The Void Chapter 1

1: Dude, This is so Star Wars
September 25, 2012
Breakers Wing, Washington

         Richard was crouching in the thick underbrush and trees.  Beams of green sunlight painted the foliage surrounding him.  He squinted against the light and into the clearing at the group of people.  Three men and two women sat in a circle around an unlit fire pit.  Their chattering and laughing was too loud for his ears to handle.  He wanted to go back to his own campsite and rest. 
         The muscles in his legs screamed for release from the torturous squatting.  He slowly obliged, groaning as he sat heavily against the tree he was leaning on.  A bush obscured half of his view of the clearing.  He could only see the two women and the man directly across from him.  The man was the only person Richard actually needed to see; but he looked at the women too. 
         He knew only two things about the man.  The man’s name was Senator Allen Smith, former mayor of Breakers Wing and set for reelection.  Allen definitely wouldn’t be called handsome in any means.  He was dangerously obese with a thick neck as jowly as his red hued face.  His eyes were beady and dark colored, perched on top of a large bulbous nose.  His hair was short with a receding hairline, more salt than pepper.  He wore a large Hawaiian shirt and black swimming trunks, exposing far too much thunder thighs for Richard’s liking.
         Allen’s wife was sitting to the left of him.  She was at least a decade younger than her husband, and thin.  Her past life as a model was still visible.  The blond hair cascading past her shoulders had no silver in it.  Her face only had barely notable crowfeet around bright green eyes.  Her sun tanned skin stood out against her violet bikini.  She was chatting with the young brunette woman across from her, leaning forward with arms folded across her bare legs.
         Richard’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the young woman; she looked unnervingly familiar to him.  He leaned for a closer look and his eyes widened in recognition.  She was in his art and creative writing classes at Wing University.  A pale, shy girl who didn’t talk to many students; she and Richard only said hello to each other occasionally.  He didn’t even know her name; but he thought it would be as beautiful as her body.
         The green sunlight slowly vanished into shade as the sun was blocked by thick thunderclouds.  He looked up at the black clouds unsurprised; he checked the weather every morning, it called for heavy isolated storms today.  Almost everyone in the group went silent and looked up at the sky in astonishment.  The girl from his class glanced up and then around the group, uninterested in the coming storm. 
         Silence was heavy in the air.  Allen shifted his weight in the lawn chair.  Richard heard the thin material of the chair stretching to accommodate the senator’s weight.  He cleared his throat and crossed his legs.  “Did anyone bother to check the fucking weather this morning?” Allen asked, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.  Everyone shook their head. 
         “Maybe it’ll just pass over us,” one of the men said.
         “It better,” he snarled.
         “Where ever it’s going, it’s going be big.” The brunette woman mumbled to herself.  It was the first time Richard heard her voice without the others in the background.  It was quiet, high pitched but comfortably low.  Allen swiveled his head to frown at her.
         “What did you say?” he asked, he tried to lower his tone.  It didn’t work.
         “Nothing,” she said louder, shaking her head.  Allen grunted and looked behind him at the two bundles of firewood.  The woman looked up at the sky again and gave a crooked smile.  It looked like she was satisfied with herself.  She crossed her legs and leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes as a sharp breeze rustled through the trees, brushing the grass of the clearing.  Her smile widened.  He was mesmerized by her, tuning out the other voices.
         “Are you ready to serve the Void?” a deep grumbling voice asked in Richard’s head, startling him violently.  He smashed his spine into the tree trunk, cursing under his breath.  His heart beat in his throat.  It took a moment for him to recognize the voice.  The voice belonged to Hector, king of the Void.
         “I’ve never been more ready in my life.”  He jerked to attention, his arm halfway to a salute.  Then he ducked back, feeling vaguely stupid.  The disembodied voice in his head couldn’t tell if he were saluting, or shooting him a bird.  “Why are you talking to me?  You never spoke to us lesser creatures before.” He answered back in his head.
         The voice pondered its answer before speaking.  “You have escaped the Void alive.  You are worthy to lead the first assault on these worthless humans.”
         Richard had to choke down a giggle of excitement.  “It’ll be an honor, more than an honor.  Anything you want, I’m your man… err, loyal servant.”
         Hector let out a deep chuckle; rising into a thunderous echoing in Richard’s head.  It lifted his spirits to hear the rare laugh come out of the greatest king the Void had ever known.  Richard smiled broadly, chuckling along with Hector. 
