The Unseen, Chapter 1: Sleepless

“The thought that all beasts can be easily categorized is a childish one. There will always be new foes to face off against. Be prepared for anything, from any direction, lest your life be swiftly taken.”
~Hunter's Manual

A quaint, unassuming village sits in the middle of a large prairie. Tall grass and wheat fields in almost every direction sway back and forth, never static save for in the dead of the night.
A horrifying scream always follows the stillness, its source unseen.

Around a hundred miles away, Susie sat half awake in the passenger seat of a large, nondescript, jet black van. Her baggy, half lidded eyes barely focused on the dark city streets in front of her as litter and debris blew around the empty road and sidewalk. The morning sunlight only barely peaked around the faded brick apartments surrounding her. Susie breathed in deeply, and sighed as her breath fogged up the window in front of her. The front of the van itself was fairly well kept, aside from a few cups strewn around the bottom which neither she nor Kris had bothered to clean. The sound of a door shutting shook Susie out of her haze, and she quickly brushed the hair in her face to behind her back. Her hair, now reaching the middle of her back, had to be tied up quite frequently to keep it from being in the way.

Susie looked out the driver side window and watched as a similarly tired Kris walked towards the van. They were both wearing jeans and white shirts with black overcoats, the preferred attire for their line of work. Kris silently opened the door and sat at in the drivers seat. He closed the door behind him and let a small beige folder he was holding rest on his lap. They both, in unison, sighed heavily, as Kris scratched his stubble nonchalantly.

“Well. You're not gonna like this.” Kris said hesitantly.
“Another late night case?”
“Yeah. It's gonna suck.”
“Lay it on me.”
Kris passed the folder over to Susie.
“Small town down south, 'Smog', I think. About two hours' drive. We've gotten a couple reports of screams echoing across the town very late at night. Its a pretty rural place, filled with farmers who've probably been living there all their lives. So I'd trust them when they say they've heard nothing like it before.”
“Any sightings?”
“Not that they're aware of. No casualties either, not even any wildlife or livestock. Just... screams.”
“You sure this is our area of expertise?”
“Berdly seems to think so. The guys who called us referred to whatever is making the scream as a 'demon'. Though that might just be small town superstition. Anyway, it never hurts to make sure.”
Kris started the van, the engine revving to life as he immediately headed off towards their destination.
“Hurts my sleep schedule.” Susie muttered.

Susie was quite impressed with Kris. After seven years he'd gotten over the silence he relied on pretty well. It was natural in their line of work since a lot of questioning had to be done on the various mysteries and creatures they faced. Not to mention the back and forth between him and Susie was essential for solving issues and expanding upon ideas. He was still rather formal with most people, but Susie had known him for long enough that he felt comfortable dropping that trait in her presence. Susie had mostly stayed the same, though she was a bit more reserved as the energy of her teens had long since faded away.

What energy she had left needed to be conserved. Luckily, the length of the drive gave her ample opportunity to do so. With nothing on the way there to look at but miles and miles of grain silos and empty fields, she had to try her hardest not to simply fall asleep again. Kris had similar issues, but as monotonous as driving would tend to be, it was able to hold his attention enough to keep him from drifting off. The roads were mostly empty save for a few old looking trucks passing by them, making the atmosphere of the area quite lonely. About an hour and forty five minutes later, the town of Smog appeared on the horizon. As the town came into view, so too did the large storm cloud hanging above it.

“Well, the usual approach then?” Kris drawled.
“Ask questions while the sun's up and look for the monster by night?”
“Yep. Any idea what it could be?”
“At first I thought it was a Wendigo, but if it's been staying out of sight and not harming anything, that doesn't sound right. If it's actively trying to hide, that storm isn't gonna help either.”
Susie chuckled halfheartedly.
“If it is a Wendigo though, this'll be a piece of cake.”
“Yeah, this easily could've gotten handed off to a newer team.”
Both Kris and Susie sat up in their seats as their destination inched closer and closer.
“It's that 'If' that worries me.” Kris stated.

