(recap)
He was smiling which was never a good thing. He opened his arms like he wanted to give me a hug and around him the shadows started moving. From the ground it looked like people where climbing out of it, but they were entirely black, like a silhouette. The mist swirled and the wind started to pick up to a howl, whipping my hair around me. Some of the silhouetted men started to morph into beasts, monsters both flying and crawling.
I could hear their screeching and growls, wanting to be set free, waiting for an order, a sign to be unleashed.
I heard D whisper into my mind, “If I were you, I would run.” I took a stepped back just as D brought his arms down and pointed it towards me, unleashing the shadow demons on me.
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Chapter 29
I turned and ran, I could her the shadow creatures behind me, howling and screeching their joy at the chase, the prospect of a hunt. I stumbled a bit tripping over exposed tree root but managed to right myself on a stone angel’s outstretched hand.
I was weird how that angel was there to catch me when I was facing what appeared to be the end and I didn’t want to think about it.
I glanced back and it looked like the creatures were gaining ground. I ran all out, wishing I hadn’t skipped PT so much, dodging head stones as I went. I heard my dress rip, to accommodate the long strides I was taking. I kicked off my high heels in the process because they were only slowing me down, getting stuck in the moist ground as I went.
I neared the parking area and sprinted, the burst of energy coming from nowhere almost as if seeing salvation up ahead had given me the extra speed I needed to get away. I noticed that my aunt had left already and all that was left was my beat up bug and my two best friends.
“GET IN THE CAR!” I shouted at them, but they continued to stare at me in confusion. I neared them and rushed to the driver’s seat.
“Violet what the hell is going on? Did you see a ghost again? And where are your shoes?”
“No worse than a ghost. Throw me the keys.” I shouted towards them. Luckily the car was open already so I just slid in.
“What’s worse than a …” Van’s words died when the shadow creatures neared with the screeching and howling. Both Vicky and Van turned and saw them just as the first wave reached the peak of the hill in the cemetery.
“What the hell are those things?” Vicky said taking a step back.
“GET IN.” I shouted at them as I tried to get my nerves under control, the adrenaline pumping through me was making me shake uncontrollably.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Van said as she climbed shotgun as Vicky took the back seat. Van passed the keys on to me with shaky hands.
I turned the key and the car choked.
“Come on, come on. Not now, anytime but now” I said in a mantra, as I kept turning the key to start the dang thing.
“WHAT’S TAKING SO LONG? START THE CAR Vi.” Van shouted as she glanced behind us at the ever approaching creatures.
“WHAT THE HELL DOES IT LOOK LIKE I’M TRYING TO DO?” I shouted back in frustration. Turning the key again and again.
“Guys…” Vicky said in a quiet trembling voice, but Van and I just ignored her. I needed to get this stupid car started.
“Come on baby. You and I go way back. I really need you today.” I said pumping the gas and trying to sweet talk the car into starting. What? It usually works.
“Guys…” Vicky said again a little bit louder this time.
“Violet we need to go.” Van said as the shadow creatures got to the parking lot.
“I’m trying to talk my car into starting.” I shouted back, getting really peeved.
“I knew we should have gone with my car.” I heard Van mumble.
“Hey, don’t talk bad about ol’ faithful. She has gotten me out of some tight jams in the past.”
“Then why isn’t she starting now?” Van shouted back at me, frustration and fear clear on her beautiful face.
“She just needs a little motiv-“
“GUYS!!!” Vicky shouted, cutting me off and both Van and I turned to her and shouted back,
“WHAT?!”
“There’s one of those thingys in front of the car.” We both swung our heads to the front and all three of us screamed when it moved towards us.
It was completely black like a shadow and the longer you stared the more features it took on.
The thing in front of us was starting to resemble a jungle cat, crossed with a bear, crossed with a bat. It had the wings of the bat along with its pointy ears, the face and tail of a jungle cat and a body of a great black bear.
It crouched forward, like it was about to pounce and slammed its talon like hands down on the bonnet in an effort to get onto it and left eight large gauges as it pulled itself up, four for each paw. Its sharp talons slicing through the metal of the car like it was a hot knife through butter.
I turned the key again and the car started and I put it in reverse, knocking the creatures behind us with a satisfied thud and then put it in drive, flooring it as I went. The tires spun before it kicked forward, nearly throwing the creature off, but it clung to the car like a parasite.
