Sanctuary's Fiend
Chapter 27

The walk over to the park was the strangest walk I’d ever made. The control I’d had when I first drank from Chad was gone, and I was speeding up and slowing down randomly. I didn’t want anyone to possibly see me, because I was skating on thin ice already as far as SCIM was concerned, so I ended up making the walk very slowly, arms stretched out either side of me like a tightrope walker, mind focused on just being normal. I looked anything but normal, but at least I wasn’t popping in and out of people’s vision as I suddenly covered two blocks in half a second.

So I arrived half an hour late, just after sunset, and I was walking like a faery. I think, I’d never met one. Johnny and Gareth were sat on a bench. Johnny had his legs spread wide, supremely relaxed, while Gareth kept eyeing the earth next to them longingly as if he’d rather be sitting on the ground.

Johnny looked up and waved. “Hey, Rel! You okay?”

I ignored him until I was next to the bench. I let my arms slowly fall back to my sides, and I planted my feet squarely. “Yes, thank you. Hello Gareth.”

His voice hit my ears, and suddenly the fact that him speaking sounded like two rocks grinding together made a lot of sense. I probably should have picked up on that last time.

“Hey,” he grunted.

I motioned to the park as a whole. “Shall we?”

“’Woah,” Johnny said. “First, what’s up with you?”

“I just… you know.” I mimed biting a neck, and they both looked at me like I was weirder than usual. Despite no one being around, I leaned in and whispered. “Fed.”

Both of their faces scrunched up and they both went, “Eww!”

“Oh all right, your highnesses! Just because you guys don’t have to feed on blood to live! Uhh, is that right?” Gareth nodded his head in confirmation. “Exactly. So… judge not, lest ye be judged,” I declaimed dramatically. OK, I was feeling a bit high.

They both threw their hands up in surrender.

“Well, how was… it?” Johnny asked.

“Honestly? Weird. Just the whole thing! I mean, why do I need blood? Who does that make sense to?” They both shrugged. “Well, anyway, I was having some trouble keeping my abilities under control. But I think… yeah, it hasn’t happened for a bit, so I think I’m safe now.”

Gareth put his hand up to ask a question. “Are we safe?”

“I’m going to say… yes. I think.” Gareth nodded solemnly. “But, what exactly does a Gargoyle bring to this crack squad of Fiend hunters?” I asked, pointing at Johnny who, in a moment of complete un-elvishness, dropped one of his daggers making him look rather sheepish that I’d caught him. Why did he have daggers anyway? It seemed odd to me but I was sure that if I asked I’d be insulting some long standing tradition.

Before Gareth could answer, Johnny butted in. “Fiend?”

“Oh, umm, yeah. That’s what the thing is. It’s called a Fiend. I don’t really know any more than that, but it’s the right name for it, I guess.”

“Hmm. How did you discover that?”

“I had a quick run-in with our local hunter.”

Johnny’s eyes lit up. “That sounds like a great thing to do! How did it go, and why are you still alive in that case?”

“Your compassion is your greatest asset. However, I’ll have you know he said he’d shoot me the next time we met. An absolute gentleman.”

“Hunter?” Gareth asked, popping the thick bubble of sarcasm Johnny and I were building up.

Johnny answered for me. “You know the English guy?”

“Rick?”

“No, no, his father, the teacher. Anderton?”

“He’s a hunter?” I wouldn’t say that Gareth looked shocked, but this was definitely the most emotion I’d seen on him so far.

“Yup. You think you know a guy, right? But my dad says there’s no need for us to get worried, Anderton doesn’t know anything about the supe community here in Sanctuary, and my dad’s going to keep it that way!” He patted my shoulder cheerfully. “Except for Rel and the Fiend thing, I guess.”

I decided to bring the conversation back around. We were here for business, after all. “Okay, guys. You both ready? Let’s go find us a Fiend.”

They both stood up, Gareth rather grudgingly.

Johnny stretched his hand out, letting me go first. “You’re the bloodhound on this one, Rel. Go forth!”

I gave him a look. “Let’s be clear. I am ‘going forth’ because I choose to. Not because you told me to. Saving lives here, Johnny. Don’t be a… you.”

Gareth nodded in agreement.

“But anyway, I can’t actually smell anything here,” I confessed. “So… let’s just start walking.”