The pair entered the limits of the modest town. Viewed from a distance, the place could be mistaken for abandoned. Up close, it wasn't much better aside from the one or two cars that would happen to pass by the van. The light brown streets trawled across the town like circuits, and on each were innumerable pieces of miscellaneous litter. Plastic cups, wrappers of all kinds, and grocery bags were scattered across the dusted, cracked asphalt. In addition, it also seemed like every other house was either abandoned or looked like they should be due to the decrepit nature of their structure. Multiple households, if they could even be called that, sat leaning on crooked foundations. As Kris drove further into town, signs of life began to get more and more frequent. Houses became more or less stable, and the litter cleared a bit. There were even a few monsters roaming the sidewalks. Suddenly, Susie's phone rang and shook her from her tired and nervous state, jumping in her seat slightly. Kris huffed out a subtle laugh as Susie dug inside her pockets, pulling the mobile phone from her pocket and putting it on speaker.
“Berdly?”
“Hey, you guys at the place yet?”
“Smog, yeah. Are you sure this is the right town? For a second I thought everyone disappeared from this place a long time ago.”
“That's what the caller told me. Uhm, I think it was way more popular a couple decades ago when the gold rush happened. Looks like the people dried up with the gold, though. Sorta looks like a tourist trap now.”
“Well, where are we meeting the caller?”
“There's an inn on the south side of town. Called uh, 'Smog Inn', fittingly enough. Looks like it gets the most traffic cause it's next to a big highway. Anyway, caller said her name was Carol. Just ask at the front desk.”
“Thanks, dude.”
“Oh, uh, before you go... People around there may act a bit suspicious around you. Not sure if it's the old age or small town paranoia, but I'd watch what you say.”
Susie rolled her eyes.
“Thought it'd be like that. Thanks.”
“No problem. Stay safe, guys.”

The phone beeped as the call ended, and Susie slipped her phone back into her pocket. It took only a few moments before the inn entered her line of sight. Kris drove into the inn's parking lot from its backside via the adjoining road.. Across from this parking lot was a fairly busy highway, making the inn's placement on the outskirts of town reasonable. Across from the town was yet another seemingly endless field of tall wheat, swaying more and more erratically as the churning storm on the horizon threatened to inch closer. The inn itself was nothing special, a standard large building made up of two floors, with maybe twelve guest rooms on each floor. One side of the building had large windows that looked into a lounge area, while the other side seemed to be mainly inn room windows. Aside from the dark wood entrance doors in the middle of the building, which seemed as old as the rest of the town, the rest of the hotel seemed in pretty good shape from the outside. The pair both wordlessly attributed this sudden raise in standards to the building's status as the main attraction of the town. In any case, they had arrived at their destination.

Susie stepped onto the smooth gravel of the parking lot and winced as she stretched her arms to the sky, the boredom of the car ride and her rampant exhaustion both being lessened at once. Fresh air drenched her lungs and the chilled prairie winds hit her face like a splash of ice water, waking her from her stupor just as well. Kris, on the other hand, seemed just as exhausted as ever. A soft sigh was barely heard from his lips as he slouched, hands in both of his pockets. Despite the trip only being about two hours long, they were both quite tired, even if Susie handled it better than Kris. Susie smirked and walked over to him, patting him on the back.

“Come on, lighten up a bit. That stuffy van was bad enough, you don't have to bring the dreariness with you.” She jabbed.
“I feel like I'm about to pass out.”
“Don't worry, they've gotta have some coffee in there, that'll get you into shape.”

Kris let out a faint sigh through his nose and continued with Susie past the front doors. The inside of the building was musty with a smell of old wood and cigarette smoke. The lobby, though well furnished with leather couches and glass tables, was surprisingly ill-kept. Imprints of fingers varying in size and shape dotted nearly every surface, and garbage bins overflowed with rubbish. Signs of recent life were everywhere, but said life was missing entirely. Save for one cycloptic bird monster at the receptionist's desk. Her red feathers glistened softly in what light still leaked in through the windows as she idly stared at her computer screen. One thing that stood out was that her eye looked particularly bloodshot. Once Susie and Kris had approached her, she looked up and was shaken from her funk.

