Ruin; Godbreaker

Amber-colored light spilled through the open front door of the printing shop as Taryn sorted through customer parcels, the lady on the other side of the counter impatiently tapping her foot. "Gallagher, yes?" She held out a thick envelope to the woman, who snatched it from her grip. "I'm here every day, you know that." The young woman sighed quietly, taking the woman's money. "Of course, ma'am." Between school and work, Taryn didn't know which she enjoyed less. At least at school, she shared Senior English Literature with her girlfriend Ari for two hours. She watched dimly as Ms. Gallagher left the shop in a huff, muttering plans and curses to herself. Glancing hopefully at her watch, a grin broke across Taryn's face. Closing time was the only part of work she enjoyed because she got to kick people out of the store. Her manager Keith would probably lose his mind if he saw her rushing around, shoving papers and prints into random drawers, hastily rolling up posters and banners, before locking the glass doors and hurrying to her beaten, decrepit-looking sedan. Rubber screamed as she peeled out of the parking lot, headed towards her school. The car was used, bought by Taryn from the greasy owner of the auto shop near her house. He was nice enough, even reducing the price of the car when she had to use some of the money to help Ari pay rent. The interior smelled like cigarettes and paint, and nothing Taryn did would get the smell out. Her solution was to fill the door pockets with air fresheners. It helped, but she could still faintly smell the musty odor of old cigarettes. Pulling in front of her school's gym building, Taryn spotted a young woman with frizzy, caramel-colored hair. In the summer sun, her blue eyes sparkled like aquamarine. "Hop in, we're going to that new Chinese place with my mom for dinner tonight." The woman smiled, placing her things in the back seat and climbing in next to Taryn. "How was work, Tar?" Taryn shrugged. "Not bad, I guess. Slow." She tugged on her car's gearshift, cranking it into Third. "Missed you, Ari." Smiling, she kissed Taryn on the cheek. "I missed you too." Looking into her girlfriend's eyes as she drove, Ari spoke. "So, graduation is coming up." Taryn nodded. "Yeah? What about it?" "We never really talked about what you want to do after you graduate. Do you have a plan?" Biting the inside of her cheek, Taryn sighed. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I thought I wanted to start my art classes, but lately, I've been having a bad feeling about the future." Ari looked confused. "What kind of bad feeling?" "I don't know. I just feel like something bad is about to happen. Sooner or later. So I don't want to get my hopes up." Ari placed a hand on Taryn's thin arm. "It's okay to hope for things, Tar. Even if it seems like a bad idea." The car suddenly jerked to the left, and Ari was thrown into the door. Taryn swore, swerving around a pair of people jaywalking. "Assholes!" Taryn stuck her middle finger up and saluted the siblings crossing the street as they drove off. "Are you ok?" Taryn asked, concerned. "Yeah," Ari adjusted her seatbelt. "surprised mostly." With a grin, she added; "They look like they're from Europe. Probably have different laws over there." Taryn lived on a large hill, and her car protested loudly as it struggled up the hill. Flooring the accelerator, the car lurched forward, finally making it to the peak. Taryn could see her house ahead, her mother's car sitting in the driveway. "That's weird, she's usually not home for an hour." Taryn squinted. "Maybe she got off early." "Cool. I've been needing to ask your mom to help look at openings at the hospital. The recruiters haven't been calling me back." Taryn scowled. "Sorry, love." Shrugging as they rolled to a stop behind Taryn's mother's car, Ari gathered her things. Taryn's head jerked toward the house, a loud crash catching her attention. "Mom?" Taryn was cold, although she hardly noticed the frosty temperature as she raced into the house. She did not notice either, the black tracks on the carpet or the frost growing all around her. "Mom!" A tall, black-haired figure leaned against the wall next to the bathroom, clutching her abdomen. "Taryn," she said weakly. "You need to get out. Now." Her daughter's breath was short and ragged. "What? f**k that, I'm not leaving you." "What the hell happened?" Ari dropped to her knees in front of her, hands