The Unseen, Chapter 4: Demon, Part Two

A blaring, mournful woman's scream echoed throughout the room. It felt like its source was a great distance away, yet it was loud enough to be heard as if it was right next to Susie. Nothing felt inhuman or supernatural about the scream besides its pure volume and odd presence. Through many walls, through the rain, through the television, through everything, it was still heard. Susie's expression turned to one of immense distress as the screaming grew louder. Her teeth clenched together and her eyes shut in an attempt to decrease the sensory overload. Blood stirred in her veins.

And then, there was only silence and darkness.

The sound of a lightning strike shook the purple dragon awake and into a sitting position, looking around her in a daze to find that she was back in the shack outside the lighthouse. The shack's door, rather than being locked up tight, was now banging against the frame it was attached to. Forced open and closed by the high winds and harsh thunderstorm outside, the constant reverberating impact of wood against wood was as ceaseless as the battering of rain against the roof. Susie looked down and saw that she was in the same clothes she had on the last time she had the same dream. Yet, though she  realized that she was in a dream, she didn't awaken. Rotted and water-damaged wood deformed beneath Susie's feet as she walked through the doorway, looking in both directions.

The lighthouse stood tall and proud over the thrashing sea below. Though the rock around the cliff surrounding it had fractured and chipped off here and there, the tower remained a shining beacon above all but the menacing black clouds above it. There was something else, though. It was previously unnoticed, or perhaps it never existed before in the first place. A dark, somber toned piano piece, originating from within the lighthouse. Masked underneath the torrent of rain and lightning, each note built upon the last, each resonated a feeling of emptiness within the dragon's stomach. Once the sound of soft and dainty notes began to make themselves more and more known to her, the entire landscape around her turned black as pitch, and the ambient sound was muted.

Susie's eyes darted around the unlit area as her head turned in all directions. Where was she? Why was it her place to be subjected to these incredibly vivid dreams? Was this the work of some anomaly? Thoughts raced in her head as her breathing quickened before a light appeared far in the distance. Behind a large stretch dark rectangular silhouettes glimmered a radiant golden glow, though what caused it was both too far away and behind too many dark blockades for her to discern. As she stepped towards the light, more and more of her surroundings began to make themselves known to her as she walked over a short bridge that spanned the rushing water.

It clicked in the dragon's mind that this was Black Falls. A darkened and warped version of it, but the layout was unmistakable. Using her rather limited knowledge of the town, Susie figured that she had started her walk at the Diner, and was making her way towards the beach. Wasting no time, she rushed past the shadowy bridges and in the shrouded streets between the buildings, getting ever closer to the light before...

Susie stood still. The beach was only a block away, but something in the alleyways of this place caught her subconscious attention.She looked left towards the alley in a slow and deliberate manner. There, laying on the ground between two towering buildings, was a figure cloaked in black clothing which obscured every part of its body. The being writhed upon the ground, making soft, pained whimpers. Susie's stomach dropped, and an immeasurable fear crept up her body that she couldn't rationally explain in her head. Her heavy steps echoed off the buildings around her as she ran back towards the beach. The boots she was wearing sunk into the ground a bit as she realized she was now stepping in sand, unable to tell from sight alone.

The waters of Lake May stirred as she found the source of the bright, golden light. A bright ring of golden radiance hovered about a dozen feet in the air above the more shallow waters of the lake. Runes and symbols that were beyond Susie's understanding rotated in a slow circular motion around the light. The lavender dragon lifted a shaking scaled hand to the glow before two similarly golden lights emerged from the circle's centre in the form of radiant human hands, which hovered on each side of the circle's lower half. One of the hands faced Susie and exposed its palm to her, its fingers stretching outward. Out of the ring came a soft-spoken male voice that, despite its quiet timbre, blared across the dark lands.

“Your life has taken an unfortunate turn to end up here.” Remarked the being.

“What the hell are you?” Susie gasped, nearly out of breath as she almost tripped stepping backwards, her eyes wide while staring into the light.

“I'm what your 'Anomalous Investigation Bureau' would call an Anomaly. I am between your world and another. Catching glimpses of yours while watching from mine. What you’d assign me as a proper name is something lost on me.”

“Okay... and how do I know you're not just a part of my imagination? Because this really, really feels like a dream.”

“You do not know, though you will in time.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“I have no interest in doing so, nor do I plan to harm you.”

“Then what was up with that person back there in the alley?”

“A previous visitor. From the same organization as you, I believe. He was... unable to understand.”

The opened hand closed into a fist, the other hand opening in its stead. It produced from it an elderly, resentful voice.

“He had a house in Black Falls... but he did not live there.”

The hands switched once more, returning to the softer voice.

“Do you trust your colleague? The one you refer to as 'Kris'?”

Susie's eyebrows furrowed.

“Of course I do.”

“Are you certain?”

Susie's voice began to lace with frustration. “Yes! Why wouldn't I? I've been working with him for as long as I can remember, and I've known him since we were kids.”

The hand from which the elderly voice spoke snapped into a different position. All but the index finger and thumb clenched into a fist, the thumb pointing outward and index finger pointing upward. With this, the figure disappeared, but not before the godlike voice spoke once more.

“Ask your colleague if he has knowledge pertaining to a certain event known as 'Lost November’. Then, you will understand the true nature of your place in this world. Goodbye, Susie.”

Susie stood alone on the beach of the darkened town for a while. Lost November? What could that be referring to? She had never heard such a thing from Kris, nor anyone in the organization. Was it possible he truly knew something she didn't? Before she was able to finish any thoughts, the sound of a floodlight humming to life caught her attention from the south. She looked to her left and saw a large wooden shack on a pier leading out into the water, one she hadn't recalled seeing in either version of the town. A soft orange light glowed from within, beckoning her to investigate.

