The Three Searches II

- Tres Cantos is a town full of horror stories; paranormal investigators and even members sent by the Catholic Church have given evidence that there are strange entities that have been seen ... Wow ... yes it makes you want to pay it a visit ... - read a young man through his smartphone who seemed to drive a minivan.

That vehicle was heading towards the outskirts of the capital.

Inside that old church, a couple seemed to be touring the place without having found anything interesting.

- There is no trace of anyone having been here... were you misinformed? - Lisbeth asked with some frustration.

- ... It seems to be the case ... let's search the outskirts, it's the only thing left. - replied Bruno somewhat disappointed in himself.

- Let's go to where Alison is, maybe they found something.

The couple headed for the exit of the store, but as they were leaving they heard something strange; as if it was a hoarse breathing coming from the surroundings was what they heard.

The wind and the flock of crows distorted that sound, which for a moment disconcerted the pair. Lisbeth and Bruno thought it was just some creaking or something like that; therefore, they did not stop and left the church, but behind them a silhouette had appeared in the distance inside the premises.

Inside that secret room that Alison and Fausto had found in the basement of that big house, they could see a set of tools that seemed to belong to a hospital; in particular, to a surgery room.

Bottles of medicines, chemicals, among others; besides having a couple of beds for patients, among other things, could be seen in that room. However, the most interesting thing was to see the remains of dried blood on the walls and floors. The questions were clear: What was this place? And was it really abandoned?

- Oh, this is fascinating; I thought these types of saws only appeared in the movies. - spoke the duchess who did not seem frightened but rather fascinated by the scenery.

- I give it a few weeks ... at most a month since they left this place ... it's not as dusty as outside, but, even so, the traces of blood seem to be from a while ago. - Faustus deduced as he surveyed the scene.

- Well, at least it seems that the story is true, but we still have no evidence ... we must find at least one.

- ... Let's go outside, maybe the princess has found something interesting, besides we can't reveal this place to them.

Although they had found no trace of their target, the pair leaving the basement noticed something strange: a sudden fog had spread over the entire second floor.

- What are these? Morning fog? No way. - Alison commented in bewilderment.

- No... maybe smoke, but... from where?

Only a few feet away, a footstep on the wooden floor was heard.

As they left that house where Aren and the rest had been, they could sense a strange atmosphere; it seemed as if they were not alone, but their sights indicated otherwise.

- I thought they would be here ... or was it just me who heard as if they had been outside? - Ernesto asked.

- No ... I heard like voices too, I think ... maybe they are near here. - replied Melissa.

- Well, since we are done here, let's go look for the rest. - Luis spoke.

No one disagreed; therefore, they went to the square where everyone had separated hoping to find them there.

Having wandered around for almost ten minutes, Lisbeth and Bruno found no one, not a single trace of the young duchess or her guardian.

- Where did they go? ... Maybe we'd better go back to the square. - commented Lisbeth.

- ... Yes.

- ... Hey, stop being depressed. I won't show my anger anymore, okay?

- ... Yes.

Bruno's answers were somewhat discouraging because he couldn't find anything on his trip. It was as if he had lost credibility for not having found his target.

Suddenly, that regret turned into a belated impression of what was going on in the environment.

- What's going on in that place, why is it covered in fog? - Lisbeth asked somewhat intrigued.

- Fog? at this hour? - Bruno wondered with the same impression.

At that moment, that couple could notice something strange; as if they were black spots inside the fog that were growing, they were approaching them.

Bruno stood in front of Lisbeth in a defensive position against whatever was approaching.

- What is that! - exclaimed the young princess as she noticed how those spots seemed to be somewhat deformed silhouettes.

- Stay back! - ordered the bodyguard who suddenly pulled out a pistol kept in his uniform.

That gun was completely black and of a somewhat peculiar structure, as if it were of a completely customized design.

Looking closely at that silhouette, Bruno could recognize what it was that was approaching.

- Faust?

Two people ran out of the fog.

- Alison?! Faust?! - Lisbeth exclaimed as she saw the pair running with a certain desperation. It was as if they were running away from something.

All Lisbeth heard was a warning.

- Run!

