It moved in the shadows, stalking its prey that walked beneath the bright red light of the blood moons. The prey moved with confidence, but it could feel the fear that was suppressed within their bodies. It could almost taste the sweet aroma of the blood that would soon be spilled.

“The time to hunt is nigh my children!” The master had spoken such grandiose words before a massive gathering. “Tonight is the time to feast upon the fear of the innocent. To taste the darkness of their life!”

The master had commanded, and it followed. The lowly humans that it stalked would soon be undone. Their purpose in existence was only to allow for it to advance its power.

A deep and inhuman smile appeared on its disfigured face. It wanted to taste their blood. To sample their fear. It could not hold itself back from the sweet temptation. Surely, the master would not notice one of them missing, right?

Slowly, it could feel its many fleshy appendages, which would make any sane human scream in fright and flee for their life, unfolded from within its body. They were close, so very close. It could almost reach out and touch them.

No. In the final moment, before it let loose, it decided against it.

This was not the time. There was a greater purpose. It would have to trust the master’s great plan. In the end, it would surely be rewarded for its service. More importantly, it feared what the master would do to it if he were to find out.

With those thoughts, it returned to the shadows, once again watching the prey with an intense gaze.

To Sett, who had lived his entire life beneath the neon lights, the sight of the commercial district in complete silence was a surreal one. No bright lights were advertising the newest and greatest holographic device or smartphone nor were there any constant chatter from enthusiastic customers going to and fro.

If he had to be completely honest, Sett had to admit that he thought the scene was quite strange. Strange and eerie.

The streets that were completely devoid of human life were bad enough, but there was something else that troubled Sett greatly. He could not place his finger on just what it was, but his entire body screamed at him to get out of there. To leave at the first opportunity.

Sett smiled wearily and looked to the sky, attempting to think of anything but his frightening unease.

This night was one of the few in a decade where one would be able to see the clear starry sky. If it had been any other day, the light pollution would surely have covered much of the celestial bodies up.

Sett would much rather find someplace to simply observe the sky now that he had the chance. Especially the twin moons, that illuminated them from above, was dazzling and a target of his admiration.

“Oy, Sett!” A hushed, but demanding whisper awakened Sett from his stupor. “Quit dallying. You know we cannot miss another delivery. We don’t have enough time to sightsee.”

“Right. Sorry, Jack”

Sett shook himself awake and followed Jack. Slightly running to catch up with the group that had almost left him behind in his stupor, he desperately tried to leave behind his unease.

Their footsteps sounded heavily on the synthetic bricks. Yet no one came to stop them. It was as if the world had stopped working for a single night.

The truth was not that far from it. In fact, the commercial district would have been flooded with an intense nightlife at this time of the night were it not for the twin moons that shone with an ominous red light above them.

The twin moons that sailed through the skies of Gliese Prime were almost the sole reason for the blackout they found themselves in. Specifically, it was because of the phenomenon they caused every six orbital periods or a little over a year in the standard earth calendar.

When the first colonisers had first arrived, the phenomenon had sparked great curiosity among the budding populace. Strangely, none of the great minds that had arrived to lead the colonization effort could explain the scientific reason behind it. Even to this day, it remained unexplained by conventional science.

In the almost one hundred years since the phenomenon has always been a target of fascination to most people, but over the years this fascination evolved into something more. Superstition had set in among the populace, proclaiming that the blood-red twin moons were the eyes of the devil.

More and more people began to fear the ominous sight and thus began a tradition to stay in on nights when ‘the demonic eyes that stalk from above’. Many had thought the thought to be insane, but somehow, they were in the minority. As the years passed, the many different churches’ influence on Gliese Prime grew greatly. Someway and somehow, the churches had managed to convince the local government on Gliese Prime that their tradition was important.

Ten earth years ago, the bill of the blood moons was written into law, enforcing a strict curfew on the night of the blood moons.

Many thought the law to be complete insanity, but it was enforced, nonetheless. Sett, too, had thought of the law as something that some power-hungry politician had proposed because he had been bored. Still, standing beneath the twin moons, that largely resembled glowing eyes, he truly could not help but that maybe, just maybe, there was something behind the church’s insane law.

“Jeez, Jack.” The third person in their party, a girl, complained to Jack. “Haven’t we walked far enough? Where is this haul your client was speaking off?”

“For the hundredth time, Jess. The client was very secretive and would only allow us on the job if I didn’t tell any of you where it was.”

