The End of Days

By The Seventh Sentinal

I do not own Vampire Hunter D, Hideyuki Kikuchi does.

I have decided to extend this forth chapter.

Disclaimer: Vampire Hunter D comes across a mysterious young man who may not be all that he seems.

Rating: M

The ratings for this chapter and all future chapters has gone up due to the portrayals of graphic violence and horror. Anyone who is easily squeamish should read this chapter and future chapters with caution. This is not to everyone’s taste.

Chapter Four

A Splendid Gift.

It was an ordinary setting. A large farm on the outskirts of town. A father at work in the fields and a mother and her two daughters at work in the kitchen. The youngest of the two girls had just had her forth birthday and was proudly carrying her new doll down to the gates when a man carriage rolled by.

The little girl; her name was Susan, watched the carriage ride passed the gate but then stop a little way down the road. The door opened and a tall man got out. He wore a tailored suit and a tall hat that made him look even taller. He walked with a cane and wore round spectacles on the edge of his long nose.

He walked right up to the gate with a confident stride and one hand behind his back. When he reached the gate he took off his hat and bowed to Susan which made her giggle. She liked the way his moustache and beard were clipped to two fine points.

“Good afternoon young lady.” the man said with a wide smile. “How do you do?”

“How do you do, sir,” Susan replied with a curtsy.

“Do you live here all by yourself?” the man asked.

Susan shook here head.

“No. Mama, papa and Sarah live here too. Oh, and Mirabelle.” she added, holding up her rag doll for the man to see.

“I see.” the man mused. “Well, how would you like to hear a secret?”

The little girl’s face flushed pink with delight.

“Really?”

“Really. Just make sure not to tell your mummy, or your daddy, or even Sarah that you have it.” the elderly man explained still wearing the smile. “It is your secret, and mine.”

“What about Mirabelle?”

“And Mirabelle’s as well. I think we can trust her to keep our little secret.”

Susan nodded.

“Alright then.”

The man gave a little wave of his gloved hand and pulled a large gold coin out of thin air. The little girl’s eyes went wide with awe.

“This is our secret.” the man said holding out the coin. “Keep it safe and don’t tell anyone that you have it, understand, or else the magic won’t work.”

He placed the coin in Susan’s waiting palm. It felt very cool and heavy to the touch.

“What kind of magic?” she asked.

But the man had had already stood up and was walking back to his carriage.

“What kind of magic?” she called after him.

He glanced back over his shoulder at her and for a split second another face flashed in front of his own but the little girl didn’t notice.

“Wait and see.” he said and climbed back into the carriage.

Susan watched the carriage disappear down the road. She had a secret! She looked down at the coin, it was almost as big as her palm. She wondered what the secret might be as she skipped back up to the house.

That night as the family were finishing supper, Susan was contemplating whether or not to tell Sarah about the secret. So far nothing had happened and she was beginning to grow bored with not telling anyone.

“Suzy go brush your teeth and get ready for bed, you too Sarah.” he mother said as she cleared away the dishes from the table.

Susan hopped off her chair while Sarah, who was ten, heaved a sigh and took her time.

When they were in the bathroom and brushing their teeth Susan decided it was time to tell Sarah about the old man and the secret.

“Sarah.” she began.

“What is it?” Sarah snapped angrily.

Susan chewed on her bottom lip nervously. Maybe she shouldn’t tell her after all.

“Well-”

“C’mon slow poke.” Sarah cut in dashing out of the bathroom.

Susan sighed and shook her head. Big sisters were so strange. She took Mirabelle tightly by the arm and followed Sarah to their shared bedroom. The older girl was already in bed and the lights were off.

“Sarah, don’t turn off the lights yet!” Susan wailed as she stood on the landing.

She heard Sarah sigh again but the lamp flicked on anyway.

“Baby.” Sarah muttered as her little sister hopped happily into bed. “I’m turning the light off now, is that okay with you?” she asked mockingly.

“It’s okay, I’m in bed now.” Susan replied, putting the covers over her head.

Down stairs Mr McKay glanced out the window. The electric fence was up so there was no need to worry about any beasts wandering on to the field. Still though, he felt uneasy and he scratched his chin with a nervous finger.

“What’s wrong, Rob you look spooked?” his wife said.

“I dunno, something just ain’t right.” Rob answered. “I’m gonna go give the fence a once over, settle my nerves.”

“What, now?” he wife asked in surprise. She put down her needlepoint and looked at him questioningly. “Are you out of your mind? You can’t go out there now.”

