I gaped at him, my eyes wide, and my heart thumping painfully in
my chest. His gaze was tender, sincere, and so unbelievably loving that it made me want to run screaming into the woods after my sister. This was one of the worst situations I had ever found myself in. I could feel Cades hard gaze upon me, feel the smoldering heat of it. I didnt know what to say, what to do, and thankfully I didnt have time to worry about it. The snakelike tentacles burst free of the woods, proving that at least the creature had excellent timing along with its fierce urge to murder.
It felt good to squeeze the trigger on the gun, to finally take a stand. The gun recoiled fiercely, I had prepared myself for this, but it still knocked me back a foot. The guns cracked loudly, bullets exploded into the dark. I steadied myself, holding the gun tighter and bracing my legs further apart in order to take the kickback better. I had no clue what I was doing; I was only trying to mimic what I had seen on TV and movies.
The second shot did not hit the creature, but it didnt almost knock me over either. I adjusted myself, aiming a little more to the left and slightly higher. I fired again, a bolt of satisfaction jolted through me; I was fairly certain Id hit the monster, but it was hard to tell as Cade, Aiden, and Bret continued to fire upon the thing. They seemed to be doing better with their shots, but that thing was still coming rapidly toward us, skittering forward with a rush of momentum that I was beginning to think would never stop.
I wanted to back away, wanted to turn and flee screaming into the woods. However, I was many things, but a coward was not one of them. I never had been. I would not abandon them right now, no matter how much my survival instincts were telling me to do so. If they decided to retreat
Well Id be running like the hounds of hell were after me right along with them. And looking at this thing, I was pretty sure that they just might be.
It was getting closer, only fifteen feet away now. It barreled through the woods at us, snapping smaller trees in half, darting with an eerie, almost mesmerizing grace around the larger ones. I was almost as entranced, and impressed by this thing, as I was repulsed by it.
I was taking time with my shots, I didnt know how many bullets the gun possessed and I sure as hell didnt know how to reload it. I had to make sure that when that thing was on top of us, and it would be, that I at least had some bullets left in my gun.
It was a good thing that Cade appeared to be an excellent shot. He seemed to be the only one that hadnt missed yet, the only one doing consistent damage to it. Damage that was hardly making a dent.
Ten feet, I fired another shot. Eight feet, I could feel my heart jump all the way into my throat. Six feet, I was half afraid that I was going to piss myself. Four feet, I fired off another shot as a tentacle lashed out.
I never saw the thing until it slammed against the side of my face. My head snapped around, my teeth clamped down on my tongue so hard that blood spurted into my mouth. I cried out, stumbling back beneath the force of the blow. My vision swam, stars burst over my eyes as blackness threatened to consume me.
Someone shouted my name, I didnt know who. I couldnt make out the voice over the loud ringing in my ears. Arms encircled me, pulling me back as something wrapped around my leg. A strangled scream escaped as I struggled against the darkness trying to pull me under. Kill it! Kill it!
Brets frightened cries were muffled in my ears, but I knew now that it was him holding me. That it was him trying to keep me from the clutches of that hideous thing. Brets arms were tight around me, gripping hold of me as the creature tried to pull me away. I knew he would never let me go. Aiden was suddenly upon us, a knife in his hand. I held my breath and closed my eyes as I braced myself. I knew what these things did when they were stabbed, and it was not pretty.
A loud, ear splitting shriek rent the air. My hands slammed over my ears, an answering scream of pain almost ripped from me but I managed to suppress it in time. Bret ducked over me; I could feel his breath against my neck, the shaking that rocked his hard body. My fingers dug into his arm as another shot rang through the air. The awful screeching grew momentarily louder, blood sprayed over us as the broken tentacle whipped through the air. Blood spurted from the bullet holes as Cade fired two more shots.
The screaming ended abruptly.
Brets breath was loud in my ears now; I could make out the frantic beat of his heart. The thing wrapped around my leg went slack, but it did not release me. I wanted to cry, wanted to curl into a ball and sob, I never wanted to move again. I wanted to close my eyes real tight, click my heels together, and go back to a year ago when
things had not been easy but they had been far better than this never ending nightmare.
Bethany?