II. Gods and Monsters

10. Rampage

He was too old for this... It was just over a week ago since Carter Slade had discovered the appearance of a new Ghost Rider. This time, a young adult named Oliver Knight. He knew that this would be his last chance; his last opportunity to find redemption. If he could save this lost soul, then maybe he could save his own. As it was, things were not going well...

Carter had set out in pursuit of the Ghost Rider and within seconds, had lost him. The creature was fleeing in terror with no sense of self-control thanks to a chemical agent deployed by what he could only assume to be Metatron. During his time in the trenches, rumours had circulated of such a gas; one that could send the possessed into mass hysteria, but leave the "pure" untouched. He'd disregarded these rumours at the time, but now he was paying for his ignorance.

He slowed his horse to a trot, straining his eyes and ears for any sign of his quarry. He needn't have bothered; a great fire sprouted above the treeline not too far ahead of him and the terrified screams confirmed that it had not just been a camping accident. He spurred his pure white stallion on, desperate to stop the monster doing something the human inside would come to regret. As he got nearer, he could feel the intense heat from the fire, and when he got even closer, he could see the ring in which The Rider had trapped a young couple. They were clearly of no threat, but in its deranged state, this would mean nothing to The Rider.

Carter saw The Rider pinning the boy to what must have been his sports car. The driver's seat window had been smashed and judging by the cuts and scrapes on the boy's face and body, The Rider had dragged him through it.

"Whhhheeeerrrrreeee...?" it growled.

"Why do you keep saying that? I don't know what you're asking me!"

"Whhhheeeerrrreee...?" the demon repeated in a more aggressive tone.

"Florida! You're in Florida. Is that what you want?"  the boy stammered, desperate to appease the monster.

"WHERE?!" it yelled, raising its fist and slamming it into the car right next to the boy's head, the car's outer shell buckling under the force of the blow.

Carter urged his horse to leap over the ring of fire as the girl started screaming for help. The Rider's hysteria was clearly growing. It dropped the boy, headed to the front of the car, bent down and tore the front bumper clean off. The end of the bumper ignited as The Rider brandished the make-shift weapon at the innocent boy.

Without thinking, Carter withdrew a bullwhip from his belt and cracked it towards the bumper. It wrapped around the weapon, allowing Carter to yank it from The Rider's hands.

"Oliver!" he roared, "That's enough!"

The Rider whirled around, its eyes immediately fixing on Carter. The fire in its eye-sockets seemed to burn with the mania it was experiencing. The flames seemed less controlled, more frantic in the way they flickered.

"I know you're still in there Oliver, and I know you can hear me."

The creature let out a screech in response.

"You need to calm down now. Think of Charlotte for me!"

Carter thought he saw the flames calm, just a fraction, the eyes never leaving him.

"She's alone. She's just seen the person she loves ignite and dash off into the woods. How do you think she feels? You hurting these innocent people is not going to help things. Just calm down and come back with me."

The Rider took a couple of small, unsteady steps towards Carter. Carter, however, remained deathly still. If he didn't get this perfectly right, it could mean the death of everyone present. Unfortunately, not everyone present had the same caution. The boy who had been left on the floor had managed to sneak around the back of his car and retrieve a tire iron. Before Carter had time to react, he leapt at the rider and brought the tire iron on its head.