Nausea and disgust twisted Cassie’s stomach, she couldn’t move, she could hardly remain standing. Chris held most of her weight, his arms wrapped tightly around her as he slowly removed his hand from her mouth. Liam emerged from the alleyway, racing forward as he moved to join the fight.
Cassie glanced only briefly at Annabelle. She remained by the door, her eyes wide with terror as she met Cassie’s gaze. Though Annabelle wanted to be in the fight as badly as Cassie, she would stay by the door in order to ensure that Cassie didn’t escape. Cassie briefly contemplated trying to get past her anyway, but she would not do that to Annabelle, not unless it became completely necessary.
She turned her attention back to the fight as two more monsters emerged from the woods. One of them went straight for Liam, while the other pounded at Devon who was still engaged with two of the first ones. Five on three. Cassie’s heart hammered, she gripped the curtain tighter, pulling herself forward. She could get away from Chris; she could make it out this window if she had too. She didn’t give a rat’s ass what the glass or wood would do to her, not if it got her free.
Devon flipped one over his back, spinning he slammed his fist into the chest of another. The creatures face twisted, not in pain but in rage as it was knocked back a few feet. Blood exploded over its tattered and filthy shirt, but it did not stop, did not hesitate as it launched forward. Julian slammed his creature off the ground again, grasping hold of its head and twisting it ferociously.
Cassie’s stomach heaved as its head was twisted completely around. Its arms and legs continued to flail, but their movements were slightly slower. Deciding that the creature was momentarily not a threat, Julian leapt back to his feet as Devon tossed his monster over his head and grasped hold of the throat of the one behind it. He squeezed tight, snapping its head easily to the side as the thing howled loudly. Its scream echoed throughout the night, rattling the windows.
“Awful,” Melissa breathed taking a step away from the window where she stood by Luther and Dani. Her face was full of horror and disgust, but she did not turn away from the fight before her.
And neither did Cassie, though her stomach rolled with nausea. A gag escaped her as Devon grasped hold of its head, twisting it with enough force to rip it off. Dani heaved as she spun away from the window, racing toward the bathroom. Cassie’s hand tightened on Chris’s, she needed his support, his strength, his unwavering support as she tried to assimilate the vicious killer out there now with the one that she loved so completely.
Liam shoved his creature aside, leaping forward to help with the two still trying to battle Devon and Julian, but it was obvious that it was going to be a losing battle for the hybrid monsters.
Deadly. That was the only thing that Cassie could think and see now. Devon and Julian were deadly, cold, blood thirsty, and so very good at destroying life. Though Liam was out there with them, he did not have the murderous zeal that obviously radiated from Devon and Julian. He did not seem to relish in the kill the way that the two of them did, nor was he as good at it.
She shuddered, wrapping her arms tight around herself. From her little hole she watched as Julian and Devon took the next one down. Julian pressed his foot tight to the creature’s throat as it squealed and squirmed wildly. She couldn’t watch anymore. Couldn’t take anymore, and yet she could not look away, not until she knew that Devon was safe. Not until she knew that the man she loved came back to her, but she was beginning to think that would never happen. She was beginning to fear that man would never return to her again.
The monster that Liam had been battling scurried back to its feet, but it did not jump back into the fray. Instead, it scurried away into the shadows. Cassie watched it, her eyebrows furrowing as she leaned closer to the small hole, trying to discern where it was going as it disappeared into the night.
An uneasy feeling filled her. She had never seen a Halfling back down from a fight, even when they were losing. They didn’t have enough reason to realize that they were going to be killed. Or did they?
A shiver raced down Cassie’s spine, a chill filled her veins. Maybe these things had more reason and sense then they had attributed to them? If that was the case then things could become a lot more difficult, and a lot more deadly, than they had anticipated.
She turned back to the window as Julian and Devon easily removed the head of their victim. Cassie’s lip curled in disgust. She took a step back from the window as the three of them turned toward the remaining creature. It was still squirming and squealing, trying to crawl away from the spot where Julian had left it.
She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself as she took another step back. She couldn’t watch anymore. Bowing her head, she tried hard to withhold the tears and nausea boiling through her.
The hair on her neck and arms suddenly stood up. A chill encased her. She glanced toward the front door. Annabelle was standing on a chair in order to peer out through the small glass window in it. The only window that had not been boarded up. The only window that they had not made a change to. The others had been boarded, or blocked, under the assumption that these creatures would be too far gone to notice the difference.
Devon, Julian, and Liam had exited the building through one of the small windows in the basement so they wouldn’t be seen. The window led to the small alley between this building and the bank. They had never bothered with those small windows as the basement was under the trap door that they had barricaded. But after the three of them had gone outside, the barricades had not been put back in place. They had been left open so Devon, Liam, and Julian could make a swift retreat back to the basement if it became necessary.
No one had thought the creatures would be smart enough to figure it all out. No one thought that they would discover the tiny windows below. They were wild, crazed, and incapable of thought. But what if they retained more reason and intelligence than they had thought? Cassie wondered again. What if the monsters had known all along that they were inside this building, blockading themselves, preparing for a fight? What if they had expected this kind of a trap, and had laid one of their own?
The thoughts ran rapidly through her mind, but she was dismayed to realize that she already knew the answers to all of them. The monsters were not mindless, in fact they were cunningly smart, deceiving, and so very deadly. She knew that she had to turn around, knew that she had to see what was behind them, but her feet felt like wooden blocks. Her legs were as heavy as lead. She didn’t want to see what her mind and body already knew.