         “Excellent, excellent!  I can sense your loyalty is unrivaled.  Your first job as leader is to kill the fat mortal.  He is the leader of that miniscule town which will fall into chaos without his rule.”  Hector said.  “If you succeed, you will be rewarded well... failure of course, means death. Do not fail me.”  The voice took on an ominous tone that sent a shiver up Richard’s spine.
         “Dude, this is so Star Wars,” Richard mumbled, shaking his head.  He thought the king could come up with something more original than Star Wars.
         “What?” Hector asked. 
         “I will not fail, sir!”  He hastened to assure his sovereign leader.  “Umm… and what should I do with the others?”
         “Kill all of them!”  The voice raged.
Richard gulped.  “The woman, too?”
The rage turned to an evil chuckle skittering over his nerves.  “Except for the woman; she can be your first reward.  Do whatever you want with her.”
         Richard let out a sigh of relief as the presence receded.  He was glad to be alone in his own head again, and licked his lips in anticipation.  His first human love slave….
         Standing up, Richard stared at the unsuspecting humans.  They had no idea about the death that was going to strike them down.  The young woman would live, and he knew nightmares would plague her for the rest of her life.  A sinister smile curled from his lips, he couldn’t wait for the fun with her to begin.  He would enjoy terrorizing and killing everyone now.  The muscles in his stomach ached for human flesh, his hunger would be satiated. 
         He picked up a large rock by his feet and took aim at Allen; he pulled his arm back and hurled the projectile.  It whistled through the air quickly and reached the target in two seconds, from fifty feet away.  Richard could see the rock flying end over end in slow motion.  It struck the mayor square in the left nut sac.  The next few seconds of Richard’s life were priceless.
         Allen let out a high pitched scream and fell face first onto the ground.  His knees were curled under his bulk, large beefy hands clutching whatever was left of the family jewels.  The red lawn chair he was sitting on got stuck to his ass and wobbled as he squirmed on the ground, face kissing the grass.  Everyone watched the spectacle with wide eyes and jaws to the ground in astonishment.  Richard couldn’t stop a burst of laughter racing up his throat from slipping out of his mouth.  The other two men shot out of their chairs and glared in Richard’s direction, security guards. 
         Both of the security guards were tall and muscular, intimidating to a normal person.  Richard wasn’t a normal person, at that moment; he was the deadliest creature in the forest.  The guards weren’t a threat to him, they were dead men walking.  They were also food.  He hadn’t eaten in three days, he was starving.  He took his shirt off and ducked deeper into the shade of the trees.  The change started with his eyes, black clouding every color in his eyes.
         Large scratches appeared on his skin as it painfully stretched and tore to accommodate growing muscles.  Thick black fur sprouted across his arms, over his face, down to his feet.  Patches of fur tore through the stretchy material of his sweatpants and covered them, making his legs tingle.  The bald security guard reached him first, jerking back into his partner, who screamed at the sight of Richard.   
         He laughed at the frightened guards, who took a step back.  “Get the mayor and the girls to the cabin, now!” the bald security guard said, pushing the blonde one towards the clearing.  The blonde guard obliged, wanting to have nothing more to do with the terrifying creature.  Richard’s smile broadened when his cheeks shredded and the bones snapped as a long, wolfish muzzle replaced his human nose.  With a shaking hand, the guard pulled a long military knife out of his jeans pocket.  He took off his own shirt and crouched, expertly shuffling his feet.
         “Come on you fucking monster, come on!” he screamed, murderous rage in his eyes. 
         “Watch your mouth mortal,” Richard snarled, his voice was a deep rasp.  He could feel saliva and thick blood dripping through his razor sharp fangs.  When his species turned; werewolves, there gums split open to help fit the larger and sharper teeth into their mouths.  He laughed a loud chortling laugh as the rage in the guards eyes faltered to fear, but only for a split second.
         Richard didn’t notice the blade slicing through the air until it was plunged under his chin.  The knife tore through the soft flesh and imbedded itself in his tongue.  He howled in pain and jerked his head up, blood spraying the face of the guard.  The guard pulled the blade out and struck again, this time giving a left jab to his thick throat.  He was a quick bastard, but Richard was quicker.  He turned his back to the guard and swung back around, backhanding the man’s face. 
