Tainted Perceptions

September 17, Early Morning (Unedited)

Soil was airborne as half the body of a monosupial crawled from a pocket in the ground. It let out a screech that made Permilla grab her ears. At once, it felt like the ground was breaking under Permilla's unsteady feet. It was a horrific sight. In the many pockets in the ground, monosupials were crawling from the depths of the ground.

"Run!" At once the entire team sprinted. Adrenaline surged through their veins. Becca and Permilla grabbed their skirts and pulled them up high, abandoning societies standards in an effort to live. Permilla's heart had left her chest. The choking fear wrapped around her like a rattlesnake. The embrace of death was racing after them, clawing itself from its gaping grave, in search of new companions. Permilla had a lead on them because she had fallen behind, but hesitated when she heard a scream.

Whirling around she saw that Cornelius was on the ground, pawing at the dirty. Three talons clinged to his left leg, digging in and tearing at the skin. Permilla was sure he was dead as it dragged him across the ground, towards its opening mouth. He let out another scream and he slammed the gaslamp onto the monosupial's arm that latched onto his leg. The glass shattered and fire caught onto the beast. It shrieked while releasing Cornelius from its grasp. It dived back into the soil. It was clear that Cornelius was badly hurt and when he tried to stand, he collapsed back onto the ground. Huxley didn't hesitate before running back to him and grabbing his shoulder and hauling him from the ground. Alexander was quick to grab his other shoulder. They tried to outrun the monsters, but it was too late. The first wave was upon their small group.

A monosupial tore itself from the ground below, in front of Permilla's path. It never occured to Permilla that the one that had been in her father's lab, the one that took two grown men to lift, was a child monosupial.

An adult towered over her body, standing at almost 8 feet tall. A putrid odor came from the creature. It smelt of rotten flesh and earthly soil. A quick glance at the hole in the ground would reveal bones. Permilla only had a second to duck out the way before its long arm and sharp talons sliced the air where Permilla stood. She rolled onto the ground but knew she had to run. A piercing shriek came from the tall beast as it pawed the dirt where Permilla was no longer. It's body twitched as it heard Permilla's breathing.

When her mother screamed loud and shrill, it attracted the attention of the adult monosupial away from Permilla. Huxley and Alexander held Cornelius in between them and made slow progress to the gates. Becca stood on the path, almost charging back to save her daughter. The adult monosupial must have smelt Cornelius's blood from the way its body contorted, gazing at its prey without any eyes. If they lingered any longer there would be no way they could get away carrying Cornelius with his damaged leg. Permilla needed to buy them some time so they could get far away enough. Searching in her pockets for a knife, she pricked her finger slightly and pulled a knife out. Permilla jabbed it into the side of the monosupial. The tiny knife was almost lost in the hard flesh but Permilla grasped the handle tight and tugged. The knife came out soaked black with the beasts blood, however the beast didn't fall like Permilla thought it would. It hissed and reared its body away from the group and back towards Permilla.

Permilla prepared to duck and run when its mouth gaped open and sprayed a black gunk into Permilla's eyes. Screaming, she dropped the knife and grabbed her face. She vaguely thought she heard her name being yelled, but she was more preoccupied with the burn in her eyes. Permilla stumbled backwards, her surroundings swirled even with her eyes closed. Her chest felt like it was constricting. Permilla's hands and fingers were numb and she never felt such an acute terror. Her mind raced. She couldn't process any of her thoughts. She screamed and flinched when she felt hot air breathing on her neck. The monosupial screeched and launched itself at Permilla. She was able to twist around towards it before it fell on her. She brought her arm up to protect herself and she felt it connect with feverish flesh.

Her upper arm held the thrashing beast from sinking its teeth into her neck. She felt its saliva run drip onto her skin and fought down her rising panic. Permilla wouldn't allow herself to panic because that would lead to her death at the teeth of this beast. Grunting, she desperately patted the ground for the knife. It was a miracle the knife hadn't skidded too far and Permilla almost thanked the heavenly father as her hand closed around the handle. The beast screeched again when Permilla used all her strength to shove the knife forward. Her knife went into the pocket of skin right above the mouth. The monosupial gave a wheeze and gave a final thrash forward before slowly going limp. Her adrenaline allowed her the amount of strength for Permilla to shove the death creature off of herself. She fumbled onto her knee, scrubbing at her face as tears leaked out her eyes.

Her vision was better, she could make out shapes and silhouettes. She needed nothing else. She grabbed her knife, looking over her shoulder. Shadows running after her. More than her damaged eyes could count. Permilla knew she couldn't outrun them. She couldn't fight all of them either. So she tricked them. With the stained blade she cut into her forearm, pressing deeply. Biting her lip, she felt the scarlet red blood bubble over from the cut. She flung her arm towards the dead monosupial, droplets of blood landing on its body. Permilla squeezed her arm to get as much blood as possible to fall onto the monster. When she believed it to be enough of her blood, she brought the knife to her skirts, cutting away at some of the fabric to give her legs room to run. Then with all her tasks completed, she gave herself permission to run like hell.

Permilla sprinted in the direction of her team, her tears helping to clear her vision. She could see them all by the gate, Alexander even had the reigns of the horse carriage ready. Permilla refused to let herself stumble. Her arms pumped by her sides quickly and her feet kicked up dirt. With a final look back Permilla saw the group of monosupials descend on the dead monster. Their talons tore the flesh of their kin, peeling off pieces. Others shoved and put whole parts into their mouths. Permilla ran faster knowing that one of the reasons they seemed happy to eat another one of them was because it was coated in her blood.

"Permilla!" Huxley yelled from the carriage. He stuck his hand out for her and when she burst past the gates of the cemetery, she didn't hesitate to grab on. As soon as her fingers touched his, her mother whipped the reins on the horse. Huxley dragged her trembling body into the carriage. They sped off, away from the nightmare that had almost claimed some of their lives. Cornelius clutched his leg in his two hands, rivers of blood cascading from the ribbons of flesh hanging on. Permilla would have vomited if her thoughts weren't running away from her. The whole situation felt surreal. If you realized faster, he wouldn't be hurt. This is your fault.

With a gasp, Permilla whipped her head, looking for whoever said that but the team hadn't spoken. Nobody was in the streets behind the racing carriage either. Whatever it had been, it whispered a great fear of hers. The carriage was silent with the realization of how big of a problem this case would be.

(*)

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~Jasmine