by Mia Archer
That got the people up there to turn and look at me. It also got the attention of a few of the werewolves who looked down, realized I was standing there, and let out mournful howls.
Not that those howls were going to do them a damn bit of good. All their buddies were either trapped in the house, or they’d stuck their heads through those impossibly small basement windows which meant they were stuck too.
And I had a very limited amount of time where the gas mix was going to be the perfect blend that would cause a huge explosion. If I went too early or too late then we were fucked.
“Get the fuck down!” I screamed. “This whole place is about to blow!”
That got their attention. They started to jump. The werewolves behind them growled and swiped at a few people as they ran. I held my gun up and one of the werewolves looked down, letting out another one of those howls.
I had to wait. I had to give people enough time to get the fuck out. I held my breath, wondering if this was going to work, and prayed they’d get the fuck out of there quickly. I wouldn’t hesitate to blow them up along with the werewolves if that’s what it took.
Finally the last people were free and sprinting through the yard. I turned and looked over my shoulder. Cara was back there herding people towards a line of hedges at the back of the yard. Then I turned back to the house of horrors.
I only had one chance at this. So I pulled my phone out. I went to the texts and then down to where that asshole had sent me a text message long ago. It was a picture of his dick, followed by a bunch of messages from me telling him to choke on that dick.
I was thankful I had his number now. Just as I was thankful that he was a corpse down there with his cell phone still on him.
I ran, ignoring the thump of werewolves landing behind me. I didn’t dare turn and try to shoot them. I wasn’t nearly far enough away.
The phone started to ring. I grinned. I didn’t expect anyone to pick up, so color me surprised when, after a couple of rings, the line did pick up on the other end.
For a brief and panicked moment I worried I’d miscalculated. Maybe he’d given his phone to someone else, or maybe that corpse hadn’t been Brad.
But then I heard something odd on the other end of the line. A low growl along with a snuffling sound.
The werewolf down in the basement. The one I hadn’t shot because I didn’t want to risk setting off an explosion while I was down there, for all that the werewolf didn’t know that.
And apparently there was something else this werewolf didn’t know: there was a reason the gas company always told people not to make any phone calls or use any electronics or do anything but get the fuck out of a house once a gas leak had been discovered. It only took the smallest of sparks to set that gas off with the right mix. Like, say, the tiny sparks of the electronic circuits inside a cell phone that was right in the middle of…
The explosion hit like the finger of God coming down from on high to annihilate this house in particular.
I said a quick prayer that the people in the houses all around wouldn’t be caught in the explosion, but between killing a pack of werewolves and potentially injuring people in the houses next door I’d take killing the pack of werewolves any day of the week. Especially since a pack of werewolves that had the bloodlust on them was going to go after people in nearby houses soon enough.
I was lifted off the ground. I caught a glimpse of Cara looking at me wide-eyed. Then I flipped and saw the house going up in a spectacular explosion, with bits of shrapnel and werewolves flying in every direction.
No silver required. That was one of the things horror movies often overlooked about creatures of the night. If you blew them into small enough bits then it’s not like they were fucking Wolverine or a T-1000.
Even a werewolf body could be damaged to the point that there was no coming back, for all that it was difficult. Or it had been difficult before the advent of modern explosives.
Then I was tumbling around again. I hoped I didn’t land on my spine or my neck the wrong way and find myself paralyzed for the rest of my life.
I flipped over one final time to see the ground rushing up to meet me. I slammed into it face first, and the world went dark.
20
Cara
“Come on!” I shouted. “Move your asses!”
I turned and looked behind us. Snarling came from the stairs. Snarling could only mean the werewolves had realized Kirsten wasn’t there to keep them from getting into the house. And of course once they realized Kirsten wasn’t there to keep them from getting into the house they were going to stream in and try and kill us.
“Move your asses if you don’t want’em ripped off!” I bellowed.
I wasn’t sure how effective it was, but that seemed to put a little extra pep in their step. Or maybe it was the sound of werewolves snarling up at us from the stairs.
I looked down the stairs and saw a pair of yellow eyes attached to a big hulking furry monstrosity that looked like something straight out of Rick Baker’s worst nightmares staring up at me.
I didn’t have a gun this time around. There was nothing between me and that wolf.
Well, almost nothing. There were still a few stragglers. One girl was actually trying to take a selfie with the horrors behind her. And of course pausing to take a selfie with the horrors behind her was a bad idea as one of those horrors wrapped its arms around her.
She went wide eyed, her disconnect from staring at her phone shattering in a moment of pure terror. She looked around for some escape, but it was too late. The werewolf pulled her into a bear hug rather than clawing at her, and I heard the sickening sound of bones crunching as destroyed her.
I turned away to the people I could save.
I paused at the top of the steps. Gave a small sniff. I thought I detected a faint hint of gas. Great. Just what I needed on top of everything else.
