Frenzy: Chapter 1
With a sigh Milo dropped into an old dusty chair. All she had wanted was to do a bit of questionably legal urban exploration. This factory had been abandoned for the better part of a century and was hidden well on the outskirts of town; a perfect exploration zone. What she got instead was a group of fellow teens who wanted nothing but to drink and further vandalize the place.
A civil dispute had brought an end to that. Most of the teenagers disbanded except for her, her friend Kay, and a couple others. At least one of which was attempting to calm things.
The happy couple's yelling and crying could still be heard echoing through the halls. Apparently the girl, Sadie, had cheated on her boyfriend Luis. Why anyone would want to fuck in this place was beyond her.
Soft footsteps drew her attention. Her friend Kay was approaching. She was a pretty little calico with white face and a black freckle on her nose.
"I'm really sorry, Milo," she said.
"Don't worry about it..." Milo averted her piercing blue gaze.
Kay looked a little crestfallen.
"We could still do some exploring now that everyone's gone if you want?" she tried.
Milo considered it. Her eyes narrowed, her liberally pierced ears drooped. First impulse was to say 'no', but to do so would put the final nail in the coffin of ever getting the chance to see more of this building.
"...You know what? Sure."
The darkly-clad husky drew herself to her feet.
Kay clapped her hands together with glee. Milo gave a little laugh and rolled her eyes, issuing a soft 'c'mon'. Against the wall was her shoulder bag, nestled within some debris. She got down and took out a pair of flashlights. She offered one to Kay and the two set off.
"So, who'd she cheat on him with, anyway?"
Kay shushed her, talking more quietly.
"It was actually two guys..."
"What!?"
"Shh!"
"Sorry."
"Anyways, yeah... I'm not sure who they were, but... I think one of them was a bear?"
Lingering nearby was one of the party goers. With a big ear angled in their direction he listened in on their conversation. He was a gaunt mackerel tabby. His fur was oily and unkempt as shown by the tail curling about his legs.
Truthfully he couldn't have cared less about what the two girls were talking about. Quiet as he was, he'd just always been an excellent listener. Not that he'd ever put such a thing to use unless it brought him closer to a new fix.
Slinking off by himself he put his back to an old boiler. Taking a rag from his pocket he wetted it with some lighter fluid and pressed the cloth to his nose, inhaling deep. The rush was instantaneous. He wandered forth with an unsteady stride, sliding the black canister back into his pocket.
From around the bend ahead staggered Luis.
"I'm walking home," he shouted at someone unseen, "Don't fucking follow me."
He continued on further into the darkness of the factory. The whiskey bottle hanging from the tortoiseshell's hand drew Terrance's eye and prompted him to tag along a good distance behind.
Sitting on the floor beside a concrete doorframe was Sadie. Her long, pretty white fur was all disheveled and her head rested in her hands as she sobbed helplessly. Beside her was Dimitri, an arctic hare. He had an arm over her shoulders, doing his best to comfort her.
"It's alright," he said, "Tomorrow when he's sober you two can talk it over."
Sadie shook her head, the attempt at comfort only driving her further into despair.
"No. It's over. It's over." She said. "He won't forgive me."
Dimitri was about to say something when a deep, rumbling growl seemed to issue forth from the walls surrounding them. A great tremor shook the floor, sending stray debris skittering. He leaped to his feet, panic only a prey species could exhibit in his dark eyes.
"W-what the hell?!"
Elsewhere Milo and Kay's flashlights flickered out and plunged them in utter darkness. Even the light pollution trickling in from the windows was swallowed up. Kay screamed. Milo tried to find her in the darkness to calm her.
Several corridors away Luis was knocked off balance when the whole building suddenly jumped beneath him. The bottle rolled from his hand to knock against the crook of a doorway.
With a groan he pushed himself up. Sitting back on his haunches he rubbed his jaw. Before his eyes total darkness gave way to pale moonlight which filtered in through the clouded windows. Within the deep black beyond something moved. The shadows rippled like water against a snake's hide. A gurgling hiss met his ears. Four slatted eyes glimmered like the void itself within that thick black. His heart leaped, his breath sticking in his throat.
