midless beasts

Part I

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

This story belongs to a nightmare, not a reality. It is a tale full of love and death, two girls on the edge of fate, and the possibility of their lives changing dramatically forever.

The day everything changed started off as a normal day. At least that is what Bella would describe it as. Bella was a stunning eighteen-year-old with spun-gold hair and ocean-blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with mischief even when her life wasn't going as planned.

It was one of those brutal December dawns and Bella was shivering on the floor next to the heater that stopped working weeks ago, casting a damp, uncomfortable chill over the house. Bella had complained to her mum about it but her parents had already left for a five-month anniversary trip, leaving poor Bella alone in the house. Bella could barely boil an egg without setting the cooker alight, let alone fix a boiler.

She was sat on the floor, cross-legged, trying her hardest to undo the tangle of Christmas lights when the doorbell rang.

Opening the door revealed a handsome young man with tousled blond hair. And he looked good enough to eat.

“Hi, Jason. I missed you,” Bella said, hugging him in a warm embrace. He smelled of cologne and trouble.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he stepped past her into the cold house.

"Stuff," she laughed picking up the tangled mess of Christmas lights from the floor.

"What stuff?" he asked in exasperation as he rummaged trough her cupboards looking for some biscuits. "Where are the biscuits?"

"I'm not telling you," she replied cheekily before softening her tone. "Cupboard on the right."

"Thanks," he muttered as he emerged from the kitchen clutching a half-eaten packet of biscuits. He flopped down on the sofa and pulled Bella down beside him, throwing an arm round her shoulder. She glared at him playfully but he only laughed.

Then he stopped laughing. A strange look crossed his face as the real reason he had come round to her house registered in his brain.

"Have you heard about the disappearances?" he asked with a sudden grimness in his voice.

Bella looked up at him, trying to read the expression on his face. "Disappearances? Jason, what do you mean?"

"The twenty-five missing people. It's been all over the news." He looked at her as if she was the only other sane person in London.

"No... I haven't," she said, her smile fading.

"Twenty-five people have vanished," he said ominously and his voice almost shook as he spoke. Jason was never scared of anything in front of her. Not even in private.

"People can't just vanish... can they?" she whispered.

"I thought that too, until about a month ago," Jason said shaking his head. He was looking at the floor, his eyes narrowing as if he had seen something that he wished he hadn't. "Bella, what's that bruise on your arm?"

Bella instinctively pulled her sleeve down. "Oh. That. It's nothing I promise."

Lies. It was a lie, and she hated herself for it. What did she think she was? Some kind of hero? Living with people like these?

Sensing she was being secretive, Jason picked up the Television remote to change the channel, the news coming on as he flicked it. A reporter was standing outside a hotel, telling the audience about the latest victim, a twenty-two-year-old teacher with messy brown hair and piercing green eyes.

Bella gasped. "Oh my god, that's Miss Strange. My English teacher!"

"Strange!" Jason spat, his voice dropping to a whisper. "She was the only teacher who actually liked me."

There was a tense pause as they both took in the gravity of the situation. Seeing the look of utter terror on Bella's face, Jason quickly flicked the TV over to an episode of Friends as a distraction.

It worked. They spent the next few hours chatting and eating popcorn, for the majority of it the outside world had forgotten about them.

Jason looked at his phone and shot up. "Oh shoot, I have to go! My mum is going to kill me. I'll text you later, ok? Bye, Bells."

He knew how much she loved the nickname, and he loved the way it made her beam with happiness.

"Drive safe," she teased, walking him to the front door. "Don't die, explode or hit anything."

Just as Jason's car pulled away, a sleek black 1967 Chevrolet Impala pulled up in the snow-streaked driveway. Bella peered out of the living room window, her breath coming out in small clouds of white as she watched the strange man step out of the car. He wore a tattered black top hat, with a black suit, walking confidently up to the house.

Suddenly a loud crash echoed from upstairs, followed by a sharp crack of breaking glass. Bella's heartbeat quickened, the heavy footsteps growing louder and louder with each stride.

They soon stopped just outside the front door, which slammed open impossibly fast, shooting across the hallway and embedding itself in the far wall.

The strange man from the driveway walked right through the smashed doorway. He had deep black eyes that locked instantly with Bella's and messy black hair, casting shadows over his face.

"Who are you?" Bella gasped.

She edged away towards the kitchen counter, her hands shaking as she picked up a long bread knife and brandished it defiantly in front of her. What the hell was happening?

"William Colman, but I go by Billy, or Will," the strange man said quickly, raising his hands in the air as he eyed the bread knife. "I'm a detective from London. Now please, come with me."

Bella stood petrified, the words coming out as a guttural moan. "Why... why are you here?"

"I'm sorry, but we do not have time for questions," Billy urged. "I highly suggest you come with me now."