“Son of a bitch,” I growled.
I couldn’t win. And now I’d made one of the classic horror movie blunders. I wasn’t only responsible for my own survival, which looked like it was going to be difficult enough to pull off, but also every other asshole at this party.
Why me?
I shook my head. I knew why me. Because I was an idiot. Because I was breaking all my rules, and all because a girl with a killer body and the most hypnotic set of eyes I’d ever seen, a girl I’d only shared a little bit of time with, had convinced me to do something monumentally stupid in the name of trying to impress her.
Yeah, that’s why me. I was thinking with my brain down below, and it wasn’t doing any favors for my long term survival chances.
“Come on!” I shouted to the last few stragglers who hadn’t been caught by the werewolves down below.
Not that I thought it was going to do them a damn bit of good. No, they were just going to be the first in line for the werewolf buffet. Because those wolves were starting to come up the stairs.
Then something happened. Growling came from another part of the house, and the werewolves that’d been advancing on us stopped. They sniffed at the air like there was something more interesting that had their attention.
I didn’t dare to hope that something might be Kirsten pulling off her distraction, but the werewolves down there turned and made their way back into the house.
I’d take it.
I pointed the last few stragglers to one of the back rooms that looked out on the back porch.
I got to the room and found the entire party packed in there. I cursed as I tried to push my way in. I got a couple of irritated looks, but then they got a good look at me.
Maybe it was the look in my eyes. Maybe it was that I’d been the one shouting at them and trying to get them to go to fucking safety. Whatever it was, they got the fuck out of my way.
“Close that door,” I growled at one of the girls near the entrance.
She listened to the snarling down below, and for a wonder she didn’t question me. No, she simply slammed the door shut.
Not that I thought the door was going to do any good if the werewolves decided to come up here. Not to mention the werewolves could probably come through the walls if they wanted to.
Those things were the kind of strong that didn’t care if there was some drywall and maybe some studs in their way. Which meant we didn’t have long.
I made my way over to one of the windows where I saw a couple of guys who looked like basketball players peering out. Like they were looking at something they didn’t care for.
“What’s the situation?” I asked.
I didn’t stop to think about how silly it was that I was talking to these players like I was a an officer in the military asking for a report. They turned, looked at me, and then pointed.
One look told me exactly what the problem was. There were still hulking shadows moving in the darkness down below. Which meant we’d be jumping into the waiting arms of a bunch of werewolves who’d love to turn us into snacks.
Fuck.
“Kirsten said she was going to distract them,” I said, not sure how much I believed that.
“Are you sure about that?” one of the players asked. “I mean she’s a tough bitch, but there are a lot of them down there.”
“Maybe so,” I said. “But she said she’ll take care of them, so she’ll take care of them.”
I really hoped she’d take care of them.
Another noise drifted up from somewhere below. I hoped nobody else thought about how easy it’d be for one of those monsters to come up through the floor and pull someone in.
It happened often enough in horror movies, after all, but none of these people struck me as the type to watch horror movies for funsies.
Something about that loud noise from down below got the attention of the werewolves. They let out a couple of snarls, and the hulking shapes down in the backyard moved into the house.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I also worried. After all, if they were streaming into the house that meant they were going after Kirsten.
“I hope you know what you’re doing Kirsten,” I muttered.
“Me too,” one of the players said, sticking his hand out. “I’m Wayne, by the way. Nice to meet you.”
“Cara,” I said.
“The girl who went up with Kirsten tonight,” he said, smiling and shaking his head. “Do you have any idea how many guys here would’ve loved to be you tonight?”
I briefly considered getting annoyed, but it looked like he was trying to make conversation in the middle of a bad situation, not being insensitive. He was trying, and I figured I’d meet him halfway.
So I grinned right back at him. “Too bad for all you guys that you have the wrong equipment, right?”
“Right,” Wayne said. “So are we going to do this while they’re distracted?”
I took a deep breath. I looked at the backyard. I thought about how there might still be werewolves out there.
But there really was nothing for it. If we were going to escape then we needed to get the hell out of here while the getting was good.
“Sounds like a plan,” I said. “Can you open that window?”
Wayne obliged. On either side of me other players also pulled up their windows and climbed out onto the porch. I went out right along with them. I figured if I was in charge of making sure all these people survived then I needed to get out there and get eyes on the situation.
I peered over the edge, well aware that if there was a werewolf down there then it’d easily hear us clomping around on the roof. From there it’d be simple enough for one of them to reach their clawed hands through the ceiling and pull us down.
Only they were gone. Just to be sure I turned my phone flash on and moved it around the backyard. It wasn’t powerful enough to cover the whole backyard, but it was enough to tell me whether or not there were werewolves out there.
The coast seemed to be clear. For the moment. That would have to be good enough.