         The guard was thrown a few feet into the air, landing hard on his back.  Blood spurted from his mouth and broken nose.  He was an even tougher bastard than Richard thought.  The guard lifted his upper body and used the momentum to leap to his feet.  He gripped his nose and twisted back into place with a sickening crunch of bone.  Even Richard flinched at the noise, black lips drawing back from his fangs in disgust.  The guard screamed a war cry and charged, unfazed by his broken face.
         Startled by the man’s persistence, he backed up too slowly and heard his own nose crack from a vicious punch.  He yelped, and jumped back from the blade swung at his throat, shocked by the human’s speed.  Snarling, he gripped the man by his throat and pinned him to a wide tree trunk.  His clawed hand gripped the man’s throat tighter; snarling, his other arm drawing back to tear out his throat.  Before he severed the guard’s windpipe, a noise caught his attention.
         Large, triangular ears sat on top of the werewolf’s head.  They swiveled like a satellite to the left.  He cocked his head, trying to find the source of the noise while still keeping one furious eye on the guard.  Richard knew by now that the guard was an opportunist, at any point when he was less alert, the knife would be in another uncomfortable place on his body.  The noise was the snap of the branch and erratic breathing.  He sniffed the air and smelled the fear radiating off of the other body guard. 
         The tree he was pinning the guard to was twenty feet into the forest.  The blonde guard was at the edge, gaining inches toward Richard.  The guard pinned to the tree gave a sharp, ear splitting whistle; causing Richard to yelp in pain and cover his ears. 
         “Jack, hang on!” the voice of the other guard yelled behind Richard.  Jack cursed under his breath and struck out with the knife.  It cut the skin on his elbow but he jerked back and the point hit air.  A hunting rifle cocked behind Richard and he dove sideways, the shot ringing past his ears and into Jack’s chest.  Blood arced through the air as the guard was knocked back into the tree with a crack.  Jack slumped against the tree, holding his chest for a moment, wincing, blood running in rivulets through his fingers. 
         Richard couldn’t afford for the guard to get up again.  It was common knowledge that humans were weak.  Jack was the complete opposite.  He punched Jack in the temple; there was a loud crunch as his neck snapped.  The man slowly dropped to the ground, dead.         
         “No!” the blonde guard yelled.  He glanced from the Jack’s body to Richard, who was slowly stalking towards him on two powerful legs.  He lifted the rifle and shakily pointed it at Richards head.  “Don’t move any further,” the blonde guard warned, trying to push the fear out of his voice.  It didn’t work; Richard could read the guard like a book.  The guard’s fear was palpable.   
         Richard briefly grinned, taking pleasure in terrorizing the human.  He stepped forward, glaring into the guard’s eyes.  A bright flash blazed under the guard’s scope, a sharp burn hit Richard’s forehead.  His eyes closed before he hit the ground.  A moment later the guard prodded him on the side of his head with the rifle butt.  Richard’s eyes snapped open.  The guard screamed for the last time in his life.

         The blood curdling scream echoed through the forest for a terrifying minute.  It felt more like an eternity before the horrible echo abruptly ceased.  Everyone shuddered violently as the last note fell into silence.  Abigail Scarlet didn’t even want to be there in the first place.  The dean of Wing University orchestrated a festival and raffle in the school yard.  The pep rally was to help promote the reelection of the dean’s long time friend as mayor.  It was the mayor’s idea for the pep rally; the winner gets a weekend at Ice Pine National Park with Allen and his beautiful wife.
         Abby didn’t even plan on being at the festival; she wanted to stay in her dorm and rest.  Her friends finally convinced her to go after incessant nagging.  A triumphant, angry howl brought her back.  Slivers of ice climbed up her hunched spine, she peeked out the window from where she was crouching beside Allen’s wife Nicole. 
         Nicole rested her hand on Abby’s shoulder and pushed her down, out of sight.  “Stay down!” she hissed, gripping her hand tightly.  She looked down the hall for her husband.  He was digging through a closet, looking for any kind of weapon.  “Allen, hurry up,” she yelled, she glanced out the window and jerked back down. 
         “I can’t find the  rifle!” he yelled back, still digging through the closet.  His arms were moving quickly through the closet.
         “Fuck the rifle!  Is there anything else?”
         “There isn’t shit in this place!”