Behind them, what followed them in that fog could be seen to be something large and disproportionate. Bruno did not take long to understand and immediately grabbed Lisbeth, and they left that place.

However, when they wanted to escape, a kind of long limb made of flesh and muscles hit the ground a few centimeters away from Lisbeth.

- What the hell is that! - exclaimed Bruno at the sight of such a thing.

Trying to run without looking back, they were soon overtaken by Alison and Faust.

They all set out to flee from the place that the fog was invading.

- Alison, what did they do?! - Lisbeth asked as they ran.

- We didn't do anything! That thing appeared out of nowhere!

- What thing?!

- Stop shouting... don't attract any more attention from that monster! - muttered Faust.

- Monster?! - exclaimed the princess again. 

Bruno looked back out of the corner of his eye trying to understand the situation.

"Can't it be true ... Marcus' stories were true?" thought Bruno.

Everyone present continued running in the direction of the square.

Having waited for almost twenty minutes, Aren, Melissa and the rest were waiting for some sign from the other two groups, but they didn't hear from them yet.

- Aren't they answering the call? - Luis asked.

- No... it seems strange to me that Fausto is not answering... - commented Ernesto who had a smartphone in his hand.

- Hey... I would like to ask something, will you come to pick us up and we will walk as we have been doing so far? - asked Melissa who seemed tired from all the walking.

- Yes, I will call the team we left on standby ... I was thinking of asking Lady Alison for permission, but, since they don't answer, I guess I will let them know.

While Ernesto was getting in touch, Melissa noticed something strange in Aren's gaze. It seemed that he kept watching that path down which one of the other groups had gone.

"I guess he's a little impatient...well, so am I to get out of here."

However, that was not the cause of the young man's constant gaze set along the path, but he had noticed something.

Aren could see about three people in the distance; no one else had noticed them, but a closer look at them revealed something strange: one of them seemed to be missing an arm, and the walk of these individuals was strange; they walked as if they were crawling.

They walked slowly, but they were getting closer.

- Those are... - commented Aren who was interrupted by one of the escorts.

- What is that smoke, does it look like... fog? - commented Luis.

This word made Aren react and focus his sight to where the others were looking.

- Yes, but ... is it possible that fog is coming out at this hour?

Aren's look could express concern.

- It's ... here ... - muttered the long-haired young man.

- Did you say something? - asked Melissa.

Before they could answer, they all heard a sudden gunshot near them; it actually came from the place hidden by the dense fog.

Without delay, the two escorts drew their weapons and positioned themselves; meanwhile, Melissa was disconcerted by what she had heard and even more by the actions of Ernesto and Luis.

A few seconds later, more gunshots were heard.

The two escorts did not rush to shoot when they noticed the two people running out of the fog.

- It's Lady Alison and the princess! - Luis exclaimed.

Immediately, a shout was heard.

- Everyone get out of here! Back to the rendezvous point!

Although the order was clear, what everyone could notice inside the mist made them freeze. Some sort of humanoid creature, but with various deformities. Its head seemed to be hidden by bones coming out of its shoulders, behind it it had a strange tail that swayed and impacted the floor, but the terrifying thing was that upper left limb that seemed full of deformed musculature, sores, tumors and wounds.

That creature came out of the fog presenting itself to everyone; that monster seemed to have some interest in the pair of women so it had left aside the two guards who were attacking it without any effect.

- W-What the fuck is that?! - Luis exclaimed when he saw the unreal spectacle.

- Never mind, now we just have to escape from that thing. - said Ernesto.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth and Alison arrived to where Aren and the rest were.

- What are they waiting for! Let's go! - exclaimed Lisbeth.

- But what about Faust and Bruno?!

- They're going to try to slow that thing down!

Unsteadily, they all prepared to retreat.

- Well, let's go-... - before Ernesto could finish his sentence, he noticed something that could have happened to anyone and that would put the whole group at risk.

Melissa was passed out on the floor. A problem to consider, but time was not on her side.

- Why now? - Luis exclaimed.

Without thinking twice, Aren approached her and grabbed her on her back.

- Let's go now.

With the sudden problem solved, they all left running back the way they came.

