DAEMONIUM

Chapter Two: A Walk In The Woods

"Run. Fucking Run. Don't stop, don't look back. Just RUN!"

The words hammered in my head like a mantra. Branches tore at any exposed flesh leaving faint lines of crimson as I surged forward. Grabbing the wound on my chest I was off balance as my plight sent me pitching through the vegetation. I didn't care where I was going, all I knew was I needed to put as much distance between me and that damn thing crashing through the trees behind me.

"Goddammit, I'm losing a lot of blood Frank"

I could feel Frank sending energy to the gaping claw wound on my chest but he wasn't able to do much to slow the bleeding. It had already been over an hour, and I knew if Frank and I didn't separate soon my consciousness would begin to shut down. But without Frank I'd certainly bleed out, not to mention his ability to see in the dark was the only thing keeping me from running full speed into a tree.

" C'mon man! you've got to be able to do something, we are seriously going to die out here if you don't hurry it the fuck up!"

My chest glowed in a quick flash of red and the intense searing pain sent me tumbling to the ground. The smell of burned flesh wafted up past my nose as I realized what Frank had done to stop the bleeding.

"A little warning next time?"

Frank didn't respond, I could feel he was also reaching the limits of his power and even as I thought it, my vision started to fade as I was thrust back into a world of darkness surrounding me. Frank wasn't about to exit his possession for fear of my safety, but it looks like I wouldn't be relying on his powers either.

Quietly as possible in my condition I rolled into a nearby bush I remembered seeing close by right before losing my ability to see in the dark. Still clutching my chest I trained the barrel of my Colt in the direction of the creature fast approaching. Snarls and thunderous crashes barreled down on my location. I had one shot left and for a moment I debated saving it for myself.

The forest erupted around me as clawed feet tore at the undergrowth. I held my breath, feeling the sharp pain in my chest with every heartbeat. I knew that if I could just remain still long enough it would pass me by. Each second felt like an eternity as the faint moonlight illuminated the vicious sharp clawed foot not a few feet from my face.

A howl cut through the night air like a knife. Several other howls echoed their replies some distance away. With a quick leap it was gone, thrashing through the underbrush with quick powerful strides. After a few minutes the forest returned to normal. Crickets began chirping again as everything seemed to be relieved of the creatures passing. Slowly exhaling, I made an attempt to stand again.

"I Fucking hate Lycans. Frank? You still in there? Give me a hand finding the truck will ya?"

Frank slowly manifested himself before me. He was much smaller than he normally appeared and his horns seemed to be decaying at an alarming rate. Even his burning red eyes seemed to glow less exuberant. I could tell he had used a tremendous amount of energy and we both desperately needed to rest.

"Alright, here's how we're going to do this. I've only got one shot left in this thing so I don't want to be forced into using it just yet. keep it as quiet as possible and locate the pickup. Our tether will point me in the right direction. Just go for it Frank and I'll be lead right to you ok?"

Frank wasn't exactly thrilled by the idea of splitting up, pushing images of vicious Lycans eviscerating my intestines into my mind. After staring him down for a moment he vanished from sight. I could feel the pull in the direction I needed to start traveling almost immediately. Just judging from how thin the connection was to Frank, I must have been much further away than I even thought possible. I have to admit being so open without Frank around almost felt foreign to me. It felt as if an intense pressure was suddenly lifted from my mind without me even realizing it had been there. "I'm but a lamb amongst wolves" Smirking at my own bad pun, I began the trek back to the truck.