Sam sat quietly in the back seat of the red truck.  The noise of the engines drowned out any sound from her fellow passengers.  She looked out the window, staring at the street signs going by. Reading them to herself, she picked her helmet off the floor and placed it on her head.  She tightened the straps little by little, making sure that the helmet fit just right.  She looked over at Danny.

He glanced to his left to look at the cute new girl.  Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun, keeping the hair from her face.  She was rather attractive to many guys and after tonight, he was going to ask her out on a date.  He just had to keep up his macho man façade until the night was over. 

He realized she was looking at him, he smiled and turned away.  Feeling awkward, he looked up to the Chief.  “When are we getting there?”  He asked to keep his mind off of how big of a goof he was.

The Chief looked back to him from the passenger seat, “About fifteen minutes!  Get ready!” The Chief turned back to the road in front of him and looked up to the smoke trail leading off into the night.  The red flashing lights hit all the buildings in front of him, “Take a left up here! It’s right around the corner!” 

The driver looked to his right and nodded.  He brought his gaze back to the road, driving such a large truck wasn’t easy, and he had to keep his mind straight.  They were about to be in the thick of it.  He turned left, gliding the massive vehicle around the corner. The loud horn shouted out across the street. 

A fellow firefighter stood on the sidewalk, waving to the fellow red truck joining the fight.  The truck pulled up next to him.  He looked inside seeing the crew grabbing their masks, air tanks, and tools. 

The Chief jumped out of the truck first and approached him.  He knew the man well, it was Phil.  He had served with him many years, “What’s going on here?” 

Phil spoke up over the fire’s roar, “This whole place is going up in flames!”  He turned to the building on fire and pointed, “We got it held back on our end, but there are reports of some people trapped inside.”  He turned back to the fire crew with a forced smile, “And it’s our job to get them out.” 

The Chief nodded and turned to his team.  They were all geared up and ready to go at his orders, “We’re going on a search and rescue to save the people trapped in the complex.  I want you guys inside in five minutes!”  He looked to the driver, who was grabbing a crowbar, “Jacob! I want you on point!” Jacob nodded and ran towards the building, with his team right behind.

Jacob made his way up to the door and lifted up his crowbar.  He slammed it into the door and pried it open.

The Chief ran up to the opened door and peered inside the dark building.  He turned back to his team, “All right, I don’t want any heroics this time. We get inside, grab the people, and get the hell out!”  The Chief lowered his mask, “Do this by the books and we can get back in time for beer.”  He smiled to his team; some of them chuckled at the comment.  Anything he could do to lighten their spirts.  Every mission was tense and death could happen at any time.

Sam tightened her grip on her axe.  She looked to her right.  Danny was standing next to her.  “See you on the outside, Danny?” 

He turned to her and nodded, “You know it.”   Of course he didn’t give away his fears.  Once this was over, he was going to go on that date with her.

The chief then ran into the building first, with Jacob following, and the rest of the team behind.

 

Sam quickly fiddled with the mask over her face, making sure it was working.  The Chief spoke in his patented half yell voice over the squad’s radios, “Sam, I want you and Danny to take the left hallway. We think there might be some people trapped in the offices.” 

            Sam looked at Danny, who nodded in understanding.  Danny didn’t let his excitement show, half because his fear of something wrong happening on this mission, and half on a count of his manly act he was putting up.  This would be a perfect opportunity for him to spend some time with the girl before his date.

  They quickly moved out through the smoked filled hallway, creeping past several offices.  Sam peered inside each one just long enough to spot anyone trapped inside. She looked up at Danny, who was already halfway down the hallway. Sam jogged to catch up to him and felt a chill move down her spine.  She hated being alone in a dark place.  Nothing scared her more.

 “Help!” 

Sam jumped slightly at the mysterious shout.

Danny glanced back to her, “I heard a voice come from up ahead. From all this smoke, they must be trapped by the fire.” 

Sam grabbed her axe with both hands, she stepped in front of him, “That’s why we’re here, right? To get them out.”  Sam gave Danny a quick smile.  She ran to the end of the hallway, where the voice had come from.  There was a heavy set of double doors.  She tugged the handle, but it was locked.

