There was a slight hesitation in its posture, as the moment seemed to hang in the air. Then, with unbelievable speed, the creature slashed down across the man’s face, tearing at his tender facial skin. It stuck one of its claws in its mouth and sucked a bit of blood off. The creature smiled sinisterly as the medical assistant clutched his burning face, screaming loudly. His screams were followed by those of the other workers as they realized what had happened to their fallen partner.
It sprung at them again, this time landing a few feet in front of its female target. It clenched its hand into a fist and punched her in the side of the head. She flew across the room, smashing her head against the concrete wall, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.
He turned his attention to a third victim. This one was male, somewhere in his early twenties, and was slightly overweight.
Black Womb jumped onto him. Pressing against the man’s chest with his feet, it forced him forward into a wall. It wrapped its hands around to the back of the man’s head, inserted its claws into his skull and pulled.
Looking around at the dead bodies of all the medical assistants, the creature was satisfied that it had slaughtered them all... until he heard it.
The soft rhythmic whimpering, like the gentle coo of a pigeon on a warm summer’s day.
Then the monster remembered the nurse. It walked over to the metallic table that had once held the doctor’s tools, flipping it aside. There, curled into a little ball, was the nurse. Her blonde hair was matted over her face, her eyes peering from between the strands in cold fright.
It looked at her and appeared sympathetic. She looked up into its aqua eyes, and seemed almost... comforted. It sheathed its claws and extended its hand, gently brushing a stray piece of hair from her face to behind her ear. Then its eyes suddenly took on an evil, triangular slant. It grabbed her head and forced it to the side, exposing her slender neck. Opening its mouth wide, it bit down on the tender flesh. Blood flowed freely as the second row of teeth sliced through her jugular vein. It sucked in hard, drinking the life giving liquid. The nurse attempted to scream in pain, but her throat had been too damaged in the attack. Her body convulsed. It grabbed her to stop it, then finally flung her aside, hurling her against the wall. It growled long and loud, tossing its blood soaked head up toward the ceiling.
The metal door slid open, and the black suited man stepped into the room. The door hissed to a close behind him. He walked over to Black Womb and smiled.
Black Womb turned its head to one side and started to claw at its own face in pain as red liquid pumped and swirled its way into its eyes. The aqua colouring was forced out, melding and conforming to the new colour with a sickening squish, looking like dye placed in water as it churned about. It took a deep breath, looking around as if confused.
Inside of it, Xander Drew gasped. He looked around at the bodies surrounding him then up at the killer standing before him, his eyes widening with fear and his mouth going slack. The Womb’s face on the outside mimicked the motion, but it looked more like a hungry animal spotting a slab of meat, its mouth salivating when he opened it.
How did I get here? Xander thought feverishly, looking down at his hands and seeing the claws for the first time. What the hell is this?
He tried to remember how he even got off the operating table and how all these people had died. As he stared at the body of the young blonde nurse, he felt a sick memory come over him, then forgot it instantly. It reminded him of when he tried to access corrupt files on his computer. They would try to open, then fail. An ache from his head made him think that if he tried too hard, his brain might lock up.
He looked up at the killer, hatred in his glowing eyes.“You killed Jamie.”
The murderer nodded silently.
“Who are you?” he demanded in the Black Womb’s voice, struggling to get the words out, as if training its own throat how to utter each new syllable. The corners of his eyes began to glow aqua, then returned to red.
The killer threw away his hat and whipped off his trench coat, revealing a skintight jumpsuit. The suit was black and leather, with pointy white triangles showing along the waist and shoulders. There were two blades crossing at his back, each one double sided, curved and glinting in the dim light. The killer removed one of the blades, gripping the rubber handles. He flipped the blade in his fingers, then held it in place diagonally at his side. When he finally spoke, the words were cold and unforgiving. In a voice sick and raspy, he said:
“Call me Genblade.”
CHAPTER EIGHT:
GENBLADE
“Call me Genblade.”
The words hung in the air for a moment. Xander looked up into the dark eyes of the killer, staring silently into his inner soul. He saw nothing but a blackness that rivaled even his own. There was a deep pain building in his side and he could feel the Black Womb’s heart convulse wildly, fighting against the rib cage.
Genblade took out a small device, pressing his thumb against the switch.
“Waddaya know. This thing really does detect the Darkness,” he chuckled, throwing it onto the floor next to them. “This shouldn’t take too long.” He was confident, and rightfully so. His muscles bulged against the black spandex as they tightened and shifted.
Then Xander realized
