Epics of Noche 1, Anchor

EON CH 43

MEDUSA'S BLOODIED SOLDIER.

1774, SEPTEMBER 24th SATURDAY 8:00pm.

Torrents of rain fell outside the dusty windows of Medusa's office. Inside, she watched two Cross soldiers stand between an elite. These elite soldiers were some of the best in Cross. The bare minimum physical prowess one needed join their ranks was you had to be able to lift 20,000 lbs. The other requirements were no lesser.

That being said, with how small Cross had become, elite soldiers were even more scarce. Which is why Medusa was feeling so annoyed when an entire SQUAD of then went recently missing. At least, until now. For one, and only one, member of the squad had finally returned. There was one problem... He wasn't of his right mind.

Medusa watched as this elite's eyes darted about. Never sticking to one spot for too long, always scanning the environment. Every so often, his head did a subtle twitch to the side. His face was covered in claw marks, as if something was clawing at his eyes. However, what stuck out most, was the fact he was covered in dried blood.

"I'll ask again... Steward Chase Powers, can you hear me? I need you to focus." Medusa said, "I sent your team on a simple mission... What happened at that school?"

The storm outside seemed to darken, as the rain fell harder. The wind howled outside like some sort of banshee and glass seemed to bend from each wail. As the day's sun vanished to the storm's darkness, the lights in the office began to flicker.

"NO! Stay away from me!" Steward screamed.

As if subconsciously, he tried to take a step back, but the two Cross soldiers held him in place. He yanked his arms free as his fingernails dug into the skin below the eyes. Just as be started to draw blood, the two Cross soldiers yanked his arms back to the side. The lights stopped flickering and returned to their usual brightness. When they did so, Steward calmed down; but only slightly.

"Oh god... They're dead...They're all dead... It sliced through us like butter... And the cricket team." He began to convulse horrible, "We, the elementary.... We got there... Oh god... Oh god."

"What sliced through you like butter?!" Medusa shouted.

Steward didn't answer, it seemed his grief was too much. He fell to his knees and sobbed horrendously. After a few minutes of compulsive shaking and sobbing, he managed to look up with tear-filled, bloodshot, eyes. More than that, black bags hung under them and his gaze, they had a sort of manic twitch to them. A desperation is she'd say.

"I... I had to survive... I waited so long and nobody came for me." He said, "How could you leave me there for months?!"

"Steward, you were there for a week, ok?" Medusa said, "One week."

She watched as Steward became unnatural silent. Still. The color drained from his face, somehow making him look even more pale. His eyes were wide, but his brows were a little furrowed. It was almost like he was in shock. Then, like a rabid dog, he shot towards her. Medusa didn't so much as flinch, as the other two soldiers restrained him after his first step.

"FUCK YOU!" Steward said.

Even with him out of his wits, both soldiers struggled to keep their grasp on him. Regardless of... Whatever happened... Steward was still an elite Cross soldier. Still, for him to turn into this, it really made Medusa wonder what DID take place at that elementary school.

"I kept track of it, oh yes I did. I marked it, every day." Steward said, "I know it's been at least a year. A whole year with that... MONSTER!"

Medusa felt a sudden chill and noticed the goosebumps on her arm. With all the rain and cold, it made sense exposed skin would do that... But still... Something, FELT, wrong. She couldn't explain it. Just a feeling in her gut. As if her body had some sort of deeply engrained instinctual reaction to what he said. Not to the word MONSTER, anyone could say that, but to the specific entity he thought of when he invoked that word.