Sparkle Teeth

Thick, smoky fog blanketed the forest ground, making it impossible to see one's feet. It was unnerving to crunch twigs and leaves under each step, never knowing when something small might crawl up your leg and bite you. Still, Ren and Sunny had to press on. If the reports were to be believed, then the denizen would not be much further.

Ren adjusted his black-rimmed glasses as he followed Sunny against his better judgment. "You're sure it's out here?" He had asked her a few times at this point, and each time the answer was the same. 

"Yes, I'm sure," said the small girl a few feet ahead of him. She was two heads smaller than him, no older than ten. She sported a fashionable black jacket with stripes of violet and blue around the hood. A black cap sat upon a head of pink-blonde hair curled into elaborate spirals, bobbing with every step she took. At the very least, she had an eye for fashion—something Ren could not help but admire in the girl.

Ren exhaled through his nose. The Cinderwoods were a dangerous section of land. Few dared to travel its contents. On occasion, teenagers would dare one another to see how far they could get, oftentimes reaching the old shrine located somewhere at the center. The stories varied wildly from person to person, but as of recently, one thing did remain the same.

Each of them claimed to have seen a terrible beast.

Sunny stopped in her tracks, her arm held behind her. "Wait. Do you hear that?" Sunny asked.

Ren frowned and cupped a hand to his ear. The star dangling at the bottom of his necklace jingled slightly. "Is that… kids?" The sounds were unmistakable. Laughter and playful jabs traveled on the gentle breeze. Ren could make out some of the words if he paid close attention.

Sunny nodded. "Yes. It must be. The shrine must be over there."

"This fucker must be close, then," Ren said, cracking his knuckles. "Bet it'll be itching at the chance to gobble up a few stupid teens."

Keeping her attention in front of her, Sunny continued her trek through the forest. As the two neared, the jovial sounds grew louder. Until at last… there was a bloodcurdling scream.

"Damn it!" Ren cried, racing ahead of Sunny.

"Hey, wait!" Sunny yelled back as she ran to keep pace. As far as Ren was concerned, Sunny could catch up whenever. There were people who needed his help now. He could not sit by and wait for her. Not when lives were at stake. At the very least, he could buy the victims a few precious seconds to run away.

"Help, someone! Oh my god!" came the voice of a girl.

Come on, I gotta make it! Ren thought.

As Ren sprinted, he caught the silhouettes of two people fleeing somewhere on his right. He could not make out their details but was aghast at the thought of them leaving their friends behind. Ren's mouth grew dry, his heart battering against his chest. The shape of something enormous was coming into vision past the fog. He leapt over the hedge ahead of him, coming to a grinding halt in front of the shrine.

Ren gasped.

Before him was a denizen unlike he had seen. Standing several heads taller than him, the beast held a teenage girl in its hand, slowly turning its head to look at Ren.

The hairless creature had no eyes. At least, none that Ren could see. Yet somehow, it could see him through the thin flaps of pink skin over its eye sockets. There was nothing behind those terrible "eyes." Just pure blackness, devoid of soul or emotion. Chunks of flesh fell from the denizen's body, landing with a disgusting squelch. The scent was indescribable.

For better or worse, the denizen's attention was on Ren now. Drool dripped from its luminescent pink teeth, and a disturbing smile tugged at the corners of the beast's lips. As it turned to face him, he brought the struggling girl to his mouth.

"No!" Ren cried. Running toward the denizen, he plucked a standard 9mm bullet from his pocket and gripped it tightly. "Here goes nothing!"

Ren leapt into the air, meeting the bend of the beast's elbow with his fist. The bullet slid through his fingertips and as soon as it left his grasp it ignited and rocketed straight ahead - no gun required. A bang echoed throughout the forest, and the beast roared in agony, releasing the girl from its grasp. Blood oozed from the small bullet wound, and Ren hopped back as the denizen swiped through the air with its good arm.

"Gonna need better ammo for this motherfucker," Ren mumbled. Wispy, gray smoke billowed out from his palm, his hand trembling. "What are you all waiting for?" Ren bellowed, swinging his arm through the air. To his disgust, the other teenagers had simply stood by and watched the whole thing happen. Not a single one of them had tried to help the poor girl. "Are you blind? Get the fuck outta here!"

The remaining teenagers scattered. Even in their efforts to leave, none of them looked over their shoulder for the girl who'd nearly been devoured. The denizen's attention was on her again for a split second. To the girl's credit, she rose to her feet—and although there was palpable fear in her features, she ran as if the wind carried her. She had gotten all the time she needed. Slashing at the air with its good arm, the behemoth caught the hem of her skirt, scattering tears of the fabric onto the grass. She squealed before disappearing into the fog of the forest. Hopefully, she would be able to get back on her own.

A deep, guttural growl emanated from deep inside the denizen's throat. It turned to look at Ren, its bones cracking with every movement. The beast stamped its foot against the earth. Chunks of rotting flesh fell, its immense strength shaking the very ground Ren stood on. Ren struggled to keep his footing.

Calm down, Ren thought. Don't lose your head. Just focus. You got this.

"Bring it, asshole!" Ren taunted, beckoning the creature with his hands.

The denizen let out an ear-shattering roar, and Ren clapped his hands to his ears. Spittle stuck to the grass, the trees, to Ren. And then the denizen charged.

Oh, fuck.

With the aftershock of the tremor still shaking him to his very core, Ren knelt and tumbled to his right, narrowly evading the monstrosity.

The monster kept going, knocking over several trees and falling over itself like a train flying off its rails. It stopped seconds later, and with its back turned to Ren, the creature shook its head and looked over its shoulder at him.

