On a narrow Amsterdam street, a creature crawled on all fours. It was a mass of absolute darkness, a gothic and grotesque being nearly two meters long. Its body, completely black and hairless, moved with unnatural fluidity. Three red eyes, arranged in a triangle, pierced the night, and from its jaws hung two rows of teeth stained with fresh blood.
It was chasing a girl with black hair.
Both were fast, but she possessed an agility that defied human limits. She flew over the wet cobblestones, propelled herself against brick walls, and scaled the facades of houses with astonishing ease. In its wake, the creature tore apart the bodies of pedestrians who, unable to see it, got in its way, leaving a trail of silence and destruction.
They reached a clearing, a small square bathed in moonlight. The girl stopped abruptly, spinning on her heels. In one fluid motion, she drew a pistol disproportionately large for her hands. It was silver and gleamed in the moonlight; intricate Gothic reliefs and religious symbols adorned its barrel and grip. A silver cross, identical to the one she wore around her neck, hung from the handle.
Her brown eyes focused for a moment. And then, a burst of gunfire ripped through the night.
The bullets whistled, leaving white trails in the air before striking the creature, now cornered between the alley walls. The beast twitched, but didn't halt its charge. The girl, however, seemed in control, eerily calm, as if she had done this hundreds of times. She took a deep breath, aimed again, and when the creature was just feet away, a precise bullet lodged in its exposed chest.
This time, the creature collapsed. She crawled a few meters, carried by inertia, until she collapsed at the feet of the hunter, who was panting, sweating, her pistol still smoking. She stared at the hole in the beast's chest. Through the wound, something glimmered: a round piece of glass, now shattered.
"Good. One down," she murmured, her breath ragged.
But to understand this story, we have to rewind a bit.
---
24 hours earlier
Sofia was buried under a pile of documents. Beside her, asleep with a report on his face, was her friend Sebastian. They had known each other since she arrived at the church at ten years old. Now, he used the papers as a pillow.
Sofia's POV
Another police report. My eyelids were heavy, and I was already tired of reading line after line. But this one was different. This one was about Amsterdam.
The report detailed how, in several houses in the city, dismembered, unrecognizable bodies had been found. The strangest thing was that the wounds looked like they were from an animal... except that no animals exist that big, or with that many teeth. The police had filed him as a killer with a very specific modus operandi.
Three cases. A week apart.
If the pattern held, the fourth victim would appear tomorrow.
"I found him!"
I slammed my fist on the table so hard that Sebastián fell backward, chair and all. His curly hair and dark eyes stared at me, a mixture of surprise and sleepiness in their eyes.
"What did you find?" he asked, rubbing the paper mark on his cheek.
I didn't answer. I ran to the wall where I had hung all my research: a huge whiteboard surrounded by red threads connecting photos, articles, reports. This time, for sure. This time I would make it in time.
"Let's go," I said, full of conviction. "If we hurry, we'll be in Amsterdam by morning."
"Are you sure?" "—asked Sebastian as he followed me through the dark corridors.
—Completely. It's the same as when I was a child.
As we turned a corner, we bumped into him.
The priest who had raised me since I arrived. Father Sebastian. Yes, just like his son. Originality wasn't his strong suit.
—Where are you going at this hour?—he asked, with that suspicious look he always had.—There's recruitment for the Order tomorrow. It's a unique opportunity for any hunter.
—Um… we think we've found a case—I improvised.—A possible specter. A girl says she saw a man coming out of her closet, things disappearing… We're going to investigate.
—At one in the morning?—he raised an eyebrow, looking at his son.
Sebastian Jr. opened his mouth to offer such a long and convoluted excuse that I knew it was going to give us away. But his father interrupted him:
—That's enough, son. Fine. But I want you back the day after tomorrow.
I froze. His approval disarmed me.
Father Sebastian gave me a knowing look.
"Do what you must. You're old enough now. But come home, my daughter."
I knew he said it to many people. He was a priest, after all. But I felt it coming from me when he said it to me.
Without dwelling on feelings, we ran to the armory. I grabbed my pistol and my cross. They weren't just weapons; they were tools, yes, but they were also the only things I had left of my parents.
Sebastian grabbed a cA knife and a ring.
And we left.
---
Once they arrived in Amsterdam, it was already morning. They went to see the last crime scene: it was the only lead they had.
When they arrived, the area was cordoned off with yellow tape. A policeman who saw them looking around, thinking they were tourists, told them:
"There was a brutal murder here, but the police have already cleaned everything up."
Even so, Sofia and Sebastian wanted to go in. Maybe they had left something behind.
They showed their fake IDs. Inspector badges.
The officer looked at them and asked:
"You're only twenty, aren't you? Do you want me to believe you're inspectors? Look, I'm feeling good today, so I don't plan on taking you to jail. Instead, I can show you what's inside... for a small fee."
Sofia and Sebastian looked at each other. They ended up agreeing to pay one hundred dollars.
Upon entering, they found that the police had indeed cleaned everything up. There was nothing left.
But Sofia saw a knife on the table. It still had blood on it.
"I think they forgot about that knife," she pointed out.
The policeman looked, picked it up, and said,
"This one? It looks clean to me."
Then the epiphany hit.
If he couldn't see the blood that Sebastian and she could, it meant the blood was of supernatural origin. Creatures that lived in our world, hidden from most.
Looking around a bit more, they noticed lines of blood on the ceiling leading toward the exit. Sofia nudged Sebastian and gestured to him.
"Well, I think that's it. Thanks," Sofia said to the officer.
