Page 23 of Greed

“Go away, I’m warning you, I have a weapon,” she said, her voice shaking. She pulled the stupidly small knife up in front of her, the blade waving back and forth as her arm shook violently. The lanky creature moved toward her, the sound of something scraping scratched along her floor. She’d never been angrier that James hadn’t fixed her back door because it would be nice to have a backdoor that could open right about now. She was going to call someone, but no, James insisted it was a waste of money, and he could take care of it. That was months ago.

Her mind picked that moment to remember the call from Sam. The terror had been so evident in his voice and how he’d claimed she would think he was crazy if he told her what was after him. He’d been there, and then suddenly Sam simply vanished into the night.

Is this what happened to him?

“I said stay back,” she said. Yet, it was herself that backed up. She at least managed to sound a little firmer as she stared up at the massive thing in her home. She suddenly wished she still had a landline and not just a cell phone that she stupidly left beside her bed. A deep growl came from the thing that was closing the distance in the small space.

It took another lumbering step, and as it did, the soft bit of light shining in from her neighbor’s backyard filtered through the window to give her a better view of what she was facing.

The scream lodged in her throat, ripped from her mouth as the knife clattered to the floor. The creature before her was no human or animal from Earth. The black pupilless eyes glowed an unearthly silver in the darkness, and the too-pale skin pulled tight over excessively lengthy limbs that matched the lanky body. Pitch black claws flexed terrifyingly at the end of each pale finger, each hand the size of her head. The creature had a face that was shaped like a human, but the nose was twisted and flat. The sound she’d heard earlier was more pronounced now as she watched the air vibrating out the side of its nostrils. The mouth spread almost from one sheep-like ear to the next, and as it gapped open, she could easily see a limitless number of sharp jagged teeth.

She screamed again then something rose from behind the hideous beast and flew toward her face. The movement got her once paralyzed feet moving, and she barely made it out of the way as what looked like an octopus tentacle collided with the wall. Drywall went flying, little bits sprinkling onto her head as she ducked and dove to the ground. She crawled around the island, but her pans that hung above the island banged together. The thump and vibration behind her back told her not to look up, that she didn’t want to know. Terror turned into a wild animal in her chest, as real as the creature above her.

She panted hard, and going against her inner hysterical self instincts—she looked up into the eyes of the creature on her island. The thing twisted its head from side to side like it was inspecting her as it stared down at her. That strange tail came for her again, and she rolled over onto her side just as that sharp blade-like tail dug into the cheap linoleum. She stared at the lodged spike-like barb that was so close to her face before she flipped onto her hands and knees and scampered away as fast as possible. Reaching the end of the island, she made a break for the front door. Adrenaline and panic seized her heart, making it hard to think about anything other than escape.

The same vicious growl that sounded more like a deep rumbling avalanche sent a streak of horror down her spine as she dashed around the hallway corner for her only escape route.

She screamed wildly as that tail snaked its way around her waist and yanked her back from her destination. It lifted her clean off the floor and squeezed her hard, reminding her of a python as she gasped to breathe.

“No! Let me go!” She beat her closed fists down on the strange appendage and kicked her legs wildly, not hitting anything. The tail swung one way, then slamming her up against the wall. She bit her lip hard, tasting the metallic flavor of blood in her mouth. The thing pulled her away from the wall again, and she got ready for a second impact when it hollered in a strange, pain-filled growl.

The thing dropped her, and she landed hard on her ass, the little bit of air in her lungs was forced out on impact. Spinning around, she stared at the creature as Toby gripped the creature’s leg in his mouth. The normally gentle giant was snarling like a rabid beast. His massive mouth and sharp canines were embedded in the creature as he pulled and shook his head from side-to-side like he was trying to snap the thing like a twig. If this had been a human, the person would be down and possibly dead as the two hundred pound animal savagely yanked on like a beast as he defended her.

The creature let out a howl of pain again, and strange blackish blood seeped from the wound, traveling down its leg to pool on the floor. It clenched its fist, and she knew it was going to hurt her dog, her savior.

