Soul Hunt

Him And Himself

As if on que, a massive far-off boom tore through the relative silence. A moment later, both men were hurled into a staggering parody of a two way embrace as a shockwave caused the floor to rock like the deck of ship. Staggering back, the two men had just enough time to let out twin howls of fear as they hit the partition and went over.

There was a moment were the marines stomach lurched in the split second he saw the seats below coming up to meet them before they colided. The second moment came when he heard the sickening crack. For a moment he simply lay there wishing he could wake up, then groaning more in anticipation than pain, the marine opened his eyes.

The sight of the dead scientists eyes staring back at him from the contorted face was enough to send him scrambling back with a yelp of fright. Gingerly, the marine leant forward and lifted the dead mans head a little, a dark trickle of blood laced itself over the marines fingers and he drew back in disgust.

Panting, he got up to search for his headpeice. The room was glowing.

"Holy shit!"

Disbelivingly his hand shot out and the palm thudded squarly againsed one of the glowing lines that had apeared all over the room, he was just about to take out his flashlight when something breathed on the back of his neck.

"Fuck!"

The marine whipped round only to find the air behind him empty, he went compleitly still, something marines were trained to do, and listened. Somewere in the room, something was indeed breathing, it was behind him. Slowly, sweat dripping from his forehead, the marine began to turn around. He nether got the whole way. He had enough time to hear a whooshing, and crackling and a breathy scream before something smashed into the side of his head. The force of the blow sent him flying back up onto the platform were the terminal stood.

Franticaly, the marine shook his head trying to clear the stars that had exploded across his vision. The whooshing noise came again and it was pure instinct that made him roll to the side. A second later, something smashed into the floor were he had been, and the marine began to scrabble back from the dim glow that seeped into his blurred vision.

The glow floated a foot off of the ground and the marine once again heard the breathy scream emenating from it. He made to scramble back some more, suddenly feeling something hard and cold in his hand. The glow was speeding towards him, he closed his eye tightly, his heart pounding. He was going to die.

Stiffening, his hands trembling, the marine brought the pistol up and fired all twelve bullets in the direction of the glow.

"DIIIIEEEE!!!"

There was a horrible wailing gurgle, the glow flickered and went out. Finialy, there was a loud thump.

Silence.

The marine lay there againsed the foot of the terminal and sobbed. What fucking creepy insane shit the hell was happening? Slowly, he opened his eyes to look at the thing that had been trying to kill him. At first, there was a horrible moment when he thought the thing must still be alive, but then as he rose, his eyes fell on the floor a few feet in front of him. A pile of ashes smouldered from were the whatever-it-was had landed, gingerly, the marine poked the smouldering grey heap with his foot.

Something rolled out. The marine leant forward. It was an eyeball. The marine stared at the eyeball. The eyeball stared back. Then it blinked.

With a cry of revultion, the marine leaped back and circled around the ashes until he got to the stairs, he leaped down them and went back to were the dead man lay and began to search for his flashlight.

It was another five minutes before he realized that something had been bugging him since he had seen the eyeball. He turned back to see that the beastly item had somehow swivelled round and was stareing intently at him. The scrutiny made him feel strangley naked. Then he realized. He was indeed naked. He looked round furiusly for where the hell his clothes could have got to, before deciding to locate his flashlight first.

A minute later he spotted the flashlight at the base of one of the seats, experimentaly, he flicked it on and directed the broad beam at the seats in front of him.

There was a dead man on the seats, and it wasnt the scientist. It was someone so familiar to the marine that he had seen their reflection...he had seen their reflection when he looked in the mirror. With a crash and a howl of horror his knees gave out.

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Dr Betruger stood before a ragged line of survivors, or more acuratley, prisoners. He clucked dispationatley at the state of the remenant of his workforce. A few of them were actualy missing limbs, some of them where nursing sevear sprains and dislocations. None of them has escaped sustaining at leist two or three sevear cuts and bruises.

Betruger walked down the line of chained humans, inspecting them induvidualy, then he turned to the hulking hellknight that had been pacing silently behind him.

"Take the ones that are...incompleite... to wherever the lost souls are congregating, I want whats in their minds preserved"

The hellkinight turned and gestured into the shadows, several imps swarmed out from their places and grabbed hold of the humans who were missing limbs. Their terrifyed cries could be heard echoing down the passage. Betruger stood silently eyeing up the rest of the ragged line.

"And what shall become of these? Master?"

The beasts voice was indeskribably deep, and rumbled so that it sounded like an earquake was happening deep in its throat when it spoke. Betruger acknoleged the hellnight by turning to face it, although he has still scrutinizing the line of man and women behind him.

"Take the ones without any dislocations to the quarters near the hydro facility, find them something to eat, I need them to keep the comunications towers online."

The hellknight guestured again to the waiting imps in the shadows.

"And the rest?" It rumbled.

"Kill them"

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The marine lay on the floor and stared blankly at his hand and forearm, then he turned his gaze from those to his hand and his forearm. Dumbly, he looked from the tanned, muscular, hairy apendage to the slender, pale lilac, translucent one beside it.

He was dead.

A dry sob escaped him as he stared at his corpse. He turned back to the pale hand and wiggled the long digits experimentaly. A thought suddenly ocurred to him, perhaps the scientist was in the same condition somewere.

"Hello!?"

The marine blinked, then tried again.

"Hello?"

There was no mistaking it this time, his voice was different, he didnt sound like a man anymore, although on the bright side he didnt exactly sound like a woman either. He sighed and sat for a while longer, it ocured to him some minutes later that his new spirit form could still move physical objects.

Trying not to feel guilty, he stripped his corpse of its clothes exept for his underwear and transfered the garments to what he now thought of as himself.

To his dismay, his armour was now too big for him even though he tried to make it fit by tightening it up as far as he dared, he threw it aside, cursing vehemently. Fortunatley the same problem did not ocure with his halter or his boots. He had begun to notice that he was depresingly light, so it was a great relife to dispel the feeling when he put the familiar objects back on his feet.

Abcently he picked up his headset and put it back on.

"HELLO...CAN...ANYONE...HEAR...ME!?"

Sergent Kellys voice roared though the marines head and echo'd off the insides.

"Yes! im here!" He yelped.

"Are you? Goddammit marine! why didnt you ansear me!?"

"I..." The marine paused, telling his superior that he was dead would not go down well.

"I was unconcius Sir, the scientist I was asinged to find put up a fight and we both ended up taking a nasty fall, hes dead, Sir"

"Yeah, so are alot of people now, if youd had your head set turned on youd have heard it happening, now listen carefully! The UAC apears to have been overrun by an invading force, there are a few other survivors like yourself and iv told them to gather back at HQ, we cant spare anyone so get your ass back up here. And whatever you do, dont get yourself killed!"

The marine stood there for a full minute after the sergent had tuned out. Then when his superiors last sentance had sunk in along with the others, he began to laugh. To him, at leist, at the moment, the irony of being told not to die was hysterical.

The marine threw back his head and howled.

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