It hit the windscreen, causing a spiders web crack to form and we all screamed at the loud sound of the impact. I couldn’t see pass him; I was driving blind, swerving in an effort to shake him off and hoping I wouldn’t slam straight into a tree in the process.
He slammed his meaty paws down again, this time it broke through, I scream as it opened its hand to claw or grab my throat and as a reflex, I slammed my foot down on the breaks, freeing my car from the creature as well as my windscreen and sending him sailing into the air. He landed just a few feet in front of my car, my windscreen still attached to his fisted paws but he soon shook off the bit of glass like it was an annoying insect and started to rise. I slammed my foot down on the gas pedal and went straight through the bat-bear-cat thing turning him into smoke, only to have him slowly reform behind the car.
The car screeched down the road, taking a hard left onto the road back home, leaving the creatures in my wake. Glancing back at the shadow creatures in my rear-view mirror and being a little relieved to see that they were getting smaller.
I never took my foot off the accelerator, I must have been breaking some speed limits as we went and I think I got caught by a camera, but I was beyond caring, all that mattered was that we had made it out of there alive.
I took deep breathes, crushing the stirring wheel under my grip, until I heard the groaning of the metal. I had forgotten my newly acquired super strength and eased my hold on the stirring wheel, but kept up my relaxing breathing.
“What the hell was that? And why where they after you?” Van said as soon as we were out of danger. I jumped at the sound of her voice, crushing the steering wheel again and bending it to a warped wheel shape that more likely resembled a football or an oval rather than the ordinary circle it once was. Neither Vicky nor Van noticed, too freaked out by the unknown creatures that had just attacked us.
“Well I guess there’s more than just ghosts out there.” I said with a nervous laugh, not really knowing what else to say. I didn’t want to give Tatiana and the others away especially since Vicky was dating Connor.
“What do you mean there’s more than just ghosts out there. I thought those where ghosts.” Vicky said glancing back.
“Yea they were some kind of super ghost.”
“Super ghost? Have you seen anything like it before?” Van asked, she seemed rather shaken. It’s the first time I had seen Van shaken. She’s usually the thick skinned strong type, nothing ever shakes Van up, well nothing did until now.
I thought back to the hospital, when I had gone with Emo Shaun to say bye to his sister. Those things that came after us… they were the same but different? I can’t explain it but there certainly weren’t any bat-bear-cat type of beings.
“I think so. When I went with Shaun to the hospital a week ago… I had seen something similar.”
“YOU WHERE AT THE HOSPITAL WITH SHAUN?” Vicky shouted the same time Van shouted
“AND YOU SAID NOTHING!” both turning in their seat to face me.
“Well I kind of forgot.”
“YOU FORGOT? Who the heck would forget something like that?” Vicky said in astonishment.
“I mean it’s Emo Shaun. So that’s why you two were all buddy, buddy lately.” She mumble more to herself than any of us.
“I told you about Shaun remember. When my mom died.”
“Oh… I thought you were just being crazy.” Vicky said with a thoughtful look on her face.
“Well I wasn’t, I had seen-“
“Forget about that, you forgot? How can you forget those... those things?” Van asked cutting off my defense for being called a crazy.
“Well my mom died soon after. That kind of took my mind off of the whole being chased by shadow demons incident.” I said a little irritated by the interrogation I was getting.
“Oh right…” Vicky muttered. I glanced back at her through the rear-view mirror. She looked a bit sad and said,
“Look it’s not your or Van’s fault. Things has been a little messed up lately and-“
“Vi LOOKOUT.” Vicky shouted and pointed towards the road ahead.
I turned just in time to see one of those shadow freaks knock over a tree right on our path, it looked like it wanted it to fall on us. I swerved just in time and missed it, a few branches scraped the side of my car and some twigs and leaves got in through the open windscreen.
We screamed as we sped pass, and took a left turn down a steep road. My foot was still flat on the gas pedal and I was picking up speed and slowly losing control of the car. I eased off the acceleration and tried the brakes… and nothing.
This time I slammed my foot down on it and still nothing. Shit, shit, shit, you have got to be kidding me!
“Violet we’re going too fast.” Vicky said holding tightly onto the two front seats. The wind pulling her hair loose from her messy bun and whipping it across her face.
“I know I’m trying to slow down.” I said again stomping on the brakes. I spotted D standing on the side of the road, waving at us as we passed.
