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That night, Anna tossed and turned in her sleep.
Dad never called mom 'Hélène,' she thought as she woke up in the middle of the night. He always called her 'angel-of-mine.'
She sat up in bed, and she could feel her wings itch to spread. The action of spreading her wings threw her body in to a heightened state, increasing her vision, hearing, and other senses. She suddenly could smell something faint that lingered in the room.
What's that scent? Dad . . . no. She inhaled deeply, focusing her mind and her body, trying to sift through the smells. It's almost like dad, but there's something under it, deeper. She clenched the sheets in her fists, as she finally recognized the smell.
Down the hall she ran, quickly yet quietly. She knocked on Russell's door, and after a minute of fevered pounding, he slowly opened it.
"What . . . you finally slipped away from your dad?" he asked with a tired yet lascivious grin. "Well, I'm always ready . . ."
"I hope you're ready to fight; that's not my dad."
Russell looked at her with shock, then his glance was raised and his expression turned to one of terror. Anna could feel it, now that she had been properly attuned.
"Bit slow, don't you think, dear?" hissed the figure behind her with an echo of her father's voice. "Well, I'm hungry!"
She felt the teeth sink into her shoulder, and fell to her knees. She saw Russell pound on the creature and scream.
"No, go away," she muttered, weakly. "Go get the others."
The beast that looked like her father struck out and knocked Russell back into the room. Anna felt its cold hands on her arm, as he dragged her in and threw her on the floor.
"How . . ."
"Did I manage to camouflage myself so perfectly?" asked the elohim whose body shimmered in the dim light, transforming into a shorter man with a much wider mouth. "Call it willpower. We were determined to crash you slumber party, and we have finally succeeded, thanks to you."
"What will one elohim do?"
"One? Perhaps you're the one who needs glasses. You remember my friend, don't you? We were so close to this place, we could taste the sweet mastema flesh! And yet one deer, and he's dead, and I'm on foot." Its body shook, vibrated from side to side, and from its arms flew ten black blobs that smelled of sulfur and ash. They landed on the floor, and began to grow in size. Within seconds, ten elohim crowded the small room.
"Let me introduce myself; I am Jonah," he said with a slight bow, "and these are my spawn. But I'm afraid they're very hungry. Time to eat!"
Three of the elohim grappled onto Anna, and she felt the anger boil within her. Her wings exploded out of her body, knocking the elohim through the air and into the walls. She ignited their tips, conjuring a sphere of power, and blue starfire exploded against the elohim, incinerating two in an instant.
"Run!" yelled Jonah.
The elohim knew better than to face Anna, so they knocked down the door to escape. Waiting for them outside were ten mastema, their wings extended, holding brilliant spheres of power above. The elohim backed onto their haunches, and opened their mouths.
"Dinner should never come too easily!" shouted Jonah, as they leapt against the mastema.
Though a few were killed in an instant, two of the elohim managed to sink their teeth into Gertina. One's mouth completely took in her head, while the other ripped a great chunk out of her wing.
"Gertina!" screamed Anna.
But it was too late. Within seconds, her body was torn asunder and devoured.
"Filthy, disgusting beasts!" yelled one of the strongest mastema, a forbidding woman Anna knew was called Elena. Never had she flashed even the hint of a smile, and Gertina warned Anna to stay away from her, for she was a warrior to the core. "You shall burn for killing one so honored!
"Stupid elohim, we're just the diversion," hissed Jonah. "Our master is coming . . ."
From far above the sound of a blade scraping the ice-covered lake could be heard. It was a terrible sound that penetrated down through the levels and into the souls of the mastema, and they cringed at the sound.
"TEACHERS . . . TEACHERS . . ."
Elena harrumphed, and with a flick of her wings, incinerated Jonah and the rest of his spawn. She stood proudly, though those around her cowered with fear. Anna looked on her and drew strength from her courage and confidence.
"The red boy is coming," said Elena. "What we have feared for so long, has come to pass." She took a deep breath, and extended her hands to her sisters, who joined with her. "We must stand together in this dark night of decimation."
Anna leaned back against the wall. In an instant, all that was happening pressed onto her mind. The father she thought was finally found was lost again, and one of the women who saved her, who cared for her after Helene's death was killed herself, eaten right before her eyes.
"Can the pretty girls come out and PLAY?"
Anna shivered as she heard the red boy's voice, for her soul felt damaged each time the red boy spoke. Her wings sagged, as did those of the mastema.
