'What the fuck—'
Before he could form another thought, he was slammed into the ceiling fan in the hallway. The blades screeched, clipping his shoulder.
Pain seared through his entire body as he was thrown to the side where he hit the hardwood floor, by the corner wall.
"Haahh…haahhhhh…hahhhhh."
His breath seemed to be squeezed out of his lungs as he gasped desperately for air, ears ringing with a high-pitched whine.
Blood was trickling from a gash in his scalp where his head had hit one of the wings of the fan as the blood flowing through his left eye made it burn.
His MR73 revolver had skittered across the floor, lost in the eery dark of the hall.
In the gloom, two inverted and crimson irises snapped towards Arthur's prone, hovering six feet above the floor, unblinking, like embers in a dying fire.
The same suspended silver thread that morphed into the ugly smile slithered across the hardwood before twitching and splitting open, revealing jagged yellow teeth that gleamed wetly.
As Arthur looked up at the smiling monstrosity, his heart pounded and his legs scrambled back on instinct, boots slipping on the icy floor.
The orbs bobbed closer, the air growing colder, a faint echo of Maria's laughter—shrill and warped—cutting through the ringing static in his ears.
Arthur stood up, his back against the wall as he tried to not break eye contact with the demonic creature, but his legs were shaking, and he could feel his hold over his bladder loosening.
'What the hell is even this thing…'
The demon was around 6 feet when it was staring at Arthur, but as soon as it saw Arthur stand, its bent back straightened with the sound of twigs breaking. It stood up, rising from the crouched posture and did so until its head crashed into the ceiling.
It was standing well over 9 feet!
The light from a car passing nearby illuminated the inside of the hall for a moment, revealing a light-blue coloured demon with dark black veins all over its naked body. When the light from the car outside fell on it for a moment, Arthur saw it phase in and out of the material state.
Its entire body was pockmarked with blisters, each having the size of a grape.
Suddenly it jerked, as if it had been electrocuted and lunged at Arthur.
He rolled out just in time and ran towards the kitchen as fast as he could.
A snarl made him look back as he saw the 9 feet demon crawl on the roof of the kitchen with its abnormally long feet and arms. Arthur looked up at it and cursed under his breath, his heart feeling like it'd explode out of its chest.
'Fucking hell…' He held one of the knives on the countertop and threw it towards it.
The demon caught it in its yellow teeth and chewed it, the residual shrapnel clattering down on the white marble. Its long limbs scrambled and moved instantly towards Arthur. A gasp left his mouth, and he tried to open the door that led from the kitchen to the backyard.
However, the door remained shut!
The pores over his entire neck and back tingled, and a wave of cold, rancid breath swept over him. He jumped away just in time before the long, blistered arm punched a hole inside the wall beside the door.
Arthur looked at the stretched arm and reached out for the nearest fork. Picking it up, he charged at the hand that was still stuck inside the wall.
One of the blisters on its pale blue arm suddenly erupted and a blob of dark green, sweltering slime-like mass flew towards him. Arthur brought his coat up just in time.
A noxious smell entered his nostrils as he saw his coat melting away.
Before he could register that it was a highly corrosive acid, a fist as hard as stone struck him in the gut as he went flying towards the wall. His spine and the back of his head hit the wall hard, and once again, his ears rang and his vision blinked between black, white and red.
He slowly skidded down, and a trial of red followed where his head had struck.
The creature came down from the roof, slowly making its way to Arthur on all fours. There was an odd coordination between its limbs, like each one of them wanted to go in four different directions. But its eyes stayed locked on Arthur and its purple tongue kept lolling out, silvery strands of saliva sticking between its tongue and teeth.
Arthur was looking at his red hands which had become bloodied after touching the back of his head.
'If only I had my revolver…' He thought to himself.
Arthur hung his head and blood flowed from his scalp to his eyes, patching his vision with blotches of red.
As if some deity had just heard his plea, he suddenly had a feeling. It wasn't a conventional feeling. He could "feel" something, but it wasn't through touch, hearing, listening, smelling or tasting. Neither was it any kind of sixth sense or intuition.
