Shadow Demon Pt. 01

Frank hated this. Watching the shipments was a complete boring waste of time. No-one would bother hitting Crackles shipment of angst tonight, let alone know about it. Besides Frank there were five other guys at the warehouse, each of them carrying the same automatic rifle as him with two extra clips on their person.

Frank took another drag of his cigarette looking out into the night. It wasn't a bad night, wasn't a hot night but it wasn't too cold like most nights. The humidity felt good on his lungs, reminding him that at the rate he was going on this pack of cigarettes, he'd be coughing himself awake when he got home in the morning. The thought prompted him to finish the one he was on and move the pack to a different pocket, a passive aggressive way to remind himself that he was done smoking for tonight.

"Where the fuck are they?" frank mumbled to himself. It's not like it takes this long to move one stash from the east side to the north side of the city.

They weren't moving much angst yet. The drug was still new to the streets and few people knew about it. It was a new hallucinogen that made people shit bricks in fear of even a squeaky floor board. They were selling small amounts to high school and college kids. The only people after it was the fear junkies that need their horror films to feel a bit more real. A bit might be an understatement. Last week one of the kids he sold angst to ended up cutting up a movie attended when she asked him for his ticket. The kid stated that the attendant had a gun on him under the counter, but she obviously didn't, he just took the stuff to early and got paranoid enough to attack someone. Luckily, everyone thought he had a mental breakdown after getting kicked off his sports team. Cops won't have any idea that angst even exists till Crackle's operation is well established.

Frank checked his watch. 11:54pm. The shipment is 14 minutes late.

Frank sighed and looked to the guy standing next to him. Oreo had the same bored look as frank while twirling his long white and black hair between his fingers.

"Stop doing that! Makes you look like a school girl." Frank said while batting Oreo's hand from his hair.

"Sorry, force of habit since I started growing it out. Never had long hair before." Stated Oreo. He then forced his hands into his pocket to stop his hand from going to his hair.

Frank looked around for the other three guys positions in search of someone else to pick on. He froze. One of the other guy's automatics was lying next to a chair in a dark puddle, which he assumed was blood or hopefully coffee.

"Where the fuck is everyone?" Frank said in to no-one in particular. Oreo turned to look in the direction of frank's gaze.

"They go to take a pis-" dumbly questioned Oreo before he cut himself off at the sound of a distant man's whimper. The whimper was followed by the sickening sound of what sounded like 30 pounds of meat dumping across the ground.

"Against the crate. Now!" Frank forcefully whispered to Oreo while pointing to a dark corner they could hide behind. Both Frank and Oreo quickly moved behind the crate, raising their guns in the direction of the noise. Frank strained his eyes trying to see on the other side of warehouse, beyond the light of the single lamp hanging from the ceiling. He could tell there was something over there, but it seemed that in a spot a car's length wide it was darker than it should be. Then a humanoid figure moved in the darkness. Like an animal raising its head from a kill, the figure hung its head as if listening. The figure then turned its head to the crate Frank and Oreo were behind and opened a pair of snake-like crimson eyes. Frank heard a distorted feminine chuckle as if the figure's lungs were filled with smoke. The area around the creature darkened a shade, then lightened to match the surrounding area, taking the shape of the figure with it.

"Is it gone?" asked Frank watching the area where the creature was crouching.

"Mhhh!" whimpered Oreo. Frank looked to Oreo seeing the man's panicked eyes and a hand of black mist over his mouth and neck. He could see the creature's face over Oreo's shoulder looking at him. The creature had a lean build and was made complete out of black swirling mist, except for the pair of snake-like crimson eyes frank saw on the other side of the warehouse. It had a reptilian-like tail flicking back and forth like a cat. Frank could see the shape of a sly smile in the mist of the creature's face, mocking him. Suddenly, Oreo's head was whipped to the side with the sickening crunch of the man's neck snapping.

"Wha! Nooo!" Frank screamed. He frantically staggered back from the creature falling on his back. Frank continued to shuffle back toward the center of the warehouse in a pathetic attempt to put as much distance between himself and the creature. The creature stood up from Oreo's body and walked with slow confidence towards Frank, its hips seductively swaying. Frank made it to the center of the room, underneath the only source of light in the room. The creature continued to walk towards him, then stopped just at the edge of shadows untouched by the glow of the lamp. The creature then placed one foot forward into the light. The black mist surrounding the foot was peeled back as it entered the light, revealing the heeled black leather thigh-high boot of a woman. The figure confidently continued into the light and walked towards Frank as it had before. The black mist peeling away from the figure to revealing a stunning woman with long black hair and blue eyes emphasized by black eyeliner. She was clad in a black leather catsuit tailored to the exact shape of her body. Frank guessed the suit was armored lightly, based on the repeated hexagonal texture faintly visible on the surface. From the neck to just below the navel ran a metal zipper that was pulled down between her breasts to reveal her cleavage. She wore a black mask that attractively outlined her eyes, seemingly to be more of an aesthetic then to conceal her identity. The gloves she wore ran up to her elbow and had what looked like painted black metal claws at the finger tips, while the knuckles were protected by metal pieces of the same colored metal.

