From the pores of skin made pink by a constant flow of blood rushing through thousands of veins like a newborn river, several droplets of salt water sprinkled onto the concrete. Sparkling beneath the bright burning sun on one of south Florida’s hottest winter days during February, the small spatters of moisture evaporated into the air as steam mere seconds after making contact with the ground. However, the sun was not the only instrument that gave birth to the glistening water covering the nerve racked figure pacing back and forth that day.

Fear was the true reason his heart jumped and banged against his rib cage in a near fruitless effort to keep pace with the quick and heavy breaths shooting in and out of his lungs. Kevin’s green eyes glanced up and down the black paved road for what he imagined was the thousandth time in desperate anticipation. Through the locks of blond hair smeared across his face by his sweat he could see the bewilderment radiating from the eyes of his friend, David. Infuriating was not a sufficient enough word to describe the level of frustration that expression plagued Kevin’s senses with.

For hours it had been there; a visual representation of David’s failure to understand the gravity of the situation. Kevin couldn’t explain what had taken place any more clearly. With all of his heart he hoped he would never be able to. A better understanding of what had transpired was the last thing Kevin wanted. There was only one thing he desired and every ounce of his being was screaming for that resolution to come to pass.

Cassandra had never hurt anyone. Beneath her chest was the purest of hearts Kevin had ever known. His own heart ached at the thought of never again experiencing the blissful comfort the love of his life brought him with only a simple smile. For one person to bring such happiness to another so effortlessly; Kevin knew something was wrong with a world that allowed such a person to be taken away. He wanted her back and yet it had been almost two hours since he could bring himself to even face the origin of her disappearance.

Slowly he turned and his view of the road leading to the main street was replaced by the agent of his horror; the darkness. A void seemingly devoid of all life and yet Kevin knew better. Childhood memories revisited his mind that day. Silent, sleepless nights alone in the dark while his parents slept soundly only a few feet down the hall. There was nothing, nothing in the darkness they had told him. There are no such things as monsters his mother would say. They told him adulthood would change these mere words into hardened realizations. Now they were only words again.

Human beings have to be taught that nothing sinister lurks in the blackness of the night. What, Kevin wondered, would his parents have tried to teach him if they had seen what he had seen this hot winter day when the blackness consumed the light and took from him what had made the last five years of his life more bearable.

The simple warehouse, now a beacon of terror glared back at Kevin’s ominous gaze, daring him to reenter its dark voids. Had the building itself come alive? Was the evil pulsing inside of it so powerful that it could now taunt him through the structure? Kevin shook away the thought in frustration and returned his eyes to Pembroke road. With every second his impatience burned more fiercely beneath his chest.

“Where the fuck is this guy?” Kevin said after exhaling his frustrations.

“What guy?” David asked, making no attempt in hiding his exasperation.

David’s own frustration’s had been building ever since his supposed best friend had woken him up shouting incoherent nonsense over his cellphone. Best friends know what times their best friends wake up and when not to disturb each other. Best friends don’t shout crazy gibberish at each other over cellphones and they certainly don’t inform each other that awesome girls have disappeared without giving a good explanation as to why said awesome girls have disappeared. Cassandra had been David’s best friend long before he ever met Kevin and while David loved his own girlfriend, losing Cassandra was not something he felt his heart could handle.

“Hey!” David shouted through an angered frown. “I said what guy? And what the hell happened to Cassy?”

“I already fucking told you what happened.” Kevin snapped.

“Ugh, ugh, gah monsters bleh, bleh, bleh Cassy ugh black void isn’t telling me what happened.” David glared. “It’s blabbering like a fucking lunatic.”

“Shut up!” Kevin screamed.

“Tell me what happened!”

“Shut up!”

David’s level of anger had boiled over its limit into full on rage. His hands clung to Kevin’s white t-shirt as he pushed him against the warehouse wall just beside one of the open shutter entryways.

“Look, asshole. I’ve been sweating balls out here for over five hours and you know what I’m done. Tell me what the fuck is going on.” David yanked Kevin off of the wall then slammed him back against it to make the last portion of his rant clear. “Where’s Cassy?”

