Mezzanine

| 14 |

The words had barely left Lola's mouth before I dove at him. "Get off her!" I screamed as I collided into his shoulder with the palms of both hands, throwing my entire weight into his body and knocking him off. He rolled towards the hearth, arms flailing as he caught himself on his elbow.

Before he could get to his feet, I pounced on top of him, pressing him to the ground at his shoulders.

"Get the fuck off of me!" His voice came out in split tones like a broken audio recording. Half of it was the guttural growl of his throat, and the other half came directly from his mind, his thoughts burning into my brain.

His eyes glowed red in the haunting light from the flickering flashlight. He curled back his lips, snapping his teeth at me.

"Stop it!" I yelled, but Carter wasn't there anymore. His eyes were empty—demon-red irises surrounding a black void. He snarled and hissed as he fought against me, spit flying from his mouth.

He flung his knee up, striking me in the gut. Pain shot through me, flaring all the way up to my head. My grip on him loosened, and before I could regain my bearings, he grabbed me by my side, his fingers digging into my ribs.

With a sudden and heavy shove, he sent me barrel rolling across the concrete floor. The sides of my hands scraped on the rough concrete as I tried to brake myself. I finally stopped when my head struck the hard metal edge of the hearth with a nauseating thump.

My vision clouded as something wet and warm dripped down the side of my forehead and around my cheekbone. I swallowed back a rush of stomach acid burning in my throat, blinking to clear my vision in the dimming glow from the dying flashlight.

Before I could process what was happening, Carter crouched in front of me, and his hand shot out and grabbed my neck. His fingers pressed into the back of my skull, his thumb digging into the base of my throat. A burning pain shot through my trachea like it was about to snap.

I gagged as I grabbed his wrist and fingers, prying his hand off and gasping. My throat burned.

"Carter, stop!" Lola screamed. She ran at him, slamming her shoulder into him and knocking him off me. In the beam of the flashlight, her breath was a fog around her as she panted. Her attention faltered for a second when she turned her gaze from Carter to me. Panic lit up her hazel-green eyes, and her hair flew around her head in a frizzy, curly mess like a glowing halo of fire.

"Lola, watch out!" I yelled as Carter got back to his feet.

He rushed at her, and I kicked one foot out. His toe struck the side of my calf, and he tripped, flying forward right at Lola. Instinctively, she caught his arms to steady him. Whatever was possessing him took the opportunity and grabbed her at the wrists. His fingers dug into the fabric of her hoodie.

"Stop! Carter, stop, please!" she yelled.

The Geiger counter clicked and roared, echoing through the room like the growl of a demon.

I swallowed back the pain pulsing in my head and dove at Carter's legs, shoving my shoulder into the backs of his kneecaps and grabbing him at the shins. His legs buckled beneath him and he fell on top of me, dragging Lola down with him.

The weight of the two of them combined pressed me to the concrete floor. I sucked in a breath and shoved up with one shoulder to relieve the pressure, slinking out from beneath them and rolling to my feet.

I flipped my hair out of my eyes, flinging rainwater, probably sweat, and possibly blood in an arc around me as I panted and regained my bearings.

The light from the dying flashlight flickered. Everything moved in stop motion.