“Bye Violet.” I heard D whisper in my head as I passed him. The radio went on by itself, starting the haunting slow melody of The Doors, The End blared through the speakers. It was the live version so you could hear the echo, hollowness of the song. It felt like we were in a horror movie.
“What the hell?” Van asked as we all turned to the radio as the singer started the first line of the song.
“Turn it off.” I heard Vicky shout over the howling of the wind. Van tried, pushing all the buttons, even switching stations, but the song was on every channel. She even ripped the radio out, but the song continued to play.
I took a deep breathe as we looked at each other and I caught something moving just behind Vicky outside and did a double take.
“Ethan?” I thought I saw Ethan shadow run or whatever they called it, next to the car, and he was keeping pace, even though we were about to break the land speed record.
“What is up with your radio? And why isn’t the car slowing down?” Van asked panicking as the trees were now a blur of motion. Her voice snapped me out of whatever I was in. She watched me slam my foot down repeatedly on the break with no result.
“I don’t know. Maybe when we drove through that shadow freak he did something to my car.” I shouted as I slammed my foot down again.
“Or maybe your car’s just old and broken.” Van said as she held a death grip to the handle above her head.
“Will you quit making jabs at my car? I know-“
“Will you two shut up, we running out of road!” Vicky said, already bracing herself for impact.
I looked up and ahead of us in maybe a mile or so was a sharp curve. At this speed we would go off the road and into the trees that grew in numbers on the side of the cliff.
“Do something Vi.” Van said. I really wanted to smack her right now. Who knew in a life and death situation Van could be this annoying.
I tried the hand break, pulling it up all the way, until I heard a metal grind and then something snapped, making the lever very loose. Oh crap….
That futile attempt at stopping us, managed slowed the car down, but not enough. We were on a steep descend and the car just picked up speed again.
Shit, this is it, this time I’m really going to die… and this time I’m not going alone. My two best friends are going to die too and it’s my entire fault.
“I love you guys.” I said to them and they knew, I saw Vicky swallow and Vans eyes started to tear up.
“I love you too.”
“I love you two crazies too.” We all braced ourselves, as I tried to swerve in an attempt to slow the car down further but it wasn’t helping.
We were a hundred yards away from the edge and still we were gaining speed, we weren’t going to make it, we were going to go over.
I swallowed the fearful lump down and just then spotted a black cloud of smoke that was keeping pace with us, move ahead of us, followed by three more black smoke trails. At first I thought it was one of those shadow creatures then I Saw Connor’s face, trailing behind the first. Vicky and Van didn’t seem to be able to see them, just me.
I looked up ahead and saw that it was Ethan and he stopped right on the edge, right in the path of the car.
“What is he doing? He’s going to get himself killed!” I screamed and tried to swerve the car out of his way, but only managed to hit a stone sticking out from the ground. It went under the car and scrapped the underside of my car.
Then I heard another snap and my stirring wheel wasn’t working anymore.
“Shit… shit, shit shit.” I hit the football shape wheel as it spun helplessly around.
“What the hell just happened?” Van asked.
“That stupid rock broke my stirring wheel.” I said as I looked up ahead. We were still heading in Ethan’s direction and it didn’t look like he was about to budge.
“Get out of the way, you’re going to get yourself killed.” I screamed again.
“Violet who are you talking about? There’s no-one in front of us.” Van said looking around. I heard her voice shaking.
“She must be seeing a ghost.” Vicky said,
“Seriously… Now?” Van said,
“Ethan move.” I shouted again but he didn’t and we went off the road and into Ethan.
The song then looped repeating the first line over and over,
This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
We all screamed when we connected with him. He had his hands braced on the bonnet of the car and seemed to be trying to slow the car down. I don’t think that Vicky and Van knew that we had hit Ethan, but the force of the impact threw us all forward. Unfortunately none of us thought of buckling up.
Van went through the window, but I thought I saw a blur of smoke around her, and then Vicky went sailing strait for the dash, knocking her head hard and knocking her out in the process.
I was pinned down by the stirring wheel crushing my legs as a branch whipped inside across my face, and my head was thrown sideway, breaking the driver’s side door window. My head loll forward and I was starting to see black spots.
“Ethan…” I heard myself distantly whisper.
The last thing I saw was Ethan’s pain filled face, as his body was slammed into a tree and being crushed by my car, while the radio kept playing, and the phrase this is the end was the last thing I heard before complete and utter darkness.