No Hit

Dare woke with a start, his chest heaving from yet another nightmare about his time in the cult. The memories clung to him like a shadow he couldn’t escape. The smell of frying chicken and fish wafted through the house, pulling him from his thoughts. His sister, Ugonnaya, was busy in the kitchen, mixing the sizzling of oil and vinegar with the calm of the holiday.

A knock at the door broke the quiet. Frowning, Dare got up, muttering to himself, “It’s Christmas. Nobody visits us on Christmas.” He opened the door, and his heart skipped a beat. Standing there was someone from his past—a former cult member. But not just anyone—his ex-girlfriend. Something about her was off. Her demeanor was different, and she carried herself as if she were a completely different person. He hesitated, then asked, “What do you want?” She smiled. “I just wanted to check in on you, Dare,” her voice unnervingly light as she replied.

His eyes flicked down to the dog by her side. It was strange enough that she’d brought a dog—it was chilly out, and the animal looked nothing like the one she used to have. Stranger still, there was no car in sight. “You walked here?” he asked, his tone skeptical. She didn’t answer the question directly, brushing it off with a smile. Ugo appeared behind him, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “Hi there,” she greeted warmly. The woman’s smile widened. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?” “No. You’re leaving soon anyway,” Dare shook his head firmly.

Ugo glanced at him, then back at the woman, before shrugging and returning to the kitchen. Dare stood his ground until the woman finally turned and walked away, the dog padding beside her. Closing the door, he joined Ugo in the kitchen a few minutes later. “Where’s your friend?” Ugo asked without looking up from the frying pan. “She left,” Dare replied shortly, but his mind lingered uneasily on the encounter. Something was wrong—he could feel it.

Laura looked back at the house and thought, I don’t need an invitation, but I’ll play it safe to avoid drawing attention. She sent her dog to check if Dare had what they were looking for. Some minutes later, the dog came back as a man. Kunle said, “Yes, it’s in there.” I can feel its power, and we need to destroy it. Kunle, disguised as a dog, had gone to the back of the house to check for a mysterious machine. They both went to the front door again, Dare walked to the door with a frown. He raised an eyebrow as he saw that the dog was no longer with Laura. “It was probably a demon,” he thought. He hadn’t anticipated that the cult would have gotten that far with their experiments. “Can they fuse human and animal souls now?” Dare thought. “That meant that they could infiltrate anywhere in the world. Maybe there’s a limitation.”

Laura put her foot in the door before he could close it on her again. She asked where Ugo and her daughter were; “they are sleeping,” he said. “Sleeping? Didn’t she just invite me for lunch? I know you can lie better than that,” Laura replied. She pushed through him into the anteroom, looked in to see if she could glimpse Ugo without success, furled her brows, and retorted, “You have something we want,” Dare said, “What could I possibly have that you want?” She looked at him, visibly angry, and said, “Don’t play dumb with me, boy, you know what I’m talking about, and don’t insult my intelligence; we know it’s here.”Dare smiled; she just exposed her hand. She’s blown her cover and is not acting alone. She’s not his friend visiting him with her “dog,” they are here on a mission to destroy what he’s been building for years. He didn’t let on that he’d realized and played along. “Do you mean my Lego?” He said, “I know you always complained that I built them without you, and I’ve been working on it for months. When we separated, it was the one thing I missed the most doing with you.”

“Who cares about your stupid Lego!” shouted Laura, “Uh, you did?” replied Dare. She retorted, “Besides, you left me.” “What else do you think I’m building?” “Why are you here, and how did you find me?” asked Dare confused. Laura was losing her patience, but she couldn’t act without a signal from Kunle. Getting into the house was a bit harder because there were no windows in Dare’s room. He’d bordered it up when he moved in. It’s one of the reasons why Ugo was so confused about him, but she never mentioned it. She could understand loner types, but this was pretty extreme behavior. “Would you at least let me in? It’s freezing outside,” Laura said, smiling; Dare asked, “Where’s your dog?” Laura narrowed her eyes and replied, “I tied him to the post beside the kernel.” Seeing that this would happen anyway, He finally conceded and let her in. Dare closed the door and led her from the anteroom to the living room, which doubled as a kitchen.

