Chapter 1 #2
After another deep breath, I lined the key up with the lock by feel and managed to slip it inside.
My heart stuttered when I tried to twist it one way, but it wouldn’t budge.
Fingers trembling, I turned it the opposite direction.
To my relief, the lock opened with a quiet snick, and the collar around my neck loosened.
I yanked the lock free of the loops, throwing it behind me, then the collar and chain fell away from my body, leaving me free.
I sucked in another lungful of air and staggered to my feet.
My head was still swimming a bit from whatever they’d used to knock me out, but I had no choice but to keep moving.
I stumbled back to where the length of cloth had fallen to the floor, wrapped it around me like a sarong, then twisted the ends around my chest and up over one shoulder, tying them together.
It wasn’t perfect but it would do until I could get somewhere safe.
I glanced around, noticing that all the cages surrounding me were empty, save two.
One held a small creature that resembled a wild boar.
It watched me with beady black eyes from the back corner of its prison.
The other held another thing, like the one who’d kidnapped me.
His eyes were hollow, yellow instead of red, and hard as they locked on me.
The thousand-yard stare had a chill running down my spine that had nothing to do with the fact that my hair was cold and wet.
There was no way I was freeing either one of them.
Not when I couldn’t be sure if they would try to harm me.
Instead, I focused on the door at the end of the rows.
I hurried to it and put my ear against the wood.
There was some yelling and crying, and a great deal of movement on the other side, as though a large crowd was gathered there.
I lowered myself to the floor and peeked through the crack beneath the door.
It wasn’t another room, but an outdoor stage.
I could see the clawed feet of another monster like the one I’d killed and the bare feet of several humans.
Judging by their size and shape, they were all women.
Some of them were sitting on the stage, others kneeling.
A few were standing and shivering. But they were all as naked as I was.
I tried not to think about what that meant because the fear building inside me would become unmanageable.
Shit. I wouldn’t be able to use this as my escape route unless I had no other choice.
I got to my feet and ran to the back of the holding cells. There was no door, no window. Not even a loose board or vent I could squeeze through.
No fucking escape.
It looked like I had no choice but to go out the door to the front of the stage. I looked around, my head swiveling quickly as I searched for anything that I could use as a weapon.
There was nothing. Nothing except the chain and the… key to the collar I’d taken off.
My fingers touched my neck at the thought. That key had been sharp enough to pierce my skin earlier. Maybe I could use it as a makeshift weapon.
I scooped it up on my way back to the door, steeling myself for what was coming.
Just as I reached the door, it flew open, revealing another monster even larger than the one I’d just fought.
Instead of gray, his skin was a dusky golden brown.
He had two huge black horns curving up from his head toward the back of his skull.
Black eyes flashed red when he saw me standing there, his full lips curling into a snarl, revealing teeth that looked much more human than the other monster.
Except for his canines—they were sharp fangs.
The hand that reached for me was huge, each finger tipped with claws.
“What are you doing out?” he asked, his voice guttural and deep.
His eyes darted behind me, quickly taking in the corpse behind me.
Taking advantage of his distraction, I darted forward to stab him in the belly with the key.
He grunted, the muscles of his abdomen tensing.
The metal made it through the first half inch of skin before coming to a stop in the tightly packed muscle of his stomach.
Fuck.
This was bad.
So, so bad.
I tried to yank the key free, intending to aim for his armpit next.
Though he obviously wasn’t human, he had soft spots.
He had to. I could only hope that he had arteries in the same place humans did.
But the metal was stuck in his skin. Knowing I had to do something, I released the key, aiming for his throat.
I spread my thumb away from my hand and, using an arc hand strike, I struck the front of his neck. Hard.
He choked, his hands coming up to his throat.
I moved behind him, throwing a kick to the back of his knee.
The floor shook when his leg buckled, and both his knees hit the ground.
Hoping that the rest of his internal organs were similar to a human’s, I kicked him where his kidneys should be, putting as much power behind it as I could.
He went down, belly first, with a crash.
I didn’t wait to see if he would get up. I turned, running out the door, and straight into the chest of another monster. Except this one was like the first. Before I could lift a hand, a chain was dropped over my head from behind and twisted tightly around my neck, immediately cutting off my air.
The creature then dragged me backward before picking me up, carrying me outside, and throwing me down on the stage. I landed on my belly with a thud so hard that my teeth rattled, forcing the last bit of air in my lungs to escape my mouth.