Lincoln Park was dead to the world. Not a soul in sight, or a Fiend in smell. We ambled slowly along, and I eventually led the two boys, who after a thirty minutes of nothing happening were thoroughly bored and talking about sports of some kind, to the cemetery. I knew I’d be able to pick up the scent from the crypt. Unless Fiends moved on once they were disturbed. Who knew?

At the crypt, sure enough I could smell its plague stench all over the place, but figuring out where the creature had gone was tough. Sniffing around like a dog wasn’t exactly something I was used to. The guys, realizing I was busy working on something, sat on some broken rocks just inside the crypt, and discussed the big major life changing events in their lives. I couldn’t pick up on all of it, but it was mostly release dates for upcoming games, and what cars they wanted to buy.

Here I was, doing all the hard work like a sucker, my nose scant inches from slime and goop and worse stuff, and they were socializing! I was just about to give them a piece of my mind as they kept on blabbing away, when I found what I’d been looking for. A stronger scent pulled me towards the northwest wall of the graveyard, I collected the boys, and we set off on the trail with renewed enthusiasm. Once I’d found it, it was easy to follow, as the big, dumb Fiend had scraped some of its ickyness on to the trees it had passed on the way to wherever it was going.

The smell made me feel like the Fiend was close, but I didn’t really know what I was doing. I couldn’t see anything, and the other two were still just following me, their own senses useless for tracking.

“Hey, Johnny,” I said, gesturing him to come closer. “You know about glamor, right?”

“Oh yeah. It’s an elf’s main weapon, so my dad won’t stop telling me all about it. You know, when he talks to me at all. Why?”

“I accidentally glamoured someone. It just came out of nowhere.”

Johnny nodded. “’Yeah, that’s how it usually happens. High emotion, and you touched them?”

“Emotion, yes, touching, no.”

“That happens too, sure.”

“The guy seemed kind of… well, he had a complete personality change. He seemed kind of blank or… just not what I expected. Not real. Is that normal?”

“Oh yeah, sure. See, you brute forced him. That’s normally what happens on your first time. Controlled him so hard that he lost himself. Think of the mind as a door. You just hit it with a battering ram and blew the hinges off, stripping away anything that might have been behind that door. No subtlety. I’m at the point where I’m picking the lock. The guy can keep his personality, but he still knows something is wrong. When you get good enough, like my dad, you don’t even have to knock on the door. He can pull up in your driveway, and you’ll help him out of his car, invite him in, and cook him a meal.”

“Oh good. Another thing I need to work on.”

“Yeah. It’s not easy. I mean, it is for me, obviously, but for other people…”

“Yes, well saved. And can gargoyles glamour?”

Gareth was right behind us. “Not really our thing, no.”

I thought back to the bunker, when Johnny found me. “What about Ariel? Are sirens just born with super powerful glamour?”

“Technically,” Johnny began, “Sirens don’t use glamour. They use a compulsion. It works differently, affecting base emotions instead of rational thought. Honestly, did your parents not teach you this stuff?”

“They didn’t know what I’d need.” I shrugged. “Something about wanting to let me be a kid for as long as possible.”

“My parents tried that,” Gareth said. “Bad idea when one of your limbs turns to stone in the middle of class.”

“Parents!” I agreed. “Honestly, it’s like they’re making it up as they go along!”

“At least yours bothered to make something up,” Johnny said. “Mine are too busy.”

“Wait!” I interrupted. “Do you feel that?”

They looked at each other and then shrugged at me.

“It feels like… we’re on the edge of something.”

They both checked their feet to make sure there wasn’t a cliff. Honestly, these guys…

“No, with my mind. On the edge of… something happening. I can feel something.” It was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. It was too weak. “It’s not the Fiend. But it’s something strange, and the Fiend’s trail is leading toward it, so let’s keep going.” Gareth muttered something that sounded like “At last!” which I decided to ignore. I marched forwards and left them to follow me.

After a few minutes of treading carefully through the darkened woods, the feeling kept growing, and at last I figured out where it was coming from. I turned to tell the guys.

“Hey, I know… uhh, guys?”

They were both a few trees back. And lying down. Had I missed some danger they’d dived for cover to avoid? Why hadn’t they shouted anything? Wait, were they hurt? That seemed pretty important to find out, but I couldn’t quite remember why I was out here. Tracking something? Yes, maybe I had been, but I didn’t really want to bother anymore. The guys had the right idea. Lying down would be very calming. I could look up at the sky and count the stars. Not hurt anyone.

