Hunter: Gods & Monsters

3rd July 2014

The key got stuck in the lock as Cherie tried to open the door. After a few curse words and a little effort, she was finally able to go inside. The alarm wasn't set which didn't help her anxiety over the situation. Her high heels clicked on the tiles as she moved towards the studio, the wheels of her small suitcase grinding from where one had snapped off on the uneven pavement during the walk here. Today, nothing seemed to be going her way and there was no sign of it improving any time soon.

It was dark in the building; the paintings on the walls hidden in shadows revealing nothing about the chaos that had taken over days earlier. The silence scared her; thoughts of the monsters in the paintings coming to life and hiding around each panel kept her away.

"Matt?" She called out, dropping her purse and keys on the buffet at the base of the stairs. "Matthew Edward Smith!"

From the second level, Matt's head appeared at the top of the stairs, slowly morphing into his body as he stood staring down at her.

"Lights?" She called you, and obediently he flicked the switch to reveal his beaten and dirty appearance. "Oh Matty!"

Cherie flicked her shoes off and climbed the stairs in record time, yet he'd already drifted back into his work room. She froze in the doorway as she got there, unsure of what to think or do as the chaos hit her. It wasn't unusual for Matt to get lost in his visions, to disappear for a while while he worked, but this. This was something else entirely.

Paper covered the floor in torn scraps and scrunched into balls. There was a pencil behind each ear, his hands full and he bit his lip in concentration as he worked at the easel. She saw the finished canvas on the floor, one broken in half and the other of that girl he knew, leant up against the wall with the wooden postal box in pieces all around it as if it had broken out of the packaging itself.

She picked up some of the paper, people and shadows, outlines and creatures she would never have been able to imagine.

"Matt, what is going on?"

The girl was in all of them, Ellen or Elsie, whatever her name was. There seemed to be a focus on fighting; an army of women wielding swords standing against flying horses and monsters that could only come from the darkest of nightmares. Cherie had no idea how these visions came to her fiancé or why, what they meant and just how worried she should actually be.

"I can see it. I can see everything." Matt mumbled, scribbling so hard against the easel he had to change his stance to hold it with one hand so it didn't tumble. "It's done. It's happening."

When that wasn't enough, he pushed it away with a bang; startling Cherie who let out a tiny squeak of surprise. Matt dropped to all fours, hunched over the canvas, his hands never stopping as he drew the vision that wouldn't get out of his head. It was real, so raw. He could smell the dirt under their feet, the sweat and blood. The sounds of the horses echoed in his head with the battle cries and roars of the creatures spread out on the battlefield.

Matt watched helplessly over and over again as those final moments played out, then he stopped. Rocking back onto his legs, Cherie squatted beside him, her eyes wide as she looked at what he had created.

"I don't understand," she frowned. "Matt, you're scaring me."

"Don't be scared my love," he stared at his vision until his eyes blurred with tears and he had no choice other than to blink. "It's only the end."

"The end of what?" Cherie gasped, unsure if she wanted to know.

"Of her. The God Killer."

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TBH - I'm glad Matt knows what's going on because I don't!