Ravenous

   “Bethy.” I turned my head toward him, trying hard to keep my face impassive. “I’ll keep you safe.”

   I winced involuntarily, mentally kicking myself even harder. If, by some miracle, we did survive this I was officially going to consider myself the worst human being ever. “We have to be quick, move through the woods, down the trail. We can lose them once we get into the thick areas.” Aiden’s tone was hopeful, but we all knew that was highly unlikely. They were airborne after all. “Abby, get the door.”

   Abby glanced nervously at all of us, her hands tightened on the bag she held. Taking a deep breath she managed a firm nod before pulling the door swiftly open. Light flooded in, my heart leapt in my chest, but Abby was already rushing outside. I wanted to scream at her to wait, to come back, to not go out there, but we were no safer in here than we were out there.

   “Stay close,” Bret hissed as we rushed out the door behind Abby.

   I wanted to argue with him, wanted to tell him that I could take care of myself, but what was the point? I couldn’t take care of myself in this situation. Noone could.

   The light was far brighter outside; it blazed across the sky with the force of a million bright bulbs. It blared against my eyes, causing me to stumble and nearly fall as I bumbled blindly behind the plywood. A rumbling filled the air, shook the ground. I was dismayed to recognize it as the same awful sensation that had accompanied the arrival of that hideous thing earlier.

   I wanted to look back, to see what was coming at us, but I was afraid that it would cause my control to completely unravel. I knew what was back there, and I sure as hell didn’t want to see it again. Bret’s breathing was heavy beside me, I strained to make out Abby, but I couldn’t recognize her through the glare pounding against my irises. I was going to be blind by the time this was over.

   I felt, more than heard or saw the impending attack simply because those two senses were almost completely useless right now. I knew that it was coming, that something was hunting us, and that it was close. A scream of terror was trapped in my throat. I wasn’t ready, I was too young for this, and I certainly had never wanted to go out this way. I wanted to scream against the indignity and awfulness of it all, but it would do me no good. There was no stopping this.

   An image of my father flashed before my eyes. I was grateful that he had never had to know this, had never had to see his family hunted and slaughtered like rodents. I was glad that, as of right now, my mother seemed to have no idea that she was being pursued, and that her children were so close to death. Unfortunately she would wake up, just as that man had, but by then it would be too late, and death would follow shortly after. She would never have to know the loss of her children. I was glad for all of these things, and I was especially glad that I seemed to be the first one that they were going to take down. I couldn’t stand to watch as they took my siblings, and Bret. I wanted to let go of the board and bolt in a different direction, but I knew it wouldn’t do me any good, and I was not about to go down like a coward.

   No, I was going to die brave, or at least make an attempt at it.

CHAPTER 7

  A loud bang rang out, causing me to jump in surprise as Abby let out a startled scream. I ducked low as another bang shattered the air; the weird, echoing screams of the creatures filled the night. They hissed and screeched as another reverberating bang erupted. My heart was hammering but I was finally able to place the source of the loud, startling explosions, as gunshots.

   I looked rapidly around, but though the bright light had faded slightly from the gunshots it was still hard to make anything out. Another shot rang out, reverberating through the air. Bret cursed softly; he was half bent over the plywood as we hurried forward. I caught a brief glimpse of Abby as she darted off the trail and disappeared into the woods. Relief filled me. At least Abby was safer.

   The strange screaming grew louder as another shot rang out. We were almost to the end of the path, almost to the thicker woods when my eyes finally detected the source of the gunshots. Cade stood at the edge of the woods, a shotgun leveled against his shoulder, his gaze focused on something beyond us. Relief filled me at the sight of him; I was finally able to easily breathe again as the constriction in my chest eased. I didn’t know where he had gotten the gun from, and I didn’t care as he fired another shot.

   His dark eyes met mine for a brief moment before he dropped the gun and swiftly reloaded it. “Hurry!” Abby called from the woods. “Hurry please!”

   Cade raised the gun again, firing another shot that caused the odd, hissing type of scream to explode in a torrent of rage and pain that made my eardrums ache. “This way!” someone else shouted from the woods.

   Aiden left the trail, plunging deeper into the forest. Cade slipped into the shadows, momentarily disappearing as he blended in with the darkness. We slipped through the forest, u

   “Give it to me,” he said softly, his hand against mine as he tried to take the plywood from me. “Let go Bethany.”

   “No, my mom…”

   “I’ll keep her safe, just get ahead of us.”

   “Cade…”

   “Go.”

   His fingers caressed my hand briefly, sending a firestorm of sensations throughout me. I stared at him for a moment longer, trying hard to understand what exactly was going on, and failing miserably. “Listen to him Bethy,” Bret said softly. I fought against the guilt filling me as I slowly released my hold on the plywood. “Stay with Abby.”

   I turned from them, unable to meet either of their gazes as I ran from them. And it was the two of them I was ru

   It was one of the smaller ships, a little larger than a bus as it hovered over the forest. The lights had been toned down, but there were five of them still bouncing over top of the trees as it searched eagerly for us. It wasn’t that far away, but I sensed that it might possibly be heading in the wrong direction. The creature that had followed us into the woods, the one eager for blood, was notgoing the wrong way though.

   I could hear it crashing through the trees, stalking us, scenting our blood as it trailed us. And then I realized what was happening. The ship was moving off because it knew that we would not escape. It was not worried about us evading the creature it had left to destroy us. It was off to hunt other prey while it left one of its monsters to hunt us. And it wasa monster. I could see it now, not clearly, but it was there. I sensed that it was different than the one I had seen earlier. It seemed larger, but it moved with startling speed for its massive size and cumbersome build.

   It wasn’t so much tall as it was wide. It skittered through the woods, shaking the trees as it bumped roughly against them, rattling the leaves in their bowers. Though the tentacles made it appear as if it were an octopus on dry land, its flattened head quickly squashed any octopus resemblance. Two giant pinchers extended from what I could only assume was its mouth, they were about three feet long and clicked eagerly together. A tick maybe? I thought wildly. Was it a giant tick? But no, it wasn’t even like that, not with its pulsating red color that was translucent at times.