He staggered to his feet, orange eyes wide as saucers. The heavy thud of steel-toed boots behind him had him turning just in time to be struck upside the head. He hit the floor limp as a bag of potatoes. Dust billowed up around him, intersecting with the tangible darkness swirling about his attacker's feet.
The man was tall, easily over six foot. He was clad in all black and a hooded trench coat. Within his gloved hand was an axe, the blunt end of which had just been introduced to his victim's skull. He turned slightly as he observed what lie beneath him. His face was hidden by a black and white mask resembling a dragon's skull. The only indication of his species was the long, furry tail flicking out from beneath his coat; silvery gray with an exotic black pattern.
He dropped the axe and it crashed to the floor beside the downed cat. Luis stirred, moaning, and the Killer fell upon him. Taking a fistful of the tabby's head fur he slammed the smaller male's skull into the floor, repeatedly, until he lie still.
Beyond them the darkness writhed, hissing deeply in hunger. False moonlight shone against the unseen thing's huge, scaly hide, arched and serpentine. The scrape of its body against the ceiling tiles drew a rain of debris and dust.
A short sprint away stood Terrance, horror scrawled across his face. He stood petrified until a massive pointed reptilian visage broke from the shadows.
His body reacted before his mind did. He didn't look to see where he was going. His foot collided with a stack of wood and debris and sent him sprawling to the floor. Planks toppled over, the noise singing down the warehouse and drawing the Killer's attention.
The black figure stood. His white mask was stark against the shadows which bled from his very being. With the smoothness of a born predator he moved. Terrance stared up at the Killer's mask, body threatening to lock up from fear.
In the background the monster descended upon Luis. It snagged his arm within its jagged mouth and dragged him back into the darkness. There came a sickening ripping, popping noise and Luis let out a blood-curdling scream.
As if broken from a trance Terrance leapt at the sound, throwing himself away at full sprint.
The Killer almost went after him, pausing upon the distinctive hiss issuing behind him. The creature's voice was barely audible above the screaming.
_" Hector, come..." _
He spun back around, disappearing within the shadows.
Terrance kept on running. He ran until his abused body would no longer cooperate and he fell into a brisk walk instead. He didn't notice Sadie and Dimitri on his way toward the stairs beyond them. His scraggly tail was looking much bushier than usual.
"Hey, Terrance! Did you see what happened!?" Dimitri called after him.
He bounced toward the cat, muscles tight as wires. Terrance gazed back at him, his grip firm upon the rail and one foot on the stairs.
"We heard screaming," the rabbit continued, "Who was screaming? Did you see?"
"It was Luis." Terrance finally rasped. "Someone--some_thing_ attacked him."
Sadie's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped with horror. She didn't bother to wait, she turned tail and took off down the hall. Dimitri didn't notice. He was too stunned by what he'd just heard. Chills crept up his spine.
"What do you mean? What attacked him!?"
"I don't know what it was."
Terrance turned and began ascending the stairs toward the door which would lead him out of this place. Dimitri followed as if drawn by a cord.
"Was it an animal?"
"I said I don't know. It was a person and something else, it wasn't any kind of animal I know of."
He reached the door and shoved it open. Nothing existed beyond save for a deep black void. Already mid-step, he nearly toppled forward into it. Dimitri caught him by the back of his hoodie. There was a faint tearing noise and Terrance lurched back into the building. He tripped over himself and the hare, falling against the back wall.
Dimitri and Terrance stared back at each other for a moment, both in stunned silence. Dimitri turned toward the door, to the nothingness beyond, holding his head in his hands.
"What...?" he breathed, "What is this...?"
Nothing could fill the silence, now. Nothing could soothe the icy terror which gripped both their hearts. As far as they knew the world as they knew it had been ripped out from under them. For several breathless seconds neither of them could do anything but stare uncomprehendingly.
Terrance scrambled to his feet and rushed up the stairs beside him. Where he was going, neither of them could guess.
Only then did Dimitri realize Sadie's absence. He called out for her, descending the stairs once more to try to find her. His voice echoed down the halls, but there was no response.