90 DEADLY DAYS (WEEKLY UPDATES RETURNING THIS DECEMBER)

Chapter 56

Author's Note:

Okay guys, I know this is about a week late. (I feel like all my author's notes are apologizing for a late update... It's probably true *smiles in mild embarrassment lol*). I'm sooorrryyyyy... *puppy dog eyes* To make it up, I was going to try and update twice this WEDNESDAY and SUNDAY!! I just finished two academic papers for my classes so I have a heck of a lot more time!

I hope you can forgive me... <3 <3

Okay, that's enough apologies... Let's get on with the chapter! This took me so long to get together because I wanted to get it just right. I feel like its still missing something, but maybe I'll find it in the editing stage.

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Chapter 56

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Before I take another breath, Butcher empties his weapons belt and shells down the first row of creatures. The scarlet river thickens. Shimmering in light, crimson languidly slithers its way along the field, singing of pitiless murder. Phantoms disintegrate in pieces too gruesome to relay, the images searing themselves in my consciousness.

My fingers clench.

Someday in the far future, maybe I'll be able to forget these spectacles. These terrors sprung from Hades. Perhaps, one day my mind will blank and all that will fill it is a glorious, pure light. I hope so. I pray.

For now, I clutch my stomach in hopes of keeping down my last meal.

For now, I drown in the pandemonium.

Despite the eminent fate, hundreds of phantoms clamber forward, trampling the fallen until the corpses flatten against sodden grass. Small tufts of green peek out amongst the hundreds of carcasses, their scarlet seeping into the soil's depths. Bloodthirst breathes into the skin of the living, flushing pallid flesh full of a toxic, unearthly blue.

The calm in the chaos, Butcher's aim holds steady, relentlessly tearing through Xaron's newest creatures. The second and the third row crumple in a near instant, serving as paving stones for the growing mob behind.

The wasteland crawls with the ghoulish creatures. In all directions, the infinite mass creeps from darkness. It's as if the bloody deaths of their comrades only encourages their siege. Scrambling from their cursed hunting grounds, their mounting presence heightens the tension, until no escape, in any direction, exists.

We're lost.

I shrink into myself, waiting for the silence.

That awful silence. The void.

Eventually, the bullets will taper off, the final shot will fire, and the maelstrom will pull us in her bloody grasp. Until that moment arrives, I hide from death, focusing on Butcher's ruthless defense. As our enemies circle, he clasps me tight to his chest, shooting off heads as quickly as they come. His hearts thunders beneath my palm and his jaw tightens. Its the only thing that gives away his concern.

I'm sure we both knew this triumph was only temporary. Butcher's doing all he can, but eventually, Xaro will win.

It was inevitable.

Jewel, Kerry, now us.

Butcher had a chance without me. I'm sure he was one of Xaro's most-prized Graduates. I'm sure they were ready to bring him home with open arms. But I was his greatest mistake, his eminent ruin. He must know the curse I bear. How could he not? The whole Shadowlands must know Xaro wants me dead.