“Ah, hello there.” She spoke in poorly dampened excitement, her faint southern accent leaking through.
“Hello. I'll assume you're Carol.” Kris replied in a deadpan tone. “We were called a couple days ago to look at a few, erm... pests?”
“Knew it. You're here to purge the demon, are ya?”
It took every fibre of  Susie's being to not roll her eyes.
“Yes, the 'demon'. We were told the mayor would be here to meet us today to discuss this matter.”
“Yes sir, he's in a meeting right now, but he should be out soon. Meanwhile, may I treat you both to a seat in the lounge and a meal? Mayor told me I could give it to y'all on the house.”
“That would be excellent, thank you.”
“Great! Right this way. What'll it be?”
“I'll have a three cream, three sugar coffee, please. My associate will have a black coffee.”
“And to eat?”
“Nothing for me. Susie?”
Kris and the receptionist both looked back to Susie, who trailed behind them.
“... Got any chalk?”
“Erm... I'm sure we can find some?”
“Three small sticks or one large one will be plenty.”
“And, uhm... Do you want a specifi-”
“Any colour is fine, thanks.”

Slightly bewildered, but eager nonetheless, the perky monster led them to a much larger side room where the lounge was situated. It was much better maintained than the lobby, thankfully, considering the focus on food and drink. The tables were adorned with silver tablecloths, and the chairs were wood with a dark shade of brown, much like the front doors. A single chandelier dangled from the ceiling, lighting the room in a soft, light orange hue. The natural light came from a large window on the side of the building facing the highway. Of the dozen or so tables in the lounge, only two were occupied. One couple was chatting and smiling near the window, while across the room an older looking monster sat alone. He was reading a newspaper quietly, and sipping on his coffee.

Taking their seats, Kris and Susie awaited their meals.
“Well this place is nice.” Susie commented.
Kris made a short, halfhearted humming noise and shrugged.
“What? First impressions got you down?”
“Not sure how they couldn't. I thought we drove into a ghost town at first.”
A waitress stepped by and delivered their respective orders, getting thanks from the pair as she departed to the back room.
“At least the service is quick.” Kris grumbled, shortly before taking a sip of his coffee from the rather generic white mug it was held in. Susie looked to her plate and saw a large chunk of white chalk, sitting unceremoniously, as if it didn't belong there. It did to her, though. Did it ever. Before she partook in her meal, however, she grasped the mug of coffee in front of her and slowly drank it. Kris let out a subtle, disgusted noise.

“Bad coffee?” Susie questioned.
“Bitter.”
“Ah, suck it up. A bit of bitterness could do you good. I don't know how you can drink that sweet shit anyways.”
“Yeah, well, you eat chalk, so I'm not sure I trust your opinion on the intricacies of fine dining.”
“Chalk's good, dude. You wouldn't understand.”
Susie smirks as she grabs a hold of one side of the chalk column, biting down on the other side. This produces an incredibly loud crack that echoes off the walls of the room a couple times. The other guests jump slightly, but Kris moved not an inch.
“I don't think I want to.”

A tall, slender human in a grey suit walked through the doorway to the lounge. He was young, maybe in his mid twenties, and had a slender, recently shaved face. His hair was short, but rather messy and greasy. On top of this, he looked to be rather distressed. The sunken bags under his eyes mixed with his eyes being bloodshot themselves likened his appearance to someone who hadn't slept in days. His red tinted eyes darted around the room until he caught sight of Susie and Kris.

“You, uhh...?”
They both nodded. The man quickly acquired a chair from a nearby vacant table, placing it between Susie and Kris. He sat, and took a deep breath.

