(3) Painstaker

Twenty-Four: Now or Never

Ghouls were literally the last thing I was in the mood for. "Don't look into their eyes," I reminded them. Otherwise, we'd become paralyzed. "Shift and run. Don't look back."

Flower shifted in her spot. I could tell she wanted to fight, but it was impossible to win a fight against the dead. The two of us joined Sam in our wolf forms and took off into the forest. Sure enough, the sound of deathly screams followed behind us.

If it were daytime, it would be easier to escape them. If we had anywhere to run but inside of the dark, suddenly creepy forest, I wouldn't be so worried. The screams were gaining on us, so I pushed my legs faster. We had to survive. We had to get to Zeke. We had to get that damn amulet back.

Something clamped down on my hind leg, causing my entire body to come to an abrupt stop. My chin slammed against a boulder, nearly knocking me out cold. The Ghoul whipped me around so that I was on my back, feeling as the tiny pieces of rubbling scratched through my fur. My eyes shut in just enough time not to peer into its eyes.

I dug my paws into a gooey substance on top of me, trying to push it off. The scream, just above my head, was loud enough to deafen me. It kept screaming, on and on, so loud that I felt a trickle of blood run out of my ears. My body was trembling, and I just noticed that something sharp was sucking book out from my shoulder.

No. No. NO. This is not how Crystal Westwood dies. Screw this.

I opened my eyes. Its head was inches from mine, charcoal black aside from two pitted red eyes. It was still screaming; mouth wide enough to swallow my entire head. My eyes glued to its shoulder, though the monster tried to move so that I was forced to look into its eyes. I shifted my gaze to its other shoulder.

Emitting a howl that I couldn't hear over the screaming, I bit into the neck of the Ghoul and ripped my head away with all the strength that I could muster. It tasted vile, like flesh that had been rotting for weeks. I nearly threw up, feeling the gooey substance travel down my tongue. The flesh was ripped off, and I immediately spit it out beside me.

The Ghoul only screamed louder, but it was startled by my attack. I was able to get out from underneath it. Sam and Flower were nowhere to be seen. In fact, when I turned back around, the Ghoul I had just attacked had also disappeared. Opening my jaw, I let out a howl, though immediately snapped my jaw tight when I couldn't hear myself.

Panicking, I shifted into my human form and pressed my hands up against my ears. Blood had smeared all the way down to my collar bones. "Hello?" I called, though all I could hear was the vibration from my throat.

Other than that, I couldn't hear a thing. Everything was so silent, as though I had been thrown into a boxed room. Numbly, I untied the clothes from my ankles and pulled them on. They were rags by then, but they didn't leave me completely naked.

Sam and Flower's scent had vanished, as well as the vile stench of those Ghouls. They all just... disappeared.

"Sam! Flower! Where are you?" I spun on my heels, feeling desperation claw at my throat. "Sam! Flower!"

I couldn't hear, but I could smell. Raspberries, topped with sugar, wafted around me. Feeling my canines poke out of my gums, I swung around to see a woman I truly wanted to strangle.

Mel. She was smirking at me, and speaking words that I could not hear. Once she realized I wasn't going to answer whatever she had just said, Mel rolled her eyes. With a flick of her wrist, I could hear again, though everything sounded different than before, like we were standing in a cave.

"There. Better? Don't get used to it, honey, because you're hearing is gone." She hummed at her own words. "It's just too easy messing with you. Following that trail? God, you really thought you were going after him, all high and mighty?" Mel placed her had on her hip. Her nails were long and red. When the hell did she have time to go to the salon?