Now, I've been hungover before.
I've experienced the entire earthly spectrum of emotion that comes with the joys of drinking until you can't stand. I've seen, felt, smelt and heard things that upon reflection a sober human being wouldn't necessarily...
As grotesque as the scene in front of us looked, the smell was worse.
You could practically taste the metallic scent of blood in the air from how strong it was, with anything else in the immediate vicinity instantly drowned in its intensity. I found myself having to breathe open mouthed as to try and lessen the sickly smell, fighting my gag reflex as I stared in morbid shock at the astronaut in the middle of the clearing.
Shaking I watched the banshee tear into him, unable to blink as the impossible amount of blood continued to splutter and pool. The red stained his clothes and skin as the ground beneath slowly grew darker, spreading like a disease and seeping into the land until eventually the only thing that had retained its colour was the oversized helmet; still on his head and facing directly towards the crowd as if to perversely mock us.
There was so much blood...
By the time we'd reached the clearing it had been too late. We'd found Michael a little earlier on after the forest had physically shaken from the ungodly scream that had torn through it. He was sprinting away at full speed from where Jimmy now lay, his eyes glassy and heart hammering heavily in his chest. He wouldn't respond to our questioning about Jimmy, and once we'd calmed him down he seemed to go into a state of shock. But it didn't matter. It didn't take long for someone to pick up the overpowering metallic stench nearby and signal for the rest of us. And by then he'd already gone.
He was so young. I remembered passing by his birthday only a few weeks ago at his Mom's house, the 'Happy 9th Birthday!' iridescent banners taped to the front door and party music blaring from within. He was a good kid, with a bright future.
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Finally finding the ability to blink, I closed my eyes and tried to shake myself out of the darkness. I reminded myself that I had to be the one to step up and take charge here. I had the safety of everyone else to think about, and even though the image of that little boy would be seared into the back of my eyelids for years to come-- I needed make sure it wouldn't happen to anyone else.
I somehow managed to drag my eyes away from Jimmy to look at the creature that was still atop him, its pale skin now barely visible beneath the layer of fresh blood that had trickled down its body. I instinctually took a sniff of the air only to be promptly reminded of the overwhelmingly grotesque reek of death, barely holding back a gag as I grimaced in disgust. I involuntarily brought my hand up to press against my nose to try and block out the smell.
With unease I noted that a portal must have opened nearby, but couldn't figure out how it had gone unreported. We had a nearly hourly patrol sweep through the perimeter daily, purely just for situations like these; where something could slip through. The whole point was to quickly locate a portal if one appeared and monitor it until it inevitably closed. We should have picked it up by now, so why hadn't it been called in? We even had a guard post nearby...