All of the fury exploding inside of Kevin was quickly replaced with immediate terror as the realization of where he was standing hit him harder than his back against the wall.

“Let me go!” Kevin snapped while struggling with David.

“Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on!” David demanded.

Before either man could utter another word an unfamiliar inhuman sound echoed into their ears. The noise was quick, almost like someone running across old wooden floorboards and yet there were no floorboards to speak of. Stranger still was the frequency in what they believed to be steps, as if whomever was moving harbored more than two legs. What echoed from within the darkened warehouse next sent chills down both of their spines. A horrid unnatural screech emanated from the black void. The noise was so powerful, so frightening that it felt as if the sound itself would pull the two twenty something year olds into the darkness. The two could feel the unnatural growl pulsating through their bodies. Though they could not explain why, both men knew instinctively what they once knew as children, that something was wrong with the world around them, that something was waiting for them in the shadows, something that meant them harm. Only now there were no adults to tell them everything was going to be alright. Now they were the adults and every fiber of their being was telling them that whatever was inside of that warehouse was not meant for the world of human beings.

“No!” Kevin screamed as loudly as he could while shoving his friend back with adrenaline fueled strength.

David’s eyes remained fixated on the black entryway as he stumbled to the ground. His mouth opened but no words escaped him. After putting twenty feet of distance between the warehouse and himself, Kevin hunched over and clasped his knees in an attempt to prevent hyperventilation from seizing control of his body. Memories of the morning began to flood their way back into his current thoughts.

 

To pay for college expenses, Kevin and Cassandra worked part time for the Miami Herald newspaper. Five days a week, Kevin would drop her off at the run down warehouse on Pembroke road at two o’clock in the morning. After delivering his route he would return at six to pick her up and the two would drive home so they could shower and prepare for their classes. However, the routine that had almost become an afterthought was shattered when Kevin had returned to the warehouse that hot winter morning. Mere moments after he had crossed the threshold of the structure, all of the bright light had suddenly vanished and was replaced by a cold darkness.

It was the cold that confused Kevin’s senses at first even more so than the blackness. Even during the night a musty heat would always loom over the heads of warehouse workers in Florida. Cheap labor inside of a large cheap building with no air conditioning brought about pools of sweat for those fortunate or unfortunate enough to be an employee inside the establishment. The doors and windows were always kept open including the large entryways that measured roughly fourteen feet wide.

Kevin heard the screams soon after. There weren’t many people left inside the warehouse early in the morning but for those that were there, Kevin heard all of their shouts of terror. His mind kept replaying Cassandra’s bewildered and frightened face vanishing into the darkness. And then there were the other screams; the inhumane screams. Amidst the gurgled shouts and groans of the people he worked with, Kevin trembled at the sound of the beastly cries from whatever creatures feasted in the shadows. He could hear them tearing and biting at human flesh. It was not until the shock subsided, granting him use of his limbs did he realize that he couldn’t see any of the several exits the warehouse possessed. Confusion overtook his thoughts. His mind kept reassuring him that it was in fact morning and that the sun had indeed risen that day but the blackness surrounding him betrayed every thought of logic and reason he possessed. After sensing that the creatures had turned their attention towards him, Kevin chose to rely on his memory of the compound coupled with enough blind luck to score big as a first time gambler at the Kentucky Derby and made a mad dash for what he prayed was one of the large open entryways.

“What the fuck was that?” David cried out in terror.

Kevin’s mind was pulled back to the present by his friend’s screams and his eyes scanned the parking lot for any signs of danger.

“I told you on the phone I don’t know what they are!” Kevin snapped.

“And you’re saying Cassy’s in there? With whatever the fuck that thing was?”

“Yeah.”

“Well what are we gonna do? Did you call the cops?”

“No…” Kevin hesitated. “She said the cops wouldn’t help…that they couldn’t help.”

“What?” David made no attempt at hiding his confusion.

“You remember when I told you about my crazy aunt Helen?”

“What the fuck does that have to do with anything?”

“Well she told me about this weird shit that happened to her up in Wyoming. I didn’t believe her. Of course I didn’t believe her.” Kevin’s voice began trembling with every new word he spoke. “But everything that happened in that warehouse…” He turned and his eyes met his friend’s eyes. “It was just like what she said happened to her brother-in-law’s friend.”

