With These Bands I Summon I
Chapter 1: White Girl Wasted
– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –
Scarlett stumbled down the street, the world spinning around her like a fucking carousel. Shit, maybe I overdid it this time, she thought, her head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton candy. The fight with her girls was a blur, just a hazy memory of scraping nails and smeared makeup. Fuck ’em. I don’t need their drama.
The catcalls from the looking losers on the corner grated on her nerves. Keep walking, assholes, she muttered, her words slurring together. I’m fucking sixteen! Her platform boots clomped against the grimy pavement, the sequins on her top flashing like a disco ball under the flickering streetlights.
She ducked into an alley, hoping to find a shortcut to the subway. Gotta get home before I pass out, she thought, her vision swimming. The air felt colder here, sending a shiver down her spine. Fucking creepy.
The shadows seemed to be moving, playing tricks on her booze-soaked brain. Just seeing things again, she reassured herself, trying to ignore the way her hands shook. Need another drink to take the edge off.
Suddenly, a noise like a fucking jet engine exploded from the darkness. Scarlett froze, her heart pounding so hard she thought it might bust outta her chest. What the fuck?
Something huge and straight outta a horror movie burst into the alley, all writhing gray skin and too many limbs. It moved too fast, the air around it shimmering like a mirage. Fuck, fuck, fuck! Run, bitch! her mind screamed, but her legs wouldn’t budge.
She fell on her ass, the impact sending a jolt of pain through her body. But she barely noticed, too busy staring at the nightmare charging toward her.
Outta nowhere, a blur slammed into the monster like a fucking wrecking ball. Scarlett blinked, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. It was a boy, no older than her, moving like a human glow stick. Blue and black energy crackled around him as he laid into the living nightmare with his fists.
Holy shit, Scarlett thought, her jaw dropping. The boy’s mohawk was bleached blond, standing out against his dark clothes. He looked like he’d stepped outta some kinda anime, all badass and shit.
The monster roared, the sound making Scarlett’s teeth rattle. It swung at the boy, trying to shake him off, but he held on like a pit bull. “SHUT UUUUUP!” he yelled, his voice bouncing off the alley walls.
He punched the creature again, the force of it sending shockwaves through the ground. Scarlett felt the tremors under her ass, the sensation too real to be another drunken hallucination.
This can’t be happening, she thought, her mind reeling. I must be tripping balls. But the cold concrete beneath her and the stench of the alley told her otherwise.
Time seemed to stretch and warp, seconds feeling like hours as she watched the fight unfold. The boy moved like a blur, his glowy fists pounding the monster like it owed him money. The creature thrashed and howled, its messed up body twisting in ways that made Scarlett’s stomach churn.
I’m gonna puke, she thought, her head spinning faster than a tilt-a-whirl. But she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the insanity in front of her.
The ground shook with every blow, the vibrations rattling Scarlett’s bones. Trash cans toppled over, their contents spilling across the alley like confetti at a fucked up party.
Scarlett’s brain felt like it was short-circuiting, trying to process the nightmare fuel she was witnessing. This can’t be real, she kept telling herself, but the pain in her ass and the chill in the air said otherwise.
I need some harder shit, she thought, her eyes wide and unblinking. This is some next-level crazy.
But even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew it was a lie. No amount of booze or pills could conjure up something like this. This was real, as real as the scratches on her arms and the pounding in her head.
Fuck me, Scarlett whispered as she sat there frozen, her mind reeling like a fucking VHS on rewind. The monsters, the ones she’d been seeing since she was a kid, the ones no one else could see, were right there in front of her. And someone else could see ’em too. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
No, someone else could fight them. Her brain was short-circuiting, trying to process instead of just giving up and letting her pass out.
All those shrinks, all those meds, all those years of feeling like a fucking nutjob… and this shit was real? The thought made her head spin faster than a bottle of Jack on an empty stomach.
“Fuck!” The boy’s shout snapped her outta her daze. He glanced up at her, his eyes widening like he’d just noticed she was there. “A civ? Double fuck!“
The monster beneath him started doing some freaky shit, its body shaking like a junkie going through withdrawals. Suddenly, a mouth opened up in the middle of the damn thing, and another one of those fuckers burst out like a chest-buster from Alien.
Scarlett couldn’t help it, she screamed. The sound tore outta her throat, raw and primal. The blond boy’s head whipped back to her, his eyes nearly bugging outta his skull. “You can see the-!”
Before he could finish, the mini-monster tackled him, sending him flying into a dumpster. The impact was so hard, the damn thing flipped over, the sound of metal crunching echoing through the alley.
