Chapter 20 - Face to Face

Darkness.

That's all that Ashe could see. He had expected this, however, what he didn't expect was the sounds… very ominous sounds.

At first, when he woke up he thought that it was just his headache playing tricks on him. But after a while, the sounds didn't stop, they got louder.

A horrible scraping could be heard from outside the building as if claws were slowly digging through metal. Every once in a while a screech could be heard and the sounds would move. A beast was right outside.

The room was pitch black and the light switch was on the other side of the room, right next to the only entrance.

Ashe tried staying as still as possible to not give away his existence.

'What the hell do I do!'

While looking for an answer Ashe slowly reached out his hand and slowly started feeling the floor around him. He had left his phone to charge somewhere near him, if he could only grab it then he could light up the room.

His fingertips touched the cable but while he slowly followed the cable to his phone, the beast was getting closer.

By the time he grabbed his phone, the scraping sounds were coming from right beside him. He immediately lit up the room to locate his surroundings.

The sounds were coming from his right while the only door was on the left side. This didn't mean Ashe was safe, the creature could always crawl through the dried-out canal to the other side.

Looking around the room, there was only one place where Ashe could hide safely. The storage cubby.

It would be a tight fit but the chances of the beast being able to climb a ladder and open a metal hatch were unlikely.

'Wait! This is a perfect opportunity to use my new skill.'

Before moving an inch, Ashe planned out his route. He first started concentrating and filling his trap sigil with energy. As soon as the sigil was ready he took a deep breath and stood up.

The moment he moved the scraping got more aggressive as if the creature was digging through the wall but Ashe didn't pay it any mind. He quickly placed the sigil right where his head was previously resting and quickly got to the ladder.

As he climbed up the ladder the sounds stopped. Subtle sounds of footsteps could be heard as Ashe climbed up the ladder. Before he opened the hatch he heard the screeching sound change direction. The beast made it to the left side.

Ashe opened the hatch and quickly climbed inside the storage container. It was cramped and dark but Ashe didn't want to risk meeting face-to-face with an unknown beast.

He had to keep in a huddled-up position to fit in the container and the only thing to occupy his mind were the sounds of impending death.

The beast was scraping along the metal wall while releasing a high-pitched inhuman screech.

The sound was getting further and further away until it stopped.

A light tap was all that could be heard.

Tap

Tap

…

After a moment of silence, a loud crash could be heard. The beast broke through the window made of reinforced glass. The screeching returned louder than ever before, now being paired up with many footsteps.

How many limbs did this creature have? The answer became less clear as the sounds kept getting closer and closer, but the only thing on Ashe's mind was the sigil.

He placed all his hope on an ability he didn't even see before. If it didn't work he was as good as canned food for the beast.

The many footsteps came to a halt.

…

*Thud*

A loud sound of bent metal echoed around the small building. What did that monster hit?! Ashe could feel subtle vibrations from the strike. The hatch had lost all faith in his eyes, but what other choice did he have?

Ashe tried pouring out as much energy as he could to try and reinforce the hatch but he didn't have much left after creating the sigil.

The metal creaked under the weight of the beast, which made the slow approach of the monster fill Ashe's heart with fear. Right after the third step of the beast reached Ashe's ear, his saving grace arrived.

The sigil cracked.

Instantly a large amount of liquid energy poured out from the ground. Before the creature could react the liquid took shape, and a liquid human was standing right behind it.

Ashe couldn't see through its eyes but he could feel its body. As soon as the liquid took form, it jumped at the beast and automatically grabbed it.

Ashe could feel the body wrapping around the beast as the creature tried to shake it off. As the liquid covered the body of the monster, Ashe saw an opportunity to end this nightmare.

He concentrated on the liquid which was now covering almost the entirety of the monster. With a single command, he set it into flames.

The liquid expanded into flames at such speed that it created a small explosion that shook the whole building.

But Ashe didn't stop there, using the sudden chaos he used the remaining demon energy from the hatch to create a small, sharp-ended pole. Such a simple object wasn't a problem and he created it in seconds.

He quickly opened the hatch and dropped down. Hoping to end this encounter then and there.

The place was scorched from his flames but the only thing Ashe was focused on was the beast right in front of him.

It was barely moving at this point but with Ashe's lack of energy, it could still pose a threat.