The house was a modest cottage. It had a garage with a driveway on the left and a kernel around the back. The architecture was reminiscent of the early 1940s design, and the interior looked more modern, as it had been recently renovated. They inherited it after their parents passed.

After no longer than a moment’s passing between when Laura was seated, Kunle entered the house; she looked at him wide-eyed with eyes that asked, “Why are you here?” Kenle went straight to the point, “Where is the device?!” “Wow, you’re all about action, aren’t you?” Dare chuckled, “As I told your owner here, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He continued, “You know what, to save all of us the stress, it’s here, but it doesn’t even work. I tried it a few times but couldn’t save the souls.” Kunle chuckled. “Do you think we care about the souls? You banished our brethren back to the abyss. Do you know the effort required to bring a particular soul out of the abyss? It’s surgical; make one mistake, and you have a legion, or worse, you risk releasing one of the Uthnar, forgotten gods: they’ve been trying to escape for millennia. I cannot build an army with either, and your experiments have been setting me back. WHERE IS THE DEVICE?!”

“You’re going to have to kill me,” Dare shrugged. Kunle sighed, “Tie him up. I’ll go fetch the woman,” “Yes, sir,” Laura replied. “Since when does he boss you around?” Dare joked. “Shut up!” Laura retorted. Kunle went to each room, looking for Ugo. He heard rain sounds playing, but the rain wasn’t falling outside; as he opened the door, the sound got louder and deafening upon entering. The room belonged to a young girl; it was warmly lit and filled with posters that made it come alive in a certain way. He saw the speaker and proceeded to turn it off; as he reached out to press the button, he blacked out. A faint thud came from the room. Laura looked up and called out, “Are you okay?” She paused momentarily and asked Dare, “What did you do?” “What did I do? I’m sitting here, and you’re tying me up, remember? What are you asking me?” replied Dare.

As she was distracted, Dare took the opportunity to headbutt her with the back of his head, causing her to stumble back a few steps. He scurried out of the loose binds Laura was putting him in and ran to the room. Laura tripped him, stopping him in his tracks. She got on top of him with hands on his neck, trying to strangle him. In a bid to get out of the chokehold, he rammed his elbow into her wrist, then headbutted her again, this time with his forehead, and broke free. He thought, “Yep, I’m definitely going to have a migraine after all this.” Laura groaned in pain and stood up. “I’ve been wanting to kill you for a long time; whoever owned this body really loved you, and it stresses me out knowing I have a residual bond to you,” she said. “Boo hoo; that’s what happens when you possess people; it comes with the job, deal with it,” replied Dare.

Her aura changed and Dare felt it; he had goosebumps. He had put up a strong face all this time, but in reality, he was scared of himself, Ugo, and her daughter. He had told them to hide in the basement, but it was hard to reach since it could only be accessed by a door under a rug in the living room. It was used as a bunker/bomb shelter during the war. Now that Laura or whatever now controlled her body had channeled their power, he stood no chance. His only option was to explore drastic means. She swung at him, and he struggled to keep up with her strength. She moved fast, her glowing eyes filled with rage as she threw powerful punches that broke anything they hit. She was fast, but he could keep up for now. He would eventually get tired and hit if he didn’t turn the tables. That would be it. One punch was all she needed to knock him out or kill him.

He kited her towards where a wakizashi was displayed on the wall and grabbed it after she missed him. It seemed like this demon recently possessed this body because it hadn’t gotten adept at using it properly. It possessed raw power but lacked the precision. “No wonder her memories are still fresh,” He thought. Dare stumbled backward, gripping the sword tightly, barely dodging her attacks. He was getting tired, but he needed an opening. She charged at him, aiming to grab his neck, but he jumped to the side at the last second, pushing off a cabinet for support. As she turned, he swung his sword with all his strength. The blade cut clean through her neck, and her head fell to the floor, the bearing in tow. He dropped to his knees, breathing hard, his sword still trembling in his hands. He snatched the bearing off the floor as it could fuse the body back together.

