My phone slipped from my grasp, clattering onto the rocks as its light flashed erratically, slicing through the rain like a strobe. The sound—no, theassault—hit me with full force, making me slap my hands over my ears as a stabbing pain shot through both sides of my skull. Like red-hot nails being driven into my eardrums, the sound vibrated in a way that made my brain throb and my vision blur. I could feel everything in my head tearing as wet warmth slipped through the cracks between my fingers, thick and hot.
It wasn’t rain. It was my blood.
Just then, a hand yanked my hair and slammed my back against the jagged rocks. A scream so raw tore out of my lungs that for a second, I didn’t believe it came from me. Rain pounded harder, matching the intensity of thethingnow pinning me down.
It was pale. Sickly white, as if it hadn’t seen light in centuries. Its eye sockets were empty, hollow and dark. Long, wet black hair clung to its face and shoulders like seaweed. It wore white linen, soaked through and clinging to its small frame. It had the body of a teenager who was no older than fifteen. Although every part of it screamed otherwise.
It wrapped its hands around my neck, fingernails sharp and grey, and began to squeeze.
“Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die. Die...”
My breath caught, my lungs screamed, my throat pulsing in agony beneath its grip. Rainwater poured into my nose, making it impossible to inhale. My limbs thrashed out, scraping against the rocks, desperately trying to shove it off, but it wouldn’t budge.
What the hell was this thing?
I clawed at the rocks as my vision blurred and chest burned, legs kicking in panic. I reached for something, my fingers curling over a stone. If I was going to die, it surely wouldn’t be in the hands of a blind creature in the body of a child. Without thinking, I slammed it into the side of the creature’s head with every ounce of strength I had.
I could laugh. Because It didn’t even react. If anything, its grip tightened as its mouth opened, revealing a row of thin, sharp teeth like needles.
“Die. Die. Die...”
My head spun...I was drowning in air...my throat hurt...my limbs were numb...I was losing myself...I—
A blur sliced through the rain, a thing in the shape of a knife embedding itself into the creature’s skull with a sickening thwack.
Its grip around my throat faltered, claws twitching as a high-pitched whine burst from its throat. That wasn’t a scream or a hiss, but something between agony and anger.
Strength found me, rushing through my limbs as I grabbed a bigger stone and slammed it on the hilt of the knife—dagger—pushing it deeper into its head. But before I could kick it off my body, another force came crashing in.
A hand, human and powerful, shot out, seizing the creature by its long, tangled hair. The motion was violent and filled with fury. It yanked the monster back so hard I heard something crack in its neck.
Then, like it was weightless, it was hurled off my body, the dagger tearing free from the creature’s skull as it was thrown across the rocky terrain, hands flailing mid-air before it crashed against the wet stone with a shriek.
Air flooded my lungs.
I coughed heavily, choking on breath, on rain, on pain. My hands brushed my neck, my fingers massaging bruised skin. My ears were still ringing, and my body trembled from the cold and my near death experience. The light from my fallen phone tilted upward,illuminating the figure now standing between me and the creature that was starting to regain its balance.
He was tall, a man ripped out from my nightmare. Long black coat clung to his form like second skin, soaked through and dripping. Leather gloves wrapped around his fingers, one still holding the dagger. Rain slid down his face, dripping from the ends of his long, dark hair that was pushed back to reveal sharp cheekbones, a jaw carved like stone, and eyes that blazed nefariously.
Thrax.
“Guess I wasn’t too late,” he muttered, spinning the dagger between his fingers with an ease that made the motion look deadly. Then he turned, sprinting towards the creature again before I could speak.
I forced myself upright, groaning as pain flared through my back. I reached for my phone, blinking against the rain as I pushed wet hair off my face.
I followed the sound of the creature’s screeches. Its voice had shifted again. It was warping, shrieking high enough to make my skull ache. Blood. My ears were still bleeding. I touched my lobe, bringing my fingers in front of my face to see the crimson for a second before the rain washed it off.
Oh gods, my back.
The pain returned with full vengeance, radiating from my spine like fire, every step grinding rocks into my nerves. I gasped, reaching for anything to support myself, but there was nothing.
The screeches stopped, and a few seconds later, he came into sight. His energy had hit me first, electric and uncontrollable. The type that makes the hairs on your neck rise and your chest tighten. I raised my phone’s light as he strode towards me with murderous grace, flipping the blade into his coat. Rain fell between us like a veil, but his glare tore straight through it.
His eyes were unhinged.
The kind of look that could freeze time. Rage licked beneath his skin, and it was all pointed at me. I swallowed, more afraid of him than the creature that had just tried to kill me.
Would he believe me? Would he believe that I’d been tricked into coming back here?
