Bound - The Primori Academy

The Thing by the Dumpster

Halfway to her car, Catalina stopped.

The silence settled over the parking lot with an almost tangible weight. Only moments earlier she'd been able to hear the steady hum of traffic drifting across the highway, the restaurant's air-conditioning units rattling softly overhead, and insects singing somewhere beyond the tree line. Now every familiar sound had disappeared, swallowed by a stillness so complete it prickled across her skin. It was as if the night itself had paused, waiting for something she couldn't yet see.

Then came the growl.

It rolled through the darkness beyond the dumpster enclosure, low and wet, carrying an unnatural rasp that seemed to crawl beneath her skin. Catalina narrowed her eyes toward the shadows stretching between the concrete wall and the woods beyond, searching for movement. She saw nothing except darkness layered over darkness. A stray dog, she told herself. Maybe a raccoon digging through the trash after the rain. There had to be an explanation that belonged in the ordinary world.

"Get it together," she muttered, forcing out a shaky laugh. "It's probably somebody's dog."

Even to her own ears, the words sounded unconvincing.

She adjusted the strap of her purse and started walking again, deliberately keeping her eyes on her car. She'd only taken a few steps before another sound reached her. This one was quieter, yet somehow infinitely worse. It wasn't a growl anymore but the slow scrape of something dragging itself across the pavement, pausing for a heartbeat before beginning again. Whatever was making the noise wasn't trying to sneak up on her. If anything, it wanted her to know it was there.

A chill crept slowly up her spine.

Against every instinct urging her to keep moving, Catalina turned.

At first she saw nothing.

Then the shadows shifted.

A shape detached itself from the darkness beyond the concrete wall and stepped into the weak glow of the security light with deliberate, almost patient confidence. It was impossibly tall, its body unnaturally thin, every limb just a little too long to belong to anything human. Its back curved beneath angles no spine should have survived, while pale skin stretched tightly over its frame, reflecting the light with an unhealthy sheen. Long arms dangled nearly to the ground, ending in black claws that scraped softly across the wet pavement as it moved.

Her breath caught.

The creature lifted its head, and Catalina realized its face was little more than a mouth. Jagged teeth crowded together inside a jaw that opened far wider than should have been possible, revealing only darkness where a throat ought to have been. Above the grin, two pale eyes stared at her without blinking, empty of curiosity or hesitation.

Then it smiled.

The shriek that tore from its mouth struck her like a physical blow. Catalina clapped her hands over her ears, frozen where she stood as the sound echoed through the empty parking lot. Her mind refused to accept what her eyes were seeing. Monsters didn't exist. They belonged in horror movies and nightmares, not standing twenty feet away beneath a flickering security light.

Then instinct took over.

She ran.

Her heels slipped against the rain-slick asphalt before she caught herself, panic lending strength to trembling legs. She dug frantically through her purse with one hand while sprinting toward her car, searching desperately for her keys. Lip gloss. Wallet. Receipts. Everything except what she needed.

Behind her, the creature shrieked again.

Closer.

Much closer.

She risked one glance over her shoulder and instantly wished she hadn't. The creature wasn't running. It moved with an unnatural glide, its twisted limbs bending and unfolding in jerking motions while it devoured the distance between them with terrifying speed. Nothing should have been able to move like that.

Her phone slipped from her grasp.

It struck the pavement with a sharp c***k.

She looked down for only the briefest moment.

It was enough.

Something slammed into her with crushing force, throwing her sideways into the door of her car before she collapsed onto the asphalt. Pain exploded through her left arm, hot and blinding, stealing the air from her lungs. She stared in horror as three deep gashes split both her sleeve and the skin beneath it. Blood welled instantly, running between her fingers before dripping onto the wet pavement below.

This wasn't heartbreak making her imagine things.

This wasn't shock.

Whatever had attacked her was horrifyingly, undeniably real.

The creature didn't strike again immediately. Instead, it stood several feet away, its head tilting slowly as though studying her. Its claws scraped lazily against the asphalt, producing a high, grating sound that set her teeth on edge. Catalina pressed herself against the driver's side door, struggling to breathe through the pain as warm blood continued to seep through her trembling fingers.

