Black Holes - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 3

Chapter Seventeen

"Leah," Jared breathed, voice ragged. "What are you—"

"Shhh."

He shut his mouth, certain he was dreaming, that somehow his fear had morphed into delusion.

Leah was here.

Was this where she'd come when she died? Was this why he hadn't been able to find her? To get his portal to reach her?

A thud echoed behind them, a heavy step, and reality sunk in once more, so much more terrifying now it was theirs instead of his. Leah must've seen him when that light appeared. She must've realised the danger he was in.

And now...

Fear and frustration flooded him.

He pulled out of her grasp, coming to a stop again, and she stopped too. He could sense her fingers reaching, trying to find him again.

"Go," he said, the words barely audible, smothered by panic. "You need to get away from me."

"I'm not—"

"I'm about to die, Leah," Jared hissed. "I don't need your death on my conscious too."

"Neither of us are going to die."

Leah grabbed his shirt , her grip like a vice, and started tugging him forward again.

"Leah—"

Her hand slammed down over his mouth, hard enough that he'd feel it for days, and then her mouth was at his ear, whispering.

"They hunt using noise," she said. "You need to shut up and trust me."

He let out a breath and her hand pushed down harder, smothering even that. Another thud echoed through the darkness behind them, a scrape of what sounded like claws on stone, and he wanted to scream at her. If she was anyone else, he would've. But he knew Leah, knew how stubborn and hard-headed and self fricken sacrificing she was.

So he nodded, the movement rocking her palm up and down as well, obvious enough that she slowly dropped it away.

Her hand slipped down his arm until it reached his, and then he was following her again, his fingers curled between hers.

Their steps were soft enough that if it was humans hunting them, they might've stood a chance. But he could still hear those creatures following them, slinking after their trail, and it was making him panic. Properly now.

With a renewed sense of determination, he turned inwards. He'd given up on portaling out of here only a few hours after he landed in this wasteland. But now, he brushed up the jagged edges of his portal once more, testing.

He stifled a grunt when it sent a spear of pain scorching through his abdomen.

Perhaps he could mend it. Perhaps he just needed to find where each piece fit. Even if he could just get Leah out...

He took a deep breath, preparing to delve deep enough into that serrated mess that his legs would buckle with the pain, when something flew past his ear.

Jared jerked away from it, his knife coming up, but then he heard an object hitting the ground to their right, rolling and then coming to a stop.

He barely had time to blink, to figure out what was happening, when another object rushed past, disturbing the air around him. This time, he felt Leah move with it though, felt her pull back and then launch.

She was throwing things, letting them land far enough away and loudly enough that it might drown out their movements.

She kept throwing, and then tugging him forward, only taking steps when something clattered or clunked, hiding within the noise. Wordlessly, he pulled an empty drink bottle from his bag, an uneaten muesli bar, an ice pack, handing them over to her.

She threw them in succession, taking great leaps forward whenever their noise shattered through the silence. When she ran out, she stopped, falling completely still, and Jared followed her lead.

For a long time, nothing moved, as if those creatures had stopped too, suddenly unsure which direction their prey lay in.

He was just beginning to think it'd worked when heat pulsed from behind him, the radiation of a close body.

He spun, barely managing a shout before claws shredded through his chest. They ripped skin and organs open, catching on his ribs, and Jared let out a gurgled scream.

He dropped Leah's hands and swiped out with his knife, catching flesh that tore as easily as his. He felt a savage satisfaction at the howl that echoed through the darkness, but then something smashed into his chest, sending him flying back.

He hit hard, his head cracking against the ground, and heat appeared everywhere. It spread around the base of his skull, ran along his torso, pooled against his back.

Blood.

Leah was screaming now, lost in the darkness, and Jared gasped. His vision was already becoming hazy, his entire stomach on fire. For the first time, he saw the darkness as a blessing. He didn't want to see what parts of him still remained — what those claws had ripped away, or left hanging loose.

He could hear something coming towards him again, even over the rush in his head.

It was almost on top of him when the world lit up. He blinked, groggy, as the creature hovering above him came into focus, as two silhouettes stepped out of a hazy glow behind it.

Just as his vision began to collapse, noise erupted, shouting and shots ringing through the silence. He saw Leah running towards him, saw that creature lifting its claws again, but then everything went black, and he saw nothing at all.  

...

Hello my lovely readers,

The next chapter will be out a little bit later than usual because I'm going on holidays to Malaysia in a week! I'm extremely excited, but I won't have my laptop with me, so I will post chapter eighteen a couple days later once I'm back 😊

Hope this is alright and everyone is having a good October!

- Skylar xx