"In truth, I never thought I'd hear that voice again," said Elena. "I never thought I'd see that . . . thing again, while I still lived."
Anna knelt beside the body of the elohim who pretended to be her father. "How did it know so much about me?"
Russell came to her side. "The elohim are very intelligent and resourceful. Over the centuries, we have seen them alter their bodies to mimic someone, and draw on a captive's mind for information."
"You mean . . . my father is alive, but being held by them?"
"Unfortunately it makes sense. Most of the girls here come from broken families, with parents either dead or lost."
"And yet Gertina is gone," she said. "I may not have liked her, but I respected her." Anna couldn't help but cry. "She deserved better than that!"
"CLIP, CLIP, CLIP away the WINGS!" cried the red boy. The other girls wept and wailed as the scrape of the tip of the red boy's blade could be heard. "I'm coming DOWN to PLAY . . ."
"She deserved nothing more," said Elena forcefully, with a proud brow and brilliant wings. "She died defending the home she helped to build, defending the girls she believed in. I can only hope for such a death." She took a deep breath. Now we have prepared for this eventuality. We must stand united, woman with woman, girl with girl. We are a sisterhood, and no boy will break us!"
Anna got to her feet, standing proudly. "What can I do?"
"No; the time is not yet for you. You haven't even been groomed yet."
"No!" screamed Anna. "They have my father! I'm not running away to hide somewhere. I'm ready to fight."
"But are you ready to die?" asked Elena, coming to stand above her. Anna could see the battle-scars on her face, the uneven lines in the bones in her wings that spoke of hideous breaks and terrible struggles. Her body told stories of fierce battles that Anna knew Elena never would.
Anna glanced down at the burnt elohim. "If I can kill, then I'm ready to die."
3
The Great Court of the Mastema lay in-between the vestibule and the residences, and it was there the red boy paused. Anna thought it to be awe-inspiring the first time she saw it, as a ribbed vault stretched almost a hundred feet upwards. The Court was circular in design, and over a dozen statues of fallen mastema stood watch over those who gathered within. Only now did she understand why the Great Court was so large; it afforded the mastema the option of flying if they needed to defend their home.
Dozens of older, stronger woman charged the red boy and his elohim. The elohim ran forward on the marble floor with open, gaping mouths, leaping high into the air to bring down the mastema. The mastema used their wings to pummel the elohim, and once knocked back, used spheres to burn their bodies. But the elohim were quick and determined, and once their mouth grappled onto an arm or a leg, it was near impossible to break free.
Anna watched as mastema after mastema were caught in the terrible orifices, as the thousands of teeth ground
up bone and drew the struggling bodies in. The mastema fought valiantly, but many were swallowed whole, never to return. She was part of the next wave to go out and fight, and Russell crouched next to her.
"You need to press on, no matter the fear," he said. "Your wings are strong, but they are a large target. Keep your wits about you, no matter who is being . . . eaten, next to you."
Anna winced at his words.
"You still have time," said Russell. "You don't need to go out there -- not yet, at least"
"What would my mother say?" said Anna. "She gave her life defending me, and was devoured in front of my eyes by one of those things. No, for her memory, I must stand by my kind."
"Ready, Anna?" shouted Elena.
"Yes!"
"Mastema . . . advance!" cried Elena, as she darted out into the hall.
Fifty mastema followed, with half taking to the air while the rest advanced by foot. Anna remained on foot, her wings somewhat extended in a defensive posture, her tips gleaming, ready to strike.
The battle moved with a lightning pace. Anna thought she knew what to expect, having fought the two elohim in Philadelphia, but it all seemed now as some fast-moving carnival ride that she was expected to jump on. These were trained, seasoned warriors who fought before her, and she suddenly knew she was outmatched. She hadn't even tried to fly yet, while these mastema could fight and fire from their wings all while gliding.
"Come on, Anna," yelled an older girl next to her, "make 'em burn!"
Anna took a deep breath, and ran forward. Two elohim immediately leapt at her. She dove down, eluding one, while the other grabbed onto her arm.
"Get off!" she cried, yanking at her arm as the elohim opened its mouth.
"So young, and so fresh," it cooed. "Just like veal!"
Anna ignited the tips of her wings and focused the energy on the elohim's leg. It screamed, but it didn't let go. Instead, it yanked on Anna's arm and pulled her down to the floor. Instantly it was upon her, and it sunk her teeth deep into her arm.