Naturally, like anyone who was daring or stupid enough to defy the planetwide curfew, Sett’s group was out to do no good. Specifically, they were out here to steal.

Thankfully, it could only be said to be a small-time job, but it was a criminal job, nonetheless.

“Mmm… Alright.”

Jess sounded unconvinced and pouted for a couple of seconds, but quickly bounced towards the next topic of conversation.

“Hey, Sett!” The lively girl quickly found her conversation partner in Sett. “What are you going to use the money on?”

Jess’s question was a welcome distraction from his unwarranted unease. Sett did not have to think long about her question.

“The same as Jack, I imagine. The roof in the orphanage took a pretty serious hit a couple of weeks ago and it’s getting pretty chilly with the winter months approaching. If there is any money left after that, I guess it’ll go towards a rainy day.”

“Man, that’s so sad. I’m going to use mine on painting supplies.”

Frankly, their group was one made entirely out of misfits.

Take Sett and Jack, for example, they were the lowest of the low in society. Orphan teenagers that no one wanted. Stuffed into an orphanage that had been overpopulated for years.

Then there was Jess. A lower-middle-class child who had quite frankly fallen in with the wrong crowd.

The group had very different reasons for being there. For the orphans, it was almost a matter of life and death. For Jess, she might simply be doing it because her parents would not buy her any more painting supplies. The difference was mind-numbing, but Sett would not point that out. Jess was just as good at the thievery part as the two orphans, and it truly helped to have an upstanding citizen to cover for them in case they were caught.

Jack guided them down many side roads, slowly bringing them further into the depths of the commercial district. For roughly half an Earth hour, the only sound was the sound of their boots hitting the ground and the occasional careless thought from Jess.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. The bowels of the commercial district. A place where no upstanding citizen would ever venture.

“Jack…” Sett could not help but voice his discontentment. “You do realize this is a power station, right? Isn’t it too much?”

Besides Sett, even Jess fidgeted nervously at the thought of stealing from such a place. Not only was the place creepy as all hell, but it was also owned by one of the conglomerates that owned the commercial district.

What was worse, Sett’s ominous feeling from earlier had grown even worse. It urged him to flee at this very moment. To leave his friends behind if need be.

“I know how it looks, but the client promised me that it would be a safe bet. They even told me that they would disconnect the station from the grid while we are in there.”

“This…”

Sett looked to Jess for support but found none. She had already made her decision with Jack’s reassuring words.

“C’mon, Sett.” Jack placed his hand on Sett’s shoulder. “I know it’s scary, but we’ve worked with these guys so many times before. It’s not like they would lie to us. Plus, the pay-out is much higher than normal.”

Sett could not help but sigh wearily. His heart was palpitating in his chest and his breath was rapid. He did not like this one bit. The place was a perfect spot for an ambush from police or those that were worse. If they were to encroach on a gang’s turf, they would surely be in trouble.

Still, they had worked with the same client for many months now. It had always been small jobs. Strip some wires from a derelict train yard and bring them to some other location. Deliver a briefcase from one person to another. Really simple stuff, with little risk. Surely, they could trust the client they had worked with for so long, right?

“Fine.”

Sett finally relented with a barely disguised quivering voice.

“Great! You won't regret it, you guys. The client told me that his guys will cut the connection at midnight and that we will have thirty minutes to do our thing…”

Jack continued to explain the plan. It was simple, rather boring, stuff. Which route they should take after they were done and where the delivery point was.

Soon after, the clock struck midnight. Suddenly, a small spark erupted near the entrance to the power station, and the ambient lighting that illuminated the place went out.

“That’s our cue.” Jack fished three flashlights out of his backpack. “Here, we’ll need these.”

With trembling hearts and palpitating breaths, the group pushed open the heavy iron door. It creaked open without any resistance.

Despite his fright, Sett was amazed. Jack’s contact had actually shut off the entire station’s power. Sure, he had believed Jack's words, but seeing and believing were two entirely different things.

As the door closed behind them, they were left in complete darkness. With three clicks, their lights were turned on and the industrial interior was revealed to them.

“Right. The main price is the third generation SenCorp portable uranium generator. Though if we find anything else valuable while we are here, the client said he would take it without question.”

Sett’s eyes lit up as he heard Jack’s words. For a few moments, the excitement he felt eclipsed the fear. A uranium generator! From SenCorp, no less. Sure, it was a couple of generations behind the newest that the corporation had to offer, but the prize was unimaginable to them either way. If all things went well and the client paid out, let alone fixing the roof, they could probably renovate the whole orphanage.