The sand muffled Susie's footsteps as she walked up a road, soon reaching the pier. The wood creaked below her feet as she stepped on the bridge leading to the large platform holding the shack, the building being about the size of a suburban house. Something in her mind screamed at her to wake up, but it was too buried in her subconscious to make a difference. A red, wooden door stood between her and the shack's interior, which she opened with trepidation after taking a  deep breath. What met her eyes was a wooden stage masked by a red curtain. It was illuminated by a warm orange light for which she could find no source. She slowly walked inside as the door closed behind her, looking around at the rows of wooden bleachers that faced the stage on both sides of the door.

Something compelled her to walk up the bleachers and take a seat on the row in the middle, between the seats closest to the stage and the ones furthest away. She waited, and watched the stage as the red curtains parted to reveal two wood marionettes held by strings, standing with about a meter between each other. Both marionettes were faceless and humanoid, but the one on the left side of the stage was coloured purple while the other was a wooden brown color. She needed no explanation as to what that symbolized. The purple marionette lurched forward from its standing position, and from it echoed a very rough stage whisper.

“I think this is the way.” The voice coughed out.

“I really hope so.” The same voice spoke back as the other marionette stood still.

“We can get out of here. Just a little longer.”

The purple marionette began to walk left, almost walking off stage before it stopped, noticing the other one wasn't following.

“What's wrong?” The purple marionette asked.

The brown marionette pointed upward. The purple one walked slowly to it and looked upward with it. They both stared at the pretend sky for several seconds, up towards where the strings that controlled them came from. The marionettes trembled for a second before dropping to the floor as the wooden hand controller clattered to the stage's floor as well. A woman's ear piercing wail emerged from somewhere below the stage that grew in volume so quickly that it made Susie jump and cover the sides of her head. The screaming grew louder and more powerful as the shack's foundation began to crumble into the lake below, the wood where Susie was seated broke and splintered as she fell in the water underneath. A pained expression spread across her face, clenching her teeth like a vice before her body flung downwards into unending darkness, with not a shred of light to reach her eyes and not a hint of oxygen to reach her lungs.

Air rushed into Susie's lungs as she awoke in the hotel bed. The battering of rain against the room's window along with the rumbling thunder was loud enough that it should have, by all means, woken her up long ago. She groaned as she stretched her arms above her head, moving to sit at the edge of the bed. Kris spoke from behind her.

“Morning.” He deadpanned.

“Mornin'.” Susie mumbled, her words shakey.

“You fell asleep before I was even out of the shower. I guess it was a long day for you, you even left the TV on. A shame about that girl.”

Susie tried desperately to hide the worry on her face.

“Bad dream?”

“No, no, just... that scream last night.” She sighed, turning to see Kris in a black shirt and dark blue sweatpants.

“What scream?” Kris said, a concerned look on his face. Susie replied with a wordless, confused expression.

“What scream? You mean you didn't hear it while you were in the shower?”

“I, uh... No?”

The dumbfounded dragon looked down in confusion. Had it truly all been in her head? It was strange that Kris hadn't immediately exited the shower once the screaming started, and it was certainly loud enough for him to have heard it even over the running water. She knew there was one way to find out, but she wasn't sure how to work it into something that didn't feel forced. She took a deep breath.

“I guess it really was a long day.” Susie sighed.

“Must've been, for you to hallucinate screaming.”

“Yeah. Not as weird as the dream I had last night, though.”

“I thought you didn't have any dreams?”

“I said I didn't have any bad ones. Not as bad as some dreams I've had, anyway.”

“Well, what was it about?”

Susie figured the lighthouse part of the dream must have been somewhat unrelated, so she kept that to herself.

“I was in this really dark version of this town, and some... light creature asked me about something called 'Lost November'. Then, I went to this weird puppet show, and... everything went black. Just bullshit I'm sure, but it was weird.”

When she turned to Kris, she saw all the color drain from his face.

“Huh. That’s weird.” Kris responded. His voice showed no concern, but his face told a different story. He followed this statement up immediately.

“Wanna go down to the dining room and get some breakfast?”

“Uhm... yeah, sure.”

“Meet you down there.”

His wallet clasped in his hands, Kris hurried out the door. Susie's mind immediately fell into a whirlpool of racing thoughts. Was the thing in her dream telling the truth? The look upon Kris’s face implied it had. An uncomfortable feeling stirred inside and weighed down the dragon's stomach. Kris was never one to keep secrets, so what could this possibly be about? Her bed creaked as she stood, and walked from her comfortable hotel room out into the hallway.

The red carpeted hallway and fancy lights that adorned its walls rushed past Susie as she speed walked down the passageway towards the lobby. As she walked, a knock came from one of the doors she passed, specifically, inside it. Stopping in her tracks and looking left, Susie saw that the noise came from a janitor's closet, of all places.

“Hello...?” The door opened, revealing Kris nervously beckoning Susie in. She followed, and as fast as the door was opened, it was shut. The pair stood a few feet between each other in a spacious room lined with shelves of cleaning supplies. The air reeked of bleach.

“Okay-” Kris sighed. “I can explain whatever you want me to after this, but there's something you need to tell me first.”

Susie, taken aback, responded with haste.“Yeah, alright, but why couldn't we just talk in our room?”

“Too risky, they might be listening.”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“They have chips in our uniforms, Susie. They can record audio and transmit our location. I just hope no one was listening in, our uniforms were in the room.”

