Summer Day Weiss was almost the opposite in appearance of Nancy in many respects. She was blonde and Caucasian in that Valley Girl sort of way that was the stereotype many foreigners had of Americans due to television. Her skin was golden rather than pale and there was a predatory gleam in her eyes that just wasn’t present in Nancy’s. Summer also lacked any signs of Goth leanings.
On closer inspection, though, there were similarities as their facial structure was almost identical. Summer didn’t have any Asian heritage, so I presumed she and Nancy had different fathers but sported what I assumed to be their mother’s strong genes. They were also sported very athletic builds for women, like those of runners or swimmers, that showed they’d grown up in similar environments. I was reminded a bit of Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2, a movie I needed to see the original of now that I was free. Movie night at the asylum was schizophrenic in its choices, as I think I’ve already mentioned.
The spear in her hand was one that looked professionally made of modern materials and I wondered if it was one of the Wild Hunt weapons that they’d taken. Summer had just used it to destroy Marge, which put any rest to the idea she wasn’t an Artemis like her sister. She glowed with the same sort of power that Nancy did, but it was much harsher, more malevolent—at least to my perspective—, and directed squarely at us.
Behind Summer were three black women of varying ages, but similarity in feature enough to say they were sisters. I took those to be the three Heathers. Why three sisters would all be named Heather mystified me, but I wasn’t their father. There was a tall Japanese woman who stood a head taller than the other girls in defiance of stereotype. Finally, there was a small blonde girl that looked directly at Nancy with shock. Even more so than Summer.
“Well, that was an easy rescue,” Carrie said, putting down the Necronomicon and grabbing Cassie in an armlock. “Hi, Summer, nice to meet you. Your sister has told us all about you. I promise, we don’t hold it against you.”
Nancy stared at her sister, wide-eyed and opened mouthed, before giving Carrie a dirty look. I assumed for the smack talk about her sister and not about stealing her prisoner.
“Oh thank God you’re here!” Cassie said, looking at Summer. “Your sister has been brainwashed by these evil slashers. I’ve been trying to rescue you!”
“Brave words, Jefferson Davis,” Carrie said. “Quisling? Ephialtes? Wow, I’m running out of traitors.”
Cassie glared at her.
“Good evening,” I replied to Summer, hoping this would not degenerate into violence.
Summer pointed her spear at me. “I don’t believe you for a second, Cassandra. However, I’m willing to kill these goddamn slashers before I get to killing you. Nancy, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?”
“Apparently, the whole aversion to swearing thing is not a family trait,” Carrie said.
Nancy glared, adjusting her pose to make it even harder for Summer to stab me. “They’re with me, Summer!”
“Are you stupid?” Summer said, growling. “They’re slashers, our natural enemy!”
“They’re here to rescue you!” Nancy snapped. I could tell there was no love lost between the siblings.
“Are they? Are they really?” Summer asked. “Or is this really just an elaborate plan to lure you into a trap so you can be killed.”
“To be fair, only one of us had that idea,” Carrie said, squeezing Cassie’s arm. “Her!”
“Ow!” Cassie said. “Listen, there’s all a very good reason for this.”
I put my fingers into my mouth and whistled. “While not my place to get between two family members hashing it out, I’d like to point out that we’re in the middle of a cursed lake. The exit is blocked off. We’re going to have to find a different way out of here.”
“There is no we, monster,” Summer said, keeping her eyes focused on me. “I know who you are and who you’re the son of.”
“Billy is dead,” I replied. “Permanently. Your sister killed him.”
“You helped!” Nancy said, as if it was something that I needed reassuring about.
“I feel kind of left out here,” Carrie said, looking at Nancy. “I mean, I killed bad people too. Plus, I have this neat hostage!”
“I am not a hostage,” Cassie said, growling. “I am your only way out of here.”
Carrie sniggered.
“Don’t take it the wrong way, Carrie,” Nancy said. “Summer always thinks she’s in charge of whatever situation she’s in.”
Summer stepped forward, raising her spear like a javelin and I had the idea she might hurl it at my head despite the fact her sister was directly in front of me. “That’s because I am in charge. I’ve rescued these people after you stupidly volunteered to get yourself killed. I thought you were dead! Then I see you coming back with these people! Escaped mental patients and the Wicked Bitch of the West!”
“Can we not call her that?” Carrie asked. “It makes my names look weak.”
“You have no idea what’s going on!” Nancy shouted.
“We need to leave!” I said, seeing the shoggoth’s tentacles start moving up on both sides of the lake.
This situation was ridiculous. Summer had managed to get the hostages free, somehow, so we had our chance to escape. There was a monster nearby, though, and antagonizing it was suicidal.
“You shut up!” Summer said.
“Maybe we should trust her,” the small blonde girl beside Summer said.
“You too, Jenna,” Summer snapped, identifying the young woman. That meant the unusually tall Japanese girl was Shinobu. I know, what a brilliant detective mind I have.
That was when an enormous thing emerged from the lake beside us. It was a forest of black inky tentacles that shimmered and surged with extra-dimensional energies. It was difficult to really describe something that didn’t exist according to rational laws of physics. You couldn’t really see what it was so your mind tried to fill in the blanks.
