Serena had gone to one of the new garden mazes in town, it was supposedly a great place to chill out in the afternoon, because not many people hung out there and it was quiet and beautiful, Serena on the other hand had been to 'her' apartment.

She was sitting in the park from about 3pm, reading her biology notes, even now, at about 8-9 pm, the street lights were still blazing and Serena was slightly amused at the thought of street laps in a garden maze...

A chilly wind was blowing through the maze, Serena, at this point, after seeing mutation at it's worst, really didn't think anything else could at this point.

However, this evening was beginning to sound like a scene from a really creepy horror movie... Those bushes were also starting to sway. Regardless of whether or not she was just being paranoid, she should probably get home.

Garden Mazes... They were real; Humans planted seeds and raised hedges to full maturity in the shape of complex paths with turns to dead ends and everything. On top of all of this, they spent years making them, and after they were completed, they refused to live in them. How silly.

Still, whether or not they had their reasons, he had to admit, he was a fan; think about it. This was a place for people to get lost alone. It was literally filled with no witnesses. He likened a good hedge maze to a big green pinata filled with yummy human treats; all he had to do what give it a big knock and reach inside, and whala! Dinner.

Still, he didn't want this to get boring... He could spend all day sneaking about and gobbling people up, but where would the fun be in that? No, he simply had to make a game of it. In the end, it had a tendency to work in his favor anyway; the only way to get someone more lost in a maze was to scare them badly enough that they took a wrong turn, and then found themselves at a dead end.

Roach planned to do just that with his next victim. She was reading from a heavy book, likely of the textbook variety; mmm, smarts. The nerdy ones never ran fast, so this would be plenty easy, too!

"Ha-ha-ha--ha.... Tch Tch Tch Tch Tch.... Ha-ha-ha-ha... Tch Tch Tch Tch Tch." Yes, it was corny, but from his hiding spot in the bushes, the sounds associated with a certain killer in a mask tended to do the trick.

Serena closed her book and put it back into her bag. She heard a strange noise... which was totally the noise that a certain masked horror movie star made.

She stood up and glared at the area it came from. She had heard that kids hung around here occasionally, it was almost certainly one of them. Otherwise, they probably wouldn't have made a reference to that.

She was staring down a bush, with sparkling, sky blue eyes. "That's not amusing in the slightest."

Serena replied to the creepy noises with a pointed comment, she was expecting to ruin some kids fun. Well, good, because there are some people who would become seriously scared by that noise.

Although, to be fair, most people wouldn't hang around a hedge maze at this hour anyway. After she has lectured them on their manors, she should get back to the mansion.

"That's not amusing in the slightest."

Oh, cute, she thought he was playing around... He liked it when they thought he was playing around; Confidence turned to fear was one of the greatest seasonings for a good meal... He wondered how he could best spark that lovely flavor.

A hand wandered into his shell, and out he pulled a handful of human fingers. He tossed them in a high arch from his spot in the bushes, so that they would rain down around his prey... He had been saving them for a snack, but he could always pick them up after he ate her, couldn't he?

"Not amusing, not amused... How sorry, how sad, She's not amused." He sighed deeply, speaking in a sorrowful murmur. "Oh well... I guess I can be amused enough for us both."

The bushes shuddered once more, and then went eerily still. "Hee, hee, hee..."

There was a shuffle to the right of her; had something been thrown? And then there was one to the left... Something moved among the hedges, and it wasn't being shy about it... It was as if any moment, something could burst out...

"Hey, what's that noise? Is anyone in here?" A man's voice erupted from the maze, the shrouded beam of a flashlight belaying his presence. "It's late... no one should be out this time... If you're homeless, find somewhe-CHHHHTH." The voice was unceremoniously cut short, and a thump was heard at the entrance to that particular maze clearing... a hand with a lit flashlight clenched tightly in it was all that was revealed, the rest of the body attached was hidden around the corner... It did not stay long, though... The limb disappeared around the bend, leaving the flashlight on, and out in the open.

"This one will keep me busy... perhaps you can escape..." Soon after the good advice, a wet crunching sound was heard... Oh, he did so like those fingers.

Serena stood, unwavering. Something flew from the bush, probably twigs or something. They looked like long thing objects, they were totally twigs. She glared at the bush, and then as they rolled under the street light she got a better look at them and froze where she was standing.

FINGERS?!

"What.The.F***?!"Serena was freaking the hell out! It was seriously out of place for the blonde teenager to swear, so when she did, you knew something was wrong.

She crept to the corner, shaking with every step. She was hearing noises. Curiosity killed that cat, or in this case, possibly the teenager.

She saw a hand with a flashlight go around a corner, as if it was being- "OH MY F***ING GOD!" She walked. Shaking towards the act.

She was terrified. She might get eaten. But she couldn't just leave that poor man there. He must have been security or something, just doing his job.