“Why is it such a big deal?”

“Because you aren't supposed to know about Lost November. At least, not yet. So tell me, was it really a dream, or did someone tell you?”

“It was a dream, I promise.” Susie stated with assurance.

Kris stood back with an empty and confused look on his face. Susie continued. “So, what is it?”

There was a long pause between her question and Kris' eventual answer.

“This is as much as I know... Lost November is what happened when a mining company stumbled into something they were never supposed to, about eight years ago. A mine way up north got everything within about a mile of its entrance moved forward in time by a month. This happened when one of the workers there cracked open a small cave. Only the foreman survived, I think, and he reported the entire month of November being lost to him in an instant. Now the place is heavily locked down and guarded by the AIB.”

Kris paused.

“When that cave was uncovered, it... changed something. Across earth alone, the organization got readings of billions of radio frequencies, electromagnetic readings, all sorts of unnatural things. Even more frequencies appeared in space, and in some of the deeper areas of the ocean. Everything went haywire. We're pretty sure that's what's caused all the anomalies in recent years. A majority of them were harmless and hardly noticeable. A tree would move a few inches, a table would disappear, things like that. As for the more dangerous things... Well, you've worked for the organization for a while now, you should know where I'm going with this. We should consider ourselves very lucky that much more dangerous things weren't spawned into existence here. We're playing the part in cleaning up after this event as best we can, but I'm scared that one day something will emerge and we won't be able to stop it...”

The two stood in silence for what felt like minutes, Susie frowning and looking at her feet while trying to comprehend the information given to her. All of this was a lot to handle, the thought that all of this was started by a simple mistake. Even with all the horrible creatures she had seen, knowing that there was a possibility of even more carnage sent shivers down her back. Kris continued on.

“That's really all they told me. I'm sorry I kept that from you, and I really should not have even told you now. You were going to be informed by them once you had been with the AIB for a longer amount of time, like me.”

“Don't apologize.” Susie assured. “I'm not gonna accuse you of lying or something like that, I know you better than that. You were put into a shitty situation and this is how it ended up. Not much you could have done about it.”

Kris sighed in relief, the worry in his eyes fading.

“Thanks, Susie.”

“Yeah. Lets get out of this room. I'm pretty sure we're trespassing, and I need to grab my phone from the room.”

And so they left the room, stepping out into the empty hallway, to the relief of both of them. While Susie grabbed her phone, her head was still scrambled and vibrating with thoughts. The idea of her dream being just that, a dream, was out of the question now, the only explanation for it was some anomaly or vision. But just to make sure, she would have to phone Berdly. What was the motive of that creature made of light? The dragon also wondered if there was any particular reason one had to be experienced with the organization in order to understand the things she was fighting more. Even then, Kris wasn't told the full picture either. Did this mean that members with far more prestige than her or Kris, like Glare, understood the full extent of what happened?

These thoughts invaded Susie's mind until they had finished walking to the lobby. The stone desk clerk there stood motionless as he greeted them with a whisper-like old male's voice. They then headed to the diner to the left of the lobby. Fancy dark wood tables and chairs sat entirely empty, as did the bar where one would usually order food. It seemed that not even ghosts could inhabit such a desolate room, even with its high class look and feel. Regardless, the pair sat at a table silently, thinking to themselves for a moment. Susie pulled her phone out of her pocket and began dialing a number. As she did, she noticed the time was already ten to one o'clock. Had she really been asleep for that long?

“Who are you calling?” Kris asked.

“Berdly. I saw something else when I slept, and I need to figure out whether it was real..”

The phone made multiple beeping noises of different tones as she held it to her face. After one ring, the phone was picked up. Susie turned the speaker setting on so both her and Kris could hear.

“Oh, hey Susie. What's up? How's the vacation?”

“Hey, It's uhh, fine, I guess. I was just wondering if you could tell me if anyone from AIB lived, or lives in Black Falls.”

“Uhm... I can. Do you have anyone in mind? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing's wrong, I don't think. It's sorta hard to explain, but it would give me some peace of mind.”

The sound of keystrokes followed, and after a few seconds of silence, Berdly spoke once more.

“Huh. Agent Chol has some property in Black Falls, but it isn't listed as his place of residence, just a place he happens to own.”

Berdly paused for a few seconds before continuing with an uncomfortable sounding tone.

“He was part of the object and area investigation sub-organizations, but he went missing a couple years ago. Last seen in Black Falls.”

“He had a house in Black Falls, but he did not live here.” Susie's mind repeated.

Berdly continued on hesitantly.

“His property there was investigated, my files say, but if I try to open any documents related to that I'm blocked. Says 'Administrators only, please request access from administrator.'. ...About a hundred percent of the time, if you have to ask, y-you're not allowed in. Sorry, Susie.”

A chill went up Susie's spine, as whatever faith and trust in her organization she had began to further waver.

“It's fine, Berdly.”

“Anything else?”

“No, I'm good I think.”

“Alright. Stay safe, you guys.”

“We will. Talk to you soon.”

The phone call ended, and Susie looked up from her phone and towards Kris with furrowed eyebrows.

“Don't look at me.” Kris said with an equally puzzled expression. “I didn't even know an agent Chol existed.”

“Good to know I'm not alone with being in the dark.”

“Yeah. I may have three years on you but that really isn't that much in terms of how things get drip fed to you around here.”

“Hm. Well, it doesn't look like we'll be getting any food here.”
“Yep.”

“Wanna head to Darryl's?”

“Yeah. Let's go.”

