The Mist Heiress

Chapter 6

 Chapter 6

The shattered glass sparkled when the light was reflected off the surface, I would have stopped and admire the beauty of it all if it weren't for the ghastly sight of three enormous, vile creatures ahead of me. Both of us were frozen in state, unable to comprehend the sudden appearance of such monsters. It was impossible, these creatures of hell don't exist, but why do they resembled the looks of a hellhound? 

A picture of a hound bathed in blood, consumed by fire floated through my mind, it was in one of Sister's Judith books. Baghest, Cerberus was one of its name. One of the hounds stepped forward, it's ghostly apparition floated in and out of sight, it howled, signaling the rest of his pack to back off. The lights flickered on top of us before going out completely. Auric was as white as a sheet beside me, I couldn't utter a word of comfort, my tongue was tangled, my hands were shaking, I clutched his hands with all my might. 

'Come.' The alpha rumbled, its gravely voice carried a thread of firm command. We stiffened. 'Come.' he repeated. The hair behind my neck raised. None of us moved, with an impatient growl the alpha sprang forward, flinging itself into the air and falling towards us with its deadly claws extended. The last thing that I remembered before my body hit the ground was the  foul odour of its breath that reminded me of a decaying rat.

I opened my eyes and Auric was atop of me, scrambling to his feet as he pulled me into a stand. A howl of fury sounded beside us and then two more yowls joined in. My heart sped up in fear. I didn't even have time to recollect myself when Auric hauled me through the darkness of his halls and eventually throughout the door. He managed to pick up his bag which was lying on the floor. 'Go! Go! Go!' Auric shouted commands and we sprinted out into his driveway. 

Behind us, the door split into pieces and from the darkness the hounds emerged. Each howls were magnified, the pebbles on the road clattered noisily. Impossible, impossible, impossible...I chanted those words in my head. The vacant road stretched infinitely ahead of us, it was too dim to make out our path, we stumbled as we ran. 

Remind me to get new lungs. I'm not a runner, my lungs were rejecting the air I breathed, I felt it clenched, contracted, compressing in my chest, my throat burned, my eyes watered, the taste of acid filled my mouth. I pressed my cold hands into Auric's, I hate myself then and there. 'I can't-' I slowed myself into a walking pace. 'You go-' I stopped completely. I needed him to go, then I wouldn't feel guilty about having him dead because of me.  But Auric stayed, somehow I ended up being carried on his back, and he was running rapidly along the road, camouflaging us in the shadows. 

'No one dies.' He barked at me. But I was thinking otherwise when I caught sight of one of the hounds trailing closely behind us. I refused to look into its eyes, I refuses to feel intimidated. I fixed my eyes on its legs, but it was catching up on us, it was running towards us with lighting speed. There was no way we could outrun it. 

Ever heard of the tale of a turtle and a rabbit? Only this time, the rabbit will win. 

My heart twitched and four masses of bodies appeared behind the hound. They called in for reinforcements! 'Auric! There's more!' I yelled at him and I felt him picked up his pace, yet I was slowing him down. With me on his back, he needed to support the extra weight. Remembering his words before, I knew he wouldn't leave without me. I struggled to break free from his hold. 'Put me down now. We'll run.' 

We only stopped for a millisecond, but a millisecond was what it needed to catch up on us. The instant the black hound leaped into the air, extending its deadly claws, my heart sped up, adrenaline coursed through my veins, and suddenly time seemed to slow down, silence enveloped us and everything was clearer. The hound bared it's fangs in a very slow motion, Auric had a panicked look on his face, hands secured on my wrist, I turned to face the black mass, hands outstretched, an instinctive defensive measure. But from my peripheral vision, I saw the mist gathered rapidly from my hands. With everything else being still, I was baffled at the contradiction. 

My mind was racing, but just as fast as it happened, the time resumed and the surrounding sound invaded my ears. I was shocked at the sudden burst of sounds, but even more so when the hound bounced back midair, as if hitting an invisible shield surrounding us. I was 100 percent sure it could have devoured us.

Yet before I was able to process the scene in front of me, another hound jumped behind the fallen one, right into us, this time, I didn’t have time to react.

 We were all going to die.

A loud thud and the hound was hit aside and fell onto the ground, yelping in pain. Smoke rises from the centre of its body before it crumbled into dust and disappeared. Thud. Thud. Thud. More cries of pain and the smell of burning flesh filled the air surrounding us. Gunfire continued to sound from behind of us, killing more and more of the hounds. 

Auric and I turned our heads to see a figure stepping out from the shadows and into the moonlight. Deveraux. 

***

I was stuck in another realm of deja vu, only this time we were chased by dogs, and Deveraux has to be the one who saved us. 

He looked like an avenging angel, possessed by the simple urge to kill. In his hands was a deadly looking rifle. He continued to fire at the advancing monsters. 'This gun will run out of bullets sometimes!' His sarcasm made me groaned and rolled my eyes but we did ran towards him at full throttle speed. More infuriated howls, more deadly snarls. Deveraux threw away his rifle onto the ground after he ran out of bullets and I almost led out a word of protest, only to stop when I saw the rifle burned bright red before it disintegrated too. What the hell?

'Kids, I'd kill for a stroll in the park but if you haven't notice, we have dogs chasing after us.' Auric and I was already breathless and reluctant to move when Auric tugged me to run faster. Feeling cranky, I suddenly had an overwhelming need to reply him. 'Survival guide 101, when being chased by dogs, abort any attempt at outrunning them, instead find a higher ground and stay out of reach." I barked at a grinning Deveraux. 

Ignoring me, he led us both off the trail and into the dark forest, I hesitated before stepping in completely. 'Trust me.' Deveraux had said when he saw me staggered back a few steps. Even Auric was shadowed with doubts. What you have to lose? Act now, think later. I took the first step and Auric followed close behind.

As we jogged deeper into the thick, haunted bush, Auric managed to whisper into my ears. 'Are you sure?' He pointed at Deveraux's back. No. 'Yes.' I answered. He nodded.

A sleek, black Ford materialized before me, camouflaged by the darkness of the woods. ‘You have a 1969 Ford Mustang?’ Auric beamed incredulously and his sudden change in behaviour towards Deveraux was confusing. His eyes widened, his jaw hung open, an expression of awe and shock. Deveraux took out his keys and revved up the engine. ‘Need another invitation? Get in!’ he shouted and we bustled for the doors. The seat was leather, having no experience with luxuries, it felt both comforting yet rubbery at the same time. Maybe my skin just needed time adjusting. 

It was my first time riding in a car. 

Deveraux put the car into reverse. The engine was silent, and the chilly ambience in the car amplified the sounds of the forest. There was a faint, rhythmic clatter in the air and it came from a pale-faced Auric. I rested my hands on his shoulders, offering him comfort while I comforted myself with his heat. Deveraux’s eyes was focused solely on the dirt path, swerving from side to side to avoid crashing into obstacles occasionally. 

The trees ruffled atop of us and all of us froze, waiting for an attack, a pounce, anything. Deveraux sped up, the speed meter pointer was maximum but none of us protested, Auric was shaking, he had his hands balled up into fists and I could feel the cold sweat trickling down his neck. The temperature dropped tremendously, even my hands were starting to quiver. The tress ruffled louder, It’s just wind…I rationalize, but at this point, anything was possible.

‘Ahh!’ Auric yelped, Deveraux hit the brakes too hard and the car lost it’s balance and almost toppled over. I was clutching the seats too hard and almost ripped a part of it out, but I was numb to the core when I saw Sister Judith stood in front of us, with the alpha dog, and she was….beautiful.