Mother

—Fuck…

Luke's words were drowned out by the sound of rain.

Water was rushing down his face and all over his body. His wet clothes stuck to him and made him feel uncomfortable.

Luke's heart was pounding wildly in his chest and wasn't going to calm down. He was scared. Very scary. His knees were shaking a little and his teeth were chattering.

'The body definitely couldn't have been washed away with water...' thought Luke.

His brain frantically tried to find some explanation for the loss, but fear overshadowed everything.

Another bolt of lightning lit up everything for a brief moment.

Luke's heart stopped beating for a moment, and then continued pounding with even greater intensity than before.

For just a brief moment, he saw the creature. Something was hiding between the trees and looking at the guy with two pairs of eyes. His long arms clung to the nearby trees and scratched them with his long claws. The legs were cut off at the knee. However, they were still about a meter long. The abomination's torso was as thin as the rest of the creature's limbs. However, the belly stood out among them. It was very stretched and translucent. A little more and he would have been lying on the ground.

Luke wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Gladys Ranul's corpse in the stomach.

The guy began to slowly step back. His footsteps were accompanied by squelching sounds from the water.

The creature continued to stare at him and did not move. His long black hair hung down and almost reached the ground.

The hatch continued to move further away. The seconds stretched out for an eternity. It seemed to him that his legs began to weigh about a ton each. He was breathing heavily and steam was coming out of his mouth.

He had to get to the carriage, and then he... what? What should he do next?

Luke gripped his gun.

'Kill her?'

That thought flashed through Luke's mind. It was too obvious and terrible.

To kill someone. Especially a reasonable one. Luke didn't know if it was intelligent, though.

However. If there is a question between his life and death. The choice is obvious.

Luke could no longer see the creature because of the wall of rain and continued to back away.

He was glad not to look at the thing anymore. However, the unknown only scared him more.

Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and illuminated everything around for a brief moment. Luke stepped on something on the ground and fell backwards. The water splashed in different directions and the guy hit his head, but not much. Apparently the grass and water softened the blow.

'Damn... we need to get up faster.Luke thought, but at that moment he heard crying. Baby crying.

The scream was loud and heart-rending. He was very close and scratched Luke's very soul.

The rain continued to pour in torrents. And Luke was almost drowning in it. However, I decided to find out the reason for crying anyway.

Luke sat up a little and looked at his feet.

A baby was lying next to them and crying at the top of his voice. He was lying belly down and you could see that the baby's back was slightly sagged in the shape of something semicircular.

'Where does the child come from?Luke thought.'Wait... did I step on a child?'

Luke didn't have time to think about what to do with the screaming baby, when suddenly he heard a rustle.

Despite the heavy downpour, which had blocked out all sounds before, the rustle was very distinct. At first, it came from the side of the forest. Luke already thought that the monster was approaching him. However, a moment later, a second rustle appeared. But from the other side. From the carriage side. A second later, a new sound appeared, but on the right.

Luke was at a complete loss. After all, there were more and more rustles. They were also getting closer to him by the second and becoming clearer.

The child at Luke's feet stopped crying and looked him straight in the eye. The baby's eyes were pitch black. Without pupils. There was only darkness.

— What the fuck…

Before Luke could finish speaking, the child suddenly grabbed his leg and started gnawing on it.

Luke screamed in pain and looked at the baby.

The little brat bit right into his flesh and started tearing at his leg. Blood poured out in all directions, and the child continued to feast. His jaw was moving at breakneck speed, and his teeth were razor sharp. Blood flew from his leg in all directions and Luke screamed in pain.

Kicking his leg convulsively, trying to throw him off, he achieved nothing. Screaming in pain, Luke gripped the gun tighter and slammed it into the brat.

There was a thud and the baby flew to the side, hiding in a wall of rain.

Luke was still moaning in pain and clutching at his clothes. The pain was hellish. The rain only worsened the situation. After all, every drop of rain caused even more pain from the wound.

Luke heard a rustle to his right. He turned his head and saw another baby. He had the same pitch-black eyes without pupils.

The child grinned and pounced on him, clutching the guy's arm. Before the kid could bite through his hand with his teeth, Luke hit the brat with the muzzle of a pistol and he flew away.

The guy quickly rolled over onto his back and tried to get up.

A sharp pain shot through his leg and he fell to the ground. The gun popped out of his hand and slid a little further.

Luke bit his lip until it bled from the pain in his leg.

At that moment, several babies jumped on his back and they started trying to bite through his coat.

Luke quickly took off his coat and threw it aside along with the little monsters.

He was breathing heavily and writhing in pain. At the same time, Luke was spitting out water and tried to get up again. A sharp pain shot through his leg, but the guy distributed the main body weight to the other leg and the pain subsided. A little bit.

Luke hopped on one leg to the carriage, picking up the pistol. His speed wasn't very fast, but it was enough to escape from the cannibal children.

