First Encounter with A Monster

The rumbling was still all I could feel but the panic in Minami's voice was enough to tell me that this wasn't right. I could hear the screams outside as everything continues to unfold.

What exactly happened?

"Rokuro wake up!" A distant voice calls out.

Someone called my name? Around me the house was all I could see and Minami was standing by the hallway. There's no reason for her to call out to me since I could hear her pretty clearly.

I couldn't help but search for the source of the voice and it only continues to sound further and further away. That was until everything suddenly disappeared around me in an instant.

"Rokuro!" Ghost shouts while shaking me.

Opening my eyes to the sight of the cyborg girl I saved is definitely going to take some getting use to. She's pretty but that's not what's important right now.

"Huh, what's going on?" I ask with a drowsy voice.

I felt exhausted waking up like this but I didn't know how long I slept or how long she's been trying to wake me up. Something has to be wrong or she wouldn't have a reason to wake me up.

"Something is outside. It keeps speaking with strange voices." Ghost responds with a bit of fear in her voice.

I thought cyborgs were supposed to be fearless and able to handle these issues but I guess that wasn't the case. Don't tell me I happened to find the one defective bot who can't fight.

Guess it's time for me to get up.

My body was still heavy with sleep, I sat up, rubbing the crust from my eyes as I listened. Nothing at first. Just the usual hum of old wiring in the walls. Then… something else.

Whispers.

Not words. Not really. Just the shape of them like syllables being twisted in a dream. I pulled on my coat, grabbed the nearest tool I could swing, and crept toward the boarded-up slit I used as a window in the other room.

Outside, under the pale flicker of a half-dead streetlamp, something moved.

Thin, Bent wrong.

Its skin looked stretched too tight, like it barely belonged on the thing wearing it. Parts of it shimmered faintly, not from the light, but like the air around it was bending to some broken rhythm. I couldn't tell if it had eyes, but I knew it was staring.

And the whispering didn't stop.

It was louder now, pressing against the inside of my head like a thought that didn't belong to me.

"Rokuro don't you wanna come help me?" Minami's voice whispers.

"Yeah help your sister out Rokuro." Mom's voice chimes in, almost robotic.

Smack. Smack. I smacked the sides of my face to try to calm myself down and to center myself again.

I didn't expect a whisperspawn to be this close by, usually the hunters deal with them so we don't have this issue. I'm not the only one who lives out here so it makes sense that they'd protect some of the people.

"Do you hear them?" Ghost asks from behind me.

"Yeah, you have to ignore them." I respond while gripping the wrench I grabbed.

Those things aren't the strongest which is why they manipulate the mind to lure you in. I've experienced it in the past which is why I'm able to deal with this right now.

I can also only see one or two of them out the slit of the window so maybe it would be best to take them out. I don't know if it's wise to leave them hanging around since they might draw someone else out.

It doesn't take me long to go over to the door and open it up with the chains, it was a great way to keep things out. Didn't want to take the chance of something sneaking in during the middle of the night to kill me.

The dark red moon seemed to light up some of the area a bit which was great but terrifying at the same time. Scrap, skeletons, and some decrepit old buildings were all around me.

Me against two of these damn monsters, I don't even know if I can handle a fight against them. I'm no hunter.

Tug. I could feel something tugging on the back of my coat. "Can I help...?" Ghost asks quietly.

Damnit I didn't think she came out with me so that's going to make things a bit more complicated. These bastards are very good manipulators so I don't want her to get pulled into anything.

Wait, can she even get pulled like a normal human being? I didn't really consider that at first since she's not a full human, just bits and pieces of one.

I held the wrench tighter. "Stay back." I respond quietly.

"B-But... I want to help.." Ghost insists.

I couldn't focus on her for the time being, there was more important issues at hand.

The street was too quiet. Even the wind had stopped. They were just there and now they just disappeared all of a sudden.

Blink.

Right in front of me. One blink and the space between us collapsed, like it skipped through the air instead of moving.

The Whisperspawn stood less than a foot away, its head twitching in small, sudden jerks like a glitching frame. Its face, if you could call it that, was stretched smooth, lips curled back in a permanent grin that didn't match the tilt of its skull.

I didn't have time to think. I swung the wrench hard.

The metal cracked against its side, but it didn't scream... just shuddered, like the hit rattled something deeper inside it than bone. It lurched at me with needle-thin limbs, one arm snapping out like a whip.

Pain shot through my side as its claws grazed me, not deep, but enough to feel warm blood under my coat.

I gritted my teeth, stepped in close, and drove the wrench down on its shoulder — again. Again. A wet crunch followed the third hit, and it collapsed with a hiss like steam being let out of a pipe.

But the whispers didn't stop. The second one was already crawling from the shadows, dragging its too-long arms like broken stilts. I backed up, breathing hard, shoulder throbbing.

"Ghost get back to the shop!" I shout while lifting the wrench up in time to block it's attack.

These things aren't the craziest to fight, it's just the speed that makes them deadly with the combination of mind manipulation. I don't think she's ready to fight these things because not even I am ready to fight them.

I've just seen hunters dealing with them enough times that I figured it couldn't be too bad. I couldn't be more wrong about this fight with them.