Rachel Müller

Maybe it was the highway or the stocked radio transmission which was playing old country music. But one way or another there were they, in the middle of the dark highway inside Rachel's car. 

       Donnie O'Malley the 21-year-old recruit, with the curled and redheaded guy, more boy than man, more teen than witch hunter, the O'Malley's was one of the oldest families inside the order, then it was his friend Latrell Spencer, the guy was six-foot-tall, with short hair, handsome in all aspects, and one of the best witch hunters ever being in the order.

        His dark skin shined with the reflection of the passing car lights. The three of them where the last witch hunters in Maine, it was a large state for only three of them. Rachel was their leader, as the more experimented field agent, she took the roll of captain.

       Most of the recruits were from the families inside the order, too few from outside, Latrell was one of them, once, one badass lose cannon and rough cop in New York, now one of the best shooters inside the Saint Sofia's Order. Witches are real, since the XIX century, Maine was witch free, but as designed agents they had to keep watching.

      And it wasn't an easy job, teenagers all over the country were dig 'in the Heavy Black Metal Group Iron Rosen and the lead singer, People used to say that she is a wiccan, but not a true witch. Even with that, some of the members could be more and more appealing to witchcraft, and even worse, find true witches from whom they can learn.

      "Hey guys, do you know that there are two ways to become a witch" said Donnie O'Malley. The boy was reading this Rollo Manual.

      "Yes, by birth or baptize" answered Latrell, his voice was so manly and deep, so much different than O'Malley His voice was squeaky and annoying.

     "Wow, how did you know?" asked Donnie O'Malley

     "Because I read my Manual" answer Latrell

     "He was more like a squire, an intern, an apprentice a rookie in all senses. And rookies never last long" thought Rachel. They were driving to Fisher's Place, a small town 40 minutes far from Heaven's Peak. Rachel was a little tired, she had not intended to investigate in her free night, but she found quite rare the disappearances of children in the town. Before enter into the town Rachel had her car stopped .

    "Wait, what are you doing?" asked Donnie.

    "We are going walk" answered Rachel.

     Into the night, the woods looked even more spooky than ever, the blackness fill the gaps between trunks and the cry of the owls, and chirping of crickets were no help at all. The forestwas always scaring, because of can be find inside. Moments later Latrell opened the trunk. Inside were the weapons. 

       For centuries the Order of Saint Sofia's developed a very specific set of weapons to facilitate the hunting. The pistols where inside a metallic briefcase also some shotguns. As the magazines were filled with bullets. The munition was slippery as it had blessed oil spreaded on their exterior. The shotgun rounds had Salt brought from the Dead Sea in Middle East.

      Rachel couldn't avoid remembering the old times when she was just a beginner in the witch hunting. As the Inquisitors of the Vatican had the most contracts, the Saint Sofia's Order had to work twice harder and twice better. Mostly inside the East Coast of the United States, and some places of Canada, and Eastern Europe.

       Rachel got the rank of Knight, some of the middle ranks inside the Order. Latrell had the title of Sentinel, it was a small gap between a Knight and Sentinel, Mostly the Sentinels are more combat skilled. Of course Donnie was a Squire, but with the killing of her fifth witch could get the rank of Knight, over the knight, where the Paladins, Lord, Master and finally Elder.

      Then, she delivered the flashlights and the cameras that had to be recording the entire time, and set in a band over their heads. If there were some witch movement, they needed evidence to request some help to the order.

    "Remember do not spread from the group, our straight reside in our unity" said Rachel, then she started her march to the insides of the forest. There were not tracks or leads, foot prints or anything, just forest, and more forest, suddenly their flashlight started to blink.

    "Well that's odd" said Donnie O'Malley.

     "Yes, we are getting closer" said Latrell, the Sentinel was the first in start running. Then they found it, a big burned tree in a meadow. No other trees were near, even the grass did not grow, it was perfectly trimmed it looked suspicious, and then the horror.

