Her face was ashen—pale and white as she stared into the air around her like she had suddenly been tossed into a dream. One that was clearly her worst nightmare.
Her heart, which had simply been panicked but steady before, slowly began to race in a way that made it hard for her to breathe as she stared down at the strewn body in front of her. It was wearing her mom’s clothes—but clearly missing a head.
It was graphic. Stomach-inducing. Gut-wrenching. Yet she couldn’t look away.
It wasn’t until she heard another scream—one that jarred her out of the reality she had been stuck in—that she snapped back to life, just in time to watch Mariana dash in and fall to the ground before she could take another step.
Her leg had been torn off.
She screamed, her eyes fixed on Maria—at least the one eye that wasn’t completely covered in blood and which could still see.
She opened her mouth and begged her younger sister like she was her savior—almost as though Maria could somehow help her—as she crawled forward, her face contorted in agony.
"Help me! Help me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, the sound enough to bring tears to Maria’s face as she instantly dashed forward, damning all consequences.
But she had just gotten right to where her sister lay—stomach down on the floor—when she heard footsteps. Quiet and calm, which made them even more terrifying.
She raised her gaze—only to scream like someone had reached into her chest and yanked out her soul.
"AHHHHHH!" she screamed, as loud as her vocal cords would allow.
"MONSTER!!!" she yelled, her eyes struggling to process what was in front of her—and failing. No matter how closely she looked, she couldn’t make sense of it.
What stood before her, with a bloody mouth and blood-covered arms, couldn’t be described as anything but monstrous. It wasn’t a vampire. It wasn’t human. It didn’t even remotely resemble a werewolf—even though she had never seen one before.
Its eyes were black—completely black—as if they were filled with nothing but darkness. Its skin was brown, coarse, and covered in thick fur. It stood at more than seven feet, on two legs that might as well have been four, simply judging by their size and thickness.
It was monstrous. Ugly. Disgusting. Its teeth were numerous, sharp and chaotic—but Maria couldn’t count them. The only detail she noticed was that it was drenched in blood. Blood that could only belong to her family.
"Lord above... Protector of the Light... Shield me from the Devil... Cover me with your light..." she began to pray, tears streaming down her face as she grabbed her sister, who was still wailing, and dragged her closer into her sight.
The prayer was an old one—usually recited against ancient vampires and other vile creatures—and was said to work, even in the darkest times.
At that moment, Maria couldn’t even think of the rest of her siblings—her other sister, her little brother—as she mumbled the words under her breath while the monster slowly began moving closer to her.
"Go-God of Light..." she gasped, more tears sliding down her cheeks as her body trembled, like it was just a seizure away from shutting down.
"Ba-banish the evil... Ba-banish the evil that has..." she tried to continue—but couldn’t.
The creature crouched in front of her—but even then, it was still towering, hovering over her in a way that made her feel smaller than an ant.
Its breath was rancid and bloody. And as it exhaled, Maria realized there was no way she was going to survive this. Her heart dropped as she watched it spread its mouth into a wild grin, one that split its already wide jaws even farther apart—an opening that could easily fit her entire head.
"Your god has abandoned you, little girl. Praying to the Devil might have worked," it said. Its voice was grating and deep, rough and guttural, each word vibrating in the air like thunder.
And then, before Maria could move or scream again, its mouth opened even wider in a grotesque stretch—just before it leaned forward, swallowed Maria’s head whole, and crunched down with its teeth in a single, brutal gulp.
Mariana had been dizzy from the pain of having her leg torn off, but not so much that she was blind to what just happened. She watched as her sister’s head was bitten clean off—blood spraying all over her face and body—even as she screamed in horror.
Thankfully, her own suffering didn’t last very long.
She died in the same manner.
But her head remained intact—laid on the floor, her lifeless eyes wide open and filled with pain.
Crunching sounds still filled the air as Zyren continued to chew—his jaws moving slowly as he heard footsteps walking in behind him.
"You’ve eaten a head," the one that came from behind remarked, stepping closer.
Zyren, the one who had just eaten Maria’s head, answered with a nod—his mouth still full, chewing enthusiastically. Bits of bone, flesh, and brain matter flew from his lips as he spoke, his tone disturbingly gleeful.
"Yes. I would have eaten the other too, if not for the fact that we’ve been ordered to shapeshift into each and every one of them. The higher-ups will have our heads if we disobey."
He continued chewing and swallowing, casually tearing off more pieces from the body he had taken from as he spoke.
"Humans are definitely more chewy and delicious than I thought. You should try this one. It’s still fresh—I only just tore her head off," he added, motioning with a bloodied claw.
The other figure nodded, moving closer to pick up Mariana’s head from the floor.
"Yes, we’re pretty much done here. It’s Carvi I pity. He killed a little boy and swallowed him before any of us could stop him."
"Children are tricky to shapeshift into and pretend to be. And moreover..." the second figure said as he picked up Mariana’s head and shoved it into his mouth.
"...Carvi is too stupid to know how to do it flawlessly," Zyren finished with a sigh, watching as his companion chewed.
"Let’s just hope this is all of them and no one is left," he muttered, aware that accessing memories would take time and effort.
If something goes wrong, we can just kill that one too, he thought to himself—completely unconcerned.