“…What?” David’s confusion began to reform into anger.

“She said it happened eight years ago when she told me. I think she told me about three years ago so that would be eleven years now. It’s been so long since I’ve talked to aunt Helen but that stupid crazy story of hers was the first thing that popped into my mind when I could think clearly.”

David pushed himself up off of the ground and faced his friend with an infuriated glare. “What. The fuck. Are you talking about?”

“She said the cops couldn’t do shit. That the two who showed up were both killed. She said that the only person who was able to do anything was this guy who showed up out of nowhere. Didn’t say where he was from or anything. Somehow he just knew what was going on and how to stop it. So that’s why I’ve been waiting.”

Several seconds passed and David continued to glare at his friend. Eventually the anger behind David’s expression morphed into a deep seeded disgust.

“So…you mean to tell me that instead of calling the police you’ve been waiting on some guy from your aunt’s fucked up story to come here and…and…do what? You don’t even know what the fuck is going on! Cassy’s been in there for god knows how long and you’ve just been standing here with your thumb up your ass waiting on some guy that doesn’t even exist!”

“But…” Kevin began.

“Shut up! I swear to god if anything has happened to her I’m going to fucking kill you, you fucking idiot!”

“What the hell was I supposed to do?” Kevin shouted.

“Call the fucking cops!” David screamed while pulling out his cellphone with the intention of doing just that.

“And what the fuck can they do? Light can’t penetrate whatever’s causing this shit! What if they just open up on the whole warehouse after hearing what we heard? What then genius? How the fuck is a barrage of bullets going to save Cassy? Or better yet maybe they’ll call in the army and send in tanks and shit to blow this place up! That’s how they’re gonna save her, right?”

David hesitated with his finger hovering over the number display on his touch screen phone. Even though by then he hated his friend, the asshole did have a good point. The first thing that would most likely happen would be the police thinking they had been pranked. Next, after the continuous calls, someone would be sent out to investigate. Finally, after not listening to or believing their story, the cop would be killed by whatever monsters lurking inside of the warehouse and then all hell would break loose. Cassy’s odds of survival would most likely be reduced if the authorities got involved.

After another minute of hesitation, David returned the cellphone to his pocket and then sighed in defeat.

“I’m not going to keep standing around here waiting for some asshole to appear and save the day when that asshole probably doesn’t even exist.”

As if in answer to David’s statement, the two friends turned at the sound of a vehicle pulling into the parking lot. Kevin and David both watched as the door to an emerald Toyota Camry swung open with a slight screech and a young man of African descent stepped out of the vehicle. His hair was cut short and black sunglasses covered his eyes. He was of average height; no taller than six feet and a bit skinny in Kevin’s opinion but probably not a complete weakling. A black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black unbuttoned short sleeved shirt covered the stranger. In his right hand he carried a small black briefcase and in his left were the keys to his vehicle, which he used to lock the car before stuffing them into his pocket.

“Who the hell is this guy?” David asked, never taking his eyes off of the stranger who calmly strode towards the warehouse.

“Hey, who are you?” Kevin asked while following the man over to one of the large entryways.

The stranger remained silent.

“Hey!” Kevin snapped. “I said who the fuck are you?”

“I wouldn’t get so close to that doorway if I were you.” The stranger’s voice was nonchalant as he warned the terrified and confused man in front of him.

Another roar from within the warehouse caused Kevin to jump with fright away from the dark void.

“Are you the guy from Wyoming?” David thought out loud.

“Never been.” The stranger replied after setting his briefcase on the ground, opening it.

Inside the black box were items that only served to heighten the bewilderment of the two fearful friends. On the right, a strange round white object that at first glance resembled an onion rested inside a circular relief while the left side harbored a simple black hilt dagger.

Retrieving the items, the stranger placed the dagger in a small sheath clipped to his belt and clutched the onion firmly in his right hand.

“What is that?” David wondered. “What are you doing?”

Ignoring the two men, the stranger stepped into the void through the open entryway. Both Kevin and David looked on in addled fear as the stranger was seemingly consumed by the darkness. The two shared a brief glance with each other, unable to speak for over a minute.