“So it hadn't been a dream after all.” Susie pondered. If her experience was more akin to a vision than a dream, what did that mean for her future? What was the meaning of the puppet show? Were the visions of the lighthouse significant? All these questions rushed through her head at once, all before she had even had a chance to get up from her seat.

The wooden chairs squeaked upon the floor as they left the room, and soon after, the building. The van revved to life as Kris pulled out of the parking lot , Susie looking out the passenger side window in silence. The weather hadn't calmed down whatsoever, and all either of them could hear was the pounding of rain upon the roof of the van. They had just turned the corner and were on their way to the diner when the sound of a woman's scream tore through the rain's sound and caught both their attention. Looking towards the direction of the scream, Susie found that it came from the clearing where that tall monument to Lavender Telson stood. A crowd gathered around a few meters away from the middle, watching something. Vehicles were piled around the entrance to the clearing, leaving just enough space to drive through.

“Emma! Stop this, please!” A male, middle-aged voice pleaded from the crowd that the pair were making their way through.

“Emma!” The voice painfully repeated.

Breaking through the crowd of mixed monsters and humans, Susie and Kris found another middle aged, female human woman in a soaked yellow dress. Her brown, unkempt, shoulder-length hair flailed as she struck the point of a large pickaxe into what was left of the engraving on the monument’s front. What was left was a large cracked indent, with white stone pieces surrounding it. An older man in wetted dress pants and a white shirt stood just behind her, attempting and failing to calm her. Kris walked forward.

“Ma'am, please-”

He had no time to finish as another strike of the pickaxe into the monument was made.

“Ma'am, I-”

“Stop! Shut up and stop!” The lady screamed back at him. Her face was wrinkled and mournful, while her eyes were bloodshot. Black mascara trailed down both of her cheeks. She continued to yell.

“Are you one of those fuckers who stood by and waited for her?! You never looked! You never even cared!”

The man next to her simply stood, his body and lips trembling as tears ran down his cheeks.

“Fifteen pounds.” Emma said in a deep, almost growling voice. “Fifteen fucking pounds, when they found her.” She took a few sharp breaths. “Weighed less than the backpack she used to take to school... Nothing but bones and skin...” She weakly whimpered as she fell to her knees as the pickaxe dropped to the grass.

Susie felt her stomach sink.

The woman tried to speak through the sobs. “Wh-What if she could've been saved? If they didn't spend time making that horrible thing...”

Before she could finish, the sound of police sirens grew  louder until a squad car drove up behind the crowd, which dispersed as officers hustled towards the lady. One went behind the sobbing woman and cuffed her, bringing her to the back of the squad car while the other officer got into the driver's seat. As the police car drove off, the man who was next to Emma walked to what was left of the broken inscription. The monument stood tall still, but whatever it was built for was now only in the memories of the people who had read the inscription.

Susie walked towards the sobbing man.“I'm... so sorry.” Is all she could bear to say.

Wanting anything but to linger for much longer, Susie walked back to the van, as did Kris. When the doors shut, the uncomfortable silence that fell over the two lasted all the way back to the diner. Neither of them exited the van when Kris parked it. They sat, and watched out the window to the sinkhole in front of them. After a while, Susie finally broke the silence.

“Sorry.”

“For what?”

“That this whole trip wasn't as serene as I'm sure you would've wanted.”

“... Yeah.” Kris sighed, looking down at his lap with a grim look. The one time they had gotten time off together, and they fell right into another unfortunate situation. Susie could tell that it impacted him rather deeply. Kris wished that for once, they would be able to not get involved in something like this. He felt as if it was inevitable now.

“Lets go inside, Kris.”

The pair exited the van in silence, avoiding the puddles that formed all over the empty parking lot as they stepped into the diner once more, the light from its windows almost acting as a beacon through the storm. The robot from before was standing behind the counter, and greeted them back just as warmly as the checkerboard floor and soft red stools.

“Welcome back.” He remarked in a surprised tone.

“Thanks.” Kris responded. “I'll have a cherry pie and a coffee.”

“I’ll have a piece of pie too, but with hot chocolate instead.” Susie added.

“Thirteen dollars and forty five cents, please.”

Kris pulled out his card and inserted it into a small machine behind a cash register. The order went through, and the robot retreated to the back to prepare it. It was silent besides the rain outside a moment before speakers in each corner of the diner crackled to life. From them came a very slow song sung by a soft-spoken female singer. It seemed to be a love song, from what little the pair could discern from the low quality speakers. The main emotion of the song got through, though, and the pair were left with a feeling nostalgic, melancholy.

“Y'know what this place reminds me of?” Susie said as they awaited their order, turning to Kris.

“What's that?” Kris responded, looking back to her.

“QC's.”
Kris looked around for a second.

“Huh. Yeah, I guess it does.”

“I knew I felt familiar here. Guess the pieces just didn't connect until now.”

“We haven't been home in a while.”

“Yeah. I wonder how it's holding up.”

Their order was served at the counter, and they calmly had their meal. With every second that went by in the place, they felt a weight lift off of their shoulders more and more. Everything there emanated a feeling of familiarity and calmness. It was like if they stayed here, time would stop, and everything outside would just fade away. A place divorced from everything else. What further reinforced this was the fact that the entire day passed in what felt like a few hours. Just as Susie finished the last of her hot chocolate and half listened to what Kris and the robot were talking about, she looked outside and noticed that it had stopped raining. The sky was made up of the fading orange glow of the sunset, surrounded by dark, churning clouds. The storm would pass soon, Susie thought.