Sett was excited, none of the hesitations he had earlier could be found.

Their prize was easily found. It was the centrepiece of the entire power station and glowed faintly green in the darkness, after all.

It was a frightening small thing. A cylinder with a length that was less than half a meter could power the entire commercial district. Sett doubted that even the engineers who had set it up understood how it worked. It was not surprising considering that it was a piece of Earth technology. To the people of Gliese Prime, it might as well be magic.

Even Jack gulped before the intimidating power that was contained within it.

“Right… the client said to pull this lever…”

*Clunk*

Jack began to relay the instructions he had received from the client but was interrupted by a sound from within the power station. The three of them immediately stiffened. Could it be that there was someone else in the station?

Sett’s fear returned with full force.

*Clunk*

It sounded out again, closer this time. The three companions looked at each other, their bodies paralyzed with fear. If they were discovered at a time and place like this, it would mean imprisonment for a very long time at best.

This could not be allowed to happen.

“Hide…”

Sett was the first to awaken from his fright. He quickly whispered to his companions and then slid beneath a control panel. Thankfully, his companions were roused as well and soon found their own hiding spots.

*Clunk*

It was not a moment too soon. The sound of footsteps had appeared just outside the main power room which they were in. Seconds later, a bright light source entered the room.

Sett felt his nervousness dial up to eleven, his heart beating furiously in his chest.

“Lark. Why must we hunt when others are feasting?! I must feed! The hunger… too great!”

A voice that sounded all too shrill and unnatural echoed within the room.

“Silence, Derek!” Another voice, this one gruff, sounded out. The speaker clearly was not happy. “Do not dare doubt the great plan of our masters, lest you bring me down with you. When we have proven our worth then, and only then, may we join our masters at the high table.”

The one named Derek clearly did not approve of his superior’s remark but relegated himself to only make noises of disagreement.

Could it be that they were not police? Perhaps they were electricians on duty… No, the one that had spoken first had such horrible speech that it was comparable to a toddler. How could any educated person speak in such a way? But if they were not police nor electricians employed by the owners, then what were they…?

Suddenly, the words that Derek had said played back in his mind. Hunt? What could it mean?

Cold sweat had long since covered every facet of his face. His fright was unimaginable.

Sett found himself praying to whichever god would listen, that the two of them would simply continue their quarrel and leave them be.

Yet, it would not be so.

Suddenly, Sett felt something grasp around his ankles. It was not a human hand, but something more akin to a vine. It was wet and slippery yet held on with undeniable might. It was like nothing he had ever seen before.

Sett had barely noticed the creepy tentacle before it began tucking at him. Slowly, but surely, he found himself being dragged out from the safety of his hiding place. He desperately began to rip and tear with his hands at it, but nothing happened. It was like it was steel chains that had wrapped around his legs.

“Noo! Let go!”

Before he had been dragged halfway out of his hiding place, Sett heard the blood-curdling screams of Jess. They were soon joined by the grunts of effort from Jack. Without a doubt, all three of them had been captured by the tentacles.

“Damnit!”

Sett too began to curse outwardly. It was no use being sneaky anymore. This was a fight for his life.

“Well… Well… Well…” The same shrill voice that came from grunt Derek sounded out again just beside Sett. “Thieves…Caught in the act. Thieves… should just die. It be for the best if I… disposed of you.”

Sett stood face to face with a monster. A genuine monster, like the ones depicted in the nanny’s horror stories. It should not be real or possible, but the thing stood before him with a menacing aura so frightening that it made even the greatest of 4D horror movies look like something that was made for children.

Standing face to face with such a monster, Sett almost outright fainted from fright.

“Grunt!” The second man, much less monster than the other, yelled out. “Quit scaring the blood vessels. Just ice them and get it over with!”

“Tchh… you’re no fun, Mister Lark…”

Then, the half-monster half-man grunt Derek held up a strange, elongated device towards Sett. It was made of wood and had a faintly glowing green crystal embedded within. It perfectly resembled a wand toy that he had played around with in his younger years.

Without any prompt from the handler, a few sparse particles appeared on the crystal's surface and flew towards the children.

Sett had no idea what those particles were, but he knew they were trouble. He tried to face his head away from the invading floating lights struggling however he could, but they followed wherever he went. Before long they entered his nose.

Immediately, he felt his consciousness fading and a deep sleep took him.