Panic weaved through the darkness like an airborne pathogen. They appeared wide-eyed and pale, breath sporadic as their hearts fluttered like wild hummingbirds trapped in a cage.
In attempt to calm them, I offered to stay behind, to be the lookout. Their fear was so palpable I could almost taste it as I herded them to a safe room in the house. Within the chaos I felt something wash over me. Whatever it was, it left me feeling numb and quiet. Incredibly still. I knew what had to be done.
A strange voice filled my thoughts and the words suddenly made everything crystal clear. "Sacrifice the one to save the many."
"Get inside and lock this door!" My voice boomed as the oldest girl, no more than 15, turned and focused on my face. "Do not open this for any reason. Am I understood?"
She nodded frantically as sadness filled her big eyes. I gave her a small, reassuring smile before closing the reinforced door into its frame and waited to hear the several deadbolts lock into place. I closed my eyes and took a steadying breath. Though calm, my heart began to race. It wasn't fear that sped up its rhythm, it was adrenalin.
Shadows seemed to pulse all around me, devouring the colors from the world and leaving my vision filled with all shades of blues, blacks and greys. Night time colors. A twisted smile pulled at my lips as my vision adjusted and suddenly my surroundings lit up as though moonlight touched everything around me.
This thing preyed on the fear of innocence, hiding within the darkness. Using the thick night to hunt. Depending on the dark to stay out of sight. Thinking it wouldn't be seen; the proverbial boogeyman. Only this time, it targeted the wrong house.
If it only knew...
...here, there be Monsters.
The silhouette appeared impossibly tall, a huge shadow with a very visible face. A ghostly mask covered his features as he held a huge butcher knife in his right hand. The sonuvabitch wasn't supposed to exist...and this wasn't Halloween.
I watched as he neared the door where the kids were hiding and decided this had gone on long enough. I stood and took two large steps into the center of the hallway, facing him.
"Hey, ugly!" My voice rang through the house like a penny in a tin can and watched him turn fully in my direction. That horrible Shatner mask an expression as lifeless as the eyes that peered through the sunken holes, seeming to stare off into nothing.
Bringing the wooden bat up like a batter at the plate I gave a disturbing grin and purred, "Wanna play?"
Suddenly everything slowed down and I was no longer connected to my body. As though standing off to the side, watching as two very different forms charged at each other. He brought his blade up to slice into me as I leapt up off the ground and weilded baseball bat like a samurai sword. With a sweeping arc the bat made contact. A horrific wet crack resonated off the walls as of the wood met violently against his face. He fell back but I was on him.
Nothing was going stop me...
When it was over, the ghostly mask was stained bright red and laid flat, face down on the other side of the hallway. There wasn't much skull left as I stood there with a cracked slugger in my trembling hands, dripping with blood. He'd managed to slice at my arms when he tried to fight back, but they were only superficial cuts. I was too fast.
Can't really defend yourself when your head is being smashed like a hardboiled egg meeting a hammer.
I had made sure he wouldn't get back up, as blood, shattered pieces of teeth, bone and thicker things pooled along the hardwood floor.
Panting, the butcher knife in my back pocket, I took hold of his ankles and began to drag almost 300 pounds of dead weight down the hall and toward the backyard, where the sliding glass door was still open. Blood and sweat poured from my brow and stung my eyes, but I didn't stop. I heaved that lifeless corpse out into the backyard and somehow managed to toss it into a deep fire pit, just big enough to burn a couple of bodies...
I paused just long enough to grab a can of lighter fluid, a book of matches and a large container of salt. In true Supernatural fashion, I dowsed the corpse in salt, drenched it in lighter fluid and lit a match.
It felt like an eternity had past when the pattering of small feet caught my attention.
The kids led by the teenager gathered around me, peering into the flames.
"Don't worry," My rough tone cut the silence like a gunshot, causing a few of the kids to jump at the sound. "He's not coming back." I stated and felt a small hand touch my left wrist. With a quick glance, I noted the young girl in her dark red footy pajamas. The fire illuminated her big amber hazel eyes like living jewels as her wavy black hair shimmered with hints of red and golden light. I couldn't help but smile as she grasped thumb.
"So we're safe now?" She asked in her tiny voice and I nodded. "Good. Hey, can we make smores?"
I chuckled and went to answer when the teenager spoke. "We cleaned everything up for you." She announced and I blinked impressed eyes at her. "Can we?"
With a shake of my head, I smiled and mused, "sure. Why not?" I looked towards the flames and added, "be a shame to let such a pretty fire go to waste."
"Can they come too?" The little girl motioned the the opposite side of the fire, where the shadows seemed to solidify and take shape. I blinked and was surprised to see that a dozen obsidian nightmares stood across from us, waiting patiently for instruction. "They came when I called for help. They're my friends." The girl said with a bright smile and waved to the Xenos before looking up at me and adding, "pretty please?"
I laughed, "of course they can, babygirl." I replied and looked toward those eyeless faces. "They're my friends, too."
-*-*-
And woke up.
Crazy, huh? Couldn't get it out of my head until I wrote it all down. I gotta say, I do love how my mind works sometimes. I do have some of the most epic dreams.
My question is, if you found yourself in my place, what would you have done?
*grins behind her Nightmare Before Xmas thermos*
And on that note, I must bid thee anon. I have copious amounts of caffeine to ingest before I start getting ready for work.
-Adieu
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