The mood had shifted, one moment Camille was sobbing and the mood was tense and grim, the other moment they were all panicking.

"Shit." Matt said, looking around. "He was here a second ago!"

"Fuck Matt, what do you mean a second ago!? Was he here when you started shooting people or nah?"

"I... I don't know."

Ella casually said a string of colourful words. "We have to find him first. I want to say split up, but I'm not sure about the enemies. So far they look weak enough, but I have a bad feeling about this."

It was at that moment they heard sounds at the doorway, and as a well oiled machine they ducked down and took their places next to the door. Ella made a quick movement with her hands and the others nodded, taking out their guns and getting ready.

They were about to turn the corner when a terrified and pained yell came from the hallway, causing the group to freeze for a second. 

Ella read the question in the eyes of both Matt and Camille, but she shook her head, indicating that she too had no idea what was going on.

The scream lasted, turning into an exhausted groan before swelling again into a monstrous growl.

Ella saw the faces of her friends turn pale, and she knew she must be looking the same. Especially when she heart heavy footsteps and the sound of heaving, but strange, dark and otherworldly. Before she'd wanted to jump out and shoot bullets at their enemy, but now she was not so sure what they'd find. The eyes of both Cam and Matt were on her, and at this moment she did not know what to do. Her legs felt like lead, and she felt sweat on her forehead.

 No, that was wrong, she did know what to do. She was Ella fucking Owen, leader of the group. Chosen by an otherworldly being called Akana. They would turn the corner and find out what was chasing them. There was no victory in cowering here and not getting the first shot in. The enemy had not noticed them yet, and the best chance they had was if they surprised it.

She swallowed, and once again nodded to the two others, making her fingers count down from three before they'd jump around the corner with guns blazing.

----

When Akana had come to earth she had been foolish and naïve, she hadn't known it from the start, but she knew now. Had she done it differently in hindsight?

She thought deeply.

No, probably not.

Fighting was her passion. If she couldn't fight the strongest opponent then what was she living for? After meeting Ella Akana had thought herself invincible for a little while, instead of calming down and guiding the so called shard of the Simul, she'd started getting more into battles instead.

She hadn't found Aëy in his ruined city, no, but she had found his offspring the Black Elves.

And battling them was... so. much. fun.

First she'd battled Arafinwë, which resulted in a tie. She had never before fought anyone like that, and she needed to battle him again as soon as she could. Before she had the chance to, however, she fought some trolls, half a human army (beat them all of course) and briefly met up with a young girl that had just tamed a black elf for herself. Akana was still impressed by that thought. She found out the girl was called Liz, and she was friends with Ella. Oh, earth was so small...

After that she finally beat Arafinwë, and decided to let him live, as he was too fun to kill. She was sure his full potential hadn't been reached (and neither had hers), and she could use a 'friend'. She ran into a young vampire then, in piss poor condition, but she saw something in him that made her want to use him for her plans.

His name was Damian, and after beating the shit out of him she decided to gift him a dog collar she had plucked off some mutt before. This way, even if they were out of reach, he would be reminded who he belonged too. Also, this vampire was a lot less unhinged, so she decided he could probably work closely with Ella in the future.

Everything so far had gone swimmingly. Damian had been taken under the wing of Michio, a pureblood vampire that could save and train him, and Liz (who now had a well running store providing the supernatural with their need) took care of their food supply.

Akana had been laid back, the only thing she had to do was wait for Ella to mature, and then... well, she wasn't quite sure yet. The voice in her head that had whispered about Ella being the simul had been quiet for a while.

She battled some more, until she ran into the black elf that proclaimed to be the strongest. She fought with all she had, until she was sure she was gonna die, but won at the end. So thrilled to have another underling like this, she didn't notice the elf's mocking grin.

"I will not bow to someone like you." he said, and ran himself through with his sword.

What happened after that Akana did not remember, but when she woke up she had been captured by Nibori Namtar, ruler of the night.

