Chapter Seven
The cold night air slipped inside of Grace’s robe as Vitus opened the door. Fear shook her as she followed him out the door. She still wasn’t quite sure what was happening. A nice dream had turned into a nightmare that had turned into reality.
All the while she had been so certain that all of it was a dream. Maybe it still was, and her mind was just going from one dream to another. She could only hope so.
She hissed loudly as something cut through the bottom of her foot. When she lifted it up, the bottom was bloody, and she could see a large shard of glass sticking out from the stupid glass she’d dropped earlier.
Grace’s eyes widened. Blood. That was something she never had in her dreams before. Sure, she’d felt the hard earth scrape her body and branches scratch her legs, but there was never any blood. Only fear. Never-ending fear.
Grace reached down to her foot and pulled out the piece of glass. Already she could feel her foot start to throb from the pain.
Not a dream. A terrifying reality.
Vitus whipped around to stare at her. His nose lifted slightly. Instantly, his eyes zeroed in on the blood.
“You’ve cut yourself,” he said.
Another roar ripped through the tree, and her skin crawled at the sound. It wasn’t natural. Although nothing right now was feeling all that natural, this was different. It was a sound that she’d never heard before, something between the roar of a lion and a scream. It chilled her as another pierced the air.
“What is that?” she whispered. “Is it the Shadow Man?”
Vitus pressed a hand to her back as he lifted her into his arms. “No, but not much better. Your blood will only make him more crazy,” he said. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”
She shook in his arms as he carried her into the night, trudging his way through the snow.
Grace listened now, not for the screams that carried through the wind, but for the sounds that weren’t there. No animals moved in the woods. Not even one bird. The stillness of the woods was always a myth. She’d always found the woods to be anything but still. It just wasn’t the kind of still that most people were used to, especially when you grew up in a rural area.
True quiet was unnatural, even at night, and much like everything else, the woods were responding to whatever horrible monster was after them.
Vitus stopped suddenly and placed her back on her feet. The cold snow seeped through her terrycloth slippers, helping to numb her now bleeding and swollen foot.
Something crashed in the clearing nearby, shaking the trees there as it stepped forward. Something large.
Grace spotted the glowing red dots first. Then the silhouette of a man came into view. Only this was unlike any man she’d ever seen before.
Large didn’t quite cover his height. Vitus was a tall man, but this creature easily towered over him. She still couldn’t make out the new man’s face, but it was clear that there was something wholly inhuman about him outside of the haunting cries.
“She’s mine,” the man said as he stepped into the moonlight.
Vitus let out a low growl in response.
Grace cried out in surprise. The man was hardly that at all. Never before had she seen anything like this. He looked like a twisted mockery of a man. Or at least he looked like he’d once been a man.
Now she wasn’t sure just what he was. Parts of his skin looked stretched in odd ways. His face only half-human. But it was his red eyes that made her shiver.
Her whole body shook as she stared at him. She’d heard what this monstrous man had said. It took a moment for her to even process what was being said, but she realized he was talking about her.
Grace stepped behind Vitus, gripping onto his shirt for some sort of protection.
“Don’t think so, big guy,” Vitus said back to him, his words light, but his tone anything but.
The creature looked between her and Vitus. His eyes narrowed.
“You bonded,” the creature roared. “You bonded with what is mine.”
Grace wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about, but it was clear he was angry.
Vitus shook his head. “Not yet,” he said. This time he was the one who narrowed his eyes. “And she’s certainly not yours, you ugly son of a bitch.”
The creature sniffed the air and seemed satisfied with what he found. “She’s not yours,” the creature said, taking a step forward.
Vitus again shook his head. “Didn’t say that either. Just said, she wasn’t yours. We’re tired of you sniffing around Eagle Ridge.”
Grace watched as Vitus glanced behind to where she stood. If it was a signal of some sorts, she wasn’t exactly sure.
“Then I kill you,” the creature said.
Vitus snorted. “You can try.” He raised his hands and spread out his feet slightly.
Another inhuman roar ripped from the creature as he charged forward.
“Run to the tree,” Vitus shouted.
Grace nodded and ran toward the large oak tree nearby, her heart hammering in her ears.
The two men met midway. Their bodies slammed together with a sickening thud. She winced at the impact.
She watched as they grappled together. Despite his size, the monster wasn’t dominating the fight. Vitus might be shorter, but he was strong. She could see the muscles under his shirt strain as he fought and tried to gain the upper hand.
The monster pushed back hard and slammed his fist into Vitus’s ribs. He grunted and spun away, always keeping his body between Grace and the beast.
The monster again slammed his fist into Vitus. This time he made contact with the man’s jaw. For a moment, Vitus staggered back, stunned, and the beast took advantage to stalk his way over toward Grace.
She shook so hard now that she could hardly stand. Although she knew she needed to run, she couldn’t seem to make her feet move, the terror freezing her in place.
Suddenly, the large monstrous man fell in front of her. Grace stumbled away from him, then saw Vitus, his blue eyes striking in the night, pummeling the other man from behind.
With ease, the massive man tossed Vitus off. She gasped as he slammed into the tree next to her. Grace ached to race over to him, but she wasn’t sure what she could do. She’d never been in a fight in her life and would likely only be in the way, even if she wasn’t trying to face some huge inhuman monster.
“I will have her,” the monster roared.
Loud screams ripped through the air. The monster smiled and looked around him. In the forest, Grace spotted several sets of red eyes staring back at her.
There were more monsters.
A lump formed in her throat. If just one of them was hard for someone like Vitus to take down, there was no way he would be able to take more on.
Vitus spit out the blood in his mouth. “You want her, you’ll have to go through me, you piece of shit.”
Grace took a step forward. She couldn’t let him sacrifice himself like this. That wasn’t the kind of person she was. If this creature wanted her, she would go with him.
Loud bangs filled the air followed by more screams in the forest. She couldn’t live in hunting country without recognizing the sound of a gun going off.
She glanced over to where Vitus stood. A small smile rested on his face.
“Seemed only fair I should bring my friends, since you brought yours,” he said.
The creature snarled and ducked as bullets pelted the ground near him.
Vitus rushed over to her, blood dripping down his head. “Run to the store,” he said quickly. “We’ll take care of them and come find you.”
She’d barely had time to blink before his lips were on hers, kissing her as if his life depended on it.
Another loud roar tore through the night as Vitus pulled away.
“Hurry,” he whispered. “Run and don’t look back no matter what.”
Her heart thundering and fear pushing her, Grace ignored the pain in her ankle and foot and rushed to the store.