I clutch my throat, coughing when I hear a loud sound tear next to me, and an unseen wave tosses me back against the wall, knocking the wind out of me as well as the bonnet off my head. I fall flat on my stomach, gasping for breath.
“SYYYYYYEEEEEE!” I scream at the top of my lungs as I watch the air in the center of the room begin to distort, warping like heat rising off asphalt. A jagged, bleeding crack appears in mid-air through my blurred vision.
I try to pull my eyes away from it, but for some reason, I can’t. My heart is hammering, and tears are running down my face in fear.Bitch, we gon’ die if you don’t get the fuck up!I urge myself to stand, wheezing, chest hurting, feeling around for something before I grasp the lamp, ready to fucking swing whenI see Slater, Yamir, and Enzo burst into the room their eyes glowing. Theirclaws are drawn, long and razor fucking thin, while their canines are bared, tails up and alert, ears pinned flat against their skulls.
“Melanie,” Slater growls, his voice vibrating in the floorboards.
“Come,” Yamir grits out, and when I run over, Enzo reaches for me and tucks me gently behind them.
“What is that? What’s happening?” I cry out, my voice trembling. I’ve never seen them look like this, not even when they first revealed themselves. They look like they’re ready to tear the world apart.
“A rift,” Yamir hisses as a tall, gaunt figure steps through the tear. He’s dressed in a sharp, black suit, and his eyes are nothing but white voids.
“Fuck, they found us,” Enzo whispers, his red eyes dark with a mix of fury.
“Who the fuck is that?!” I take a step back, shaking my head, backing against the wall, hyperventilating when the man’s head turns to us, and I place my hands over my mouth, heart racing.
“Gatekeepers," the man says in a hoarse whisper. “Return to your p?—”
Slater doesn’t even let him finish before he lunges, his body fully shifting into a mountain of charcoal fur and muscle. He hits the man with the force of a wrecking ball, knocking the figure back,but he raises a pale hand and sends a shockwave toward Slater, crashing into the kitchen island, shattering the marble.
“SLLLLLLAAAAATTTTTEEEERERRRRRRRR!” I scream, running over to him, but he’s standing before I take two steps. In no time, Yamir and Enzo are on the figure, a blur of teeth and claws, shocking the fuck out of me.
They are viciously fighting the man with a desperation I’ve only ever seen in movies. Yamir sinks his teeth into the man’s shoulder, but instead of blood, a thick, black smoke pours out, causing the man to shriek out. The man tries to flick his wrist, but Enzo leaps and rips his arm off as they all grip a part of him and literally tear this man apart, causing the man to howl so loud that I have to duck and cover my ears.
“PLLLLEEEAAASSE STOP! I DIDN’T COME HERE FOR A FIGHT!” the man screeches, but they do not let up. They growl and snarl, and I hear bones crushing. “G-g-gatekeepers, please… et-stop this. I came to d- deliver a message from the throne. You have to return to your post in Seventh Hell at once! Th-there is a p-plan to t-trap the Demon King Lust and you are n-n-needed for the pl-plan to succeed!” he roars out and I see them flinch before Slater lets go and shifts back.
“The Demon King Lust? But he’s yet to be reincarnated… and why would they want to trap one of the deadliest Sins?” he snarls, and I shake, listening, not knowing what the fuck they are talking about.
“My job is not to ask why but to listen… as is yours, so stop this and return!” he breathes out raggedly, but they shake their heads.
“We refuse to turn our backs on the Sins. It’s a death wish, and we want no parts of it.” Enzo sneers, bearing teeth after shifting back.
“You think you have a choice?! You are the Seventh Hell’s Cerberus! You guard the throne room of the Demon King of Lust. This is all for the greater good! You have no choice but to follow, and you know what will happen if you disobey.” He coughs up something black on my white couch, and even though I’m scared as fuck, I want to kick him in the nuts because I know that’s going to be hard to get out.
“As my brothers said, we will not go against our King,” Yamir spits, finally letting the guys go.
“Then you will die and be replaced.”
“You thinkwecan be replaced?” Slater laughs bitterly.
“We have served the Demon King through five of his reincarnations… there is none who can best us,” Enzo huffs, and the man laughs bitterly.
“You are making a mistake. Return, or you will regret it. They will close the gates of hell soon. Even if you run, you will not have access to hellfire, so you’re fucked. Not to mention that ifyou kill me, you know they will send someone else. Theywillhave you return by any means,” the man states and I see him turn to me and so do the triplets. I guess that’s the last straw before Yamir slams a massive paw down on the man’s head, crushing him and causing black slime to ooze from his neck.
“AHHHH!” I scream, jumping back, heart racing in my ears, but what’s even creepier is the fact that the man is still twitching before his body puffs up in smoke, leaving me shaken.
I can barely comprehend what the fuck I just seen… I thought I was just fucking three shifters, which was crazy as fuck in itself, but…
“Did that mother fucker say Hell and Cerberus… as inthehell and that you three arethemythological being C-Cerberus?” I stammer, and they turn to me, nodding reluctantly. “A… and d-did h-he also m-mention… th-that…uhm… y-you three g-guard uhmmm th-theDemon King?” I swallow, hoping they say no at least this.
“No…” Yamir speaks up.
“W-well at lea?—”
“There’s more than one of them. There are actually seven. We only guard the Demon King of Lust,” Slater answers.Seven?! That’s six more than I’m used to!
In half a second, my Black ass snatches my bonnet off the floor and runs out the damn doe!