“Come on,” I hissed to the first group waiting on the other side of the windows. “We need to get the hell out of here!”
They started filing out, but some of them looked incredulous when they realized they were going to have to jump. Some of them turned back to the house, but a sudden slam against the door had them rethinking that decision. We’re talking whatever hit that door was hitting with Tony Stark trying to escape from a cave levels of noise. Followed by snarling on the other side.
Well then. It would appear that not all the werewolves had been distracted.
“You need to move your asses!” I shouted.
I’d like to think it was my encouragement that got them off of that back porch, but it was probably the terror of having a bunch of werewolves on their asses. Whatever the reason, people started jumping off the back porch fast enough that it was dangerous.
The door started to splinter, but there wasn’t anything I could’ve done. Kirsten took all the weapons. All we could do was run.
“Move your asses people!” I shouted, waving my hand to direct them down into the backyard below.
More screams came from partiers who’d been too slow. Followed by the sickening unmistakable sound, at least it was unmistakable now that I’d had to endure the horror, of claws making contact with flesh.
The wall broke in and a werewolf head shoved through the plaster. Sure enough, drywall and studs weren’t enough to keep back a werewolf who really wanted in.
The thing snarled and grabbed at a basketball player, pulling him back and biting down on his arm.
The guy screamed and hit the werewolf right on the snout. Which caused the thing to let go as he pulled free, but his arm was dripping with blood.
“Get your asses in gear if you want to live!” I shouted.
Some people hesitated at the edge, but the press of the crowd moving forward made the decision for them.
I shook my head. At least they were moving. Even if I was pretty sure I heard a couple of sickening crunches as people landed on the grass below.
I winced. That fall was definitely going to leave a mark, but it was better than the alternative.
So I took a running leap off of the back porch. I landed and something jarring went up the length of my body, but then that feeling was gone as quickly as it was there.
Adrenaline was a hell of a drug. Not to mention the fear of being taken out by an apex predator, and that combination was enough to get me running even though I had a feeling I was going to feel all of this when that adrenaline eventually wore off.
I felt a stitch in my side, but even that wasn’t enough to get me to stop. Nothing short of getting clawed from behind was going to stop me.
Finally I reached the back of the yard. I turned to survey the damage. There was the house, light streaming out of it, and I could see several hulking figures on the back porch now. Though oddly enough, the werewolves seemed to be content, for the moment, to stay in the house. Like they were waiting for something.
Though what the hell they could be waiting for was beyond me.
Then I noticed movement down by the basement. There were a few grimy windows where the house met the ground, and I saw something coming out of one of them, which shocked me.
I didn’t think any of the werewolves would be small enough to fit through one of those windows. Only sure enough, there was something crawling out. My breath caught when I realized exactly what it was.
Kirsten. I didn’t know how, but she’d done it. She’d escaped, and from the looks of things there was something else in that basement trying its best to get her.
21
Cara
I cried out as I saw a clawed hand reach out through that window and slam down onto the grass where she’d been just a moment before. She was sure as shit cutting it close!
Kirsten got up and turned around. She shook her head, then turned and ran from the werewolf which seemed totally out of character for her. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, and for her that was pretty fast.
The wer
ewolf in the basement let out a snarl, and that set off other werewolves that growled and snarled and filled the house with their rage.
I shook my head. How was she going to kill all of those? As I looked at them snarling and getting ready to come for us I knew this was it. We were all going to die.
I felt numb as the realization hit me. I never thought I’d bite it this young. I mean I’d known on some level that I could die. I’d known people who died when I was in school, after all.
It’s just one of those things where I knew it could happen to other people in general but never thought it was going to happen to me in particular. Yet here we were.
“Motherfucker,” I said.
The crowd behind me went quiet. I wondered if they were looking at Kirsten making a run for it and coming to the same conclusions.
I mean sure, there was a chance some of us might get away while the others were being attacked, but it was small comfort to the animal picked off by the predators that the rest of the herd got away, even if it sort of made sense from an evolutionary point of view.
Then Kirsten did something that really surprised me. She pulled her phone out and held it up. Why the hell was she making a call while she was trying to get away from a werewolf infested house?
Maybe she was calling the cops, but it’s not like they’d get here in time to save anybody. No, they’d only get here in time to pick up the pieces and put them in body bags to be taken down to the local morgue so families could try and identify their loved ones by a bit of an arm, or maybe a leg, or a bit of jewelry or something.
Only Kirsten looked determined. She cursed, stabbed at her phone again, and kept running. She looked up at us, and that’s when it hit.
The explosion picked me up and knocked me on my ass. Luckily someone behind me broke my fall, though from the way they cried out in obvious pain as something snapped I didn’t think the landing had been quite as lucky for them.
Or maybe that snapping had come from me. Maybe I was so pumped full of adrenaline that I hadn’t even noticed y body breaking.