They don’t hear the shriek again after that first one and they are forced to continue. Except for this time, they are closer together with Edith in the middle of them. She wanted to argue that she could take care of herself but she was too spooked that she couldn’t even open her mouth to begin the protest.
She felt like a little girl afraid of the dark. Waiting for the shadows to jump out and eat her, skin and bones. She felt like she were afraid of the underside of her bed again, waiting for the boogieman to grab her ankles and drag her under to hell.
Except this, this was real. As real as the Disease and as real as the fear boiling in her chest. Her mom had told her to never stray from the path and not to listen to the whisper of the wolves.
She hadn’t listened to any of this advice. Now look, the shadows are stretching, stretching, stretching towards something darker than them. More vile, more demonic. But demons are created from where the sun doesn’t hit and while the shadows stray from the light, it stands in the midst of it. Slowly as it stays in the sunlight, the world darkens. Like the shadows are covering us from the sun, hiding us from the world so no one sees.
No one knows.
It shows itself like a coat was removed. Like a layer of skin was removed to show what is beneath. Its skin is tight, so tight that the bones as sharp as knives cut it and show through, gleaming in the darkness. It smiles so widely that the skin tears and its eyes...
Oh, goodness. There had to be at least a million of them. Everywhere you could think. All of them open and staring so intently at the threesome. Like they were new dolls and it was so excited to play with them, to play with its new toys. Cut their hair and color on their face.
And then take off their head.
It creeps forward, its bones creaking like unoiled wheels. It keeps smiling and smiling. It’s taking joy from seeing them squirm and try to find a way out. A way to escape their fate.
Maiken takes a deep breath and unclasps Edith’s hand from his arm and takes it in his hand. He grips her hand and nods to Fenrir. He nods back. The monster giggles, how funny, it thought, they think they can escape.
Edith gags when something drips to the floor from the thing. It’s black and chunky and very sticky. It’s coming out of its ear from the excitement. Fenrir seems a bit green but Maiken looks undeterred.
Under his breath, Maiken whispers, “Three… two… one…” And then with her in tow, he shifts into a wolf in an instant while swinging her on his back. She gasps and hugs her arms around his neck and holds on tight.
She had the sensation of flying. Or maybe it was the falling sensation. Like in a dream where you think you are falling but then you wake up with a jolt and your body reacts like it just hit the ground.
That’s how Edith felt and she tightens her hold when the monster howls with rage, black spittle coming from its mouth, and a drop lands on her leg. She stifles back a cry when it sinks through her pants and goes onto her leg, burning a hole. She risks a glance at her injured leg and almost lets go of Maiken when she sees the blackened injury and her veins looking a bit black too.
What if it was a disease? What if it made her like the creature? She feels the black wolf whimper and she realizes that she loosened her grip and was slipping off. She pulls herself back into place and buries her face in his fur.
After a while, they slow to a stop and she feels herself slip off but everything is numb. She doesn’t react when Maiken nudges her with his snout or when he licks her cheek. She’s just staring at her leg which is gray and stiff. He glances at where she is looking and he looks shocked and horrified.
She hardly notices out of the corner of her eye that he changed back into human form and she barely hears him as he says something to her as he shakes her shoulders. She sees Fenrir run over in his human form, his brown fluffy hair bouncing. Finally, finally, she looks at Maiken with tears in her eyes.
“I can’t feel anything.” She whispers, her voice cracking. She feels her eyelids getting heavy, but she fights it. She doesn’t want to go anywhere somewhat dark ever again. But it gives her no choice as it drags her consciousness into the dark, murky, and oh-so-consuming water.
ns 172.68.244.158da2
and then Add to home screen.