Chapter Nine
Sabrina shivered in her hiding place under the table. All this chaos was too much. She squeezed her bag tightly against her chest, trying and failing to calm down. Dimitri was next to her, watching her and keeping an eye out for the monsters. She felt him put his arms around her comfortingly and calmed down a little.
“I can’t… I’m sorry. I don’t know if we’re gonna be okay,” Dimitri admitted. He peered over for any beast nearby. He then turned back to Sabrina. “Blanche.” Dimitri dialed a phone number, turned down the call volume, waiting for a ring.
"Who?" Sabrina asked shakily, "Who is that?"
Dimitri ignored her question, finally hearing a response,
--I don’t know if you can call right now, I hope they can’t hear you--
“Do you know what’s going on?” Dimitri asked.
--No. Unfortunately, I don’t, but I have some supplies to help defend yourself… focus on protecting the girl until I get over here.--
She hung up. Dimitri hugged his phone before putting it away.
Sabrina reached a hand out and placed it on his arm. "Who was that?" she asked, "It sounded like they can help us."
“That’s Blanche. She’s my sister. She’s an expert on evasion and weapons,” Dimitri admitted. “We just need to hide and run until she gets here.”
Sabrina nodded, getting up and whispering, "We should find a safer place to hide then." She started sneaking to the next table with Dimitri close behind when she heard an unearthly yet melodic shriek. Turning sharply, she saw one of the horned beasts as it was charging at the both of them. So much for sneaking, she thought. She watched as the beast formed a long scythe and sliced at Dimitri. Thankfully, only his clothes were caught by the blade.
Panicking, Sabrina tried to dash under its legs, but she tripped and fell on her back beneath it. It let out a roar and brought the scythe down, striking uncomfortably close to her head.
Dimitri winced from the scythe scraping his back, turning back to the hideous monster. “It’s like hell,” he choked. He turned back, pointing at the flames starting to lap at part of the cafe’s structure. "We need to get out of here!” he demanded. Dimitri hastily grabbed Sabrina’s hand, and took a beeline to the exit.
Checking that she still had her bag, Sabrina stumbled after him, coughing from the smoke and struggling to breathe. The two finally made it out of the building as the flames engulfed what little remained of the café. The creature let out a haunting screech, but Sabrina couldn't tell if it survived.
However, the screeching only grew louder, causing other beasts to surround them. They crept tantalizingly slow, stretching their limbs out, poised to attack. Fearing the end, Sabrina held on to Dimitri tightly.
Just when the blow was about to be made, one of them began to twitch, then fall flat into the soot coated ground, revealing a young woman with a hooplike blade strapped around her body, much like a satchel. The woman had a striking resemblance to Succubina, but before Sabrina could continue that train of thought, another beast tried to lash out once more. This one crashed to the ground in a heap only as well, revealing the same busty woman Sabrina had seen with Dimitri earlier. She had a loose ponytail and was holding an unfamiliar gun. Through their wounds, Sabrina could have sworn there was sand oozing out of these creatures.
The woman fired her weapon, shooting a strange beam which hit one of their legs. Unfortunately, the shot dissipated upon striking one of the legs. “Ah. Good info,” She breathed.
The Succubina look-alike’s ring blade sliced up the beast’s torso. The unwitting beast was thrown across the pavement, skidding to a stop by Sabrina's feet. She yelped a little in surprise and shied away from it.
The last remaining abomination extended its elongated claws out to the familiar women’s, scratching her arm to give deep cuts. She hissed then tensed up. What seemed like a future scar, gradually began to heal itself. Her skin was sizzling and sewed itself shut. The doppelganger didn’t seem hurt, but irate. “BLANCHE! GET THE KIDS IN THE CAR!!”
“But--”
“NOW, SCIENCE GIRL!”
The woman flicked her head to a tight grey vehicle, then back to the look-alike, “I understand, but what about you?”
“This is my mess; my burden,” The familiar stranger claimed, “I need to clean this up myself, starting with finding my sister.”
“I don’t understand,” The woman, Blanche, replied.
“You don’t need to! just go!”
“Fine.” Taking a mad dash, Blanche latched onto Sabrina and Dimitri’s arms, leading them to what was her car. She continued to hold their hands, only letting go once both of them could regain their strength to run with her. Sabrina turned back to see The familiar girl’s enemies completely engulfing her, completely ignoring Sabrina and co.’s flight. Once they reached the car, The woman frantically fumbled with the keys before the engine roared. With the car skidding off and the tires burning, Sabrina could only helplessly watch her hold herself together against those monsters.