Beasts of Pennsylvania - | The Nature of the Beast |
30

As Davina cautiously walked through the hallways of the church, she listened closely to the sounds around her. If she heard breathing, she hid. If footsteps were headed in her direction, she hid. If she heard a door open, even from two hallways down, she hid as a precaution. She was also slowly starting to pick up on the scents of other’s. She found that some of the supernatural entities in the building had different scents to them. With ghouls, they had a subtly foul scent that seemed to enhance when they were too close to her. With witches, they had a warm, smoky scent to them. Immediately when it first found her nose, she thought of burning firewood. And with beasts, they smelt like, well, blood. She wondered if Dean and the others smelt the same as she did when around these entities. The sound of a door opening not far from her proximity caught her attention. She hid behind the corner of a wall, hoping whoever it was wouldn’t come across her hallway. She knew now she could put up a fight with a beast, even a genetically mutated one, but believed she was only able to as a result of Charlie’s encouragement. Davina noticed the amount of footsteps headed in her direction. There were two, heavy pairs of footsteps, and one light pair. She hadn’t realized it, but her claws had involuntarily came out to play. When she saw three shadows nearing her, she jumped around the corner, ready to claw at who she thought was her enemy. Instead, she found Colton, Ryan, and Gabby. Colton was the only to flinch and even let out a yelp, making Ryan slap his hand over his mouth.

“You are going to get us caught, Colton!” Ryan scolded. Colton rolled his eyes and licked the palm of Ryan’s hand. He let out a displeased grunt before wiping the palm of his hand on his shirt. Ryan then turned to Davina, giving her a slight nod as a greeting. With Davina’s former indifference when it came to beasts, the two never conversed much. Ryan had always been cordial with her, for the sake of his boyfriend, but Davina had a tendency of being cold. He was slightly taken aback when she gave him a small smile before putting her claws away.

“Now, I don’t need to be concerned about you, right?” Davina asked Ryan, making him frown at the sudden switch up. Colton did as well and immediately became defensive for his boyfriend.

“Of course not! Why would you need to be?” Colton asked.

“Because, I was spying on Vincent’s team at the cargo port not long ago and found Ryan there also. If we’re taking you along, I need to know if he’s done anything to you.” Davina said firmly, making all eyes land on Ryan. When he didn’t answer, Gabby grew impatient.

“Well?” Gabby asked.

“All truth, he hasn’t. I mean, he may have, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about.” Ryan answered.

“Why’s that?” Davina asked.

“I’m not modified. I was one of the first groups arriving here, so his experiments in the beginning mostly led to dead ends. I believe I was one of them.” Ryan said.

“So, I don’t need to worry about you?” Davina asked.

“Not me, no.” Ryan responded, bringing a frown to Davina’s face. Ryan found it strange how he couldn’t read her mind, making him frown as well.

“Who is there to worry about then?” Davina asked. Ryan was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh.

“Look, all genetically modified beasts started off as ghouls or witches. Obviously, you can’t be two at the same time. It’s just not possible. No amount of science can make it possible. So, sooner or later, I think they’ll become something we need to really concern ourselves with. Especially the enhanced beasts.” Ryan spoke.

“Enhanced ones? What enhanced ones?” Davina asked curiously.

“They’re all failures in his eyes. None of them work as he hoped for. He took beasts and tried to enhance them. Gave them more power than that had to start with. He’s got a few running around in here, but after a while, they become rabid and completely out of control. On the inside, however, they’re the same as they were before. They just can’t control themselves. I’m sure we all know what happens when a beast loses their humanity.” Ryan explained. Davina let out a shaky breath, stumbling back just a bit. Gabby took a step forward to help steady her from her sudden dizziness.

“What? What is it?” Colton asked. Davina bit down on her bottom lip, running her fingers through her multi-colored hair once she was steady.

“That’s what Vincent plans to do to me. He’s hopeful it’ll work because I have yet to transition.” Davina revealed. Her eyes then trailed over to Gabby. Only she knew what Davina had to do. That she had to take the risk and let Vincent inject her in order to kill him. Gabby’s dark, copper eyes held guilt though she tried to hide it. Davina knew the task wouldn’t be easy, but she needed to do it for her niece. For sweet baby Ayla, whom she’d yet to meet.

Yet again, Charlie and Niklaus were struggling to get along. Charlie tried to remain serious, but was finding it more and more difficult with Niklaus kept complaining every five minutes. The group was growing severely annoyed with the two of them, but none had voiced their opinions on it yet.

