The meatpacking plant exhaled decay as I shouldered through the rusted double doors, machete sheathed at my back, heart hammering a slow, deliberate rhythm.
My boots crunched over broken glass, each step echoing into the cavernous dark. The air coiled thick and foul—blood, rotted flesh, formaldehyde, and underneath it all, something worse. Something that watched.
Note to self: Next time, bring a gas mask. And maybe a priest. Or three.
My dark vision kicked in, bathing the facility in grainy grayscale. Conveyor belts stretched like desiccated veins across the floor. Meat hooks swung lazily from the rafters, skeletal fingers tapping out some forgotten death knell.
And there it was again—the noise.Wet, dragging steps.More than one.
I tightened my grip on my machete, letting the blade whisper free from its sheath.
"Alright, Hess," I muttered, rolling my shoulders. The metal sang in the quiet. "Let's see what you've been cooking up in this little house of horrors."
A low, guttural growl answered me from the darkness.
Then another.
Then seven more.
Figures peeled from the shadows—stitched-together nightmares, a Frankenstein's army of limbs and torsos, eyes that didn't match, mouths where mouths didn't belong. Skin patched from at least three different donors. Maybe four.
The one closest to me grinned—revealing three rows of needle-thin teeth set in rotted gums.
"Awesome," I muttered. "It's a damn family reunion."
The first creature lunged.
I sidestepped, the blade flashing upward—thunk—and buried my machete deep into Frankenfreak #1's ribcage. Black ichor geysered across my jacket. It didn't even flinch.
Great. No vital organs. Good to know.
The second one charged, fast enough that it was a blur in the dim light. I barely dodged the wrecking-ball swing of its claws, feeling the rush of air as they tore a chunk out of the concrete wall beside me.
"Someone's been hitting the supernatural gym," I grunted, diving under a rusted conveyor belt.
Telekinesis flared instinctively, wild and hot. I yanked a nearby forklift clean off its wheels—metal groaning in protest—and hurled it at a trio of advancing monsters.
The impact was glorious.
Three bodies flew backward in a screech of broken limbs and mangled steel.
Another shrieked and vaulted over the wreckage, claws extended, mouth howling a war cry.
I met it midair, machete-first.
The creature's head hit the ground with a wet plop, sliding across the floor like a grotesque hockey puck.
The others circled me now—learning, adapting. Coordinated.
#5 feinted left, while #6 dove low, aiming for my knees.
Smart. Too smart.
I backflipped, vampiric reflexes kicking in, and landed nimbly on a catwalk railing above them.
"Tag," I called down, twisting my fingers. "You're it."
With a telekinetic yank, I tore the support beams free. The catwalk collapsed like a house of cards, crushing two of the monsters under half a ton of rusted steel.
Two left.
They attacked together, a flurry of claws and snarls.
Pain raked across my back—white-hot agony—before the familiar itch of regeneration set in, knitting the flesh before the blood could even stain my shirt.
I caught #7's wrist mid-swipe and squeezed—feeling bones snap like dry twigs under my grip.
Its scream was music to my ears.
Before it could recover, I punted it straight into a nearby meat grinder. The machine screamed and sputtered—and then went blessedly silent.
One more.
I raised my blade, scanning—
And found only empty air.
"...Did I miscount?" I muttered.
WHAM.
Something slammed into me from behind with the force of a freight train.
I crashed through a brick wall, landing hard amidst a choking cloud of dust and broken mortar.
Every bone in my body ached. Every muscle screamed mutiny.
I staggered upright, spitting blood and dust—and that's when it hit me.
The heat.
A tsunami of raw, golden energy crashed through my veins—the stolen life force of the creature I had unknowingly killed.
Bones cracked, knit, strengthened. My senses sharpened. Magic thrummed under my skin, alive and electric.
Knowledge clicked into place like a well-oiled machine:
15-ton lifting limit
Bullet-time reflexes enhanced by 40%
Telekinetic range increased to 450 kilograms at will
I flexed my fingers. Felt the air bend around them like it was made of silk.
The last monster—an absolute unit stitched together from bull, man, and God-knows-what—charged.
I didn't even blink.
At the last second, I flicked my wrist—barely a thought.
The abomination flew backwards as if yanked by a vengeful god, crashing through three walls before coming to an unmoving halt somewhere in the sub-basement.
I exhaled slowly, heart hammering a deliberate, furious beat.
No mercy tonight. No running.
Room by room, I cleared the plant:
Lab 1: Blood-stained surgical tables, half-full IV bags labeled Psychic Extract.
Lab 2: Glass tanks filled with... parts. Human. Monster. Hybrid. Some still twitched.
Office: Maps crisscrossed with red thread. Cities marked out like battle plans. A single photograph pinned dead-center.
My face. Circled in thick, black marker.
Because of course it was.
Hess had made it personal.
But no Hess. No psychics. Just shadows, and dust, and the heavy stench of something that had died a long, long time ago.
I turned to leave—
—and the temperature plummeted.
The ground beneath my boots frosted over, breath misting white in front of me.
Something moved—something massive and wrong—peeling itself off the nearest wall like tar.
A figure, wavering and shifting, its "body" more smoke than flesh. Eyes burned like dying stars, hollow and furious.
I recognized it instantly.
The same shadow that had pulled Hess out from under my nose in Nebraska.
The thing that served Kharon.
It clicked its jaws, a sound so sharp it set my teeth buzzing in my skull.
I drew my machete, enchanted edge catching what little light remained.
"Sorry, ugly," I said, voice low and cold. "No more running. You and me? We dance now."
The shadow screamed—a sound like nails dragged across the inside of my mind—and lunged.
I met it head-on, blade flashing, power roaring through me like wildfire.
No more half-measures. No more hiding.
If Kharon wanted me so badly—
He could come down here and get me himself.
Because tonight?
I was going to burn this whole rotten place to the ground.