As she looked out the window and towards the sunset, something caught Susie's eye. Sitting in the booth closest to the window, directly in the middle of the table… was a wooden box with a crank on its side.

It took a second for everything to click together, but when it did, Susie's eyes shrunk and her breathing quickened. She blinked once, and the box was gone. A rush of nausea trickled upwards from Susie's stomach and into her head as the world spun around her.

She needed to go.

“We need to go. Thanks for everything.” Susie breathed, sitting up and quickly walking out of the diner.

“Wha-? Okay.” Kris responded in confusion, chasing after her.

Susie was already halfway to the van before Kris had even exited the store.

“Susie, what the hell-”

“I'm sorry, I-I guess that place was... too familiar, you know?”

“Susie... What's wrong?” Kris questioned.

“I saw the box, Kris. The box that- that thing had.”

“You mean...”
“Yeah, I do. I saw it, and just, something hit me really bad and I just feel sick now. It went away after I blinked, so I'm probably just going crazy, but-”

“Susie, stop, please.”

Susie took a deep breath, a horrible sorrow accumulating in her eyes.

“... I'm sorry.”

“It's fine, Susie.”

“No, it isn't-”

“Okay, I forgive you.”

Susie gulped, and stood with her left hand rubbing her right upper arm before resting on her shoulder. Her eyes stuck to the floor in shame.“Okay.” She replied in a weak breath.

“It's okay, really. We're gonna be fine, that was a long time ago and we don't need to think about it anymore, okay?”

“I... I can try.” Susie muttered.

“That's all I ever ask of you.” Kris assured.

The two embraced, both of them closing their eyes as they did so. One touching the other was not a common occurrence, not by any means. But in those rare instances where it did happen, both Kris and Susie treasured it. They both tried to act strong for each other, and most of the time it worked, but they both knew that every now and then, everyone needs to feel tenderness and closeness.

Though, it didn't last long.

Susie opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of something running across the road on the other side of the sinkhole. She could hardly make out anything at that distance except that the thing was dark blue and at least twice the size of her, and that was while it was hunched over.

“Oh, hell.”

“What?” Kris asked.

“Look behind you.”

The embrace ended and Kris turned his head. With small steps he began backing away towards the read of the van as his breathing quickened and his eyes widened. His mind and body became absorbed in thought, and he didn't spare a word until he reached the van. Susie followed, the back doors parting to reveal the armoury where they equipped their weapons in a panic. As she gathered pistol ammo, silver knives, and her cleaver, she noticed Kris hadn't equipped any armour. Not only that, he was loading rounds into his shotgun that she didn't recognize. He looked at her and nodded.

“That'll be fine. Let's go.”

“What about our armour?” Susie questioned.

“It'll take too long. We need to stop that thing.” Kris replied, loading his steel shotgun with grave intent.

They had abandoned the hope of not getting involved. It was no longer about the organization or anything like that, their priorities had shifted to keeping people safe. The van peeled out of the diner’s lot and tore down the road in the direction they had last seen the creature scurring off in.

“I've got a good guess of where it is.” Susie claimed.

“The monument?”

“Yep.”

“That's where I'm going.”

Susie nodded as the wind rushed past her window. The light of the sun was just strong enough to give the pair decent optics, but it wouldn't last long. With urgency, the van's tires squealed as they turned the corner onto the road to the clearing and monument. The dragon and human exited the van and gazed upon the clearing as they ran forward.

The monument stood tall, yet taller above was a humanoid beast grasping each side of the top half of the monument with its clawed feet. Crouched over the tip of the structure, the beast had rock-like, dark blue skin which glistened off of the fading sunlight, and one horrifically large arm the size of its already massive body. Its other arm seemed to be fused with its midsection, a large and skinny hand clutching its belly from just under its skin. The thing's face consisted of a single large, gaping mouth with rows of small, sharp teeth. On the back of its head was a white eyeball as large as the mouth on the front, frantically looking in every direction.

The bloodied and indiscernible body of a monster hung pierced through its chest atop the tip of the monument, whatever type of monster it had been was now obscured by viscera. Another body sat at the front of the statue by what remained of the inscription, beaten to the point of it being unrecognizable. The head of the anomaly turned to Kris and Susie, and before anything could be said, the surrounding area shattered into jagged fragments like fragile glass being shattered by a hurled rock. The clearing was now the only thing that seemed to exist, everything else had been turned into a pitch black void, leaving them alone with no means of escape.

Kris trembled, and Susie's breathing quickened.

“Susie?” Kris wheezed .

“Yeah?” Susie rattled back.

“Call Berdly. Tell him there's a grief demon in Black Falls, and to send whoever they can.”
Kris had hoped it would never come to this. He knew demons like these were several levels above his or Susie's pay grade or level of expertise, and thought he would likely never see one for how rare they were. Nevertheless, a grief demon stood in front of them.

Drawn to incredibly potent negative emotions, demons would make their home in the host's body, morphing them into horrifying physical manifestations of their emotions. No one had ever seen the demons themselves, just what they turned their hosts into. Demons attempted to cause as much emotional pain as possible to anyone in their surroundings, in order to prepare them for possession. Due to their agency training, both Susie and Kris had been informed of even the rarest of creatures, so in those rare circumstances where they encountered something beyond their ability to handle, they would not be blind sided entirely.

They knew they hadn't been transported anywhere, and that the world fading away was only an illusion made by the demon. They knew that these illusions could only be manifested if the creature faced them at some point. They knew that the illusions were very real, and very dangerous. Yet most important of all, they knew they stood no chance in combating the creature.

