by Aaron Bunce
It was her little brother. He stood atop a pile of rubble, half of his body in bright light, the other in impenetrable shadow. His eyes rolled crazily in his head. He looked as if he might topple over at any moment. His hands trembled at his sides.
The circlet clattered to the ground as Eisa covered her mouth. She looked at his feet, where the bloody and mangled bodies of two men lay. It was Robert and Damon. No life was left within them, their eyes staring vacantly at her.
Dark blood pooled around them, and their limbs were bent and contorted in unnatural angles. For several agonizing moments she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Blood contrasted against pale skin. It looked surreal.
It can’t be real. It can’t be real!
Their clothes were shredded, the skin beneath torn and flayed, exposing the pink tissue and broken bones of mortal injuries. Her brother’s moaning lifted her eyes from the gruesome sight. Her first impulse was to grab him and run, to never stop running, not until her legs gave out. No matter how far that was.
However, the gruesome scene stayed her. She wanted to go to him and hold him, but her legs believed something completely different.
“Luca…Luca come on. Come to me. Let’s go,” she sputtered, frantically gesturing for him to move towards her. Luca would not move.
“Don’t look at them Luca. Look at me,” Eisa pleaded, trying to get her brother’s attention off the two lifeless men at his feet. Luca shook his head, and his eyes rolled crazily. His shoulders shook and like a hooked fish, his mouth opened and closed.
“It…killed themmmm. Didn’t want us. It didn’t want me,” he moaned softly. His teeth chattered as if touched by a winter’s chill.
“What Luca? What did you say?” Eisa asked confusedly. He finally pulled his eyes from the lifeless men; only they didn’t meet hers. His head swiveled, and he looked up to the gaping hole in the ceiling.
“It didn’t…it doesn’t want me. It wants,” Luca mumbled. His voice trailed off, but his mouth continued to move.
Eisa took a step forward, her hands outstretched. She flicked her fingers, motioning him to come. She held her chin up. She couldn’t look down at the men. The thought turned her stomach.
Luca flinched and took a step towards her, but abruptly jerked backward.
“Luca come on. Let’s go,” Eisa said, her patience ebbing. The taint of blood was almost overpowering now. Blindly, she wiggled her foot forward, between the two bodies. She leaned out and tried to grasp his arm, but he staggered away from her.
Eisa’s hand whiffed as Luca pulled away, but she was leaning too far forward, and her balance shifted. Down she went, sprawling onto Damon’s motionless body. She sputtered and gagged, pushing herself back off of the men, her hands slipping and sliding on the bloody mess.
Luca stood face down now and made no noise as she blindly wiped her hands on her dress. She could feel the blood, it was warm and sticky. A sour taste rose in her throat.
She would carry Luca straight to the garrison in Shale. They would be safe there. Let the fighting men figure out this mess. She wanted her mother and father. She needed the comfort of familiar faces and walls around her.
Eisa cast her revulsion aside for a moment and stepped over Damon, wiggling her foot down to find a sure, dry footing. She reached out to grasp Luca before he could pull away again, but once again she was left grasping only air.
“Luca stop it! Give me your hand, now!” she spit angrily.
Her patience had flown away. Luca held both of his trembling hands out to her, but before she could grab him, he jumped back fully into the shadow.
Eisa was struck momentarily dumb as Luca floated back out of the shadows. He hung in the air, a strangled and terrified look on his face.
“Luca, blasted already! Give me your hand! Give me your hand, please,” Eisa begged frantically, regaining her wits. She swiped at him, trying to snag his feet to pull him down, but she couldn’t reach and started to cry. She needed him to be in her arms and be gone from this wretched place.
Luca hung for only a moment and then started to float towards her, a strange, low-pitched grating noise emanated from the shadows behind him. Eisa stumbled back and tripped as her foot hooked on Damon’s arm. She was scrambling backward, pushing with her hands and feet as her brother floated like a specter through the air.
