There is little sign of life at Elk Creek station. The busy station was decommissioned when a series of fires burned half the station down and the surrounding neighborhood. Once hectic and busy became eerie and abandoned. It had the opportunity to rise from the ashes but attempts were full of hope and lies. Today it is once again populated, now with blue blood and a red jacket.

The team’s swift movements and light step indicated the urgency of the situation. The chase was from one side of the train line to the other.

“We have the culprit surrounded. Release the detective. You will not be harmed,” an officer announces over the speakers.

Silence responded and the team moves in.

“We got a hostage situation at the o’ Elk Creek station. Three officers down and a detective hostage. Detective is in critical condition with stab wounds,” the radio chatters. “Blue team is in pursuit. Adversary description: male, 50s, small to medium build, white hair, red attire. Adversary is armed and dangerous. No lines of fire open.”

Emily looks at the screen. “God damn it. What happened in there?!”

A communications officer nervously responds, “We don’t know mam. The feed cut out. Blue team is going in blind and deaf.”

Emily darts around, mumbling under her breath. “I’m gonna kill that monster. I’ll kill him for everything he’s done.” She looks at the communications officer. “April, get us a line in. Send a team if you have to. We need to know what the hell is happening in the station. Weapons are not free.” The alarm on Emily’s watch goes off. Time is running out.

“Teams of three. Got that?! Stick close, weapons are not free. Keep an eye on each other,” Blake orders. “Ridgefield and Decker, you’re with me. Pickett head to the north side, Elmswood, West, Mathus South. I’ll take East.” He slows his breathing for a moment. “Remember, this is a hostage situation. Do not engage the enemy alone. Good luck.”

The corridors stand wide, debris from the fires and trash built up everywhere making the once busy passage near untraversable. Smells of rot, feces, and carbon thicken the air. Somewhere among the trash was one of them. One of the monsters who have no face, no soul, no humanity.

Ridgefield holds the door handle, prompts for readiness, then as the team’s training kicks in, a razor precise choreography plays out. Guns snap into position, sights aim at a non-existent foe, and the air again is still.

“Clear,” Blake confirms. “Stay frosty. We need to get Liz. We trained for this ladies.”

A ping sounds from the end of the room.

“Oh shit!”

“What was that?!” Emily exclaims. The cloud of debris was massive, equipment shook, and the status became dire. “Don’t let anyone get it there. All teams back off to a safe distance immediately. This is now a class A situation. All personnel must leave the immediate area.”

April asks,”What about blue team, mam?”

Emily turns and looks helplessly at the officer. “I don’t know…”

A sheering pain came shooting from Blake’s side. “Aaaah!” he screams. His eyes burst open and the intense lights and smell wake him; a headache and incessant ringing hammer him back down. What sits before him is Liz in a chair, the monster beside her, and himself strapped in a chair.

“Welcome my friend,” the monster says, waving fingerprintless hands. “Happy you’re awake to see this all play out. Unfortunately, your friends didn’t make it.” A grin appears across its face.

Blake simply glares at the monster.

“Oh, so cold. I guess it takes more than that to cut a strong boy like you, wouldn’t you say Blake?”

Blake responds with silence.

The monster scratches its balding head as though puzzled. “Guess I hit you too hard. Cat got your tongue? Of course not! Now I want to ask you a question, my dear.” It looks at Liz and back at Blake. Combing its fingers through her hair, it asks, “If you had the option to save the city or save this girl, who would you choose?” Again, only silence is between them. Its smile fades and a knife appears. “I’ll ask again Blake, my boy. Who would you save?”

“Kill me, and let her go.” Blake's face is firm, no break in his intense stare.

“Oh boy.” It shakes its head in disapproval. “Don’t you learn Blake? She is the only reason for you to live right now. Once she’s gone, you’re gone.”

Blake’s face begins to redden with rage.

“Even then. Why would you trust me to not kill the both of you? She after you.”

“I don’t. I don’t even know who you are and why you know me. But I can’t do anything else.”

The sick grin reappears and a hand along with it. “So then, what will it be? You’ve got five.”

Blake’s eyes widen. “What?!”

“Four.”

“Hold on there I--”

“Three.” Two fingers down.

Blake tries to break free. The fresh cuts in his arms and legs bleed and the pain consumes him.

“Two.”

“Liz.”

The monster is in shock. “What was that my brave little policeman?” It leans its ear closer.

Tears stream down Blakes soft face. “Li-- Liz. You’re right! Fuck this city. I only live because she keeps me whole. I love her because she was there when no one else was. Why the fuck do you need to do this!”

Moving closer step-by-step, the monster leans over to Blake. The knife plunges into Blake’s abdomen and moves to the right making the once inside the new outside. “She didn’t choose the same lover boy. If only you had let her know all this time. Maybe, just maybe, you both would be happy together in a place far, far away.”

“Why…?” Blake utters. Sweat and blood cover him. Color fades from his body.

“You still don’t know? Because this world needs fewer cowards like you. She wants to rid this world of weaklings and monsters. But it takes a monster, not a hero, to make the world better.” It strokes Blake’s hair. “Don’t worry lover boy. Your girl won’t have a hair out of place. Trust me.”

Emily grips her chest. Something is wrong. She is helpless. She stands there useless in the face of a despised enemy. “What am I supposed to do?” Her hands cover her face as the waterworks begin.

April tries to comfort her. “You’re doing your best mam. We’ll handle it.”

Emily’s eyes meet April’s. “Thanks. I really mean it.”

April smiles. “Of course, no problem.”

Then, out of the corner of her eye, Emily sees red. Before she knew it, her breath quickens, her legs sprint, and her hand was at the ready.

“Stop!” Emily commands. The empty alley was drenched in light. “Turn around slowly.”

A familiar grin appears. “Hello, Emily. Long time no see. I thought I was gonna get away easy peasy. Oh right, how’s Amanda?”

Two shots ring out in quick succession. Emily hovers over the monster. Blood begins to paint the pavement.

“That good huh?” it utters.

“This is for Amanda.” A last round sounds, piercing and shattering the monster’s head.

Liz awakes. A scream pierces through the whole station. By the time the rest of blue team arrives with a medical team, they only find a broken woman clutching a torn man. Tears, sweat, blood, and gore mix within the rift between the living and the lived.

“I-- I said I wanted to save him… So why?” Liz whimpers.

Ridgefield tries to comfort her while Decker moves the body.

“NOOOOOOOOOO! Noooo…” Liz screams. “Let me go. I want to be with him. Give me back Blake. His smile, his laugh, everything,” she pleads. “Giv-- Give him back to me.”

Ridgefield answers, “He’s gone, mam. I don’t know what happened, but we’re here and he isn’t.” She looks down at Liz. “I mean-- at least we’re here, mam. You’re okay now.”

Liz sinks to the ground and begins to pound on it. Blood begins to drip from her hands, but no one does anything. All they can do is watch as a woman in love realizes she has become a woman who loved.