“No,” Minetta screamed at the top of her lungs, just as her front door busted inward with an ear-splitting crack. Small bits of the door flew in her direction, and Minetta covered her head.

She slowly looked up to see what turned her door into kindling and saw Penny standing in her doorway. Her friend’s eyes were glowing a bright orange, the color reminding her of fire, and her normally perfectly tame hair floated around her in a weightless dance that moved like it was alive.

“What the hell is going on here,” Minetta asked aloud but not expecting an answer. She was losing her ever-loving mind. That was the only rational explanation for this insanity. If it wasn’t bad enough that her mother’s Alzheimers was genetic and she’d likely end up with it too, but now she had some sort of hallucination attacking her mind. What kind of disease was this?

The creature roared, the sound shaking the walls as Penny stepped into the house. How were her neighbors not hearing any of this? She peered out the open door, and all was still and quiet. Minetta scooted back on the floor as Penny stepped closer, but her eyes were focused on the creature that still had Toby swinging from its leg. A loud tearing sound echoed through her ears as Toby tore a large hole in the flesh of the beast. She turned her head and covered her mouth, trying hard not to be sick, as the blood poured out onto the floor.

Toby attacked again, but the creature swatted at him with its tail and sent him sailing across the room, where he crashed into the couch and flipped it over on top of himself. Penny made a hissing sound, her tongue literally snaking out and flicking in the air like a serpent.

Minetta felt light-headed, but she fought off the sensation of passing out. She needed to get out of there. As Penny and the creature squared off, she crawled for the couch toward Toby, her trapped protector.

“Hey buddy, you okay,” she asked, only to comfort him and let him know that she was there to help. Then again Toby answering would be the least surprising thing tonight, considering the shit going down in her living room.

Toby whimpered slightly, but he licked her hand as she reached in to pet his head. She stood and grabbed the back of the couch, lifting hard to flip it into the upright position. Toby slowly stood but growled a deep sound, his lips pulling up, showing his large teeth at the creature.

She didn’t want him to engage again and opted to get the heck out of there. She grabbed Toby’s collar and ran like a little rabbit behind Penny or the thing that looked like Penny that suddenly pulled a flaming sword out of nowhere. Minetta shook her head.

This couldn’t be real, this couldn’t be real, but if it wasn’t real, it sure as hell felt real.

She stopped long enough to grab her purse, a leash, and running shoes. Penny looked over at her as she was about to dash out the doorway. At that moment, she felt like it was still Penny and not some alien-like monster. Not wasting another second to find out what was going to transpire between crazy creature number one and the friend she wasn’t sure was a friend any longer, she ran out the door.

She could hear screeching and loud banging as she ran, but she didn’t look back.

Toby limped slightly, but he kept up with her as she sprinted down the road. This was the first time in her life she really wished she had splurged and purchased a car. Hell, even a shit box right now would do, and she vowed that it was the first thing she was going to do if she lived.

The neighborhood was still quiet, but the further she ran, the busier the street became. A few people stared at her as she ran past. Not surprising, considering she had nothing more on her body than her tank top and underwear, and the purse crossed over her body whacked her like a crop on the ass with every stride. Modesty would have to wait. She needed to get as far away as fast as she could from her house.

Toby began to pant hard and labored beside her. She looked down at her brave sidekick.“Do you need a rest, bud?” She spun in a circle, not really knowing where she was, and spotted an elementary school not far off. She slowed her pace but headed in that direction, and once she was out of sight from the street, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath while Toby flopped to the ground.

She was not much of a runner. The only time she purposely set out to do more than walk or her peaceful yoga was to complete her activity pin at work.

The adrenaline that had been fueling her was fading fast, and as it did, all of her limbs shook violently. Her head was swimming as her stomach once more threatened to empty itself on the ground. Knees giving out, she slid down the brick wall beside Toby and placed her hand on his heaving side. One thing was very certain. As the oppressive heat pressed in on her, she was certain it was the creature and not a random breaker on her electricity box that had caused the cold temperature inside her house. She laughed a little, the hysteria taking hold of her mind.