He wasn’t floating she realized. Luca struggled against something, something pale wrapped around his neck that was camouflaged against his skin. His eyes rolled around in his head, and a large wet spot appeared on the front of his brown trousers. Urine ran down his leg and filled the air with its sour odor.
Eisa watched as the nightmare materialized from the shadows, her brother dangling like a carrot from the end of its arm. She couldn’t hold back her screams. The monster stepped fully into the light from above. Her worst dreams couldn’t conjure a more horrible fiend.
The skin on her hands caught and tore on the jagged rocks and brambles, but she ignored the pain. She cared only about getting away, away from the creature holding her little brother. A heavily muscled arm held Luca aloft, while another braced the creature’s weight on the pile of debris next to it.
The creature was slightly larger than a man but leaned over and heavily stooped. Two strange appendages protruded from its chest and drug along the ground. Eisa understood the truth of it. They were arms. The two smaller arms looked strangely human and out of place. Upper arm melded into an elbow, and then forearms into smallish hands ending in five digits. With each step, the creature pawed at the ground with the smaller limbs, shifting its weight with the additional appendages as it moved its bulk along.
Its head was longer than a man’s and more angular, coming to a severe point in which it’s lower jaw jutted out slightly past its upper. Cruel pointed teeth broke past its chalky lips, and like so many little daggers promised death and pain. Its eyes were large, bulbous, and strangely opaque. It unnerved Eisa that she couldn’t tell exactly what it was looking at.
Eisa continued to push away, scooting herself along the floor, hoping against hope that she was moving in the right direction, and not putting herself in a corner. She dared not tear her eyes off the creature to look back. A nagging fear told her that it would pounce upon her as soon as she turned away. Luca continued to dangle like a pathetic worm at the end of a fisherman’s string.
The creature stalked Eisa across the room. It bobbed Luca out before her, trying to entice her closer. Bait to lure its prey. She didn’t have a plan beyond getting out of the room. She didn’t know how she would get Luca safe, or get either of them from the building.
Abruptly, the creature stopped mid-step, its gaze shifted above her. Something had drawn its attention away.
Eisa was still pushing, but she was no longer moving. Something behind her halted her progress. The creature’s lips pulled back in a snarl. Its growl was like no sound she had ever heard before. It pierced deep into her and threatened to halt the very beating of her heart.
Eisa went cold. She didn’t notice when hands latched onto her and pulled her to her feet. She wasn’t even sure that her legs would support her.
Hunter’s voice cut through the debilitating grip of fear, his voice so much like her father’s, strong and steady.
“Get behind me, Eisa. Get behind me now!” Hunter growled in her ear.
He pulled her behind him gently, but with purpose. She clutched desperately to him as she watched Luca dangle, the monster holding fast to him like a limp rabbit.
Hunter held her back as she pushed into him. Sweat rolled down from his hairline and dripped off his nose and jaw. His hand leveled out before him, wrapped around his large hunting knife.
The razor sharp blade glinted in the pale light. Her father had given it to him for his sixteenth name-day. The knife was his pride, the edge affectionately honed by oilstone and leather strap was sharp enough to split hairs. She knew that he could put it to deadly use.
“Put him down now! I’m warning you!” Hunter growled.
Eisa took a small amount of strength from his tone.
The creature looked between Hunter, and the knife brandished before him. It studied him for a moment before cocking its head to the side. Its next move happened in the blink of an eye. Eisa tried to run, tried to push through her older brother as Luca tumbled through the air.
She screamed as the hideous creature threw her baby brother through the open window. Then, like a ghost, it came at them.
Hunter pushed hard with his free hand, sending her toppling into the hallway. She heard the creature crash into Hunter as the two fell to the ground.
Chapter 3
Hunted by the night
Eisa crashed into the trees, gasping to catch her breath. She struggled to run. Her sides cramped and the muscles in her legs burned. Her mind was spinning. She couldn’t remember how she had gotten this far.
