Evading The Madness

Crouched high above the streets on a gargoyles back I sit. Watching. Waiting. Planning my next move. Not knowing when the next strike will take place, or where. Pearl and Onyx are with me, ready as ever. If they were alive Id say they were eager. Ready to take down the next victim. Thirsting for it even. Same with my blade, Redeemer as he has now become known. He sings when he bathes now. Bathes in the blood of those things. And he loves it. The other hunters, when I see them, speak of a madness that has started to consume others. Twisting them into thinking that humans are those creatures. I hope that doesnt happen to me. Some talk of how Im already infected. That the madness is consuming me from the inside out. I tell them their the ones that are being consumed. But I wonder....1

     Some times I see an innocent, and it kind of looks like theyre changing, but I know its not so. I fight the urge to slaughter. To just kill all, both changed and not changed. We all do, some more than others. But I wont give in to the urge. Reminds me of the hunt of yesterday. Just 24 short hours ago. I was hunting a small pack of them on my own as is my want. some hunters hunt in packs not me. I had found their home. They were living in a pizza place. What a good way to spread their filth. Turn their little disease into an epidemic. I calmly walked in like I didnt know what was going on in there. Like I wasnt what I am. Like I was normal. They didnt notice the pommel slightly sticking up over my shoulder. I fought my instincts and ordered a slice of pizza. I took the slice and the stench of them assailed me. It reeked of them. I walked over to the two humans that were about to enjoy their pizza and "fell" knocking their pizza to the ground, toppings down. "Hey sorry let me get you a new one." I walked back over and pulled out Redeemer and brought him down into the creature behind the counters head. Splitting it in half. I followed through, pulling Redeemer from the creatures back as two more came in the front door returning from their deliveries. I sent Redeemer spinning into the first ones chest, causing it to scream as Pearl and Onyx whipped out sending lead flying into his friend jerking him off his feet and slamming him into the wall. Still I sent rounds pinning him to the wall as a weight landed on my back knocking me to the ground. Stupid me. I forgot to keep an eye on my back. I could hear it panting in my ear, its saliva dripping right past it. I raised my hand, Im not giving up without killing more. Then my arm was pinned, I raised my other arm and it too was pinned. "Fuck me!" I knew its head was close it was savoring the smell of the meal it was about to get, when something happened that didnt make sense at the time. The creature flew off of me. I couldnt hear. What was going on was eluding me I just knew I was back in action. Leaping to my feet I looked at the patrons to make sure they made it out, but I didnt know that the two people werent normal people. They were fellow hunters a husband and wife pair. The thought of "Thats interesting, never seen that before." swept through my brain as my senses kicked into high gear, informing me of the creature leaping back at me, causing me to whip Onyx and Pearl up in an arc halting the creatures progression and making him double back in the air, back flipping. An explosion sent the sensation of stinging into my back, in an instant I ignored it. I turned in time to see one go flying into the wall as redeemer came back to me with the creature that was impaled on him bringing him back to his owner, back to me. I gripped his hilt keeping the creature at bay before splitting the creature in two, sliding redeemer up through the creatures spine up through the stomach, and out the throat up through the head causing the brain matter to explode onto the ceiling. Feeling the danger at my back I whirl around only to see an ax lop the head off the creatures shoulders sending it rolling along to the wifes foot, who stepped on it and fired a shotgun shell into it, making it explode like an over ripe melon. The battle over I pulled out a fire bomb i had brought to use in one of two ways. One I finished off the pack and was destroying the remains, or two I was dead and taking them with me. The wife, Racheal as I found out when we unwound over beers at the bar down the street, severed the gas lines to the stove, planning on doing what i was doing but making it look like an accident. Jeremy was setting a fire bomb of his own when I added mine to the mix. We raced out of there with a 15 second count down trailing behind us. The building burned to the foundation taking theyre disease with them. So much for the pizza parlor. On the way to the bar I almost pulled Onyx on a passerby seeing the stench on her, but Racheal stopped me and Jeremy put his arm around my shoulder covering my motions. "Well Eddie," Jeremy said, "I guess we could go for a few beers. Lets go." Causing the woman to think I was reaching for my wallet. We talked for a while and it made me remember what it was that caused me to start doing what it is that I do. To protect humanity. They gave me their number in case I needed help with evading the madness. I thanked them and returned to my desolate place in the rooftops. Watching. Waiting. Looking for the evils. Both the creatures that I hunt. And the madness that threatens to make me what Im not.2