The Prophecy (Watty Awards 2013)

Chapter 6

VI

So they followed her; unknown to the danger they had put themselves in. After the laborious excursion the group approached an abandoned borough. It had no recognisable features of a borough and the welcome post was covered with sea green moss, but the letters ‘o’ ‘r’ ‘o’ ‘u’ ‘g’ and ‘h’ were just about identifiable. The city was derelict, desolate, and deserted. Not a person to be seen. As the group entered, a gentle wind came to pass; sending an almost bloodcurdling chill down the spines of Tyson and Blake.  “I don’t like it here, sure there isn’t another way?”Blake said, he could sense something was artificial.

“This is the only way…” Eva said, trying to sound convincing.

“Fine.” Blake disliked Eva from the very first moment they met; he didn’t want to take her on, as he thought trusting a mere stranger was just moronic; he saw what Lozada was saying but he chose not to get on with Eva.

As the group ventured further into the neglected abandonment Lozada realised, from the smashed test tubes and ragged cloaks, that this must have been where it had all began; where the cure backfired and generated a violent and vast apocalypse. The group decided it was best to search the area for resources and supernatural substances for Lozada in case they were infiltrated a second time. Lozada and Logan made out a vicious explosion had destroyed the entrance of the building in front of them. It was covered in blood red stains, and Wolverine-like claw marks. A voice played on the built in megaphone: “Welcome to the chemical laboratory of London. Where you matter!” The organisation had been world famous for the “miraculous cure for malaria” but Lozada had painful flashbacks of the news reports on the first day. All of the workers at the CL of London were lynched, except from the head, who was a live edition of the unbearable, nauseating, and sickening ‘hook scene’ from ‘The Last King of Scotland’. But from that day he knew his wife wouldn’t last as the day before she had been “cured”.

In the building were lots of Polaroid pictures of mutated animals and humans: wolf men, tailed people, and sufferers of gigantism, dwarfism etc. however there was one image that miffed Lozada, Tyson, Logan, and Blake, but not Eva Astral. There were pictures of “humans” with only mouths on their faces, and their teeth were jagged, eroded, and poisonous. They represented shark teeth; this gave an insight into the components of the malaria cure.  Lozada saw a burnt government article that read: “Phantom’s as they are loosely known, are menacing and cannibalistic; with no eyes, tiny ears, little hair, and no nose they are grotesque and are infuriated with hate and envy as they have been humiliated by God.  They have an extremely advanced sense of direction and dimension because of the lack of the other senses so if confronted with one, stay still. There are no known cures for these beings. Only a handful have escaped out of the contagion zone but they will be dealt with immediately, the apocalypse has begun; get out while you still can. P.S. some wear cloaks and white masks as that way they still have faces. They make sounds like…” the corner had been ripped off; you could sense the tension in the room and for once you could see the anxiety and uneasiness  in Lozada’s face and actions, he came out in a cold sweat. “I don’t think we are alone in this god-forsaken place. Grab a pole or blunt object, this could get ugly.” Said Lozada, frightened for his life, he felt especially responsible as he was seduced and manipulated by Eva’s beauty, and she had led them to this hell-hole. “Eva, grab a blunt obje… Eva? Where in God’s name is Eva?! The bitch she’s left us for dead!” Lozada was furious and unaware to the danger that encircled him.

“Guys, GUYS! Shut up! What is that bloody sound?!” shouted Blake.

“Sounds like a Tasmanian Devil!” Logan said.

They silently sneaked outside, at first there was one phantom; the group were petrified but still managed to keep their cool, however Tyson’s knee gave in as he twisted it on a rock, and he cursed but only in whispers. The phantom attentively went from “scanning the area” to homing in on the sound; the creature screeched a deafening shriek and swiftly the opponent went from one, to seven.