The big monster turned its attention to Scarlett, its eyes or whatever the fuck those things were on its face locking onto her. Its spawn was focused on the boy, who was staggering to his feet, still on all fours like a dog.
He saw her, saw the monsters zeroing in on their targets. “Yo, girl, run!”
Scarlett hesitated, her legs feeling like they were made of Jell-O. The monster roared, the sound ripping through her like a chainsaw. Fuck this, she thought, panic taking over.
She scrambled to her feet, her platform boots slipping on the grimy pavement. She ran, heading back the way she came, towards the main street. Gotta get outta here, gotta find help, gotta-
Another roar cut through her thoughts, this one different. Less like a bad sound effect and more like a bunch of cars trying to start at once. What the fuck now?
A second later, a new nightmare rounded the corner. It looked like a salamander, but fucked up beyond belief. Blood-red skin, bubbling like boiling soup. More legs than a centipede, each one sticking out at weird angles.
Scarlett screamed again, the sound bouncing off the narrow walls of the alley. She veered to the side, lunging for the nearest door. It was an old building, probably abandoned, but she didn’t give a shit. Anywhere was better than out here with these fucking monsters.
Her heart was hammering against her ribs, the sound of it nearly drowning out the chaos behind her. This can’t be happening, she thought, her mind reeling. I’m tripping, I gotta be.
But the chill of the night air, the stench of rotting garbage, and the trembling of the ground beneath her feet told her otherwise. This was real, as real as the pounding in her head and the scratch of her sequined top against her skin.
I’m not crazy, she realized, the thought hitting her like a slap to the face. All these years, all the shit I’ve seen… it was real.
The revelation made her stomach churn, the bile rising in her throat. She swallowed it back down, her eyes darting around the abandoned building she’d just stumbled into.
Gotta find a place to hide, she thought, her mind racing. Gotta wait it out ’til those things are gone.
She took a step forward, her legs shaking like a newborn foal. The floor was covered in dust and debris, the air smelling like mothballs and old piss.
Better than being monster chow, she reminded herself, trying to ignore the way her skin crawled.
She moved deeper into the building, her breath coming in short, sharp gasps. The sounds of the fight outside were mutedhere, but still too close for comfort.
That boy, she thought, her mind flashing back to the blond with the glowy hands. He was fighting those things. He knew what they were.
The realization made her head spin. All this time, she thought she was alone, the only one who could see the monsters. But now… now she knew different.
I gotta find him, she thought, her jaw clenching with sudden determination. I gotta get some answers. But not now.
She ran like hell, her heart pounding in her chest as she tore through the abandoned building. The place was dark as shit, the only light coming from the moon peeking through the cracks in the boarded-up windows. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she chanted in her head, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The roars of the monsters outside seemed to follow her, bouncing off the moldy walls and sending shivers down her spine.
Scarlett ran like hell, her heart pounding in her chest as she tore through the abandoned building. The place was dark as shit, the only light coming from the moon peeking through the cracks in the boarded-up windows. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she chanted in her head, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The roars of the monsters outside seemed to follow her, bouncing off the moldy walls and sending shivers down her spine.
She took the stairs two at a time, her platform boots thunking against the rotting wood. Gotta hide, gotta get away, gotta- Her thoughts were cut off as the stair beneath her foot gave way, the wood splintering like it was made of fucking toothpicks. She yelped as her leg plunged through the broken step, jagged edges tearing at her thigh.
Motherfucker! She gritted her teeth, the pain cutting through the haze of booze and adrenaline. She yanked her leg free, ignoring the blood dripping down her skin. Aingt got time to bleed, she thought, stumbling up the rest of the stairs.
The second floor was just as much of a shithole as the first, the air thick with dust and the stench of decay. Scarlett’s eyes darted around, looking for somewhere, anywhere, to hide. There! A metal closet door, hanging crooked on its rusty track.
She lunged for it, nearly eating shit as her boots skidded on the grimy floor. She slid the door shut behind her, the metal screeching like nails on a chalkboard. Shut up, shut up, shut up, she begged silently, pressing her hands over her mouth to muffle her heavy breathing.
In the darkness of the closet, she could feel the sticky warmth of blood on her thigh. Fuck, that’s gonna sting tomorrow. But even as the thought crossed her mind, she realized the pain was already fading. Weird, she mused, usually takes longer than that to-
A deafening crash from outside the building cut off her train of thought. Scarlett’s eyes snapped to the slats in the closet door, her heart hammering against her ribs. Through the gaps, she could see the boy from before, the one with the glowy hands, being used as a fucking battering ram by the monster. Its copies swarmed him, tearing at him with their freaky-ass limbs as they slammed through the brick wall like it was made of paper mache.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy- Scarlett’s mental chant was interrupted as the boy came flying through the metal door, his curly blond head smashing through it like a fucking cannonball. The door crumpled like a tin can, falling off its track in a twisted heap.