“Quit your whining! We’re in now. There’s no turning back around!” Charlie scolded Niklaus as they stood in the front entrance of the building.

“You don’t understand! There’s a body out there that has been rotting for far too long! Do you know how good that would tasted?” Niklaus cried out, feeling his stomach grumble within. Charlie only rolled his eyes at Niklaus.

“Is there any chance we could split up?” Marnie asked in an annoyed tone, finally having enough.

“We are splitting up, Marnie.” Xavier reminded her.

“I mean in a way that doesn’t get me stuck withthem.” Marnie clarified, not bothering to hide the disgust practically dripping from her voice.

“Unfortunately, not. We’ve established groups already. We’re sticking to the plan.” Victor spoke, making Marnie glare at him.

“Who made you in charge? Besides, I only do as I’m told if it’s him telling me to do it.” Marnie spat as she pointed at Dean. Dean quirked a brow at her. Immediately, she knew she was to obey Victor for the time being, making her scoff.

“Now, we’ll begin the search for Vincent while Dean, Jackson, and Charlie begin the search for Davina. Any questions?” Victor asked. Nobody in the group seemed to have any, but a voice from behind them spoke up.

“I do. Do any of you even know your way around here?” Anderson asked, appearing from behind the corner of a wall. Immediately, Jackson sped over to Anderson and pinned him up against a wall, emitting a grunt from him.

“You know, that deceitful heart of yours would look lovely on a silver platter, served to my dogs back at home. Does that sound asdelightfulto you as it does to me?” Jackson asked through gritted teeth, his tattooed hands wrapped tightly around the throat of Anderson.

“You and I both know it’d grow back.” Anderson wheezed out, trying to get some air for himself.

“Then, how about I take the same gun Davina pulled on you and shoot you myself?” Jackson asked as his grip tightened, making Anderson groan lowly as a result of the immense pain.

“Jackson, stop. He’s still on our side.” Charlie said as he tried to come in between the two of them. Jackson only glanced over at Charlie, raising a brow slightly. “Trust me, brother.” Charlie said. The name Charlie used made Jackson’s brows shoot up to his hairline. With no hesitation, he dropped Anderson entirely, letting him slide to the floor. Anderson let out repeated coughs as he glared up at Jackson.

“Perhaps I shouldn’t lead you to Vincent after all.” Anderson uttered. The King and his co-leaders exchanged a look, neither of the three seeming concerned by what Anderson said. Jackson then slowly crouched down on the floor. He reached out to fix the collar of Anderson’s shirt, making the red head flinch almost immediately. Jackson smirked as he made Anderson look a bit more presentable, then found Anderson’s emerald green eyes. The intense look in Jackson’s hazel ones made Anderson shudder, having the affect the co-leader was hoping for.

“Show them.” Jackson enunciated slowly. Anderson tried to hide it, but his eyes only widened slightly at the demanding tone of Jackson’s. After Jackson stepped back, Anderson begrudgingly pulled himself up from the ground, letting out a scoff as he glared at everybody.

“This way.” Anderson grunted before heading off down one of the hallways. The group, with the exception of Dean, Jackson, and Charlie, followed afterward.

“Beautifully done, Jackson. Let’s just hope your scaring didn’t make him back out of the deal I made for him to help us.” Charlie scolded lightly, making Jackson’s eyes cut to his friend.

“Deal?” Jackson asked a moment after processing Charlie’s words. Charlie’s eyes widened and he let out an awkward laugh, noticing both his King and his co-leaders eyes on him. He made an attempt to run off and down the hall to avoid confrontation, but was stopped by Dean gripping the back of his shirt. His grip was so tight, Charlie was almost certain he heard his shirt ripping from the Dean forcefully pulling him back. Charlie knew his friend wouldn’t never been capable of holding him as still as he was now if it weren’t for him properly feeding.

“It’s not that big of a deal! I swear it isn’t!” Charlie defended himself.

“Great. You can tell us all about it while we search for Davina.” Dean said as he and Jackson led Charlie down a hall, making him whine loudly.

Brayden was growing anxious as he watched his wife continuing to chant incantations. He’d watched the group enter the building, but didn’t understand why Sasha was still in a trance. He took a step froward, kneeling on the ground beside her. He then wrapped his hand around her arm.

“They’ve made it inside, Sasha. It’s time for us to start heading in as well.” Brayden spoke as he made an attempt to pull Sasha up from the ground, but was spun in another direction and tossed deep into the forest, hitting a tree hard enough to go unconscious. Sasha looked above, finding two enhanced beasts before her. Sasha took notice of the snarls emitting from one of them and how vicious they seemed. Immediately, she knew they were unlike the enemies they fought off in the courtyard.

