Through Glass

by Rebecca Ethington

  I moved quickly as an invisible clock counted down behind me. The endless ticking in my ears was the warning that they would return for me. That I wasn’t safe yet.

  I had searched for flashlights, battery operated clocks, candles. I didn’t know how much light was needed to keep them away, but if Cohen and I were going to make our escape, we needed anything we could find.

  I didn’t find anything.

  Not like I was surprised, I had looked two years ago for the exact same things. I found nothing then, as I found nothing now. Everything had been taken or destroyed. What little might have been spared two years ago had since been destroyed in the monthly raids when they brought food.

  I had found a few things, but nothing was usable; broken pieces of a flashlight from our camping supplies, numerous battery casings, even a few batteries of the wrong size, the hand crank to an emergency light and half a candle. The candle I kept, even without a way to light it I had the hope that it may come in handy someday.

  It wasn’t until I had scoured the half bath downstairs that I found one battery of the right size wedged between the toilet and the wall. I was amazed it wasn’t punctured or ripped apart like the others had been. It was a miracle I had found it, that it was there. I had searched that room so many times before.

  One size D battery. I didn’t even know if it would work.

  I held it in my hand as though it was made of gold. The cold metal pressed up against my cheek as I tried to keep myself awake. A few hours ago I had felt the exhaustion hit me, my body dragging as my eyes had tried to close. My body had been attempting to put me to sleep right where I sat, wedged between the metal remains of the washing machine.

  It had taken all my strength to pull myself to standing, the battery stuffed in my pocket, and drag myself upstairs. I had pulled myself up the stairs, the exhaustion only growing with every step. I walked into my room, only to find Cohen leaned against the window, his eyes closed as his own exhaustion had taken him. There were two batteries set nicely on the sill in front of him.

  I had fallen into bed, my body trying desperately to get me to slip, while my mind screamed at me not to give in. It begged me to stay awake and, for once, I didn’t doubt myself. After all, I had still broken the rules. I didn’t know what they would do to retaliate from that, but I wasn’t thinking they were going to throw me a parade.

  I lay awake in the silence, everything inside of me jittery and uncomfortable in anticipation and in fear. It felt weird to be lying here when they may well come for me at any minute. I needed to get out of here. Even with what Cohen had found, we were still one battery short. I just needed Cohen to wake up and then we could get out of here. We could try. I only hoped the three that we found could produce enough light to keep us safe.

  That was, of course, assuming that all the batteries were up to a full functioning standard. And we wouldn’t know until we got together. Assuming we could get together, I still couldn’t get the memory of what had happened to the Jones family as they attempted their escape. The screeches of the monsters, the screams…

  They hadn’t even made it out of their homes. The circles of ash still sat untouched across the street where the once white door remained torn off its hinges. It was now only a dark rectangle; a wide, gaping mouth to the empty house behind it.

  I never looked in that direction if I could help it. I didn’t want to see the circles of ash that littered the streets; the remains of the people that had fought, the dozens of failed escapes. I would only look forward. However now, as I lay awake, I wanted to look. I wanted to see what awaited us. What we were both fighting against.

  If we could fight, we would need the light to be able to do that to them, to get away. The batteries were the only chance we had.

  I stared at the battery in the darkness; the faint ticking from the clock buzzing underneath the pillow was the only sound in the room. I tried to keep myself awake through the relaxing sound, my eyes feeling heavy and warm as they tried to coax me to sleep. I needed to stay awake. Then tomorrow, after Cohen woke up, we would leave no matter what.

  I was going to get to touch him, to kiss him, to hold him.

  I was going to be held.

  After years of dreaming of how it would feel, clinging to the fading memories of the one kiss we’d shared, I wouldn’t have to dream anymore. It would be real. I let my fingers flutter above the glossy texture of Cohen’s graduation picture, listening to the clock ticking. I wished the seconds would go faster.

  Tick.

  Tick.

  Creaaaaak.

  I jumped at the sound, the subtle groan of the front door opening sending a jolt through my entire body. My pulse picked up immediately, but I didn’t move, I didn’t dare.

  Everything was quiet, still. Everything other than the sound of the door as it closed again.

  I waited in the dark, my mind moving in a million directions. Everything tensed, my fingers clenching around the dirty sheet I lay on as I waited for more noise, for something to happen. It couldn’t be the Ulama, the screeching always came before they did.

  There was no noise.

  Only silence that filled my body like a heavy drug, it dragged through me as I listened, waited, and breathed. Had I imagined the noise? I clung to the battery, my ears on alert for what would come next. The silence too loud; the frantic sound of my heart too loud for me to hear…

  Click. Click.

  The sound of talons in the kitchen; long, golden claws climbing the stairs.

  The breath caught in my chest as I began to shake, the shallow convulsions of my body waving through me as fear gripped me. I had hoped that I would have more time; that they wouldn’t know I was still alive until it was too late, until I was gone. Now it was too late, too late for me. They had come. They had come to kill me.

  Punishment for breaking the rules.

  No. Please, no.

