A Golden Craze (1)

Being outside right now was a surreal experience. Aoric could hardly take his eyes of all the reality defying things going on around him.

Groups of people were scattered about, some with red, shining eyes, some with golden. They glared at each other with animosity in their eyes, though neither group was attacking the others right now. Flocks of bats circled the cathedral's towers, and distant howls of wolves sounded.

Aoric gulped, this was like a scene from a horror story. Everything seemed to be lined on a thread, and the moment the thread snapped, chaos would take over the entirety of the city of Vesporum.

He hastened his steps. Staying out of the werewolves' and vampires' way, he ran across the plaza, then down the main street until he reached the hospital. It was a two story building. It's door was slightly open, there was light shining out and he could hear the cries of a baby echoing inside.

He gulped and pushed the door open.

"Hello?" he called out as he stepped inside. The large waiting room was empty save for a single cat sleeping on one of the wooden benches. There was a counter, with a vase on top. A single lily decorated the vase, though it had withered a little. It would need to be replaced fairly soon, he though to himself as he called out again. "Hello? Anyone?"

Not long after, someone rushed inside. A young man, wearing a white suit. "Hi! Yes, apologies, tough delivery." He took a deep breath. "Welcome, how can we help you? How do you feel?"

Aoric quickly shook his head. The man had mistaken him for a patient. "I come from the Cathedral. Help is needed, there are dozens of wounded, the nuns have done what they can, but some wounds are serious."

The man hesitated, his face went pale. "We can't treat members of the clans, young man." He carefully said. "They are beyond our medicine."

"Humans!" Aoric exclaimed. "People caught in the crossfire! There are some who died already, please hurry!"

The man's eyes widened. "We'll be right there." He muttered before rushing off. "Tina!" Aoric heard him shout from the other room. "Take care of the rest of the work here, everyone else, we need a word!"

Satisfied, Aoric breathed a sigh of relief. He stumbled to the door, opened it, and stepped outside. All he wanted to do was just sleep, but he knew he couldn't. Not yet. There were many wounded, and the cathedral needed some clean up.

His steps carried him back as he made sure to stay in the shadows. The howling was louder, and more frequent now. He couldn't help but worry. What if many wolfdogs just came out of nowhere and attacked? He didn't want to be among those caught in the crossfire.

The plaza soon entered his view once more. He was about to breathe another sigh of relief when a sudden, ear piercing screech sounded. It echoed across the city, immediately followed by a blood freezing howl.

Aoric's steps quickly came to a halt as he noticed the groups in the plaza standing off against each other. Violence was imminent.

Not a moment later, one of the golden eyed people dashed forward. As soon as he took his first step forward, the flock of bats circling the cathedral dove down, descending onto the plaza.

Aoric's eyes widened as the bats covered the plaza, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of them! A wordless shout sounded as the bats blocked his view. Aoric stumbled back, away from the plaza as several tiny feet and claws lashed out at him.

Screeches and howls continued to echo as Aoric could do nothing stare at the bats in disbelief. The entire plaza was now hidden behind this violently moving curtain of claws and fangs. And with the plaza, so was the entrance to the cathedral.

He glanced over his shoulder, towards the street. How would the doctors and nurses even pass through this mess to get to the wounded? His shoulders dropped as he took a few more steps back just to be on the safe side. He didn't want to get clawed at by some crazed bat that probably was being controlled by some vampire somewhere.

Suddenly, something broke through the veil of bats. A man clawed his way out of the plaza, leaving more than a few dead bats behind. His left hand was hidden under his cloak as he stumbled away from the chaos behind him. His golden eyes glanced around frantically, and as soon as he noticed Aoric, he snarled, showing several oversized canine fangs.

Aoric drew a sharp breath before his instincts kicked in. He turned around without hesitation, and dashed away, to the nearest alleyway. He could hear the man's footsteps following him, as well as his noisy breaths.

"Leave me be, I'm human!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, but the crazed man didn't seem to care. Aoric kicked the ground as soon as he came within jumping distance of a large angel statue, lunging himself forward and up. His fingers barely touched and clenched around the large spear the statue was holding horizontally.

He pulled himself up, then sat on the spear before reaching for the statue's head. His fingers grasped the creases in the stone hood of the angelic statue, and he motioned to pull himself up.

Something caught his left leg just as he was about to pull himself out of the crazed man's reach. He let out a scream as he felt his leg being yanked. Something pierced his skin just a little. He looked down only to see the man pulling at his leg with both hands.

He pulled his other knee up, then kicked the man's face with all of his strength. He felt something shatter under his boot, and heard the man let out a growl. His eyes met with the crazed man's golden eyes. A thirst for blood was all he could see there.

"I'm human!" He shouted again in desperation before he lost his grip on the statue.

As he fell down, he felt something soft catch him.