Moonlight's Guidance

CH8: A Mother's Strength

Cardin still couldn't handle the pain. His body felt as if a freight train had run him over while he was giving birth. He had at least three, maybe four broken bones. His guess was a leg and arm from the fall and two left ribs from getting tossed into a new room.

But before he could continue sulking in a pit, he heard a voice from around the corner of the manor.

???: What was that crashing noise?!

The voice was female and certainly not his mother's. Cardin realized that she would likely fight him, and that fighting meant certain death. He had no aura and if she was as strong as Giga Chad and Bunny Quinn back there, then she would end his life in a moments notice.

He took a second to accept that he had to push through the pain to save his life. He used his one working arm to rip off a sleeve from his shirt. He shoved the cloth in his mouth so that he had something to bite on. His eyes widened as he heard footsteps approaching. From the sound of it, the person was 15 seconds from his location.

With a strained breath, Cardin clenched his teeth and forced himself to start moving. He had a working left arm and right leg, that was enough to get up. He slowly got up by putting the force on his left shoulder and squatting up with one leg when balanced. The pain was horrible. His body screamed at him to stop, but he screamed back at it to shut up and cooperate.

The footsteps were getting closer, maybe 5 seconds away. Cardin gathered all of his remaining strength and lunged for the bushes behind the manor. He managed to leap behind them and his body slammed against the brick wall. He flopped onto the ground behind the bush, barely able to see past the thick shrubbery.

???: What the...?

The voice was definitely a woman's. She was sprinting to where Cardin had landed. He could vividly see her legs. She was facing the crater, seemingly trying to piece together what had happened. She suddenly started looking around, wondering if Cardin had ran to the forest.

???: Scout the surrounding forest, the Winchester boy ran off.

Cardin took that as a small victory. If one of them was away looking for nothing, then his friends and mom would have a better chance fighting off the people inside. Suddenly, Cardin had a horrible realization.

'They're fighting off the people inside! No no no no no... No! The guys would get shredded by the man from before. I don't know how strong mom is, but the girl was a faunas. The flickering lights are a major advantage. Shit! I need to get back in there!'

The woman walked around the area for another minute before sighing. She turned to leave and Cardin let out a deep breath of relief. He was finally in the clear. He just needed a few minutes for his aura to recharge and heal him.

*Crack*

A piece of brick fell on Cardin's back. It came from the crack in the wall that Cardin had made when he threw himself at it. The woman immediately stopped walking and turned around, eyeing Cardin's direction.

'Shit, she's coming over here! I need to stop breathing or she'll hear me.'

Despite the pain in his lungs, Cardin forced himself to stop breathing. The woman kept walking closer until she was a single foot away from Cardin. If she attacked the bush right now, he would die on the spot. She extended her hand out and rubbed it against the cracked wall. All the while Cardin was suffocating himself to stay hidden. After a minute of inspecting the crack, she started to walk away.

???: They really must be going hand in there if the manor's infrastructure is damaged. Is Veronica Winchester that strong? Or Cardin, for that matter?

Just as Cardin's vision started to go dark, her footsteps couldn't be heard anymore and he took in a massive breath. It was over, he had survived this part. Now he just had to pray that his family could hold out until his aura returned.