Ashe could barely make out its figure in the darkness. Its body was pitch black which made it stand out as the remaining flames dimly lit the room. It had two long slender legs that bent inward at the knees which hid the monster's true size. Instead of feet, it had three claws that dug into the metal floor.

Its body almost resembled a human torso, except for the body extending beyond the legs like a thick but short tail.

Its arms were similar to its legs, being disturbingly long and thin, and being equipped with claws at the end.

The most eye-catching feature of the beast was what Ashe could only guess was the eye. On top of its body, a single large glowing red dot was pointed straight at him. The malice emanating from it was piercing Ashe's heart.

The beast was on the other side of the room thanks to the explosion, but it could still almost reach Ashe with its long arms.

The two of them stayed still, one of them from fear and the other from its injuries.

A primal fear was burning inside of Ashe. The killing intent of the beast was suffocating and even though the beast was injured, it was sitting right next to the only exit and Ashe was stuck on the other side.

But the paralyzing fear was slowly fueling him. Such a strong emotion was refueling his previously empty energy reserves making him stronger, faster, and more observant.

Instead of being stunned by fear he was being fueled by it. His panicked thoughts disappeared and in their place a calm and strategic bloodlust.

Ashe threw the sharpened pole directly at the beast's eye.

The beast moved its head, but the pole moved with it. The pole struck the middle of the eye, which was followed by an otherworldly shriek.

Ashe didn't stop there, when he heard the shriek he rushed forward while making the pole dislodge itself and fly right back into his arms.

Before the beast could react Ashe was standing right in front of it. The creature's long arms couldn't reach Ashe in time, he was simply too close already.

Another strike pierced the creature's eye. This time the beast stayed quiet.

As the red glow started fading from the creature's eye and blood was flowing onto Ashe's arm, he sat on the ground right in front of it. He was mentally exhausted. After resting for a couple of minutes he checked his phone.

The bright screen lit up the darkness while showing the time, 5 in the morning.

Using the light, Ashe got up and made his way to the door.

He decided that he would go back and collect the beast's body another time. For now, he just wanted to see the sun again.

_______

'Ahhh… fresh air!'

Ashe walked outside of the abandoned building, he still had a lot to do this weekend but he wanted to enjoy this chilly Saturday morning.

'I should probably go back home before going to sign up at MAT. But maybe the beast blood on my clothes would give me some bonus points?'

In the end, Ashe decided to go home first. He really wanted to change from the blood-soaked clothes. He also left his mom after their fight and wanted to make sure she didn't worry too much.

He walked towards the train station while thinking through what happened. In the end, he ended up with a beast corpse, which was quite valuable. People either use beast parts as material for their special properties or eat them to strengthen or awaken a mutation.

'If what Sap said about soul energy causing the mutations, then it would make sense that eating beasts could give you a mutation. Maybe I could cook it up, just a small bite couldn't hurt... Sap seems to know more about the subject so I'll just ask it.'

Ashe made it onto a train home. It was going to be a long ride home so he took a seat and closed his eyes.

'I just need a bath and an actual nap... I miss sleep.'

_______

"You're still here? did you even leave the office?"

The question came from a large man with a short but messy brown beard and short curly brown hair.

"Take a look at this!" the person responded, completely dodging the question. The person in question was a young lady with long silver hair and pale blue eyes which were highlighted by deep bags from lack of sleep.

The man looked with pity at the lady before shifting his gaze to the monitor.

"That symbol again... Did you find something?"

"I think I have more leads! Look at this." Another photo showed up on the monitor showing a black hoodie with a very similar symbol painted in red.

The symbol itself was of a simple oval eye encased in a circle that had a line coming out of the top and bottom of it, making it seem as if the circle was pierced by it.

"This hoodie belonged to Josh Warten, the only one found after the Grish shooting."

"So we were right? There's a new gang in town."

"Yes but now that we know that Josh was involved we have more leads."

"I see... Frey,"

"Yes?"

"Go get some rest. We'll handle the rest."

"But captain! I..."

"You've done enough. Just take a couple of days off, and that's an order."

The captain walked away toward his office as the young lady looked at his back with anger. However, the frustration quickly faded as she was just too tired to think about anything.

'Maybe Will is right.' She thought as she headed home.