Solus Brittanica
1918 A.V
11:45 pm
"Hide."
Heeding her mother's words, she ran as quickly as she could, dragging her younger brother with her. He was still confused, crying and asking her to take them back to their parents, but she knew she couldn't.
The banging on the door got louder and louder. The wood splintered and cracked with each blow.
Hide. I need to hide. Come on, Camilla.
The little girl huffed, her stumpy legs running as fast as they would carry her. She dragged her brother into their parents' room and went inside the closet, closing its door. She wrapped her arms around her terrified sibling and placed her hand on his mouth, as well as her own.
"Shh, you need to be quiet, Rem." Camilla shuddered, peeking through the closet grills.
She could hear her father yelling, telling their mother to get the arqebus—the arqer—from the rack, a firearm with a long barrel with a wooden finish. She saw her mother through the closet's blinds, watching her grab the weapon from the rack on the wall and toss it to their father. She watched as their parents braced for whatever was on the other side.
The monsters. The ones her mother had always told her about.
They were real.
"Light a torch! They hate fire!" her father commanded, pointing toward the kitchen. He shouldered the arqer and pulled the hammer back, keeping his aim steady and trained at the door.
The cracks on the door ran down its length, and the hinges that held it in place screamed against the strain they were under.
Her mother quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed a mop. She reached into the cabinets and snatched a few bottles of alcohol, smashing it on the mop and soaking it before grabbing a lighter, the flame flickering to life and setting the mop head aflame.
The heavy wood door broke open along the cracks at its center and fragments flew from it, giving way to a massive hole. A pale arm clawed out from the hole, with nails like talons, as sharp as they were long.
Her father fired twice, eliciting pained shrieks from the intruder.
"Sol, help us… It's getting through!" he cried out, turning the arqer to its side. His fingers shook as he struggled to reload it, slipping in new rounds into its hatch.
The little girl's mother made it in time, standing by her father's side with the mop-torch at the ready.
The door burst open at its hinges as the pale monster broke inside their house.
"I need it. I need it!" the creature growled. Pale skin. Red eyes. Pointed ears. Sharp fangs. The creature looked deranged, barely a man, snarling and clawing at itself.
Camilla felt frozen, scooting back farther into the closet as she watched the creature snarl and growl like an animal bracing to attack her parents.
"Blood! I need blood!" The creature growled, snapping its jaws.
It dove for her father first, launching itself in the air to pounce, but her mother reacted just in time and slammed the flaming mop like a bat, smacking the monster a few meters back, setting its clothes on fire. The creature reeled and screeched as the flames quickly spread across its entire body within seconds, crying out with hellish shrieks of pain.
These creatures burn quickly, and very thoroughly.
Like a demon from the hellish depths of the abyss, it stood, the flames licking its skin and covering its body. For a moment, everything was frozen still. Then it turned its head back toward them, its body still burning and popping as pieces of flesh slogged off. It no longer seemed to care that it was burning alive.
Then it dove for her mother this time.
Camilla gasped but quickly bit her lip as she saw the events unfold through the slits of the closet grills. She held her little brother closer, wrapping around him to restrain the poor boy who desperately wanted to run to his mother.
Camilla saw her. She watched her mother try to defend with the torch again, but the creature smacked it away. Flying out of her mother's hand, it landed on the living room carpet and set it ablaze, the flames quickly spreading and licking at the sofa nearby.
The creature swiped at her mother's neck.
With wide eyes, Camilla watched, shaking in her place. She wanted to look away. Wanted to close her eyes and deny herself the scene.
But she couldn't.
She was stuck. Eyes focused on the terrifying display.
Blood sputtered and showered the creature like a fountain, flowing freely from her mother's open throat. Her mother gurgled, hands immediately flying to the gaping slash on her neck as she fell to the ground—desperately trying to staunch the flow.
"Lily!" Camilla's father screamed.
He raised the arqer as he finished reloading and fired another shell. The slug hit the monster's shoulder, blowing away a burning chunk of flesh out the other side. But it only made it stumble as it dove for him next.
Her father struggled as he was tackled to the floor. The flames spread from the monster to him.
"More! M-more!" The creature snarled.
It was too strong. Her father couldn't stop it.
The monster leaned in and closed its maw around her father's throat. A pained scream escaped his mouth before it slowly faded into gurgling, drowning in his own blood. It fed on him, greedily gulping down the blood from her father's neck.
The little girl gasped, shaking in the closet. She hugged her younger brother tight.
The monster's ears twitched, glancing up to the open door of their parent's room. The fire was spreading through the living room now too.
"Children?" the creature spoke. Slowly standing on its legs, its bones nearly exposed as tissue slogged off its body with every step. It grinned. Teeth stained with blood and blackened flesh. Closer. Each slow advance added dread in Camilla's chest. "Don't be scared... I just need a taste. Blood. Young blood."
It walked inside the room, sniffing around as the fire continued to cook its body. The burning pieces of its flesh slogged off and landed on the floor, spreading the flames.
Her younger brother shook in fear as Camilla tried to hold him in place, her hand pressed against his mouth tightly. Tears flowed uncontrollably from her brother's eyes, squirming in inconsolable sobs.
Too loud.
Camilla gasped. She saw the monster flash a wicked grin spreading from whatever pieces of charred flesh still hung from its face, turning its head toward the closet. She closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. The heavy thuds of its footsteps seemed to shake the entire room—getting closer by the second.
"Sol… please…" she cried.
Bang.
She suddenly opened her eyes, clutching her chest. She looked through the cracks, seeing the monster's head blown to pieces, falling to the floor.
Heavy footsteps stomped into the room as three large men entered, scanning around. They wore armor on their chest with the insignia of Sol. The symbol of the church. They had a heavy trench coat on with silver gauntlets, helmets and filtered masks on their faces, and large visors. Each one had an arqer.
"Target is down. Male strigoi of lean build. Body is heavily burned but it matches the description of the reported criminal from Dante… whatever's left of it at least," one of them said.
Another sighed heavily, kicking the body. "We came too late. Fuckin' addict."
"No time to gawk and talk shit. This room is clear!" one of them called. "Leave the bodies! Get out of here, this place is burning down!"
As the men turned to leave, Camilla gathered her courage, shaking her head as she forced her body to move, her lips still quivering after witnessing such a scene.
"W-wait!" she called out, opening the closet door.
The men turned back, surprised. The one in front rushed forward and dropped down to his knees, checking the little girl and her brother for any damage. Camilla stepped back a bit, wary of the man. She searched his face, the mask in front looked terrifying, but behind the visors she could see them—his eyes. Dark circles around bright blue laced with exhaustion and grief.
The man looked at her and her brother's arms and neck. "No bites or scratches. Are you okay?"
Camilla shook her head, sniffling and wiping the tears from her eyes.
The man nodded and turned to the others. "We have two survivors! Get them to safety, now!"
The men scooped her and her brother up quickly, and ran out of the burning house. The smoke was already rising up high into the sky.
"Take these children away from here," one of the men commanded. He looked back at the house as it slowly broke apart. Charred wood toppling down to fuel the fire.
There was nothing left to save.