AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
I’m still staring into those eyes, and there’s a familiar glint in them. A call, which at this moment I hear so clearly. They’re begging me to peer behind the façade. This creature before me is no monster lacking mind and intellect. It never tried to kill me. All it ever wanted was for me to see past the grotesque visage to the truth.
This fallen creature is none other than my Great Aunt Frida.
Her sinewy body slowly relaxes, her facial muscles slacken, and her fanged mouth closes. Frida’s eyes remain fixed on me, and she looks somehow … relieved.
I whisper her name quietly and slowly reach out to touch her head. I have to show her that I’m with her, that I’m on her side. But before my hand touches her blackened skin, she turns abruptly and lopes away. After a few yards, she stops and looks back at me expectantly.
With a pounding heart, I meet her eye; for a moment, I’m unsure what to do. Is it a good idea to follow her? I’m still in the Odyss. Kate’s still lying unconscious on the ground – a few yards away from Mr. Brian’s maimed body torn to pieces by Frida. For reasons I can’t explain, I know without a doubt that my great aunt would never do anything to harm me. In fact, I’m sure I can trust her, although I have no idea where that certainty comes from. There’s just this connection, this feeling that I know her. But I can’t simply go with her. Not while Kate is defenseless.
Frida notices my hesitation and seems to understand my concern. She looks to her right and jerks her head several times in that direction. At the same time, her feet scuttle restlessly. She seems to want to show me something – something important. But nothing can be important enough for me to leave Kate behind. I need to check on her. She’s been out cold for far too long. So I go to her, which elicits a loud hiss from Frida.
“I know,” I say to my aunt. “I’ll come with you in a minute. But first I have to take care of Kate.”
Frida shakes her head energetically.
“I can’t just leave her here. Surely you understand that.”
She gallops restlessly on the spot again and suddenly jerks her head to the left. She cranes her neck and seems to be listening out … she hears something. I see her tense up. A low growl rumbles in her throat, then she turns to me again. She hisses at me and takes a few lunging steps toward me as if she’s trying to drive me away.
“What?” I ask quietly, peering in the direction that Frida’s looking again. “More of the fallen are coming, right?”
She nods.
“And they’re not like you in that they probably want to kill us, yeah?”
She nods again. Her reply doesn’t surprise me. I frantically consider my options, but then I hear claws scraping across the ground and hoarse wheezing and snorting sounds. They’re coming.
“I’ll stay and fight them with you. Then I’ll take care of Kate, and then you can show me whatever it is you want to show me.”
Frida shakes her head and growls at me. She lunges at me again as if she’s trying to get rid of me.
At that moment, four of the fallen charge out of the darkness. They leap at me with their teeth bared, but Frida quickly throws herself at them and sinks her teeth into one of their shoulders. The creature lets out a menacing growl. The others are momentarily confused, but it doesn’t take them long to decide that they have no problem killing one of their own. Frida rears up in front of them, growling and making it clear that she won’t let them pass.
I nod to Yoru. I’m about to hurry to my great aunt’s aid, but she turns to me again and hisses angrily. I know what she wants me to do. She wants me to leave. Right now! She gives me a warning look, and then her eyes dart at Kate, who’s still lying there unconscious and defenseless. As much as it pains me, I have to get out of here and trust that Frida can handle the situation. If I stay, I’ll only get in her way and put Kate in more danger. So I extend my arm and focus on the door that will get us home. I take one last look at Mr. Brian as the door slowly glides toward me. I can’t take him with me. I’m doubtful about whether I can even get Kate out of here. I definitely couldn’t drag a man of his size.
There’s no time to lose, because the fallen are attacking again, hurling themselves at Frida, who bravely fends them off. I have to get out of here. Maybe they’ll leave Frida alone when they realize they can’t get to me. I bend over Kate, and it takes all my strength to haul her to her feet. My right hand is still extended, holding on to the door, which at that moment reaches us. I glance at Frida, then open the door and pull Kate through.
We free-fall and land in an alley near the school. Relieved, I lower my friend to the ground and sit down beside her to catch my breath. I gently push a few strands of hair out of her face.
“Kate, wake up. Are you okay? Are you injured?”
I gently pat her cheeks and her eyelids flutter.
“Can you hear me?”
She opens her eyes slowly and looks around in confusion. Gray is instantly at her side, resting his head on her legs. She strokes his scaly skin.
“Yeah … I think so.” She gradually takes in her surroundings. “Where are we?”
“Near the school,” I reply, watching her closely to make sure she’s really okay.
Kate rubs her forehead gingerly and murmurs, “We were in the Odyss. Then suddenly all this water …” as the memories return, her eyes widen, and she looks at me in horror. “Mr. Brian … he tried to … kill me.” She glances around in a panic, but of course he’s nowhere to be seen. “Where is he? What happened?”
I swallow a few times as I search for the words to describe what happened. I guess I haven’t fully processed it myself. Eventually, I begin to explain how I found her performing a ritual to trigger a vision. I remind her of how Mr. Brian showed up in her room to kill her, of our escape to the Odyss, the fight with Mr. Brian, and then one of the fallen showing up and killing him.
“That creature protected us,” I say. “And it wasn’t just a random monster.” I pause, summoning the courage to say it out loud. “It was Frida. My great aunt is alive, and she saved us.”