Another child jumped out of the darkness and Luke managed to react by hitting him with the muzzle.

A minute later, Luke was already climbing into the carriage, panting and writhing from the pain in his leg. He closed the door and leaned back against it.

Rain washed the windows and occasional flashes of lightning illuminated the booth.

Luke was shivering from the cold and the pain in his leg. His breathing was ragged and chaotic.

After a few seconds of rest, Luke pulled the bag closer and started rummaging through it.

Fortunately, he found bandages in it, which he bandaged his leg with. The white fabric immediately turned red, but Luke didn't pay attention to it. He needed a plan. However, nothing sensible came to his mind.

Luke looked at the gun in his hand. Despite a few good hits, the weapon looked intact.

'Will I be able to shoot?Luke thought.

At that moment, someone knocked on the window.

Outside, the only sound was the monotonous pounding of the rain, but Luke sensed that something was wrong. It's too quiet. Too... wrong.

A knock.

Barely discernible, it sounded like a snap of fingers. Luke shuddered, froze, listening.

The knock was repeated. Stronger now. It was a blood—curdling sound - unhurried, methodical, as if someone was tapping out someone else's fate.

Knock. Knock.

Luke gritted his teeth, forcing himself to look up. The window of the carriage was covered with a cloudy film from the rain, but outlines could be seen through it. Four swollen eyes, bottomless as abysses. The creature's lips stretched into a kind of grin, which made her face seem even scarier.

Her huge, translucent belly pressed against the glass. Something was moving inside, as if someone else's hand was trying to get out.

Knock.

The knocking was louder this time. The creature's limb—long, charred, with thin fingers ending in sharp, curved claws—tapped on the glass again.

Luke instinctively recoiled, gasping.

—Leave... me...— he whispered in a trembling voice, as if the words could keep her outside.

The creature tilted its head. Her hair, wet and stuck together, left a long, sticky trail on the glass. She studied Luke. Her claw traced the glass slowly, leaving a deep scratch.

This time the glass cracked.

Luke gripped his gun so tightly that the knuckles on his hand turned white.

He spun around, pointed the gun at the creature, and fired.

It sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil with all its might. Luke was slightly stunned, and his arm jerked away from the shot.

The monster clutched its face and began to scream furiously. It was as if a blade had been drawn across metal.

The sound was so terrible that Luke covered his ears with his hands and crawled away from the creature.

The monster's body convulsed for several seconds, but at one point it stopped. The creature knelt down and its belly pressed against the wet ground.

She sat there for a few moments, then raised her head.

A wide grin was on her hideous face and several streams of pool-black liquid were running down it.

Luke also saw a small hole right in the monster's forehead. However, the creature itself didn't pay much attention to it.

Luke quickly pointed his gun at the creature and was about to pull the trigger. However, the abomination was faster.

Her bony hand shot out to the gun and knocked it out of the guy's hands. After that, she squeezed Luke's shoulder with her hand, and then did the same with the other one.

Luke screamed in pain and began kicking his legs in all directions. As if that would help him in any way.

The creature held Luke in a hanging position for a couple of seconds, after which its mouth opened several times more than before. It was so big that a cow could easily fit in there.

'No... no no no no!Luke screamed in his head and started kicking even harder. However, it was useless.

The creature opened its mouth and held Luke up to it.

The guy looked inside and it would be better if he didn't look there.

Luke felt her huge mouth coming closer, and before he knew what was happening, the dark space of her mouth swallowed him up. The teeth, like giant, darkened points, clenched around his body. He tried to pull away, but her sticky, viscous saliva slid over his skin, holding him in place, her breathing heavy and foul, like stagnant water.

His chest was constricted, and he desperately tried to breathe in, but the air was stale, acrid. He could hear her heart beating wildly in her chest, and he could feel her strength, which seemed to be bursting out of every one of her scales and teeth.

Luke's legs tried to move, but they wouldn't move. He couldn't see anything but the thick darkness that surrounded him, squeezing him tighter. He could no longer hear the rain, he could no longer see the light — only this endless darkness, where his body seemed insignificant and small, as if he were nothing in front of this monster.

After a few moments, Luke felt that he was completely inside the creature. He felt as if something liquid, but at the same time viscous, filled all his holes and his entire body. The liquid got into his nose, ears and mouth. It was stinging and tasted disgusting. Luke tried to spit it out and scream. However, he failed and even more liquid got into his mouth.

At that moment, he threw up. Now he was suffocating not only in the creature's stomach juice, but also in his own vomit.

He would be glad to lose consciousness and stop enduring this horror. However, the severe pain in his leg prevented him from doing so.

He was suffocating in the muck, his own vomit, and also experiencing burning pain in his leg. Which was getting stronger with every passing moment.

His whole body was convulsing in disgust and pain. He wanted to pull out more, but he couldn't. There was nothing left in his stomach but that goo.