The lifeless figures of Damon and Robert were burned into her memory, their bodies torn, their vitality left to pool on the ground beneath them. The blood-curdling sounds of her brother struggling with the monster rang in her ears.
What would happen to Hunter? Is he even still alive?
A branch snapped hard, catching her beneath the nose. It felt hot as blood ran onto her lip, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop. Terror drove her on and told her that if she stopped, she too would die.
One image kept bursting through the panic and fear, her baby brother tumbling end over end through the dark window. It was so far to fall. She couldn’t bear to think of him lying broken and alone, cold and forgotten on the ground.
Sweat stung her eyes, yet she would not stop to wipe them. Her knees and shins were bruised and bloodied from rocks and fallen logs, but the adrenaline drove her on, through the pain and fear.
Eisa didn’t stop to catch her breath when she reached the road. She thundered onto the bridge’s wooden expanse, slipping and nearly falling from the dew settling on the mossy planks. She crossed quickly, hitting solid ground of the south bank at a full run. Finally, exhaustion consumed her, and Eisa’s legs buckled, sending her face first into the dirt.
She could think only of her mother and father. She had to get home. They will know what do to. Where to go for help.
If they could get to her brothers quickly enough, there might be hope. The men from town could save them.
Yes, they will help me.
Despair was a powerful force. Despite thoughts of home, it smothered her with a crushing embrace. It wouldn’t allow her to catch her breath, or feel her legs. During those painful moments, she lay gasping in the dirt, face ashen and tears muddied, knowing that she needed to move. Time was only against her.
She grunted as cramps stole the strength from her legs. Through sheer determination she managed to slow her breathing. Her legs wobbled as she clawed back to her feet. She tumbled down the trail, the shadows pursuing her. They chased her, growing longer as the sun kissed the horizon. With each retreating heartbeat the woods pitched closer to nightfall.
* * * *
Luca felt numb. He shut his eyes tight, but he still heard it doing those horrible things to Robert and Damon. It killed them right in front of him.
Why is it hurting them? They were just trying to help me. Why is this happening?
He hung like a puppet from the monster’s claws, confident that he would die at any moment. Then Eisa walked into the room. It didn’t want him. It had used him like a worm on a hook.
Hunter was there with his sister. The monster’s claws grew tighter around his neck. Hunter was strong; he would save him. That realization broke Luca out of his fear momentarily. Hunter moved into the room and pulled Eisa behind him. Luca wanted to cry out to his big brother. For him to fight the monster and take him home.
Hunter’s knife slid out of its sheath. Luca heard and felt the monster vibrate behind him. He’d already peed in his pants. He could feel the warmth and damp on his legs and trousers. Luca could hear Eisa crying. She sounded scared, but he couldn’t see her anymore. He was sure Hunter would dash in, and then he would be free.
“Take me away!” Luca pleaded silently. His brother would save him. He had to. The world tilted on its end, and in the distance he heard his sister scream. She was screaming his name, he knew that much. And then Luca was free.
The cool air rushed over him. His legs were above him. It was so disorienting. Tree branches and leaves clawed at him as he fell. He flapped his arms like a wounded bird, trying to grab something, anything to stop his fall.
The leaves and twigs were so thick he couldn’t see the ground. A large limb struck him in the shoulder, and he pitched, tumbling in the other direction. With a sickening crack his leg hit and flopped, the bone snapping painfully upon impact.
Luca tumbled, the branches pummeling him like unforgiving clubs. Then, abruptly the tree parted and the ground reached up and grabbed him. His dark world exploded in a shower of stars. The stars grew fuzzy, and then everything faded.
* * * *
He didn’t know how long he laid there. It felt like moments, but how could he be sure? He felt a burst of pain as nausea knotted his stomach until he vomited on the ground next to him. He could only open one eye, and his head throbbed. Luca spit on the ground, trying to remove the sour ick from his mouth.
