The Thrill of the Hunt

There was silence, a brief moment of peace as I eye the scenery in front of me, in front of us. There was always a thrill that came with the hunt, a thrill that you always sought out no matter how close of a brush you had with Death, and it is here you find the rush you won't find anywhere else. It is here, with Death looking at you straight in the eye, coming in the form of horrors molded from the depths of human fear, the unknown. Death taunts, and each time it does, it gets closer to detaining you.

With barrel pointed in front of me, I wait to take the perfect shot, the long silver nose of the gun glints as the red light reflects off of it. Finger on the trigger, I keep myself from firing, waiting for Rheya's move. "Feast. Leave none alive." She speaks, pointing a bloodied finger to our direction. The hands that lurked completely silent in the darkness now come rustling towards us, contorted monstrosities, and limbs askew.

The closer they came, the more they seemed. Five, eight, ten. A dozen human arachnids scutter towards us, their horribly disproportionate bodies make ease of climbing the walls as their hollow eyes lock onto us, fixated on their prey. I squeeze, and with the familiar rumble of the revolver in my hands follows the bright illumination of the shot. The smell of gunpowder fills the air as one of them thumps down to the ground, squealing in pain as the bullet connects. A clean shot to the head.

"Mike, we're outnumbered!" Anthony exclaims, firing shots of his own. "There's no way in hell we're winning this here, at least not like this!" A hand grabs my shoulder as I put another one to the ground, this time making it bleed from one of its arms. Anthony makes his way down the wooden steps with me following quick.

"MY EYES!" One of the horrific creatures wail as it jumps from one wall to another, pushing its brethren further back. It emanated bloodlust, hunger that seemed to be infinite. Relentless, it pounces with great height, never allowing time for me to react. I feel its weight slam on mine as it screams, a terrifying sound of pain and anger. "YOU WILL PAY WITH YOURS!" It raises a hand, attempting to swipe at me with all of its strength.

A gun barks as the creature yelps, tumbling down on the floor beside me. More appear into view from the top of the stairs, making haste in their chase to us. I sprint, Anthony half-dragging me as we dash our way towards our room. I hear the faint jiggle of the door knob, quickly followed by a curse from Anthony. "Anytime now Anthony!" I shout, shooting one shot at a time. Each shot makes one fall, only to be followed swiftly by another arachnid.

A shot is fired as I hear the loud metal clink of the knob falling on the floor. "Come on!" Anthony yells as I jump over a hand attempting to grab me from underneath. I run, almost arriving though the doorway when I hear muttering above me. I don't look up, pointing upwards as I run for Anthony to see. He shoots at the ceiling and I hear the loud thud of the creature behind me. I shut the door, slamming all of my weight as I close it.

"Little help here?!" I push for dear life as more and more of those horrible monstrosities slam themselves into the door, hands desperately trying to pry the door open.

"Move!" Anthony shouts and I get out of the way, surrendering the door as dozens of them push themselves into the doorway. "Take this you pieces of shit!" He chucks a bottle of liquor, its mouth lit by a single flame. The glass shatters upon impact as it finds the head of an arachnid, bursting into flames as dozens of them squeal.

I light one up and throw another towards the now burning pile of horror, shrieking and ear piercing melody as another Molotov finds its mark. I point my gun, shooting at whatever was still moving, Anthony following suite. One manages to make its way through the door, bleeding and burning as it struggles to force its way into the room. My hand points towards it, barrel at the end. "Nice try pal." I pull, and it falls to the ground.

The screams stop, now replaced by an eerie silence, hiding the tracks of such an event happening around the vicinity. I load my clip, grabbing ammunition from our unpacked duffel bag. Anthony falls to the ground, his blonde hair a mess. He speaks, exhaustion governing every word. "That was way too close for comfort."

"You're the one who said you had enough bullets. Bet you wish you hadn't." I jest, my own body screaming at me to take a break. The adrenaline starts to dissipate, leaving nothing but ache and tiredness. I push the clip back in, putting a few extra rounds in my pocket. The duffel bag lies askew on the bed, exposing the hilt of my machete. I pull it along with its scabbard, tying its leather belt around my waist. Anthony grabs his, unsheathing it in the low light provided by the burning bodies. "I bet Rheya's not gonna love this."

"She won't, but I will." Anthony replies, kicking the inanimate bodies out of the path, their charred corpses leaving marks all over the floor. "Time for someone's head to get cut off."

We both hastily make our way upstairs, finding Rheya still seated on the floor of the hallway, bathing in Mason's blood. "I see that my children have failed to kill you, though I expected as much." She stands up, dripping from her hands, black eyes staring at us. "I know what kind of a man you are Michael Graves, how much you have sacrificed for this little hunting game of yours." Her voice starts to escalate, getting more and more agitated. "You will always be alone Graves, and with my death, a new world will come forth with my sisters. Mother would be proud." Rheya pauses, grinning as she licks her finger, scraping the dried blood with her teeth. "I wonder how you're blood wi---"

She doesn't get to finish as Anthony shoots a hole in her head, smoke dispersing from the barrel of his handgun. "Bitch." Rheya falls down on the floor, blood spewing from her forehead. Hey black eyes stare blankly at the wall, never moving as a much awaited peace takes over the Mason residence.