Scott was just about to start explaining, when suddenly, Miss-Inch-Thick-Eye-Liner started screaming. I swear, she could've broken glass, it was ear-shattering.
Scott immediately tensed into a fighting mode. It didn't take either of us long to find out what caused Goth Girl to freak. When I saw it, my blood turned to ice.
Barreling towards us was a large black cloud. With eyes. Blood red, pupil-less eyes. All that was visible for a mouth was two, glistening white fangs. Sound familiar? Well, I think it recognized me, too, because it bellowed loudly when it caught sight of me.
"Thema, run!" shouted Scott, grabbing my arm to pull me away. But I couldn't. I was frozen in terror. Scott cursed in some language I didn't know, then took a fighting stance at my side. Goth Girl suddenly appeared on my right.
"Okay, Grace, go for the eyes!" Scott ordered. Goth Girl, or Grace, suddenly shifted. One moment, she was standing next to me, decked out in her neon green, fishnet stockings and black combat boots (complete with matching, neon, fishnet arm-warmers); her black mini-skirt, and purple and black-striped tank top, with her short, black hair sticking up in every direction, and a fierce expression plastered on her white face. The next, she was a pure black bird, hovering agitatedly near my shoulder. Her yellow eyes blazed, then she made a beeline for the monster's head.
I had to admit, the girl had good aim. First strike, she took out one of the brute's eyes. Literally. It bounced, then rolled across the ground, coming to rest at my feet.
I nearly threw up, especially when Scott stomped on it, yelling,"Good hit, Grace!"
However, things went bad from there. The monster jerked, and Grace was sent flying into a tree. She hit with a sickening thud, and as she slid down, she shifted back into her human form. Scott howled in anger, then charged at the creature, not even bothering to shift into anything. For an idle moment, just before Scott leapt impossibly high into the air, and onto the black beast's head, I wondered what kind of animal Scott usually shifted into.
"Thema!” Scott’s deep voice broke into my thoughts. I caught sight of him, hanging on the monster’s. . . head, or whatever it was. (What exactly he was holding on to, I don’t know.) The smoky brute was tossing Scott around like a rag doll.
“Go help Grace!" he hollered, trying to stay on top of the thing while he stabbed at it's other eye with a silver-handled knife that he had manifested out of nowhere.
Finding I could move, I turned quickly and raced to the Goth's side.
"Grace?"
She didn't move. Blood was oozing down the side of her face, and from her nose, results of being smashed into a tree, face-first. Or, beak-first, I guess.
"Grace, come on. We gotta get you outta here." I started to wrap my arms around her to pull her up, but stopped. Something hot and sticky covered her back. I pulled back my hands. They were soaked in blood, but it was so dark. Frantic, I pulled Grace away from the tree to look.
Sticking out of her back was a large, black claw. It was curved, but as if she had been caught in an upward strike. The skin around it was black, and the wound oozed a black, sticky substance, that mixed with the blood.
Suddenly, Grace jerked back, hard, gasping loudly. Her eyes flared, then started turning black. She began to convulse, and blood leaked from her mouth. Then, to my complete horror, the claw, black and bloody, was suddenly protruding gruesomely from her chest, as if someone had given it a jarring push. Blood spurted out as the claw came through, spraying the front of my hospital gown. I screamed loudly. At the same time, Grace let out a strangled shriek. It was quickly cut off, however, for she began to choke, coughing up small fountains of blood. Just as suddenly, she slumped over sideways, falling completely still, and silent.
Panicking, I reached out to her, some insane part of me thinking she could still be alive. But before I could even touch her, her body began to disappear. And then it was gone, in a puff of black smoke. There was a sudden feeling of emptiness inside me, like all the heat had been taken from me.
I couldn't breath. I fell backwards, and scrambled away, as fast as I could, trying to make my lungs work. I sat in the dirt, unable to stop the scene I had just witnessed, from playing in my head, over and over.
Suddenly, I became vaguely aware of someone calling my name.
"Thema!” The voice sounded far off. I felt myself being jerked up by my arms. Whoever it was, wasn't being very gentle. Suddenly, I felt myself flying backwards through the air. Something scraped my stomach and sides, then I was dropped down on something soft, that whoofed out air when I hit it. Images were swirling in my head; Grace, the black demon claw suddenly pushing through her chest, Scott, stabbing at the head of the monster, with his silver-handled knife. . .
Oh no, I thought suddenly. Scott. Is he okay? Where is he? Scott! SCOTT!
“Thema, wake up!” Somebody shook me roughly. My eyes snapped open, and I reeled away wildly.
“Scott! Where’s Scott?” I began repeating frantically, trying to focus on something. I was dizzy, and pressed up against something cold and hard. A wall.
My vision sharpened, and things popped into focus far too quickly. The first thing I realized, was that I was back in the hospital, pressed into a corner. Then, I caught sight of my reflection.
I was standing in front of a mirror, still in my hospital gown. And it was completely soaked in blood.
~*~*~*~
End of Chapter 1
© B. J. Robertson
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