Coffee & Characters: The Dark Cloud

"The Dark Cloud"

"What a lousy night. It's too damn hot." There's always one in every group that vocalizes every miserable thought that crosses their mind.
"Shut up and deal with it," I snapped. "It's bad enough we're on guard detail without having to listen to you piss and moan."

That shut him up. He began fiddling around with nothing in particular. Before long he was staring up and a cloud amidst the muggy summer sky. I could already tell he was going to say something before he spoke, because that's the kind of guy he is; just can't keep his trap shut for fifteen goddam seconds.

"You ever had a run-in with the Dark Cloud?" he queried. What and dolt.
"I'm standing here aren't I?" I could feel myself becoming more and more irritated. "I figure even a dipshit like yourself could figure that out."

He looked down at the ground and mumbled something. 
"What was that?" I don't know why I entice him. Maybe I just enjoy being a prick.
"I've seen 'em before," he said in a slightly higher voice.
"Bullshit. Everyone knows the Dark Cloud kill any living thing around their target, even the animals. No witnesses. Only traces they leave are dead bodies. If you've seen 'em, you'd be one of those dead bodies." My partner is an idiot, but he's not a liar. He piqued my curiosity.

He walked a few feet in front of me in a daze, recalling a horrific memory. "I didn't see 'em up close, but from afar as I was passing a small village. They flew down from the sky like an eagle hunting for fish. I thought I was seeing things before I heard a few screams followed by the sound of blood splashing on the ground. It wasn't long before there was complete silence. I rushed over to the village. When I arrived, the flames had just started to spread. There were bodies scattered everywhere. I'd never seen anything like it. When I looked up, I saw a mask through the fire. I blinked, and it was gone. Never been so scared in my life." At the very moment he finished his story, a familiar splash caused him to go cold. He turned around about as fast as the sun rises. The sound of blood spilling on the ground is a distinct one, and he had not forgotten.

My partner looked upon my body sprawled across the crimson-stained dirt. As he stood there, wide-eyed, jaw to the floor, a voice from the shadows caused every hair on his body to stand straight stiff.

"Should have kept that tale to yourself."

Splash...