         Abby, heart thundering in her throat, jerked out of Nicole’s grip and twisted around to look out the window.  “Oh god,” she whimpered, eyes glued to the frightening creature.  It was charging toward the two story cabin.  Her veins turned to ice as the guard’s words floated back into her head.  He had ushered them quickly inside and grabbed the rifle laying on a green daybed by the door. 
         “Who’s attacking us?” Allen asked.
         The guard looked at him distractedly, shouldering his rifle and standing in the doorway.  “It’s a fucking werewolf man, a fucking werewolf!” he said, running out the doorway and slamming the door behind him.
          A fucking werewolf, the guard’s words floated into Abby’s head.  She swallowed, terrified that the guard was right.  The werewolf was a large shadow in the shade of the thunder clouds looming above the forest.  It was in the middle of the clearing, slowing down as it got closer.  She couldn’t describe the creature well in the darkness, and it was too far away to see any details.  It did look like a wolf though.
         “It’s almost here!” Abby cried, silencing the arguing couple.  Nicole jumped up and looked out the window.
         “About damned time,” Allen snarled, lifting a large rifle from the floor of the closet.  He ran over to them, the floor shook as he ran.  Abby held the railing tightly, hoping the second story floor wouldn’t cave in under his weight.  She let out a sigh of relief when the floor stayed beneath her feet.  “Get back!” he yelled, waving an arm behind him; trying to aim the rifle with the other. 
         Nicole and Abby obliged, running to the other end of the hallway and down a few oak steps.  They waited a moment, and then Nicole crawled up the few steps again, peeking around the corner.  Abby followed, watching over the older woman’s shoulder.  Allen was scanning the clearing with his scope, but couldn’t find the werewolf.  It was silent in the house, the air was thick and warm, a warning from the coming thunderstorm.
         The lights flickered throughout the house; Abby’s heart skipped a beat.  “Oh that’s one smart bastard,” Nicole whispered.  Light from the kitchen vanished, and then the foyer light was turned off.  The stairs were suddenly a black hole, allowing light only on the top few steps.  Abby stared into the blackness for a few seconds.  A door creaked open from down stairs, Nicole heard it and jerked her head toward the stairs. 
         “Crap,” she hissed, scrambling into the hallway, dragging Abby with her.  “Allen, over here!” she yelled.  He looked back and ran towards them, holding the rifle with both hands.  “Abby…” she started.  The werewolf leaped out of the darkness and on Nicole’s chest.  She crashed through the wall into the master bedroom, the werewolf striking as they fell.
         A scream tore from the room, three rifle shots exploded from behind Abby; she immediately dropped to the ground, scrambling toward the stairs on her belly.  “Get help!” Allen barked at her, taking quick aim and firing the rifle again.  Abby didn’t hesitate; too frightened to think straight.  She disappeared into the darkness of the stairs quickly, screaming all the way. 

         Big Bo first heard the shots as he was roasting hot dogs on metal fire sticks.  He dismissed the first shot as a hunter, but then a second and third shot was fired in rapid succession.  He held up his hand sharply, abruptly silencing his partner.  He squinted at his partner and then glanced into the dark forest behind him.  His hand searched for the shotgun at his feet, picked it up.
         “Help, help!” a scream echoed through the forest.  Big Bo jumped up, heart racing.  He trained the gun into the darkness.  He wasn’t going to fire at the girl; he was going to be ready at what was chasing the girl.   
         “Erick, use the scope, see who’s out there!” he barked at his partner.  Erick was already looking through the scope.  The scope of the rifle was equipped with night vision; it wasn’t midnight black, the thunderclouds above just blocked the sun perfectly.  His partner’s face was a mask of concentration.  The screaming continued, Bo exhaled loudly.  “Hurry your blind ass up!” he snapped.
         “… hang on, I see her… it’s a young woman in a bikini.” Erick grinned, and then frowned; he twisted the scope, getting a closer view.  “She’s limping badly, there’s blood running down from her upper chest.”
         Bo nodded; he lowered the shotgun’s barrel to the ground, and held the stock in one massive hand.  He whistled, trying to catch the woman’s attention.  He was an experienced hunter; he wasn’t going to go into the darkness without more firepower.  If she couldn’t get to him, he wouldn’t help. 
         “Hey lady, get over here!” he yelled, cupping his mouth with his free hand.  The screaming stopped; he could hear footsteps pounding in the underbrush.
