Erica Slaughter

Origin

When she was 12 years old, Erica saw a monster that no one else seemed to be able to see. It killed her best friend, Becca, during a sleepover and then it eventually went after Erica's parents. After it had killed her mom and dad, she found the courage to attack it. She managed to hurt the monster pretty badly but was unable to kill it. Thankfully, Jessica Slaughter, a monster hunter for The Order of St. George, saved her. She captured the monster and trapped it in Erica's favorite stuffed animal, Octo. Impressed by her tenacity, Jessica promised to train Erica at The House of Slaughter so that she could hunt monsters, just like Jessica does.

Although, Jesscia was chastised for bringing in a “stray” like Erica, she was still allowed to go to the farm and train to be a monster hunter. To prove herself, she is put into a shared dreamspace with the monster inside Octo. It tempted her to run away in fear or reveal the secret that monsters exist. By sticking to her guns and remembering the events as they played out rather than how she wished they did, she proved everyone wrong by surviving the experience.

Creation

Erica debuted in Something is Killing the Children #1 by James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera.

Major Story Arcs

Road Stories

After the death of Jessica, Erica continued traveling the country hunting monsters:

• In Northeast Minnesota, she found a monster that was manifested by a domesticated dog's fear, a phenomenon that Order didn't believe.
• In South Dakota, she fought a monster in a convenience store which had three witnesses over 18. They never saw the monster but understood enough of what was happening. Per The Order rules, Erica should kill them but gives them a pass instead. She credits Jessica for her mercy.

The Angel of Archer’s Peak

After a monster (called an Oscuratype) attacked a bunch of kids during a sleepover, leaving only one survivor, Erica was sent to Archer’s Peak to investigate and exterminate. She quickly tracked down the one survivor, James, who had turned into a town pariah. They were sticking not just the sleepover murders but the rash of sudden disappearances on him as well. Her sudden appearance and interaction with James made everyone suspicious of her, including a motel manager. He called the sheriff on her, but she was able to talk circles around him until he gave up the first missing kid.

Using the location of the first missing child, Erica geared up at a local hardware store and went into the woods to find the nest. She was joined reluctantly (on her part) by James, who she desperately wanted to keep out of danger. She was also followed by Tommy, the brother of one of the missing girls. He had stolen his dad’s gun believing that Erica was responsible for all the disappearances and murders. Despite holding her at gunpoint, Erica still leapt to his defense against the monster. However, adults generally can’t see monsters, and Tommy was just too old. He only saw Erica draw blood from thin air and, in his confusion, shot randomly.

A stray bullet hit James and another survivor, Bian, called out for help. Using a talisman made of “horde gold,” Erica was able to make Tommy see the monster so that he would be more cooperative. She charged him with getting the two children to safety, while she stayed back to kill the monster. Unfortunately, she determined that it was a mother and that her children were still stalking the town.

The House of Slaughter

After checking on James and Bian, Erica went back into the woods to stake out the corpse of the monster, hoping its children would return to grieve. When she sprung to attack them, they turned intangible and vanished, just in time for Erica’s superior, Aaron Slaughter, to show up and give her a hard time. Aaron schools her on the oscuratype, which can only be slain when feeding, and contemplates using the children Erica just saved as bait.

Back at the police station, Erica knocked out Aaron as soon as she could so she could get Bian to safety with John, one of the deputies, but she still floated the idea of being bait to James. Just then, Tommy’s friend had caught up to Erica to tell her that Tommy thinks he saw the monsters grab another kid. Erica was unable to get to him in time before the sheriff found Tommy with 3 more bodies, but she was able to stop Aaron from executing him. Instead, she talked Aaron into helping her hunt the monsters that were now attacking the crowd outside the gymnasium, which the police had turned into a makeshift morgue for all the bodies found in the monster’s nest.

Aaron, who reminded Erica that he agrees with her about The Order’s dark tactics, sacrifices himself so that Erica could help get the crowd to safety.

A Game of Nowhere

With everyone piled inside the school gym to hide out from the monsters, Erica and James head out into danger to try to lure the monsters away. Erica is especially worried because when the Order of St. George finds out about Aaron, they’ll send more operatives that will care more about keeping monsters secret than keeping people safe. Unfortunately, they are attacked trying to steal a car, and Erica was bitten on the arm. She was able to kill the monster, but they needed to lay low at John’s.

She was forced to explain everything to John, including James’ imagination being responsible for the creation of the monster, which upset James. She was interrupted by members of The Order, including Cecilia, who slit John’s throat. When John fought back with his last breath, Erica was able to escape with Bian and James. They returned to James’ house to replay the events of the night with the help of Octo. It is a strategy called The Game of Nowhere developed by the House of Slaughter. As they focus on imagining the night of the attacks, Erica sees it play out as an illusion thanks to Octo. While mimicking the mother monster, Octo cries out to attract its children, all of which Erica slays.

