiting for? For them to come to us? Let’s not be caught off guard and while looking around for a better battle ground. We’re going to kill them anyway.”
Silence was the only answer that greeted Ahzzya. There was a minute or two of hesitation, Korom started down the alleyway, Ahzzya followed instantly, while Rokko seemed to hesitate a few more nervous heartbeats before following the others.
Their footsteps echoed eerily in the small alleyway, so small in fact that they had to walk in a single file. It seemed that the alley was so small that the snow hadn’t been able to collect in their usual piles, instead there was a thin layer of ice covering the rough concrete. The already dark world seemed even darker in there, the long shadows of the buildings choking out any light of the sun. The world was as dark and silent as the grave. The cold feeling of a thousand stares suddenly returned tenfold. The icy feeling spread down his spine to the rest of his body; even worse than before. The fight or flight instinct suddenly appeared, like a switch in his mind was suddenly turned on, and with nothing to attack, flight seemed to be the only option. Ahzzya took a deep breath of the arctic air to calm himself, but it only seemed to help spread the chill into his insides.
And then, he heard a scream. It came right behind him, but this scream formed into words. “AHZZYA, GET DOWN NOW!”
Apparently he didn’t react quick enough, because a second after that, Ahzzya felt a sharp pain between his shoulder blades as Rokko used his back as a springboard. The next few moments were a blur. There was a surge of pain as his head struck the ice, a blur of movement as Rokko shoved Korom further down the alley, then three booming noises that sounded like enormous thunderclaps ricocheting through Ahzzya’s skull and then silence.
“What the heck is wrong with you?!” Ahzzya snapped as he picked himself up, “Are you trying to freaking kill-” His voice suddenly cut off as there was a blur of black that seemed to come from the roofs and then a thump. On the ground lay a Zver, dark as the night, and bleeding from a gunshot wound that seemed to go through its eye. And then more dark forms filtered down the alley from both ways and crouched on the rooftops.
“I thought the flier said there were only supposed to be six or seven of them.” Ahzzya muttered as he looked around him and then back at Rokko. He saw Rokko break into a smile that bordered on insanity. Like someone who had just been challenged to something he knew he would win.
“I told you, He wants you dead.” Rokko said as he reloaded his pistol. “And He will go to extreme lengths to kill you.”

[Rooster Cult]

Fighting was an automatic reaction for Ahzzya when he’s cornered, it was like everything else in his mind had been erased as he hefted his sword. He swung the sword in an upward arch, the blade slashing between the bulletproof feathers and through one of the Zver’s gut. There was a splash of blood, Ahzzya used his momentum to slash through another Zver. More blood, gunshots, a mixture of human and inhuman shouts tearing through the chilled air, the glint of pale sunlight on Ahzzya’s sword, the bodies of Zvers falling off the roofs as bullets and poisoned darts found their marks. Somehow all of this seemed to be blocked from Ahzzya’s awareness as he cut down more and more Zvers. But with each one that Ahzzya killed, there seemed to be another one to replace it. The rush of adrenaline seemed to be the only thing keeping Ahzzya moving. One after another, their numbers dwindled, but not quickly enough. Ahzzya was not trained for this, he had trained himself to kill a few at a time, but he could feel his body slowing down. A surge of relief went through Ahzzya as brought down the last Zver on his side of the alley, and then he made his first fatal mistake, he let his guard down. It came in a sudden spine cracking blur of pain and weight right on his back. His body fell forward, and for the second time that day, he smashed face first into the concrete. But this time pain exploded through his face like a bombshell and his vision went black for a second or two. He struggled under the weight, barely able to breathe. And then he felt claws shredding through his back. He screamed in pain and rage, grabbing a throwing knife and trying to stab at the Zver, but his knife only clanged off of the creature. He heard another screech, but this one wasn’t his. And then he felt the creature knocked off his back.
When Ahzzya lifted his head, he saw Rokko and the Zver who had attacked them rolling on the ground and attacking each other. But the most surprising part was probably the fact that Rokko was fighting just as vicious as the Zver. He heard Rokko letting out inhuman shrieks, he saw Rokko open his mouth, revealing rows of fangs right before tearing into the Zver, The tear of flesh as they clawed each other, the splatter of blood, both human and not. It was one of the craziest scenes Ahzzya had ever seen. But the insanity ended almost as quickly as it started. Rokko finally got out his gun and pushed it up against a part of the Zver’s skull that was molting. And then there was a shot. The Zver went still. The sight of them made Ahzzya want to throw up. He had seen so many creatures dead, but seeing one of his friends pinning a dead Zver down and covered in gashes and bite marks was something that seem to suddenly be imprinted in his memory. What Rokko said next was just as surprising.
“I told you that I would protect him.” Rokko said to no one in particular. “You will not kill him. I will never let you kill him.”

