### Hooded Menace: Fulfill the curse

#### 12/02/10 || Daemonomania

The woman stood up and dusted herself off. She watched the train as it passed into the distance. Her mind was on her friend and the man she had met on their trip. She had been hoping just the two of them would end up at an outdoor cafe in a small town in this quiet country. As it had happened in college they would drink too much and climb under blankets together. Warmth in a small bed. She had wanted this vacation to reawaken that lust in her friend. But her friend was on more orthodox pursuits. Like that handsome idiot on the train. The woman was bitter.

She looked around now. Though she had been excited to see a new place it now seemed alien. Darkness would fall soon. She wondered why she had been so stupid. If she was still on that train she would be alone, yes. Rejected, yes. But alone and rejected and safe. Now on the side of the tracks she was not. In this empty land there was only one building in sight. It seemed to be ruins of a castle. Surrounded by woods a mile deep. The sun dipped low and split in half on the horizon. She started walking.

Night had come. The woman carefully stepped between rocks and moss. Shone a beam against the high walls. Thanked herself for packing a flashlight. If the old castle was a frightening place to be, then the forest outside was terrifying. At least here she could sleep without some unknown animal creeping around. Biting her. Tearing her apart. She shuddered with the thought of it. The woman found a small archway and entered.

Up some rank steps a little chamber. Leaves had fallen here. A good place to lay down her sleeping bag. The chamber looked out over the long interior courtyard. All was illuminated by the soft light of the moon. All was still and quiet. She liked being able to see around her. The woman had vague sleepy thoughts of tactics and high ground. Then she looked up. A mistake. Bats nuzzled each other packed tight on the ceiling. Coming awake. Biting back screams of disgust she ran out into the courtyard.

She looked back towards her things beneath the bats. Building the courage to go back and grab them. But then a low sound. It came from everywhere. Spinning she saw the first horseman. Cloaked and hooded. Carrying a long shield with a red cross. The woman was too afraid to wonder at his strange garb. Between the arches rode out another horseman and another. Soon there were many in a ring, pressing so slowly forward. The riders and horses moved in silence.

She screamed. She screamed louder when she saw their faces. Skeletal, desiccated. Around the empty eye sockets the marks of birds searching for food long ago. The horses also rotting and blind. She screamed as they pulled dead steeds tight around her. Bony fingers reached out. Her clothes torn free she screamed in her nakedness. Her last screams turned from terror to pain. The riders ripped free chunks of flesh to eat. Breasts sliced free and chewed.

Her throat at last torn out. The woman was dead. The Templars filled their dusty mouths with blood. For so long they had lain hungry. Hearing but not seeing. Now the Knights from the East were gorged. Would sleep more deeply. They peeled the last of her flesh from her bones. Mounted their horses. Melted back into the castle’s stone walls. Until the next foolish traveler would come to slake their thirst, they would wait.

Oh yeah, and Hooded Menace is fucken awesome.

- Information
- Released: 2008
- Label: Razorback
- Website: Hooded Menace MySpace
- Band
- Lasse Pyykkö (aka Leper Messiah): vocals, guitars
- Pekka Koskelo: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Rotting Rampage (Menace of the Skeletal Dead)
- 02. Fulfill the Curse
- 03. Grasp of the Beastwoman
- 04. Laboratory of Nightmares
- 05. Beauty and The Feast
- 06. The Eyeless Horde
- 07. The Love Song of Gotho, Hunchback of the Morgue
- 08. Arcane Epitaph
- 09. Theme From Manhattan Baby