Out on a Limb

"Get down!" I nab the plump officer down to the ground, secluding ourselves behind a thicket. The familiar rumbling grows stronger, our bodies trembling with each thump. I put one finger above my mouth, signaling silence. He nods, keeping his mouth shut as we lie still. An enormous arm swings above us, disappearing into the mist. The Newborn wails once again, thrashing at the lines of houses as it causes everything to shake uncontrollably.

Its face was obscured, the pungent odor of rotting skin the only sign that it was there, along with the frequent thumping. The wailing stops as I feel it march onwards, away from where we were. Moments of silence pass, none daring to move so not to lure it back to our direction. The air is still once more, leaving us with our own breathing, becoming one with the mist.

"What was that… that thing?!" The officer puts himself up, eyes wide from shock and confusion. "That was a blasted demon lad! It's gonna come for our heads next!" His head was now turning from side to side, scanning for any sort of threat that may be lurking in the fog. "Is it gone?"

I don't sit up for a good while, taking my sweet time as the ground feels cold beneath my back, the grass an itchy welcome for my exhaustion. "It seems to be." I push myself up, dusting my clothes as I think about my next move. "For now at least." There were two options presented in front of me, to risk myself in an attempt to get my bag back, or to head straight north. Being unarmed is not an ideal situation for me to be in, and this means that my chances of meeting Anthony alive have now become significantly slimmer.

As if he read my thoughts, he breaks the silence with a question. "Where are you off to now lad?" He asks, his walrus moustache moving as he talks.

"North." My hands reach for the cold iron in my pockets, loading the bullets into my revolver. "I never really caught your name officer."

"Wallace, Wallace Williams." Walrus. "If you don't mind me asking, you're low on firepower aren't you?" He asks, nudging his head towards the revolver in my hand.

I holster the gun, keeping whatever remaining shots I had back in my pocket. "What gave it away?" I jest, knowing full well my face said it all. "Do you happen to know a place I can get some?"

Wallace points towards a direction in the fog, then pulling it back once he realizes his mistake. "Sorry, the fog thing's still new to me." I shake my head, telling him that it was fine. "There's a weapon locker at the station, it houses tons of ammunition. You might want to head there to stock up. I can take you there if you want."

"That might be for the better." I eye him, fairly certain that he was to be trusted. "Going alone isn't a good idea anyways, better to stick together." I watch him nod as he turns around and starts walking, me following shortly behind.

"Where were you when all hell broke loose, lad? I didn't even see you drop by the office once, considering you were here on the job." He's sharp. I do my best to keep my face even, with current events not being the time for doubts. "Could I have missed you or something?"

Better to not lie at all. "I've never been to the office, which obviously shows." A chuckle escapes me, a convincing attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm currently working as a P.I., investigating a series of murders that may be linked to one another. I was at a colleague's house when all of this happened, and now I'm here."

Wallace nods, completely fooled by the half lie. He doesn't ask any more questions, walking in full alert as we walk blindly through the mist. "We're almost there son, office is just by tha---" His sentence is abruptly ended by a loud blaring from the skies, like a siren, screaming at the top of its lungs.

A deafening silence follows, then a short scratching of the audio. The siren sputters, turning into a horrifying distortion of a woman's voice. A scream, then sobbing. The audio flips from one track to another, jumping to different voices as the volume gets louder as seconds pass by. It stops, another moment of the atmosphere being muted.

A melody plays, somber, as if lulling us to sleep. My head sings along, the lyrics playing in my head. Rock-A-Bye Baby… My mind blurs, my consciousness losing its grip. Something's wrong. My eyes turn to Wallace, looking dreamily at the empty space in front of him. "Wallace! Stop listening to it!" I call out, trying to get him to snap out of the trance.

Something tells me to run, the hair on my skin start to rise as I sense a stir above us. Shadows zoom past us in from the skies, faint outlines of movement circling us from above. It descends, a cold breeze hitting the skin beneath my coat.

A daunting entity lands on Wallace, causing me to fall over with a thud. A human fowl, its head filled with numerous hollow eyes, deformed into a bloody rose, its skin peeled into a gore of crimson petals. Large wings flutter on its back. Disembodied limbs, bloodied as they continue to stir, stitched together by massive thorned chains into a blood-curdling sight.

It squawks, its claws ripping through Wallace's carcass, relentless as it picks at his corpse. Entrails get thrown around as the winged monstrosity feasts on its prey. It freezes, its head now turning to scan the area. Shit.

I watch it intently, lowering myself on the ground as it gets off of Wallace, now taking small, bloodied steps towards me. Let me take you. It speaks in my head with scratched, broken voices, images of my skin getting torn apart flood my mind. Let me end your suffering, let me end your fear. Projections of a barbed wire tightening around my throat arrive, the sting of the rusted metal spikes burn as it wraps itself around my neck. My mind flayed me alive, tearing me apart as my knees buckle. The scent of death, of fear. It found me, now making its way as I struggle to move. Its wings twitch, responding to its excitement. Let me devour you.