[Rooster Cult]

Rokko wasn’t as injured as he looked, it was really Ahzzya who took the blunt of the attack. The claw marks on his back almost went to the bone and apparently getting your head bashed against the concrete was not healthy. And, as soon as Korom helped Ahzzya stand up, he passed out.
They didn’t get back to the base quick enough for no one to notice that Rokko was gone. As soon as they were sent to the sick bay, Rokko got about an hour long lecture from Edward while doctors stitched up the worst of his wounds. Now he sat on his cot in the boy’s dorm. Rokko felt immensely guilty. It was his fault that Ahzzya had gotten hurt. His fault that he had missed that one Zver on the roof. His fault he had hesitated. Rokko let out a sigh and then he spoke aloud.
“Did you see that? You were wrong.” Rokko said with a little chuckle, even though no one was in the room. “You were wrong for once. No one died.”
It appears so. Rokko squeezed his eyes shut as the voice spoke in his head. He would never be used to that. I really thought that you were far enough along. You really have a strong will.
He had to walk. Rokko needed to move. He could barely control the nervous fear that went through him. As he walked, his limp disappeared. He didn’t need to do that when others weren’t watching. If anyone saw him walking perfectly with the bandages on his leg, they would start asking questions.
“You were wrong.” Rokko said again, trying to cling to anything he could. “That’s what matters, if you are wrong about this, you may be wrong again.”
It doesn’t matter. He answered. I will control you. Just because I’m struggling to control you now-
“Ha!” Rokko cried out before letting out a few other forced laughs. “You’re struggling. Oh that’s rich, maybe I will be able to conquer you now.”
The sound of an exasperated sigh resonated through Rokko’s mind. You do not understand, boy. Me struggling is a sign of strength, not weakness.
“Wha- What do you mean?” Rokko asked. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
I am controlling millions of people, the fact that I suddenly am having struggles when it comes to you proves just how powerful I am. Rokko scowled at this, his pace quickened. He tried again and again to convince himself that He was lying. That He was struggling because Rokko was more powerful than Him.
I am not powerless and you know it. And you jumping in to save your little friend just made my job much easier. Rokko could hear a hint of amusement in His voice. Tell me, how many times did you get bitten?
“NO!” Rokko screamed, suddenly collapsing to his knees and covering his ears. “That doesn’t matter! How much Zver venom I have in me does not matter! You will never control me! I will never become your pawn!”
I will. He said, And when I do, you will be the reason for those two brat’s deaths.
“NO! YOU’RE WRONG. I WON’T. I WILL NEVER BE THE REASON THEY DIE.” Rokko screamed
I am never wrong. And at that, the conversation ended. Like He had just hung up. But the panic wouldn’t leave Rokko. He was curled up in a ball on the floor, covering his ears and whispering the word “no” over and over again, like a broken record. Rokko knew He was right, he had resisted the urge to kill Ahzzya more times than he could count. He needed something to hold onto, something that wasn’t as unpredictable as himself, or any other human for that matter. He needed a religion. His mom would probably laugh right about now, Rokko wasn’t the religious type, always relying on conspiracy theories and science to explain reality. But right now, Rokko needed a miracle. And science had no miracles. He searched his memory for a religion. There was Hinduism, Muslimism, Buddhism, and so many others that Rokko couldn’t name or even recall. But there was only one that had a God who was merciful and full of love. So, he started to pray.
“Dear God of the Christians.” He started, Rokko really didn’t know how to pray, so he decided to just talk, and then apologize for doing it wrong later. “I need a miracle. Everything is falling apart. He is gaining control. And I’ll admit it, I’m scared, no terrified. I have a feeling that this isn’t your will, I’ve heard of the last seven years of humanity enough from random stuff to know that this isn’t what has been planned. So, please, prove that you’re real, give us a miracle, your will be done and please, save us.”
The only answer was silence. But that was probably the most comforting thing that could happen. If someone had talked back, Rokko would probably have had a freaking panic attack. Rokko felt almost as if there was a comforting presence near him, and no matter how insane it might’ve sounded, Rokko suddenly didn’t feel afraid anymore.
“Hey.” Rokko said, letting out a relieved sigh, “Thank you. Thanks a lot.”