The rain sound was still playing loudly when Kunle came to. “What knocked me out?” He thought, “Ugh, It must have been something really heavy or someone really strong.” He had his guard up instantly. He was tied to a chair, and his hands were tied behind the chair, and his vision was blurry. He, like Laura, channeled his strength and broke the binds, though he still felt weak. Could the rain sound be making him weak? He thought His vision had now cleared. Dare was sitting opposite him, smiling. “You thought this could hold me?” Kunle bellowed, “You are not fit to see my true form! Now that the binds are broken, what is your plan?”

This time, Dare was ready; he had prepared the blade, sharpening it with a holy waterstone. He had also prepared brass knuckles boiled in holy water. “Nope, no plan. You see, I could run, but you’d catch me sooner or later, plus I got baggage, and you’d use them against me. So, no, I’m not running; I’m finishing you here and now. That said, you’re probably stronger than her, Laura, who is obviously stronger than me. I don’t like those odds, but I’ll take what I can get.” Dare said as he stood up and walked close to Kunle. “You have guts; I’ll give you tha-” Dare cut his head off mid-sentence. He only needed him conscious; it didn’t need to be a fair fight. The head and the bearing thudded on the floor; Dare sighed and picked it up thinking, “thank goodness that’s over.”

“You have bad manners. Has anyone told you that?” The head said. Dare looked in disbelief. “I asked you a question. Are you shocked? We made a few upgrades after you left. Balls in necks are so last year. We found better places to keep them, and guess what? The one you in your hand is a dud; it’s a soul, alright, but I’m not in there.” “Then how?” Dare asked, still in shock. “Oh, you needn’t worry, you’ll be dead soon.” Kunle’s body stood up, picked up his head, and placed it on his neck; there was blood all over his shirt; with a sharp inhale, he channeled his strength again, and tiny stitches appeared and sutured the wound around the neck. He cracked his neck back in place and said, “Now, then, shall we? By the way, I know that sound you’re playing is weakening me. If not, your blade won’t have cut me, but I, too, will take those odds. It’s almost like we’re on equal footing, don’t you think?” He said with an evil grin.

Dare barely had time to react when Kunle’s reanimated body came for him with terrifying speed. Kunle was relentless, his movements precise and unnatural, unlike Laure, Kunle —who had been in control of this body for a long time— made Dare’s earlier fight seem like a warm-up. Armed with his wakizashi and brass knuckles, Dare ducked and weaved, using every bit of skill to avoid Kunle’s crushing blows. He got in a few hits of his own with his sword as he dodged. The cuts plus the rain sound were helping; Kunle didn’t seem phased at all, though. The room was chaos as furniture splintered under Kunle’s fists. “Equal footing, huh?” Dare muttered under his breath, forcing himself to focus despite his fatigue. He feigned a stumble to lure Kunle closer, then threw his knife directly into Kunle’s chest, aiming for his heart.

Kunle snarled, but before he could react, Dare lunged forward with his brass-knuckled fist and slammed it into the knife, driving it deeper into Kunle’s chest. The blade shattered the bearing hidden within Kunle’s heart, causing the demon to scream in rage as black smoke poured from the wound. Dare didn’t stop, punching harder until the bearing broke free from the mangled flesh, clattering onto the ground. Kunle’s body collapsed in a heap. Dare, bloodied and shaking, stared at the lifeless form, muttering, “That could have gone way worse, fuck my life!” He quickly opened the cabinet below the sink and put the bearing inside so the soul and demon in it wouldn’t escape, then looked at the house and thought, “Well, this would be fun to explain to the police; good thing I have CCTV.”

THE END