-----

What awaited the group outside the door was a nightmare. A grotesque monstrosity of bloated limbs and jagged bones jutting out like knives stood in place where once a man was. He was still dressed in the garb of all the other enemies, but other than that there was no way to recognise the fact that this might have been a human once. Ella paused, too shocked to shoot, and when Matt and Camille jumped out of the doorway behind her it only took Camille half a second to lose consciousness at the sight of the man.

The moment the monstrosity laid eyes on them however it howled, high pitched and double voiced, making Ella and Matt cringe and lift their guns.

"What in the world..." Ella stuttered out, and shot at the being. It took the shot straight to the head, and staggered, but it did not go down. So many thoughts ran through the siblings minds, but neither of them could make sense of what they saw.

A guttural growl came from the creature as it dragged itself towards her, making Ella empty her gun in its body. It did not stop, lifting one of its arms upwards, ready to strike her down.

"We can't fight this..." Matt whispered, "It's... it's a monster."

A gurgle came from the being when it just missed Ella, who had enough sense to duck out of the way.

"K...kill... me..." it said, "...please, it hurts so much."

The moment seemed to drag out as both Matt and Ella looked the creature in the eyes, almost hidden behind slabs of his bloated face, horns sprouting like flowers. Immediately Ella grabbed the gun from Matts hands, and pointed it at the mans face point blank. She emptied Matt's gun as well, and this time the man went down.

It was silent, neither Ella nor Matt knew what to say. Camille slowly gained consciousness.

Farther down the hallway they could hear new groans and screams, what happened to this man had happened to the others as well. They could only imagine how many had gotten into the hideout.

"What the fuck was that?" Matt said, gently taking the gun back from Ella, who had started shaking.

"I... I don't know." she replied.

"Ah, here you guys are." came a bored voice from their right, and if Damian hadn't stepped out of the way he would have been shot by Camille who just woke up in a panic. "Fuck, bitch, careful with that." he growled at her, as he looked at the bullet hole in the wall.

"What the fuck is that?" He used his foot to prod at the now hopefully dead abomination. It seemed to twitch, and Camille gagged.

"Hell if I know." Ella growled, looking away. "Stop touching it please, it's disgusting."

"Strong too," Matt added, "took like 17 rounds to the face to floor it. Not even sure if it's dead."

"What the fuck is the plan, leader?" Damian muttered, as he lit a cigarette.

"We find Dan and get the hell out of here. No looking back, I don't want anything to do with these things." Ella shuddered, "Imagine if this shit's contagious."

Camille stopped gagging to yell at her, then continued gagging.

The yells and screams came closer. 

"Should we split up?" asked Damian, while wrapping some chains around his hand and arm.

"Yes. You go with Camille, and I go with Matt. Just like I said before, nothing has changed."

Damian cursed, but nodded at Camille, who seemed uncomfortable and sick. It would be best for her to be with the stronger fighter out of the gathered group. Suddenly a man sprinted around the corner, not quite at the stage of the man they'd just killed, but definitely affected.

"Help me!" he yelled, "Please, oh god, just help me!"

"Where the fuck's Michio if you need him." Matt growled, taking a battle stance. He got his answer when the man's head seemed to explode in gore and blood, splattering brain matter across the floor and walls. 

"Here." came Michio's dark voice from behind the man that slowly sagged to the floor. His hand was outstretched, dripping with blood. "Ah," he muttered when his own skin seemed to bubble and melt away, "Careful Damian. They've been altered to affect us."

"D... Don't worry, I wouldn't just punch my hand through one of their skulls." he replied, not as shaken as he probably should be.

As soon as Ella noticed the bubbling on his hand it seemed to be gone, the only blood on it from the man that was now on the floor next to the other.

"Okay, new plan. Camille, Matt, you find Dan. I will stay here with Michio and Damian and hold them of when you run. Cam, you did put enough gasoline in your car to drive to the other place, right?" 

Her response was a gag, an attempted affirmation, and then just nodding as the blonde looked away from the carnage in front of her.

A dangerous calm seemed to come over Ella, eyes flashing bright blue behind her glasses.

"It's gonna be fun to let loose again."