“…ow,” the boy groaned, his voice thick with pain.
Scarlett screamed, the sound tearing from her throat as she scrambled out of the ruined closet. Her head was spinning, the world tilting around her like a carnival ride from hell. She stumbled forward, her feet moving on autopilot, every instinct screaming at her to run.
She didn’t get far. The floor beneath her feet, rotted by years of neglect and water damage, gave way like a trapdoor to Satan’s asshole. Scarlett felt herself falling, the splintered wood rushing up to meet her, and then-
Pain. White-hot and all-consuming, radiating from her gut like a supernova. She hit the ground floor hard, the impact driving the air from her lungs. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but lie there in a growing pool of her own blood.
I’m gonna die, she realized dimly, the thought floating through her head like a half-remembered dream. I’m gonna die in this shithole, and no one’s even gonna know.
Above her, visible through the gaping hole in the ceiling, the boy and the monster were going at it like rabid dogs. Flashes of light and explosions rocked the building, sending dust and debris raining down on Scarlett’s broken body.
She was fading fast, the edges of her vision going black. The sound of the fight above her seemed to recede, drowned out by the pounding of her own heartbeat in her ears. This is it, she thought, this is how I-
A wet snuffling noise from beside her snapped her back to reality. She rolled her head to the side, her eyes widening in horror as she saw the salamander monster from before, its eyeless face pressed close to hers. It was sniffing her, tracking her by the scent of her blood.
No, she thought, a sudden burst of rage igniting in her chest. No fucking way. I am not gonna die like this, not gonna be some monster’s fucking chew toy.
With a wordless scream of fury, Scarlett surged to her feet, her fist swinging in a wide arc. She felt it connect with the creature’s bubbling flesh, felt the sick crunch of whatever passed for its bones beneath her knuckles.
And then-
Boom.
The monster’s head fucking exploded, purple gore spraying in every direction. The force of Scarlett’s punch sent shockwaves rippling through the room, shattering windows and crumbling walls like they were made of sand. The entire front of the building caved in, bricks and mortar careening into the alley in a deafening avalanche.
Scarlett stood there, her chest heaving, her fist still extended. She stared at the destruction she’d wrought, her mind reeling as she tried to process what the fuck had just happened.
Did I… did I do that?
The thought seemed impossible, but the evidence was right there in front of her, painted in shades of purple and red. She looked down at her hands, at the purple blood and gray viscera coating her knuckles, and down at her stomach, the stomach suddenly lacking a giant bloody hole, and the girl felt a sudden rush of… something.
Power. Strength. A sense of fucking invincibility.
She’d just punched a monster’s head clean off its shoulders. She’d just brought a whole damn building down with a single blow.
Holy shit, she thought, a manic grin spreading across her face. I’m a fucking superhero.
“Wow.”
Scarlett spun around, her fist flying on instinct at the sound of the voice behind her. Her punch was caught mid-air, the force behind it sending a gust of wind and dust swirling like a miniature cyclone.
She stared at the hand gripping her fist, her eyes travelling up the arm until she found herself looking at a face that could’ve been on the cover of a magazine. Damn, he’s fine, she thought, her drunk brain appreciating the view. The guy was Black, with smooth dark skin and dreads pulled back in a ponytail. He looked old enough to buy her a drink, but she really couldn’t be sure. Fuck, I can barely see straight. Everything’s so blurry.
Despite her blurring vision, she could easily see what he was wearing. The man was dressed in a white-and-blue baseball jersey, blue pants, and white sneakers. He wore a pair of blue sunglasses, which seemed odd considering it was darker than the Devil’s taint outside. But what really caught Scarlett’s eye was the jewelry. The guy was covered in gold and silver, with chains around his neck, rings on every finger, bracelets, and even more rings braided into his dreads. That’s a lot of ice, she mused, her head spinning slightly.
He flashed her a grin, like he didn’t even feel the punch that coulda knocked down a building. “You’re pretty strong, huh?” His voice was smooth as silk, making Scarlett’s insides do a little flip. He relaxed his grip, letting her fist drop to her side.
“Yo, teach.” The voice right next to her nearly made Scarlett jump outta her skin. She whipped her head to the side, her heart hammering in her chest, only to see the blond kid from before dropping down from the ceiling like a fucking ninja. He looked like hell, with blood all over his face and his clothes torn to shreds, but he was smiling like it was Christmas morning.