Hmm… was I planning on hurting someone? That was an odd thought to have.

I felt like just relaxing a bit. I sat down on the soft mossy ground and took a deep breath of the green-smelling forest around me. It was a wonderful night! But also, there was a reason I was here. What had we just been talking about? Glamour? Now that I wasn’t so focused on the trail of the Fiend, I noticed that I was close to Ariel’s house. Her parents were away. That sounded relaxing, maybe she’d like to hang out. And definitely not hurt anyone with me.

And then the pieces clicked together. I felt the tidal wave in my head. At the back of my mind I could hear a voice chanting. “–please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me–”. It was a very relaxing voice. It made me want to be calm, and do nothing, and just relax. And not hurt anyone.

But maybe… maybe this wasn’t meant for me. Ariel didn’t know I was here. Or the guys. Maybe I should hurt someone. I was so relaxed now though, and I kind of liked it. But this wasn’t the bunker, this wasn’t my first time feeling this compulsion, and I had just fed. I slapped myself on my cheek as hard as I could. It hurt! The tide receded from my mind, and I could think clearly again. Johnny and Gareth were still on the floor, but I pulled myself together and stood up. Ariel’s voice was soft, but my Draugr senses let me hear it even from this distance. I fought against her voice as it tried to seep back into my mind and sedate me, and I rushed to where I knew the fence for her back yard was. Something was terribly wrong.

The wooden fence had been pulled down, and just before I jumped through the hole, the full force of the Fiend’s stink hit me. I turned the corner and saw the Fiend and Ariel in front of me, with the lights of her house behind them throwing them into a striking silhouette. The Fiend was the same hulking beast I remembered, hunched over on all fours like an ape. Ariel was a slender form struggling in the Fiend’s chunky hand that was holding her off the floor. Its jaws were open wide, ready to clamp down on Ariel’s head, but the constant chorus continued from her. “–please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me–”. The Fiend was frozen, clearly fighting Ariel’s compulsion with its instinct to kill.

Oh god. If I did anything to break Ariel’s concentration, the Fiend would kill her. I had one shot at it. And I didn’t know what to do. It didn’t matter how hard I hit the Fiend, I simply didn’t have enough mass to knock it far enough away to stop its jaws from getting Ariel, and I couldn’t take the chance that it would just be too surprised to remember to bite. Could I punch straight through its brain? I couldn’t be sure, and so that wasn’t an option. No way was Ariel getting hurt. It was time to get my Draugr powers working for me again.

I focused my mind, it didn’t happen as easily as in the alley, but after a second, Ariel’s chanting had slowed to the point I couldn’t hear it. I turned and ran back to the two fallen boys. If we were going to save Ariel, it would take all of us working together.

When I reached them, I slowed down. I picked Johnny first, and grabbed him under his arms, pulling him to his feet. His face was droopy and he looked extremely relaxed. Okay, he looked stoned.

“Johnny! Ariel’s in danger!” I shouted in his face. Nothing. I slapped him as hard as I could, hoping it would snap him out of it. He fell to the floor, face down. I knelt next to him. “Damn it, come on! Fight her compulsion! You’re an Elf, you ought to be used to this! The Fiend has her practically in its mouth! It’s going to kill her!”

He mumbled something into the ground, not even bothering to move his mouth out of the dirt. “Gareth is your guy.”

Johnny was probably just trying to get out of doing anything, but I followed his advice anyway, because he clearly wasn’t going anywhere.

I did the same shake-and-slap routine to Gareth, I yanked him up to his feet and I slapped him as hard as I could. He didn’t fall, but still staggered. “Ow,” he said.

“Yes! Good! That hurt, right?” I asked, hoping that meant he was conscious.

“That’s what ‘Ow’ means, yeah. Was I lying on the ground?”

“Gareth, there’s no time to explain. The Fiend has my best friend in its mouth. We need to work together to fix this. I can’t guarantee that it won’t hurt her if I hit it. So what can you do?”

His face hardened as he shook off the effects of the compulsion. He must have had his own reasons for wanting to go along on these hunting parties, and he must have just found his motivation. Protecting someone? Perhaps that’s what gargoyles did.