Danny walked slowly behind, not sure if this woman was flirting with him or not.  He pulled out his crowbar. 

Sam started to pry at the door with her axe. When she looked down to her feet, she saw smoke billowing from underneath. 

Danny walked up to her raising the crowbar for her to take, “The fire is thick in there, be careful.”  He tried to show a bit of caring, maybe it would help his chances with her.

Sam took the crowbar and nodded, “I would be prepared to get the hell out if we need to. Step back when I get this open.” Danny grabbed the axe from her hand and held it to his side. 

Sam hit the door a few times, finally getting the crowbar wedged inside.  She pulled once, and then pushed for better leverage.  She looked back to Danny and nodded. 

He took a few steps back, and then she gave it one more tug, using all her power.  The doors swung open, Sam fell to the floor. 

Sam covered her face.  She expected fire and a plume of smoke to burst from the room, but there was nothing. 

Danny stepped forward to look inside. There was no fire, just a plain office break room. 

Sam picked herself up off the floor and joined him, “What?  This place should have been up in flames.”  She took a few steps forward, “It’s like it all just…disappeared.”

“I was thinking the same thing, Sam.”  Danny stepped into the room, “Looks like a break room, or a cafeteria.  But where did the voice come from?” 

The two walked in looking around at the odd room.  Sam looked at the corner, where several tables were knocked over. “It looks like they got out of here in a hurry.” 

The radio crackled up and the Chief’s gruff voice was soon heard, “Alright this end is clear, what do you have for me Sam? Phil says that any trapped people should be on your side.” 

Sam pulled her radio to her mouth, “Well, we found a room that should’ve been on fire, but there’s nothing inside.”  She walked over to Danny and grabbed her axe back, giving him the crowbar in return. 

The radio flared up again, “Yeah… we got the same thing here, some pretty strange stuff going on.”  The Chief went silent for a bit.  His voice soon came over the radio again, “Sounds crazy but someone yelled ‘help’ and we haven’t found signs of anyone trapped here.  I’m gonna call this one, it’s too weird. We’re headed to you now.” 

Sam’s brows pressed together and she pushed her mouth to one side, “They ran into the same thing we did?” 

Danny looked at her, “That’s strange.  Something’s going on here. I’ve got that feeling, you know? Pins and needle type.”

Sam pulled her axe to bear when he said those words.  Whatever it is, she was getting out of here.  She had seen enough television and read enough books to know when something is wrong, and you just get as far away as possible.

Then it hit them, an inhuman howl.

 They tried to cover their ears, but the howl cut through their helmets and pierced through their hands.  The radio flicked on with static, and then the howling stopped.  When the radio became clear, Sam and Danny could hear the chief talking, “What was that? We’re coming up on you guys now, just passing some offices.” 

The radio went silent for a few seconds, then the Chief spoke quietly, “There’s a guy in front of the door. Do we know him?” 

Sam and Danny quickly glanced back to the door they just came through. A dark figure in old pioneer clothing was standing there.  His hair was an eerie white, like sickly starlight.  His face was covered by the shadows.  He slowly tilted his head up to reveal terrible smile, evil almost.  Its mouth stretched from one ear to the other, inhumanly strung across its face.

The doors suddenly swung shut with a loud bang. 

“What the…” Sam ran to the doors.  They were locked.  She tried prying again with her axe, and then looked back to Danny, “Get your ass up here!” 

Danny stood petrified.  He stared at the spot where the man was.  A horrified expression appeared on Danny’s face.

Sam tried to snap him out of it, “Danny! Hey! Get over here man.”

The Chief’s radio started up again, “What is this thing?”

Sam heard Phil over the Chief’s radio signal. “Beats me. Hello? We’re here to save you.”

A sudden scream cut through the air.  It was amplified by the Chief’s radio, “Ahhhhhhh!” Then static.

The Chief yelled into his radio, “We need backup! We’ve got to get Jacob out.  Something stabbed him in the neck!” 

Sam then started pounding on the door, but it wouldn’t budge.

The Chief’s radio came on again, “What is this thing? It’s everywhere!” 

The double doors swung open knocking Sam down.  Phil and the Chief came through the door dragging Jacob behind them.

