BLEED/HAVEN

[XXI] ISAIAH

"I got something guys."

He stood with his feet planted and his rifle at low ready, looking around while the Exemplar team checked the bodies out, they verified that it was over half of the missing personnel, Ganzer speaking,

"What the hell happened here? These bodies, something sucked the blood out of them like a vampire or something. They're pale, and have open wounds with no trace of red."

Not to mention that the bodies were obviously  mutilated as if some animal had a feast on them. Limbs torn apart and strewn around like doll pieces. Whatever happened here was deliberate, and Isaiah had the creeping feeling that what Sage mentioned earlier about the Assimilated being here had everything to do with it.

The man took a few steps back into the hallway and felt the hairs on his back raise, this time annoyed with the constant feeling of dread, he whipped his eyes around, expecting nothing, but this time, he caught a glimpse of something moving in the distance, rounding a corner which they previously travelled. He rose his rifle and yelled out,

"Everyone, I think I saw something move back the way we came."

Everyone looked up and nodded towards one another, the Exemplars gathering identification from the corpses and readying their weapons as they cautiously made their way back the way they came, following bright blue wires set down through the ship by the faction as a means of mapping out what had been traversed. Isaiah's hands felt clammy as he adjusted his grip on his rifle, feeling his heart pounding once more against the cold metal he pressed into his chest. Looking forward through his visor and being greeted with that endless, unknown void that was the infrastructure of the alien ship did nothing to deter his adrenaline, or his fear. Despite knowing where they were going, the thought of their being a Dracula on the loose on the ship gave the man an awful feeling.

Eventually the eight members of the group made their way back to the large room of supplies. He was on edge, this time in the lead of the team. His flashlight flooded into the empty room and whipped around a few times before they entered, his nerves did little to calm when the room seemed to be clear. That did not last for long at all. A body fell from the opposite entrance to them like slime, limbs limp and seemed like the consistency of gelatin before the thud of it came and caused everyone to draw their attention to it. After a few moments of silence, a sickening cracking of what sounded like bones emanated from the pile that slowly rose to its feet, turning to the group.

The creature was easily over six and a half feet tall in height, it was humanoid but grotesquely transformed. The creature brandished long claws dripping with crimson, a mouth that appeared as if it was ripped apart at the edges in order to create space for the rows of sharp teeth it had. It's jaw was limp, as if dislocated and swayed with its movements. Its skin was sickly pale, with a multitude of veins completely visible. It was also skinny to the point where most of its skeleton was showing, harboring eyes that were completely onyx and blood dripping from its maw. The creature noticed the lights emitting from their rifles and turned to the team with its arms lifting up in a menacing stance. From there, Isaiah could make out the torn clothing on the creature having the symbol of the Exemplars sewn into a piece of it along its chest. The creature bellowed and charged.

The team scattered around the circular room and opened fire on the monster. The flashes of light lit up the dark room with every shot like a concert. The monster wailed and did its best to shield its face from the bullets, which seemed to have little effect. Isaiah ducked behind a few crates and continued to fire behind the cover, watching as the target began to runn around the room on all fours, tossing around crates and large, heavy objects at the group with ease. Isaiah watched as one of the crates flung towards him and slid behind another large metal structure with Bruna and hid for a moment before shouting,