Knight Casefiles Book 0: Genesis

Genesis [Chapter 4]

Chapter 4

There were a lot of things going through my mind. Questions that needed to be answered if I ever wanted to stop living in limbo. I’ve heard people describe how their entire life flashes before their eyes when they’re near death. I wondered idly if the same case could be applied to people in my position – those who’ve only just realized that they were essentially dying. Not in the physical sense, though. It’s always the internally ill that gets the worst end of the metaphorical stick.

I was dying on the inside and it took a talking tractor to make me realize it. And in that instant, I saw moments that I’d nearly forgotten – times that I was happy, moments that I was sad, years that I was hopeless, and the months I’d spent trying to work my way out of that despair. These moments that flash through our minds, these memories, aren’t they essentially just a show? Our mind’s way of clinging to the present by grounding itself in the past, knowing the future is going to be less than delightful.

Then again, maybe I really was physically going to die. The monsters bearing down on us at that moment definitely seemed intent on it.

They came from the shadows; menacing beings that flowed silently through the grimy and humid walls of the sewers. If Sigrun hadn’t warned us, her inhuman senses vastly superior to ours, I doubted Claude and I would’ve seen them coming. With a Valkyrie on our side, we had fair warning, a certain edge. Though Claude and I were obviously in disagreement on some things, we could concur on at least one goal – finish the job.

When the first monster came, my Glock was already in my hand, the safety off. It sprung from behind me, a blur of darkness only dimly lit by my own chemical light. As it did, several more appeared from either side of the tunnel Sigrun’s training kicked in and I immediately took aim, wasting no time, and shot several rounds into the blur’s form. There was an inhuman screech that resounded in the tunnel, followed by an audible splash as the body dropped into the water. It wasn’t dead yet though.

As it began to rise again, Sigrun rushed to my side and swung a humungous battle axe down on the thing’s head. It exploded in a shower of blood; most of it I was sure wasn’t its own.

“Aim for their heads and hearts!” Sigrun exclaimed, forgoing our stealth now that we were under attack.

I bobbed my head in a nod and aimed at the humanoid form wrestling with Claude. I released several rounds into its chest and knees until it dropped in a gurgle. Claude wasted no time bringing his bag down on the thing’s head, smashing it into a pancake.

“What do we do?” I asked, whirling to cover our backside. Two more shadows crept through the darkness, both clinging to either side of the tunnel. “Two on my side.”

“Three on mine,” Claude answered back. The figures edged closer, skirting away from the chemical lights.

“Stop!” Sigrun commanded, her voice echoing through the tunnel as she coursed her power through it. A blue light blazed into existence, enveloping Sigrun into the silhouette of the archaic armor I’d seen her wearing the first time I met her.

The two figures on my side hesitated, and then they dropped from the walls to the waters with a splash, staying in full view as they did. The creatures cocked their heads and began to speak in serpentine whispers. I assumed the three on Claude’s end did the same because the noise was coming from both sides.

“Sigrun,” I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “Are these-“

“Yes, they are,” Sigrun answered, taking a step before me and shouting something in the same serpentine tongue.

The beings bowed and receded, taking several steps backward. They were replaced by something even more alarming. A large cloaked figure rose from behind them, ascending from the murky waters. It was tall, its hood nearly touching the ceiling. The black cloak that covered it was soaked and clung to the creatures lumpy, but no doubt humanoid frame. Sigrun hissed and held the battle axe before her as easily as if it were a teddy bear.

The cloaked figure that had appeared rasped and I chillingly realized that it was laughing. It extended its arms, a bony hand appearing from beneath its cloak, and pulled down the hood covering its head.

“So that’s why you’re wearing that cloak,” I said before my mouth could check in with my brain.

The thing let out another raspy laugh before fixing its bloodred eyes on me. “Arrogant youngling,” the thing murmured, its voice bearing no indication of its gender.

As it spoke, the room began to feel heavier all of the sudden and that’s not a subject-verb error. It literally felt like I was carrying the entire tunnel as I was driven to my knees. The creature watched me gleefully as it clenched its hands in a show of power. Both Sigrun and Claude stayed standing, though I could see the strain in Claude’s posture as he struggled to fight against the thing’s will.

 “Don’t judge me just yet,” I said through gritted teeth as I fought to keep from dropping deeper into the water. “I just thought…that vampires…would be sexier.”

“Do not liken us to dishonorable scum, child,” the lead creature spat.

“They’re the Strigoi, Chris,” Sigrun said, not an ounce of strain in her voice. “Though they share common characteristics with the vampires, they’ve long since separated from their bloodline. Think of the difference between Europeans and the Chinese. That’s how they are.”

“Bloodsuckers all the same,” Claude replied grimly.

“We are the original,” the Strigoi leader snarled. “Nothing like parasites. We feed on life itself.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that ugly,” I responded.

Admittedly, the description may have been an extreme understatement. The Strigoi’s tight skin was pale, almost translucent really, with red and purple veins straining against it. Its body was slender and lumpy, almost as if a single breeze would knock it down. Long arms disproportionate from its body protruded from the cloak, bony fingers tipped with yellowing talons. Its face would have been handsome if it wasn’t for the distinct lack of whites in his eyes or the flat snake-like absence of a nose. Its mouth was filled with needle-like teeth that I wanted nowhere near me.

The Strigoi leader let out a bellow and charged toward us. This had the effect of setting off the rest of them, the five that had remained springing in response to their leader’s advance.  

Sigrun wasted no time flinging her axe at the lead Strigoi, who ducked expertly out of the way, letting the axe hit one of its less fortunate followers. Seeing the blunder, Sigrun immediately dropped her duffel bag to my side and yelled out a bellow that challenged that of the Strigoi’s. There was something primal in that shout, something so…far beyond human that it made my knees quake against the waters. She gave me a sidelong glance, blue eyes glinting in unholy defiance before she turned them to the Strigoi leader and charged without any sense of reservation.

It was the first time since the day I met her that I saw Sigrun as something inhuman. It wasn’t the calm, commanding demeanor of the mentor I was used to. It was frightening, and yet somehow invigorating at the same time. The yell seemed to roll through me, piercing my skin and tensing my muscles, fortifying me with its raw savagery. It gave me the strength to resist the Strigoi’s power and to stand on my own two feet.

Sigrun rammed into the leader threw him down in the water. The second Strigoi that had narrowly missed the axe leapt and attempted to help its master. I didn’t let it. I swung my gun to the flying form and let lose several rounds that all hit their mark. Despite how dark it was, it felt like I could see the creature perfectly – its sinewy muscles, its oddly urban clothing, the spatter of blood as each bullet struck an artery that stood out against its skin.

As the Strigoi dropped, I clicked another magazine into place and whirled to help Claude. I didn’t need to worry about Sigrun. She could handle herself against the leader and one devastated follower. I turned to find Claude doing battle with two of the Strigoi; one of them already lying motionless on the ground.

A yellow glow emanated from his weapon and it took me a moment to realize that it was a sword. Not just any sword too – one of the Weapons.

He swung it around expertly, leaving sizzling gashes on the two creatures as he dodged each of their strikes, parrying and turning, moving as swiftly as if he wasn’t standing in sludge that soaked his pants and made them heavier.

We were winning. There was no doubt about it.

But then something unexpected happened.

Sigrun lost.