Blessed by Night

Chapter 25: Hunt

He heard the familiar yelling of the guards before the lights cut off in the cell block and he climbed into his cot.

Top bunk was his so he stared up at the ceiling and began counting tiles as he tried to drift off to sleep.

"Arthur Roland."

"Hm? That you fishcake?" Arthur was sure his cellmate was already asleep but maybe he wasn't.

"In prison for sexual assault, two victims ages fifteen and seventeen… but there's a lot more that just haven't come forward right?"

The longer the voice spoke, the easier it became for Arthur to tell that this was not his cellmate.

Sensing something was amiss, Arthur scrambled to look down from his bed, only to see an extremely tall man that he didn't recognize.

He was wearing simple black pants with a white shirt and the top button undone. He was in the corner of the room staring out a barred window while smoking a cigarette.

"The fuck?! Who are you?"

"Unimportant." The man waved his hand and dismissed the question.

Arthur's eyes widened.

He'd seen enough people die in prison to know what a hit looked like.

He had to call for help before it was too late.

"G-guard!-"

In a flash, the man who was leaning motionlessly against the wall appeared in front of him and quickly clasped his jaw shut.

"This ain't really the best environment for conversation is it?"

Suddenly, dark mist rose up from the ground and covered the two men before they disappeared from their spot.

Not long after that a pair of guards arrived and shone their flashlights inside of a cell.

They repeatedly banged on the bars to awaken its occupants only to become incredibly alarmed when there was no movement.

Opening the gates, the two men rushed inside and found an overweight man in the bottom bunk, and an empty bed on the top.

They tried to shake the one inmate awake but got no response.

There was no blood, no signs of blunt force trauma or even strangulation.

It was as if his heart had just stopped beating.

"Put the cell block on lockdown and bring me some goddamn defibrillators!"

-

"Gah!"

Arthur fell out of the darkness and immediately noticed he was outside.

Everywhere he looked there was nothing but dark forest surrounding him.

"W-what the hell?"

"Welcome to Tongass National Forest!"

Arthur looked for the source of the voice and found the man who brought him here leaning up against a tree, cigarette still in hand.

"Interestingly enough this just so happens to be the largest forest in the U.S."

The man spun around and admired the cool night air mixed with the rich scenery that only he could make out.

"500 miles of nothing but nature!" He turned around to look at the convict who was shivering on the ground.

He took off his glasses and revealed a pair of intense orange eyes. "Perfect for us to have a little chat don't you think?" When he smiled, a mouthful of pointed canines were revealed.

"Y-you're a blessed?"

"I thought the use of super powers would've given it away but apparently you're not very quick."

Arthur's heart immediately dropped to his stomach and he prostrated on the ground. "P-please.. I-I haven't done anything to offend-"

"Aubrey Saint."

"P-pardon?"

"Roseline Ivers."

"L-look I-I don't know who-"

CRACK!

"GYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

Hearing that Arthur didn't even recognize the names of two of the girls whose lives he'd ruined, Malachi's already frightening mood became worse and he delivered a swift and powerful stomp to the convicts hand.

"Stop screaming you sound like a child."

Malachi placed his heel on Arthur's neck and ground his face into the earth.

"Alright, are you listening?"

"Mmh! Mm!"

"Good." Malachi nodded, satisfied.

"We're going to play a little game. I'm going to let you up and you're going to run really fast and far. Once you're far enough away, I'm going to chase you but don't worry I won't use my night blessing since that'd be cheating after all. "

Arthur began to furiously wiggle and scream into the dirt as if to make known that this sick contest was still very unfair.

"Calm down man, if you can survive until morning you're free to go. See? I can be nice too."

Malachi looked at his watch and saw the time was a little after nine.

"Alright then, you're free to go."

Once his abductor's foot was off his neck, Arthur scrambled up from the ground and took off running in a random direction.

Malachi watched the man's orange jumpsuit disappear before he sighed out loud.

"Should I draw a picture in the dirt while I wait?"

-

Arthur was currently covered in sweat and dirt and having the worst night imaginable.

He was snatched out of his bed in the dead of night by some blessed and made to participate in this sick and twisted game of cat and mouse.

He'd been stumbling around in the dark for hours being chased by wild animals, falling into rivers and tripping in mud.

The entire time he was out here he never once caught sight of his abductor and assumed he was doing a good enough job at covering his tracks.

Eventually he wondered if he was just tricked into running around like an idiot for several hours.

Finally, after several hours light had finally began to show on the horizon.

Arthur smiled as hope filled his system before he kept running.

He wouldn't feel safe until the sun was completely up but this did easy his nerves a bit.

When the sun finally rose and the last of the night had been chased away by the sun, Arthur collapsed where he stood and cried tears of joy.

He'd survived.

Somehow someway he'd done enough running to escape from some crazy powerful blessed.

"I wonder if this is how they felt."

Arthur's happy mood disappeared immediately before he felt the wind get knocked out of him and went flying towards a tree.

He coughed furiously and attempted to inhale sweet air into his lungs before he looked up to see a giant panther the size of a horse.

'W- what the fuck is that I thought it was that guy?!'

"Finally getting a sense of safety when they arrived home, only for you to heartlessly shatter it when you broke in."

Only when he watched the panther speak again did he realize this beast and the man that brought him here were one and the same.

"Y-you said."

"I know exactly what I said." Malachi prowled forward, his claws tearing up the earth beneath him with every step.

"I just wanted to show you the same despair my sister and all those other women felt."

Arthur's body began to shiver uncontrollably and he unknowingly wet himself. "P-please I-I was really sick back then b-but I'm bett-"

SLASH

Before Arthur even realized what happened, Malachi had swiped his razor sharp claws across his chest.

"AAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!"

Blood began to flow almost immediately and Arthur became a screaming crying mess.

'Better? Don't make me laugh. I won't even allow you to say any of that useless shit.' Malachi's anger had long since reached a boiling point.

Seeing his prey attempting to crawl away, Malachi's instincts that he'd been holding onto all night long burst forward and he bounced on top of the wailing man.

The rest was a blur as Malachi ripped Arthur into shreds.

Blood spattered, bones were crushed, entrails flew and flesh was turned into mincemeat.

Even when Arthur's screams had long since ended, Malachi continued to maul his victim as if he didn't want him to have a body even in death.

When it was over, Malachi let out a defiant roar that shook the ancient trees surrounding him.