SECTOR 22 (nicknamed 'VIGENCI'), NEW YORK, USA
2057
The masked creatures slithered out of the sewers at dawn, the second day of January, just like they always did.
They couldn’t be called people. They all had similar cold black eyes and pale white skin despite ethnicity. They were all tall and well-muscled. When they ran they became a simple, speeding blur. They also had short fangs, but they weren’t the fangs of mythical creatures such as vampires. They were the fangs of a wild animal, a predator.
They always arrived wearing grinning masks but one way or another they would fall off. Or they would be smeared in blood.
No one fought the brutes anymore. Everyone knew it was hopeless. But people still hid, holed up in rooms hidden behind bookcases or underneath beds. The few who took to the outside wouldn’t be taken away, they would most likely end up a pile of bones with no meat attached.
They had different names among different people. Feeders, reapers, angels of death, but a term that was known universally was monsters. Masked monsters. Things that stole people away, primarily children, and threw away the bones of the unlucky and unhealthy like that of food.
On the night before the second of January 2057, Lovelle Smethley decided to take a run to the butcher’s. The butcher was the father of one of her friends, and he always had extra knives lying around.
She left at dusk. It was officially the first of January but her mother still had many protests. Lovelle ended up sneaking out while everyone was sleeping.
Potholes littered Main St. Lovelle could vividly hear the sonorous screeches that occurred in unison every single year as the monsters slithered out of their holes; as they prepared for another day of slaughter. Lovelle shuddered but she didn’t turn around back home. Last year her friend’s little sister had been taken. That wasn’t about to happen to Lovelle and Saidee.
Last year, someone had killed one of the monsters. The things had a weak spot- their eyes. You had to stab it multiple times but it would lose enough blood eventually. The technique had been taught to every single person in Sector 22 but most didn’t have the stomach to punch a dummy filled with flour, water and red dye, never mind an actual monster.
Lovelle definitely had the stomach, if it came down to protecting her sister.
There was no one in the butcher window- it was half-past eleven- so Lovelle skipped to the back door where Kit was supposed to be waiting.
Lovelle knocked on the newly-painted door. It opened silently. Kit was standing there, eyes half open, holding a case full of knives. He held them out wordlessly and Lovelle took them, nodding a quick thanks before the door slammed shut. The sound echoed through the completely silent night. No one was outside, except for Lovelle and maybe a few homeless people who were too weak to haul ass to the relative safety of the inside of a building.
Lovelle’s eyes darted across the empty street and the potholes. It was nerve-wracking, being outside all alone. No one would come to her aid if she was attacked, by a monster or person, it didn’t matter. Not even saintly Mrs. Bernstein- she had children of her own. Lovelle began to sprint.
Her heart was pounding. The apartment building was still a few blocks away. Her gasps for air were distressful. She decided to hum. She hummed so loudly that it was all her ears could hear. She hummed so loudly that she forgot how vulnerable she was, running along an empty street at the mercy of the masked monsters who would hopefully stay contained in their sewers and spare her another year.
She hummed so loudly that it became her undoing.
She was only one block away from her building when it happened. When a pothole slid open silently, making not a single sound. A creature that looked human but certainly wasn’t crawled out and advanced toward the girl. The girl who couldn’t hear a thing. The girl who wasn’t aware of the presence beside her until a cold, cold hand covered her mouth while the other hand pushed away the knices. A horrible pain flooded through Lovelle Smethley’s body and dread filled her heart.
The masked monsters had come early.
A/N Two chapters today because I'm nice and I wanted to ded Lilly ;) AND I FINALLY FOUND THE MSWORD FILE FOR THIS STORY OH YEAH *dances*
-Olivia
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Ameliora
Science Fiction"The masked creatures slithered out of the sewers at dawn, the second day of January, just like they always did. They couldn’t be called people. They all had similar cold black eyes and pale white skin despite ethnicity. They were all tall and well...
