Havoc

by Rebel at Heart, published on January 17, 2002

Cry "Havoc," and let slip the dogs of war.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Julius Caesar", Act 3 scene 1

Gabriel screamed as the last whispers of his latest nightmare died away. He growled and rolled out of bed.

Snarling like a wild animal, the man threw himself into the small crowd of people. The desperate pleas and agonized screams did nothing but encourage the wild animal. Mere minutes after it started a thick silence filled the air.

One man squatted down amidst the bloody heap of once human’s, carefully he scraped the bone in his hand clean before throwing it away. Blood dripped down from the walls and the furniture. Red, al he could see… red. He stared at his hands, the same kind of red. A cold shiver tingled his spine. He was sitting in a room with the blood dripping down from everywhere. He looked around impassively until he saw her. She lay sprawled on the red floor clutching a medallion in her hands.

She looked like a fallen angel and he had ripped her wings apart.

A middle aged Asian looking woman screamed and threw herself in her husbands arms crying like there was no tomorrow. The police officer looked at the ground while he waited for them to calm down. He hated this part of his job, he scraped his throat and spoke up ‘your daughter is in the hospital, if you wish I can accompany you there and come back tomorrow for the proper procedures’. Someone once said to him that he was overly sensitive about ‘proper procedures’ but he wasn't that much of an arsehole. The man gave him a grateful look. ‘We would be very much obliged if you would.’ The officer nodded and said ‘If you will just follow me mister Nakimura.’

Trisha sighed. She loved being a burse but she hated these kind of shifts. ‘Hell’ she thought ‘and to think I wanted to work in this town for it’s laid back attitude.’ She elbowed her way thru the small army of reporters. ‘Coming thru! Personnel!’ After slamming the door to the hospital room shut, she quickly set about her job. Ten years as a nurse, ten frigging years in the big city and not even once had she seen such strange wounds on a person. When the victim was brought in she had burn marks on her hands and several slash marks on her entire body.

The hands looked like she had been forced to hold an object hot enough to leave permanent marks. The nurse sighed and carefully helped the woman sit up so she could change the bandages around her abdomen. Ten years and not one in her entire career had she seen eyes so empty.

The nurse whispered soothing words as she applied the final touches. ‘Hello sugar how are we doing today? Trish will just keep those pest of the press out for you ok?’ Nothing, just plain empty. She sighed and whispered ‘your parents are here, I'll let them in’ Still nothing.

Mister and Misses Nakimura fought their way inside. Nothing could have prepared them for this as they ran to their daughter’s side. The wounded woman suddenly stuck out her arms and embraced her mother tightly. Small trickles of blood mingled with her tears as she cried out all she had. The mother gasped again as she looked into her daughter’s eyes.

Empty…

More sleepwalking then else the man made his way to the bathroom. He yawned and rubbed his eyes; he splashed some water in his face. His knees nearly buckled as the memories of last night’s dream came crashing back. His hands were covered in blood. He looked around his room. Blood everywhere he had gone. Green eyes widened in terror as he looked in the mirror.

Red…

He screamed, he couldn't help it. It had to have been just a dream, It had to be. Maybe it was all just a lame joke.

His breathing came more and more irregular as he edged his way to a large pool of the red liquid by the doormat. ‘Please let it be paint, Please’ He dipped one finger in ‘Oh god..’ Gabriel realised that it was all too real, as he smelled it.

Blood…

He wished he couldn't remember. It tainted him to the core. Looking at his hands again he took a deep sigh, there had been someone else in his dream. If it had been a dream, something in the back of his head said it wasn't but he couldn't acknowledge it. Not yet.

Gabriel sunk down on his knees, he remembered who was there. ‘No’ he whispered ‘not her. Please not her’ He remembered the fallen angel and her amulet.

‘ The amulet! She must still have it…. Thank god.’ It gave him a little ease knowing that at least Grace would be safe from him.

All in vain, every test and challenge he still had lost. He remembered too easy, it upset him. The very air around him seemed filled with new sensations… smells. It was like somebody had just dropped him into an ocean of smells and sounds he never noticed before. ‘Oh god’ Gabriel breathed nearly hysteric. It had happened! The monster inside him still lived.

Deep down maybe he had known. He couldn't live like this. Not as the monster he had become. It had to end now. Gritting his teeth he got up and grabbed his coat.

The streets of New Orleans were eerily quiet early in the morning. The humid weather still kept at bay as he walked down the street in search of a cab.

The cabbie took of with screeching tires and left him alone on the driveway of the giant white building. He stared at its name sign; it almost seemed to taunt him as he dragged himself inside.

Come to see your handy work have you?

It all seemed like a hazy dream to him until he closed the door to her room behind him. Things became very real. No escaping possible.

Grace clutched the medallion in her hands, as she slowly turned around. There was no simple explanation but she knew. She could feel him coming. Grabbing the last shreds of her sanity together she looked up and faced him. ‘I… I…. Know’ she stuttered. Gabriel looked heart broken ‘ I… I thought we had won.. Oh god Gracie Ah really thought’ He took her hands in his ‘please believe me, I really thought we had won. If I had known even only for a second I.. I would have killed myself’

She cried softly. ‘We lost.. It shouldn't end like this. Oh god Gabriel what are we going to do’ Her entire body shook as she cried openly.

Rejection. As he leaned closer to wipe her tears away, the talisman started to glow. He flew back from the sheer force of it. Gabriel cried openly the first time since a long time.

It truly ended here.

Grace couldn't even get herself to cry for help, or to look out of the shattered window to see what the fall had done to him. All she could think was..

Havoc.

Last update: October 24, 2007

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Havoc