Chapter 25
“Grace, get out of here!”
Hae’s shout echoed across the field, but still Grace hesitated.
She didn’t want to abandon him. But when one of the creatures made a beeline for her, she finally took off, sprinting past the food stalls.
She could have run back into the carnival, but she was worried about bringing one of those monsters with her into the crowds.
Instead she veered the other direction, toward the overflow parking lot.
And didn’t slow down even when her lungs burned and her heart felt like it would burst. The carnival became a distant, tinny sound behind her. And she no longer heard the angry hiss of her pursuer. She prayed she’d lost it.
When Grace reached the parking lot, she let herself finally rest, bending over, hand on knees as she tried to catch her breath.
She jumped as thunder clapped and rain began pouring down in sheets.
“Great!” she shouted to the sky. “Anything else you’d like to throw at me tonight?”
She heard the low angry hiss and thought, I didn’t mean that literally.
Maybe it was just a trick of her brain, caused by stress and an overactive imagination. But it came again, and she couldn’t stop herself from turning. Please be a snake or something.
Of course, it wasn’t. She saw the slinking shape moving between parked cars, almost human except for how bone thin it was.
Grace dropped between two large SUVs to hide from the dark, searching eyes.
Had that thing followed her? What had happened to Hae and Yuhwa?
She held her key fob so tightly it dug painfully into her palm as she searched the line of cars for hers and found it five spots away.
She was so close. Could she make a run for it?
No, she had to be smart about this. Grace started crawling, ignoring the seep of mud and rain soaking her jeans and the sting of gravel digging into the cuts on her hands.
She just had to get to her car. That thing might be some kind of ancient monster, but that meant it wouldn’t be prepared to fight off a full-on motor vehicle. Right? She had to believe that. She had no other options right now.
Still, she sent out a silent plea for Hae to come find her.
The closer she got to her car, the more she was shaking, worried she’d been seen as she scurried between parking spaces.
She slid across a wet patch of grass, her legs almost falling out from under her.
She gripped the bumper of the sedan for balance.
And the world exploded with lights and a piercing car alarm.
The creature whipped around, and Grace gave up on stealth and scrambled to her feet, sprinting the last few feet to her car.
She clicked furiously to unlock it, somehow grabbing the door and opening it in one desperate movement. She dove inside, slamming the door just as the creature landed on her hood. Its weight shook the car and it let out a loud screech, spit splattering over the windshield.
Grace answered its scream with her own. Even with the glass between them, the sight of the monster so close up was terrifying. Pale skin over an emaciated figure. Sharp fangs jutting out of its cracked lips.
In the rain, with its wet hair hanging in ropes around its face, it looked like a cross between a Korean water ghost and Nosferatu.
The thin curved skeletal hands scraped against her windshield, scratching at the glass.
That was enough for Grace’s survival instincts to take over. She started the car, shifted into drive, floored the gas. The monster held on to the hood, but just barely.
She sped around a tight corner. And, finally, the mix of rain and momentum dislodged the creature.
It flew off her hood and into the side of a dark truck.
The sound of the bending metal echoed over the thud of rain against Grace’s windshield.
She checked her rearview in case it recovered and attacked again. But it lay on the ground, not moving.
Thank the gods.
Something raced out in front of her car and she let out a shriek as she slammed on her brakes.
What she thought was another monster was just a girl, now spotlighted by her high beams. Grace yanked her wheel hard to the left, barely avoiding a collision.
The seat belt bit into her collarbone as the car screeched to a stop.
Grace jumped out of the car, the rain plastering her hair to her face as she hurried to check on the girl now sprawled on the ground.
“Are you hurt? Did I hit you?”
“Grace?”
It was Piper Calloway.
“Piper! We have to get out of here.” Grace grabbed Piper’s arm, desperately pulling her up. They had to go before that thing woke up again.
“Get off me.” Piper shoved Grace away so hard, she staggered into the hood of her car. “Are you crazy? You almost ran me over.”
“I’m sorry. It’s raining. Let me drive you home.” They’d been standing out here too long. What if the creature came to, or its friend showed up?