“Brayden...” Sasha called out, expecting him to come running to her. She turned only slightly to find Brayden sprawled out across the ground, lying with no movement. She let out a shaky breath as she turned back to the two beasts in front of her. Before one of them could lunge at her, she held her hand out in their direction.

“Ignis!” Sasha shouted out in Latin. A moment after, the beast she cast a spell in the direction of was set aflame. As the other beast backed away, Sasha used this as an opportunity to do the same, and make it to her feet. The other, more vicious looking beast clawed at her, attempting to slash her in the face. She ducked beneath the claws of the beast and brought out her own, then sliced along the abdomen of them. The beast let out a cry before landing a hard back hand, sending her flying into a grave stone. She let out a pained cry as she tried to use the grave stone to pull herself up. Brayden was now stirring away and slowly bringing himself up from the dirt. The beast came at her once more and sliced it’s claws against her throat, making her let out another cry, and gaining Brayden’s attention.

“Sasha!” Brayden shouted as the beast continued their attack. After yet another slice to her throat, Sasha let out a screech as she used her beast-like ability to shove her opponent back.

“Anhelans!” Sasha spoke with her hand extended in the direction of the beast. Her opponent began to choke and eventually, fell to the dirt, twitching and spasming. Brayden finally came to Sasha’s side, immediately noticing a crazed look in her usually lovely and tamed eyes.

“Sasha.” Brayden called out once more. When she didn’t respond, he shook her shoulders. “Sasha!” He shouted, but found that she was locked in a trance once more. Blood started to trickle down her nose, telling Brayden she was losing control. “Baby, cut it out!” He shouted one final time, shaking her to the point that she was knocked out of the trance. She turned to her husband slowly. Her eyes then flicked down to the beast as it continued to twitch and spasm until coming to a halt. Blood seeped through the eyes, ears, nose, and fingernails of the beast. Sasha finally glanced down at her work, finding the beast had at some point returned to a human form. She was too shocked of her actions to realize the entity was no longer enhanced, but just the same as any regular beast.

“What have I done?” Sasha whispered to herself, putting her face in her hands. Brayden was quick to wrap his arms around her tightly, holding her to him as she sobbed against him.

“Okay, you must understand. When I made this deal with him, it was only because we needed the help, alright?” Charlie spoke as he, Dean, and Jackson walked throughout one of the hallways of the church. They came across a few genetically mutated beasts, but quickly put an end to them, and discarded the bodies throughout random rooms they found.

“Out with it, Charlie.” Dean spat. He then glanced down at his leather jacket with a frown, finding some remains of the last beast he killed. He swiped off, what looked like an ear, from his jacket, and awaited Charlie’s response.

“I may or may not have told Anderson that I’d make sure Davina goes through with the ritual.” Charlie revealed, making Jackson scoff.

“Charlie, we cannot force her into doing something she doesn’t want to do.” Jackson scolded lightly, making Charlie come to a halt.

“I told you both I only made the deal so that he’d help us! I know we can’t force her as much as I desperately want to!” Charlie confessed before continuing down the hall. Charlie didn’t have to read the minds of his King and co-leader to know that they both felt the same. The three beasts understood how selfish it was for them to think such a thing. Of course, they all knew they’d never do it. They knew how adamant Davina was on not becoming a beast. Not a single one of them believed she wouldn’t pull her own gun on herself to escape becoming what they are.

“She’s a stubborn one, isn’t she?” Jackson spoke, emitting a small chuckle. Charlie joined in, seemingly agreeing with him.

“A stubborn one we’ll all come to miss when she finally...” Charlie attempted to finish his sentence, but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“Terribly. We’ll miss her terribly. She isn’t dead yet, however. So, let’s focus on finding her, alright?” Dean asked, earning a nod from both Jackson and Charlie. Before they could near the corner of another hallway, six genetically mutated beasts jumped out in front of them, staring menacingly. Dean was the first to act. He reached forward, twisting the beast in another direction before attacking. Jackson and Charlie took turns passing around the remaining five beasts, working together wonderfully. When Dean finished with his opponent, leaving him on the floor, headless, he turned around to assist Jackson and Charlie. Both co-leaders didn’t expect Dean to take on the remaining five entirely on his own. He sent heads rolling down the hallway within just a few seconds of each other. When he turned back, without breaking as much as a sweat, he found both Jackson and Charlie leaned up against the wall with raised brows.

“Show off.” Jackson teased, bringing a smirk to Dean’s face.