With the monsters taken care of, The Order members back off threatening the town. She confronts the head of The House of Slaughter, The Old Dragon, who warned her that there are many other houses in The Order of St. George if she tries to become a solo monster hunter, but Erica cared little about his fear-mongering.

The Road to Tribulation

After telling off The Old Dragon in Archer’s Peak, Erica investigated a grizzly murder scene by some hot springs in Tribulation, New Mexico which left a lone survivor, Gabi. She got the lead from Big Gary Slaughter of the Azure Masks. He had been scrubbing her from the House of Slaughter’s radar ever since she went rogue. Erica posed as a reporter to ask some questions, but she didn’t get much. It forced her to sneak into a crime scene so Octo could get a lay of the land. He determined it was a “duplicitype,” which looks humanoid, and likes how the hot springs warms its food. Unfortunately, she was caught by a local sheriff’s deputy. He took Erica in leaving Octo behind.

With nothing really to hold her on, Erica was released and continued trying to run down leads. However, it came to her attention that Octo had been found by Gabi and was leading her to the duplicitype. Teamed up with Gabi's new guardian, Riqui, they track them down just in time to stop the monster from attacking her, but Erica was unable to kill it. After it ran away, she called Big Gary for answers, only to hear the voice of Cutter, a British member of The Order of St. George that was called in to take out Erica. After a lot of mocking, Cutter killed Big Gary and warned Erica she was coming for her.

The Girl and The Hurricane

Erica’s wounds from her fight with the duplicitype were worse than she thought. She passed out in Riqui’s car and was taken to the reservation outside Tribulation to be patched up. While she tried resting, Octo tried to convince her that she couldn’t take on the monster, let alone the monster and Cutter. Erica was determined to kill the monster before it hurt anyone else. First, Riqui needed her to meet with Sheriff Carter and clear Gabi of involvement.

Unfortunately, Cutter had already gotten to Carter and convinced him Erica was the real killer. As soon as they showed up, she was arrested. She was a sitting duck in the interrogation room when Cutter showed up killing the deputies and knocking out Carter, setting it all up to frame Erica. Cutter then let Erica go so she could continue the fun, however, on her way out Erica stole Cutter’s totem, Dolly.

With Riqui and Gabi’s help she forms a plan to take out the duplicitype, once and for all.

Showdown at the East Creek Corral

Erica, Gabi, and Riqui set the stage for their trap at a hot spring when Erica is approached by Cecilia Slaughter looking to genuinely talk. Cecilia admitted to Erica that she was involved in bringing Cutter to America to take Erica out for leaving the Order. Unfortunately, this meant losing Big Gary, one of the only people Cecilia ever actually cared about. In his honor, she shared resources with Erica to put an end to this. This included a book about duplicitypes' strengths and weaknesses and a set of vials full of poison that Cecilia and Big Gary had concocted to destroy duplicitypes. She made careful mention that the poison would be utter agony on humans and heavily implied Erica should use it on Cutter.

Adding the poison to the tips of arrows, Erica prepared for the duplictype, which she was shocked to learn now looks like her, however, Cutter showed up at the same time. Erica was forced to turn her attention on Cutter, who had taken Gabi and Riqui hostage. Unfortunately, Cutter caught one of the poison tipped arrows and stabbed Gabi with it. In a fit of rage, Erica lashed out at Cutter, but Cutter got the upperhand and carved the gold nail out of Erica's scalp that allowed her to continue seeing the monsters.

Sick of Cutter, Erica grabs a nearby shovel and beats her to death with it. With the duplictype fading from her vision, she tries to fight it but fails. Gabi, who is now infected with the poison, jumps at the monster instead. Her hand is bit off, and whatever amount of poison was in it was enough to kill the duplictype and make it visible to everyone. After Gabi succumbs to her injuries, Riqui blames Erica

Erica leaves Tribulation, with her duplictype double to take the fall for her false accusations.

Characteristics

• Height: 5’2”
• Weight: 132 lbs.
• Hair: Blonde
• Eyes: Green
• Occupation: Monster hunter for The Order of St. George
• Distinguishing Features: A tattoo of a dragon with two spears through it on the inside of right forearm.

Powers and Abilities

Monster Hunter: Erica is a well-trained monster hunter. She is able to track and has keen deductive reasoning. She is handy with most bladed weapons and is an Olympic-level athlete.

Rite of Trepanation: Erica has undergone a ritual that allows her to continue seeing monsters beyond her 18th birthday.