Venom, Blood & Ink

The Attack

Desi buried her face in Tristan’s shoulder as the wall shattered in, sending splintery shrapnel in ahead of a cloud of plaster dust and onslought of foul smelling, hungry creatures. They advanced in, upturning tables, scattering the beautiful flower arrangements, sending silverware and chairs  flying as they began their attack. Tristan stood motionless, frozen in place by confusion and fear, he watched as the first of the yellow skinned, eyeless creatures found it’s first victim. It held onto the poor man tightly with large raptor like talons while clamping it’s greedy jaws down, sinking sharp, jagged teeth into where the man’s shoulder and neck connect, visciously shredding a huge chunk of both clothing and flesh away, causing a spurting fountain of blood from the now exposed jugular vein. The creature hastily half chewed and swallowed all he tore off while a steady shower of warm, sticky blood soaked it’s face, and returned for another bite as more vile things joined in. Tiny, black, toddler sized imps, each laden with their own impressive set of claws and razor sharp teeth, piled onto carcasses, like a pack of pirhanas. Single imps, hung onto their prey by their teeth as poor souls attempted to escape, but soon fell to the sheer numbers collecting on their bodies.  One by one, more people fell to the voracious creatures, filling the room with an assault of screams and pleas for help, and the sickening scent of a mixture of the iron smell of blood, the terrible stench emanating from the creatures themselves, and the unmistakable odor of urine and feces as the dying and petrified lost control of their faculties.

“Tristan! “ Desi desperately called to him as she pulled on his arm, finally snapping him back into reality. Hearing nothing but the anguished cries echoing in his ears until that moment.
He blinked a bit, hoping to clear away the ghastly images of people being savagely torn apart in front of him, but when one image cleared, another more gruesome one greeted his eyes.
“Dammit, Tristan, I said come on!” Desi yelled as she tried to pull him away from the center of the open dance floor.

“Wha…what the fuck is happening? “ He managed to choke out as the pair ran as fast as they could, Desi leading him by the hand, toward a small, empty bar alcove used as a collection site for the array of engagement gifts.

“I don’t know, I have no idea what’s happening.” She replied as they entered the sheltered area, quickly climbing over countertop, scattering the exquisitely wrapped packages.

Desi released her frightened fiancee’s hand and tried to turn the knob of a door just behind the bar. “Son of a bitch! It’s locked!” she cursed as she banged her fist on the white, wooden obstacle.
Tristan cowered in the corner, watching as the creatures and people rushed about in a scene of absolute chaos. While the imps jumped about like tiny viscious bunnies, the larger Eyeless climbed the walls to the balconies and opera boxes.

Desi, seeminly unfazed by the carnage, grabbed Tristan by his shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. “Snap out of it! Don’t wuss out on me now. We gotta figure out a way to get the fuck out of here and I can’t do this by myself.”

Tristan replied, shaking his head affirmatively, unable to muster up any words. He slowly inched forward, trying to follow her orders, but immediately hit his back against the wall again as an imp hopped up on the countertop. The tiny, black terror snarled and focused its huge red hued eyes straight at the cowering man in the corner.

Desi jumped into action, grabbing a nearby serving tray and swatted the imp back into the chaotic melee.  The tiny creature flew a few feet and tumbled across the dance floor, scrambling back to its tiny clawed feet; it caught sight of another target and darted off in hot pursuit.
“Ok Tristan. Kick it in.”

“What?” He squeaked out as he tried to listen, but his focus was elsewhere. In the center of the chaos and insanity, a pair of imps argued and scrapped over part of a human body. He watched in solemn silence as the upper half of Caroline, his mother, was being fought over like a dog’s chew toy.
Desi followed his gaze, catching glimpse of the overbearing woman’s gruesome torso as it was dragged across the floor leaving a bloody trail in its wake.