He could feel it, like his illusory seventh sense had probed the entire house for him, and he could feel a long 4" barrel. As if he had a third hand, totally detached from his material body but connected to his mind, he felt the little scribe on its handle.
The demon came closer, and its saliva dripped on his calf. A half-controlled scream tore through his throat as the saliva sizzled, burning through fabric and skin alike.
Its gigantic hand pinned Arthur to the wall while it used the other one to grab him by the hair. Suddenly, its mouth opened, revealing bridges of saliva between the two teeth of two jaws as he inched closer to devour his head in one fell swoop.
As if replying to Arthur's will, the revolver that was hidden underneath the rubble of the furniture flew in Arthur's hand. He was surprised himself, but he didn't waste a moment and fired five bullets into the head of the monster, completely blowing it up.
Dark green blood flew everywhere. The skin over the demon's face was blown to smithereens but the skull inside was gleaming with a shining quality. It didn't seem to be like any bone a human or an animal would have. Instead, it looked like a silvery metal covered in soot.
The demon screeched, making Arthur's heart sink as the skinless form of the demon did no good in reducing the horror he felt.
'I might be able to do it again…!'
Just as the demon attacked in rage, again, Arthur reached out for every feeling he could feel around the house and willed it towards himself. Utensils, appliances, a locked safe, the welds between pipelines—all of them flew past him and crashed into the demon, throwing it away.
Seeing as this was the right moment, Arthur stood up and ran towards the hall that led to the main entrance. However, suddenly he crashed into someone and fell hard.
Inside the dark of the hall, a pair of pale blue eyes were staring down at him.
A tall man was standing in front of him with short salt and peppery hair.
He looked down at Arthur and then at the demon who was buried underneath the rubble of the different objects.
'Arthur~' Suddenly, Arthur heard Maria's voice.
'A-Ar-Arthur…please, help me. AHH-'
A quick cut off.
Arthur frowned, frantically looking around for Maria before his gaze landed on the man who was still staring at him. Suddenly, the demon broke free and growled.
Its face was back to normal!
"A moment, please." The man said as he took a step forward.
The demon suddenly lunged towards him, and its giant arm made its way towards the man's face.
"Careful!" Arthur suddenly spoke up before scrambling up to his feet and getting some distance away from the man. In his mind, he was going to get flung in the air and killed in an instant.
Not waiting at all, he made a run for the main door, abandoning the man.
The demon's fist made contact with the man's face, and a shockwave rippled on the left side of the demon's face as it was sent flying into the wall which gave way easily.
The man looked to the side and saw Arthur who was about to leave.
Pointing his finger at Arthur and looping his fingers, he sneered. "Not too quick."
Just as Arthur opened the door that was not locked anymore, he stepped through it. As he did, the scene of broken countertop, crumpled furniture and a smashed wall came into focus.
He was back inside the kitchen!
Arthur looked up at the man in confusion and cold sweat ran down his neck.
The demon was packed inside a cubelike structure, still screaming. The man took out a small test-tube from his pocket. It was half-filled with something that looked like plain water.
Uncorking it, he spilled a few drops over the cube shaped demon-meatloaf.
Arthur covered his ears as a shrill scream echoed throughout the house. Mirrors shattered, shrapnels flying everywhere. However, most of them just floated over Arthur, not touching him at all.
As the demon disintegrated, Arthur got back to his feet and his focus wavered. All the shrapnels dropped on the tiled floor.
"What the hell…dude…" Arthur exclaimed out loud.
The man adjusted his black windbreaker. The blue inside his eyes got darker as he took a step forward.
Arthur looked back at the door that he had come through and saw the hall on the other side, even though it led to the lawn outside.
"Sorry for the late arrival." He exclaimed and then looked at the furniture that clumped together. "Did you do this?"
"I don't know... Anyway, what the hell was that?"
The man tilted his head and then extended his hand, dodging the question. "I am Solomon. Solomon Voss."
Arthur was hesitant, but a feeling in the back of his head was telling him that it was safe.
