Chapter 1: The man

The moon shone dimly on the small town. Not many people were out at this hour, the stranger in the coat places a cigarette to his mouth, cupping his hand around the end as he light it, as if trying to remain out of sight from something. He takes a long inhale in, then exhales a cloud of smoke as he walked further into the cemetery. The only other person that should be here at this hour was the keeper, but he was nowhere to be seen, perhaps he was napping. The man reaches the shack that houses all the keeper needs, peering inside he can’t really see much, the lights were out, door was also locked. He walks around the back to see drops of blood, human. He flicks away the used cigar without any care for where it would land. From the shadows a grotesque creature lurks, it steps into the dim light of the moon, it stood tall, around 6 feet. This one was new, its long arms covered in a dark skin plating, its sharp claws dig into the earth as it take stance. The pale red eyes were locked onto the man as he stand their waiting, it paces around keeping its distance from the man, until it decided to lunge. Almost as if he has experience with the thing he timely side steps out of the way, narrowly avoiding the creatures claw managing to get away with nothing more than a scratch on the check. From within his coat the man takes a polished gold and white dagger, he walks towards the thing with an unnerving calmness, causing the creature to hesitate for a mere moment, a mere moment too long. The man had more than enough time to swiftly jab at the creature, precise points that rendered the arms immobile, the final hit piercing its heart. The man twists the dagger as he pulls it out, flicking it at the ground to remove the dark red blood. The thing had begun to rot, it should fully decay by sunrise. Not even a few feet away was the keepers mutilated body, his chest cavity ripped open, a few of his ribs were missing, along with his heart, most likely eaten. The man walks away as he lights another smoke, he takes a deep inhale, and lets out a more pleased exhale. The authorities can deal with the body, that wasn’t his problem, all that was on his mind now was going home.