“I'm Mayor Taylor, as I'm sure you both have figured out. I figured it would be best to meet you fellas in person, so uhm, here I am. Apologies upfront for my mannerisms, none of us have had very good sleep for the past couple of days.”
Susie produced a small notebook from her pocket as well as a pen. Kris sat more towards the mayor's direction and took a small breath.
“Well, from the sounds of it, you've called the right people. How long has this been going on?”
“Three nights. If it happens tonight, that'd be the fourth.”
“Do you have any theories or insights as to the origin of these screams?”
“Honestly, it's like it's happening everywhere at once. Every street hears it, and the ground shakes every time it happens. Could be coming from the sky, or underground, or something... no one's ever out that late at night to pin it down for sure.”
“From our report, we've gathered that no one has come close to determining what could be making these noises, is that correct?”
“Yep, we've asked around and no one seems to know. Even people who've been here for decades are left scratching their heads.”
“Any incidents? Missing or deceased?”
“No, though the residents are getting very anxious... Including me, if I'm being honest.”

Susie hastily scribbles important information while attempting to listen for key details.

“Any history of paranormal happenings in this town?”
“Nothing more than folktales and such, but that's just stuff to keep kids from misbehaving.”
“Hm. One last question, is the time of night that the screams occur consistent?”
“Around midnight to one o'clock is when we hear it.”
“Well, that'll about do it. I trust our bosses and you have come to an agreement on pay?”
“Oh, yes, of course. And, by all means help yourself to the commodities here in our inn. It isn't much, but we could offer you one of the suites on the second floor.”
“We appreciate the gesture, but all of our tools are out in the van, so it'd be easier for us to do our jobs if we stayed out there.”
“As you wish. Is there anything you'd like for us to do?”
“Announce a curfew, maybe advise people be in by about nine tonight.”

Kris looked to the south, and to the storm that had just reached their position. It started with a few droplets at first, but before long there wasn't much to hear besides the deafening sound of raindrops against glass, matched by the howling of wind rushing through the cracks in the doors. Just another variable that just so happened to make their job easier. If anyone were to be outside by ten that night in a storm like that, it'd be some sort of cursed miracle.

“You're gonna wait out in a van in... this weather?” He scoffed in slight disbelief.
“It's really no big deal. We've been through worse and came out fine.”
“I suppose that must be true, considering what it is you do. Very well, then. I don't suppose I'll see you much until morning?”
“Not if we can help it. We try to keep things as subtle as possible.”
“Well, by all means, make yourselves at home. If you can, I guess. I wish you two well.”
“Thanks.”

With that, the pair excused themselves from their seats and headed back outside with haste, as to not get too wet in the storm. Thunder shook the ground as flashes of light darted across the sky, lighting the area up and disappearing just as fast as it had appeared. The storm had worsened far quicker than expected, drenching Susie and Kris in the short time it took for them to get back to the van. The next hours of relative daylight were spent surveying the small town, making note of any landmarks should they get lost, and pointing out possible hiding spots for whatever it was that was making the noises. Hours later, the sun had fallen past the horizon, and the storm still raged on outside their van which was now parked in the middle of town, outside a dilapidated playground in a suburban neighbourhood. Susie and Kris conceded that it wouldn't go away any time soon. Soon enough, it was eleven at night. The curfew had been announced, and the time had come for preparations.

“Well.” Susie started. “We should probably get ready, then.”
“Yep.”
“What do you recommend?”
“Well, considering we have no idea what this thing is capable of, nor do we know the extent of its malicious intent, I suggest we take a quote from the manual.”
“Let me guess. 'Be prepared for anything, from all directions.'?” She paraphrased.
Kris nodded.
“So, anything that would make the average beast bleed?”
Another nod.
“Lets get to work, then.”

Both doors to the van opened in sync as they stepped out of their vehicle, and headed to the back of the van. The rain beat upon their skin and scales. Then, Kris reached into his pocket, pulling out a key ring which contained three keys and a key card. He then slipped a key into the padlock that hung off of the back of the van's rear doors. Then, using a separate key, he disengaged the lock built into the door itself. The van opened without a sound, and inside laid two unassuming cots on either side of the van walls. The vehicle was quite large, so both Kris and Susie could stand inside comfortably. They climbed in and flicked on a light attached to the ceiling. Light flooded the room and brightened up the thick darkness of the outside storm. Simultaneously, Kris and Susie raised the cots up where they sat vertically, parallel to the length of the wall.

