Love Bites

Last one standing

    I burst out of the door, finding another horrific scene.

    There are two of them out there. One is a woman, the other a man. They look like normal people, except for the catlike eyes, the snarling fanged mouths, and the animal like movements. The woman is holding my father pinned to the ground, his gun knocked some feet away. My mother is being held in the air by the man. She is still trying to fight, but it is unbearably useless for her to try.

    The man-beast is holding onto a rope. The rope is tied around my mother's wrists, and has then been tossed around a thick oak branch, and he is now using the rope to hold my mother aloft. He is somehow able to hold the rope securely with one hand. The monster has pulled off the skirt to my mother's dress, and is standing in between her legs, screaming at her that if she keeps struggling to free her legs from his grasp, he will break them.

    The female beast yells back at the man, mockingly. “You like it when they fight!”

    He laughs. “You're right. It's so much more fun that way.” I see his arm wrap around one leg and tighten, causing the leg to purple up. My mother screams. “I wonder if your old man will get his balls tickled from seeing his woman penetrated by another.” At that, the beast buries his head in the inside of my mother’s leg, close to…

    Blood fountains out. I scream myself out of my stupor. Everyone looks at me. It's too late though. A blast throws the evil creature from my mother. She falls into a heap on the ground.

    Without thinking I run to her aide, trying to help her up. I have forgotten about my father. A stupid mistake. The female yells, “You fool!” Dramatically ending the sentence with an audible crack, effectively breaking my father's neck. I watch his eyes go wide suddenly, and then drop to the ground with a sickening thud after she releases him.

    My mother was too busy righting herself to see what had happened to her love. Before she could see, and be solidified to the spot by the anguish, I pulled her along with me. A sharp tug, and we were moving to the house. My mother tried to fight me, yelling about going back for my father, but I forced her on. We were almost through the door way, when my mother’s feet were pulled out from under her.

     "You're not leaving girl! I'm burning with hunger.” The man’s chest was bloody, but he was still alive. I lifted my rifle into the air, and used the butt stock against his nose.

    Once my mother was free again, I shoved her into the house. Before I could get in too, the female pulled me back by the collar of my shirt. “You little creep! You really are a nuisance.”

    My mother heard me scream, turned, and found me struggling against the monster. Not knowing what else to do, she took the large glass candle and threw it at the creature dragging me back. It was a solid shot to the forehead. The beast fell back with a snarl. I scrambled to my feet and found myself inside the house, finally, and slammed the door shut.

    A woman's voice followed me in. “Thanks for the idea, grandma.” A foul laugh. “We'll just smoke you out!”

    I ran to my mother, clingy to her waist. I didn’t know what to do. We were in the house, but what to do now? How do I fight them off? As I’m trying to form a solution in my mind, my mother screeches my spinning thoughts to halt by asking, “Where’s your sister?”

    I nearly throw up again. I look up into her eyes, and slowly say “Mother…”

    I don't get a chance to tell her what happened, because there are suddenly flames licking the night sky outside of our windows. We'll just smoke you out. “They're setting the house on fire.” Within moments the house becomes thick with smoke and heat. Loud cackling is emanating from outside over the roar of the fire.

    The glass in the windows burst, causing both mother and I to be cut. “What do we do?” I scream over the noise.

    “We have to get out! We have no choice. Where is your sister? Why hasn't she come out?” Mother attempts to head to Connie’s room.

    I grab her by the wrist, pulling her back to me. I’m about to tell her that her daughter is dead, but am cut off yet again. The front door flies across the room, barely missing my mother and instead exploding against the wall.

    The man steps up to the doorway, “Honey, I’m home.” He smiles, stepping into the house.

    I clutch my mother, not knowing what to do. I lost my rifle when the female-beast wrestled me back outside. I start shoving my stunned mother to the back of the house, to try and escape through a window in the back. I'm having trouble forcing her in the direction I want with my small size. I start to scream that she has to follow me. I turn to see how far the pursuer has come into the house, when I see an arrow plant itself into his shoulder.

    The monster falls forward on to his hands and knees. “What the…” He turns back behind him, and must find something he doesn't like. “No way.” He suddenly jumps to his feet in an instant, running outside with incredible speed. Before he can make it past the fence however, someone else comes flying out of nowhere. The man skids against the ground, and is now being pursued by someone.

    We see some scuffling as the two monsters are now being matched pound for pound, by others in dark hoods wielding long staffs. I realize now is the opportunity for mother and I to flee. I move towards the back, thinking we will have more luck escaping away from the fight. I get to the hallway between my room and my sisters, resisting every urge to look into her room. I look back around to find my mother still standing in one place, staring out the doorway. I suddenly understand that she has been staring at her husbands crumpled body on the ground, seeing only now that he is truly dead.

