Spirits

Chapter Thirteen

Farrell held his machete in one hand and the cracked flashlight in the other, the three remaining dogs had backed off now that he was armed again. Farrell swept the torch from side to side, trying to keep all of them in sight, but they slowly spread out as they backed away until only one remained in the torchlight, the other two slinking into the darkness. The remaining dog looked at him briefly, black blood oozing from the cuts across its face where Farrell smashed it with the torch. It growled, then sprinted into the darkness faster than Farrell could follow with his torch. This wasn't good, thought Farrell. He heard the squeal of tyres as the car drove forward crushing one of the demonic hounds beneath its wheels. Farrell wondered if he should make a break for the car, but before he could one of the dogs bound into the arc of his flashlight and launched itself through the air at his throat. He swiped with his blade, amputating the beasts front legs, but its momentum carried it forward, crashing into him. He caught it with his free arm, holding it back as it snapped viciously at his face, saliva drooling from its jowls and a thick tar-like blood oozing from its missing front legs. Farrell screamed as a sharp pang shot up his leg. He cast his eyes down to see one of the other dogs sink its teeth through the leather of his boot and into his ankle. It locked its jaws and shook its head violently. He roared in pain as the threw the amputated dog aside and thrust the blade of his machete into the eye of the dog latched to his ankle. It burst in a cloud of smoke, the throbbing in the foot, however, did not disappear. There was one more dog out there, somewhere in the darkness, but he wasn't sticking around to fight it, instead he ran towards the car.

Alex hit the breaks, scanning the road for the second dog, but he couldn't see it. The duffel bag on Chris's lap fell to the floor and Alex heard the shattering of glass. Almost instantly bright green flames burst from the bag as an assortment of powders and liquids mixed together. Chris recoiled, trying to stamp out the flames with his feet, but the sticky green flames clung to his shoes. Chris panicked, opening the door and throwing the bag out into the torrential rain. The car's door hadn't been open more than a few seconds before the second hell hound bound head long into the car. It jumped over Chris and lunged at Alex's throat. He was powerless to move, strapped into the drivers seat of the car as the ferocious face of the demonic dog sped toward him. He grabbed his seat belt and raised it in defence, the dogs jaws stopped millimetres from his face, the strap wedged between its jaws like a bridle, holding it back.

"Down Fido!" yelled Alex as he fought with all his strength to hold the dog at bay, but it jerked its head back and forth and began to chew through the seat belt. "God dammit!" he swore. He jammed his foot on the accelerator as hard as he could and the car shot forward, completely out of control. Inertia sent the dog flying backward over the drivers seat and into the back with Nanna and Rose. Alex heard a shriek from the backseat, but didn't have time to do anything about it as the bank of trees on the side of the road came rushing towards them at a blistering speed. He grabbed the wheel and spun it as hard as he could, slamming the breaks at the same time. The car spun violently, flinging around everyone inside like clothes in a dryer. The unrestrained dog flew across the car, pinned to the glass next to Rose. It snapped its teeth menacingly at her, missing her by inches as it was held at bay by the force of the spinning car. Alex didn't know what to do next, the car's wheels skidded on the slick road but he couldn't keep it spinning forever. The moment the car came to a halt the dog would have free reign inside the car and no one would last very long. As if to make his concerns a reality the car's wheel lost traction on the road, skidded to the side, slipped across the muddy bank and kicked up a wall of water as the car splashed into the ditch by the side of the road. Alex cracked his head hard against the steering wheel and as stars danced across his vision the only sound he could hear was a low grumbling growl from the back seat.