I grin manically, ignoring the very obvious fact that I’m about to be in excruciating pain.
Worth it.
The growling grows louder, accompanied by slow, heavy thumps – footsteps. The sound is coming from somewhere in the shadows below.
Fear prickles against my spine, but I swallow it down and keep screaming like a lunatic.
I need this thing to knowexactlywhere to find me.
Squinting, I look for signs of movement in the black void, even as my pulse hammers in my ears.
Any second now.
Two red eyes emerge from the darkness. They lock onto me with lethal focus, and my breath catches. Thick globs of drool drip from its open mouth, but I barely register anything other than the teeth.
They’re the length of my forearm.
Another growl rumbles through the dark, and my stomach drops.
The sound didn’t come from the mouth I’m staring at.
Two more heads emerge from the shadows. The beasts look almost canine, if Dogzilla and a zombie got together. Their fur is mostly gone, with only a few patches of long, matted hair clinging around their muzzles and necks.
The demon dogs approach my cell, all six eyes watching me.
Not dogs – dog.
A single, horse-sized, canine body steps into the light. Three necks jut out from its torso.
It’s an honest-to-goodness three-headed dog.
The poor thing doesn’t look too good. Ribs protrude from its black, leathery skin, and its flesh is a constellation of pale, puckered scars.
One of the heads lets out a low growl, and the creature pads closer to my door.
Someone with survival instincts would probably be preoccupied with the fact that they’re about to be reduced to ribbons of flesh. But since I am clearly not mentally sound, I get distracted by the small pools of darkness that leak from its paws.
Is that blood?
The dog prowls closer, stopping directly outside my cell. Putrid breath washes over me as all three heads dip low to sniff me.
I hope I smell like bacon.
Hands trembling, I brace myself. Any second now, it’s going to jump in here and eat my legs – or my arms.
Maybe my head if I play my cards right.
Wait… if it eats my arms, won’t that remove the cuffs? Then I can use my Reaper powers to escape!
Holy fuck, I’m brilliant.
Not hesitating, I shove my hands outside my cell and wave them in front of the dagger-sharp teeth. “Here, puppy! It’s snack time! Eat up!”
As usual, Lady Luck isn’t on my side. Instead of chomping down on my arms, a massive tonguelicksmy hands. A second head impatiently bumps the one licking me, only to shove its mangled, half-torn ear against my hand.
Almost like…
My fingers curl behind the ear, and I gently scratch. The head I’m scratching immediately lolls out its tongue. A massive black tail starts to thump against the floor, the force causing small pebbles to rain down from the path above us. The two other heads start whining about being left out.