    I reach a hand out for her, yelling “Mother!” over and over. She won’t turn around. I begin to move closer, to pull her back with me. At the very instant I decide to move, the support beam to the house gives way and crashes down on top of my mother. I find myself somehow pulled backwards into the hallway, out of the way of the falling debris. I yell for her, pleading for the large timber to have missed her. Praying she will be standing on the other side.

    A moment passes, and I can see into the room somewhat. I don't see my mother. I didn't see the debris hit her, and watch as her spine bent unnaturally from the weight, but I know she isn’t standing there where I had left her. Why did I leave her?

    A surprisingly cool hand catches my cheek and turns me to face the person the hand belongs to. I must be incredibly numb to not have jumped from the touch. I find myself looking up into the face of a girl even younger than I am. She is like an angel in all of this horror. The only dinge on her is the blood spattering her shirt and neck. She looks at me intently, but her eyes are comforting, “Come, we have to leave now.” She holds her hand out to me, and automatically I accept it.

    Suddenly, with surprising strength, the girl lifts me from the floor. She guides me to my own bedroom, and I find the window in my room had been broken, but the flames are not blocking this new exit. My wood chest is in front of the window, making a quick and easy step stool. She goes first, looking to make sure the back is not flanked by demons. She simply throws her body out the window, and lands on her shoulder, rolling to right herself to standing. The girl turns to me, and motions for me to come. “Quickly!”

    I am surely not as nimble as this girl, and do my best to get through the broken window without adding to my collection of wounds. As soon as I am through, the girl takes my hand. She is now cloaked and has a staff in her other hand. She must have left it outside so she could more adeptly climb in through the window. I don’t have time to think about her, her outfit, or why she matches the others outside fighting the monsters? Or if the fight was still on? As soon as my hand was securely in hers, she pulled me on into a full run. Straight into the black of the woods behind our house.

    It was terrifying run at full speed in the woods. Not knowing if there was a branch about to slap your face or knees. Not knowing if there was a hole to fall and break an ankle in. Not knowing if there were cat eyes watching us in the dark. I held tight onto the girl's hand, who seemed to know exactly how the woods were, and exactly where to step. I felt safe with this girl.

    After what felt like an eternity, we finally stepped outside of the woods. She brought us closer to the road, and up to the other pastures that ran parallel to my families. This area had a similar wood fence to ours, but it was a little taller. She had me climb over it, and then sat me up against the post to rest. I was suffering from smoke in the lung, and it was almost impossible to keep running. The fear was what kept me running in the first place. I sat there catching the cold air, trying not to cough aloud.

    After a few moments, I turned back in the direction of my home. It was like a movie. An orange-amber light flickered and glowed against the night. I could see a heavy smoke rise into the sky. I sat there for a moment, silently mourning my lost family, and my undeniably lost life. Quietly, I began shedding tears. My shoulders must have been trembling from the pain, sorrow, and crying because the girl suddenly draped her cloak around me. It was still warm from her body heat. I was grateful for the comfort.

    I sat on the hard ground on my knees, with my fists clenched a top of my thighs. This was awful. How could this happen to our family? We were always so good, and kind. What did we do, to have something so frightening happen? Why did my family have to die? I could hear the girl move in the tall grass. She came around so she was off to the side of me, but looking at me. She rested a cool hand on mine, and she said something so simple. “I'm sorry,” and with that I fell into her lap, heaving sobs like no other.

    I could feel her small hand rubbing circles on my back, doing her best to comfort someone who had gone through a major tragedy. Doing her best to let him know that she would be there for him, “Always.”

    Exhausted from the run. Exhausted from the smoke. Exhausted from the fight, the horrific scenes, and the thought of having killed something that appeared human. I fell asleep in that little girls lap. I know it was not the best thing to do, and I know she sat there for longer than she should have in the cold. I was so tired. I could not move another step. Soon, in my sleep, I knew someone was walking towards us. I knew I could hear the rustle of footsteps.

    I suddenly remembered the knife in my boot. I reached back and grabbed it. I waited for a moment. I felt the girl tense under me. I knew the moment to strike was now.

    I sprang up from the ground, throwing the cloak from my shoulders. I swung back, putting a solid foot under me. Finding my knife directed…

    At a very surprised woman. Her hands had flown up in surprise, looking down at me with mild curiosity. “You have a lot of fight in you,” was all I heard her say, before I fainted.