Crossroads between North Stevens Street and Pera Avenue, El Paso, Texas
The man running down the street, black blood oozing from his wounds, reached the crosswalk, pushing past the few people waiting there, not even flinching as the semi-truck slammed into him, sending him flying a good nine feet. Getting out of the cab, the burly driver with a thick black beard and long hair dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans got out and ran over to where the dead man lay.
“Someone called 911!” The truck driver roared, as some of the bystanders dashed over, only for everyone to recoil as the dead man’s guts began to twist and convulse. “What the fu…” The truck driver swore as the man’s stomach burst open and a nest of black-scaled snakes slithered out of the corpse.
**
The El Paso police cordoned off the crossroads between North Stevens Street and Pera Avenue, their thick stab-proof vests and helmets—an oddity that the officers had adopted in the time before the flood and the disfunction that followed it. Standing over the body, the coroner held a hand over his mouth before shaking his head and walking away, leaving Detective Raina Chavez and a figure dressed in ballistic armour alone next to the body.
“I thought this may be something up your alley, Scarlet.” Detective Chavez stated as she pulled a pair of gloves on and bent down next to the body. “This man was gutted seemingly in plain view, and then his guts quite literally crawled away.”
“How is that up my alleyway?” The figure in ballistic armour asked as they tapped each finger on one hand onto their thumb.
“His guts turned into snakes. I’ve seen a few things and experienced a few as well.” Detective Chavez replied as she gestured to the crossbow bolt head strung on a chain around her neck. “But this, this feels like magic, which... well, ‘witch’.” She added as she gestured to Scarlet.
“Not exactly.” Scarlet replied bluntly as she bent down next to the body and removed a kris dagger, placing it into the corpse’s chest cavity so some black blood was present on the blade. “Are you checking for poison? Some rituals require toxins and concoctions to be ingested for them to take effect.”
“We are, although it was just to identify what species of snakes crawled out of him.” Detective Chavez announced as Scarlet brought the dagger up to eye level, her eyes narrowing behind the mask.
“I will see what I can do.” Scarlett replied as something on her wrist buzzed, causing her to start walking away to the nearest edge of the crime scene, only for Detective Chavez to follow her.
“Everything okay?”
“I have a lot of stuff to take care of; trust me, this isn’t anything important.” Scarlett replied before ducking under the crime tape and walking into the darkening city.
**
Smeltertown Cemetery, El Paso, Texas
The trail camera in the graveyard shot a photograph of the brown-scaled saurian figure dressed in leather armour as it flew through its field of view, the axe it was armed with clattering across the ground. Shifting backwards, the reptilian figure went to grab the axe as its compatriot thrust its spear at Scarlet, only for her to catch the spear with her elbow. Hissing and snarling, the humanoid lizard lunged forward to bite at her face, only to be punched in the face—a fragment of fang chipped off from the blow.
“You disrupt the hunt.” The reptile man, who had been armed with the axe, hissed as he charged at Scarlet, knocking her backwards over a gravestone. “We grow tired of the scraps thrown at us; the flesh of man will sustain us from now until the black sun rises.” It hissed, drops of green venom dripping from its jaws. The second reptile man moved in armed with its spear, the tip aimed at the woman’s chest, only for Scarlet to twist the spear, thrusting through the arm of the first reptile man pinning him to the gravestone.
“The Sons of Taloc are not to hunt humans as per my agreement with your Aj ka’ansaj.” Scarlet hissed as the second reptile man spun round and swung at her, claws slashing through the ballistic mask, ripping it off her face to reveal a gaunt, tired-looking face with short brown hair, dark eyes, and cupid bow lips.
“The old Aj ka’ansaj is dead; he was weak, but his pixan fills our belly.” The Son of Taloc hissed as he swung a clawed hand down towards her face, only for Scarlet to slam a punch-dagger through his hand. Recoiling, the Son of Taloc removed the punch dagger from his hand, only to feel a second blade stab into the base of his jaw. Blood dripping from the room, the Son of Taloc felt Scarlet kick him away, the blow winding him as he looked up at his potential prey and the detonator she held in her hand before an explosion ripped through the skull and hand, his body collapsing to the floor.
“You will pay for that!” The Son of Taloc, pinned to the gravestone, roared as he ripped away from the spear, leaving his hand behind.
“Tell this new Aj ka’ansaj to keep to the agreement or he will bring death to his people.” Scarlet warned as she removed another pair of bayonet mines disguised as punch daggers from her belt. Snarling, the Son of Taloc backed away before darting off towards the tomb it and its brother had crawled out of. Following him to the door of the tomb, Scarlet closed the doors behind it before walking over to where her ballistic mask lay and put it back on, only for her arm to buzz again.
