Ellasyna [Ceaelie #1] | completed

viii | Dancing With Fire

© Stephanie Anne and Dee Atkins

                  Chapter Eight 

       After the encounter with the beast I hadn’t been able to sleep. No matter how much I tried I couldn’t. I ended up sitting up in bed wondering what on earth the beast had wanted from me. Why had it attacked me? What was it? What did it want from me? What did I do to it to make it so determined to kill me?

       The gash across my cheek stung as a slight breeze caressed it and I had to get up to close the window and go to the bathroom to examine it. The gash was bright red and ran from just beside my nose to down past my chin. How on earth was I going to explain that to anyone who asked? As soon as I’d gotten into my room I’d had to clean the blood away before it dripped onto the floor.

       But my thoughts had been, and still were, concerned mainly around the beast. I had to find out what it was, what it wanted, what its mandate was - if it had one - or whether it just killed for fun. So I decided to go back to the library to see if I could find anything out about a huge wolf-like beast with glowing red eyes. Those eyes would forever disturb me, and render me sleepless every night.

       I’d left my hair out today and let it cover my face. I kept my head down as I walked, trying my best not to let the scar of what the beast had done show. I didn’t want any unnecessary attention drawn my way by the scar. That would only cause me more trouble than what it was worth.    

       I just hoped I didn’t run into anyone I’d already met. But luck didn’t seem to be on my side today. Even though I could feel it healing, it still hurt, even as I ran into Cameron. Again.

       He gripped my shoulders, looking down at me with a smile. He seemed happy to see me, happy that we had once again ran into each other. If only he knew.

       What the Commander said the day before was still fresh in my mind. He knew Kali. He and Daniel. I closed my eyes and took a step back, still refusing to look up. I could feel his hand under my chin as he pushed my head up, making me look at him.

       He gasped, staring straight at the scar. He took my hand and pulled me into an alley, pushing my hair back to take a better look.

       “What the fuck happened?” he asked, reaching to touch it. I stepped back, flinching.

       “Nothing. Seriously, it’s just a scratch. Sam has a cat, and it didn’t like me. But honestly, it’s nothing.” I pushed away from him, refusing to look into his eyes. “I have to go. I have errands to run,” I grumbled, walking away as quickly as I could.

       Once again I roamed the town until I came to the library. This time instead of books I opted for the ‘computers’. I hadn’t really ever used one before but I tried my best to log on and open the internet. Once online I typed in various things. Huge beasts, Supernatural beasts, Supernatural creatures.

       Multiple links showed up and I scrolled through them until I found something that seemed way too close to the beast to be possible. Hellhound. My eyes widened as I read the site.

       “Hellhounds are aggressive, violent creatures that resemble dogs. They serve certain demons. The most common of Hellhound’s is Cerberus from Greek Mythology. They are humongous in size, have vicious rows of teeth and ridiculously sharp claws. Upon seeing one at first you may think it’s just a friendly, oversized dog, but people are easily fooled…”

       My eyes widened further and I gasped, reaching up to brush my fingers over the gash. A Hellhound did this. The question was, who’d sent it?