This is where the fun began.

On the underside of the cots were multiple weapons of a variety of sizes and uses. Silver stakes, steel swords, cleavers, pistols, shotguns, and more were displayed upon the bed's underside. Beneath where the mattress would usually be were ammunition and clothing storage, mostly made up of various types of light armor. Their organization attempted to keep manoeuvrability at the top of their worker's priorities, as most creatures tended to be incredibly agile and ferocious. Clothes shuffled around on their bodies as they equipped their armored leather vests, placing them beneath their overcoats. Over that went dark hooded raincoats. Next, they equipped holstered belts and slipped a pistol in each of theirs. Conventional pistols seemed to do little to the things they faced, and were to only be used as distractions, if anything. Any firearms of incredible power were given to hunters with far more experience, and usually outranked Kris and Susie. Shotguns were a middle ground, however. Silver knives came next, along with a serrated cleaver with a long, rectangular blade for Susie. Kris, on the other hand, grabbed and equipped a shotgun with its holster, slinging the firearm on his back. Most of the weapons they were equipped with were made with some special mixture of silver and steel, one that made their bullets and weapons particularly expensive to make.

This just meant that any attack that was meant to do damage had to count. No exceptions.

Last, they equipped night vision goggles that were stored in a box underneath the cots. These were one of the only conventionally made tools that were at their disposal. They were made of blackened metal besides the singular circular lens on the outside. With all their tools equipped and ready, Susie and her partner sat on opposite cots, preemptively closing and locking the doors. As the clock struck midnight, they sat anxiously, waiting to hear the sounds of their prey.

“What if we don't hear it?” Susie questioned.
“What do you mean?”
“Like, with the storm outside. What if it's too lou-”

And just like that, Susie's suspicions were proved wrong as a horrifyingly resonant scream invaded both their minds. It felt as if the earth itself was shaking as a low, growling howl of a scream echoed even through the ever present sound of the storm. The scream itself was incredibly guttural and throaty, yet still subtly human sounding in nature. Susie stared at Kris with fear in his eyes. This fear, though perhaps seen as a sign of weakness by some, would be the only thing that kept both of them alive, and what made them so strong in the first place. Rising to action in the face of seemingly insurmountable fear was a strength Susie and Kris knew well by this point. With this thought going through both of their minds, Kris hardened his look with one of determination. Susie took a deep breath, and eventually returned this look, until both of them equipped their night vision goggles and stepped outside, locking the van behind them.

The hunt had finally began.

Another scream rang clearly through the oppressive sound of rain against their coats, and it was just as the mayor had said. The ground shook, and the scream seemed to originate from everywhere at once. Though the goggles had helped their vision greatly, and even had a filter that attempted to show the true colours of what they were seeing, they couldn't spot the creature.
“He was right, it sounds like it's coming from everywhere!” Kris yelled through the commotion.
“Well there's no towers or anything around here, so what could reflect sound to everywhere in town?”
The pair both examined their surroundings once more until their gaze both settled on a manhole cover.
“Damn it.” Susie sighed under her breath. She knew this was the only clear point to proceed, but her hatred of underground areas were as prevalent as ever. Susie grunted as she lifted the manhole cover from its place, rolling it to the side as it clattered onto the road. Peering deep into the dark shaft below, Susie sighed once more.
“You should go first, I'll close the shaft behind you.”
“Right.”

Kris slowly descended the rusty ladder leading down into the sewer tunnels. Susie followed closely behind, and lifted the manhole cover on top of the exit. The clanks of their boots against the ladder echoed loudly as they went further and further down into the depths of the sewers, eventually reaching the bottom. The tunnel was cylindrical, with wide walkways on both sides for them to step on. What railings were left were rusted and in disrepair, much like everything else in the part of town they were in. The bottom half of the tunnel was mostly brown and black muck, both of them comfortable in their ignorance as to the contents of the liquid. The cement was stained with faded browns and greens, quite obviously old and in need of serious maintenance.

