matter of time - harrington

volume fourteen

Eliza wasn't sure following the demodogs was a good idea, but then again nothing they'd done in the past forty-eight hours had been a good idea. She didn't argue when they all climbed off of the bus and started following the unmistakable sounds of the creatures. At any moment, Eliza thought, they could easily turn around and attack them once again. In the forest, they didn't have the advantage of a place to hide. They were vulnerable and susceptible to attack out here and that terrified her. 

Eliza was all too aware of the weight of her father's shotgun against her back. The thick strap attached to it crossed her body in the front. Regrettably, the presence of the gun did nothing to comfort her. She hadn't even thought to use it before in the junkyard when Steve was under attack. She might as well have left it back in the garage for the use it was getting out here. 

"Where do you think they're going?" She practically jumped out of her skin when the silence of the night was interrupted by the small voice from the girl standing at her side. 

Eliza took a steadying breath and then glanced over at Max. She shrugged at the girl before turning her attention forward once again. 

"I have no idea." She replied. 

She hated how little she knew about all of this. Despite being filled in on some of the big stuff by Steve and Dustin, she still felt like she was in the dark. At least walking with Max, she didn't feel like a complete outsider. The two of them had unknowingly been thrust into this madness and now there was no way for them to get out. Eliza glanced once again at the younger girl and admired her for a moment. Max was brave, fierce, and undeniably strong. Eliza wished she'd been just a little more like the redhead when she was her age. 

The two girls hurried their pace when they realized the boys were ahead of them. Eliza settled next to Steve, bumping the teenager with her arm when she reached his side. He glanced over at her and offered a tired grin, but anyone could see it was only halfhearted. 

"You're positive that was Dart?" Lucas asked, briefly looking over at Dustin as he asked about the creature they'd faced down in the junkyard. 

"Yes," Dustin replied sounding exasperated. "He had the same exact yellow pattern on his butt." 

"He was tiny two days ago." Max replied. 

Eliza couldn't imagine Dart as anything other than horrible creature she'd seen at the junkyard. Although Dustin told her about the slug like creature he'd found in the garbage, she couldn't see past the monster that nearly killed them. 

"Well he's molted three times already." 

Eliza inhaled swiftly and shook her head. What little she knew about reptiles couldn't really be helpful, but she didn't think they ever molted that quickly. Then again, they couldn't really apply any normal logic to Dart or any of the other demodogs. They weren't natural and they wouldn't act like anything they'd ever seen before.