The ground felt spongy, as long as he didn’t move. He tried to roll over but pain shot up his arm, into his shoulder and neck. A large angry knot was growing just above his elbow.
He couldn’t remember how he wound up on the ground. His thoughts were jumbled and made worse by the pain. It seemed to come from everywhere.
He laid there for a while longer, the lonely song of crickets filling the night.
“Eisa!” Luca cried out. His voice had never sounded smaller. He wanted his mother, his sister, or his father. He just wanted to be held. They always knew how to make him feel better.
Laying there, broken and alone in the dark, Luca started to cry. Even his tears hurt as they slipped down his cheeks. A great weariness hovered over him, like a maternal embrace. It urged him to close his eyes and rest.
Luca tried to roll over again, but the pain and weariness would not go away. The pain afforded him a moment of clarity, and a jumble of memories flashed to him. The monster, as it jumped out of the darkness. Eisa as she reached for him, and Hunter trying to fight the monster off with his knife. The darkness as he fell through the branches, and then the ground. Luca looked around in the darkness trying to make sense of his surroundings, but it was too dark to see the window through the tree branches above him.
He needed to get help. Eisa and Hunter needed him. He knew the way home well enough, even in the dark. He would get back home and get his father.
Luca felt a glimmer of hope. He knew what he had to do, but he was all alone now. He wasn’t sure he could do it by himself. Finally he rolled, grimacing as pain shot through his body.
Using his good arm, Luca pushed up onto his knees. Brushing off twigs and debris, Luca reached up and grasped a thick branch. It took a moment for a spell of dizziness to pass and then he forced himself to his feet. Gingerly, Luca hopped on his left leg, his other leg throbbed and pulsed angrily.
Why can’t I feel my foot?
A dead branch hung just above him, and with a quick pull it snapped off in his hand. He immediately put it to use as a walking stick. Luca eased his way out through the trees. With one eye swollen shut, he teetered several times, grabbing at things that were further away than he thought. He even smacked his head, running blindly into a low hanging branch.
He hobbled his way through the dark trees, hoping he was heading towards the road. The thought of going anywhere near the tower and its black depths terrified him, so he cut a wide arc all the way around.
The effort of moving proved difficult after the fall and the added burden of picking himself up and over the heavy brush and fallen trees turned out to be an excruciating task. Luca quickly tired.
“Can’t stop. Can’t rest,” Luca mumbled as he bent under a large
fallen tree. The night was cool, and the air hung thick and humid. He started to shiver when the wind picked up. The trees thinned, allowing the moonlight to cascade through, exposing the road ahead.
Luca’s spirits were just starting to lift when a cry echoed in the night. He froze. It was a noise he had heard before, but never when he had been so alone and vulnerable. A second cry went out, but this one came from a different direction. His heart accelerated as he spun, searching the dark for movement. Luca had gone only a few steps onto the roadway when he heard the third cry.
Is it a wolf, or fox? Luca wondered. The head of his walking stick dug into the ground as he hopped quickly along, a single frightful purpose pounding through his aching head.
* * * *
The road wound down into the trail. Eisa had taken it earlier in the day, but it now felt like a completely different place. The last rays of dying light were waning, leaving a blanket of dusk her eyes were ill-equipped for. The shadows slowly melted together, until only an occasional break in the tree cover allowed the pale moonlight through. Eisa clutched her arms protectively. A chill had taken to the night in the sun’s absence.
The darkness introduced more changes to the forest trail. Noises echoed among the trees. Branches shifted and popped in the wind. Creatures stirred and moved out to roam and hunt under the nighttime sky. Eisa hated being alone in the dark, and on this night, her composure hung by a thread. The eerie noises threatened to unravel her completely.
She walked quickly down the trail, allowing her body a brief respite from her exhausting run. She jumped when something crashed in the darkened trees.
Eisa twirled about, trying desperately to make out the source of the noise and praying under her breath that it was just deer in the undergrowth.