“Jealous?” Dean retorted, earning a chuckle from Jackson.

“I am adequate in many things that you aren’t, my King.” Jackson responded. For once, Dean wasn’t upset at the mention of his title. He was feeling rather amused with the playful banter the two were having. They’d both been tense around each other lately due to the both of them having strong feelings for Davina. It was a breath of relief for Dean that they could still joke around as they were.

“Yeah? Name one.” Dean uttered as he begun rounding the corner of the hallway, both of his co-leaders following afterward.

“I am an excellent lover.” Jackson said with a smug smile.

“You ought to be in order to make up for your lack of adequacy in the nether regions.” Charlie joked, making Dean burst out into laughter, which was quite rare for him to do. Jackson playfully tackled Charlie, resulting in him letting out a screech. Dean scolded him for being too loud before the three stopped their antics and continued their search for the woman they all loved.

Meanwhile, Victor’s group had finally reached the southwest end of the church. They were greeted by tall, double doors with an array of colored mosaic windows to peek inside the other room. After Anderson dropped them off at the door, he headed to the upper level to take care of anybody lurking around the balcony on the inside of the room.

“Just a random thought, we’re not gonna like... burn the moment we step into here, right?” Xavier asked. Catrice snickered.

“Why would we?” Catrice entertained what she assumed was an unserious question.

“Well, you know. I’m sure everybody here has killed a human or two in their lifetime.” Xavier spoke in a very serious tone.

“I haven’t.” Elliot piped up, making all heads turn to him.

“I guess if it comes down to it, you’ll be the one to save us all, little man.” Niklaus joked as he patted on the back of the young boy, making him gulp. Aaron smirked down at his younger brother before he made his way over to the door and placed a hand on the door handle, the other being occupied with a hand gun. Victor did the same and held up his hand for a countdown. Once he reached the final number, both him and Aaron opened the door at a fast pace, finding Vincent in the front of the room. He conversed with another, not seeming to notice the presence of the others. They all exchanged glances as they headed down the aisle. They only came to a halt when Vincent finally acknowledge them. He let out a hum as leaned against the altar sat behind him.

“Do you recognize this place?” Vincent asked. The group exchanged another look, wondering who Vincent was speaking to until Victor took a step forward.

“I do. I remember you taking us to church here every Sunday morning.” Victor replied. Vincent started at him for a moment before standing up straight.

“And if you recall, there were a few times in the evening I took you here. But, never for a service.” Vincent spoke. Victor frowned for only a moment before remembering a few of those times he was brought here. He was ordered to stay in an empty room and to not wander the halls. He certainly wasn’t allowed downstairs either. He didn’t know it at the time, but Vincent started experimenting on beasts far longer than he assumed. Vincent had begun in Victor’s adolescent years. After Jackson killed Vincent’s mother, he knew he needed to begin his work right away. He bought the church off of it’s last owners, decided it’d still serve it’s purpose of being a church, but downstairs is where he’d preform his experiments considering what large of a space it was. He felt it was the most discrete place and it also reminded him why he was doing this in the first place; to protect Victor. It had since turned more into him simply hating the beasts, but Victor was always the main reason for his cause.

“Where the hell did you take my daughter?” Victor asked in a low voice as he held his gun up at his only brother. Vincent let out an amused chuckle.

“You can go ahead and fire that gun, but it won’t hit me. I am protected at all times.” Vincent said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Almost immediately, beasts appeared throughout the room, all becoming visible to the group. It was apparent to the group that they weren’t genetically modified, but none of them knew just about how rabid the beasts were. Aaron let out a heavy sigh.

“Guess we’re doing this again...” Aaron muttered.

“We’re missing several members of our team. How should we go about this?” Marnie asked as they all backed up into a circle, their eyes flicking over every inch of the room in case of an attack from one of the beasts.

“I know what I could do.” Elliot uttered.

“Yeah? What’s that, buddy?” Niklaus asked. Without saying a word, Elliot made his way past Vincent, who was waiting for the fight to begin, and crawled under the communion table. He pulled the table cloth down until it reached the floor, making sure to conceal himself completely. Lucian, having a lot of pent up anger from what he learned about his now ex-fiancée, was the first to strike. He landed a few solid punched on two of his enemies and eventually swept them of their feet with a spin kick to their sides. They went flying back into the pews, making Lucian smirk. Catrice was next up. She was quick to pounce on one of their enemies, sending the both of them tumbling down the aisle as they clawed at one another. The rest of the group then headed into battle using claws, weapons, and of course, teeth. As they fought, Vincent slowly pulled up the table cloth Elliot had pulled down. Immediately, Elliot’s eyes found his father’s, making him gulp.