      There she was, the body of a girl, or what was supposed to be a little girl, the limbs were bitten of her naked body, and half of her face was showing the skull. And there was nothing more like that. Was kind of shocking to watch the scene. Latrell got into his knees and started to analyze the crime scene.

      "Maybe it was a bear, or a wolf" said Donnie O'Malley, trying to avoid looking the corpse. The flesh was already rotten but something was not right, about this.

     "No, it was not a predator" said Latrell.

    "Explain why" answered Rachel, the girl also got in her knees and watch.

     "Some parts of the body were full of bite marks but the skin is not completely ripped." These are teeth of an herbivore, like a horse or a pig. When I was a kid I used to work in a farm outside the state.

     "So you are saying a boar could do this? boars eat meat?" asked Donnie.

    "No, not really" answered Latrell "They could eat everything"

      Then they heard a grunt. They turned around to see better. Some bright white milked eyes were watching from within the darkness. Then they saw a man silhouette but his head was abnormal, bigger than usual with a tromp. 

       "What kind of man has a pig tromp" thought Rachel. At the spotlight things change it, the only thing man about that monstrosity was his thorax well built. But only that, his legs were furry and resembled to a goat. In his shoulders was the big pig's head. As that thing started to grunt so the tromp of the pig's head "It's alive!" thought Rachel. His body was dripping a black liquid. Donnie freaked out and started shooting.

          The Pigman moaned in pain as the small oiled bullets penetrated his dripping black exterior. Then, the Pigman tackled Donnie, but Latrell quickly grabbed him by his jacket and threw him at the ground, before the pigman hit him. Rachel started shooting with her shotgun. But the Pigman quickly avoid it, then grabbed Rachel by her sweater and throw her to a near bush. Latrell shoot him twice. One in the pigs head the other in the stomach, the Pigman grunted again and run throw the forest.

       "Come on rookie, we can't let him escape" Latrell jump over the bushes and started running behind Pigman.

       Rachel had a slight hit on her head so she couldn't hear well for a time, white sound was the only thing she can hear from the lips of Donnie O'Malley, the guy was saying something. And then he left. Trying to follow the Sentinel.

      When Rachel came back to her senses she was the only one left there. She was alone in enemy territory. She could not let the fear to take advantage of her. She looked around trying to find her comrades. 

      Then she heard a scream and some shooting and then nothing. "Oh no, we should not have separated, our straight is in our unity" was saying to herself. Then she did a wrong step and fell in the grass. She tripped with a piece of wood or a stone or something. But when she got close to her flashlight she could saw.

    It was an arm! It was Latrell's arm ripped away. "Oh no, not so far from there were the rest of the young sentinel. His left arm was ripped off but that wasn't the worst part. over her head was a big rock. "Fuck sake, that thing smashed a big rock over his head" thought Rachel.

       Then she heard a whining coming by her front. As the light couldn't bright for so far she had to follow the whining. She looked him better, "Donnie" she thought. The boy was crying his eyes were red because of the tears and her face had spots of blood and dirt.

    "Help me, I can't feel my arms" said the guy.

    "Oh dear god!" she shouted. He his two arms were ripped off. Then Rachel run and embraced Donnie and made him lay on the ground.

     "It hurts so much" cried the boy.

    "I know; I know" she said. "Come, we have to comeback"

    "I don't want to die" cried again Donnie.

      "You are not" Said Rachel, but she was lying to the boy, there was no way Donnie could survive, the blood he had lost was too much by now.

    "Please don't leave me boss" cried the guy.

     "I'm not" replayed Rachel, then she hugged Donnie's head an embraced him. When she left Donnie the boy was already dead.

      Then Rachel heard a noise, and saw the shadow of the Pigman coming at her, she started to run the fastest she could. Running and avoiding the obstacles, it wasn't so far she reached her car. She opened it up quickly and drove the hell away from the forest.