The Time Keeper

Chapter 45 - Monsters and Madness

Time snapped back into its natural rhythm, and suddenly, everything happened at once. There was no room for hesitation.

Lucas, his revolver freshly loaded, fired shot after shot as he ran by the monster, each golden bullet finding its mark in the creature's grotesque form. The bullets seared at it's rotting flesh. Jean, despite his exhaustion, aimed with his gun from afar and fired precise rounds, hitting the monster's vulnerable spots causing it to weaken and slow down it's movements.

Fleur, with her incredible speed, darted around the creature, her figure a blur as she delivered powerful blows that sent shockwaves through its flesh. I could hardly see the attacks she was making. Mar stood at a distance and focused her energy on providing support to Fleur. She was shouting out warnings to Fleur, letting her know of the monster's attacks and precise movements right before it would even make them.

Then there was Jo who stood back with both Darius and I. Jo had her eyes closed with a concentrated demeanour.

As chaos unfolded around me, I found myself at a loss. Darius, still dazed from the effects of the Shattered Sight artifact, needed time to regain his energy before he could assist. The others were engaged in a fierce battle with the monstrous creature, their attacks both precise and brutal.

I knew my abilities didn't lend themselves well to combat. Fracture, my unique power. It was a skill that had proven invaluable in investigative work and problem-solving, but it held no actual combat capabilities.

Looking back up at the chaos that was ensuing, the monster was fiercely swiping its talons at Fleur as she darted and danced around, leaving blurs of her figure as she passed by. As each bullet from both Lucas and Jean hit it, it would corrode it's skin and the monster would be stunned for a brief moment, allowing Fleur to make another powerful blow to it's heavy frame.

I glanced down at my revolver, but I couldn't bring myself to waste precious ammunition when my teammates were already dealing with the threat. It was a tense and frantic scene, every second ticking by as the battle raged on. What could I possibly do to help?

Amidst the chaos, I realised that my unique ability might have a role to play, albeit indirectly. Much like what Jo seemed to be doing. I needed to gather information, to understand what had transpired in the theatre moments before our arrival.

Without wasting another second, I crouched down and pressed my hand to the grimy, decaying floor of the theatre. It was a deliberate gesture, an attempt to anchor myself in the present while I reached into the near past.

Closing my eyes, I focused all my mental energy on that single task. I envisioned the theatre as it had been just moments before, a place cloaked in shadows and eerie silence.

As I concentrated, I felt the familiar sensation of my ability taking hold. Illusory fractures and webs danced before my open eyes, like the threads of an ethereal tapestry.

My heart pounded in my chest as the fragments formed a single, still image of the recent past. The scene that unfolded before me was like a nightmare etched in stark, horrifying detail.

The monster, a grotesque abomination, stood before me. Yet it was not in its current form. It was almost human-like, a nightmarish semblance of humanity twisted by some vile force. Its skin was still mottled and pallid, much like the creature in the current battle, and its eyes were again, hollow and soulless black voids.

The creature was hunched over in the middle of the theatre, its form contorted in agony as if undergoing a grotesque transformation of suffering and agony.

It was a vision of a tortured soul, a creature caught in the throes of a horrific metamorphosis. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the sight, even as the battle continued to rage around me.