Chapter Twenty-Two #2
A gasp escaped my lips as I ruthlessly shoved dirt into the wound to stop the bleeding.
He was coming, and when I glanced behind me, I could see his dark body moving with violent intent toward me.
Just when I thought he would catch me, a flurry of movement burst from the thicket.
I watched the snarling ball of gnashing teeth for a moment before I realized what was happening.
Brady, my loyal, mangy mutt was risking his life to give me time.
I grabbed a stick to help him but a shot fired and ricocheted off a rock beside me.
Angus was too close, and I hadn’t a chance at pulling the dogs apart.
I wouldn’t waste the time Brady was trying to give me.
I ran.
I bolted for the old tool shed. From the sounds of Brutus’s howls, the house was too far away to make it before he was on me. I flung the storage door open and squinted through the dusty dark. My hands searched frantically and fell onto the cold metal of the weapon that would have to do.
Brutus was so close. Angus’s taunts reached out for me like black, snaking tendrils.
There was a short wooden fence that backed to the shed and an old overturned wagon on the other side, which effectively created a bottleneck. I would be trapped, and if my plan didn’t work, I’d die and so would Caleb. Couldn’t think like that right now, though. It just had to work.
Prying the ancient metal trap open wasn’t easy.
My hands were sweating and bloody, and I had to use my foot as leverage to keep it open while I put the pin in.
A vision of it clamping down on me was my only company.
I kicked dry leaves over the trap and reopened my hand with a loose nail that jutted out from the fence.
A long line of red dripped over the trap as long as I dared before I cowered as far against the fence as I could, clutching my throbbing hand to my chest.
Brutus’s eyes shined eerily, and he growled, deep in his throat.
The game had come to an end. He would get his reward, and he slowed like he was savoring his victory.
Stepping into the entrance of my trap, he stopped, perhaps sensing the danger.
He paced and sniffed the ground suspiciously.
A wave of panic overcame me that my plan would fail, and I looked frantically for a way to escape my self-made prison.
Brutus sniffed the air, likely encouraged with the scent of my fear, and stepped forward, nose down.
I jumped as the trap closed loudly around the dog’s legs.
He bayed a yelp that echoed through my woods.
I covered my mouth with my hand and allowed a sob as I edged around the snarling, snapping animal, still intent on my demise over the pain it was in.
The house was in sight, and my screaming muscles protested moving again.
My body shook from shock. My feet were bloody and swollen but Angus was so close, I could hear him.
“I didn’t get a chance to see the necklace I made for you all healed up,” he said, emerging from a thicket. “I bet it looks nice on you, Mira.”
I wanted to wretch at such a soulless compliment.
Caleb was running out of time and adrenaline was still feeding my blood with desperation to save him, so I bolted for the barn.
The house was too far but the barn was a maybe.
I flung myself over the fence and limped to the shelter.
The horses ran, white shades in the dark, and I whimpered with the realization that I was backed into the corner of the barn and out of weapons.
I turned in a desperate circle, searching for anything I could use against him.
“Hoo, hoo,” Angus sang softly as he leaned his rifle against the barn. “What a pretty little barn owl I’ve found. You killed my dog, you naughty little owl.”
“You killed my dog, too,” I shot back.
Angus paused and then chuckled. “Still crazy then, Mira? I never saw no dog. I was shooting at you. Missed on purpose, though. It’s more fun this way.”
I reared back to hit him, but he grabbed my fist with an iron grip. My bones felt as if they were ground to dust, and I screamed at the blistering pain. Tears ran down the sides of my face as I clutched my ruined hand against my stomach.
Angus wrapped slow hands around my throat and pressed me against the barn wall.
“Your mother was a disappointment. Shooting her? I should have planned it differently. There is something…” Angus looked up at the sky, as if searching for the right word.
“Sweeter, when you feel the life drain out of someone. A bullet robbed me of that high. I won’t be disappointed with you, though.
” He leaned close to my ear and whispered, “You’ve done so well. ”
My legs flailed as he tightened his grip and lifted me off my feet.
The wall behind me splintered but held. His bottomless, black eyes sparked with excitement when I kicked my feet.
I made small croaking sounds as the corners of my vision blurred, and just as I thought it would be easier to give up, a figure lumbered toward us in the moonlight.
Uncle Brady, back from the dead, stumbled slowly toward Angus’s back. He was a blood-covered zombie, and I tried desperately to hold on to consciousness. Not Uncle Brady, I realized as the figure drew closer. Caleb.
He threw his head back, and an enormous grizzly bear exploded from him.
I fought desperately to stay conscious. The bear padded closer, bigger than I thought possible.
His muscles flexed and twitched with every graceful step, and though he walked with a deep limp, it didn’t seem to hinder him.
His lips pulled back from impossibly long, sharp teeth as his muscles gathered under him.
He was too late.
I was slipping away and couldn’t hold on any longer.
Angus frowned at my attention and looked behind him, just in time to see the twelve foot grizzly charge.
We both fell hard. I crawled on my hands and knees, gasping for my life as a flurry of violent motion took up most of the space in the barn.
Caleb sank his teeth into Angus’s throat and held on through my stepfather’s struggles.
And eventually, Angus didn’t move anymore.
Caleb had made sure he wouldn’t be turned and gifted with the power of an animal.
He made sure he was dead—that he would never hurt me again.
My throat felt swollen shut, and I couldn’t drag enough air into my lungs to give relief.
I was panicking, scratching at my neck when Caleb changed back to his human form with a series of pops and a grunt of pain.
“How?” I croaked out as he reached me.
“I drove your truck over here. Breathe, Mira. Shh. Just relax and breathe. It’s all over. I called the police from down the road. They’ll be here any minute.”