  I listened to the clicks on the stairs as they moved closer, as they ticked down to my death. My body tensing as I ran through my options, my fear making it hard to focus. I should have just run to Cohen, woke him up and run away, but my exhausted body wouldn’t let me.

  Now they were here and any “should have” was irrelevant.

  Another click, this one at the top of the stairs. The creature’s breathing joining the sound of its talons as the shallow breath echoed down the hall, through my open door and into my ears.

  The shaky breath seized through me and my fear ebbed away for just long enough for me to make a move, my body rolling off the bed to drop on the floor as silently as I could.

  I froze as the creature did, the clicking stopping while both of our breathing froze in the air. The monster had heard me.

  I squeezed myself under the bed, my tiny body moving easily into the confined space as I looked around the tiny area that I had wedged myself into. My eyes scanned over soccer balls and clothes that I had never cleaned up as I’d searched for a weapon. Or maybe I was scanning for some way out, for something to use against the thing that hunted me.

  There was nothing except objects of a forgotten life and the dust that covered the carpet with a heavy layer of grey. The dense covering broke into frantic bursts as I breathed and moved to press myself against the wall to hopefully stay out of sight.

  I took one last glance around the room as another click echoed through the silence of the house. My eyes rested on the pile of banisters and makeshift clubs I had made years ago. I clenched my teeth at seeing them, cursing myself for leaving them there. My fingers twitched toward them and I moved my body, shuffling under the bed as I made my way toward the weapons. Dust plumed around me as I attempted to get there before the creature came in.

  I reached the foot of my bed just as a loud click sounded right outside my door. My arm reached toward them in a frantic effort to arm myself.

  Click.

  The sound came again; this one louder, closer. The thing was looking for me. I withdrew my arm quickly as I pressed myself against the wall, my
eyes trained on the door as I waited. The silence of my fear was broken with one sharp click against the floor right outside my door. I narrowed my eyes toward the sound, my heart beating loudly in my ears as I held my breath, waiting for what was to come.

  I watched as the feet stepped on the plush, beige carpet of my room; the bare skin shiny like tar, the deep color somehow even blacker than the ink they had covered the sky with. Long, golden talons extended from the toes, the wicked things clicking against the floorboards as it ripped the carpet to shred.

  I held my breath as best I could, however it wasn’t quite enough. With each click of the creatures golden talons against the carpet, small bursts of air escaped and tiny plumes of dust blew away from me.

  I couldn’t look away from the glinting gold of the talons. I silently prayed they were not the last thing I would see.

  The clicking stopped as my breathing did, the feet turning on the spot on the soft carpet of my room until the creature faced the bed I hid underneath.

  The silence stretched as my lungs began to ache, my body calling for air, but I didn’t give it what it needed. I wouldn’t.

  The creature stood still as I watched its feet with my breath trapped in my chest. I wished I had a way to fight the thing that hunted me. To hurt it, to kill it.

  Then, the alarm went off.

  The gentle buzz of the clock cut the air like a knife. It was the shot of a gun that signaled the beginning of my end. The shallow breathing of the Ulama picked up into an excited pant, a pant that began to grow, mold and flow into the call of their kind.

  The sound resonated in my ears as it grew, the high pitched screech vibrating painfully through my skull. Every muscle in me tensed as the shriek that would signal my death rose in volume.

  Until it stopped and the world fell apart.

  The bed I had been hiding under was thrown off me in one quick movement. The monster screaming as metal frame, box-spring and mattress flew through the air only to crash against the opposite wall with a bang that jolted through me like electricity. I screamed as remnants of metal, wood and fabric crashed through the wall, showering me with bits of drywall and sending what was left of my once untouched room into a shamble of debris. A gust of wind blew over my body and my mouth opened in a scream of fear and anger.

  I didn’t wait, I couldn’t. I gasped and screamed as I moved, pushing my body up to face him while the creature looked down on me, its surprisingly human eyes cutting through me like a knife.

  I froze at seeing them there and at how familiar they felt. They weren’t an empty black like all the others, they were blue. Blue like my baby brothers, blue like the history teacher I had a crush on in fifth grade. I could see thoughts, emotions and regrets in the color of those eyes. The realization froze me.

  My screams stopped as I stared into the thing. My fear only growing as I stared into a human that was trapped inside. No, not human. Ulama. And it was here to kill me. One breath of a second passed between us before the thing stepped forward, trapping me against the wall with nowhere to escape. I watched as the creature came closer, its hands rising to reveal the lengthy, golden talons of its fingers as he prepared to strike.

  The hands of the monster were above me; one fall of its arm between me and death.

  Not like this.

  A yell flew from my throat that matched the screech of the creature in front of me. I jumped up as I yelled, my feet taking me toward him in angry desperation.

  In three steps I collided with the creature, pushing all my strength into him as I pushed it away. I felt the razor sharp feathers cut into the skin on my hands. My own blood trickled down my arms and hands as I punched the thing that sought to kill me, as I clawed at it. I screamed as I slammed into the thing, as I fought.

  I heaved against the Ulama, sending it away from me before I turned and grabbed one of the dusty weapons I had stacked next to my door all those years ago, the heavy wood of the banister weighing down my arms.