"No problem. If you want, I also have some pretty gruesome photos. Ten dollars each," the policeman offered.
They declined and left the house.
"I can't believe the police do that kind of thing," Sebastian said. "Although, come to think of it, I shouldn't complain."
"That doesn't matter anymore," Sofia replied. "The blood trail must belong to one of those monsters. Maybe one of the victims managed to stab it with a knife before dying."
"I don't think a human could harm those things."
"I wouldn't rule it out." Sofia paused, a grimace of annoyance crossing her face. "After all, my parents were hunters. Maybe the same thing is happening here."
They followed the trail to a nearby house. Through the window, a little girl watched television with her dog.
"Maybe they're inside," Sebastian said. "Waiting for nightfall. They always attack at night."
"We have to get them out of there."
Sebastian was already moving, but Sofia grabbed his arm.
"Wait. What are you going to tell them? 'Tonight you will die because something invisible is going to kill you'? Sure, that'll work perfectly."
"So, what do you propose?" Sebastian looked at her. "Should we let them kill you so you can have your revenge?"
"No," she replied firmly. "But we can't do anything now. Let's wait until nightfall. When the creatures come out, we'll finish them off before they can kill anyone."
"Fine," Sebastian said, somewhat annoyed.
They leaned against the opposite wall, waiting. From there I could see the house's window, the silhouette of a little girl watching television with her dog.
And then the memory hit me.
I was a little girl once, too. I, too, was in a house like that, watching television, feeling safe... until they arrived.
The cold of the room. The claustrophobia of being huddled inside the closet, the wood pressing against my shoulders. The cracks. Through them I saw my parents' bodies on the floor. And on top of them, those dogs. Black, gigantic, deformed. Their snouts buried in the flesh, their bare backs moving to the rhythm of the massacre.
But what terrified me most was the dogs' owner.
A man in a black trench coat. I couldn't see his face, but his eyes... his eyes were green. A sickly, rotten green. From that day on, I hated that color.
He spotted me. His eyes fixed on the wardrobe. On me.
But he didn't kill me. He approached slowly, opened the door, and extended a hand. Pale. Bony. With claws instead of nails. He touched my cheek and left a cut.
It didn't hurt. Not then.
What hurt were my tears, silent, as he walked away.
"Sofia?"
Sebastian's voice brought me back. His hand on my shoulder. His eyes worried.
I lowered my hand and touched my cheek. The scar was still there. It's always there.
"Hey, Sof," Sebastian said, his gaze lowered, apologetic. "I'm sorry about earlier. When I accused you of only seeking revenge… I know reliving this must be very hard for you."
"It's okay," I replied. "I understand. And you were partly right."
Night hadn't yet fallen.
But a scream pierced the house. A shriek. A little girl's.
Sofia and Sebastian ran. Sebastian smashed the window with the butt of his knife. They went inside.
Silence.
No sign of the girl.
They went upstairs. And then they saw it.
The girl was a mangled heap of flesh and bones on the bed. The dog, beside her, barked incessantly into the darkness of the hallway.
When Sofia and Sebastian looked in that direction, they saw the silhouettes.
Three grotesque creaturesThey devoured what remained of the parents. They were enormous, black, with the shapes of deformed dogs. Their snouts were buried in the flesh, their hairless backs swaying to the rhythm of the carnage.
Sofia staggered. She lost her balance.
Her mind was playing tricks on her. The smell of blood, the creatures devouring bodies... it was the same scene. The same nightmare.
The beasts saw them. They pounced.
"Sof, run! We have to get out of here!"
She didn't react.
Sebastian grabbed her arm and dragged her downstairs. As they fled, Sofia repeated over and over:
"I failed... I failed again... I didn't get there in time..."
But she wasn't thinking about the girl. She wasn't thinking about the parents. She was thinking about how her prey had escaped. Again.
The man with green eyes was nowhere to be seen. And the fear of seeing those creatures... it was the same fear from that night.
As they descended the stairs, Sebastian released her arm.
"We have to split up," he said. "We can't handle three."
The dog-like ghouls were already upon them. Sebastian made a fist with the ring in his hand, and a whitish energy enveloped it. When the creature lunged, he struck.
The punch sent the beast—easily 175 pounds—slamming into the wall. The creature got up, stunned, ready to attack again, but its impact had slowed the others.
Enough time to escape.
Each fled in a different direction. One creature followed Sebastian. The other two followed Sofia.
---
Pedestrian's Point of View
I was walking with my friend Axel, coming home from work, as usual.
Then a girl sped past us. She was faster than anyone I'd ever seen.
A second later, Axel exploded.
Well, he didn't explode. It was as if a car had hit him, but there was nothing there. Just air. I stood there with her hand in mine, covered in blood, not understanding anything.
---
Back to Sofia
She ran through alleyways, dodging people. The beasts didn't stop: they ripped apart anyone who got in their way.
They were close. Very close. They almost caught her.
But she held on as long as she could, waiting for the right moment.
A wedge-shaped street. At the last second, she turned right.
Only one of the beasts managed to follow her. The other crashed into the wall and lost her. Temporarily.
---
And so we return to this point.
Sofia, catching her breath.
Sofia's POV
I was exhausted. After using the body augmentation so much and enhancing my bullets with Anima, it seemed I had drained my entire reserve.
Then, a roar.
I looked toward one of the nearby houses. The roar was coming from there. And on top of that, the creature I thought I'd lost was there, preparing to leap at me.
I fired.
But this time I didn't have enough Anima to power the bullets. Plain lead.
It ricocheted off the creature's armor.