She stared at him in disbelief for a moment before bending low and climbing into the small hole the plywood had covered. Jenna followed but I hesitated, unwilling to climb under the wood. Cade lowered the wood gently over them. He turned to me, his jaw clenched tight as he pointed at the tree behind me. I glanced at the large maple, understanding what it was that he wanted me to do.
‘You?’ I mouthed.
He shook his head as he pulled a long, wicked looking knife from the holster at his side. I remained unmoving, uncertain. I shook my head as he pointed at the tree again. I couldn’t leave him down here, unprotected, vulnerable to the things hunting us in the shadows of the forest. He was beside me suddenly, his hand on me waist as he pushed me toward the tree. “Climb.”
“You can’t stay down here.”
He grasped hold of my hips and lifted me up. I didn’t have time to protest, time to fight him. “Climb Bethany. Now.”
I swallowed heavily as I grabbed hold of the tree and began to pull myself swiftly up. I looked back to find Cade watching me from the ground, his head tilted back to watch me for a long moment before turning away. I almost jumped back out of the tree, almost threw myself from the leafy bowers, but I grasped hold of the limb and pulled myself up. I would have a better shot from up here anyway if I had to take it.
Halfway up the tree I shimmied out to the end of a thick branch and flattened myself against it in order to blend in with the thick foliage surrounding me better. I searched rapidly for Cade but he seemed to have vanished within the thick “jungle” surrounding us. My heart hammered, a crushing sense of panic began to descend over me, where had he gone? How had he disappeared so swiftly and silently into the wilderness surrounding us?
I was about to move forward when that thing crept into the clearing. I froze, my fingers curled into the limb, bark bit under my fingernails. Horror and fear tore through me in equal waves that left me shaken and on the edge of falling out of the damn tree. It was hideous. It was terrifying. It was a combination of every nightmare I’d ever had and yet I’d never in my life imagined something so appalling could exist.
It was not overbearing and cumbersome like its bigger brothers. No this was the size of a small Great Dane. It was oval in shape, its legs arachnid in appearance as it stepped slowly forward before taking a small step back. It’s chelicerae like mouth clicked as it took another step forward. Unlike its older brothers, this thing had no blood in it, it did not look like a bloated tick and it was opaque in color. But it was not opaque enough that I couldn’t see the throbbing pulse of what I assumed was the twisted creature’s heart. Strange, twisted things were wrapped in circles close to the monstrosity’s hideous mouth. They contained a black, viscous material that seemed to sift and flow within the vein-like circles but didn’t move out through its body.
It made me sick to look at it; I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
It crept slowly forward, its leg clicked, it seemed to be looking everywhere at once but I didn’t know where its eyes were. Perhaps it didn’t have any, perhaps it could smell us, or even hear the rapid beat of my heart. It somehow seemed to know that we were close though as it appeared cautious as it crept closer to where Jenna and Abby were hiding. My hand tightened on the gun, I aimed it at the thing. I knew Cade was right, firing the gun would only bring more of them here, but I would destroy that thing before it ever got hold of my sister.
That was when I saw Cade. He was kneeling at the edge of the woods, the knife clasped within his right hand as he pressed it against the ground. Shadows played over him, making him nearly imperceptible in the darkness of the woods. His eyes were narrowed, but an unnerving air of calmness surrounded him. I was mesmerized by him; I couldn’t look away as he rose slightly and somehow disappeared from sight.
I blinked, searching for him, but he was no longer visible in the shadows. My attention was drawn back to the thing still creeping toward where Jenna and Abby were hidden. And then Cade was back, moving with startling speed as he raced from the woods. A scream of fear rose in my throat, I strangled on it as the creature spun toward him. It took a startled step back before raising slightly on its hind legs as it appeared completely taken aback by Cade’s attack.
A strange squeal escaped the creature as Cade slammed into it. Terror flooded me, I couldn’t stay here; I couldn’t remain useless. I scurried swiftly back, moving as quickly as I could down the tree as I was filled with the need to get to Cade, to help him. He couldn’t take on that thing by himself, he simply couldn’t. I leapt out of the tree when I was still ten feet from the ground, my ankles protested the action but II didn’t care as I raced through the forest to him. I didn’t know what I was going to do, what I could possibly use against this thing but I didn’t care. I simply could not allow him to face this thing alone.
I had lost sight of Cade when I plunged out of the tree, but as I plunged through some thick underbrush, he came into sight again. I was nearly brought up short, nearly undone by the sight that greeted me. I was struck by the fact that the battle had become oddly silent after the squeal. It had also become far more violent and bloody. I stumbled forward, nearly fell as Cade lifted the knife over his head and plunged it into the already staggering creature.
It wasn’t the awful, bluish black blood that covered him and the creature, or even the tentacle that had emerged from the underbelly of the beast and now flopped on the ground, that caused me to halt. It was the utter calm façade that Cade still possessed. He did not seem winded, did not even seemed phased as the creature crumpled beneath him. He ripped the knife free and wiped the bloody blade on a handful of leaves he snagged from the ground.
I remained unmoving, my breath caught in my chest as he finally lifted his gaze to me. He remained unmoving for a long moment, as still as stone as he watched me. I didn’t know what to do, what to say. I didn’t know what I had just witnessed, was uncertain as to who exactly this person standing across from me was. I’d known him nearly my whole life, even when we hadn’t spoken, he had always been a presence, always been a presence in my world. And now he was standing there, covered in blood and staring at me with a look that both broke my heart and terrified me. He looked so vulnerable, looked as if he desperately needed me to understand what had just happened, but I didn’t know how to. He looked primitive, he looked wild, and I was filled with the certainty that this would not be the last time he killed with such force and brutality.
But then, it was a necessity of our lives now. I was just stunned by how fast he had accepted and taken to this.
“Are you ok?” I managed to croak out in a tremulous voice. He nodded as he used his forearm to wipe some of the blood from his face. I found myself able to move again, able to breathe again as I caught sight of the gash on his upper arm. He had won the battle, but he had not walked away unscathed. “You’re hurt.”
“It’s fine.”
“You don’t know what kind of germs those things carry.”
He turned his arm over, frowning at the blood that seeped from it. “It’s a shallow cut Bethany.” He used his good arm to keep me back. I frowned fiercely at him, shoving aside his good arm as I seized hold of his hand.
“Don’t be a baby, let me see.”
He sighed softly but relented to me as I pushed him toward a rock. He settled upon it as I gathered the meager stash of supplies we had left. There were no bandages but there was a small thing of antibiotic cream and I ripped up a shirt to use as a makeshift bandage. I felt his onyx eyes watching me as I knelt before him. He didn’t flinch, didn’t move away from my touch as I gently used the rag to clean the blood from the wound. He was right, it was shallow, but I still slathered cream on it in the hopes that it would prevent infection and kill any germs.