Immortal Paladin

(POV – Protagonist)

I calmly observed the massive gate open in front of me. After attaching a camera to my body, Emily lifted me into the air, raising me upward with steady movements, while Laura, Victor, and Rupert followed closely behind.

Standing before the colossal structure, the first thing that caught my attention was the strange behavior of the fog: it seemed to respect an invisible boundary, not infiltrating past the gate's interior.

Outside, the world was so thickly blanketed by white that it was impossible to see more than a few meters ahead, as if we were surrounded by a living wall of mist.

Even though the gate was fully open, the fog wasn’t creeping into the interior of the warehouse we were in. When the gate began to open, I took the chance to carefully examine the area using my eyes. However, to my surprise, there was no glowing—indicating that the fog was completely natural.

In other words, an anomalous phenomenon had occurred, which oddly resulted in a regular fog, perhaps expelled by the anomaly itself or through some indirect effect. In any case, the fog seemed harmless, at least to a point, gently hanging in the air like a thin curtain separating the outside from our refuge.

As I momentarily lost myself in thought, Emily’s firm voice echoed behind me: “We’re counting on you, [Angel of Death]. Try to document everything you can and, if possible, figure out the origin of this strange fog. But above all, remember to prioritize your safety”

I turned for a brief moment and met Emily’s gaze. She was smiling warmly, as if trying to reassure me with just her expression. Victor and Rupert, on the other hand, maintained an apparently indifferent stance. Still, I noticed both casting furtive glances my way, trying to disguise it.

Despite their neutral masks, I could catch a subtle hint of concern in their faces... of course, it was something so slight, almost like a drop of oil lost in a vast ocean. Especially Rupert, with whom I had barely exchanged words up to that point.

On the other hand, as soon as Laura felt my gaze on her, she waved enthusiastically at me, like a child eager for attention... Well, how can I put it? Laura was exactly as always: spontaneous and unpredictable.

Anyway, to explain how exactly I ended up in this situation, I’ll need to rewind a few minutes back in time—more precisely, to the moment when I suddenly found myself transformed into a personal mannequin for Laura.

***

(POV – Emily Parker)

Emily sighed inwardly as she watched the scene unfolding before her. In a few words, Laura had turned the [Angel of Death] into a kind of mannequin—or doll, depending on what you preferred to call it.

Each time Laura dressed the little anomaly in a new outfit, she’d immediately furrow her brow, say she could find something better, and, without wasting any time, swap it for another piece. At first, Emily wasn’t bothered by it; she even found it a bit amusing.

However, after nearly five minutes of watching that endless sequence of outfit changes and indecisions, even she was starting to feel the fatigue build up, silently wondering how much longer this would last.

In the end, the anomaly didn’t wear any of the clothes Laura had insisted it try. According to Laura, none of the pieces were able to enhance the creature's natural cuteness. Emily stayed silent after hearing this, struggling against irritation as she remembered all the time wasted on that pointless attempt.

Although an intense urge to strangle Laura gripped her for a few seconds, Emily took a deep breath and decided to ignore her. No more arguments, and sticking to the original plan, she carefully attached a small camera to the little anomaly’s chest, preparing it for the mission.

As she adjusted the camera, Emily raised her gaze. The anomaly was staring at her intently, its face expressionless and indifferent, making it almost impossible to guess what was going on in its mind.

Its eyes blinked at brief, regular intervals and, perhaps sensing Emily’s focused stare, it tilted its head slightly to the side, displaying a subtle yet clear confusion at her gesture.

Seeing this, Emily couldn’t help but smile faintly, the corner of her lips curling. Carefully, she finished securing the camera to the anomaly’s body. In a way, the anomaly didn’t seem any different from usual—the only change was the small device now fixed to its chest. Through it, everything the anomaly saw outside the base could be monitored in real-time by those inside.

From Emily’s point of view, there was something strange about all of this. She couldn’t explain why, but almost everything outside still seemed to be working perfectly. Even the contact with nearby bases had been restored without major issues. So, in her mind, maintaining the camera’s signal while the little anomaly explored the outside should also be possible—at least, in theory.

“It’s all set. Now, everything you see, we’ll see too. Just try to remember not to disappear suddenly, like you usually do. I have a feeling that if you do that, the camera will lose the signal and we’ll be plunged into complete darkness in here” Emily said, keeping her eyes fixed on the anomaly in front of her.

As the little anomaly fixed its curious gaze on the device attached to its chest, Emily fell into thought. She wondered what exactly she would ask the anomaly to do once they were outside.

If she was being honest with herself, the truth was that, beyond the fog rapidly spreading around, she had no idea what to expect. The radars installed in the facility, which should be able to detect any signals, were completely useless—they couldn’t pick up any kind of energy or movement coming from the outside.

In the end, since the equipment could reveal almost nothing about the external situation, personnel had to be sent to investigate what was going on. However, these teams never returned. With each new attempt, more strange sounds emerged from the dense fog, an unsettling noise that abruptly dissipated, followed by silence.