With the help of the goggles, they were able to determine quite fast that the tunnel to their left led to a dead end. That meant there was only one direction to go, which led to a ninety degree angle turn to the left up ahead, which they would soon take. Kris took the lead as he unholstered his pistol, aiming it in front of them as they walked. Susie equipped her cleaver, examining her surroundings intently, awaiting any sort of indication that they were in danger. Instead, a much quieter scream echoed from deep within the tunnels. Attempting to keep a low profile, the two stuck close together and stepped as softly as they could toward an upcoming four way intersection. Once the scream's echoes had ceased, another disturbing noise began to emanate from the middle of the four way.

The grinding of bones and meat between teeth.

Their bodies tensed up in unison as they both kept their slow pace towards the intersection, preparing for anything they could. They slowed their steps as they maneuvered to the edge of the walkway, closest to the middle of the junction. The only thing they were able to make out was a beige cloth draped over a vaguely humanoid body. Towards the head was a dark blue stain that tapered off on the backside of the drapes. From what they could make out from the hands that occasionally peeked out from behind the cloth, the skin of this creature was a darkened blue colour, slick with some sort of slimy liquid that they were unable to make out from that distance. The fingers looked mainly humanoid, save for large, almost crow claw-like tips of the fingers.  The creature was hunched over, digging at the dark red carcass of what they both assumed to be a long dead animal. If said animal was recognizable at some point, it no longer was. What remained was a mangled mess of bone and rotted flesh.

The creature hurriedly stuffed the remains towards its mouth as the loud chewing continued. Kris tensed up once again, looking back at Susie. She nodded, and Kris nodded back. She watched as he slowly raised his finger up to the safety of the pistol, flicking it off as quietly as he could muster. The creature, thankfully, did not notice. Susie watched as his chest rose and fell, taking a silent but deep breath as his finger pulled against the trigger. A flash of light followed by a loud bang resonated throughout the tunnels along with a faint sound of a bullet hitting flesh. The creature's cloth wavered a bit as a quite visible hole was now in the backside of its head.

However, both of them could still see the bullet. It was merely peeking halfway out of the flesh of the beast, whom didn't move a muscle since the shot was fired.

The two slowly backpedalled as Susie equipped a pistol in her left hand, while taking off its safety. The creature took its time slowl standing up for a few seconds, making abhorrent gurgling noises as it stood up on two legs. Even from the lower part of the tunnel, this put it at about twice the size of either of them. As it turned, more of its body began to come into their vision. Its skin was a dark shade of blue, said skin pulled taut around the beast's bones, making it look very malnourished, save for a bloated, almost translucent belly that hung just over a brown loincloth. Its arms were abnormal in length, reaching down to its crow-like talons which replaced its feet. The neck of the creature was about twice the length of a normal human's, and the esophagus was clearly visible from the front.

The face was an anomaly itself. It was made up of a long vertical crack that ran from its hairless scalp to its chin. From it were three long tendrils that acted as tongues. The bottom of the crack leaked a diluted blood-like substance that pooled at the place it stood. The creature inhaled sharply through the crack in its face, as the tongues retreated into its head, leaving its face a featureless smooth blue surface. This smoothness was soon broken by another crack forming horizontally across its head, and said crack parting to reveal several rows of long, semi-transparent white teeth. It began to inhale very sharply, and it was at this point that Kris knew what it was doing.

“Cover your ears!” Kris screamed to Susie. Though she didn't have ears, she knew exactly what he meant, and covered the sides of her head with her hands. Kris did the same, and just in time before the creature let out an earth-shaking scream. The volume of the scream was enough to cause Kris' ears to ring, even through his hands. It quickly became unbearable for him as he fell to his knees. Susie was far less affected by this, and as a result was able to gather the strength to fire a couple times at its head. This caused the screaming to stop, but the creature didn't seem very damaged by it, as the bullets simply stuck in its skin, dropping back out onto the ground after a few seconds. The skin didn't even appear to be punctured. Kris, though a bit shaken, attempted to get back up.

