The Dark Artifices Spin off

Horror Movie

The Clave had given me a sheet of notebook paper to work from. Very professional. It listed all of the locations of the previous attacks and a few noted of what to look out for. Beware of lingering presences, stay focused and ready for anything. That's easy work. 

I pulled up to the first location. It was a small farm out in the countryside only about thirty miles from the institute. The farm was mainly hidden by trees, but they still glamoured it to be cautious. I stepped out of my car and drew my short swords. The farm looked like it had once inhabited a cute little rustic house. However, two walls were torn down shredded into pieces and covered in dried blood. I walked into the frame of the house where a door once stood and looked around. There didn't seem to be a threat within the area. I knelt down and began digging through the wreckage. I noticed something odd. There was no scent of demons. Even though the attack happened a week ago a smell would have been present. I took out my phone and wrote that down in my notes. I took a few pictures of the site and began digging again. I came across a few shattered picture frames, a broken flower pot, and an acorn. An acorn? The farm had a few trees around the home but they were too far to have fallen in.  

I ran over and examined the nearest trees. They were all pecan trees. So how did this acorn get into the house? I once again wrote a few lines in my notes and looked through the house one more time and I left. I looked at the sheet the Clave gave me. The second address was in a movie theater about twenty miles away. I put on some music and headed that way.

The movie theater definitely had a stench. Although it still didn't smell like demons. I took my stele out and traced a rune of the doors. They opened and the smell strengthened. I cautiously walked through peering behind the counter and into the hallways. It would have dark for normal pair of eyes but I applied a clarity rune as well as an insight rune to help me see better. The lobby of the theater looked normal, ghostly but normal. I went down the hall leading to the few auditoriums. I walked in the first one, short swords ready, and determined there to be no difference. I did the same in the second and third auditorium. However, the fourth room looked like a battlefield. The last location didn't have any bodies or body parts beside the blood. But in this one, bodies were splattered everywhere. Chairs and snacks were spewed across the room with various arms, legs, and even eyes making a layer on the floor. 

The screen resembled a sort of horror movie, blood covering every inch and small parts of organs were present as well. If only these people had known of the horror unfurled in their lives. I had enough sight of the room but I knew the only way to determine the weapon used would be to actually examine the body parts. I went around the room and picked up a few of the limbs. Some had black veins visible under the skin, some were too torn to even be recognizable as a limb. Some arms and legs were so dried up the translucent skin was stretched across the bone. A few had been cut cleanly off with a sharp sword or blade. I had a pretty strong stomach but the smell and sight made me want to vomit. 

I took a few more pictures and got the hell out of there. I decided I had seen enough for the night and headed back to the institute. My body weakened with fatigue and my head pounded against my skull. Sleep should help although I doubted I would be able to rest after the massacre I just witnessed.