Serena stepped into the light, shaking with fear. "Leave him alone." the teenager squeaked with fear.

"OH MY F***ING GOD!" The response would have made him burst out with evil laugh #3 of his mouth wasn't full of flesh.

"AWM NAWM NAWM!" The terror of the night wasn't bashful about the sounds of his gorging, but what was this? Over the sound of the feast he heard what sounded suspiciously like... someone walking closer?

Sure, he'd spent all afternoon tracking people down and murdereating them in a hedge maze, but this lady had to be CRAZY!

"Leave him alone."

He looked up from his meal, a whole human arm, and tilted his head. "I see... It all makes sense now. He probably doesn't like me eating his arm in the least, does he? I've realized the error of my ways, thank you." He turned to the rest of the man, who was very dead, still bearing a shocked expression on his face. "I am SO sorry, Rick. Here, have this back, it was wrong of me to take it in the first place." He reached out and dropped the limb onto the man's chest; it fell over, and he grabbed it again, adjusting it so that it found a stable perch, and then patting it carefully.

"Wow. I really do have to say... You're quite brave, aren't you? Walking TOWARD the dying people. Do you know what I do to brave people? Oh, I know, ask Rick over here, he seemed pretty brave!" He turned and leaned in on the dead man. "Hey Rick, what do I do to brave people? Rick?" He gasped and placed three hands on his chest, one on his mouth. "Oh... Oh no... I think Rick is dead! RICK! RICK NOOOOOO!" He shook the corpse and held it close, mock weeping loudly.

After a few more moments of incredible sarcasm, he paused, and turned to his remaining guest. "Oh well... At least I have you to keep me company. And look at you! So adorable! I could just EAT YOU ALL UP!" Roach cackled cruelly as the grabbed the man's arm again and tossed it at the woman's face before disappearing into the maze once more.

Serena was visibly shaking with fear. If it was possible for an unnaturally pale blonde to get paler, it had just happened.

The man had been murdered, but not just murdered, but eaten. Serena didn't know how to react. The cockroach's voice rung out in her ears. The man. Was being eaten. And he thought it was funny.

The roach was threatening to eat her. She didn't know how to react, she was scared, she was confused, she was upset that this poor man, who was just trying to do his job just died before her.

She couldn't even reach him in time, she felt so useless. She was so useless. Roach picked the arm up and flung it at her. She flinched, it was all she could think to do, she didn't even motion to stop it, but her flinch made it bounce off her shoulder.

He must have ripped a few of the arteries, blood was still spraying and drenched her dress and splashed her face, just missing her eyes. She was now drenched in the mans blood.

It was night...The man was just trying to do his job... he was murdered. Blood, blood everywhere.

Serena saw something... Flashes, night,darkness. A person, with a gun, a flash. Loud noises, a figure over her protecting her.

It was... Was that Jake? Was that her big brother? Why was... his blood was everywhere?

She was covered in his blood... Why, why did he have to get killed?!

The man, had laughed about Serena's brother's death, and how she couldn't do anything about it... And now, this... This thing, was doing the same thing. It was laughing at this poor man, and then threatening her.

As the rage, the pure, un-tempered wrath swelled inside her, her body took on a blue glow and all of the blood on her body begun to float off, and all of the blood on the corpse floated off of it.

She looked at the direction he skittered off. The usual sweet, innocent and friendly look on the young blondes face was absent. It was replaced just a straight up look of baleful killing intent. "Die."

The blood which had been flowing in the air formed into several lances of blood and flew through the bushes he skittered through with incredible pace.

Something... Changed in his victim. Maybe it was the bloody limb he threw in her face that upset her a bit, but he had to say, it was an interesting change. He spied her from his place in the bushes, and watched as the blood covering her and flying about took form, and sped into where he'd entered the bushes. Luckily he had been trying to sneak around her to surprise her, and thus the attack was way off.

"Ohhh.... A mutant, are we? I think I've just found my new best friend..."

The voice came from off to the side, and he made sure he wasn't there anymore when she reacted.

"Why so angry? All I did was kill an inferior being... Look at it like... Stepping on a spider." Off to the other side, now. He skittered around behind.


"Since you seem so willing to play, now... Why don't we have some fun?" He appeared briefly at the entrance to the clearing, and then disappeared once more, his figure barely visible in the low light.

"You know... As determined as you sound... I'm willing to bet you're still terrified."

He moved again, grabbing something in particular, and suddenly going very still. "Good. You should be." The voice came from ahead this time, and there was no skittering to show that he'd moved or anything.

That piece of @#!? dodged! She was going to get him, he wasn't going to hurt anyone ever again, she would make sure of that. The normally calm and sweet girl was down right murderous, something snapped when the flashback happened. As if the string that held her together had snapped.

