“Piers?” Jess asked. “Still talking to the cat?”
Piers ignored her for now. No time to explain. She’d only ask questions no one had time to answer.
And suggest a good psychologist.
“There’s a building over there. If we get inside, can you make a portal?” Piers had to be tripping balls. Hellhounds? Ogres? Talking cats? He pinched himself. Yup, still awake. Somewhere in life, he’d taken a wrong turn and left the real world far behind.
“Possibly. I’ll occupy them as long as I can. Now run!” Chynne turned back toward the hellhounds.
Didn’t have to tell Piers twice. He took off with George and Jess, out of the park and across the road. The building showed no outward indication of occupation or signs, but Piers spotted a faint glow within. He arrived first and tried the door. “Locked.”
George didn’t even slow down, slamming into the door, then stepping on its fallen remains.
“Hey, how are we gonna shut the door now?” Jess cried.
“Doors don’t stop hellhounds,” George replied, voice a bit too calm for the situation, in Piers’ opinion.
“Hellhounds? What? Is that the name of their gang?” Jess followed George into the darkness.
Chynne shot past. “We don’t have long. Give me some time.” He raised a paw and began chanting.
“Stop him!” Crap! A hellhound! Piers barely jumped back in time to keep from getting hellhounded.
A dark shape flitted by. Chynne shrieked and rolled sideways, coming up hissing. Something hit Piers full-on. He stumbled, backpack flying. Fuck!
Overhead, lights snapped on. The hellhounds were in full view for a moment, closing in on them.
The scene shifted, going opaque, turning brown, then brightening. A puff of yellow smoke billowed from the floor, growing larger, denser, hiding the hellhounds from view. Piers coughed. Damn. How horrid. What the fuck?
“Sulphur.” Jess gagged beside him, hidden from view in the cloud. “Who farted, and what were they eating? Damn, dude.”
Piers grabbed her hand.
“Oh, shit,” he heard George say from somewhere to his left.
The smoke thickened, making running impossible.
Gradually the smoke dissipated. “Oh, shit is right!” Chynne agreed. Standing before them, fury in its flashing red eyes, stood a hellhound roughly the size of two of the others, dressed in what appeared to be a bed sheet.
“On a positive note, we’re four against four,” George observed.
The hellhound whirled, turning its back on Piers. The massive beast gave three sharp barks. Over in the corner, another hellhound appeared, brushing something from its shoulder, a human-like sheepish look on its face.
The scent of sage hit Piers’ nose. Stuffing?
The largest hellhound screeched. Piers released Jess’s hand to slap his own over his ears. None of the other hounds said a thing, shrinking in on themselves. He slipped to the side with Jess, peering around the creature.
“What the hell is going on?” Jess wailed.
Chynne slithered over. “Allow me.” He waved a paw in Jess’s direction. “Good evening, fair maiden. I am Chynne.”
Jess stared at Chynne, at Piers, then back at Chynne. “But… but! Eeeiiiiii!” She climbed Piers like a tree.
“Ooof! Jess, ease off. You’re choking me.”
“But… a… a talking cat.”
“I told you, remember?”