Just as Arthur shook his hand, the man pulled him and drove his knee into his throat as Arthur collapsed to the floor. Blood gushed out of his throat and he spasmed a few times before darkness overtook him.
"And you are…?" Suddenly, Solomon's voice ringed in his ear.
He was back there, holding his hand and shaking it.
'What the hell was that…'
"I am Arthur. Just Arthur." He introduced himself, but from his grip, Solomon could tell that Arthur was trying to let go and run away.
Realising he was obviously stressed, Solomon released his hand and then breathed out a sigh.
"I know this is a lot to take."
Arthur's brows furrowed. "A lot? That is an understatement." His words still carried a faint treble. He was a lot more composed than normal people in Solomon's opinion, and his reaction seemed more than justified.
It reminded Solomon of someone.
He cleared his throat before talking. "Yes, true. Sometimes I forget normal people are not supposed to see 'Sins.' But you are handling it much better than the others."
"Sins?"
Solomon cleared his throat once again. It seemed like he had a bad throat and even at the distance, Arthur could smell the cigarettes in his breath. "Yes, sins. Although, it is unsafe for us to converse here. Shall we go to a more appropriate place?"
Arthur looked back and could now see the lawn instead of the hall. It had small bonsai trees and other fancy flora that were meticulously trimmed.
"No, I have to go back."
"To the hospital?" Solomon smiled.
"How do you know?"
"We keep a track of all the supernatural events happening. I oversee the ones happening in the Americas." Solomon took a step towards Arthur and placed a hand on his back.
Arthur almost flinched but Solomon reassured him. "Do not worry. I could've killed you when we shook hands. A knee to your throat could've been a swift end. But I did not. I know we just met, but sometimes you have to take a leap of faith."
'A kick to my throat…that's what I saw or hallucinated about. What in the name of everything holy is even happening?'
Arthur stayed silent but took a step away from Solomon.
After about 10 seconds, Arthur broke the silence. "What are the 'Sins'? Why was it here? Why did it attack me? Why can I see it?" He launched a barrage of questions.
"The Beta-Grade sin was probably a decoy for the Sinspawn to escape."
"What the fuck is a Sinspawn now?"
Solomon looked over to Arthur and suddenly his dark blue eyes became lighter. "Did you leave anyone with your girlfriend?"
Arthur was dumbfounded but decided to not dwell over it. He had literally seen a demon, or a sin, and Solomon killed it in an instant. Him knowing about Maria didn't surprise him that much.
"I did not…" Suddenly, worry overtook Arthur, "…why do you ask?"
"There's a strong Sin Residue near the hospital." Solomon's eyes got a shade lighter as the scenery of the lawn changed. It got blurry first, like vision inside a desert, the bonsai plants wobbling in a strange potion.
Then it seemed like someone had spilled oil over Arthur's vision as everything felt sticky and strange. It grew brighter and then dark, and suddenly he could see it, the machines blipping, the normal blood pressure indicator and the jagged lines on the machine indicating Maria's condition.
Solomon was the first to step through and Arthur did so immediately.
As Solomon was about to touch Maria's face, Arthur held his arm and pulled him back.
The tall man was surprisingly light, and with a single tug Arthur held him by the wall. Despite knowing how strong Solomon was, there was odd strength in Arthur's eyes as he glowered at him. "Do not touch her. Or go near her."
"She needs to be evaluated. I must find out if she's been converted into a Sinspawn." Solomon replied calmly.
Arthur held him against the wall for a good 20 seconds but a look over Maria's unresponsive, perfect face, made him trust the man reluctantly.
Solomon adjusted his windbreaker and then walked towards Maria. Her eyes were open, and instead of milky white, her irises were back.
However, something felt strange.
Inside the pale olive of her eyes were flecks of red.
Solomon frowned and reached out for the neckline of the hospital gown, lowering it. The white dotted fabric was lowered until her cleavage became visible.
Arthur clenched his jaw, but that queasy feeling morphed into something horrid.
There was a sigil in the small area between her breasts that was half-hidden inside it.
A dark shadow stretched over Solomon's features.