I knew some creatures that were totally invisible to the naked eye because of this and it was like seeing people ripped apart by nothingness. I, unfortunately, could see a bit beyond the spectrum of what was real, and this was a terrifying mass of what should not be. It stared at us with hundreds of sensory organs I will call eyes for lack of a better description and lashed out at the intruders who had disturbed its peace.
“Darnit! Fudge!” Nancy cried out, pulling out her M16. Wilbur had tried to use its attached grenade launcher against us, but Nancy used it on the creature.
Carrie ran across the bridge while Cassie took advantage of the distraction. Our prisoner smashed through the sorority sisters she’d betrayed, grabbing the Necronomicon on her way. They were too preoccupied with the sight of the unspeakable horror in front of them to stop her, letting her return to her masters. I suspected I’d never find out if she was doing all of this of her own free will or not, but suspected Cassandra had always been a monster.
“Back away!” Summer shouted, ordering her sorority sisters as she took a defensive posture. Unfortunately, this didn’t prove to be a proper response, though, as her legs were wrapped up by one of the tentacles that whipped her into the air before dragging her down into the water.
“Summer!” Nancy shouted, continuing to shoot at the monster. The tentacles thrashed down at her, only to be seemingly repelled by an invisible aura around her. More evidence of the Artemis’ strange abilities.
Faced with the fact that Nancy’s sister was about to die right before her eyes, the survivors were about to be killed by an inter-dimensional monster, and my sister was chasing a cobra into their lair. I made a stupid decision and leapt into the water after Summer.
William, what are you doing? The Spirit of the Hunt spoke in my mind.
Trying to be a hero, I thought. There’s a first time for everything.
That is not what is you are for, the Spirit of the Hunt replied blandly. Nor is it something you can do.
I discovered the glowing waters were an additional level of fakery and charlatanism as I found myself tasting pool water rather than anything resembling natural supplements. There were lights on at the bottom of the artificial cavern as well as neon paint on the sides and ground. Dye or something like it was floating toward the top of the water’s surface.
Beyond the surface dye, the bottom of the artificial lake was blue and clear with the exceptions of the rocky bottom and enormous horror. Bits of bodies and skeletons surrounded the inky-black mass of tendrils that filled perhaps a good quarter of the chamber’s bottom. If I had to describe my environment, I would say that it reminded me of a large fish tank. It made the Fraternity of Orion feel more ridiculous because they’d created this ridiculous place to dump their bodies and serve as the shoggoth’s living space. They were so rich and stupid that they’d built an aquarium for a monster that was humanity’s superior in many ways. I briefly wondered what the shoggoth must think of this nightmare.
The shoggoth’s tentacles were lashing out in every direction with a few pieces of monster falling from the top of the surface around me, cut away by Nancy’s gunfire or blown to bits by the grenade. The creature’s central mass looked like a thousand human-ish eyes next to a thousand mouths full of needle-like teeth. The water around it shimmered and shook as its presence disrupted the laws of physics. Bubbles floated up and I saw things inside them that didn’t make sense. My father’s face laughing at me, Nancy and I naked under a set of covers, the streets running dead with the blood of humans, and Puritans hanging my ancestors.
Pay no attention to that, the Spirit of the Hunt said. They are moments in time that you do not want to get caught up in.
I do not understand, I said.
Because you’re only human, the Spirit of the Hunt said. Leave this alone.
No, I said.
Fool, the Spirit of the Hunt replied. You do not wish to know your destiny.
I make my own, I replied, and it sounded laughable even to me. Still, I persevered on and saw the person I was seeking.
How badly I’d underestimated Summer was on display as I saw her stabbing eye after eye, drawing black inky ichor with each blow. The cheerleader-looking Artemis was striking at the creature’s heart and didn’t seem to be in any danger, at least any that she couldn’t handle. That was when I found myself grabbed by the legs and dragged down to the creature’s central mass. I stabbed at it my knife and stabbed again. Each of the cuts seemed to do minimal damage while I felt my power leave me.
The shoggoth was not my sort of prey. Its mind was alien and malevolent, sentient, but absent anything resembling conventional morality. I couldn’t draw on a sense of guilt or even a universal sense of justice because it was as wild and amoral as an animal. I was little more than a particularly hard to kill human facing it and it was so much more. Still, I stabbed at it and resisted even as it threatened to crush my ribs.
Summer swamp up beside me, and then lifted her spear up to impale me, a look in her eye of pure outrage at my existence in her eyes. Then, much to my surprise, she stabbed through the tentacle holding me and pulled me away from the monster’s grip. The shoggoth reached out for us both, only for Nancy to land on top of it, slashing repeatedly with her machete until the creature started its death throes.
Summer pulled me to the shore of the artificial lake in front of a maintenance tunnel and then hurled me out of the water like I was a limp doll. I landed on the ground, sucking in a breath of desperately needed oxygen before she pulled herself out of the water.