“What…what the fuck just happened?” David finally found his voice.

“I don’t know.” Kevin said after exhaling a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

Trevor Martin; the stranger that arrived at the newspaper warehouse during the afternoon on one of south Florida’s hottest winter days stood silent amidst the black void of the Miami Herald establishment. All around him, he could hear the skittering clicks and thunderous footsteps echoing throughout the complex. The air had lost its musty aroma of newspapers and sweat, replaced by a cold blood-soaked odor that would induce moderate fits of vomiting from most normal people. However, Trevor was far from normal and had long since become accustomed to the stench of death and the creatures which lurked inside the warehouse. He could sense their bloodlust as they surrounded him in eager anticipation.

“Onious…illuminous.” His words vibrated against the darkness.

Suddenly, a small spark of light flickered within the darkness. Seconds later a thin veil of golden illumination exploded from the black, surrounding Trevor. Several radiant orbs no larger than Trevor’s head encircled the glowing sphere, evaporating into oblivion moments before another took its place. A silent hum emanated from the sphere as if to challenge the evil which lurked deep within the shadow.

It was then that Trevor’s eyes took in a scene not meant for mortal eyes, a sight which would bring most human beings to their knees; their minds unable to comprehend evil in its purest form. Before him stood various creatures, which all harbored the same murderous intent. Their eyes widened with hate and fear from the light surrounding Trevor.

One such creature; a monstrous beast born with a body similar to that of a caterpillar and six muscular legs resembling a grasshopper arched back in disgust revealing a very human shaped head and a mouth lined with very inhumane fangs. An ear piercing screech escaped the monster’s mouth, joining a chorus of roars and pain filled bellows from the many other monstrosities recoiling from the light.

Humanity often spoke of these beasts through its countless writings, myths, and legends; tales of fiends that lurked in the night, preying on the innocent. Fables chronicling the power of ancient monsters so evil, a simple glance from a human would bring about fits of illness, seizures, psychotic breaks, and unspeakable deformities throughout the body. These creatures were not meant for the world of men, however, almost all men had unfortunately forgotten the danger these beings posed.

Only a small handful of souls scattered across the world had remembered the threat of annihilation that loomed over mankind. Trevor Martin was one such individual. For years he had maintained the sacred knowledge passed down by the guardians of humanity. His nerves did not falter at the sight of the creatures growling and slithering in front of him for he was one of the few who knew exactly what it was he faced.

Demons.

Ancient evils of the world manifest into forces of destruction. Souls lost to the temptations of the original fallen angel, Lucifer. Trevor knew all too well what lay before him and he felt no fear. For the demon’s power could be used against it and the demon’s power is precisely what he possessed in his right hand. A power granted to him and those like him who were referred to as Demon Knights.

Five tentacles had sprouted from the onion shaped object held within the palm of his hand. The center of the small white sphere had opened revealing a creature alive and filled with a power long forgotten by mankind; magic. The body of the squid-like fiend took the shape of a half cylinder, the very center harboring a mouth filled with silver steel-cutting fangs.

Nearly drained from casting the spell of light, the Onious Demon latched on to its human companion, sinking its teeth deep into his flesh. As the human’s blood flowed into its mouth, its body began fluctuating with demonic power. Its muscles pulsated and its tentacles squeezed the human’s wrist and forearm.

“Onious…incendia!” Another voice spoke in unison with Trevor; similar but different; darker.

Bright orange flames sprouted from the Onious and traveled to the end of its tentacles on his forearm. The Demon Knight pulled his arm back as the flame grew larger then launched it forward, letting the flame lash out at the evil incarnations before him. The fire raged so strongly that everything within a five foot radius in front of Trevor was instantly set ablaze.

Though legends tell of Lucifer’s demons being born of fire, it was this same hellfire that god saw fit to punish evil in eternal damnation. For that reason, the hardened carapace like skin of the fiends was no match for the searing heat of Trevor’s hellfire. The demons burned into nothingness and returned to the pits of hell from whence they came.

