The Killer and his brethren.

The killer stalks his prey deep in the darkness. He is a ruthless predator, flawless in his own way, a perfectionist when it comes to the slaughter of innocents. He clings to the shadows, avoiding the feeble puddles of light being emitted by the few gaslights lined on the street's edge. He pads silently, careful to make no noise on the cobblestones underfoot. He side steps the garbage strewn everywhere and dances between the puddles of fetid mess and filth that are everywhere.

A lone policeman patrols the area. He is exhausted, his shift barely started. He yawns and walks in the opposite direction away from the killer. He has been instructed to turn a blind eye to anything nefarious that may occur that particular night. He is part of a secret society, the same as the killer; they are brothers united in their group.

The killer has been tracking his target for a while. The streets are dark, but he has enough light from the moon to see, despite half of the moon being obscured by clouds. The killer is accustomed to taking life hidden in the underbelly of society, and amongst the shadows. His victim is a middle-aged woman hardened by life. She is wearing faded and worn-out clothes, and her face is well-worn. Her nose has been broken at some point, and her teeth are wonky gravestones with significant gaps in between. The woman is clearly drunk; she sways unsteadily on her feet and hums softly under her breath.

The killer moves steadily closer. He savours the moment before he strikes. He envisions the moment of her death. He licks his lips, clearly aroused about his task. He takes out his meticulously sharpened knife, studying the leather covering as he does so. It has a symbol sewn into the casing. An intricate pattern with a cross in the centre. He has an identical image tattooed onto his left wrist. This is the symbol for his brethren, his society. He takes time to admire his knife. He watches as the moonlight glints off the polished silver tip. He has taken much care of this, and it shows.

The woman is unaware she is being watched. She yawns and stretches. It is nearly time to sleep. Within seconds, the killer is on her. He places his gloved hand over her mouth, and she has no time to squeal. She tries to struggle, but it is a pathetic attempt as she was taken unawares, and her killer is much larger than her. He slits her throat from behind, throwing her to the ground as she bleeds out. Her blood pools beneath her. He takes pleasure in his kill and is breathing heavily. He still has work to do. He searches the body and finds a few meagre possessions on her. He wrenches her cheap rings off her swollen and rough hands. He then places all these things around her in a particular pattern known only to a secret group of people. He opens her legs and leaves them splayed to the side. He mutilates the body but removes the kidney and plucks out her eyes. He has a list of items that his brethren want. They are required for an evil ritual. He has plenty of time to finish his work, and he knows no one is near. When his work is done, he wipes his knife clean and replaces it in its leather case. He returns to the shadows.

He stalks through the night, back to an overgrown graveyard. He makes his way amongst the sleeping dead and stops when he reaches a cracked and worn gravestone. It is covered in ivy and leans heavily to one side. A weeping angel watches over it. There is a secret entrance nearby. The killer roots around and finds the entrance with relative ease. Inside is a stone staircase leading into the bowels of the earth. The steps are steep and uneven. It smells of damp and decay. The way is lit by torches hidden in recesses in the wall. They flicker eerily in an unseen breeze. As the killer descends, he can feel the temperature rising. As he reaches the bottom of the flight of stairs, there are several tunnels leading from this point. On the walls is the symbol that is on the knife case and tattooed onto his arm. He takes the first turning on the left, and it leads into a cavernous room. The room is lit by candles that are placed on surfaces and on the floor. They flicker ominously. The room is decorated with swords and other weapons. There are statues amongst the weaponry, Naked bodies contorting into unnatural shapes. In the middle of the room is a circle of men; they are dressed in long cloaks and capes. The cloaks are black, and the hoods are a deep, blood-red colour. In the centre of their circle is a lone figure. His cape is black, with a gold hood. They are chanting and swaying. The killer approaches and they part, to let him pass. In front of the lone person is an altar. As the killer approaches, he kneels and presents their leader with his trophies taken from the unfortunate woman he killed. The group are pleased. Their chanting grows louder and more passionate. The leader nods at him, takes the bloody packages from him, and places them in a bowl he takes from beneath the altar. He grinds the mess into a pulp and adds a handful of aromatic herbs and spices.

Their ritual begins. They do not understand the evil they are about to unleash on the world. They have called upon a beast that has been slumbering beneath the earth longer than mankind itself. These people have brought the end of days. There is an unnatural chilling howl. The men scatter and run screaming from the room. The earth shudders and cracks. The room is shaking, and the candles are extinguished. The end of days has begun.