"Few people are lucky enough to see me outside of the shadows" she spoke. The woman finished walking up to Frank and crouched before him to meet him at eye level. She placed a gloved hand lightly on his cheek. "It's a shame that you won't be able to tell anyone about it" she said as she ran her clawed finger down his check and across his chest, just lightly enough to not break the skin. "Although, even in death you can still leave a message for me" her finger started tracing the outline of his chest through his shirt. "What if I told you that I would let you live if you tell me what the black stuff was in the truck I stumbled across?"

"I... umm..." shuddered Frank. His heart was racing, making it hard to say any thing without choking up. Tears started to weep from his eyes, he was terrified. He never really liked Oreo or the other guys, but he would never wish them dead. The way she looked at him as she snapped Oreo's neck, like she was showing him that necks were supposed to do that. He couldn't meet her eyes and he stared down at his pants. "It's drugs" he managed to mutter.

"Funny, it looked like black tar." She said with zero humor in her voice. "What are the drugs called, hot stuff". Her hand no longer tracing his chest and moving to his neck.

"Angst. It's... it's a hallucinogen" Frank choked out.

"I see. Who makes angst?" she said, her hand starting to tighten around his throat.

"Crackle! That's all I know him as, I don't know his real name" Frank wheezed.

"Ha, your quick to dish out info on your boss. Where might I find him? "the woman asked.

"He owns the bar on 1st, The wolf's den" Frank barely managing to get the words out as he started to see stars in his eyes.

"Well then, me and Crackle are going to have a little visit later." The woman said as she released Franks throat and slowly stood up. Frank started coughing at the sudden release of pressure from his throat. The woman turned and started walking towards the shadows, her hips swaying back and forth, granting Frank a view of her shapely ass that was clearly defined through her suit.

"I swear I won't tell anyone about this, Crackle will never know your coming" Franked called after the woman as she stepped into the shadows, once again becoming swallowed by a cloud of black mist, with the reptilian tail reforming. The woman chuckled, her voice noticeably muffled and distant now that she was covered in the mist. She looked over her shoulder towards Frank, snake-like red eyes staring at him.

"I don't doubt you, not that I was actually going to give you a chance to warn him." the woman said. Like before, the area around her darkened then lightened to the shade it was supposed to be. Seeing that she had gone, Frank begins to hang his head, only to lift it back up again when he hears something above him snap. The light goes out and the lamp falls to the floor, glass shattering. The area around him darkens and the woman's smoky hand is suddenly holding him by the throat. She raises him off the floor by his neck bringing him to eye level.

"You have been so helpful handsome. It would be cruel of me to leave without giving you a good-bye kiss" she said, her voice distorted by the smoke. She moved her lips to his. Frank could feel her lips touching his own, but they weren't completely solid, as if he was kissing condensed smoke swirling over his lips. Frank could see out of his peripheral the smoke surrounding her starting to incase him as well. Everything was becoming darker till Frank couldn't see his own nose. The woman's lips became more solid and real. Frank could feel her tongue exploring his own. She moved her hand to the back of his neck, while the other hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling herself against him. Frank started giving into the kiss. He moved one of his hands to the back of her head, while the other grabbed her ass through the leather suit. Their tongues were dancing in synchronization, each smoothly fighting for their favorite spot. Frank moved his hand down her ass to her thigh, suddenly pulling it up around him. She moaned, surprised by his initiative. He started to feel the warmth of her pussy against his hip through her catsuit. The woman's breathing quickened, their kiss still ongoing.

"Enough!" a deep voice spoke from behind Frank. The woman stopped, stepping back from Frank and wiping some saliva from the side of her lip.

"That was... Impressive. You kiss as good as you look, handsome." the woman said winking, then turned her head to look behind Frank.

"Need you do that to all the males before I consume them?" Said the deep voice to the woman.

She smirked. "Only the ones I find attractive. It's not like I'll have a chance after your done with them."

The voice snorted.

Frank began to turn in the direction of the voice. It was just then that he noticed that he wasn't in the warehouse anymore. He was in a dark study, with the walls covered in books with odd sigils and runes. The carpet was a shade of deep red. An extremely large desk was on one side of the room, its legs shaped into claws gripping the floor, while hands were shaped to hold up the top of the desk. The chair of the desk was also very large in the shape of a bowl, the wood work was of people agonizingly stacked up on top of each other surrounding the padded crimson leather of the cushion. Frank continued turning till he wished he hadn't. Before Frank stood a serpent-like creature twice his size, it stood erect like a cobra staring down at him. The creature had long thin arms that came into clawed hands the length of Frank's torso. The face had the same crimson eyes the woman had when she was covered in smoke, but also had a wide mouth full of multiple rows of pointed teeth. The creature was covered a thin layer of swirling black mist like how the woman was now.

"Your just in time for supper mortal." Said the creature.

It then lunged its hand forward into Frank's chest. Frank tried to scream, but his body would only inhale. Frank looked down at the hand that penetrated his chest. Black mist was creeping from the wound over the rest of his body till it completely encased him. His skin started to burn. He could smell the stench of his burning flesh in his nose. Frank then felt as if he was being pulled towards the hand of the creature, yet his body never moved.

Then everything was still. Frank was adrift, floating in swirling darkness. He couldn't think of why or how he got here, only that he was terrified of something.