But Rob was already at the door with rifle in hand.

“I’ll just be a minute.” he said but it sounded like he was talking to himself.

By the time his wife had gotten to her feet to protest he had already closed the door.

“Damn that man. He’ll be the death of us one of these days.” she cursed and sat back down to her needlepoint.

Upstairs Susan had rolled onto her side to look at her sister. She could just about make her out in the gloom.

“Sarah?”

No answer.

“Sarah?” she called, a little louder than the first time.

Still no answer.

“Sarah!”

“What! I’m trying to sleep.” Sarah finally relied.

“I’ve gotta tell you something.” Susan whispered loudly. “But it’s a secret so you can’t tell mama, or papa okay?”

“Whatever.”

Downstairs Mrs McKay was searching in her sewing bag for more yarn when the lights went out.

“Not that damn generator again!” She hissed through clenched teeth. She got up and felt around in the darkness for the cabinet where they kept the flash lights. She found one and switched it on.

“Damn that Robert. I told him to get that piece of junk fixed.”

She used the torch’s narrow beam of light to navigate to the back door that connected to the barn. The door would always stick so she had to give it a swift kick to get it open. It was yet another job her husband had yet to do.

She couldn’t hear the generator at all when she stepped in to the barn which meant it had probably conked out all together. She hurried over to it and shone the light on it to see what was wrong.

“What the hell do I know about these things, I’m no mechanic.” she whispered to herself.

Suddenly she felt a chill. She turned immediately and shone her torch but there was no one there. She wasn’t the kind of woman to get spooked easily and she normally thought of women who did, as weak and pathetic creatures who gave women everywhere a bad name. But now she wasn’t so sure and she noticed for the first time just how dark it was inside the barn.

“Get a hold of yourself girl.” she told herself but the beam of light was no longer steady. Her hands were shaking.

And then she saw something. It could have been a figment of her imagination because it move so quickly. She wasn’t about to wait to find out. With a speed that could put most men to shame, she sprinted back into the house and slammed the door shut behind her.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against the door. Rob would be back soon and he could go and check on the generator. As for her, she had better go and check on her girls.

But she didn’t move. Or rather she couldn’t. The doorknob was turning. She shone the torch on it and sure enough the handle was slowly turning. There was something on the other side of the door!

She put her fist to her mouth. Now she was afraid.

Outside Rob was just finishing his rounds. He hand his rifle resting on his shoulder and he whistled as he walked. There was nothing outside save for a few gas demons and the wind. Nothing to be afraid of, he chided himself and he turned back to the house. It was then that he noticed all the lights were off.

“Must be that damn generator again.” he said aloud. But then his eyes caught something else.

His blood froze in his veins. No. It couldn’t be. A Noble all the way out here? But wait. Something was wrong. That wasn’t a Noble.

It was as if the night had become animated. The shadowy figure climbing the porch steps to his house looked to be about the same height as a grown man but was much thinner. It seemed to glide over the ground like it was being carried by the wind.

Where the hell had it come from? And why was he so afraid? No, this was more than ordinary fear. This was something else. And instead of taking his rifle and firing he began to back away, all the while muttering under his breath that something just wasn‘t right.

The thing continued to slowly climb the porch steps but then It stopped. And It turned and looked at him.

The cry that escaped his lips echoed throughout the farm. It was a cry of pure and utter fear and even as he turned and ran, it stayed with him. He didn’t even notice when he ran into the electric fence.

“Did you here that?” Sarah asked, sitting upright in bed. She pulled the blanket up over her nose and looked at her little sister with wide, frightened eyes.

Susan hugged her rag doll to her chest and nodded her head. She had heard it too.

“I want mama.” she whispered.

Downstairs Mrs McKay backed away from the backdoor. The air had suddenly gone very cold. She could even see her breath in front of her, spilling out of her mouth and nose in dense white clouds. It was as if she had walked into a freezer.

“What’s g-going on?”

A sudden cry from outside startled her and she dropped the torch in a fit of panic. The room was plunged into darkness. She immediately dropped to her knees and felt around the floor for it but each time her fingers brushed against it, it rolled just out of reach.

“Oh c’mon, damn you!” she cried as the torch rolled away again. Her heart hammered in her chest and her flesh was crawling with the cold. Finally she grabbed a hold of the torch. She could have kissed it she was so relieved. She quickly switched it on and shone the beam on the back door.

It was wide open!

She couldn’t believe it. How could the door have opened without her hearing it? A fresh wave of fear washed over her as she imagined what could be inside her house.