He gripped my shoulder, and his hands were rough and firm. “Yes, this is why I’m here. What about Johnny?”

“He’s no good to us right now.”

Gareth looked over at Johnny, and nodded. “I see what you mean. Okay. Let’s go!”

He jogged carefully towards the hole in the fence and I followed behind. I didn’t know what he was planning, but I guessed he needed to see the situation to be able to decide. As long as Ariel’s chanting continued, I hoped she’d be fine. And I could still hear it thrumming around the back of my mind, so probably she was still okay.

Gareth set a painfully slow pace, but when we eventually reached the fence, and he turned the corner, he stopped to scope out the situation. Then he nodded decisively.

“I’ll stop it from biting, you get your friend, okay?”

“Yes! Quick! Let’s go!”

Gareth continued his slow plodding jog towards the Fiend and Ariel, but as he ran, he started to change and grow. I was using the time to focus on speeding up again, ready to get Ariel to safety. It seemed slow to me, but it must have only been a few seconds in real time. With each step of Gareth’s, earth and mud and rock fountained up from the ground beneath him, pouring over his entire body. It started out a brown slurry, but as it covered him and grew him to the same size as the Fiend – easily eight foot high and almost as wide again – he must have been drawing from deeper down in the earth with every step. He became a moving statue, a dark grey, with jagged peaks and slabs of flint making him look almost cartoonish, yet fearsome at the same time.

With his transformation complete, he entered Ariel’s view. Unsurprisingly this distracted her – I could feel her fear tugging at me as she thought that another monster had arrived to help the Fiend. She stopped chanting, breaking the only thing that was stopping the Fiend from killing her. I ran forwards, ready to drag her out of the way, or throw myself in between her and that deadly mouth if needed. But Gareth had his own plan.

His giant stone fist was already pulled back, and he swung it forwards, barely missing Ariel. His fist went inside the Fiend’s closing mouth, and teeth flew out. Ariel was flung away as the Fiend fell backwards.

She fell in slow motion, and I had time to get behind her, softening her landing. I slowed myself down to be able to talk to her.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

She had tears in her eyes, but she nodded. I hugged her and turned back to the fight. The Fiend was throwing a return punch at Gareth, who didn’t even bother to try and dodge. It was clear that the Fiend’s blows had no effect on the gargoyle’s heavy rock body. Gareth swung at it again, but with the Fiend’s attention only on him, it sprang back out of his reach. For Gareth to do any more damage, I’d need to distract it. I saw dark green, glowing flecks smoking on Gareth’s right fist, the one he’d used to hit the Fiend.

But Gareth seemed to know what he was doing, and realized he was slower than the Fiend. He faked a punch, making the Fiend step towards him, and then he charged, picking the Fiend up in a tackle, and driving him back towards… Ariel’s house. Oh, her parents were not going to be happy.

The putrid Fiend and the living wall of gargoyle crashed into and through one wall of the house. I’d never heard a sound so loud before, but taking out a wall was a cacophony of grinding stone.

For a second, as the dust billowed out from Ariel’s living room, the only noise was the creaking of the house’s foundation. Then Johnny turned up next to me, wickedly sharp elvish daggers in hand.

“What’s Ariel doing here?”

“It’s her house,” I said. “Now let’s get in there and distract the Fiend. Gareth is too slow when it’s focusing on him.”

Johnny nodded and ran into the house. Gareth was pulling himself up from the rubble, but the Fiend was already back on its feet. A giant, festering leg kicked out, pushing Gareth backwards. Luckily Johnny was there to distract the Fiend, darting around it, his daggers leaving trails of dark green sludge everywhere they struck. The Fiend’s blood.

I ran in to make sure Johnny didn’t get overwhelmed. When the Fiend was focused on him, I punched with all my weight behind it. The Fiend roared and spun to me, but then Johnny would strike again. I couldn’t be sure how much we were actually hurting the Fiend, but we must have been having some effect. With my blood-powered speed and strength, surely the Fiend didn’t stand a chance!

And now, Gareth was coming back towards the fight. The Fiend couldn’t decide who to face between me and Johnny, but it clearly knew that Gareth was the real threat. Johnny had cut it up good though, all over its arms and legs, and it certainly didn’t seem happy about that, so maybe it was slow enough for Gareth now.

Gareth swung out, and the Fiend staggered back. Me and Johnny had to dive out of the way in case it fell, but it looked like Gareth could handle it from here.

