The Darkest Veil Prologue

Prologue

[The world is dark.] I can hear my own heartbeat. It pulses through my ribcage and I can feel it in my wrists as I hug myself tightly. Somewhere, I can smell urine and blood. She's out there somewhere, sleeping. [She's sleeping.] Never to wake, never to dream… You'd think that he'd have realized when she stopped screaming that she'd died. [But he doesn't stop.] Every morning when he comes home from his rounds, he has his way with her husk, her empty shell. Maybe he doesn't realize? [Maybe he doesn't care.] The door opens, and light from the hall streams in. [He's back.]

I can still remember a point in my life, long ago, when life was happy. We weren't very wealthy, but we had each other. Daddy worked late at night into the early morning as a convenience store clerk. Mommy was still looking for work by day, and taking care of me and Sammy at night. Then came the day that everything changed… Daddy was at work, and Mommy was making dinner. Our Mommy, she had golden hair, which she often kept tied up in a bun. She was always smiling, even if we didn't have much to smile about. She was also really pretty. Everybody said so, so it must be true. She had a way of smiling that just made you feel good. You could have had a horrible day, and then just see her smile, and everything was all right again. Mommy was wonderful that way.

Then he came. Mommy answered the door, and there was a man there. He looked bad. His face was sickly and pale. He was kind of hairy, and he smelled bad. He said he had been sent by the superintendent to fix our air conditioner, and he needed to check the vents in our apartment. Mommy didn't like the look of him, and told him that she was sorry, but her husband wasn't here right now, although we expect him home at any moment. Mr. Greenwich pulled out a big shiny gun and held it to her nose. It was long, with a black handle. She screamed "Oh my God!", and he pushed her out of the way and went inside. He locked me and Sammy in our bedroom. Our room was pretty small, nothing there but the bed we slept in, and the dresser where we put all of our clothes. In the next room we could hear Mommy struggling with the big man. He grunted a lot, and she was crying and sobbing and screaming. Then we heard him yell something, and a loud thump, and she stopped screaming. I think he hit her with the big shiny gun. He just kept grunting away though. A lot of time passed, and then Daddy came home. He opened the door, and yelled "Oh my God, Carol! Wait, who the hell are you?? Oh God, please, no don't do this!"

We heard a loud squealing sound, and a wet gurgling noise, then nothing. The lock on the door clicked, and the handle opened. Slowly, the door swung open. There stood Daddy, he'd come to save us! His face was like I always remembered it, kind and loving. He was wearing his jacket, since it'd been cold outside. Then Mr. Greenwich dropped him to the floor, and we could see all of his blood leaking out of his neck. It ran down his chest to pool on the carpet beneath him. Mr. Greenwich looked at us, and he said "Hello little Billy, I'm your new Daddy…" [Then the hell began.]

So now here we are. Mommy is gone, Daddy is gone, and Samantha is gone too. [No one is coming to save you.] For years now, we'd gotten by on table scraps tossed to us by Mr. Greenwich. Then when Samantha started to get old enough to stop looking like such a little girl, when she started bleeding down there… [Then he began to notice her.] One day he just came in and scooped her up. She had short hair that was once creamy blonde and beautiful, but now was smudged, greasy, and tangled. She looked at me with these big tearful eyes of hers that were so full of despair. Mr. Greenwich stopped at the door to shift her in his arms, and in that one moment, she looked deep into my eyes, directly into my soul, and said very quietly, "Help me."

Then Mr. Greenwich took her away, and I never saw her again. It wasn't very long after that, that he did to her what he did to Mommy. [Mommy's dead kid, they're all dead.] Shut up! I know that! I'm not 8 any more. So you just shut up! [Brave words, but can you make me?] I will if I have to! I'm not scared of you! You hear me? I'm not scared of… [Shhh…] Wha… what was that? [He's back…] Oh no! He's coming! I need to find a place to hide! [You and I both know that won't do any good.] Shut up! [He'll just find you anyways, like he always does.] Shut up shut up shut up! [Hey, you're getting pissed off at me for simply stating the truth?] … [I'd be far more concerned with what he's going to do with you now that he's run out of women. You ain't exactly the cutting edge in masculinity.] Oh my God, shut up! … God, help me! Don't let me die here! Not like this!

"Billy, where are you? Come here, Billy. Come to Daddy! I've missed you, Billy. I thought we might spend some time together, bond a little. Come here, I won't hurt you." No, oh God no! He's found me! [Sorry, kid, but this is gonna hurt like hell.] There he is! He sees me, and he's got that look on his face! His hand is rubbing his pants, just like when he came after Samantha! Oh God, please no!

"Heh heh, come here, Billy. I want to show you something." He scooped me up and carried me out of the room. At the door he shifted me in his arms, and I got one last good look at the bedroom. This must've been what it felt like for Sammy. This must have been the last time she saw me. My gave crossed the spot where I had been sitting, so long ago, when she was taken from me.

Then with a grunt, he bore me from the room. Taking me to the living room, I got to see for the first time the grisly remainder of my family. In the corner was my father's bloody jacket. I think Mr. Greenwich took it off him when he was ready to get rid of him. My mom's kitchen apron was still in the kitchen, where she'd taken it off to answer the door, untouched, even after all this time. I don't know what he did with her body, but I think he got rid of it too. He carried me to the coffee table, where Samantha's body was. The clothes were half torn off of it, and it smelled real bad. Her eyes stared blankly up at me, but her face was still locked in horror. Mr. Greenwich swept her out of the way with his arm, and laid me down. He stood at the edge of the table. I heard a zipping noise next to me, but I didn't want to turn my head to see what it was. I heard his pants hit the floor, and fear ran through me. I could feel the cool surface of the table beneath my palms, and I couldn't help but think that this is what my sister must have felt, in her final moments.