Before Bella could say anything else though a monstrous figure burst straight into the kitchen. It barely held human features, its teeth too pointed and deliberate to be natural. Deep within its skull, unblinking, red eyes glowed in the dim light. Most worryingly, where its hands should have been, metallic saws whirred, catching the light with nervous flashes. It smelled of rust, and copper, a walking reminder that it was built purely for slaughter.

"Run!" Billy shouted.

He grabbed Bella's arm so hard her skin went numb, wrenching her out of the kitchen. They sprinted through the hallway, past the smashed front door, and out into the night. The cold air bit at Bella's skin, her heart pounding painfully against her ribs as they ran.

"Get in the car, now!" Billy shouted.

Bella sprinted for the Impala, swinging the door open and throwing herself into the front seat. The car was surprisingly clean and smelled of old leather, but her heart was pounding so hard she could scarcely breathe. She slammed the door shut, locking it instantly.

Billy hopped into the drivers seat and stamped on the accelerator. The engine roared to life, the car lurching forwards, skidding wildly down the icy road.

"Are you ok?" Billy asked, his voice British and serious.

"Yes," she lied.

“Are you sure? Because you don't look it,” he said, looking at her. "But alright, we need to go pick up my girlfriend first, then I promise I will explain everything, ok Bella?"

Bella looked at him, completely shocked. How did he know her name? She quickly went over their entire conversation in her head. She didn't mention her name, that was for sure.

Bella gripped the bread knife tighter against her chest as they drove through the long winter night, snow falling heavily, ice covering the winding road.

Eventually they came to a stop infront of what looked like an abandoned mental hospital. The building loomed over the overgrown grounds, its weathered brick wall stretching up to the dark sky. Rows of empty, broken windows stared out like dead eyes and thick ivy snaked up the brick walls. The doors, hanging slightly ajar, were warped and weathered.

As they got out of the car, Bella felt an icy wind cut through the air, sending a shiver down her spine.

Then, Bella saw her. She was standing below a flickering street lamp in the overgrown courtyard. Her, long, golden hair cascaded past her shoulders in wispy waves, picking up the dim light. She was incredibly pale, giving her a rather ghostly appearance in the cold weather, but it was her eyes that sent a shock through Bella. They pierced through the darkness like two sharp, sparkling blue points of light, staring right at her.

She wore a vibrant red lace top under an open leather jacket that looked more like armor, rather than clothes. Her tight black leather trousers were tucked into heavy boots, and with every step she took a menacing click echoed through the courtyard.

She slid into the front seat next to Billy, turning round to look at Bella in the back. "My name's Valeria Rose, I'm his girlfriend. And you must be Bella, right?"

Her voice was crisp and confident, with a distinct London accent. They were already half way down the dark road before Bella realised Valeria was still staring at her, waiting for a reply. An uncomfortable silence filled the car.

"Oh. Umm, yeah. I'm Bella," she stammered, completely taken aback with Valeria's intensity.

"So.. what's going on? Why are you here?" Valeria asked, her voice dropping to a gentle, mysterious lilt. There was something oddly alluring about the way she spoke, something that made Bella suddenly clamor to spill her secrets.

"Some guy was chasing me," Bella muttered, her head suddenly feeling very heavy and fogged, like she was about to fall asleep.

"That was Mr. Blake. Former scientist, ex-science experiment," Valeria corrected calmly. "He wanted you dead."

She fixed Bella with a piercing look, and suddenly the inside of the car dissolved into the roaring flames of a darkened room. Bella's own voice tore from her throat in a scream, her body writhing on the floor as the thick smoky air suffocated her.

Bella blinked rapidly, trying to fight the fear in her eyes, but it was too late.

"How did you break my front door down?" Bella demanded, trying to steady her voice.

"Bella, we are highly trained operatives. We know how to take down a door. I do it at least twice a week," Billy replied, clearly irritated as he navigated the icy road.

"Why is that saw-handed guy chasing me?" Bella asked, her face paler than usual.

"Well, he either wants to kill you or kidnap you," Valeria said, her voice perfectly even. It was unnerving to hear someone state such gruesome facts so calmly.

"That is not a normal Tuesday!" Bella snapped, her pulse still drumming in her ears.

Valeria's gaze hardened as she assessed Bella from the front seat. "Where are your parents?"

"On holiday," Bella muttered, irritation bubbling up inside her. "For five months."

Valeria said nothing, taking the answer in like it was a confirmation of something dark she already knew.

"What do you mean you're detectives anyway?" Bella asked, trying to push for more answers.

"Well, we're not really traditional detectives. We are agents for the SIS," Valeria said, tilting her head curiously.

"But that wasn't just skill!" Bella snapped, leaning forward. "You blew that door off its hinges. It was magic!"

"Well, I never said the government doesn't use magic, did I?" Valeria retorted. A look of disdain crossed her face as she glared at Bella.

"What? Magic?" Bella whispered, shrinking back against her seat.