Taking a deep breath, Scarlet removed the spear from the grave and scooped up the axe before walking towards the entrance of the graveyard.
**
The kettle hissed as Scarlet brought up a stack of books and placed them on her desk, her nose wrinkling as she placed them down in a row, her nose wrinkling slightly as she made sure they were all level on the tabletop. Choosing the largest of the books, Scarlet placed it on a computer chair before placing her hands on the top of the remaining books.
“Find what I seek.” Scarlet commanded, the two books flying open to their first pages as if an invisible reader were scanning the texts. As the kettle came to a boil, Scarlet walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. It had been a long night, with only a few hours’ sleep achieved after she had gotten back to her apartment. Taking a long sip, Scarlet walked back into the lounge and took the third book off the chair, and opened it up to begin the search for any ritual regarding the transmutation of human organs. Concentrating, Scarlet didn’t look up until she heard a knock on the door, causing her to glance at the alarm clock next to her unmade bed, which now read 09:00.
Racking her brain, Scarlet began to look around for any sign of who or what the visitor could be before locking eyes on a post-it note adhered to the door of her fridge by a ladybird magnet.
“Cleaner, 09:00…” Scarlet sighed as she placed the book, she was reading leaves down on the floor and got to her feet. Edging over to the door, Scarlet looked through the spyhole at the figure dressed in black trousers, a white tank top, and a black jacket, their face covered with a mask and dark glasses, and a fedora hat on their bald head. Unbolting the door, Scarlet opened the door, and the figure walked in, throwing its hat onto the computer chair.
“Nice pyjamas.” The figure hissed as it looked Scarlet up and down, taking in the yellow top and blue trousers she was wearing. “It’s all taken care of; the Confederacy of the Unliving thank you for your generous contributions.”
“You and your ghouls clean up those I kill, Zahak.” Scarlet replied as she looked at where the books were continuing to be read. “What benefit you get from those corpses is of little concern to me.”
“It keeps my boys out of the graveyards and away from humans who would try and kill us.” Zahak hissed as he slumped down in the computer chair. “You’re keeping the balance; your parents would be proud.”
“No, they wouldn’t.” Scarlet replied as she walked into the kitchen. “Why did you want to meet?”
“One of my ghouls, Lisette, is missing.” Zahak grumbled as Scarlet put the kettle on again. “She went off to her seasonal job at one of those haunted houses on a college campus last night and never came back. That was two nights ago; I don’t have to tell you how different my kind are when we’re starved.”
“Give me a location, and I will add finding her to my list.” Scarlet told him as one of the books slammed shut, while the second book froze, inanimate, and opened at what she had asked it to find. “Do I have your permission to inform the police about her disappearance?”
“Keep it vague.” Zahak hissed as he reclined back in the chair slightly. “The police are not exactly the most tolerant people in the city.” He added as Scarlet walked over to the book and ran her fingers down the text before coming to a stop.
“Zahak, you are old; have you heard of a ritual called Dam Hanachi?” Scarlet asked as she looked around for a piece of paper and a pen.
“I’ve heard of it. It’s an old Canaanite ritual that had something to do with summoning Moloch back to earth.” Zahak replied as he got to his feet and walked up to the desk. “There is one problem with that, however: Moloch is dead, slain by Yahweh in his crusade against the other gods.”
“Then Moloch can’t be summoned, so I have a killer who is not going to get what they want, which means they are going to keep going until they realise it’s not happening.” Scarlet sighed as she went to close the book, only for Zahak to stop her.
“There’s more; the ritual summons snakes,” Zahak explained as he turned the page and flipped a flap open, Scarlet’s eyes going wide with shock and horror. “There are consequences for leaving such magically summoned creatures lose, their purpose never fulfilled.” He continued as he flipped the fold open again two more times. “Big consequences.”
**
A black-scaled snake slinked through the grass towards the teenage boy who was cutting the wicks of a stack of firecrackers, all the time shooting sinister looks at the bird cage filled with white doves. Its supernatural senses had been drawn to the wickedness of this child—exactly what was required as a sacrifice to release Moloch into the world.
Turning to look at the snake, the teen removed a camping stick and tried to thrust it down at the snake, only to waver as something in him froze. Slithering towards him, the snake reached the boy and opened its mouth, flakes of skin, flesh, and bone coming off the teen’s body until nothing was left of him.
It’s hunger far from sated. The snake, now double the size it had been before it started feeding, slithered off, confused that it had made no progress towards its purpose to release the one it had been tasked to bring back into this world.
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