exploring the woman. "Please…" Ms. Connors' voice was quiet, barely audible. "I think they're still here." Ari ignored her. Pulling her arms away from her stomach, she drew a sharp breath. "Christ, Ms. Connors. What did this to you?" Her stomach was a mess, with three long gashes just below her ribs exposed bone, and a thin layer of fat just under her skin. Looking at Taryn, Ari's face was pale and frightened. "I can't help her, she's hurt too much. We need to get her to the hospital." "It looks like an animal," Taryn said, low and angry. "Can we move her?" Ari shook her head. "I'm afraid we'll make it worse if we move her." "Call 911, I'm going to try and find whatever hurt my mom." Reaching an arm into her mother's room, Taryn pulled a shotgun from the wall and shoved a shell into it, filling her pockets with more. "You're not firing that in the house, are you?" Taryn looked back at Ari. "Of course I am, there's a wild animal here that just ripped my mother open. Whatever this thing is, it's lucky that's all I do." Now carefully making her way through the house, gun pointed ahead of her, Taryn had time to think. She didn't want to lose her mom, she wasn't sure if she would find whatever did this. She didn't tell Ari, but the gashes on her mother were not from an animal. If Ari wasn't so freaked out, she would know that too. From the other side of the house, Ari screamed, yelling her name before she suddenly went silent, mid-sentence. Charging back through the house, Taryn stopped cold in the living room. Above her mother, holding Ari by the hair was the tallest person Taryn had ever seen. The man's skin was paler than milk, and Taryn could smell rotten meat from where she stood in the doorway. "Meat!" The intruder had an almost childlike voice, high and reedy. Like he was still going through puberty. Taryn yelled as she fired the shotgun. "Get your hands off my girlfriend!" The man-child stumbled back, dropping Ari. A voice from behind Taryn startled her. "Primitive weapons." Spinning, Taryn shoved the barrel of the gun up into something soft and fired again. A small grunt was the only indication that she hit something. She felt a huge hand wrap around her curly black hair and lift. Her feet dangled as the new intruder turned Taryn to face them. Had she been able to, Taryn would have scrambled away from the abomination before her. The woman that held her was covered in what looked like red paint. "No," Taryn thought. "Blood." Where her fingernails should have been, long metal plates sat, glittering in the low afternoon light. Her teeth were long and needle-sharp, and her breath smelled of the same rancid meat as the other thing in her house. Her eyes lacked white, the only color being a dull gray surrounding her pupils in an oblong s***h. "Why are you here?" Taryn demanded, voice shaking. "Food." The man repeated simply, pointing to Ari. Taryn clawed and bit at the hand holding her, but a squeeze nearly made her blackout. "Now, now. None of that, stress makes humans chewy. And I hate chewy meat." The woman's voice had little emotion in it. Taryn was rarely frightened but at that moment, she would have given anything to be back at work. The woman shook vigorously, causing Taryn to drop the shotgun, which clattered across the floor. She took a shaky breath, and the woman thing chuckled behind her. "Frightened? Good, fear is the best part of hunting humans. It makes the meat much more tender." Taryn slipped her hand into a pocket, pulling out the knife her mother had given her only a few days ago on her birthday. She prayed neither of the things would notice her movement. Knife in hand, Taryn twisted in the woman's grip, burying the knife down to the hilt in its eye. She screamed, the sound higher than anything a human could achieve. Thick, black blood oozed from the wound as it steamed and hissed where the blade touched flesh. A hot spike of anger compelled Taryn to twist the knife, causing another scream. She was dropped on the floor as the intruder cupped her hands over her face. The larger man stomped toward Taryn, driving the tip of his boot into her stomach, causing her to gasp and curl into a ball. She had been kicked in the stomach before, but this was like getting hit by a train. She struggled to breathe for a moment, before sucking in great gulps of air. "Little vermin." The woman hissed, grabbing Taryn by her neck. "I feel like you'd taste foul," she whispered, almost