Acteon Syndicate

Chapter 4: Truth

Her home was dark. She stumbled over a fallen lamp and landed in a sticky substance of the floor. As the light flickered back to life, she shuddered at what it was: blood. A corpse lay in the center of the room. Her hair looked as if it was floating in the pool of blood, her eyes stared lifeless at the ceiling. Allis looked into the familiar face of the dead body. She shuddered as she took the woman's head on her hands. "Mom?" She asked, her voice barely more than a whisper. She saw her father standing above them, covered in blood.
"Allis, you're not supposed to be here!" Hadley yelled. His daughter fell back, and she kept falling, spinning and spinning until she hit the ground with a thud.

Allis stood, the house was dark, the body was gone, she was alone.
Was I dreaming? She thought. My father couldn't have killed my mother? But, that would explain his odd behavior whenever I ask about her.
Allis whipped around. She wasn't alone. From the darkness, she heard a faint breathing. She stumbled around, searching for the light switch.
"Aren't... you... pretty..." The voice was raspy, as if it were struggling for air between each word. "You... are... the... one..."
"Who's there?" Allis yelled out.
"The... innocent..."
"The innocent? Who is the innocent?" Allis found the switch and flipped it on. Standing in front of her was a creature, it's skin wrinkled, it's arms dragged on the ground, it's eyes were black and it's teeth were sharp.
"The... innocent..." It rasped. "Is... you!" The creature lunged forward. Allis ducked and ran behind it.
Suddenly, it exploded, spraying green juice along the walls.
"Nice shot, Diomedes!"
"You expect me to miss, Uli?" The boy Allis had met in the halls lowered his gun.
"Come on, Allis!" A girl's voice said.
"Annalee?" Allis asked.
"Move! Diomedes, duck!" Annalee drew her gun and shot another creature behind her partner.
"More coming your way, Uli!" Annalee turned, shot three more creatures, and grabbed Allis's hand. They ran through the large house, climbing the stairs to the second floor.
"Uli!" Diomedes called. "We're surrounded. I'll clear a path, Aristotle says there is a staircase to the roof at the end of this hall."
"Stay back, Diomedes. Cover me. Meet in ten at Ground Zero. Aristotle, you read me?" Annalee pressed a finger to her glasses. Give me a map." Annalee lifted her gun and shot creatures as they moved toward Allis.
"Take this, prep." Diomedes pulled a gun from his boot. "Shoot the creatures, follow Uli."
Allis nodded and followed Annalee to the end of the hall. As they ran, more creatures followed, reaching their long arms out to Allis.
"Ann! It's got me!" Allis screamed as an arm wrapped around her waist.
"Shit!" Annalee drew a knife and severed the arm in two. Allis shuddered as the hand fell to the ground. "Why the hell is this hall so long?" Annalee fired as she ripped open the door and shoved Allis up the stairs.

A/N: Above picture is of Diomedes