“Oh! Sam, Danny?”   Phil looked at Danny, who was still petrified with horror, “What’s wrong with him? We’ve got to get out of here!”

They all looked to Danny standing in the middle of the room.  He slowly started floating into the air, levitating above the ground.

He finally snapped out of his trance, looked around, and realized he was several feet off the ground.  “What’s going on?” He got out the words before he suddenly jerked to the ground, slamming down hard. 

Sam shut her eyes as she heard bones crunching.  She thought this was crazy.  It had to be a nightmare. Sam opened her eyes again and saw Danny being slammed repeatedly into the ground by an unknown force.  Everyone stared at the violence, not knowing what to do, or what was even happening.

Danny looked up from the ground with his last breath and saw Sam with her mouth hanging open.  A horrified expression was plastered across her face.  His last thought was that he’d never get to ask her on a date.  His body was then thrown up into the ceiling.  Ceiling tiles broke down as his body disappeared from sight.

Sam was motionless on the ground.  She couldn’t believe what had happened.  Phil stood with his eyes wide with fear. 

The Chief snapped out of his trance and looked at Jacob on the ground.  His friend was lying in a pool of blood.  The Chief knew enough about death to know he was gone now.  He looked up at Phil, then at Sam sitting on the floor.  He lost two men tonight, and he wasn’t going to lose the rest.

He grabbed Phil and shook him, “Hey, snap out of it! We’re getting out, now!”

Phil was staring at his fallen friend, blood still spilling form his neck.

“Leave him!  We can get him out later. Grab Sam and let’s go!”

Phil nodded and turned to Sam on the ground.  He reached out to her. 

She looked at his hand for a second, and then took it, using him as leverage to bring herself to her feet. She nodded at him as they turned to follow the Chief, but stopped dead in their tracks. 

The dark figure was standing between them and the Chief.  It held out its hand and touched the Chief’s shoulder.  The Chief stared into its eyes.  There were black voids, just abyssal pits of darkness.  The Chief then knew that all the stories he’d heard before when he was young, all the tales and myths he was told throughout his life, they were all true.  If this creature was real, then they all had to be.

The dark creature just smiled, its long mouth filled with jagged teeth, as it tightened its grip on the Chief’s shoulder.  The Chief sprang into fire right before Sam and Phil’s eyes.  He let out a short scream and fell to the floor.  His gear was already melted and seeping into his charred flesh.  The horrible smell of burnt meat filled the air.

The dark figure turned to the two remaining survivors.  It walked slowly, almost as if it were floating towards them. 

Then in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of them. 

It wore clothes of a pioneer. Phil thought it must be old, older than any of them, than this building even.  He quickly swung at the figure with his crowbar, but it passed right through the dark being as if he were swinging to hit smoke.  Its flesh rippled as the tool passed through it, like air moving out of the way of a moving vehicle.  His faced was overcome with fear.  Phil readied his crowbar to swing again, knowing it would not do him any good, but he had to try something.

The monster’s smile widened into an inhuman grin.  The crowbar was ripped from Phil’s hands by an invisible force, and was pulled back behind the figure, floating in midair. It then flew at Phil at an incredible speed, impaling his chest.  He coughed up blood while falling to his knees.  He turned his head to Sam. “Run,” He whispered before being hurled at the knocked over tables in the corner of the room. 

The figure focused on Sam. It took one step towards her.  She dared not blink.  She wanted to see everything before she died.  She then realized that she had lied to herself.  Being alone in the dark was not the scariest thing to her. This was.

                                                           

The firefighters had just pried open the door and entered the building.  Three men were hiding nearby, sitting in silence.  They watched the fire crew of four men and one woman enter, waiting for a few minutes before they moved up to the recently opened door.

One of the men lifted up his black suit jacket, holstering his twin pistols beneath his armpits.  The black suited man tugged at his jacket to get it back into a comfortable position.  He had it tailor made to fit him perfectly, just like he always did.  His black hair made his pale, clean shaven face stand out.  He took a few steps towards a man in a stylish white suit, with shoes to match.  The man in the black suit always laughed that a man wearing white could hate getting dirty so much. “You guys ready?” 

            The man in the white suit looked up with his one good eye, adjusting his eye patch over his left.  He scratched his rugged chin, “Eddie here is fixing the Targeter. For a tech junkie, he can’t get his own machine working.”