[Rooster Cult]

Silence.
He wished it wasn’t so silent.
It usually wasn’t. There were usually hisses and growls and unearthly screams; somehow those noises had grown on The Creature they almost seemed comforting. Well, more comforting than the oppressive silence. Silence as thick as the inky darkness. The quieter it got here, the louder the voices in his head became. Or at least that’s what seemed to happen to The Creature.
Pain
He wished it didn’t hurt so much.
It always did. A pain that you could eventually forget if you screamed loud enough. It felt like something with claws as sharp as daggers had crawled into his mind. The Creature felt like his last bit of sanity, his last bit of self-control, was being torn apart. And no matter how much he tried to stop it, no matter how many times he tried to stitch everything back together, it never stopped. It just hurt worse. The creature found himself fingering a horrid scar on the side of his neck, a wound that had just missed his jugular vein. He wished it had killed him. Wished that impudent boy didn’t save his life.
Because sometimes living was worse than dying.
And right now it was.
The silence seemed to grow quieter, though The Creature couldn’t tell how that was happening. Unless he was becoming deaf.
The pain increased.
A scream built up inside his chest, and after a few unsuccessful heartbeats later, he let it out. It bubbled out of his mouth, gargled and rasping.
“NO PLEASE STOP!” He cried, the pain increased. It was his own insanity though. His own mind that was slowly killing him.
Or being killed.
More pain.
“OK I GIVE UP JUST STOP!” The pain stopped. The Creature lay on the cold stone ground, trying to comprehend what he said. But he didn’t even need to think. He knew. There was only so much a person could do until they reached their breaking point. And The Creature finally did. He was just lucky to hold out this long. “I give up.” His voice came in barely more than a whisper now as he squeezed his eyes shut. “It hurts too much. I will let you take control of me. Let you make me kill anyone you want me to. Just kill me. Kill that little part of my mind that hurts. Just destroy me. I don’t want to feel anymore.”
He thought he heard a laugh in his mind. The pain came back. But this time it was physical. He felt his nerves exploding, fire racing through every vein. But the most pain was concentrated right behind his skull. The Creature’s hands flew to his head, he screamed so loud it felt like a blender and been inserted into his throat. And then it was gone. He was gone. He was just an It. Not a person, not anymore.
It grabbed a key from its pocket in a dreamlike fashion. The fingers wrapping around the cold metal. Not feeling anything. It opened its eyes, but they weren’t human anymore. They were red and beady, with no sign of human intelligence left.

[Rooster Cult]

"Stupid freaking Zvers making me have to get stupid freaking stitches which itch like stupid freaking crap." Ahzzya muttered to himself, bending his arm back in an awkward position so he could scratch at the wound between his shoulder blades. He knew he shouldn't be itching, mostly because it hurt whenever he did, but it wasn't like he could stop. He felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.
"Welp, I think you just ran out of things to call 'stupid freaking.'" Ahzzya looked into Korom's smiling face, her dark eyes were glittering with laughter, an expression that was impossible to get angry at. But even so Ahzzya pulled his eyebrows together and shrugged her off.
"Whatever." he muttered under his breath after slightly rolling his eyes. Even though Korom could be really offensive and annoying sometimes, Ahzzya found himself warming up to her.
According to the daily schedule, Korom and Ahzzya were in the training grounds, though they really weren't doing anything. Every other day they might practice a little to keep themselves from getting rusty, but hacking dummies, throwing knives and shooting poisoned darts for hours could get dull to anyone. But there was one thing that really disturbed Ahzzya, Rokko wasn't there. Usually he wouldn't care. One thing he had learned was that Rokko was excused for being sick all the time. But it had been almost a week, and Ahzzya hadn't seen Rokko since their last mission. Rokko had saved Ahzzya's life, but in turn, he had been bitten by a Zver a multitude of time. One bite was fatal. Two bites would turn those few months of life into a few weeks. Three bites were instant death. Rokko had been bitten at least four times. It would be impossible for Rokkoto survive that. But people dying was a daily occurrence. That wasn't what bothered Ahzzya. Rokko dying was Ahzzya's fault.
Two voices competed in Ahzzya's mind, the angel and the devil on his shoulders. One whispered that Rokko was probably going to die in a few days. He was crazy. It wasn't Ahzzya's fault that Rokko decided to risk his life to save him. The other one almost screamed. It was all Ahzzya's fault. His best friend friend died because he didn't pay attention. he was to blame. He should have never come to the Hunters. If he hadn't, Rokko would still be alive. It was his fault. He should've died instead.
It was hard to concentrate. Hard to even think without dwelling on the voices in his head. Hard to keep the wall up around his heart and ignore the pain of loosing someone. He did it when his dad left, he did it when his mom became someone else entirely. He could do it with Rokko.
And then a noise snapped him out of his depressing thoughts. It sounded like a mixture between frantic clawing and footsteps, with a scream interlaced in it.
The scrambling noises came closer, along with the scream. Ahzzya could now pinpoint it to the staircase. The scream wasn't a scream of pain. It was like a command, so desperate it rose pitifully. Ahzzya felt like he could almost recognize the scream, but it was so high pitched that he couldn't place it. And then the clawing stopped for an instant, just so what ever made those noises could bang against the door. The scream rose impossibly high. Ahzzya could almost make out the plea.
Each thump against the door grew louder. Panic swept through the Hunters, unlike anything he had seen before. Ahzzya didn't move. It was like he had been paraized, he couldn't even blink. He vaguely felt Korom trying to get him to move, tugging at his arm, trying to drag him with her. He still couldn't move, like a deer caught in the headlights.
And then the door fell open, ripped to pieces and yanked off its hinges.
What Ahzzya saw would reappear in his nightmares forever.
Two people stood in the doorway, one was part Zver, part human. The other was Rokko, desperately grabbing at the creature's feathers and screaming at the top of his lungs.
The creature ripped away and started racing right towards Ahzzya, its fangs bared.
The next thing Ahzzya heard made his heart stop cold.
"NO, DYLAN! STOP. PLEASE STOP." He screamed. "DON'T LET HIM CONTROL YOU. DYLAN!!"

