Rise From The Wraith

THE HUNT

“Hshh… Hshhh…”

Kael’s breathing was heavy inside the old, long abandoned building. The night air was cold and damp, mixed with the scent of wet earth and a faint, unpleasant odor that had been irritating his throat ever since they entered. Kael was not alone that night. He and four other soldiers were making their way into the dark building, where an eerie atmosphere seemed to linger in every corner. Each step they took echoed softly against the dusty concrete floor, scattered with shards of broken glass, and the sound seemed far louder than it should have been because of the unnatural silence filling the corridor ahead.

Kael walked in the middle of the group, gripping a long-barreled rifle tightly with both of his thin hands. The flashlight mounted beneath the weapon illuminated only a few meters ahead before the darkness swallowed everything beyond its reach. Two other soldiers followed behind him, while Daren walked closest to Kael, occasionally glancing from left to right to make sure nothing was moving inside the empty rooms surrounding them.

Suddenly, the soldier walking at the very front raised one hand.

He was the leader of the operation.

Everyone stopped immediately.

The squad leader said nothing. He simply stood still, sharpening his hearing as he tried to separate the sound of their breathing from whatever other noises might be hiding behind the walls. The other four soldiers remained completely silent, their bodies rigid as statues. Their eyes were wide open, staring into the darkness without blinking as beads of sweat slowly formed on their foreheads and trickled down their faces.

Sreeet... sreeet...

A sound resembling claws scraping against something came from the end of the corridor.

The hearts of all five soldiers began pounding harder.

A few seconds later, the horrifying sound came again.

It sounded like sharp nails slowly scratching across a wooden floor.

“Kael…” Daren called, his voice barely above a whisper.

“What?”

“Did you hear that?”

Kael did not answer. He simply raised his weapon slightly higher, his hands trembling as he tightened his grip around the rifle.

“Up ahead…” the squad leader said quietly.

They began moving again.

The mission that night was supposed to be simple. They only had to enter the building, find a woman who had been kidnapped several hours earlier, and bring her back to the military post before things became worse. Yet none of the soldiers truly considered the mission simple, because they all knew the risk they were facing the possibility of encountering a Wraith.

Wraiths had been taking humans during the night for years. Women, children, and even adults who were foolish enough or simply unlucky enough to remain outside after sunset often became their victims. The Wraiths usually dragged their prey to isolated places such as abandoned buildings, old warehouses, or forgotten tunnels, and once they took someone away, they rarely allowed their victims to return alive.

That was why the five soldiers were there that night.

And that was why Kael knew the chances of everyone in the group making it back alive were very small.

“Kael…”

He turned when Daren called his name again.

“If we find the woman, don’t move ahead.”

Kael stared at him for a moment before raising one eyebrow.

“Do I really look like someone who likes rushing in?”

Daren did not laugh. Instead, his expression became even more serious.

“That’s exactly why.”

Kael let out a quiet sigh and turned his attention back toward the corridor.

He knew what Daren meant. Among all the soldiers in the group, Kael was neither the strongest, the fastest, nor the most experienced. Even back at the barracks, his name was more often mentioned as an example of failure than as a soldier worth praising.

He had failed shooting drills because he was too slow to pull the trigger. He had once tripped during a combat simulation and caused his entire squad to lose nearly a minute that should have been spent reaching the evacuation point. Some soldiers had even openly called him a loser who was simply lucky enough to have survived this long on the battlefield.

Kael had never really argued with them.

Maybe because some of what they said was true.

Or maybe because he was simply too tired to care.

The five soldiers continued searching through the corridors of the building until suddenly…

“Help…”

A hoarse female voice, filled with pain, echoed from the end of the corridor.

Every soldier immediately stopped.

One of the soldiers behind Kael raised his weapon and moved forward, but the squad leader was quicker. He grabbed the soldier’s arm before he could take another step.

“Wait!”

The soldier turned sharply, confusion written across his face.

“Why?”

“Her voice sounds suspicious…” the squad leader replied in a deep voice.

The five soldiers exchanged confused glances.

Then, without warning, a deafening sound struck the wall beside them.

BANG!

Every head turned at once.

Something moved across their field of vision so quickly that Kael only caught a glimpse of a black shadow before a scream echoed through the corridor.

“CONTACT!”

Gunfire erupted.

Muzzle flashes burst repeatedly from the weapons, their sudden light spilling through the windows of the pitch-black building. For a brief moment, the entire corridor was illuminated by the flashes, and in one of those fleeting bursts of light, Kael finally saw the creature he had previously known only through military reports and the stories told by other soldiers.

It was tall and unnaturally thin, yet it moved with a speed and strength that made no sense. Its arms appeared far too long for a human body, while something resembling sharp claws extended from the tips of its fingers. Its face remained hidden in the shadows, and before Kael could make out anything more, the creature had already vanished from sight.

Screams of pain, the thunder of gunfire, and the monster’s horrifying growls merged into a single chaotic roar inside the building.

Then, suddenly, everything went silent.

“Daren!”

Kael saw Daren collapse several meters in front of him. Something had pierced through his chest, and blood was already pouring onto the floor while his hand still desperately clung to the rifle he had no chance to use again.

“Oh no… Daren… your body…” Kael muttered hoarsely.

Kael moved toward his fallen friend, but before he could reach him—

“Don’t move, Kael!” the squad leader whispered urgently.

“Why?” Kael asked, growing more panicked and confused.

“He’s still here…” the squad leader replied.

There was a fresh wound along his temple, and blood was slowly running down the side of his face. He raised his rifle and flashlight toward the upper-right corner of the room.

“Grahhh…!”

Suddenly, from the dark corner near the ceiling, the monster lunged at Kael and the others once again.

Gunfire shattered the silence inside the building.

The creature moved with terrifying agility. It climbed and leaped between the walls as if gravity meant nothing to it, effortlessly avoiding the bullets fired by the soldiers.

Then it struck.

With its razor-sharp claws, the Wraith launched a brutal counterattack against the soldiers. Fresh blood splattered across the surrounding walls as their screams of pain filled the room. Kael desperately tried to shoot the monster, but it was far too fast. Before he could react, one of its claws tore violently through his right leg.

“Argghhh!”

Kael screamed in agony.

His thin body immediately collapsed onto the floor, and his weapon slipped from his grasp. He was completely helpless at that moment, unable to do anything except endure the searing pain shooting through his leg. Through his blurred vision, Kael could only watch his companions desperately fighting the monster in front of them.

The battle erupted once again.

The soldiers fired everything they had, but it seemed as though none of their bullets could find their target. The creature moved too quickly, slipping between their attacks before striking them with its claws. More screams echoed through the empty room as the Wraith tore through the soldiers one by one.

Limbs were ripped apart.

Blood covered the walls.

Bodies fell to the floor.

One by one, Kael’s comrades were killed by the monster’s vicious attacks.

Unable to move because of his injury, Kael could do nothing but watch the horrifying massacre unfold before his eyes. Tears slowly filled his eyes as he watched the people he had entered the building with disappear one after another.

“Th... This can’t be happening…”