straight ahead , my eyes wide, my breathing shallow, but my body motionless. The first sound I heard was that short, raspy breathing of the two creatures. Next, I heard their pounding, labored footsteps.
“Come on.” James was saying, urging them to get past him, to try t o come at me. “ Come on! ”
One long, deep, ragged inhalation followed by a shrill shriek of animal fury startled me; my hands flew to cover my ears and my eyes squeezed tightly shut. Several hard, evenly spaced thuds vibrated the floor beneath me. I heard t he bark that could have been produced by the voice of any particularly large breed of dog. After two more barks, the monsters drew in two long breaths before those blood-freezing screeches blasted from their fanged mouths again.
Several minutes had passed since the creatures had entered my apartment and still, James did not attack them nor did they charge him. They truly were searching for only me. I sensed that their stomps and roars were displays of power meant to frighten James away. I did not know why they would want to spare his life. Perhaps the Reapers only had one kill in them. Perhaps after they murdered me, they would die as well, like two bees whose prized stingers had been sacrificed in a final attack.
It didn't matter. The paths out of the tra p we found ourselves in were closing, slowly becoming just thin lines that no man or woman could pass over. I couldn’t sit there with my eyes and ears covered like a skittish child awaiting whatever foul beast lurked in the darkness of their closet. James had gone out of his way already to save my life and his chance against those things was almost nonexistent. I wasn’t going to allow him to face that ominous darkness alone just because I was afraid. Not a chance.
I jumped up and saw that James had grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Given the size difference, the sight of James staring down those two hulking masses made me think of a rabbit charging headfirst into a battle with a hungry, stomping bull, armed only with its thin, almost transparent claws. It w ould have been comical if we weren't charging headfirst into a fight for our lives.
“Brynna, get back down.”
The only reason James knew that I was standing in view was because the two creatures stopped stomping and hissing and jerked their heads sideways at an unnatural angle to look at me. As I stared into their bottomless black eyes, I could feel the wrath, terror, sorrow and loathing of every lost soul in the history of our race. The feeling enveloped me in blackness, swallowing me whole and sending m e hurtling through time and space to the place where all evil must go.
“Snap out of it! Snap out of it, Brynna!” James screamed at me and it was hearing his voice that sent me flying back to earth and landing with a gratified thud. It was upon landing that something took over me; it was some inner beast I never knew existed to rival the real monsters in the room.
First, I hurtled over the couch. I lunged for the first beast’s throat, wrapped my arms around its meaty neck and forcefully spun so that I w as behind him, tightly latched onto his back. My body was working completely at its own will and my mind was just along for the ride. When my ears heard another deathly scream behind me, my foot swung backwards to nail the second monster quite perfectly in the center of its hideous face. It flew back, gasping in an almost absurd display of surprise before putting an elephant-sized dent in my newly painted wall. Beastly bastard…
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched James rush forward in a blur, raise the knife over his head, and bring it forcefully down into the gasping beast’s right eye. Another
“Come on.” James was saying, urging them to get past him, to try t o come at me. “ Come on! ”
One long, deep, ragged inhalation followed by a shrill shriek of animal fury startled me; my hands flew to cover my ears and my eyes squeezed tightly shut. Several hard, evenly spaced thuds vibrated the floor beneath me. I heard t he bark that could have been produced by the voice of any particularly large breed of dog. After two more barks, the monsters drew in two long breaths before those blood-freezing screeches blasted from their fanged mouths again.
Several minutes had passed since the creatures had entered my apartment and still, James did not attack them nor did they charge him. They truly were searching for only me. I sensed that their stomps and roars were displays of power meant to frighten James away. I did not know why they would want to spare his life. Perhaps the Reapers only had one kill in them. Perhaps after they murdered me, they would die as well, like two bees whose prized stingers had been sacrificed in a final attack.
It didn't matter. The paths out of the tra p we found ourselves in were closing, slowly becoming just thin lines that no man or woman could pass over. I couldn’t sit there with my eyes and ears covered like a skittish child awaiting whatever foul beast lurked in the darkness of their closet. James had gone out of his way already to save my life and his chance against those things was almost nonexistent. I wasn’t going to allow him to face that ominous darkness alone just because I was afraid. Not a chance.
I jumped up and saw that James had grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Given the size difference, the sight of James staring down those two hulking masses made me think of a rabbit charging headfirst into a battle with a hungry, stomping bull, armed only with its thin, almost transparent claws. It w ould have been comical if we weren't charging headfirst into a fight for our lives.
“Brynna, get back down.”
The only reason James knew that I was standing in view was because the two creatures stopped stomping and hissing and jerked their heads sideways at an unnatural angle to look at me. As I stared into their bottomless black eyes, I could feel the wrath, terror, sorrow and loathing of every lost soul in the history of our race. The feeling enveloped me in blackness, swallowing me whole and sending m e hurtling through time and space to the place where all evil must go.
“Snap out of it! Snap out of it, Brynna!” James screamed at me and it was hearing his voice that sent me flying back to earth and landing with a gratified thud. It was upon landing that something took over me; it was some inner beast I never knew existed to rival the real monsters in the room.
First, I hurtled over the couch. I lunged for the first beast’s throat, wrapped my arms around its meaty neck and forcefully spun so that I w as behind him, tightly latched onto his back. My body was working completely at its own will and my mind was just along for the ride. When my ears heard another deathly scream behind me, my foot swung backwards to nail the second monster quite perfectly in the center of its hideous face. It flew back, gasping in an almost absurd display of surprise before putting an elephant-sized dent in my newly painted wall. Beastly bastard…
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched James rush forward in a blur, raise the knife over his head, and bring it forcefully down into the gasping beast’s right eye. Another
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