Sarah, Susan.

The faces of her two daughters flashed through her mind and she rushed towards the stairs. But before she could place a hand on the banister she clutched at her chest and fell to her knees, gasping for air.

“What the…”

Someone was close behind her. Even though it was pitch black she could sense that there was definitely someone else in the room. She was by now too cold to scream and in much too much pain. But it was the terror building up inside of her that chocked her. It churned in her stomach, and tangled in her gut. She had never know a fear like this.

And then It was there, right there in front of her as if It had always been there. What happened next happened so quickly she didn’t even have time to scream. The shadows moved as one and shot out at her. She stood stock till, she didn’t even try to escape. It was as if her brain already knew she was dead.

Something sharp struck her full on in the face, toppling her backwards only she didn’t fall all the way. She hung at an odd angle, balancing on her heels like a marionette. Her eyes rolled back into her skull and her mouth gaped open like a fish out of water. The scene probably would have looked quite comical in a different light.

And now she screamed.

Whatever had latched onto her face was ripping it off. The feeling of her own skin tearing off was too much to bare. The spell had broken and the instinct to survive kicked in. She screamed, yelled and kicked for all she was worth. The pain meant nothing; the fear meant nothing. She had to save her children!

Upstairs, the two girls were huddled under Susan’s bed. They heard the screams and the crash of furniture from downstairs.

“Mommy! I want mommy!” Susan sobbed.

The screaming downstairs had reached a crescendo. They heard glass breaking and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. And then there was silence.

“Where’s daddy? I want daddy!” Susan continued to sob. She buried her tear strewn face in her sisters back. Why wasn’t daddy here? Why wasn’t mommy coming to get them?

“Be quiet, be quiet!” Sarah shushed her but her own heart was pounding away, and her voice was almost unintelligible with her own choking tears.

Someone was coming up the stairs. She could hear their footsteps. They sounded like they were wearing the big, heavy boots her daddy always wore.

She pushed Susan further under the bed and put her hand over her mouth. The footsteps continued up the landing. Whoever it was, was in no hurry to get where they were going. They were even whistling a tune.

Sarah’s eyes were trained on the bedroom door. It had suddenly grow very cold.

“Sarah… Susan…”

Shock ran through both girls as they heard their mother’s voice.

“Sarah… Susan…”

Sarah felt new tears prick her eyes at the sound of her mother’s voice. She was trembling so badly she suddenly grew fearful that she might be overheard.

“Sarah, dear… Suzy baby… Where are you?”

That wasn’t mommy. Mommy didn’t sound like that!

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut tight as the footsteps came to a stop outside the bedroom door.

“Are you in here?”

Susan stopped her struggling just as the door swung open and something akin to a child’s worst nightmare came into the room.

When Sarah opened her eyes, which was only a split second after she had closed them, she watched as two of the strangest feet walked by her bed. They looked to all the world like goat’s hooves only much, much bigger and completely black. The ankles were hidden by the hem of a black coat that seemed to swallow the darkness and be a part of it all at the same time. But it was this feeling of fear which touched the core of the little girl’s soul. It was a deep fear, the likes of which she had never felt but knew to be very, very real.

“Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in.” she heard the thing say in a whispered voice full of darkness.

She watched It walk the length of the small bedroom and then come to an abrupt halt right in front of Susan’s bed.

“Sarah… Susan… Come on out.”

Sarah put a hand over her own mouth to stop the scream trying to force its way up her throat.

“Sarah! Susan!”

This time the voice was not her mother’s or even an imitation. It was the creature’s voice!

Something dropped on the floor and rolled under the bed right in front of Sarah’s face.

She could contain the scream no longer. Her mother looked her straight in the eyes, her bloodied mouth still trying to form words without a body.

The bed flipped up, crashing against the wall. The creature reached for them, Its long arms seemingly infinite and Its clawed hands already covered in blood and gore from the corpse of their mother.

When it roared Sarah thought her ears would burst. She held Susan tighter, wrapping her arms around her little sister as the monster closed in on them.

Suddenly there was a flash of yellow light so bright it made Sarah’s eyes burn. The creature roared again and with the speed of the wind flew out of the room. She heard a door slam shut even though she was still screaming. And when the lights came on she still continued to scream.

She screamed all throughout the rest of the night and into the early morning when the farm hands found her and the grizzly remains of her mother. She was still screaming when they pried the dead body of her little sister from her arms. In her terror and attempt to keep Susan quiet she had smothered her to death.

To Be Continued.