“‘Sup!” the kid said, bouncing on his heels like an excited puppy. The boy’s eyes went wide a second later, staring at the massive hole in the wall that led out to the alley. “Holy shit, teach!”
“Not me,” the man said, smiling like he knew a secret.
The kid’s eyes snapped to Scarlett, growing even bigger. “Wha-her?“
“Definitely an A Tier off reinforcement alone,” the man said, nodding like he was talking about the weather.
Scarlett blinked, the words not quite registering in her booze-soaked brain. A Tier? What the fuck’s that mean? “Who the fuck are you people?” she found herself muttering aloud.
The blond grinned wide, jabbing a thumb into the chest of his torn jacket, a gold button falling off as he did so. “I’m J.D. Thompson, a Hitter.”
“Hitter?” She parroted, still confused. The fuck?
“Hunter. In. Training,” the boy spoke slowly, enunciating the words to her as if she was a complete fucking idiot…
Or just really fuckin’ drunk, she realized with some embarrassment, her pale face shifting into something approaching the color of a tomato.
“Shit, teach,” ‘Dare’ glanced back between the man in dreadlocks and the massive hole in the wall, and shook his head like he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “That’s still wild to me she did that. We taking her in then?”
“Taking me i-?” The question was right there on the tip of her tongue, but before she could get it out, the monster from before came crashing through what was left of the wall. It was even bigger now, three times the size it had been, its gray skin rippling and pulsing like something outta a nightmare.
Fuck fuck fuck! Scarlett tried to rush at it, her fists clenched and ready to smash, but her legs gave out from under her. She hit the ground hard, the world spinning around her as the darkness crept in at the edges of her vision. Her body felt cold, like she was being dunked in ice water.
“I see,” the man said, calm and collected even with the monster roaring behind him. “An instinctive Soul Skill. In someone with a low N.E. potential, too. Without Negative Energy in your system, it starts draining life force. Interesting.”
Scarlett could barely make out the words, let alone understand what the fuck they meant. Soul Skill? Negative Energy? What the hell is this dude smoking? She glanced at the blond kid, hoping he’d do something, but he looked chill as ever. He caught her panicked look and gave her a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Teach got this.”
Got what? Scarlett wanted to scream, but her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, like it was made of lead.
“And you…” The redhead looked up just in time to see the man raise his hand, pointing his finger over his shoulder at the monster like he was about to flick a bug. “What made you think you could drool on me? This shit’s Supreme.”
A second later, he let it fly. There was a flash of white, a crack of thunder that made Scarlett’s ears ring, and then… nothing. When she opened her eyes, the man was just standing there, hands in his pockets, looking bored as fuck. The monster was gone, nothing left but a cone of purple guts and gore.
“Let’s pack it up and get her to The Vault,” the man said, brushing some invisible dust off his jersey. “Can’t wait to show off my new student.”
“Got it, teach,” the blond kid said, giving a sharp salute. Before Scarlett could even think about protesting, she found herself slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “I’ll get her there in no time.”
Wait, what? Where the fuck are they taking me? Scarlett’s mind was reeling, trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. But before she could even open her mouth to ask, the world started to blur around her, the kid’s feet pounding against the pavement as he took off running.
Shit, this ain’t good, she thought, her stomach churning as the booze and the blood loss caught up with her. I gotta… I gotta… But what she had to do, Scarlett never quite figured out.
Because a second later, the darkness that had been creeping at the edges of her vision finally won out, and she slipped into unconsciousness, her last thought a mix of confusion, fear, and a strange sense of excitement.
…at least, I’m not crazy.
– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –
Entry: July 12, 2017
Location: Quadrant 13, New York City
Time: 1:13 AM EST
Appearances of Two Unnamed Malicious Emotive Entities
Rank B
Rank A
As only the appearance of the first Entity was initially recorded by The Vault Curse Analysis Team, B Tier Grimwald Academy second-year student Darius Thompson and Licensed HITTER (HUNTER-In-Training) was sent to eliminate the threat.
However, it was discovered that a minor Rank D Entity had somehow managed to grow to a level of strength comparable to a Rank A.
Upon realizing this, Student Thompson requested backup from his mentor, Founder Grimwald.
A suspected civilian was drawn into the fight between Thompson and the second Entity, manifesting suppressed Negative Energy and an instinctive Soul Skill to defeat the first Entity. Upon defeating the Second Entity, Founder Grimwald took it upon himself to enroll the civilian, one Scarlett Brennan, into The Grimwald Academy for The Gifted And Talented, as a Second Year Student.
No members of The Vault were fatally harmed.