[Rooster Cult]

The creature was about the most horrifying thing Ahzzya had ever seen. Half human with dark feathers on the other side of its body, spreading like a plague onto the human side. Its eyes were beady and red, staring Ahzzya down with a paralyzing effect. He vaguely noticed the dirty blonde hair on the human side and the horrible scar torn through its neck.
Fight or flight, those weren’t the only reactions to fear. Ahzzya found that out the hard way. He literally could not move. It was like he had been turned to ice. All he could do was watch as the creature ran towards him, the odd mixture of human and Zver made for a very lopsided and slow combination. He could hear Korom yelling at him, could hear the gunshots ring out as Rokko tried to stop the thing, but he still couldn’t do anything.
That was until a burst of pain slammed right into his face. He felt the force of it knock him back, snapping him out of his frozen fear. He looked up to see Korom with her fingers curled into fists, her arm cocked back, ready to punch him again. The realization of everything dawned on him and he let out a string of curses.
Time had seemed to slow during his fear, or at least it had to, as the creature had barely made it halfway across the room.
Even so a cold panic burst through Ahzzya’s nerves. He scrambled to the sword stand, grabbing one and swiping around. The blade glinted in the white lights as it arched, the creature was seconds away from lunging. There was a splatter of blood as the sword went into the creature’s shoulder, an unearthly scream. Ahzzya found himself scrambling away, his fingers painfully gripping the hilt of the sword. Before he even knew where he was going, Ahzzya found himself scrambling up the staircase, taking two at a time. He knew he shouldn’t have been that afraid, he had fought and killed Zvers all the time. But never in such a small place, not with a sword that was too light for him, and definitely never against one that looked human. He killed more Zvers to count. Never a human. He wouldn’t kill a human. He couldn’t. But he knew that wasn’t the reason for his fear. This thing was part human. A human could turn into a Zver. And even that idea filled him with such a sense of horror that he couldn’t do anything but run.
He eventually reached the last door. The end of the staircase. His breath came out in frantic gasps. He could hear the footsteps of his pursuer below him. Every now and then he would hear a gunshot, but each one obviously missed. His hand went to the handle. He grabbed it and started tugging frantically. It was locked. A desperate scream rose from his throat. He threw his body at the door, expecting the door to dent at least. The once supposed brittle door didn’t even give. He threw his body at the door again. Each footstep of the creature forced more adrenaline through his veins. Each shriek shut his mind down more. Until only two things remained, fear and danger. He needed to kill the creature. Running wasn’t possible anymore. But he needed a bigger space. He turned his body around. His feet scampered down the staircase. He came to the next door in a few seconds. This one opened.
He stumbled into the room and turned around to face his fear. He was too late to attack. The creature was already in mid lunge. All he was able to do was hold the sword in front of him before he was knocked over. His head struck the ground, making his head spin, the creature drove its knees into Ahzzya’s gut, forcing the air out of his lungs. His sword was held in both hands, the flat of the blade pressed into his palms and the edges driving into his fingers. He saw blood trickled down his arm. The creature was on top of him, its body forcing the sword closer to Ahzzya. Lucky it was only able to reach Ahzzya with its claws, but the creature seemed more intent on tearing him to pieces with its teeth.
It gnashed its teeth, snarling and screaming. Ahzzya couldn’t tell if his own screams were in that mix too. His arms burned. He had never prided himself on working out, and now he regretted it. He could feel himself weakening, barely able to hold the creature off. He couldn’t last like this.
And then Ahzzya saw Rokko finally enter the room. He raised his pistol and aimed it right at the creature’s head. And then; he stopped. Ahzzya could feel the creature getting closer, his arms growing weaker. Why wasn’t Rokko shooting?
“Help.” Ahzzya tried to say, his voice strained with effort. The next time it came out louder. “Help me. Please. Rokko help.”
He needed to survive. That’s all that went through Ahzzya’s mind. He couldn’t die yet. He was only fifteen freaking years old. He would survive even if he had to beg.
“Rokko please save me!” Ahzzya cried. “Please. Didn’t you promise to protect me?!”
And then, Ahzzya’s arms gave out. He braced himself for the pain of teeth ripping into his skin, but instead only heard a gunshot. The creature slumped forward, a deadweight on his body. Ahzzya was too exhausted to push it off. He turned his head and saw the pistol drop from Rokko’s hand. Rokko collapsed to the floor, emptied of any life. And then he did something that Ahzzya had never heard Rokko do before. He started to cry. No, not cry, he sobbed. The type of the sob that had a few screams of the pain of heartbreak in the mix.

