Once Bitten: Twice Mad

Chapter Six

Evangeline screamed then. She screamed as loudly as she could. Their faces were bloody messes, with bits of flesh hanging off as if something had been chewing on them! Their teeth, visible behind their snarling lips, were bloody as well. The ranch hands eyes were gray and cloudy and they began reaching up as if desperate to grab her.

"Gnaa!" One of them moaned loudly and when they bumped into one another they let out a screech and ran for the balcony.

Evangeline stumbled backward, nearly tripping over her long robe as she quickly went back into her bedroom and slammed the French doors closed, locking them and pulling the curtain. She knew that if they climbed the trellis they would reach her balcony and her bedroom.... What was going on? What was wrong with them?

That thudding continued downstairs and suddenly Evangeline wondered about her mother. Where was she? Was she okay? Knowing she had to check on her, Evangeline glanced around her room for anything that could be used as a weapon.

Her pa had a strict no guns policy at the plantation. As a matter of fact the only gun they had was a rifle her father used for hunting which was underneath he and her mother's bed and the stash that her older brother Ox kept hidden between his mattresses. A derringer, a shotgun and a .38 revolver. Evangeline wondered if she could get to Ox's room and decided she'd need to try.

She wondered about Ox and her father then. Were they okay? Ox was Evangeline's whole world and she prayed like crazy that he was okay. She knew he had gone with their pa that morning to pick up her suitors, though Ox had said he was going because if any of those men didn't meet his expectations he was going to convince them real fast not to come.

Evangeline smiled faintly as she went to her door and laid her hand on the handle. If anyone could be convincing it was her giant of a brother. Most people thought he was dumb or that his brain didn't work good but Evangeline knew that wasn't true. Ox was very smart, he just wasn't book smart. Though with her help he was learning. She swallowed hard and then let out a long breath. Ox was strong so she had to believe that he was fine wherever he was.

Right now she needed to find her mama and get to Ox's guns. She could still hear the thudding coming from downstairs and when she threw open her door she heard the moans and groans.

It was clear that there were more than just a couple people downstairs, thumping and moaning around. Instinct told Evangeline that those downstairs were like those men outside and she started to cry, though she continued out into the hallway, praying that the monsters, (she didn't know what else to call them), wouldn't hear her.

Every thump caused her heart to skip beats and every moan had her head whipping around to ensure that those monsters weren't coming after her. She just kept breathing deeply as she walked down the hall, her slippered feet making no noise on the fancy rugs her mother kept down to protect the polished wood floor.

Evangeline had not been raised to be brave by her parents. She'd been raised to be a proper lady and depend on others to care for her. What kept her legs moving toward her mother's room despite the thuds she could hear behind doors that she walked past, was the lessons her brother had given her. Ox hadn't wanted her to be helpless the way their parents had. While he said he hoped he was always there to protect her so she never had to protect herself, he had still wanted her to know how, just in case.

Evangeline came to the bedroom door to her parent's room and grabbed one of her father's heavy wooden canes from the brass bucket near the door frame. Her father didn't need a cane but instead had one because 'every proper gentleman should carry one'. At least that's what he told everyone. Evangeline knew that inside the cane was a saber sharp enough to split a mouse hair with.