gently. Taryn was shoved forward, forcing her into a roll, she cried out as she smashed through a wall, plaster, and splintered wood digging into her skin. From where she sat, Ari could just reach the gun that Taryn had dropped. She dove for it, struggling shortly with the pump. With a deafening c***k, the woman stumbled again, her head dropping to her chest for a moment. Her grip loosened, and Taryn thought that she would be dropped for a moment, before being tossed to the floor. Spinning, Ari had the gun torn from her hands before she could blink. The woman broke the weapon over her knee and grinned savagely. "You're lucky that we're not allowed to eat you, little morsel. You look tasty." The woman slurred her words as she leaned towards Ari, her canines extending to something reminiscent of a serrated steak knife. She suddenly stopped and turned to face Taryn. "Gathe, grab the food. The human world stinks of iron and disbelief." The huge man grabbed Taryn, almost gently this time. He giggled as he walked, Taryn slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Every time she kicked or tried to fight, he would squeeze her, causing her to go limp. At the edge of their property, the woman knelt on the ground and dug for a short time, uncovering a flat square of ancient stone. Taryn had never seen this before, and she had just dug in this area a few weeks ago. "What is that?" She demanded. "Where are you taking us?" "The food is curious?" The woman gave her an amused look. "We are going to Ahklyth. Our home. There, you will be prepared as a most delicious dish. Perhaps you will be made into a sandwich. I've always preferred humans in a stew. You apes are so stringy, and the broth helps fill it out." "I meant, what are you doing with my girlfriend, you goddamned idiot." She grinned wider, but suddenly frowned, turning her nose to the air. The woman's fangs extended as she hissed. A dull c***k sounded through the trees and the man holding Ari dropped her, arms and head hanging. "Gathe?" The woman reached a hand out to her companion, before a screaming wind knocked her and Taryn away, peeling Gathe away layer by layer until only a skeleton remained. As the woman hissed again, a figure flew through the trees, hitting her at the waist. The two rolled away in a tangle of metal and flesh, while Taryn scrambled to Ari, who was curling into a ball. She hugged her girlfriend, whispering comforts. "What is happening?" she mumbled to herself. "These things can not be human." A voice from behind startled Taryn. She spun, diving with her knife out. "Get away!" she screamed, swiping at the man before her. He easily dodged her attacks, catching her wrist. "I'm not going to hurt you, kid. Those aren't human, your right." She twisted her wrist, wrenching it from the man's iron grip. "Then what the hell are they?" She gestured to Ari, who was still curled up. Her breathing was shallow and erratic. A sound like a whip drew their attention. The intruding woman was charging toward them as the one who had tackled her, another woman, struggled to her feet, a wide, angry red welt forming over her face. The man drew what Taryn first thought was a rifle from his belt, but he held it wrong. Looking closer, she realized it was a sword, glittering dull red and gray. "Is that a sword?" He jumped forward, ready to defend Taryn, but the creature rolled at the last second, coming up next to Ari. "I will not return home empty-handed. You two will suffer for today." She pointed first to the man, then to his companion. Taryn cried out, stumbling forward as the creature grabbed her girlfriend and slapped her hand on the stone. An explosion of rust-colored light and the scent of decaying leaves forced Taryn back. Fading just as quickly as it had appeared, the color and scent snapped out of existence, as if they had never even been there. The man looked at Taryn, who seemed to be looking for the right words for the situation. Before he could speak, Taryn felt a rough, but kind hand on her shoulder. She almost thought it was her mom before she remembered what had just happened. "It'll be oka-" Taryn bolted away mid-sentence, screaming her mother's name. The man looked at his companion, and she cringed, slowly following Taryn up to her house. Inside, Taryn knelt over the broken body of her mother, weeping for the first time in a long time. "Please," she whispered. "I lost Ari, mom . Please, I can't lose you too."