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Oh God. Hunted. We were being hunted, like prey. Were they following us still? I didn't want to imagine what might happen if they got a hold of us, what those terrible jaws could do.
“What are those things?” I gasped as the horde of creatures spilled out onto the ground as they rounded the corner. Like a pack of ravenous demons, they climbed over one another as the ones in front stumbled or fell, stopping at nothing to try and get to us.
He avoided my question. “Don’t look.”
“Damien! What is chasing us?” I demanded.
Damien’s jaw went rigid, his eyes stern, yet he avoided my gaze. “They’re called darklings. At night they look like this, but in the daylight, they take the form of humans. You’d be unable to tell them apart from your classmates or people you pass on the sidewalk.”
“What are you saying? How is that even possible? They look like they’re dead!”
“They aren’t dead.” He nearly spoke over me, gripping me tighter as we ducked around another corner. “They’re cursed beings, and they’re very much aliv–”
Damien cursed as he fell forward, one of the darklings grabbing onto his leg. He held me close as we fell, twisting, trying to brace ourselves for the impact as best he could. We crashed onto the pavement, skin and bone crashing into an unforgivable surface. He pushed me away as the creatures crowded around him. White sparks of light danced across my vision as my head smacked against the road, and I rolled to a stop, body aching from the impact.
The world swirled around me. My eyes struggled to focus, and my mouth watered as I fought the urge to vomit. I could barely make out Damien, in the blur of movement, jumping to his feet to fight them off. One of the darklings plowed into him, knocking him into the wall, before its head jerked to me. Its black eyes met mine and my eyes widened as I fought to move, but my arms and legs wouldn’t respond.
“Cassie!” Damien pushed himself back off the wall, but the others were relentless, giving him no chance to come to my aid, attacking him while the other one crept toward me.
The demon advanced on me, grabbing my leg and dragging me toward it. Its icy fingers wrapped around my throat, lifting me up off the ground and slamming me up against the brick wall. I kicked and fought, grabbing onto its cold clammy arm frantically, slamming my foot into its boney body, but it was unfazed. It leaned in closer, and its soulless eyes locked with mine. Its lips curled, revealing rows of sharp teeth as its jaws parted slowly. Putrid breath spilled out over my face as it hissed.
I became entrapped in its gaze. My limbs fell to my sides, useless as they hung from my body, and my eyes fluttered, barely hanging onto consciousness.
No. I couldn’t let myself pass out. I had to stay awake.
“Get off her!” Damien yelled, faint and fading further away.
The darkling’s mouth stretched as it moved closer to me, the skin splitting, its jaws growing larger than I thought possible. Something large shifted in the darkness behind it and I watched as a completely different monster come into view. Clad in what I could best describe as black smoke, its red eyes glowed in the dark as it grabbed the darkling’s shoulder, and a terrifying snarl rippled from it.
I didn’t know what happened next, as everything went dark, and I hit the ground.
* * *
“Are you insane?!”
The voice sounded so familiar, like words stuck on the tip of my tongue. However, I couldn’t tell who was talking let alone where I was. One thing I was certain of though was that the guy who spoke was angry, furious even, and a little panicked.
“Maybe I fucking am.”
That voice caught my attention. It was familiar and brimming with agonized worry. What had I been doing before this? I couldn’t remember anything. I was trapped in a strange state of consciousness where I was somewhat aware of my surroundings, yet still unable to wake up. I wanted to open my eyes, but my body refused to give me any control.
“What were you thinking bringing her here?”
“She was being hunted by darklings, she hit her head.”
“Did she get bit?”
There was a different voice then, another guy, this one sounded a little younger. Also, weirdly familiar. How many people were there? The sound of footsteps approached, then went quiet at my side.
“I don’t think so. I searched her and didn’t see any marks.”
I wanted to wake up. I wanted to know what was going on. Something moved, and I realized it was part of my body. My head. It was being lifted, while the rest of my body felt as if I were floating in a pool of water. The motion had taken me over entirely and I couldn’t seem to ground myself.
“How’s her head?”
There was an odd sound, like a hiss and a groan. What was wrong with my head? What happened?
My head was lowered back down, and the conversation continued in a flurry of voices, speaking so fast I could barely keep up. I think there were four people talking now, each one of them just as tense as the other.