“I’m not getting in that crappy car,” Piper said, whirling away from Grace.
She’d barely taken three steps when Grace saw the shadow emerge from between two vehicles. She didn’t have time to call a warning before it pounced, pinning a squealing Piper to the ground.
The girl’s screams turned desperate as it tore at her. Then they stopped completely. Blood mixed with the rainwater, creating small rivulets of red that washed over Grace’s shoes.
She scrambled back, collided with her open car door. The creature turned at the sound.
“P-please,” Grace stuttered out. “Don’t kill us.” If Piper is even still alive.
The creature stalked forward, Piper’s blood still staining its lips.
“Grace!” Hae raced across the lot. The creature pivoted toward the new threat, but it was too slow. The god rammed it with his full weight, sent them both tumbling across the gravel.
Grace used the opening to rush to Piper’s side. She let out a sob in relief as she found a thready pulse.
There were deep gashes in Piper’s shoulder, and Grace pulled off her jacket to press it against the wounds.
Piper came to with a moan of pain that turned into a whimper.
“I-it hurts,” she gasped out.
“I’m sorry,” Grace said. “I have to stop the bleeding.”
“Why are you doing this?”
The weak accusation flustered Grace. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen—”
“Wait, why?” Piper asked.
“I—I said I’m sorry,” Grace stammered.
“Who?” Piper whispered, but Grace realized the other girl wasn’t looking at her, but beyond her left shoulder. “Y-yes, she’s here!” She lifted a shaky finger toward Grace.
“Who are you talking to?” Confused, Grace pressed a hand to Piper’s forehead. “You’re burning up.” Maybe the fever was making her see things.
Piper’s eyes widened. “I said she’s right here. Take her. Leave me alone!”
Grace looked around for the source of the threat. But there was no one there.
Piper groaned, eyes rolling back. Her body stiffened before it started to convulse.
“Dammit!” Grace tried to apply pressure to the wounds again, but Piper’s body wouldn’t stop shaking.
“Think. High fever, hallucinations, stiffness, and convulsions.” She tried to remember the things she’d read in her father’s medical journals.
“Febrile convulsions?” No, that couldn’t be right.
That mostly happened in children and was recorded during the plagues.
“Crap, why am I so useless?”
A hand came down on her shoulder and Grace let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“It’s just me.” Hae dropped down beside her, firm hands holding her in place.
“What was that thing?”
“They’re not from your webtoon?” Hae asked.
“N-no,” Grace stuttered out, starting to feel the cold of the rain seep into her skin now that the shock and adrenaline was wearing off.
Hae rubbed his hands over her arms, temporarily relieving the chill. “Let’s just focus on getting her some help.”
“Yeah, okay. Can you keep holding pressure for me?”
Hae obliged, replacing her hands with his. Grace dug into her pocket for her phone, but her hands were shaking and wet with rain and blood. And it slipped out of her grip onto the damp gravel.
“I’m sorry,” she said, though she didn’t know who she was apologizing to. “I can’t seem to hold on to it.”
Grace’s fingers were curled into claws, like they did when she was in the middle of a panic attack. A sob burst from her, and she would have dropped to the ground if Hae hadn’t caught her.
His arms were like tethers holding her together. His warmth seeped through her soaked shirt as she clung to him, finally able to stop shaking as she buried her face in his chest.
“You don’t have to be scared. You’re safe,” he whispered into her hair.
She breathed him in. The scent of summer grounding her. “I can’t…” She saw a shadow rise out of the corner of her eye. One that turned pale as the headlights hit it. Grace screamed as the creature lunged.
Rain and tears blurred her vision, so it all happened in a haze. Hae still holding her against his chest with one arm as he spun them both to shield her with his body. His free hand lifting. Light flashing. And the sound of the creature’s pained howl. The smell of burning flesh.
Grace finally blinked her vision clear as the monster bounded into the shadows of the trees, angry welts slashed across its pale back.
“Did you hurt it?” Grace asked a second before the arm that was supporting her became heavy. And Hae’s deadweight slumped against her.