         “She’s here.” Erick whispered. 
         The young woman crashed into the light of the fire, sweating and grimy.  “Please help us!” she cried.  “This monster attacked the mayor and his wife and me!  It already killed the guards, please hurry!” The woman ranted, tugging at Bo’s free arm.
         Before Bo or Erick could answer, a howl split through the pre-storm air.  It sent chills up Bo’s spine. 
         “What the fuck is that?” Erick asked, his voice was high, and his eyes were wide in fear.
         “You don’t want to know,” the woman whimpered, looking back at the large cabin through the gloom.  They could all see the second story hallway, the only light from the few ceiling fixtures.  Blood sprayed against the entire window, resulting in an orange orb in the middle of scarlet.  The woman choked back a sob, falling back against Bo.
         “Jesus Christ,” Bo swore under his breath.  “We need to kill that thing, now.”
         “How do we kill that?” Erick asked, looking at his boss.  Bo dropped his shotgun on the ground.  Erick's eyes were frightened, Bo was pissed.  He liked the mayor.
         Big Bo ran to the large green exterminator truck and dug through the back for a second.  He ran back to them with a canister of Bug Buster Bug Bomb in his hands.  He grinned and wagged his eyebrows at Erick, who grinned back and chuckled.  The woman missed the humor, confusion masked her fear.
         “Big boom baby, anybody want extra crispy wolf?” Big Bo said, laughing manically. 

         Richard stalked closer towards Allen.  The fat mayor was lying on the ground, holding his pudgy fingers against his slit throat.  Blood poured from between his fingers and flowed freely down his chest, soaking the Hawaiian shirt.  He was gasping, leaning on his free elbow for support and dragging himself closer to the window.  His elbow slipped against the lake of his own blood forming on the floor and fell on his back.
         Before the fat man could try to prop himself up again, Richard stepped on his extended stomach with one clawed foot.  He put more of his weight on the foot, driving the claws through to his intestines.  He stepped off and shredded the man’s tattered and bloody shirt, exposing a hairy stomach.  Richard stuck his claw into Allen’s belly button, the mayor whimpered, tears streaming down his face.  Richard gave the mayor his wolfish grin and pushed the rest of his clawed fingers into Allen’s stomach.  Blood welled from each hole, leaking around the black talons and to the floor, adding to the lake of warm fluids.
         His claws wriggled against the man’s intestines.  Allen screamed, releasing the wound and spraying another layer of blood onto the window, his back involuntarily arched up, furthering the claws’ passage. 
         “This is for stealing my earth so many centuries ago,” Richard grumbled, his voice sounding like a hollow log.  “We, the Void, will reclaim it from you worthless mortals and rise once again to our old glory!” his growling voice rising five octaves, echoing against the walls of the hallway and reaching Nicole.
         She gasped a few feet behind him, shocked that the werewolf could speak.  Allen’s face was a bloody mask of rage.  He put his hand back to his neck wound.  “You are all going to die before shit rises!” he rasped.  He glared at the werewolf and spit a load of bloody phlegm at Richard’s nose.
         Richard cocked his head, hooked his claws into Allen’s intestines and wrenched his hand out.  The fat man’s protruding stomach followed, huge chunks of his stomach flab smacking the floor with a wet noise. Allen screamed; it was deafening in the narrow hallway.
         Snarling, Richard grabbed the small intestine and started pulling it out; a bloody string of sausage.  He bit into the first pink piece and dragged more pieces into his mouth, slowly munching and swallowing.  Blood was dripping from all of his teeth and into the man’s stomach.  Allen was jerking, at a loss of breath.  A long minute later   
         He turned around to throw the intestine in Nicole’s face, she was gone.  Roaring in a sudden fury, he ran to the stairs and leaped over the railing.  He landed heavily onto the ground two stories below and jerked his head to the door.  A man was standing their waving at him, grinning nervously at the werewolf.
         “Fucker!” Richard roared, he charged at the man.  The man was scrawny and tall, and fast as hell.  His arms were waving wildly up and down, feet barely touching the ground.  He was running towards a large fire in the pit.  The man suddenly sidled to the left, narrowly dodging the fire and running back in front of it. 
         Richard didn’t see the bug bomb being thrown with high force into the fire.  He sensed something wrong though and jerked back at the last inch before the fire.  What is that?  He thought before the massive wall of fire struck full force in the face.