Her worst nightmare come to life.
Thick muscled, with gray, mottled skin. Hideous, large heads,
pointed devil-looking ears and extra large mouths with protruding
fangs. No Hollywood generated horror could compare to this.
Their eyes glowed yellow in the dark - pairs of almond shaped
slits that exuded pure malice.
She started to shake, a cold chill entering her body, her
feet frozen to the ground. She couldn't feel the tips of her
fingers anymore. Was she even still holding the gun?
They were the monsters of every horrible dream. Hideous, dripping
saliva everywhere, their long, claw-like fingers reaching out
for her as they made their slow but deliberate approach, the
thunderous sound made by feet that were three times the size
of a large adult male's.
"No."
The voice was hers. She took a step back and wanted to run.
"Don't let them scare you, baby," Derek said, moving
to stand beside her. "I'm right here."
The brush of his shoulder against hers shocked her into awareness
of what she was doing. Her gaze shot to his, and she saw it
in his eyes. The understanding, the acknowledgement.
He knew. Somehow, he knew how much they scared her. Damn,
she didn't want to admit it, hated this weakness in herself,
but she could swear she'd seen these things before. Maybe they
were just the embodiment of an old nightmare.
"Gina, I won't let
them hurt you. You're not alone."
Oh, God. She needed to hear those words. He had no idea how
much they comforted her, strengthened her. She looked to him,
forcing the fear away.
She wasn't a child. She wasn't alone.
Whatever it was, it passed, the chill evaporating and warmth
returning.
"I'm fine. Let's get
them."
He nodded, his expression determined as he moved forward.
She stayed right at his side as they approached the demons.
"Aim for a wide burst.
Stall them, then keep hitting them with the light. It'll
take a little more than normal to
bring these down."
"Got it."
The demons were close enough
now that the smell was even worse than before, stealing her
breath. "That stench is awful!" She
gagged.
"Yeah. You'll get used
to it."
"Not without a gas
mask or clothespin on my nose. God almighty."
"Pick one and start
hitting him. I'll get the other two."
"I'll take the one on the right." Without
hesitating, she aimed and fired, the blue blast of light
stunning the demon.
He froze as if in suspended animation. Gina used his momentary
pause to move to the right of the demon, then readjusted her
settings to widen the UV array.
He didn't take the stun too long, advancing on her again.
She clicked to fire, but her gun jammed.
Shit. She backed up, keeping one eye on the approaching demon
while simultaneously trying to jimmy the mechanism on her rifle.
Derek was too busy firing at two demons to be of any help to
her, and no way was she going to distract him. She'd just have
to figure this out on her own.
Thank God these things weren't fast, but she didn't like the
way he was moving in on her. Taking a quick glance behind her,
she realized she'd soon be out of room. There was a cliff behind
her with a sharp drop-off, a wall of mountain to her right,
and Derek and his two demons to her left.
And the goddamn gun still wouldn't fire.
The demon crept closer, its arms outstretched. She could really
smell it now, her stomach rolling at the putrid stench.
She was out of options.
"Derek," she whispered.
He can't hear you if you don't open your mouth and yell, idiot.
She didn't want to bother him, but damn, the demon was drawing
closer.
A blinding flash to her left drew her attention momentarily.
One demon down, but the other was advancing on Derek. His gaze
shot to her.
"What?"
"Trigger mechanism
is stuck."
"Shit." He looked at her, the mountain, the cliff,
and at both the demons advancing on them. "Shit," he
said again.
Her thoughts exactly.
"What do we do?"
He fired on his demon again, the wide array slowing it, but
not doing its intended job. It walked right through the UV
light.
"That's not good," he said. "We
need stronger UV light."
Hell of a time to figure that out. She felt off balance, teetering
on the edge of the cliff. The mountain to their right was sheer
with no footholds. Nothing to climb.
And sure as hell they weren't getting out straight ahead.
The demons drew closer.
"We need to get out
of here, Derek. Now!"
"I know! Give me a
minute, goddamit. I'm thinking."
They didn't have a minute left.
Derek turned and peered over the cliff, then looked at her,
determination fixed on his face.
When she caught his thought
process, her eyes widened. "Are
you serious?"
"I hear water rushing.
It'll be fine."
"No."
"Now, Gina."
"Oh, hell no!"
"No time to argue."
Before she knew what was happening, he'd swept his arm around
her and plunged them both over the cliff.
She left her stomach on the precipice, her high pitched scream
ringing in her ears as they plummeted over the edge into the
abyss.