How in the fuck could it even see him with those flaps for eyes?

It felt as if the deepest depths of hell commanded this thing, guiding it on a one-way path to death and destruction. It cared not for what happened to the environment, its people, not even itself. As if the thing delighted in destroying every little thing that came upon it.

A sickening expression split the beast's mouth into the shape of a smile—or at least, it resembled one. The smile grew wider and wider until the thing's flesh started to crack apart and bleed out.

A chill swept over Ren's body.

"I'm here!" came the familiar voice of Sunny.

What the hell is she doing in the air? Ren wondered.

Ren looked up to see the figure of Sunny, dozens of feet in the air. Brilliant white wings stuck out from her back, flapping with an elegance that bore a striking resemblance to those of angels. The denizen looked at her, smacking its lips with its pocked tongue.

"Sunny! Higher! Higher! Now!" Ren cried.

Sunny blinked and began to rise higher into the sky. The denizen stood up and bent its knees, focusing on the small girl above.

"Shit," Ren whispered to himself. He sprinted and reached into his left-side pocket to pull out a bullet for a more unpleasant gun—a 44 magnum. Ren curled and uncurled his fingers as he ran, rolling the casing along his knuckles. He braced for the impact of his own attack, balling his hand into a fist around the munition. "Hey, shithead!"

The denizen slowly turned its head to look at him, surprise written on its face—at least, as far as Ren could tell. Who knew what this thing felt?

Ren tensed as his fist collided with the knee of the creature. Another explosion followed, louder and more intense than the last. Ren yelped with the attack, and his arm screamed in agony.

Maybe it would've been better from a distance, after all, he thought, cursing under his breath.

Blood seeped from the creature's body, forcing it down on its good knee. As the beast roared, Sunny landed behind Ren.

"Neat trick you did earlier. Think you can get me in the air?" Ren asked, breathing through his teeth. God damn, did that attack hurt. But the damage had been done. Thick, almost slimy, blood slowly oozed out of the denizen's orifice, coloring the ground in a deep red.

"I can," Sunny whispered back, "but I need a little more time. I can't stay in the air like that for long."

"How long?"

"One minute."

Ren let out a raspy laugh. "One minute. Okay, cool. Fucking great."

Ren could not keep fighting like this. He counted his lucky stars he had gotten this far. If not for the distractions, he was sure the beast would never have let him hit it.

His arm was trembling from the shock of the attacks. He would need to rely on smaller bullets for the time being. Staying ranged and playing it safe would be the best bet for now. All it would take is one mistake, and it would be game over for them both.

"What is that?" Sunny asked, gasping.

"What is—" Ren's voice caught.

Right before their eyes, the behemoth's flesh was mending. The creature's wounds had stopped bleeding, and the sickening sounds of cracking bone and squishy flesh filled the air. Bone and sinew stitched like worms melding together.

What the fuck? I've never seen a denizen do this before, Ren thought, his eyes wide.

"What do you want to do?" Sunny asked, her voice trembling.

Goddammit, I can't protect her and kill this thing at the same time.

Ren weighed his options and reached into a small pouch around his waist containing what he thought was the best weapon for the situation. Retrieving a large 12-gauge shotgun shell from the bag, he stared at it for a couple of seconds before clenching it in his fist. The wounds he would inflict with smaller bullets would heal in no time. There was no choice. He would have to go for a one-shot kill.

"I'm going to give this thing something else to smile about," said Ren.

"What?" asked Sunny.

"My trump card. It'll be kinda like popping a balloon. Only, this balloon's full of meat. Less gross that way, ya know?" Ren stood two steps forward, motioning to the shell in his hand. The denizen had almost fully healed its wounds within the twenty-or-so seconds they spent deliberating.

"Don't do anything stupid! Please!"

"You're not going to like what happens next, then." He looked at her over his shoulder, flashing a toothy grin. "I need you to stay back. Like, way back."

"O-Okay," she stammered.

Sunny bowed her head. There was no time to argue. The denizen was rising to its feet. Sunny darted away in haste, standing behind one of the shrine's numerous long poles.

"Alright, let's do this," Ren said to himself. "Hope you're hungry, pal!"

The denizen screeched before sprinting in Ren's direction. Beads of sweat collected on the man's skin as he readied into a fighting stance.

The disgusting creature swept Ren into its hand with minimal effort, bringing him to his mouth. Ren reeled back, offering the denizen his arm.

Just as he had planned, the behemoth bit down on his arm. The pain was terrible, scorching his veins as if they were on fire. Blood seeped out from the gaps between the monster's teeth, drenching Ren's clothes in red.

"Gotcha, bitch. Shotgun Punch!"

White light covered the immediate area. A bang followed, and innumerable pieces of the behemoth's top half flew in myriad directions, painting the forest in pinks and reds. Ren dropped to the ground with the remaining lower half of the denizen's body. What was left was engulfed in flame.

"Oh my god!" Sunny screamed. She ran up to him, kneeling beside him. "I have to get you out of here!" she said, her hands shaking.

Ren's face contorted. "Yep. That went… pretty much how I expected it to," he struggled to say. The behemoth's demise had come at a great cost to himself. Pointed bone and singeing flesh were all that remained of his forearm. "Fuck, this hurts."

"I'll get you to Doctor Scales right away! I promise!"

"I'll be relying on you," Ren said, forcing a smile. Dabbing his pointer finger around the wound, he reached over and drew a smiley face on her palm. It was crude, sure, but he had not gotten this far by taking everything so seriously.

His consciousness was beginning to fade. He only hoped that he would wake up.