Moments later, Trevor’s right knee hit the floor causing a small thud to echo throughout the warehouse. His breathing became labored and sweat oozed from his pores. After a minute of violent coughing, Trevor attempted to rise from the floor only to be halted by another demon lurking in the shadows. A second caterpillar-like creature let out a furious screech before slicing deep into the illumination sphere surrounding the Demon Knight with its mantis-like scythes.

The rip in the sphere set the Onious into overdrive repairing the rift and repelling the demon. This exertion brought the Demon Knight back to his knee, gasping for air. The demon was pushed by the light and its limb was badly singed from the illumination sphere, eliciting a loud unnerving screech of pain from the beast. Infuriated, the fiend took another swipe at the sphere, receiving an even more severe wound from the light. The tip of the creature’s scythe hit the floor inside Trevor’s shield of light. This caused the monster to scurry away back into the shadows, yelping like a frightened, wounded pig.

After two minutes of deep breathing, Trevor rose to his feet and continued onward in search of what he knew would close the door to hell that was forced open earlier that day. Faintly, a whimper flowed into the Demon Knight’s left ear. His head turned at the sound and the whimper grew louder. Immediately Trevor recognized the pleading cry to be that of a weakened, terrified woman; a human being. Knowledge passed on by those who had trained him took to the forefront of Trevor’s mind. Demons did not leave anyone alive when let loose on the mortal plain save those they had use for.

The woman’s face slowly materialized as Trevor’s shield of light engulfed her immobilized body. Steam quickly began rising from the abomination that kept the woman detained tightly against a wall within the furthest back room of the warehouse. A thick, grotesque demonic formation pulsating with life held the woman captive against the wall. Trevor could tell she had been in and out of consciousness several times that day. Once brown, her now anemic skin had paled to a milky white and her blue veins pulsed in unison with the creature holding her captive. Almost all life had left her once vibrant brunette hair, which now dangled like withered old spider webs clinging to a dusty ceiling. Labored, raspy breaths escaped the woman’s lungs with a chorus of feeble grunts and groans.

Cassandra’s eyes, once a bright emerald now dimmed from her hellish condition, met Trevor’s sunglass covered eyes. Although her expression said what a thousand words could not, Cassandra still managed to rasp out a few words in a plea of desperation and despair.

“Please…hel…help…me.”

With a stone cold expression, Trevor gazed on in silence as the pitiful woman lowered her head and continued to whimper. Slowly, his hand reached down and clasped around the hilt of the dagger resting in its sheath. A small breath exhaled from the Demon Knight’s lungs before his hand that tightly clutched the dagger shot upward towards the creature holding the woman in front of him. The blade sliced through the creature like a knife through butter and vanished beneath its dark form until nothing but the black cylinder hilt was visible.

Cassandra let out a shocked grunt as her lungs filed with air during a pain filled gasp. With only seconds of consciousness left and the darkness of death overtaking her vision, Cassandra managed one last word before succumbing to an eternal slumber.

“Wh…why?”

The dead woman’s head sank as her body went limp. Trevor removed the dagger from Cassandra’s body and placed it back in its sheath while taking a few steps back. The creature holding the now lifeless body captive pulsated violently before detaching itself from the wall and falling to the ground. After a few seconds of twitching the faceless creature disintegrated into nothingness and vanished from existence.

Almost as quickly as it had been born, the darkness was pulled back from whence it came. As Cassandra’s body hit the ground where the disintegrated creature once lay, a small black swirling vortex, which served as a doorway to hell, reclaimed the darkness and demons it let loose upon the world. After fifteen seconds of silence the darkness was gone and the warehouse was once again bathed in the sunlight of the mortal plain.

Three seconds of addled stares from Kevin and David were all they could manage before rushing past the Demon Knight into the warehouse in search of their lost friend. After placing the Onious and an inexplicably stainless dagger back into their resting places inside of his briefcase, Trevor returned to his vehicle. Moments before the Demon Knight started the Toyota, loud agonized screams boomed from inside of the warehouse.

“No!” David’s voice echoed off of the walls.

“Cassandra!” Kevin bellowed through a constant flow of burning tears.

Without any words of regret and no signs of remorse, the Demon Knight drove off, leaving the two heartbroken men with their dead friend.