No one ever came back. It was then that Emily, facing the mounting tension, finally confirmed: something, out there, was present. And that something, with an unrelenting presence, was hunting anyone who dared venture beyond the safety of the base, into the fog.

Sure, it wasn’t like Emily had never sent teams equipped with cameras, just like the little anomaly was doing now. However, unfortunately, the result was always the same: the team members were brutally killed by something out there.

The forms of these creatures varied, but there was one undeniable thing they all had in common: the presence of an unrelenting threat, hunting them. The creatures didn’t follow any pattern, and the methods they used to eliminate their victims were as cruel as they were varied—ranging from violent crushing to horrific dismemberments. Each encounter seemed more brutal than the last.

In the end, Emily imposed a strict order, forbidding anyone from leaving the base. She knew this would be a death sentence for everyone. However, as a last resort, the one being she still held hope for—someone whose survival, even in the worst circumstances, seemed possible—was also being sent outside.

***

(POV – Protagonist)

The moment I stepped outside the warehouse, I was immediately engulfed by a thick fog that seemed endless. Visibility was practically zero; all my eyes could make out was a dense white curtain, obscuring everything around me.

The air was damp and cold, and the fog stretched on infinitely ahead of me. I looked around, but beyond the warehouse entrance, there was no sign of anything else—just the oppressive, foggy emptiness surrounding me.

A sharp crack broke the silence, and as I turned, I saw the warehouse slowly closing, its massive doors creaking. Emily, Laura, Victor, and Rupert were there, watching me with unreadable expressions. I held their gaze until the gate closed completely.

The exact moment the doors sealed, something strange happened: the warehouse, as if being swallowed by an invisible force, disappeared into a thick fog that seemed to rise from the very ground. I could still see a small part of the gate, but the fog made everything blurry and distorted, making it hard to see. The silhouette of the gate remained visible, though it was blurred.

In the end, all I did was stand there in front of the warehouse, as if time had slowed down around me. Three, maybe four minutes passed while I stood still, lost in my own thoughts. To be honest, I had no idea what to do next. My vision was completely obstructed, as if an invisible fog had taken over my field of view.

Where should I go first? What should I do? Deep down, I knew that in the worst-case scenario, I could just use my ability to swim through the shadows, but for some reason, that idea didn’t seem so simple. Emily had warned that the camera probably wouldn’t transmit any signal anymore, and I didn’t want to risk it.

While I was lost in thought about it, Laura’s voice echoed, her tone somewhat muffled, but still clear enough for me to identify that it was coming from the camera: “Oh! The fog is really covering everything ahead. The fact that it looks like something out of a horror movie only makes it more terrifying. Be careful, [Angel of Death]!”

Even with Laura’s warning, honestly, it didn’t seem like there was much I could do. I mean, I couldn’t even see what was in front of me. Sure, not that I would die if I was caught off guard, but for the sake of my mental sanity, I’d rather avoid the moment when I look at my own body and some parts of it are just missing.

As I grimly reflected on all of this, Emily’s voice came through the camera attached to my chest, breaking the heavy silence: “[Angel of Death], it’s me, Emily. We’ll be communicating through the device we placed on your chest. First, try walking a few steps forward... is the sound really coming through, can you hear it?”

I blinked slowly, trying to process Emily’s words. The fog around me seemed to devour everything, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make anything out. The sense of disorientation was palpable. In the end, I decided to follow her suggestion; after all, there didn’t seem to be a better alternative.

Slowly, I began walking through the thick fog, the environment in an eerie silence. Every step I took echoed faintly, breaking the stillness, but... wait, steps? The realization that I was indeed making noise made me look down at the ground, an almost automatic gesture.

Hearing my footsteps was a strange feeling. I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but I’m light—so light that I actually have no weight. I’ve never been able to hear my own steps. That’s because I’m so ethereal that even when walking, I don’t make a sound. In other words, the footsteps I was hearing weren’t mine. And, as I expected, as soon as my eyes focused on the ground, I realized there was something there, right beneath my feet.

The texture was strange... or rather, no matter how you looked at it, it looked like a heap of shattered flesh, spread across the ground, in a grotesque state. And on top of that, whatever it was, it was clearly writhing, as if still alive.

My eyes fixed on the flesh, as I tried, in vain, to mentally understand what the hell I was stepping on. My mind spun, trying to speculate about the origin of that repulsive thing, when suddenly, voices came through the camera, interrupting my thoughts.

“Ugh!!!” The sound was muffled, as if it was stuck in someone’s throat.

All I could hear were the muffled sounds of gagging, and that’s when I realized: if anyone were to witness something like this, the first reaction would be to try to control their stomach, after all, the scene itself was grotesque enough to provoke that impulse. Of course, it had been a long time since I could fit into what might be considered "normal" I mean, I’m an anomaly.