Susie began to dial Berdly, walking backwards from the monument while making sure not to step off of the edge of reality and into the void surrounding her and Kris. The phone rang twice, and was soon picked up. Instantly Susie began rushing words out, her breathing getting more and more erratic.

“Berdly, we've got a damn grief demon in Black Falls, if there's anyone qualified to handle that, please send them here!”

Berdly's tone shifted to one of panic.

“Shit. F-Fuck, okay, I-I'll find someone, just try to distract it for now if you can. Someone will be there soon, d-do not let it touch you!” Berdly stuttered out.

“Got it. Hurry, please!”

The call ended and Susie slipped the phone back into her pocket as she grabbed her cleaver with one hand, and took hold of her pistol with  the other. Kris had already taken out his shotgun from its holster, and was holding it with shaking hands. Susie had never seen him so rattled before, leaving them both in a helpless state of mind.

The two stared at the creature atop the monument. Unmoving, it stayed still for what felt like minutes, clasped onto the top with both its feet and hand before it bent its torso backward, letting go of the monument slowly as it dropped towards the ground. Before it landed, however, a pool of dark violet liquid manifested just below the creature. It made not a sound as it landed in, and then disappeared inside the pool. Afterwards, the liquid  itself disappeared after the creature did. Susie stepped forwards, next to Kris.

“Stay together. Keep your eyes open.” Kris shouted. The silence of the void beyond them slowly evolved into a deep rumbling noise, like earthquakes from the sky. Every moment mattered then, and no matter what Susie thought about the situation before, her goal was now clear. Stall for as much time as she could before reinforcements arrive. Usually situations like this would be avoided entirely, with more skilled members of the organization dealing with higher level threats. Though exceptions weren't entirely uncommon, this was one of the worst. Susie tried her best to keep her breath from becoming frantic as she made a conscious effort to inhale and exhale in as controlled a manner as she could muster..

From behind both of them, the noise of sloshing water reached their ears. They both ran forwards, narrowly missing a massive stone hand that fell to the ground with thunderous force, the grass beneath it shrivelling up and turning brown within seconds. The hand reached out from a violet pool of liquid, the same kind that the demon disappeared into just moments before. The pair stepped back.

“Y-You think we can do anything to slow it down?” Susie stammered.

“Not unless our bullets can pierce solid rock.” Kris replied, a tinge of despair in his tone.

They continued to back away as the demon pulled itself out of the portal, its many rows of malformed and disfigured teeth gnashing and chomping as it clambered onto its feet. It was much too far away to notice before, but now that the demon was closer, both of them noticed a soft sobbing noise echoing from within its mouth. It sounded similar to a woman's voice, but had a much deeper tone and register. The thing crawled across the ground towards them, they readied their weapons, aiming them directly at the creature's face.

It then spoke.

“A... Demon?” It croaked out.

Susie's heart fell into her stomach, and her pupils shrunk. She almost wasn't able to react to the demon's hand suddenly reaching toward her, the tips of its fingers grazing her shirt as its knuckles curled into a fist.

“You think I chose this?!” The demon continued, seeming to strain her throat in despair. “I just wanted her to be safe!”

The ground beneath all three of them began to sink and dissolve, the middle of the sudden sinkhole situated just below the demon. Wailing in pain, the demon's back split in two like a broken seam, and from the dark fog held within shot dozens of shadowy tendrils that took the shape of elongated arms and hands. Kris bolted in the other direction, Susie following not far behind, their breath becoming shorter by the second. The handbook had never mentioned anything relating to free, conscious speech. Susie now knew that what she saw days earlier was in fact a beast talking of its own accord. Something that, to their knowledge, was never recorded in the entire history of the organization. If something well documented enough to be in the handbook lacked this information, it had to have been a new development. This left Susie with just one question. What did it mean?

Absorbed in thought, Susie's lack of focus was her downfall as she tripped over a stray piece of rubble from the monument, falling to the ground with a thud as the ground crumbled beneath her, her cleaver clattering to the ground. This left the pistol as her only means of self defense.

“Susie!” Kris screamed, turning around as fast as he could. By this point, Susie was already being pulled towards the demon, and multiple black tendrils had already grabbed a hold of her ankles.

“Run!” Susie screamed back, gritting her teeth as she tried to break free of the demon's grasp. Kris refused, instead running to her and grabbing both of her hands in a desperate attempt to free her. The muscles in his legs burned like liquid fire as he tried to pull her away from the beast, only to have his efforts nullified by the strength of the tendrils. Kris' hands slipped, his strength not great enough to keep hold of Susie’s hands.

“No!” Kris rasped as Susie was pulled into the demon's clutches. A few pathetic gunshots at the creature rang through the air, but it was all for naught as its stone hand engulfed Susie vision. All feeling and semblance of consciousness left her body.

And there she remained, in a world of pure darkness. At least, for a moment.

Soon, Susie found herself regaining consciousness. The first sense to return was her hearing. There was nothing much to be heard save a loud, high pitched ringing, and a very faint crackle of electricity. Next, touch, and the nauseous discomfort of blood rushing to her head. Third, the scent of burnt rubber and gasoline filled Susie's senses, increasing the sense of nausea tenfold. Fourth, the taste of blood filled her mouth, the source of which was her own tongue. Lastly, she opened her eyes to see a single headlight illuminating the upside down forest outside, through a far from intact windshield.

“No... Not this. Anything but this.” She thought. Her seat belt dug into her midsection like razor wire, and she could feel herself losing blood fast. Something with four very tall, pale, wood-like legs walked softly into the forest.

