Page 57 of Greed

“Run,” he whispered.

Adrenaline spiked as she surged to her feet and ran. She needed to be smart about this and darted into the forest but angled herself toward the road. Within a few minutes, she burst out onto the dirt road and looked left and right. Left took her back the way they’d arrived, and she already knew that was way too far to anything or anyone that might be able to help. She could barely see the road or twenty feet in any direction. It was so dark. The old trees towered high into the sky and blocked out most of the moon.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to the right and picked up into a fast jog. She needed to put as much distance between herself and the demons as she could, and running like a bat out of hell wasn’t going to get her far before she ran out of energy.

The night was humid, and it didn’t take long for her to become soaked with sweat as it dripped down her back and soaked her underwear. She was tempted to strip her pants, but that would take time and leave an obvious trail. Her footfalls were the only thing she could hear, along with her rhythmical breaths as her legs pumped.

“Ouch,” she groaned as a small stone ended up in her shoe. Taking the opportunity presented, she leaned over and tried to catch her breath. Hopping on one foot, she slipped her sneaker off and dumped the small pebble onto the ground. Her feet hurt, no, her entire body hurt. She slipped back on the shoe and froze as a strange noise could be heard in the distance. It was coming from the forest in the direction she’d traveled. She looked at the watch on her wrist. It couldn’t already be time, could it? No, there was half an hour yet, but they could easily have lied to her. She looked to the tall trees and contemplated climbing to the top and simply hiding, but if they found her, she was a sitting duck. She had zero knowledge about what they could do, and sitting in one place seemed like a very bad idea.

Minetta resumed her jog and tried to picture the dark forest with its imposing dense trees as a pretty garden to calm the panic that was threatening to overtake her mind. A screech of an owl echoed through the night, and she jumped as her heart lurched. She stumbled with the sudden sideways movement and twisted her ankle.

“Shit,” she softly swore as her stride became a limp. She needed to take up running. It felt like that was all she did anymore. If she got out of this, it was a pretty good guess she’d be running for the rest of her life.

Something was ahead of her in the murky darkness, but she couldn’t quite make out what it was. It was something man-made—it had a distinct outline of a rectangle.

Drawing closer, she realized it was a bridge, an older style one with stone sides and wooden planks. It was narrow, only enough room for a single car to pass. She tentatively took a step on the wood plank, and it squeaked but seemed sturdy enough.

Like she was hit with an electrical charge, the hair stood up on the back of her neck, and she froze. Her hand gripped the edge of the bridge tight as she turned her head and looked over her shoulder. Her heartbeat quickened as her instinct told her she was no longer alone, although nothing moved in the endless dark. A soft breeze picked up, blowing her hair around her face, and she grabbed at the strands pulling them away from her face when something glinted in the middle of the road. It was a fair distance away, and when she blinked, it was gone.

She squinted her eyes as she focused on what she’d thought she’d seen.

Pound, Pound, Pound.

Her pulse thumped in her head. Then she saw it again, the flash of yellow reflecting in the dim light before it disappeared again like it had switched directions. Although there were many possibilities of what that yellow could be out here in the middle of nowhere, her gut screamed it was a demon. The same sensation from her house filled her, and her body shivered. She didn’t think the demon saw her. It looked like it was moving around, maybe sniffing the ground.

Gingerly she stepped off the bridge and around the edge that led down the steep bank to the wide stream. She slipped under the bridge and stared at the dark water. She had no idea what was in there and probably didn’t want to know, but between unknown water and demons on her tail….

She silently slipped into the cool water. It was deeper than she’d assumed, and it didn’t take long before she was up to her chest.

She froze as the bridge above her squeaked, dust falling on her head. Swallowing down her fear, she tilted her head to look up at the narrow slats. Even with the darkness, she could make out the something blocking out the tiny bit of moonlight that should be shining down. She held perfectly still and didn’t even dare breathe as she watched the creature move further across to the other side. Her ears strained as she listened for any more noise, but the sound of feet running became faint and then disappeared. There was no way for her to know if it was going to circle back.

Biting her lip, she ordered herself to think. Her dad always told her that if she was ever lost in the wilderness to find water and follow it downstream. It would provide water to drink, which she could live off of for days if need be, and she would eventually find safety. She can honestly say she never thought that particular piece of information was ever going to come in handy.

Thank you, Dad.

Submerging herself in the water up to her neck, she allowed herself to drift with the gentle current. She hadn’t traveled very far when the stream widened and picked up the pace. She hit more than one rock that she couldn’t see coming and knew she was going to be black and blue if she lived at all. Each time she groaned but made sure not to yell out.

Minetta could see lights, they were little glittering dots in the distance, but it was hope. A small smile lifted the corner of her lip as she slowly drifted closer. The sliver of relief evaporated as something slid around her leg under the water. She kicked at it and made for the shore, but it gripped her harder this time and jerked her leg back. She gulped water as she was yanked below into the inky darkness.

Her arms reached for anything to hang onto as she kicked violently at what had her. She got just high enough that her mouth broke the surface of the water, and she coughed up the water she’d taken into her lungs before she was dragged back under the dark surface. Her legs kicked, and her arms flailed as her feet hit the bottom, and she used it to push with all her strength off the bottom until she reached the surface.

They’d continued to move downstream, and a rock came at her fast. She gave a hard pull against her assailant and gripped the rock tightly. She’d never kicked so hard and fast in her life as she continually beat on something under the water as she yanked hard on the leg still trapped. The grip loosened just enough that she was able to scamper onto the large boulder. She stared at the thing that was still wrapped around her leg, and it looked like the tail of a snake. She slammed her foot down on the thing hard, squishing it between her shoe and the rock. It still wouldn’t let go, so she brought her heel down two more times as hard as she could.

Syliss broke through the water not far away. A holler that came out like a loud hiss left his mouth. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the green scaly skin and multiple stubby tentacles protruding out of his body. Standing on the slippery surface, she jumped for shore, but her foot slipped, and she didn’t get very far. Still, in ankle-deep water, she tried to run, but one of his longer tentacles torpedoed through the water and wrapped around her leg and pulled back.

She screamed as she landed face-first on the muddy bank. Her hands curled into the moist mud, and she flipped over before he could land on her back. Syliss crawled over the rock she’d been on as she stared into the green eyes of death.

Regaining her wits, she tried to pull herself out of his hold and pushed back with her feet and hands on the slick surface. It did no good. He held her firm and slid up her body like a snake. Grabbing handfuls of the soft mushy mud, she didn’t hesitate and stuffed the mud in his face, making sure to grind it in his eyes.

It had done the trick.

He reared back, swatting at the dirt, giving her time to get her hand in her pocket and grip the pen.

Syliss hissed as loud as any lion’s roar, a forked tongue hanging from his mouth. Those twin snakes pressed out of his eyes and stared down at her.

“Issss going to kill you,” he said as four long fangs jutted down out of his mouth. He lunged for her face, and she screamed loud and swung her concealed weapon as hard as she could at the side of his head.

The mouth stopped short of her face by mere inches. The snake-like eyes shot back into his head, leaving vacant holes as the pen sunk deep into his ear cavity. His body went rigid, and before all his weight landed on her, she pushed back on the bank to get out from under his bulk. Adrenaline alone gave her the strength she needed to continue to fight.