[Rooster Cult]

It all made sense. The mysterious disappearances, the appearance of Zvers, the fact that Zvers were still alive even though they didn’t have means of reproduction, Rokko’s lack of depression to Dylan’s supposed death, Rokko’s exaggerated limp, his bandages, even The theory that those who went home never actually went home and the basement which no one had ever really stepped foot in. It made sense. In a sickening way.
Zvers were humans.
It was that simple. All the questions, all the lies, all the secrets, everything could be explained with those three words, Zvers were humans. It had to be. The people who had disappeared between the appearance of the dark fog and now had turned into Zvers. The fog and the venom, it wasn’t meant to kill. It was meant to control. That was why Rokko wasn’t dead.
Ahzzya was shaking. He crawled from under the dead body, his breath coming out ragged and frantic. His body was shaking. And then a horrible realization dawned on him. He had killed hundreds of Zvers, he had committed mass murder. Something rose up into his throat and before he knew it all the contents of his stomach was spilled on the floor.
He had killed. Nothing to stop that one phrase from entering his mind. Not only that though, he had forced Rokko to kill his best friend. He couldn’t live with himself anymore.
“I’m sorry.” His voice came out raw and hoarse. “I really am. I panicked. I should’ve died. I wish I had.” Ahzzya could feel his own tears dripping down his face. He could still hear Rokko sobbing.
But then he heard a whisper, so venomous and filled with hate that Ahzzya wished he had been the one to die even more.
“I hate you.”
“Huh?”
“Dylan was my best friend. I knew him my whole life.” Rokko’s voice was so cold that Ahzzya didn’t even recognize it. “I lost my whole family, just like everyone else here, Dylan was the last thing I had left to live for. You made me kill him. When this over, I swear I will kill you. I will avenge his death.”
All Ahzzya could do was nod. He was too numb, too shocked for that to even sink in. “When what is over?” He asked, it barely came out in more than a choked whisper. He didn’t get a reply. And then Korom came in, breathless from running up the staircase. Breaking the silence in the air.
“Oh my gosh, Ahzzya! Are you ok?” She asked, coming up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder, a gesture that was supposed to be comforting. Ahzzya felt nothing. “I told the guard what happened. They are trying to maintain order right now. I just had to come make sure you were ok, I’m glad you are.”
Korom didn’t get an answer, Ahzzya just stared off into the distance. Shock forcing him into a state of depression.
“Ahzzya?” She asked. Her voice compassionate. “What’s wrong? Why are you both crying?”
“It was a lie.” The same haunted tone as before.
“What’s that?”
“It was all a lie. The people who disappeared never died. They turned into Zvers.” Ahzzya explained. “Rokko called this one Dylan."