Chapter 31
Still holding her breath, Soraya leaned away from the door, a chill running down her spine as fear wrapped its way around her lungs.
This can’t be happening. Not now. The thought came to Soraya in a choked whisper.
She changed her mind. She’d sooner face one of her strange hookups than the terrifying monster on the other side of their door.
How it found her from that other place—she was at a complete, panicked loss.
None of it made sense, but just because it defied all reason, didn’t mean it would keep her and Jesmine safe.
The memory of the creature tearing the door off at the Drunken Duck flashed through her mind.
She took another quiet step back, inwardly cringing as her backpack made a slight rustling sound that she doubted Jesmine could hear, let alone the thing behind the door—at least, she hoped it couldn’t.
“Soraya, who is it?” Jesmine’s whisper was like a gunshot beside her head.
Soraya spun and pressed a finger to her lips. A sinking feeling told her the monster could hear every little thing they were doing, just as she could hear it.
The sound of the floorboards creaking in the hallway had her tensing.
Her eyes darted to Ahvi’s bedroom window. The front door was the only official way out, but over the years, they’d learned to see exits anywhere if they were brave enough. Sometimes, creativity—and stupidity—were the key to escaping situations like this.
She caught Jesmine’s gaze and mouthed, “Ahvi’s window.” Jesmine nodded and stepped toward—
The front door exploded off its hinges, missing Soraya by inches.
“Jesmine, run!” Soraya yelled.
The air pressure popped in her ears as the door slammed into the floor, skidding into the living room and toppling the TV.
Before Soraya could run toward Ahvi’s room, the looming, giant figure strode in, its gaze immediately finding Soraya’s. That grotesque smile slithered across its face—she swore she could hear the smile stretch, like old leather cracking.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the broom she’d used as a weapon from earlier and lunged for it. She bitterly wished for her gun—only to remember, too late, that she’d left it on Ahvi’s empty bed.
The broom was in her hands for barely a second before she looked up—just in time to see the creature’s booted foot swinging toward her.
The kick landed square on her chest, punching her breath out of her lungs as she was thrown backward into the kitchen, narrowly missing the bar.
Her backpack cushioned the crash, but her skull cracked against the linoleum.
Her vision was swimming, ears were ringing, and chest was aching.
She barely registered Jesmine’s shout across the apartment.
Gritting her teeth, she forced a breath into her lungs, the air feeling like fire scorching down into her injured chest as she shoved herself up onto her elbows—
And froze.
The monster loomed over her, clawed hands outstretched, ready to seize her head—
BANG!
The gunshot echoed in the cramped space. The creature’s blood-red eyes crossed as it staggered, slumping against the counter. Soraya didn’t hesitate. She scrambled past it, catching glimpses of black liquid oozing from its skull onto the floor as she fled the kitchenette.
Jesmine was standing a couple of feet in front of Ahvi’s door, her steady hands lowering the gun she held, her eyes wide with shock.
For one heartbeat, relief surged through Soraya—Jesmine had done it, she—
Clicking and a wet, shuffling noise rasped behind her.
She whipped around, and her heart stuttered in her chest.
The back of the creature’s head was blown wide open. Black goo and pieces of rotten flesh dripped down its cloak. But that sight alone wasn’t the reason why every fiber of her being was screaming to get away.
It was the fact that it was still standing, and the pieces of fragmented skull and flesh were piecing themselves back together.
It was healing itself.
It went against any natural order known to womankind.
The word demon flashed through her mind, and for a split second, she wondered if the devil himself was after her for all the sins she’d committed— and there were quite a few.
No time to dwell.
“Move!” she shouted.
Blood roared in her ears as she bolted for the now-cleared doorway, Jesmine right on her heels. She didn’t know how long they had until it was done putting itself back together, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to wait and find out.
She had no doubt that when the monster came too, it was going to be madder than it was before and come after them with twice the vengeance. Why was the demon hunting her in the first place? She didn’t care to imagine at the moment.
Soraya reached the end of the hall and saw a cloaked figure lying slumped at the top of the stairwell.
Hooded head bowed, hands twisted at unnatural angles, palms upturned like a macabre offering.
Dark red blood pooled beneath him, seeping into the floorboards.
