The Two Who Were Alone

The Truth About Hellborns

"This really gets tiring after a while, huh?" Austin says as he swings a final time at the Hellborns' head. It's been a few days since that day with Aya and I. We came to the conclusion to stay friends in our little group since our main focus right now is to experiment more on Hellborns. My main objective at this moment is to collect one and take it back to the house to further examine it. Some scientist shit if I must say.

"Nice going, man! You're getting better every day." Connie pats Austin's back. He scratches the back of his neck and chuckles. We take a look around at the work we completed. If it was just Connie and I, I'm not sure if we would've made it this far. I'm hoping mom's proud of me right now.

"Good job, team! Let's grab one and take it home." We nod at each other and venture out to find a suitable and most compact Hellborn that isn't smashed into pieces. I flip over one of them and find a necklace on them. I take a look at it, leaning down. Suddenly, its eyes open and launch its body upwards, creating a growl. The boys and Aya turn to the noise.

"Indi, watch--" I place the gun in its open mouth and shoot. The back of its head shoots out some brain matter and it falls again. I let it sit for a bit, just to confirm it's dead, and grab the necklace this time. I stand up and take a better look at the object as I hear footsteps approaching. "Are you alright, pumpkin?" I chuckle and point my thumb at myself.

"This pumpkin is a-okay!" She exhales and chuckles. "Also, I found this on the Hellborn." I show them the necklace. It's a key attached to a string. Could this lead to something?

"Dude, no way..." We look at Austin as he takes the key from my hands. He goes to the Hellborn that I killed. "Sandy, my love, you have left me!" He dramatically yells as he puts his hands in the air. I look at the two and see them roll their eyes.

"Austin, what the hell are you talking about?" Austin looks at us and sighs sadly. Did he know this "Sandy?" He walks slowly and dramatically. When he approaches, he explains.

"Sandy used to be a girl I was DMing a long time ago. We really connected over the past few weeks, but then the news announced about what was happening to the sky. Before the announcement, though, she gave me her address and mentioned that a key led to her dad's science room. I was really confused, so I decided to walk to her house and pull out my camera to document it for the police. Then I heard you two, and I completely forgot about it." I see the key once more before coming to a conclusion. "Austin, do you still have her address written down?" He nods. "Send the address to Connie. Aya and I will grab a Hellborn." They nod as they head to the car. Aya picks out one of the creatures and we carry it to the car. We carefully place it in the backseat and strap the seatbelt on. Me in the passenger seat, Connie in the driver's seat and Aya, Austin, and the Hellborn in the back, we start our journey. Austin chimes in as Connie starts the car.

"Can I name the Hellborn?" I sigh.

"Sure, buddy." He smiles and grabs his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, Henry! How does that sound?" The hand detached from its arm as a response. We all groan in unison.

"Austin!"

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We drove up to Sandy's house. It looks so vacant and sad, but I continue out of the car with my gear equipped. We all walk up the stairs into her apartment. I check to see if the door is unlocked, and it is. I let Connie and Austin enter first as they carry Henry in. Yes, we decided to call him Henry. I didn't want to hear Austin pout like a 3-year-old. Aya enters after them, carrying the hand. I walk in last and close the door. The inside is a gloomy sight, with trash laying everywhere and a bit of furniture. If anything, the apartment looked more like a quick living space for a criminal. "How did you and Sandy meet exactly, Austin?" He and Connie set Henry on top of the kitchen table.

"Well, I posted a normal video on my channel one day, and I saw her comment on it first. She mentioned how she was my biggest fan and wanted to talk to me. I noticed when I clicked on her profile that she attended the same university that I did. After everything clicked, I decided to talk with her to connect more. She was a really sweet girl, it sucks that she got turned into one of those things." I nod and I place my backpack down. I take out the butcher's knife and get near Henry. "Wait!"

"What?" He points at the key hanging around my neck. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." I yank it off and explore the house for any keyholes. None in the living room, kitchen, bathroom, nowhere. "Where the hell does this go then?" Everyone looks around until Aya says something.

"Look y'all!" We look in her direction and see a piece of the carpet peeling off, revealing a hatch with a keyhole. I place the key in and it unlocks. I open the hatch door and a cloud of dust emerges. We all cough and wave the dust away. As I take the first step, Connie stops me.

"Wait, you don't know what's in there. Let me test something." He throws a candy bar from his pocket and we all watch as it hits the floor. Nothing happens. We wait a bit before Connie says something. "Okay, coast clear... hopefully." He takes a step first down the stairs and we follow. When we get down all the way, I take in the surroundings: medical supplies and cabinets full of medicine bottles surround the small, enclosed space. A computer sits in the center of the inside. That's the first thing I walk to when suddenly, I step on a button of some sort and something lifts off of the floor. It's a tank that contains...

"Is that a fucking Hellborn?!" Connie spits out. We all get our weapons out, ready to see if it'll move. It didn't, so I'm the first to put my gun away. Everyone stays defensive as I inch closer and touch the glass. It's really cold, so I imagine it being an ice tank. But why was this specific Hellborn in this tank? I try to find any buttons or levers on the side. Connie walks over to me and stops my movements. "What do you think you're doing?" I look at the closeness between us. I look away quickly and clear my throat.

"The thing's frozen! There's no way that it's alive, and if anything were to happen, we know how to fight." He sighs and nods. Continuing to find a switch, I feel a button on my fingertips. I take a look at it and see that the button has a note on it:

If you find this, the apocalypse has already begun.

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