Hellstinger

5. Beginning...

Marcus opened his eyes slowly. He must have had a dream, but that would only have been possible if he had been asleep.

He sat up with a frown on his face, he remembered that night clearly as day; the blue-haired girl called herself Alexandria, the feminine voice was his wife, and the weird hooded jacket was her battle suit.

Marcus' frown deepened. For one, that scene was set at the port of Phoenix. Secondly, it was after a fight that left the harbor half destroyed. Then, of course, he is not married, he doesn't even have a serious relationship yet.

'This can't be real.' He thought to himself, 'It must have been a movie...it was definitely a movie.'

"You know," Alexander said without looking up from her phone, "you are going to regret not taking this opportunity to rest. This drive is Forty minutes long, you should rest."

The first thing Marcus noticed was Alexander's cropped deep blue hair. It isn't the same shade of blue as Alexandria, but the resemblance is too striking;

"Urm...Lexy?" He said, swallowing and sweating despite the cool air-conditioned atmosphere of the van, "I'm going to say the lines of a movie, guess its title."

Alexander looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, on seeing the sweat on him and the ill-hidden nervousness, she became alert to his health.

"Are you runny a fever?" She asked, coming closer to feel his temperature. He wasn't burning up.

"Nah, just a little hot in here." Marcus laughed it off as he retrieved the AC remote and cranked it up.

"So do you want to try?"

"I won't think long before I figure out the movie title." Alexander smiled, leaning back on the seat and crossing her legs. "Hit me."

"Okay," Marcus adjusted himself on his seat, "not every innocent deserves to die, right? Maybe we can spare the girl, she looks like a real fighter."

"You made that up." Alexander laughed, "Or I haven't seen the movie."

"Traits of Hell," Tasha said simply.

"What?" Marcus said.

"That dialogue, it's from Traits of Hell when Boyd found out his stepdaughter was under Diph's control." She said, as a matter of fact, looking from Marcus who looked confused to Alexander who looked defiant.

"We all saw the movie together last year."

"I don't recall that dialogue in Traits of He..." Alexander's voice faded into the background as Marcus leaned back into his seat, reeling in confusion.

His memory isn't of Traits of Hell, it was his own. A memory he had never acquired but now belongs to him. He had been hoping it was a movie, but it wasn't. It was a recollection.

Marcus kept his eyes open throughout the ride to his hotel. He didn't even dare put on sunglasses in the scourging sun as he alighted the van and followed Alexander into the lobby - with Tasha closely behind - with his jacket hung carelessly over his shoulders, Big Joe and Bobby came in behind. Marcus, Alexander, and Tasha moved straight for the elevator while Big Joe and Bobby went straight to the cafeteria after which they would join the others.

Marcus, Alexander, and Tasha rode to the third floor and navigated their way to his suite.

Alexander opened the door, Tasha walked in closely behind, and the moment Marcus' palm touched the door to parry it wider for his entry; blood sprayed excessively on his face and an oddly familiar agonizing shriek quickly snatched his attention.

Marcus yelped from the initial shock. But he was quick to get over it as a green blood-slimy goblin jumped out from the room with a butcher's knife raised high.

"Ahh!" He yelled, taking a couple of awkward steps backward to evade the first strike. His attempt was awkward and uneven, he fell on his buttocks just in time to save himself from being beheaded.

"Argh!!" He screamed, trying to scramble out of the chuckling goblin's unaimed sweeps. Marcus kicked at the slimy creature as he crawled backward with the desperation of a...

"MARCUS!"

"Huh!?" Marcus looked up to see Alexander kneeling over him with a worried look disguised as anger. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Marcus, wet with sweat, looked from Alexander to Tasha who was kneeling on his left-hand side looking confused and scared.

"B... but..." Marcus sat up, still trembling in terror, as he checked himself for blood or the bloody slime of the goblin. But of course, there was none.

"What happened?" Alexander asked tapping all over his body in search of injuries.

Marcus couldn't comprehend his surroundings, he could hardly comprehend his own sanity at this level. He was so sure the goblin was real, that he even felt its touch when it grabbed his leg. But apparently, it was just a hallucination.

"I erm....I..." He swallowed as he tried to get himself up from the floor. "I tripped." He said with an uneasy smile. Alexander looked him head to toe;

"Come on in," She said.

Marcus hesitated. And even with Alexander promoting him forward, he couldn't bring himself to enter.

"Come on Marcus," Alexander said, "you do not want to be seen in this corridor looking like an abandoned dog."

"I..." He paused, took half a step, then refused to go in. For all he knows, the goblin could attack again.

"Alright," Alexander said with a sigh, facing Tasha; "go get him another room, fast."

"I...okay." Tasha disappeared around the corner leaving Alexander and Marcus alone on the corridor.

Alexander picked up Marcus' jacket, draped it around his shoulder, and guided him to lean on the wall beside a green/blood-red flower pot.

"Hey pumpkin," Alexander said putting her arm around Marcus and allowing him to lean on her as they both slid down the wall to sit on the floor - she had called him by her nickname for him when he was just a child;

"You want to tell Lexy what's going on?"

Marcus nodded negative. Even if he wanted to, what would he say? His jet hanger turned into a hellscape? He remembers things he didn't do? He just saw a goblin?

'Even I can't believe myself.'

"Okay," Alexander said softly, "let's just wait for Tasha."

"Nah it's good." Marcus said after taking deep calming breaths. "Let's not waste time on stupid things."

He pushed himself up, sighed, and feigned confidence to enter his room. He smiled and waved Alexander's worry and concerned questions away as he got dressed for his first performance in three hours.

But of course, nothing is good. He couldn't even begin to describe his psychic as good. So for the next fifteen hours, he threw himself head first into two things; fun and alcohol.

With alcohol, he could justify the random memories that aren't his that just pop into his head, he could justify the demonic shrouds and hallucinations he keeps seeing, he could justify how everything would suddenly turn hellscape red and he would see everyone's soul, and he could avoid thinking about just how close he is to his breaking point.

At one time during his performance, he suddenly forgot his lyrics and started speaking in an entirely alien language for seven seconds. Thankfully it rhymed with his song and DJ Shakes pulled it off with a nice beat and made it all seem rehearsed.

Eventually, all Marcus could do was drink.

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...he stood his ground. Posing himself in the perfect posture of an archer, he watched the horde rumble towards him like a storm. The ground vibrated underneath his feet and all that could be heard was the agonizing shriek of possessed humans as they rushed towards him with murderous intent.

He removed the Hellstinger bow from its sheath behind him, took in a deep gulp of air, and drew upon the bow's string with ease. As soon as his fingers touched the string, a shimmering arrow materialized and poised for his release.

Taking in another breath and gently exhaling, the arrow shimmered brighter against the night and sparked with energy. He let go. The arrow sailed the hundred-yard distance in half the blink of an eye and at the last moment just before it found its mark, it split into a dozen smaller bolts and struck down a dozen demons in one strike.

The horde didn't pause and neither did he relent; he quickly drew the string and wasted no time to aim and release, again and again. He was shooting off thunder-like arrows from his bow with the speed of a machine gun and bullseye eye precision. And it helped that he didn't have to reload nor was he limited to a number of arrows like the mundane bow. He is a Hellstinger, the bow is a Hellstinger, and standing in that one position, he took down a horde of dozens of demons in less than three minutes…

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