Her keys lay only a few feet away.

So did her phone.

Neither mattered anymore.

She wasn't going to reach them.

Without warning, Mary's face filled her thoughts. Catalina pictured her grandmother standing in the kitchen, glancing toward the clock while pretending not to worry. The birthday cake would still be waiting on the counter with one slice already missing, the candles untouched. Mary would keep looking through the front window, waiting for headlights to turn into the driveway. Then she'd start calling.

The thought hit Catalina harder than the pain in her arm.

She wasn't ready to die.

The creature lowered itself, muscles tightening beneath its pale skin as it prepared to spring. Its smile stretched wider, impossibly wider, while another growl rumbled from deep inside its chest.

Catalina squeezed her eyes shut and raised her hands in front of her face. It was a useless gesture, but fear had stripped away every other instinct.

Please.

She wasn't sure who she was begging.

God.

Anyone.

A warmth answered.

It began as a faint pulse beneath her breastbone before spreading through her chest, down her shoulders, and along both arms. Within seconds it flowed through every vein in her body, humming beneath her skin with an energy that felt impossibly ancient. It should have frightened her.

Instead...

It felt familiar.

Catalina's eyes snapped open.

Light shimmered beneath her skin.

Not around her.

Inside her.

Brilliant ribbons of color poured from her hands, gold melting effortlessly into silver, silver into sapphire, sapphire into emerald, each hue brighter than the last. The light swept across the parking lot like dawn breaking over the horizon, and the darkness recoiled from it as though it had become something solid.

The creature screamed.

This time the sound wasn't filled with triumph.

It was pure terror.

Smoke curled from its pale skin wherever the light touched it. It stumbled backward, shielding its face with one elongated arm while its shrieks dissolved into panicked, animal cries.

Catalina barely noticed.

She could only stare at her own hands.

The light moved with a will of its own, swirling between her fingers as though it had been waiting years to be released. For one breathtaking moment she felt connected to something vast and impossibly old, something that seemed to recognize her even if she couldn't recognize it.

Then the light vanished.

The ordinary glow of the parking lot returned.

Catalina looked down at her arm.

Blood still stained her sleeve.

The fabric remained torn.

But the wounds themselves were gone.

Smooth, unbroken skin greeted her where deep gashes had existed only moments before.

Another furious shriek split the night.

The creature lunged.

Catalina couldn't move.

Before it reached her, something blurred across her vision with impossible speed. The air rippled as though reality itself had folded inward for a single heartbeat.

Then the creature was gone.

Not thrown.

Not chased away.

Gone.

Silence settled over the parking lot once more.

A man stood several yards away with his back to her, his long dark coat stirring gently in the breeze. As he turned, strands of deep red hair brushed the collar of his coat, and Catalina found herself staring into the most extraordinary eyes she had ever seen.

Gold.

Not hazel.

Not amber.

True gold.

They held hers with quiet intensity, and for reasons she couldn't begin to explain, the fear inside her eased ever so slightly.

"Catalina."

He spoke her name as though he'd been waiting a lifetime to say it.

She frowned, struggling to catch her breath.

"Who are you?"

A faint, almost sorrowful smile touched his lips.

Before she could ask another question, the air shimmered around him like heat rising from sun-warmed pavement. His outline blurred, dissolved into the night, and then he was simply gone.

Only the scent of ozone lingered in the cool evening air.

Catalina remained standing in the middle of the parking lot, her heart hammering against her ribs as she stared at the empty space where he'd been. Slowly, she retrieved her cracked phone and her keys before climbing into her car. She locked the doors immediately, gripping the steering wheel while she fought to steady her breathing.

It took three attempts before she managed to fit the key into the ignition.

She never looked in the rearview mirror.

Every shadow beyond her headlights seemed capable of moving, and by the time she finally turned onto the road leading home, one terrifying truth had settled deep inside her.

Nothing about her life would ever be ordinary again.