“Try to get behind it, I'll try to keep it from screaming again!”
“Got it!”

This plan was quickly foiled as the creature swiftly hopped onto the walkway, crouching on all fours as it crawled toward them. Its crow claws clacked across the floor frantically as it attempted to swipe at either of them. They stumbled backward and began to fire multiple rounds into the front of the beast, each eliciting the same result. Bullets fell to the ground from its skin, the creature's movements unwavering, even when aimed at its bloated and thin looking belly. After they both climbed to their feet, Kris cursed through his teeth in frustration and reached over his shoulder, unholstering the shotgun. With one pull of the trigger, an array of pellets shot into the face of the monstrosity, sending its stunned body reeling backward, falling to the ground and growling in pain. Kris could see the pellets lodged in its body, but the force of the impact must have stunned it somewhat. It was now time to take full advantage of the situation.

“Susie, get on its back!”

Without hesitation, Susie ran to the prone creature and mounted its backside, quickly raising her cleaver in the air and striking its back. From it, a veritable explosion of red flesh and blood coated her front side in crimson. The beast's face opened wide, and screeched, and ejecting her off of its back by jumping suddenly. Susie hit the roof of the tunnel, and a splash reverberated through it as she landed face up in the sewage below. Kris, concerned almost entirely for Susie's safety, rushed the creature and placed the barrel of the gun to the now gaping hole in its face, firing it once more. With a flash, the creature recoiled backwards and was stunned once again. The face area was now leaking copious amounts of blood. Kris was far from finished, though, as now he took Susie's place on the back of the beast, digging the shotgun into its stab wound. Another flash, another explosion of blood across the area. This caused the creature's movements to cease completely.

Victory seemed to be theirs.

Kris immediately dropped off the ledge of the sewer tunnel and raced to Susie. The logical part of him knew that, with how tough her body naturally was, she'd have sustained minor injuries at best. However, the sympathetic part had briefly taken over.
“Hey, you alright?” He spoke in a hushed tone. Susie groaned through her teeth and sighed.
“Yeah, just uh... Gimme a second.”
“You sure?”
“No. Please help me out of this sewage.”
Kris lightly chuckled and grabbed her hand, pulling her up from the sewage as best he could. Though he had been exercising quite frequently, it didn't help much when trying to heft a complete beast of a woman like Susie.
“The hell was that thing?”
“Don't ask me, I-”
Their conversation was cut short by Susie noticing the creature suddenly leap up from its prone position, immediately scurrying away towards where they came from.
“Shit!” Susie exclaimed.
Susie sprinted after the beast, trying her best not to slip in the sewage beneath her. At some point during her getting flung off the beast, she'd lost her night vision goggles, so traversing the area was even more difficult. Kris kept up a good pace, but ultimately fell behind her just a little bit. Once they had reached the entrance they came from, they saw the creature leap from a standing position into the ladder's shaft. With a loud thud, they both heard the manhole cover blast off the entrance and collide with the ground above.

Susie and Kris quickly exited the tunnels, climbing the ladder as fast as they could before emerging on the surface, Susie reaching the top before Kris. Susie watched through brief flashes of lightning as the creature crawled on all fours at an incredible pace, and her mind overflowed with terrible possibilities. Most of them relating to possible civilian casualties. With these thoughts flowing through her head, she sprinted off towards it, passing by many blocks before eventually reaching the highway near the inn. Drivers of the vehicles that passed honked their horns and abruptly slammed on their breaks as the creature leaped past the highway and over the barbed wire fence into the wheat fields. Susie followed close by, putting her hands out in both directions in an attempt to stop traffic. This probably didn't help the low profile they were attempting to keep, but anything would be better than having that thing loose. With a grunt, she jumped the barbed wire fence, and was now waist deep in wheat. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness somewhat at this point, just enough to make out the creature standing bipedal in the wheat, facing away from her.