She could take that. She could take anything, as long as she didn't look at the passenger seat.

Kris panted as the grief demon lurched from its place in the submerged soil, slowly clambering up toward him. His eyes jumped about  like a wildfire. He knew this was no time to play hero, as much as he wanted to jump up and shove a shotgun in the demon’s maw. It was Susie's life he was playing with now, as well as his own. This made damaging its belly a major risk. He had to think smart. Kris stared the creature down. All it could do in return was show its wide open mouthful of teeth.

Before Kris could react, a liquid pool manifested from under the creature, opening directly behind him. Kris gasped as he attempted to jump from his position and turn around at the same time. This only partially worked. Kris fell on his back and immediately felt a searing pain scatter across the back of his right leg. At the same time, a vision tore through his mind like a serrated knife through tender skin. A vision of... Toriel, in tears. His eyes shrunk as his pant leg dampened with the blood from the cuts. They were deep, but it didn't feel like anything major had been hit. Even still, he failed to get to his feet when he attempted to do so, instead falling backward as the creature slouched down, its teeth grazing his shoes.

Stammering half hearted curses and threats as Kris struggled to crawl away from the creature he was facing. His knuckles were white as a ghost as he gripped his shotgun. He felt his eyes begin to water as the creature came ever closer. It drooled a pus-like substance as it spoke once more.

“Your f-friend has been k-keeping secrets...” It stammered out in a low, no longer feminine croak.

Kris gritted his teeth, readying his shotgun with anger and hatred in his tear-soaked eyes...

...As his first shot failed to hit the creature.

Susie felt her consciousness fade once more, as she struggled to stay awake in the flipped vehicle. She felt bile build within her stomach as tears trailed upwards past her forehead and into her scalp. She knew this is exactly what it wanted. It wanted her to look.
“Please! Don't make me do this!” She attempted to cry out, her voice instead forcing out a frail whimper. Through forces that weren't her own, her head began to turn to her side. She began to hyperventilate as she watched her vision slowly turn to the figure in the other seat. Then the screaming began. An ungodly, pained female scream that lasted longer than anything with normal lungs could sustain. The screams echoed second after second, morphing into reverberated and distorted versions of itself, surrounding Susie in a torrential cacophony of pained wailing. It hurt too much. She needed it to stop. She needed the pain to end.

She didn't want to look.

Kris watched as the demon wailed into the air, its windpipe being crushed by the monument's spire which laid on top of the thing's mangled neck. It attempted to push itself out from under the great stone, but found it was unable to as its back legs flailed around weakly. Slowly, the world around the human began to reform, the void beyond the clearing returning to forest, and the illusion of the hole in the ground disappearing entirely. Kris panted as he painfully got to his feet, putting most of the pressure on his left foot as he stood, leaning a bit to his side. He lifted his weak hands to hold the shotgun to the creature's head, aiming intently at it with hatred in his heart.

A burst of orange light appeared and faded behind Kris. Soon following this, a heavy hand patted Kris's shoulder. Shooting his gaze back and gasping, the small human saw none other than the looming form of Glare; his blackened goggles wouldn't even meet Kris' eyes as he pulled his hand from Kris’s shoulder. Instead, Glare reached over his own shoulder, and retrieved an incredibly long rifle from a holster strapped to his back. The instrument of death was almost as tall as he was from muzzle to stock, mostly composed of a silvery metal, and looked like a weapon meant for long range use, not close combat. When Glare reached an open palmed hand backwards towards Kris, he knew exactly why, and walked backwards a fair bit.

It took but one well placed shot in the back of the Demon's head, directly in its eye. The force from the shot shook Kris to his core and almost knocked him to his feet. Had a large silencer not been fitted on the end of the rifle, he was sure both he and Glare  would be deaf. Glare, as expected, stayed still as a stone as the thing's head exploded into a rocky mound of burning blue flesh that gathered in the small crater the bullet made below its neck.

Kris stood in shock, watching Glare return the weapon to its rightful spot on his back, walking nonchalantly towards Kris as if all he'd completed just then was a simple chore. His heavy boots shook the earth beneath him as he stepped in front of Kris, finally looking him in the eyes.

For the first time, a deep, masculine, yet soft voice emitted from Glare's mouthless head.

“... Good work.”

Kris was left shocked as he stared off into space. Glare walked behind him in a slow manner, and just as the flash of orange brought his footsteps to him, it proceeded to take them away.

Kris was left in the cold air of the clearing in silence for a few moments before he hobbled over to the body pinned under the fallen structure. He knew a crew would come to clean it up shortly, and it would seem as if none of this had ever happened by morning. That was simply how the AIB operated. Once Kris was next to the midsection of the body, he began to hear pained groans come from within, followed by a large, purple arm emerging from the creature's split back. Out spilled Susie, her clothes drenched in sweat and unknown fluids. After freeing herself of the confines of the demon’s body, the dragon tumbled off the creature's body and onto the cold grass below. They'd left their uniforms and sapre clothes at the hotel, in their current blooded and battered state there was now ay they could go back there without raising questions and suspicions. Their belongings would have to be retrieved by the AIB later, for now, they had no choice but to leave town.

Susie panted while she lay on the ground, looking up towards the night sky with eyes wrecked and hazed by tears. Kris was unsure if he'd ever seen her in such a state as her lip quivered and her body shook.

“I... w-we need to go...”

“Yeah.”

Kris extended a hand toward the dragon on the ground, and after a moment of silent contemplation, her hand met his, pulling Susie both up to her feet and into a warm hug.

“I am... so sorry.” Kris uttered.

“It's okay... let's... let's just get out of here.”