She fired a blood bolt in the direction he was taunting her from. It tore a hole in the hedge. She growled. It flew back to her. She would squish him... Like a... Like a...

>>"Why so angry? All I did was kill an inferior being... Look at it like... Stepping on a spider."

Something else snapped. Another flash, someone insulting her brother in a similar manor. A smoking gun. Laughter.

She screamed "I'm going to crush you like the bug you are!" The girl wasn't just acting murderous. She SOUNDED murderous.

He asked if she was terrified... She was shaking slightly, but it wasn't from fear... Or was it? She felt something, as if carbonation behind a champagne cork was building in the back of her mind. It was her power, on the verge of losing control.

She would hold onto it just long enough to see him, and then let it go. "I don't know, you insect. Why don't we find out... I'm about to lose control, and I think this time... I'm going to let it go.

Not that the creature would understand what she was talking about... But she looked... Creepy. Blood danced around the blue glow and she kept shooting blood bolts wherever she heard skittering. Blowing small holes in the respective hedges.

Wouldn't you guess, that pesky old bug just happened to stay just ahead of her strikes.

Well, that was until he stopped during that last barrage... Then the sound of spear hitting flesh was heard. After that there was a moment of silence.

"You're going to lose control... I like the sound of that. Please, by all means, go ahead... Oh yeah, and you should be more careful, you're breaking poor Rick's heart." The guard's body suddenly flew into the clearing, several blood projectiles sticking from it's chest.

A snicker was followed by movement as it's source moved in anticipation of another attack.

"Lose control! Lose control! I kill babies, I deserve to die! Make it happen! EEEHEEHEEHEE!"

He was having so much fun! He was also being pretty loud, wasn't he? Oh well, it wasn't like there was anyone else around... Except Rick, but he didn't care. Roach asked. Rick was cool.

Serena felt awful for a moment when she realised that she had further damaged the body of that poor man. But then she remembered she had something which needed to be done. She had to eliminate this murderer.

The fact that he had just thrown the mans body at her and used it as a shield just meant that she had even more to work with. She had nearly his whole blood pool to work with now. She made a long scythe like blade of blood and sent it flying in the direction that the skittering had been going.

As she did that, she pooled the other half of the blood she was working with around her, in a scarf like shape, just floating around her mid air. She would kill this thing, even if she had to add her own blood to the mix.

As the blade flew into the hedge and ripped through it like it butter and the blade was a hot knife, it dawned on the teenager that she had a time limit, and this had been going for over 5 minutes already. She would have to end this as soon as possible, or run.

It disgusted her that she may have to run, but if it meant surviving so that she could live to kill this thing another time, she would have to do it.

Ohhh, What was this? She was making a Scythe?! Hah! Scythes were perhaps the most unwieldy, ineffective people killing tools in the world; Well, to either their own, he supposed.

It was rather unimportant what she used to haphazardly fling dangerous weapons about, though; The only thing what mattered was that she was doing it, and he would have some fun with it. The plan he had in mind had been started minutes ago, actually; he'd maneuvered himself toward the entrance of this clearing, and purposefully made plenty of noise.

Why?

Humans were funny like that. When they heard a noise they didn't recognize, they walked TOWARD it. He'd learned to count on it, and it always paid off.

"Who's there? Hello?" It was a whisper, the girl wouldn't hear it. It came from a woman who was whispering, obviously a little scared. She should be. "Larry... Larry is that y-" "HIS NAME IS RICK!" As she rounded the corner, Roach sprung out like a trap door spider, grabbing her hands by the wrists, and swinging her around, launching her in a perfect arc so that she met a certain flying blood scythe.

he cackled as half of her landed in the clearing, clearly bisected by the blade.

"HAH HAH HAH! You did that! Ohhh, that was great! It feels amazing to be a murderer, doesn't it?!" He blinked for a second, and then dove into an unharmed set of bushes.

Blood swirled around Serena more and more chaotically. As it spun around her, bubbling, levitating in an incredibly disturbing manor. It was moving in the same pattern as her emotions, inconsistently.

She heard some noises and then a sickening noise, as if the blade she had just fired had made contact with something. For a second, she almost celebrated. Then it clicked. He was made of carapace shell like material, so he should have made a cracking sound when it connected.

Then the top half of the Woman's body flew into the clearing. Serena stopped. She stared at the woman's mangled corpse. Open eyes, blood everywhere, literally half of the person she used to be.

She wanted to scream, she couldn't find the voice. The extra blood from the top half of the body and the bottom half which was in nearby hedges all surround her, also joining her pool. As well as the blood that had composed the offending blade.

She screamed. Control completely slipped away...

Bolts of blood of varying sizes blasted off with incredible force in every direction. Thankfully, there wasn't anyone there anymore other than the Roach. Serena was too panicked and emotional to notice, but her vision was beginning to blur.