The Spider Hunt

The graveyard was quiet. But that's the way they are supposed to be.  Darius sat motionless against an angel statue. His eyes fixed on a solitary tomb. He had been out in this god forsaken part of the world for too long. He had followed the leads from New Orleans to England. Ended up in a small fishing town called Innsmouth. However, there was nothing left there, just the broken pieces of a forgotten cult. But rumors of his prey were still on their lips. They called him a god, an angel. But Darius knew better. He didn't realize how close they were when he took the train down into this nameless place. In this city of the dead Darius could see the signs. Empty graves appeared sunken into the ground, as if hollowed out from the inside. The good left in Darius was here to stop a catastrophe from happening. But the good was almost gone now. All Darius wanted was his answer: Could this person resurrect Anna.

The door on the tomb shifted and Darius raised his flintlock. The cool dark barrel took on a faint blue glow. The last piece of the puzzle. The sun was just fading away. leaving the cemetery in twilight. Darius was one with the statue. They both rested there waiting for the inevitable. As the shadow of the Earth crossed the doorway he heard it open further. In seconds his eyes adjusted to the light. The first walked out into the cemetery. Not shambling and broken, but as an almost complete man. His skin pulled tight around his thin frame. He walked out into the night, calmly, with purpose. Beyond him Darius could see more in the tomb waiting. They knew. Darius spent the train ride sleeping, the daylight makes him weak. But his prey had found him there.

A noise behind him pulled his attention away form the dead man in the center of the cemetery. Slowly Darius turned. From the edge of the tree line that bled through the gates they came. Hundreds of broken humans. some stitched together with more limbs than a person should have. They scurried through the brush like spiders. This was a trap and Darius now knew that.

His leg was seized by hands. Darius looked down to see a torso with a head stitched directly to it. Six arms and six hands began puling the monster onto him. Darius rolled off the statue and landed on the cobble below. He fired the flintlock point blank into the creatures face. The thing bounced backwards it's arms coiling like a dead roach. The sound drew the attention of the rest of the swarm. Darius drew the second flintlock from his belt and began firing wildly as he got to his feet. But it was no use. Within minuets he was overrun.

Darius came to chained up in a large crypt. His clothes were tattered and strewn about him. He forced himself to regain composure. A shape was moving in front of him. Darius' eyes cleared and for the first time since he began the hunt he was face to face with his prey. The man was tall and dressed in long black robes. His hair may have been blond once but now a thick layer of blood and gore coated it, making it look more like a helmet of awful. Darius was on his knees suspended by his wrists. The pain was nothing new to Darius but he could feel fresh bites on his body.

He forced himself to stand up.

"You are Marcus Reed, I presume", Darius said to the figure.

The man turned with a surprised look on his face.

"That was my name before I found out who I was", said the man.

"Oh? So your someone different now", Darius said both dazed and sarcastically.

"How is it that your still alive?"

"We all have secrets Marcus. In fact that's why I'm here, I want to ask you a question."

"Stop calling me Marcus, my name isn't Marcus."

Enraged the man threw a stone plate of various things into the wall.

"Alright, alright. What should I call you then?"

"I am Legion the keeper of many souls."

"That's a lot to say, how about Mister Tantrum? I like Mister Tantrum, it fits better."

Enraged the man lunged at Darius. Darius still trying to fight off the daze of a hundred bites found himself suspended by the neck. The man pulled him close to his face.

"Look here mortal, you will respect me."

Darius smiled then casually bit down on his nose. The man dropped Darius and recoiled in pain. Blood was squirting from a hole in the mans face where he used to have a noise. Darius began to chew, then spit out the lump of flesh and cartilage.  With new found strength Darius puled himself upright. The entire room filled with a light only he could see. With a flip of his wrists the chains snapped from the wall. Darius walked over to the man who was attempting to call for help.

"Now Mister Tantrum, is that anyway to treat a guest", he said mockingly.

The man managed a scream through the gurgles of blood. But before the room could fill with more wretched monstrosities. Darius moved to the archway. He reached up and flipped a stone free. In moments the opening was filled with rubble. Then casually Darius turned back toward the man.

"Two questions, Mister Tantrum: One, where are my guns? And two, how do you let them cross back?"

The man stumbled back and fell to the ground.

"Please, please don't kill me."

"I didn't say anything about killing you, I just want to know."

Darius was running low on patience and the new blood coursing through his veins began to burn in his mind.

"I don't want to die. Please, don't kill me."

Before even Darius realized it he was on top of the man. His eyes now a pale yellow in the darkness. Darius could feel his shirt getting tighter as he grew. His hand on the man's neck sprouted long black claws. Darius hoisted him into the air.

"ANSWER ME", he screamed.

Everything went silent. A low sound appeared; gentle sobbing. It was a woman's voice. Darius slowly scanned the dark room. in a corner he saw her. Her faint glow outlining a young woman. She coward in the corner with her face in her hands. Darius hadn't seen her. Maybe he didn't want to see her. He let the man fall to the floor then walked over to her.

"Anna", he said reaching out.

She recoiled at his words. Darius stopped when he noticed his hand. With shame in his heart he turned away from her. He walked over to a stone table and tried to calm himself. Among the clutter a book lay open. Darius could see a faint glow radiating from it.

"You're just a Nephilim. A child who found a loaded gun."

Darius picked up the book and started leafing through it. This was his real prey. Several pages illustrated needles and thread. Then a large diagram of an amulet with detailed notes appeared. Darius walked over to the crumpled crying man and pulled open his robe. Stitched into his chest was the realization of that diagram. The man tried to slap Darius away. Darius reached down and ripped the stone from the man's chest. A flash of light popped through the room. Slowly Darius crushed the amulet in his giant hand. Then, he dropped the sobbing man onto the floor.

Darius pushed the rubble out of the way and made a new path to the surface of the cemetery. The bodies of the dead lay twitching like a dead hive. His flintlocks were left where they had taken him. Their faint glow returning to a cool black. With the book in hand and his guns tucked away in their holsters her headed for the train station. Just another dead end.