No more needed to be said. The pair, in their soaked and tired states, walked out of the clearing, collecting the weapons they'd dropped along the way, and entered the van from both sides. The engine hummed in a slower, more quiet fashion than both of them felt usual, as if the vehicle itself knew that it was time to leave with as little fanfare as possible. The dragon and the human fell silent for the duration of the ride out of town, only stopping by the docks of Lake May to wash their clothing off as best as they could. The road winded down along the edge of the sinkhole as the town vanished behind a wall of trees. A few hours later, they drove off into a side path, onto a dirt road that went far into the forest, and parked their vehicle in as obscure of a spot as Kris reckoned they could find.

As they exited the van, the human and the dragon both noticed something retroactively about the clearing where the whole sordid affair that had cost them their vacation had culminated. As the moonlight shone through the trees on both sides of the road, and the forces of nature chirped and whistled away in the woods, they recalled how the clearing near the monument was completely silent, despite being surrounded by trees much in the same fashion as here. Kris thought that, perhaps, the feeling of mourning was so thick in the air that even the wildlife took notice.

Soon enough, the moonlight faded as Kris shut the doors to the back of the van, making sure the van was secured before laying down on one of the cots, Susie doing the same on the one parallel. They rested in silence for a moment before Susie spoke, uttering out what she could. Her voice sounded as if it was torn from an hour of wailing and screaming.

“... Kris?”

“Yeah, Susie?”

“I-...”

Her voice cracked, and although it was too dark to see, he knew the tears were coming.

“I want t-to see her.”

“Want to see-?”

He cut himself off. He knew.

“... Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” She replied through the tears.

“... Okay.”

The light of day shone brightly through the windows of the van, assaulting both of their sleepless forms with far too much light. The hospital parking lot burned as the asphalt below struggled not to melt in the intense heat. They sat in silence for a while. As much as they relied on each other, both for emotional and physical support, there was an air of uncomfortable awkwardness that struck the both of them into a near lifeless state. The blackness of the spare uniforms that they had stored away in the van didn't help either.

“Are you sure you wanna-” Kris started, quickly being cut off.

“Y-Yeah. I do.”

“... Alright. I'll wait here.”

With that, Susie exited the van and began walking towards the front doors of the hospital. They opened automatically, and she took a moment to sanitize her hands before walking into the crowded lobby. The sick and elderly lined the bright white walls in sickeningly sterile chairs as a children's TV show emitted barely audible music from a television in the corner that was far too small for the comparatively larger room. The human lady at the front desk, someone Susie had come to know as Laura, recognized her nearly immediately.

“So soon since the last visit?” She questioned in a soft voice, her blonde hair bobbing a bit as she looked up from her computer with worried blue eyes. A part of her despised the pitied looks from the people here, but she knew it was inevitable, and to try not to take the looks as attacks on her strength. A part of her hated that she even had these thoughts.

“Yeah.”

“She's in a good state right now. I'll let you through. You know where to go.” Laura replied.

“Thanks.”

Susie stepped to the left of the main desk and through a set of double doors and into an elevator on the right. The machine hummed as she pressed a finger on the elevator button next to a stencilled “3”. With each door that opened to that room, she felt a weight gather on her shoulders. She walked out of the elevator and into white, sterile halls, same as the one below, and likely above. Through these identical hallways she walked, over and over, until she was met with one single hospital room.

The violet dragon gulped, attempting to keep the tears at bay. The door stood like a monument to her fears, towering over her with an aura of malice. She swallowed this fear, and turned the knob to the door. It creaked as it slowly opened, revealing a quite normal looking hospital room, with one bed next to a large window that overlooked the city. If she had been looking, she could've seen the organization's HQ from there. But she wasn't looking. Instead, her eyes gazed upon the figure in the bed. Susie sat herself in a chair next to the bed, and looked mournfully upon the comatose figure. It was as if a copy of herself was placed there, but it was just slightly off from herself. Older. Darker scales. A more mature facial structure. And yet... So beautiful, sleeping in the sunlight.

“... H-Hey mom...”

The tears then began to flow.

Kris waited for about an hour in the parking lot of the hospital, checking his phone and scrolling through random lists in it when he hit the very bottom. At the deepest section of his contacts, one name stood out to him. A name he hadn't seen in a while. Something in his veins made his heart shudder, and something in his eyes made them just the slightest bit watery.

Mom

Last called:-

Kris choked.

“Five years ago.”

He stared the name in his phone down as his breathing quickened. Maybe, just maybe...

Just then, Kris spotted Susie walking out of the hospital. He quickly turned his phone off, slipping it into his pocket. In an effort to compose himself, he wiped his sleeves on his eyes and took a deep breath. It tore him apart... but she wasn't ready. The door to the passenger seat opened and closed, and Susie now sat silently with red, tear stained eyes. He didn't bother asking if she was okay. He very well knew the answer. What he did do, however, is reach across the van and give Susie a hug. She humbly accepted the hug with one of her own, still sniffling a bit. They held this embrace for a while before parting, returning to their silence. Kris' hand turned the key in the ignition, and the van slowly began to hum once more. Before driving, Kris looked to Susie, which she returned. His eyes seemed... understanding. He gave a weak smile.

“You ready?”

Susie took a deep breath, and soon released a heavy sigh. Her lips were still quivering a little, but her tear ducts had more than done their job already. “Yeah.” She replied in a soft, but broken voice.

The rubber of the wheels scraped against the asphalt below as they tore out of the parking lot, leaving only the smoke of the tires, and hopefully their sorrows, in their wake.