"It's time that we took our little family to a new level." Mr. Greenwich said. Then he began to laugh. "Heh. Heh heh. Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh. You're in my world now, Billy."

"Is this the place, sir?" Private Andrews looked up into Lieutenant Thompson's face. The older man nodded sagely. The two men stood in a dark hallway outside of the door to apartment "665". Further down the hallway stood some half a dozen armed men. They were not sure what they were about to face, but they wanted to be ready for anything.

"Yes, this is the place. We need to hit him hard, and we need to hit him fast. If we move fast, we can get that sick bastard before he has a chance to react, or to take hostages. According to intelligence, he just got home about one half hour ago, so he should be in the middle of relaxing, if we are lucky."

"No offense sir, but I'd much prefer to make my own luck." Thompson smiled slightly at this. He rather did like the young man, he reminded Thompson of himself at a younger age. Andrews looked uncomfortable for a moment, then spoke up.

"This is it, isn't it sir? We're here to rescue the Savior Soul, aren't we?" Thompson looked sharply at Andrews.

"That is confidential, soldier. We are the Eye, we watch. We are the Ear, we listen. We are not the…"

"… the Hand, we do not act. I know sir. I also know what a load of BS that is. It's no great secret, sir. How can the Savior Soul save us if it is trapped in this loop? We must interfere and break the soul out of this loop, if it is ever to save us. The council members that vote otherwise are fools. The men and I support you, sir. We are behind you, all the way." Thompson stayed silent for a long while, and Andrews began to fear that he'd said too much. After what seemed like an eternity, Thompson nodded, and spoke.

"Very well. You understand that this conversation never took place. We are here to observe the Host, and in the process, we discovered an unrelated crime taking place, and felt compelled to act against it."

"Understood. What happens if we fail?"

"We will not fail. Whatever else happens, we must not…" Screaming erupted from within the apartment. Both men exchanged alarmed looks, each afraid that they were too late, and the matter was merely, in truth, academic. Andrews kicked in the door, and rushed in.

What the two of them beheld rooted them to the spot in horror. There stood the man, and in his right hand, he held something metal and bloody. His back was towards them, and they could not see what he was facing, as his body blocked their view. Then the man slowly turned to face them. And the object he had beheld was apparent. There lay the boy, the Host. He was naked from the waste down, and covered in filth. His throat had been messily hacked into by what appeared to be a very dull butcher's knife. One could surmise how painful his death must have been. Thompson was the first to speak.

"By all that is holy, we are too late!"

"Of course you are, you idiot. You always are. You try to break the cycle, but I will not allow it."

"We may be too late to save the boy, but we are still here in plenty of time to send your twisted ass back to hell, demon spawn!" Andrews opened fire, pasting the large man against the far wall. When at last one could no longer see a single stitch of cloth on his person that was not drenched in the man's blood, Andrews finally stopped firing. Even as the blood of his foe dripped from his face, he cheered. The man slowly and messily sank to the ground, on the far side of the couch. Thompson calmly walked over to examine the body.

Kneeling beside the man's body, Thompson gingerly poked the man with his index finger, perplexed. He'd never seen a demon's host go down so quickly before. Suddenly, the eyes of the man snapped open, the blood red light of hell shining through, and the man sat bolt upright. Falling backwards in surprise, Thompson attempted to draw his sword. He never got the chance. The demon grabbed him and dragged him back behind the couch, faster than Andrews could react. Thompson screamed as bone and sinew tore. The demon began stripping the skin from the body, even as Thompson continued screaming. Andrews quickly dropped his MP60, and drew his sword from its scabbard. Andrews muttered a few Words of Power under his breath, and the runes on the blade began to glow a faint blue. Thompson finally stopped screaming, as the demon mercifully snapped his neck. Andrews stepped close, and was met with the skin of his commander flying over the couch at him. Andrews neatly sidestepped it.

The demon looked up over the couch and snarled at Andrews, his full fangs showing. Then he recognized the weapon Andrews wielded, and showed a hint of fear. Standing up, he darted away from Andrews, but not in attempt to go around him. The demon slammed his body sideways into the wall, and went right through it. On the other side was a black family huddling in the floor of their living room, scared out of their minds at all the gunfire and then this huge horned man busting through the wall at them. Realizing that if the demon succeeded in getting another set of hostages, that there was nothing that he could do, Andrews hefted his sword high. Muttering a quick prayer to whatever deity might be listening, Andrews let fly his blade. His aim was true, and the blade caught the demon square in the back, well before it had time to reach the terrified family. Bellowing in rage, the demon evaporated into a red mist around the blade, which continued on to secure itself firmly in the wall beyond. The mist was drawn into the blade, and the runes glowed ever brighter as the demon was sucked screaming within.

The light from the runes died down, and Andrews breathed a sigh of relief. He may not have been able to save the Host or his commanding officer, but he was at least able to prevent the demon from causing further harm. The day was lost, but at least he could go home and sleep moderately well tonight. People in the organization died all the time, that was part of the risk. But at least his conscious was clean regarding this poor black family that had been frightened halfway to death.