            Eddie looked up into the man‘s one eye.  Few actually knew how he lost his eye, and even fewer knew why.  It was certainly a tale to be told, but nonetheless, a tale for a different time.  Eddie looked back to his machine, “Hold it for a sec Mr. Bartlett, just got to cross these wires here.” 

            Mr. Bartlett’s one eye canvased the man in the black coat, “Well, we tracked the little devil this far, shall we finish it before he burns up the whole town?” 

            The man in the black coat smiled.  Taking out these inhuman things was the best part of the day for him. 

            Mr. Bartlett checked the chamber of his revolver, “Alright, the fire crew inside is a second priority.  We have to kill the spirit first.”  He closed the gun and slipped it into his white jacket. “So let’s make it quick and clean.  No need for a clean-up crew. Eddie, you lead.” 

            Eddie stood from his seat on the ground, holding the small box machine in front of him.  A long antenna stuck out from the top of it, wobbling around as he moved.  Eddie led the way up to a door. 

            The man in the black coat pushed him aside and entered, “Let’s get this over with.  I want to be home in time for a beer.” 

            Eddie looked at Mr. Bartlett.  Mr. Bartlett nodded and pointed inside for Eddie to follow, “Don’t mind Brockly, he’s been at this almost as long as I have.”  Eddie knew this from all the stories his parents had told him about Mr. Bartlett and Brockly when he was growing up.  Eddie’s parents were in this line of work as well, and they taught Eddie how to survive.

            Eddie nodded and entered after Brockly.  Eddie knew Brockly was just the man’s nick name.  How Brockly received it though, nobody seemed to know, but no one knew his real name either, so Brockly just stuck.

Eddie held his device up as it started to beep in a slow low tone. “Let’s keep going, it hasn’t picked up anything yet,” Eddie continued down to an intersected hallway.  He held it down the right hallway, nothing. He pointed it down the hallway to the left and the beeping started to pick up, “Looks like we’re headed this way.” Eddie led the other two men down the hallway, following the beeps as they became louder and more frequent.

            “We need backup! We’ve got to get Jacob out.  Something stabbed him in the neck!” 

            Mr. Bartlett took the lead pulling his revolver out of his jacket.  He stopped at the edge of the hallway and peered around the corner. Two men were dragging a third. They were dressed in firefighter gear. 

            “What is this thing? It’s everywhere!”  The man on the left shouted.  They ran into a set of doors bashing them open.

            Mr. Bartlett looked at Brockly.  They both nodded as they each took a side of the hallway, checking the offices as they went. 

            They made it to the door the men had just entered.  They could hear some whispers and then a large crash on the other side.  “Now Brockly!”  Mr. Bartlett shouted and the man in the black coat sprinted into the room.

                                                                       

Sam sat quietly, waiting for the creature to take her next.  She would have tried to kill it or run, but her team had already tried, there was no escaping this monster.  Everything that had happened throughout the night seemed so unreal.  Things like this were only supposed to happen in books or movies.  But it was real, and it had taken her teammates, and now it would kill her.  She thought of her family back home.  She would miss them. 

            “Now Brockly!”  A shout came from outside the door. 

            Sam looked at the door way, a man in a black coat pulled two pistols from his jacket and began firing at the monster in front of her.  The bullets passed right through it, just like the crowbar had. 

The creature disappeared in a wisp of smoke as the man started shooting.  The man in the black suit shot around the room, blind firing. Sam knew he wouldn’t hit the creature.

            Another man entered the room.  He was dressed in an all-white suit, with an eye patch covering his left eye.  He pulled out a small vial of black powder, sprinkling the doorway with it.  He then pulled out his revolver, and waited patiently. 

            A third man holding a small metal box ran in, ducking down as he was did so.  He ran up to Sam, “Don’t freak.”  He held out his hand, “Name’s Eddie.”  He smiled at her. 

            Sam was wary of who these men were, but they had just saved her from the hideous creature. 

            “Bullets won’t hurt this thing,” she said to Eddie as he pulled her to her feet. 

