HALLOWEEN SHORT STORY: Killing Demons for Fun and Profit*

    A noise in the hall wakes Enrique. He looked around the big room he shared with the other kids at the St Michael's Orphanage. The room was dark, the only light streaming from the hallway behind him. Enrique saw the small beds around him were still and quiet. The other children were still asleep. Looking over the room, a bare room for sleeping and not much else, it was clear to him that no one and no thing was around. After a moment, Enrique pulled the covers over him, put his head back on his pillow, and tried to go back to sleep.  

    It wasn't easy for him to sleep, especially not after the last few days. Other kids were disappearing from their beds. Mark was the first, who went to bed one night and then just wasn't around the next morning. Then Sarita, then Paula, then more and more of the other kids—they just disappeared from one night to the next. When he was sent to bed, there were only six of them left—down from fourteen.  

    The nuns spent every moment of their time praying and crying while the local police spent a few days searching the area for the others, with no luck.  

    It wasn't the only strange thing Enrique saw. Yesterday, he saw a strange man walk into the orphanage. He was a rough-looking guy, with dark black hair with an oversized biker moustache. He had on a dull hooded jacket, jeans and some boots. He had a big cigar in his mouth; the nuns asked him to put it out as soon as they saw him. Enrique couldn't hear what they talked about, but it ended with the nuns sending the man away, anger radiating from their faces.  
 

*** 
 

    Enrique woke to a buzzing sound ringing from outside. The light in the hall was flickering, and soon the room went dark. Enrique looked around, but he couldn't see anything past his bed. He pulled out his flashlight from under his pillow and flipped it on, shining it in front of him. As he swept the area, he could hear a voice coming from behind him. It was a soft voice that sounded like it was speaking directly into his ear. 

    "𝕾𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖕"

    Enrique turned and saw something standing over him. It was wrapped in bandages and covered in a cloak; he could only see a row of sharp teeth from its mouth. Enrique tried to scream, but a hand covered his mouth and the cloak enveloped him completely; he struggled to free himself. Soon, Enrique pushed the cloak off of him and was free. He saw that he wasn't in the orphanage anymore; he was outside in an empty field with a few dead trees littering the area. He stood up, and looked around the area.  

    Enrique turned around and ran into someone. As he fell back, he looked up and saw the monster in front of him. It seemed to have just appeared in front of him. The monster grabbed him by his shirt, and pulled him up onto his feet. Enrique screamed for help as he was pulled to the creature's face. Its mouth opened wide. As it grew bigger, it pulled Enrique in; he was screaming and trying to break free.  

    "Oye!" said a voice from behind them. 

    The monster turned to face the source of the voice; and was hit with a kick to the face by Enrique. As the monster was knocked back, it let him go. The monster swung around to see what distracted it. Enrique looked up and saw a man walking slowly toward them. He saw him in the moonlight shining down on the area. It was the man from earlier, now stepping out toward them, with a pair of machetes in his hands. 

    "Afraid to try to snack on someone more your size, cabrón?" said the man, smiling at the monster, the cigar still in his mouth.  

    "𝕯𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖔..." said the creature in a growl, and then rushed toward him. Domingo moved to the side, let it get close enough, and then slammed the handles of the machetes into the head of the monster. Then, in a quick motion, he swung the machetes around and sliced into its sides. The monster roared in pain. Domingo dropped the machetes and moved behind the creature, wrapping his arms around the monster's waist and speaking with a cocky tone. 

    "Glad you remembered my name. Here's something else to remember me by!" 

    Then, as Enrique had seen in the lucha libre matches on TV, Domingo lifted the monster up, and dropped it down on its head in a German suplex. 

    Domingo sprang back to his feet, grabbing his machetes from the ground. The monster rolled over and got on all fours, then slowly stood up and removed its cloak.  

    The body of the monster started to change and transform from its vaguely humanoid form. Its neck expanded, its arms split in two, and its body widened. Domingo saw Enrique, hiding behind a tree, watching it happen with horror on his face. 

    "Stay there, kid!" said Domingo. He readied the machetes in his hands, as he focused on the monster.  

    The monster raised its arms; they grew longer, and the fingertips grew sharper. It let out a huge roar, and swung its arms at Domingo, but he kept the monster at bay by using his machetes to repel any strikes. 

    After a few close swipes, Domingo took the chance to go on the attack and struck one of the arms, cutting it off. Another hand swiped out, and another swing of the machete cut it down. Domingo went to wrap the machetes around the neck of the monster like a pair of scissors, but it threw a leg into the man's stomach and knocked him away and onto the ground.  

    Domingo rolled through, still holding his machetes, and got back on his feet as the monster charged toward him. Domingo was picked up and pushed into a tree. He hit it with a thud and dropped one of his blades on the ground. Using his other machete, Domingo started to swipe at the monster and got a few hits into its side. Frustrated, the monster threw Domingo to the ground. It roared again as it threw its arms up and tried to slam them down on Domingo. He blocked the shot with his machete, pushed the arms of the monster up, and cut them apart with a wide swipe.  

    The monster reeled back as Domingo stood up, and rushed toward it, holding his machete with both hands. He swung hard, hitting the monster right in the flesh, slicing the monster's head off. Its body fell to the ground, head rolling away into the tree it had slammed Domingo into. 

***

    Victorious, Domingo walked over and picked up his dropped machete. He put the two blades away into the holsters on his back before reaching over and picking up the head of the monster. He looked it over, its face was still in mid-roar. Domingo opened a satchel on his belt and looked at the head one more time. 

    "I'm going to enjoy all the tostones I'm buying with your head, pendejo." he said, under his breath, before shoving the head into the satchel. As he looked around, he saw Enrique looking at him from behind another tree. Domingo smiled at the boy and waved him over. 

    "Time to go home, kid. Entiendes?" 

    Enrique nodded and ran toward him. Domingo picked him up when he got close, and put him on his shoulders. He felt sore, but he managed to keep the kid balanced. His job was done, and Domingo needed to get the kid back home. The nuns should be more than happy to have him back, and hopefully tone down the cold reception he got earlier. It's what usually happened. Then, after calling it in, he'd get picked up and go to the next mission —reports of a big monster around the border towns, with a big bounty to boot.  

    A demon hunter's work is never done. 

***

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