"No!" screamed Anna, as she suddenly felt weak and faint. She couldn't help but look down, to see the elohim pull away half of her forearm and chew on the flesh. "Please . . ."
"Yes, plead my tasty little cow," said the elohim, as its mouth grew in size. Anna felt seduced by the void behind the teeth, and her blood-stained wings fell down on the ground. "It'll all be over soon."
"Elohim; rally to me -- Elena is down!" yelled a voice.
The elohim ravaging Anna was off in an instant, as were all the elohim in the hall. They swarmed around the center, where Elena fought valiantly. Two elohim had latched onto her wings, yet she still held them high, beating off those who would challenge her and incinerating the slow and weak.
"Mastema," yelled Elena, "run back to the dormitory! I sacrifice myself for the good of us all."
The mastema wailed in sorrow, but began to retreat down into the dormitory. Elena raised her wings as high as they could go, almost three times the height of a man, and formed an immense sphere of power. With one last battle-scream, she released two concentrated bursts of blue fire at the vaulted concrete ceiling. In an instant it exploded above her, raining stone, ice and water from the lake above onto those remaining on the battlefield. The elohim screamed in pain, as they all were caught in the torrent of doom.
Anna stood with several dozen others in an adjacent hallway, looking down on the devastation in the Great Court. Her arm throbbed, but Russell was by her side, and wrapped a bandage filled with a unique concoction that soothed the pain.
"The entrance is blocked," said one. "We'll need to find our way out through the service tunnels."
"Let us all say farewell to our strongest," said Rachel, a mastema who fought close to Elena. She was also tall and muscular, with an eye that didn't open fully due to an old injury. Her wings were bloody, with two large chunks taken out of them, yet she stood as if none of it fazed her in the least. "Elena died, so we may live."
"Let us pray, let us pray," said the red boy's voice that itched in their minds. "Let us PRAY for the knife edge TODAY!"
The red boy could be seen stepping casually through the ice and stone, clearing his way with a casual swipe of his knife. He burned like an inferno, and the ice not only melted around him, but turned to vapor. The entire hall was filled with steam.
"Damned you child," screamed Rachel, "have you no honor?!"
"The FUN'S begun but NOT YET DONE . . ." he sang, as he skipped over the fallen bodies. "The FUN'S begun but NOT YET DONE!"
The lights flickered, and finally extinguished, and the mastema cried and wailed with fear. A few of the red emergency lights flickered, and though they were faint, they were enough to illuminate Rachel's stern face.
"Hold fast, my sisters; this is not the time to despair. We need too --"
The ground quaked as the red boy scraped the tip of his knife along it.
"Run!" screamed some of the younger mastema, as they pulled back in their wings. "He's coming – run!"
"BE STILL!" shouted Rachel, in a battle-voice that brought the youngest of them to a standstill. "We won't panic and trample ourselves. We need to make our way down to the maintenance rooms and back up through the service tunnels. If we move quickly, yet efficiently, we should be out of Turendura in five minutes."
"No, no, go away," screamed a girl down the hallway. "No!"
The sound of flesh being cut and blood spilled filled the hallways.
"It's time to THIN the HERD," said the red boy. "Time for fun, CHOPPIN' some!"
There was no force on Earth that could have controlled their panic. They ran blindly, each girl following the one before. Anna was somewhere in the middle, jostled back and forth by the current. The mastema wove their way down the levels, as the darkness was illuminated by a red fire that consumed the stragglers. Some would stand and fight, some would beg and plead, but they all ended up as so many pieces, cut by the red boy. His laughter became deafening, and some fell to their knees, unable to continue so consumed they were with terror. One girl fell to the ground near Anna, and though the press of flesh was tight, she stopped to try to get her to move on.
"Come on, he's right behind us!" cried Anna. "We've got to move."
"No, no, I just can't," said the girl, weeping. "Let me go, let me die!"
"You won't beat me!" yelled a mastema down the hall. The crackle of fire between her wings was thick and strong, and her voice was full of command. Anna thought she looked like some kind of superhero, her body was so thick with muscle, her gaze so determined. "I've been alive for centuries and killed hundreds of elohim."
"Thick bones CRACK all the louder!" jeered the red boy as he turned the corner.
Anna could see him, and he was close. There was no stain, no cut on his body; he had an evil purity. The mastema struck with her right wing faster than Anna could even see; the impact was so great it brought down the wall next to them. But the red boy merely held his blade up as she did, and her wing severed in two, with the larger part of it falling to the ground. The mastema groaned and sank to her knees, cursing him. The red boy grinned even wider, and waved his knife back and forth, taunting her.