  I grunted as I lifted it, my body spinning as I moved toward the thing, hoping the momentum of my movement would create a decent attack. I felt the dull thud as the wood came in contact with the monster in front of me. Its screech echoed in my ears as warm droplets of its blood showered over my skin and clothes.

  I moved back in an attempt to strike again when another call of death joined the first, this one deeper, the baritone strain ominous. I spun at the sound, my heart falling to see another creature towering over me. Its large, bat wings uncurling as its dark eyes bored into me.

  I couldn’t be surprised; they would stop at nothing to punish me for what I had done. I just wasn’t going to let that happen. I screamed in fear as I rushed the new attacker, the banister swinging wide in a futile attack. I hadn’t even gotten close to making contact when the first monster grabbed me from behind, its sharp claws wrapping around me as it pushed me away from him.

  I flew through the air. The crack of glass sharp in the room as the banister soared from my hand and impacted with the window. My body crumpled on top of my desk, papers, and pieces of flashlights flying away from me as I skidded across the dusty surface.

  I pushed myself up, my arms shaking in pain as both of the Ulama came toward me. Their wings unfurled as their talons rose above their heads in preparation to strike. I squared my jaw at them, letting their calls of death wash over me. I wouldn’t give up yet.

  I pushed myself to sitting as the noise in the room changed; the screech of the Ulama intensifying as more human sounds filled my ears. “Don’t touch her!” I wanted to freeze at his voice. A voice I hadn’t heard in two years; a voice that still sounded the same as the memories I had held so close to my heart.

  I looked toward the door as Cohen walked into the room, his hands already curled around one of the banisters I had set next to my door. The Ulama turned in sync at the new voice, one moving toward him quickly as the first turned back to me, its talons rose once again. Cohen’s grunts filled the air as he fought the monster, his make shift weapon flying through the air as he beat the thing before him around the chest and face.

  I turned around, grabbing the first thing I could find, and lifted it to block the talons that were descending on top of me. The sound of metal against metal filled the room as the creature’s talons hit against the broken piece of bed rail I now held in my hand. The monster pushed against it, lowering it closer and closer to me.

  My weak arms strained against the pressure of his talons against the rail. Pain and exhaustion rippled through my arms as I groaned in fear and discomfort. I screamed in exertion as I pushed against the monster, the pain of my body shifting into my voice in an agonized yell. I couldn’t hold him off much longer. With one wide swing I brought my legs forward, my bare feet hitting against the blades on its chest as I pushed the creature off me.

  The monsters arms dropped as he stepped away, its yell increasing as it came back, intent to finish the job. I uncurled myself like a cat in preparation for its attack and sprang from my desk only to land on the chest of the black monster that would kill me. The scales cut through the skin of my legs like knives and I screamed as the pain shot through my legs. I ignored the pain as I hit the head of the thing over and over with the bed rail.

  The black blood of the monster covered me with each hit, spraying over my skin in droplets of foul smelling oil. I could hear Cohen’s screams of exertion as he fought, my own yells mixed in with the screams of the Ulama in a cacophony of sound that vibrated through me.

  We couldn’t do this much longer. We would be heard and they would send more. We needed to end this and get out of here.

  I hit it again and again in my desperation, each hit growing in strength until it fell. The collapse of its body taking me down to the floor with it.

  Cohen now stood before me in my room, his face white as he continually struck the Ulama over the head with one of the broken banisters from my staircase.

  Cohen screamed like an animal as he struck the thing again and again; his desperati
on quicker than the golden talons that continually tried to strike him. The monster’s black blood sprayed over his arms and face with each hit, the blunt, wooden banister ripping the creature apart.

  I heaved myself up as I turned toward the monster, my hands raising above my head in preparation. The long bed rail hovered dangerously before I swung the shaft wide. I soared toward the monster where it collided with a dull thunk and a spray of black. The dark wetness covered my arms and face in a shower of putrid smelling drops. The drops joined the others as they ran across my skin like spots of ink. The vibration of the impact surged through me and I dropped the bed rail, the clang of it against the floor was loud through the silence.

  Silence.

  I looked up as the screech of the Ulama ended, as the monster fell to the ground of my room, the dark blood of the two dead creatures spilling over my once white carpet.

  I stared at the monsters as I panted and my heart beat a frantic pulse against my skin. I stared as my pulse slowed until I could pull my eyes away from the thing that tainted my room to look into the eyes I had dreamed about every night for as long as I could remember.

  I couldn’t move, I couldn’t make my tongue work. I just looked at him, knowing that tears were sliding down my cheeks; knowing and not caring.

  I wasn’t sure why I was crying, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the panic that still surged through my body or the joy that I felt at seeing him there.

  “Alexis,” he said, his voice as deep and rumbling as I remembered it. It shot through me and for the first time in years I felt alive.

  It was him.

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t trust my mouth enough to form coherent words. I just moved. I moved as he moved, our hands meeting for the first time in two years as we hovered over the bodies of the monsters that had attempted to kill me.