The artificial hallway was disguised with a fake cavern entrance and led to a long corridor filled with shelves and a metal doorway at the end. Summer aimed her spear at me for a second before turning it up and using it like a staff to lean on. “What the hell did you think you were doing back there?”
I coughed some foul-tasting water from my mouth. I’d swallowed some of the dye floating at the top of the lake. “Trying to save you.”
Summer stared at me skeptically. “Are you an idiot?”
“Apparently,” I replied, climbing to my feet. I was soaking wet, covered in luminescent dye, and feeling like a fool. Neither of the Artemises had needed my help and I’d only managed to get in the way. I should have hung back and provided support, but I’d been overwhelmed by a need to prove myself. It seemed Billy and the asylum’s influence were going to be harder to shake than I’d thought.
“I can’t believe I saved you,” Summer muttered.
“Me either,” I said, looking at my drenched attire. “Notable fact, a suit is not the best clothing for swimming in. Also, you should take your rifle off before jumping into the water.”
I proceeded to remove the now water-logged object and placed it to one side. “Thank you for your assistance.”
Summer looked at me. Intently.
I stared at her. “What?”
“I’m looking for the dead innocents,” Summer said.
I looked away. “There are things I’m guilty of but I only started killing yesterday. So far, it’s been those who have the blood of innocents on their hand. There will be an accounting, but what I owe and what I’m owed are not yet determined.”
“What, are you like the Accountant or something?” Summer asked.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“Accounting, owe, owed,” Summer said.
I blinked. “I swear, I’m not doing it deliberately. The dialogue is coming naturally. It’s calculated to earn the most meaning out of my word budget. I’d love to write it off, but it just keeps accumulating.”
Summer stared.
“Okay, that one was deliberate,” I replied, crossing my arms. “But I’m not your enemy. Is Nancy alright?”
Summer gave a very-very brief glance over her shoulder to see her sister pop up over the now inky-black waters from where the shoggoth had been destroyed—assuming it could be destroyed. Nancy gave a thumbs up before swimming back to the land bridge.
Nancy started jogging after the others, machete in hand. Wilbur’s M16 was abandoned on the ground and I suspected she’d used all its ammunition on the monster we’d just slain. Well, for some value of we. A more accurate summation would be the monster the Weiss Sisters had slain.
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Summer said. “I still don’t trust you, though. In fact, I’m pretty sure I should kill you outright. It would save my sister and I a lot of trouble when you inevitably turn evil. You can’t help it, it’s in your blood.”
She’s right, the Spirit of the Hunt said.
“Then why did you save me?” I asked, bluntly.
Summer looked at me with a mixture of frustration and anger. “Because sometimes my sister’s big heart and soft head gets to me.”
“Your sister is a very intelligent woman,” I replied. “She also risked everything to get here.”
“Oh my god, you’re fucking,” Summer said, horrified.
“You have a very foul mouth too,” I replied.
“Screw you,” Summer said.
I snorted. “In any case, she can take care of herself. Now with the shoggoth dead, we need to get the others to safety.”
“I’m not taking orders from you,” Summer said, pausing. “I’m just going to do that because it’s the sensible thing to do right now.”
I smirked. “Of course.”
“Now stop looking at my chest,” Summer said, holding her spear in front of it. “I didn’t get wet to give you a show.”
I looked at her, confused. “Why would I look at your chest?”
Summer glared and walked past me. “Asshole.”
“What?” I asked, even more confused.
Hahahahaha, the Spirit of the Hunt laughed. I knew it was a good idea to throw you into this shark tank.
Shoggoth tank, I corrected her. She is a spitfire. Like her sister.
Wait ’til you meet their mother and grandmother, the Spirit of the Hunt said.
I thought they were dead, I replied, surprised.
Oh, you’re so cute. You really do believe your girlfriend trusts you, don’t you? The Spirit of the Hunt mocked. Every other word out of her lips is a lie. It’s how she was raised.
I didn’t dignify that with a response. Following Summer, I felt a pain in my stomach and a headache that grew more painful with each passing second. There was a booming in my mind that became like a field of artillery going off. My mind sensed not only dozens of murderers coming our way but things that were much more powerful.
Slashers.
Not just regular slashers, though, but ones that ticked off my need to destroy them in a way that others didn’t. Billy, Marge, and my sister hadn’t made me want to destroy them. Well, at least any more than their actions normally would have. No, there was an all-powerful and all-consuming need inside me to destroy them that seemed even greater than my thirst to slay murderers. I didn’t understand it, but I knew the urge came from the Mark of Cain on my left hand, burning and pulsing with alien energy.
What have you done? I asked the Spirit of the Hunt.
I’ve done you favors, the Spirit of the Hunt said. Now you’ll do me favors.
What kind of favors? I asked.
What you do best, the Spirit of the Hunt said. Or did you think that Billy directed you here on his own?
So much for making my own destiny.
“We need to move now,” I said to Summer as she reached the end of the corridor. “They’re in danger.”
“No kidding,” Summer said, looking back. “Get your freak on, freak.”
It wasn’t the most inspiring motivational speech I’d ever heard but it was better than some.
I clutched my knife tightly and advanced to the door. It was time to do some slashing.