            Eddie chuckled, “Those bullets he just fired, those are wards.  See, they block the spirit from leaving the room.  Same as that black powder in the door way.”  Eddie pointed all around.  Sam noticed that the bullet holes were all spaced evenly around the room.  “Now we’re getting you out of here alive.” 

            The man in the white suit spoke up, “Come on Eddie.  Get her out of here. We can’t have any distractions.”  Eddie grabbed her arm and started pulling her to the door. 

            As they walked by the man in white, he nodded to Sam, “Mr. Bartlett, love. Pleased to meet you.” He smiled, adjusting his eye patch, and then turned to Brockly, “Alright, time to finish business.” Mr. Bartlett pulled out a second revolver and tossed it to Brockly. 

            They raised their weapons and walked around the room slowly. 

            Brockly noticed movement around the edge of the room, “Careful B, he’s still in here.  Probably hiding out in the shadows.” 

            They kept circling the room, carefully moving around the objects and bodies in their path. 

            Mr. Bartlett then thought of a plan.  “Eddie!”  Eddie looked at Mr. Bartlett.  “I need that machine of yours now!”

            Eddie looked puzzled, but he nodded and grabbed his machine. 

            Brockly turned to Mr. Bartlett, “So you can’t do this on your own, eh?” Brockly chuckled at his own comment. 

            Mr. Bartlett smiled.  He just needed Eddie in the room.  Eddie crossed the black powder barrier carrying the machine.  His foot kicked away some of the black powder, breaking the barrier.  As he hit the halfway mark to Mr. Bartlett the creature appeared at the door behind Eddie.  Mr. Bartlett raised his gun at Eddie’s face. Eddie froze in horror. 

            “Get down, Ed!” Mr. Bartlett pulled the trigger on his revolver. Eddie dove off to the side just in time.  The bullet hit the creature in the back.  A loud shriek filled the air, and a bright light flashed out of the bullet hole, encompassing the entire room in blinding light.

            Sam stood at the door, amazed at what had just happened. This thing killed her whole team, and then three of the unlikeliest men stepped in to save her.  She watched as the three men laughed once the thing had disappeared.  Mr. Bartlett lit a candle, while the man in the black coat helped Eddie up off the ground.  Eddie bent over and sighed, picking up the pieces of his broken machine. 

Mr. Bartlett walked over to Eddie and put his hand on his shoulder. He whispered something to him, and started walking her way.  He stopped at the spot where Phil was killed and he picked up Sam’s axe.  He walked up to Sam and handed it to her. 

            “Thanks for everything,” She managed to say as she was still taking in what had happened.  She could only think frantically, and her mind jumped to the scene that developed in front of her.  Her squad dying kept replaying itself in her mind.

            “No problem ma’am. You can say it’s our job.”  He pulled out some sort of talisman from his coat and tied it to the axe’s handle, “In case any more ‘things’ attack you.”

Sam looked at the talisman on her axe.  It was small enough to fit in the middle of her palm and it was cold to touch, yet too hot to hold.  It looked as if metal, wood, and stone had been fused together in some impossible way.  A strange mist emanated from its core.

Mr. Bartlett smiled at her and adjusted his eye patch.  Eddie and Brockly moved up behind him. “I don’t believe we have the pleasure of knowing your name.”

            Sam was a little nervous still, trying to handle what had happened to her, “Um, Sam. My name’s Sam.”

            Mr. Bartlett held out his hand, “Nice to meet you.”  When she took his hand, a cold sensation shot through her palm. She felt relieved all of the sudden, almost as the stress was removed from her body all together.  The memories of the recent events escaped her mind and she could not recall them.

            “You know my name and you’ve met Eddie already. This heartbreaker behind me is Brockly, or at least that’s what we call him.”

            Brockly smiled, “How you doing?” 

            Sam scratched her neck, “I’m not sure how to take this in, now that it’s over.” 

            Mr. Bartlett held out his elbow for her to take, “It’s not over yet, love. We still need a drink.”  Sam linked her arm in his.  She couldn’t help but be tantalized by the man in white and she followed the men out of the complex.  Her troubles and cares seemed to fade away.  She couldn’t help but follow the man in the white suit.  His gaze pulled her in, like a lighthouse would to a ship lost at sea.

            Eddie suddenly spoke up, “You know of any good bars around here?”

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