Arc 7: Cry Softly

Cold tremors of pain shook my arms, threatening to make my arms give out against the crushing pressure of the Aberrant’s embrace. The spikes on its chest that were thin and transparent like fish bones had pierced straight through my hands. I panted, straining against the monster’s frightening strength, pushing against my skewered hands to […]

The high-rise that Seth Grance was trying to evacuate from had already been hit by another cloud of black smoke. This one covered the top of the building, shrouding the helipad. The boat we were in shook as it hit waves, spraying us with fine droplets that caught in Nell’s hair. We had to remember

Seeing Chase made every memory I ever made with him hit me all at the same time. I could feel Nell reeling, floors below us, as she was hit with the full force of my visceral reaction to seeing that man again. Chase had introduced me to a world of monsters, led me on a

Daria hissed and held a hand over the bite wound. “Fucker bit straight through my clothes like butter.” I moved to press my back against hers so we could watch each other’s blind spots. It didn’t seem like Neve’s boost to my senses was doing me any favours. Everything felt raw and the shadows undulated

The journey to the city of Rothers was a treat. Every member of the squad got adjacent seats on a commercial airliner headed to the east coast. Nell had never been on a plane before and I had only gone on a small two-seater one time in my childhood. Kay and Tom had both been

“Nick, are you still there?” My heartbeat thudded in my ears. “You haven’t said anything in a while.” I let out a shaky breath. “Yeah, sorry, I’m here. Just zoning out.” A tourniquet had been tied tightly around my upper arm, making my fingers tingly from the restricted circulation. It also made the aching in

The Director led us to a briefing room where the entire team had gathered, along with a group of what appeared to be H.E.S.P. researchers wearing white lab coats instead of the black military gear I was accustomed to seeing. Graham was having an animated conversation with one of them and I saw the excited

I grabbed the collar of Avery’s shirt and dragged him backwards. The front paws of the tiger slammed into the wood where we had been. Powerful muscles moved under black and orange stripes, readying to pounce again. Predator eyes watched me carefully as its tail thrashed side to side, knocking against the walls of the

The three children who had rapidly grown into adults stared dumbfounded at Daria’s manhandling of Vise, their assumed leader. Vise was bigger, but Daria was clearly overpowering him, to the point where he was trying to tear at her skin with his fingernails in order to get her to release his face. Daria only tightened

“Ahhh…” My brain registered the bearded man too late. His voice was already leaking out, growing louder. He raised his hand to point at us and his flannel shirt flapped open to show his hairy belly. He hadn’t buttoned it up correctly. “Ahh-” “Sylas.” A single word, said warningly. It was enough to silence the