“Where are the other three?” Vincent asked firmly.

“I-I’m not sure who you’re referring to.” Elliot stuttered.

“You know exactly who I’m referring to, Elliot. Where is the beast King and his co-leaders?” Vincent asked once more, only this time, his voice showed Elliot just how adamant his father was on getting an answer from him. Elliot didn’t want to cave. He aways had when he was younger. He’d confess to something him or the others did, solely due to how fearful he was of his father. He couldn’t be weak in this moment. He had to remain strong. When Vincent realized Elliot wasn’t budging, he pulled him out from underneath the table, gripping tightly at his button down flannel. Before Vincent could say another word, Elliot let out an ear-piercing, ground shaking, screech, that made all of the beasts stop what they were doing and cover their ears.

Dean, Jackson, and Charlie, who were previously contemplating whether or not they should split up to search for Davina, covered their ears, letting out pained groans as they tried to bear through the pain. Dean knew upon hearing the scream, it was time to return. He fought through the pain as he pulled on the other two, taking them in the direction of Elliot’s unusual scream.

Ryan fell to the floor, letting out a cry of his own as he covered his ears. Davina, having heard a similar scream before, was unbothered. She could feel a pressure within her ears, but wasn’t as affected as Ryan seemed. She was, however, incredibly concerned for Ryan. As was Colton.

“Hey, what is it?” Colton asked as he joined Ryan on the floor.

“That noise! You don’t hear it?” Ryan asked in a frantic voice.

“I certainly do. Stay here with him while I go figure out where it’s coming from.” Davina said.

“As if I’d ever leave.” Colton uttered as he remained at Ryan’s side. Gabby followed after Davina, following closely.

Dean, Jackson, and Charlie barged into the room the scream came from, finding members of their group all flailing around, trying to balance themselves after hearing Elliot’s screech. The affects they had from the screech weren’t foreign to them. When supernatural’s hear such a powerful screech, they tend to flail around, lose balance, and forget what they’re doing, momentarily. Dean, Jackson, and Charlie had recovered much sooner, but were now left confused. They didn’t think it was possible for a male to be a banshee. They then remembered who Vincent. It made sense that he impregnated another woman of the supernatural world. Vincent let out a huff and shoved his son back. Without saying a word, he landed a solid slap to the face of Elliot, making him stumble back. All of Vincent’s children had endured his abuse before. Not always had it been Vincent. In fact, it was quite rare that he chose to deliver punishment. But, Elliot, being as young as he was, he’d yet to endure any from his father. It made him tear up a bit.

As Davina and Gabby headed down one of the hallways, they found Anderson flailing around, struggling to keep his balance. She noticed a few other beasts or genetically modified one’s on the floor, but paid no mind to them as she stepped over their unconscious or lifeless bodies, and made her way over to Anderson.

“Hey, jackass!” Davina shouted, soon pinning him up against a wall. The action knocked Anderson out of it and he was now present once more. Anderson went to shove her, realizing it wasn’t Jackson having him shoved up against a wall, but then realized he couldn’t lay a hand on the person before him either. He knew if he did, he’d have to answer to the beast King and his co-leaders. He certainly didn’t want that.

“Relax, Davina! I never fully switched sides. I’m still helping the rest of you out.” Anderson grunted out due to her arm being pinned against his chest. He was a little shocked at how quickly her abilities were kicking it. At how well she was holding him in place. She glared at him for a moment before stepping back.

“Fine. I’m kicking your bitch ass after this, though.” Davina spat harshly, making Gabby let out a small chuckle.

“What? Why?” Anderson inquired. He didn’t think anything was wrong and was confused as to why she’d want to.

“For Eloise.” Davina spoke before spotting a balcony nearby. “That room. What is it?” Davina asked.

“Southwest end of the church. Vincent should be in there.” Gabby responded, making Davina start heading in that direction immediately. She couldn’t see quite yet what was going on beneath her, but she could hear perfectly. She heard Vincent scolding someone rather harshly. She wasn’t aware the group had come to save her, so she wasn’t sure who was below her. She did, however, hear Vincent throw out the name ‘Elliot’ and ‘disappointment’ in the same sentence. Davina then heard Vincent slap him for a second time. Upon hearing that, she wasted no time running for the railing. Anderson made an attempt to hold her back and keep her from going berserk, but she tore his arm from around her waist before she hoisted herself over the railing, and down to whatever was beneath her.

authors note : This is MY STORY- nobody elses! all rights are reserved to me!

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