R. Edinger - Night Kill

Hidden among the shadows of the bushes and trees, Talia and her men were being watched. She watched with great intent as Talia and her men entered the chapel. She would have to be stopped. It was a risk, but one they were willing to take. No one was going to be allowed to discover the unholy ones that were locked away. With immense stealth, they moved along the safety of the shadows. She quickly stopped and withdrew behind the trees as they saw the deputy standing guard. In silent precision she withdrew the crossbow and notched the arrow. Taking aim, she fired! The arrow whizzed with deadly accuracy though the air, finally finding its mark. The deputy fell to the ground, an arrow protruding through his throat. There was no cry for help. From the shadows, she moved to the door and entered inaudibly into the chapel.

The passageway on the left also proved to be a dead end. Andrew was now on his way down the center one. All of the light bulbs had been removed about fifty feet down the passageway. Andrew had to use the lantern to see the rest of the way. He had tried several doors, all which were unlocked. Most of them were storage rooms with dust covered shelves and cans of vegetables. One of the rooms that Andrew found kind of interesting had several book shelves and a couple of desks. It was probably a library of some sort. He had examined some of the books. Most were of a religious nature.

Andrew left the room. He was about some hundred feet from the beginning of the passageway. That’s when a faint moaning sound was heard. Andrew shone his lantern in that direction. There he saw a heavy wooden door. When he tried it, Andrew discovered it was locked! Andrew set the lantern down. Andrew removed the lock pick kit from his pocket and once he selected the proper tool, started on the lock. Andrew smiled when the lock finally ‘clicked’, indicating that he had succeeded in opening it. Andrew retrieved the lantern and after opening the door, shone it into a rather large room. That’s when he saw several bodies lying on the floor.

Andrew stepped through the opening and knelt beside the first body. It was a boy with thick black hair and he had several earrings in his left ear with a beaded chain running to one in his nose. The boy wasn’t moving, so Andrew checked for a pulse. He was alive. Andrew moved onto the next. He was a rather thin kid with frizzy black hair. His breathing was shallow. Andrew rose and strode over to the three girls lying huddled together more towards the back of the chamber. Andrew again knelt down putting the lantern next to him. All three girls, one whom was dressed gothic, and the others whom were dressed Victorian, but wore the black makeup and hair like the rest, were also breathing slowly. Andrew recalled the descriptions that were given to him by their families. The boy with the frizzy hair was Jazz and the one with the earrings was Seth. The two Victorian girls must be Melissa and Gabriel. The girl Andrew was next to was Amber, and lying beside her, was Chad. Andrew retrieved his lantern and relit it. Andrew took out his phone. He had no signal. He put his phone away and continued the search. Andrew walked down the passageway and hadn’t gone very far when he saw another door.

Talia and her deputies spread out in standard formation as they approached the altar. They quietly and carefully made their way amongst the row of dust covered and rotting wood pews.

The choir balcony offered the perfect overview of the pew rows below. It was the perfect view for a hunter to have of their prey. She loaded the crossbow and took aim at the nearest deputy.

Talia and her deputies abruptly stopped at the end of the rows of pews. She turned to instruct them, when the deputy furthest to the rear lurched forward, gurgling. The next thing Talia knew, he crashed into the pews. She held up her hand for the others to stay in place and ran over to check on him. Talia shone her light on the man. There was blood dripping from his mouth, and an arrow protruding from his neck!

“He’s been shot!” Talia screeched, and watched in horror as her other deputies were attacked. She dove for cover. Talia heard one of the deputies return fire. The bullets struck the wood of the balcony just above her. Talia peeked up in time to see him stand to take aim at whoever it was on the balcony. There was a soft whizzing sound. He flew backwards on the pew with a thunderous crash that echoed across the wall of the chapel. Talia rechecked her weapon. She shone her light towards the back of the chapel. There she saw a set of stairs leading to the balcony. Talia swallowed hard, she reached for her radio, and called for assistance. The other deputies acknowledged they were on the way. She warned them to take extreme caution when entering the chapel and that there was a shooter in the balcony.

Chloe awoke when she heard what sounded like footsteps coming from somewhere in the dark. She nudged Roxanne. Chloe heard Roxanne stir and finally she too was awake.

“What is it?” Roxanne asked groggily.

“I heard a noise,” Chloe answered.

“Who is it?” Roxanne asked worriedly. “Is it the person who brought us in here?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe replied. They listened further.

Andrew put the lantern down and tried the door handle. It was not locked. He stepped back and with great force; kicked open the door. The sound of aged wood cracking filled the passageway. Andrew rushed into the room with lantern in hand. The smell of death immediately fell over him. Andrew took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth. As he shone his light across the room, Andrew saw several skeletons. There must have been over a dozen. Andrew stepped further into the room. Scrawled in blood on one of the walls were the words ‘Tod fur die Untoten!’ Andrew translated it aloud, “Death for the Undead.” He felt ill to his stomach. Andrew left the room and closed the door. He bowed his head in silent prayer for the souls of those who he had found in the room. Andrew continued on his way. He hoped to find Chloe and Roxanne soon.

The holy ground of St. Ambrose chapel was covered in blood. Talia and her men had stormed the balcony. They were not prepared for the blood lust unleashed upon them. As soon as they cleared the stairs, the killer attacked. With deadly accuracy and unyielding fury the blades of steel slashed through the frailty of flesh. Talia and her deputies didn’t even have a chance to get off a shot. She watched her deputy’s fall down one by one before her eyes. Talia somehow had managed to escape back down into the chapel, but dropped her service piece along the way. She was unarmed. Talia crawled on her belly beneath the pews. She found refuge behind the pulpit.

Andrew stopped at the final door. It also was unlocked. He opened it quickly and rushed inside.

Chloe and Roxanne ducked as they saw a darkened figure rush into the room.

“Who are you?” Chloe demanded.

“Chloe?” the figure asked. “Is that you?”

“Dad!” Chloe screeched with excitement. She burst out crying.

Andrew shone the light and found a light switch. He flipped the light on, blinding each of them momentarily. Andrew rushed over to his daughter and Roxanne. He loosened them from the ropes. Chloe threw her arms around her dad and smothered him with kisses. Roxanne hugged them both tightly for fear of letting go.

“Who did this to you?” Andrew demanded amongst the shower of affection.

“We never saw who it was,” Roxanne said.

Andrew helped them to their feet. They were both a bit unsteady at first, but soon were ready to go. Andrew led the way to where the teenagers were.

“I need you to call the authorities,” Andrew explained. “You never saw me, okay?”

“Why?” Chloe asked.

“Sheriff Delsmann must still believe I have amnesia,” Andrew further explained. “It’s the only way I have the freedom to work on the case. We’ll head back to the chapel,” Andrew ordered. “Once there, you can call for help.” The three of them walked down the passageway. A few minutes later they were in the room beneath the altar.