"NO more running, NO more playing; only DYING!"
Anna had to turn her head as the red boy eviscerated the woman. She thought the sound of the death of someone noble and strong to be the most horrible sound she had ever heard. She knew nothing stood between the red boy and her now, and felt despair.
"Come on," cried Anna desperately. "I can't leave you."
"But I can't move."
"Don't you remember me, Ingrid?" asked a boy's voice, that Anna recognized to be Russell. "Don't you remember our time together?"
"Russell?" asked Ingrid, perking up.
"I need you, Ingrid; I need you to protect me."
Ingrid took a deep breath, and got to her feet. "Anything for you, Russell."
She and Anna ran down the hall, and Anna couldn't help but look at Russell with a mixture of admi
ration and suspicion.
"What . . . how do you groom?" she asked.
"Don't you wish you knew?" he asked coyly.
They ran as fast as they could, as the scraping of the red boy's knife was growing stronger. Down three more levels they ran, finally arriving on the lowest level of the complex. Through several doors they ran, and Russell tried to barricade each of them, though he knew little could stand in the red boy's way. Finally they entered the maintenance area with the furnace and HVAC compressors, and in a far corner stood the quivering mass of mastema, who were slowly filing one-by-one into a service hatch that led to the surface.
Anna was tired, and saw the fatigue on the faces of the mastema. Some had their wings out, but most had them integrated back in, and Anna was reminded of some of the evacuation drills in high school. There were only a few adults left, Rachel being one of them, and she strode confidently to the main door to see the red boy's progress.
"We must buy some time," said Rachel, with a heavy brow."I will take a contingent to stand and fight, so others may flee. Who is with me?"
Immediately, four strong, seasoned mastema came to stand in front of her. They represented the last of the adult warrior core, and Anna felt ashamed that she couldn't raise her hand to volunteer.
"Russell," said Rachel, "see that all of them get through, and up to safety. You have the accounts memorized?"
"Yes. We'll be able to set up a new base quickly. Another Turendura . . ."
"Good. To all my sisters, I bid you farewell." Rachel took a deep breath and stood tall and proud, and reminded Anna strongly of Elena herself. "Never forget what happened today; never forget all the great warriors lost. Many have died so you might live, and it is a debt that demands to be repaid!" She turned to face the door, and the red boy behind it. Her wings emerged, tinged a dark grey and thick with feathers and muscle. The tips ignited, and it was as if two suns sat atop her head. "Forward, mastema!"
With that, Rachel charged back into the darkened corridors with the four volunteers.
Finally it was Anna's turn to climb through the service tunnels. She could hear battle cries and screams of pain from the nearby hallway.
"Can't we help them?"
"Yes," said Russell quickly, "by living! I have set an explosive near the boiler. As soon as we are halfway up, I will detonate it."
Anna took one last look at her temporary sanctuary, heard once more the cries of those who protected her.
You all shall be avenged.
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What remained of the mastema sat in disheartened groups along the side of the frozen Lake Bomoseen, their tattered, bloody wings drawn about themselves for warmth. The center of the lake was the only sign that a great battle had taken place; it was entirely collapsed from the explosion Russell rigged, and thick black smoke billowed out from below. Russell and the few remaining groomers tended the mastema, building small fires for warmth. In the distance a brilliant red light could be seen moving off, following the moon.
"A least it's over," said Ingrid.
"Then why is it still snowing?" asked Anna. "I've never heard of snow falling this thick, for this long. What if rain and snow are falling like this around the world?"
"Don't believe the lies of the red boy," snapped an older mastema, one of the caretakers who was too old to fight. "Look around you; you see how few of us are left? Only a tenth survived today; a tenth of the mastema! So many of our smartest, most courageous were devoured into the voids of the elohim and fell under the blade of the boy. We will need to go out and . . . reproduce," she said with a sneer.
Anna couldn't help but glance over a Russell, who did his best to conceal a naughty smile.
"See; the snow's letting up," said Ingrid, her spirits brightening. "Everything will be alright."
As Anna got to her feet, wincing from the pain in her arm, she saw the storm clouds break, revealing more of the moon and even a few stars. She knew that under those stars her father still lived, and she would have to fight the elohim to get him back.
No matter what, no matter who, no matter where; I'm going to save you.
THE END
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