The Fiend went to return the blow, just like it had tried before being thrown through the wall. I don’t know what it expected, its punches weren’t hurting Gareth. Mind you, it had never seemed very intelligent. The blow connected with Gareth’s gut, and he didn’t even flinch.

But there was something different this time. Like I’d seen on his fist after he’d punched its mouth. Patches of what I now knew was the Fiend’s blood, began smoking as they touched Gareth. But these weren’t just flecks like before. Thanks to Johnny’s daggers, the Fiend was bleeding freely, and now Gareth had long strips of smoking green gunk all over his body. As the green evaporated, it left pockmarks everywhere. It was dissolving Gareth’s gargoyle form!

Gareth looked down at all the smoke coming from him. He tried to wipe it off, but it just went on to his hands. I could see the stone rolling over him, coming up from his legs where they connected to the ground, and filling in the damaged body. He yelled in pain.

Gareth punched at the Fiend again, landing his blow squarely on its jaw, sending it flying across the room. Johnny dived out of the way just in time, as it had been heading straight for him. When the Fiend was down, he kept slashing at it, clearly having not realized the danger the blood posed.

“Johnny, stop!” I shouted. “The blood is hurting Gareth!”

He looked confused, but did as I said, jumping back out of the Fiend’s reach. Gareth continued his attack, walking up to the downed Fiend. I was pretty sure he could crush its head if he wanted to at this point. But just as he readied for a big double hand hit, the Fiend launched itself off the ground, picking up Gareth, and smashing him through the ceiling. He got tangled in the floor supports and didn’t fall back down. He was covered in green sludge that began smoking. The Fiend must have seen what I saw and figured out his weakness.

With Gareth suspended from the ceiling, the Fiend was free to throw its bloody hands into the gargoyle’s gut. It took two hits, during which me and Johnny stood watching helplessly, for the sludge to weather away the stone. It took a third to hear Gareth cry out. And on the fourth, the gargoyle rock crumbled, finally freeing itself from the ceiling. Among the rubble, I could see Gareth lying face down, very still.

The Fiend roared at its victory. Johnny was the first to react, the roar breaking him from his daze. I was still stunned. If the raw strength of Gareth couldn’t win, what could?

Johnny went for a killing blow. As the Fiend had thrown its arms wide in triumph, he leaped for its face, his daggers sinking into the Fiend’s chest. Its dead eyes opened to see Johnny right in front of its face, one dagger raised up, ready to gouge out its eye.

It swiped at Johnny, but he saw it coming and dived out of the way, managing to end up sitting on the Fiend’s shoulders. He brought his dagger down hard. This wasn’t a graceful, elegant slice, this was a brutal strike, sinking his dagger up to the hilt.

The Fiend roared again, but this time in pain. Johnny felt the Fiend start to fall and was already congratulating himself - the idiot - when the Fiend dropped its shoulder. It wasn’t falling, it was trying to get the annoying, stabby elf off its back. Johnny felt this, and landed on his feet. Legs spread, one arm on the floor, the dagger in his other hand. It would have been awesome, real movie poster stuff, except the Fiend was right behind him, and it stood up, and kicked Johnny into a wall. No amount of elvish grace could save him. I saw his head bounce off the wall, and he crumpled to the floor. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the (ꜰind)ɴʘvel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

This had gone from me wanting to prove something to myself, to me having three friends lying unconscious around a deadly monster that if I didn’t stop, would kill all of them. Immediately after it finished with me.

I really wished I had an adult here right about now. I was out of my depth.

The Fiend turned to me. I was frozen on the spot. What could I do where the others had failed? I took a step back. A second step. A third, towards the gaping hole in the wall. I half turned, sure that I could outrun the Fiend. Johnny slumped lazily against the wall he’d hit, breathing heavily He looked as if he could stand up at any minute, and say something stupid and probably wrong. I saw movement from Gareth - small but definite. His back rose and fell. He was alive. I looked over my shoulder to see Ariel’s blonde hair spread out on the ground. She had passed out, whether from fear or exhaustion I didn’t know.

No, I couldn’t run. If I did, I might not die here, but I’d stop living after what I did to my friends.