It didn't seem to be moving much at all, but simply swaying in the fierce winds of the storm. The rain fell on its heavily bleeding back, turning the cloth from a light brown to a far more red colour. Susie aimed her pistol on its head. Something unexpected happened however, something that made her drop her guard momentarily. It spoke. In a deep, half gurgled and choking voice, it spoke.

“The winds... Their call... A cold, ocean storm, yet so far from where it should be.”
Its body began to shake, twitching slightly as its cloth fell from its body, revealing dozens of burst, red orbs. They were relatively small, with white, unidentifiable specimens squirming around inside the ones left intact.
“Why have I been chosen to accompany you?” It angrily questioned the sky above.

Lightning lit up the sky multiple times in a row as the creature turned to face Susie. Its face, though featureless, seemed to fill Susie with a feeling of sadness. The sky flashed one more time, but it took Susie a second to realize that lightning wasn't its source. The creature's belly, now tattered and deflated, leaked clear water profusely as it fell to its knees, desperately trying to keep the water inside it. Gurgling once more in a mixture of pain and surprise as its body went limp, for what would be the final time. From the wheat next to her arose Kris, holding a smoking shotgun.
“Holy shit, dude.” Susie sighed, both bewildered and out of breath.
“Don't leave me behind next time.”
Susie simply stared at him, unable to move. She wasn't sure if it was the experience she just had or the adrenaline wearing off, though.
“I'll get the body bag.” Kris deadpanned, walking back in the direction of the van.

Hours pass, and the bloodied corpse of the creature laid dormant in the back of Kris and Susie's van. Since then, they showered and parked the van near the inn once more, facing out towards the highway as the sun slowly peeked over the horizon. The storm had vanished, and the winds had calmed. The wheat was peaceful, and the sky was clear. Yet, despite all that had happened, Susie hadn't slept. Kris had headed off to sleep early in the back of the van, but Susie didn't even try as hard as that. She simply sat in the passenger seat  and watched as the sun rose. At about six thirty, movement came from the back of the van, and Kris eventually made his way to the driver's seat of the vehicle, yawning and sighing as he did.

“Hey.” Kris drawled out, half through another yawn.
“Hey.”
“Didn't sleep again?”
“No.”
“... Why not?”
“Something was different, last night. It... It talked.”
“Yeah, so?”
“No, like, it spoke. It was sentient, conscious, it knew our language. I've seen mimicry before, we both have, and that wasn't mimicry. It knew what it was saying.”
“And what was it saying, exactly?”
“You heard it, didn't you?”
“Yeah. It was certainly talking.”
Kris nonchalantly popped a chocolate bar out of it's wrapper before continuing.
“Didn't say much, though.”
She wasn't sure how to respond.
So, she didn't.
“I'll be back. Gonna tell the mayor the good news, and we'll head out.”

And just like that, she was left alone again. As his soft steps left her range of hearing, she pondered what he meant by him not saying anything. Did that mean there was no point? How was he to know, or even determine that? There was a dead body that was once capable of speech in the back of their van. This was different from the usual beasts and abnormalities they faced. Something within the world had changed recently, something subtle, but there nonetheless. Surely he felt it too, right? He had to have been hiding behind his mask of indifference. She knew him better than that.

Kris entered the van once more.
“Well, he was pretty thankful. At least this town will rest easy now.”
She wasn't sure if she could say the same.
“... Susie?”
“Yeah?”
“You should get some sleep.”
“Well I'm not sleeping back there.”
“I know, but after we drop that thing in the back off at HQ, we'll book a hotel room for the day and have a nap, alright?”
“Yeah. Alright.”
“And, Susie?”
“Yeah?”
Susie felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked over and saw him smile.
“Don't bring the dreariness out with you, yeah?”
That smart ass smile.
“Shut up, dude.”

They both tiredly laughed as the van started, and if Susie's mind hadn't been flooded with thoughts, she might have slept on the way back to the city. Though, maybe she was just worrying too much.

Maybe everything was going to be okay.