Noticing that group leaving, Faust and Bruno felt more relieved.

- It looks like we don't have to worry about them anymore.

- Yes ... but now the most important thing is how we get out of this.

Suddenly, as if it was a completely horizontal cut that unleashed a blast launched by the extremity of that creature that had elongated and destroyed the buildings, the two guards were thrown backwards.

The skill of these two could be noticed as they were able to defend themselves from the attack without getting hurt.

- Damn ... how far can you stretch those things? - spoke Faust.

- Never mind ... right now we must keep our distance from him ... I guess you won't be of much use, will you Faust?

- Ha ha... stop joking. - Although Faust tried to sound confident, certainly those words of Bruno's were not entirely untrue.

In the man's hands, two daggers were clutched. They were certainly inefficient as close-range weapons compared to the two pistols Bruno held.

However, every time the creature attacked, Faust was able to dodge and perform mid-range attacks through small gusts of wind caused by the movement of his daggers; however, it did not give any major damage to that monster.

The only thing that seemed to stun for seconds were the impacts of Bruno's bullets; although this was not causing mortal damage to the creature either.

Both knew they were only slowing down the inevitable.

Running without looking back, the sound of the witty gunfire was fading. The entire group that had escaped was running off looking for the rendezvous point with the other group that would pick them up.

- What was that thing?! Where did it come from?! - exclaimed Ernesto.

- ...

- Alison ... it's too late for you to try to hide it. - said Lisbeth.

The young duchess who looked more and more exhausted spoke.

- I don't really know ... Faust and I were checking inside a house and suddenly the whole second floor was covered with fog ... however, it didn't seem to come from outside, but from the upper floors. Suddenly, we heard a sound of footsteps on the moth-eaten wood; it was then that Faust saw it ... I did not notice anything, until he took me out of the house by jumping out of one of the windows that was nearby ... when I saw that window ... I saw that thing who began to follow us ...

The story seemed unreal, but what they had seen supported everything they had confessed.

- ... If this is how things are, we can only pray and hope to get out of this alive ... it seems that the stories of this ghost town were true ... - commented Ernesto.

- But how did we manage to escape from it, and doesn't it already have us in its sights? - asked Luis.

Everyone remained thoughtful.

- The fog.

All eyes turned to the man who had spoken.

- The fog is its territory ... as long as it expands and we are inside it, that thing will continue to chase us. - Aren confessed.

- ... The fog? you mean if we get far enough away, it won't chase us anymore?

- Yes.

Ernesto sighed.

- Then, when we arrive with the other group, let's come up with a plan to escape. With the help of the vehicles, we can easily get out of here.

They all nodded and, thus, continued on their way.

Almost half an hour passed since they had been running and they were already close to the place where Aren and Melissa had met. Being a few meters away from the bus stop, this did not give them any relief, instead, the concern for not seeing any trace of the team that would come to pick them up only increased.

After so much running, they all decided to take a break, since that fog was no longer visible.

- Where... are those guys?

- Ernesto, did you give them the exact location? - Luis asked exhausted.

- Yes ... I gave them the location in real time ...

- Did they give you their location? - asked Alison.

- No...

- Just wait ... I don't think ... we would have crossed paths, in that case, we would have heard them. - added Lisbeth.

- Yes ... she is right.

While everyone took a breath, Aren picked up Melissa who was still passed out and laid her on the floor.

- Do you think Faust and Bruno are all right? - asked Lisbeth.

- I don't know... that thing seemed to be immune to their attacks... - answered Alison.

The atmosphere was discouraging; however, the little hope of meeting the team that would rescue them kept them sane. Just at that moment, Ernesto took the opportunity to call for more rescue teams; he communicated with his people in charge of the duchess.

Soon they would come.

- I have already called for reinforcements ... we just have to stay alive until they come ...

- Well... let's rest for a few more minutes... I think we still have some time....

Without letting him finish speaking, droplets splashed on Alison's cheek. Turning her gaze she noticed a disturbing scene.

Ernesto's head was being pierced by some kind of limb full of muscles and sores. Suddenly, grabbing him precisely by the head, that mass of muscle pulled Ernesto's entire body behind them all.

The fog reappeared.