I turned back to the Fiend. I squared my shoulders, and planted my feet in front of it. I focused my mind for a split second. My eyes became pools of blackness, my fangs exposed themselves, and I could feel my muscles tighten. I was a Draugr. I didn’t know what that meant exactly, but I knew it meant I could kick this thing’s ass!

I sprinted forwards. It was fast, but not as fast as me. It swept a meaty, rotting hand at me, but I ducked under it. I came up right in front of its face. I didn’t know how to fight, but something just felt right. My fist came up with my body, and drove into the Fiend’s jaw. At first the jaw just slammed shut, but my fist kept going, and I punched through and into its mouth. The Fiend threw itself back in pain, and gave, not a roar, but a yelp.

It fell and crashed through a table. I felt my hand start to tingle. I looked down at it, and it was covered in the thick green gunk of the Fiend. I shook it off, and it started burning the floor. My hand had survived. Well, what do you know? A Draugr is tougher than stone. Hey everyone, I’m tougher than stone!

Apparently, I’m also about as smart as a brick, because while I was busy looking at my hand, the Fiend kicked me. A foot the size of my torso slammed into my hip, sending me flying into a wall. I didn’t fall down when I hit it because my arm had gone straight through. I hung limply for a second, but got my feet under me. I ached on all sides now, but I ripped my arm free, bringing a chunk of wall with it. I knew I’d feel the pain tomorrow, but right now I was running on pure adrenaline. And blood.

I ran back to the Fiend, and he kept trying to hit me, but was far too slow. I rained down my attacks on it, hitting its arms as they passed me, and its body when I could. But it showed no signs of slowing. Still, as long as it focused on me, it couldn’t hurt anyone else, and it must have been weakening. That’s just how biology works, right?

This went on for several more blows. A few seconds passed, and in a fight like this, that felt like forever. Every time I gave ground, or my foot hit rubble, I could have slipped and lost everything. I needed to do something and fast. There was nothing left to prove to myself, just my life to keep on living.

My very first thought had been the right one. When I saw it with Ariel, I had wanted to punch through its head. Anything died if you damaged its brain, right? I knew I could punch through its jaw, so why not the side of its head?

It had backed me into a corner, and thought it had me trapped. It pulled back its arm for its final swing. I focused everything I had, pushing myself to move faster, and become stronger. And it worked! The monster’s fist moved in slow motion, just like the leaf in the alley, or the shotgun blast from Mr. Anderton. I stepped to the side, with barely any effort required. Its hand hit the wall behind me, and chunks of plaster flew out in slow motion. As the Fiend started pulling its fist back, I grabbed onto its shoulder, and pulled myself up, level with its head. Even my grip caused its flesh to tear, that how powerful I was now.

Almost serenely I pulled my right arm back, and braced myself. I had to admit, this was much easier than I’d expected. I powered my arm forwards, and the Fiend flesh parted, and its skull cracked, and whatever came next turned to mush. I sunk my arm to beyond my elbow. The first thing I noticed was the smell of death that hit me from its insides. Then my entire arm started to tingle like it had pins and needles from the ichor that I was covered in. And then… my arm was stuck. The momentum had got me in, but now the jagged shards of the Fiend’s skull held me firm. But, I’d punched through its brain. It had to be dead. It was falling. Surely it was dead. I had time to slowly work my arm out of the hole. I’d be fine. Its hand was moving closer to me. But that was okay, because it was falling, and definitely dead. But its other arm hit the floor, stopping it from falling. That was not okay, because it meant a few things. All of them bad. Its hand grabbed me, and squeezed tight. It ripped me away from itself, pulling my arm out, making me scream. Its bone had left me with cuts all along my arm, and its blood had gotten into me. I felt it tear and burn, and all in slow motion. I still screamed as the Fiend pulled me closer to its mouth. I flexed and pushed and struggled, but I couldn’t break free. I was strong, but I wasn’t strong enough. Maybe I never was and never would be, or maybe I’d used too much adrenaline and blood.

Held in the Fiend’s unbreakable grasp, my back to it, its breath on the back of my neck, its jaw opening, I knew how I’d die.

I saw the faint outline of him at the edge of Ariel’s yard. He had promised me this would happen. I saw the glint of moonlight bounce off the bullet. I couldn’t move because the Fiend held me still. I closed my eyes to focus. I wanted to speed time up again. I felt the tip of the bullet pierce the skin between my eyes. Then, too late, time sped up.

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