His chest had been torn open—a mangled ruin of flesh and bone.
“Fuck,” Jesmine’s cruse was sharp beside her.
Soraya clenched her teeth as she ran by the corpse. Her sneakered feet slipped in the river of blood trickling down the stairs. The sticky, half-congealed mess clung to the worn wood as she forced herself onward.
It wasn’t the first time she’d seen a dead body, but it didn’t make it any easier to witness. The image was burned into her mind of the man’s silver hair peeking out from beneath his gray hood and the intricate silver detailing of his cloak, now stained crimson.
As they hit the ground floor, they found a second body—a white-haired woman pinned to the wall by a long black blade.
Soraya forced herself not to look, desperate to spare her already frayed mind another gruesome image.
Still, she couldn’t miss the blood pooling beneath the woman’s booted feet, dangling inches above the ground.
What the hell were they dealing with?!
Soraya was becoming increasingly convinced that it wasn’t a demon after them, but the actual devil. She briefly debated running to the nearest religious facility. She had never been very religious, but maybe now was the time to start.
As they burst out of the building, stumbling down the stoop onto the sidewalk. Soraya veered right, charging down the slanted street—
Then skidded to a halt.
She spun, grabbing Jesmine and yanking her back just before she could run past—straight into the line of sight of the frog monster perched on the street corner. It sat unnervingly still as if keeping watch.
Perfect. It would be just their luck if both creatures from hell were working together. She must have pissed off some ancient deity to deserve this.
Soraya didn’t stop to think. The clock was ticking. Still gripping Jesmine’s hand, she sprinted toward the intersection, pumping her legs past their standard limit. Jesmine gasped for air behind her, slowing, but Soraya held tight. No way she was letting go of her
Once they crossed the intersection and reached the iron gate, Soraya finally let go of her friend’s hand and whirled around to make sure they weren’t being followed. The coast was clear—only a lone car sped past, some early riser desperate to beat morning traffic.
Soraya sent a silent prayer to the sun to come up faster. Both times she encountered the spawns from hell, it was at night. Maybe they couldn’t be out in the sun.
It was a fragile hope, but one they couldn’t afford to wait for.
“Hop the fence, we can cut across campus and get to the metro station at Expo Park,” she directed as she turned. Jesmine was bent over and dragging in breath after breath, gulping air down like a drowning woman. She gave Soraya a shaky thumbs-up. It will do.
Lucky for both of them, they’d already had their packs slung over their shoulders when the demon attacked. Without them, they’d be left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
After making quick work of hopping the fence, Soraya assisted Jesmine over the top since she was still winded from their run. They made their way across the deserted campus, passing by their hidden fountain—usually a refuge, now just another landmark in their flight.
The silence was unnerving. On school days, this place teemed with students who had to dodge the self-important people on bikes and motorized skateboards as they sped through the loud, chattering crowds.
Today, as they jogged to the other side of the campus, Soraya’s anxiety was ramping up with each of her —and Jesmine’s—labored breaths and pounding footsteps that seemed to surround them. They probably could be heard from miles away.
Soraya’s nerves screamed with every step and gasping breath, but she saw no movement, heard no pursuit. She crushed the fear rising in her throat. Focus. Run.
Once they reached the far side of campus, they vaulted the back fence and jogged across the narrow street to the metro station.
On impulse, Soraya pulled out her phone that was still miraculously in her pocket to check the time—only to be reminded that her phone was dead. There was no time to charge it.
“Jesmine, can you check when the next E Line toward 7th Street will be here?”
Jesmine nodded and swallowed down a gulping breath as she pulled out her phone to check. “E-line…it will be here in twenty minutes.”
Soraya clicked her tongue and looked around the empty platform. They were too exposed out in the open, and there was nowhere to conceal themselves. “Let’s go across the street into the Rose Garden, we can hide there until the train comes,” she said decisively.
“Can we walk there?” Jesmine’s voice was frayed with exhaustion. “I’m pretty sure we lost them at this point.”
Soraya could see the adrenaline leave her friend’s posture, but as for herself, she felt more awake than ever, but agreed with Jesmine. She didn’t want to risk burning out her friend too early in their journey.