Luke could also sense what the thing was doing.

She now moved away from the carriage and began to move into the forest.

The hatch moved slightly over her stomach due to the movements of the monster, touching its walls.

After another push, Luke felt his hand touch something. He involuntarily opened his eyes and the liquid began to burn them. However, Luke wasn't paying attention to it.

Gladys Ranula's face was in front of him. It froze in a nasty, senseless grimace and stared at Luke without eyes.

The guy opened his mouth to scream, but immediately choked on the disgusting liquid.

By this point, the air in his lungs had long since run out and Luke began to suffocate. He started scratching the walls of his stomach, but nothing helped.

'I WANT TO LIVE'

This thought shook Luke's head and he began to scratch the creature's belly more fiercely, but nothing helped.

Consciousness had already begun to leave the Hatch, when suddenly the creature became much more mobile. It was as if she started running somewhere.

The hatch began to float from side to side and hit the belly of the abomination. He moved from one side to the other.

At some point, the creature stopped. She stood motionless for a few seconds.

Luke opened his eyes and stared through his stomach. It was translucent, so he could see the distant features of the surroundings.

At that moment, he saw a quick movement that was directed towards the creature's belly.

Despite his exhaustion, Luke was able to move his head a little to the side. As soon as he did, something sharp stretched out the creature's belly and ripped it open.

Liquid began to flow from the abomination and the stranger's body fell out of the belly along with the Hatch.

Luke felt the fresh air on his skin. However, he didn't pay attention to it.

He quickly got down on his knees and stuck a few fingers down his throat. At the same moment, he started vomiting right on the ground. Flowing liquid flowed from Luke's mouth in an endless waterfall.

After a few moments, the liquid stopped flowing and Luke started coughing, spitting out the rest.

After coughing violently, Luke wiped his face from the goo and took a deep breath. It was painful and at the same time so beautiful. It's like a child who has just been born, taking his first breath.

Luke took a few deep breaths and sprawled on the wet ground.

He could feel the rain furiously washing his body from the muck, and he felt good about it.

His head was empty and he didn't want to think about anything right now.

"I survived.

That was the only thought that was in Luke's mind.

However, he couldn't fully enjoy this short break. After all, a high-pitched screech echoed through the clearing.

Luke grimaced and got up from the ground to look. He saw the creature and a body that Luke couldn't quite see fighting each other.

The new figure dodged the long claws of the abomination and attacked back... with something red and flowing. The unknown man's weapon was like a whip, and at another moment it turned into a short sword, and then into a shield and protected from another attack.

"Is that blood?"Luke croaked.

The scarlet liquid flowed from one form to another in a matter of moments and cut through the abomination. The creature with its belly ripped open screamed and tried to hit the stranger.

Luke adjusted his glasses and got a better look at the stranger.

The body of the unknown savior was completely charred. It was a miracle that the stranger could move with such grace and still dodge the creature's attacks.

Although the unknown man's body was completely charred, however, he still looked like a human in his form.

Although the stranger was good at dodging the creature's attacks, however, Luke saw that he would not last long. Even now, one could see that the unknown was moving more slowly, and the blood was not flowing as fast as before.

'We need to help.Luke thought.

The thought scared him. A normal person in his situation would have immediately run away, heels flashing. However, he couldn't do that.

First of all, there are his things in karate, which he will not be able to take away if the creature does not die.

Secondly, Luke wanted to take revenge on the monster somehow.

He immediately remembered the pistol that was left in the carriage. However, Luke can't take it away. Because an unknown person was fighting with a monster between the carriage and the Hatch.

At that moment, an idea came to the guy's head. He quickly patted the pockets of his trousers and felt nothing. After that, he looked around and saw only the mud and Gladys' body around.

'So the bag of stones was left in the belly of this creature.Luke thought and stood on one leg.

He galloped on one leg through the rain and rushed to the battlefield.

'Electricity activates the magic stone, resulting in a shot. What happens if several stones are activated at once with a strong charge of electricity?"

The rain and wind knocked him down and he fell to the ground. However, he got up and kept walking.

His body was shaking from the cold and pain, as well as burning from fever.

He was getting closer and closer. He could already hear through the howling wind and rain how the blood was cutting the creature's body, and the creature only screamed and waved its claws in response.

He was already very close. However, at this moment, the abomination claw was able to reach the unknown savior. The stranger's hand flew away with him and slid a little on the ground.

The monster approached the unknown and raised its hand with razor-sharp claws.

There was a malicious smile on the creature's face, and its eyes were squinted into four slits.

The unknown man was lying on the ground, with his severed arm next to him.

The hand of abomination rushed straight into the throat of the unknown and threatened to pierce through it.

— LIGHTNING!

Luke's scream echoed through the clearing through the howling wind and rain.

Because of the scream, the creature was a little distracted and delayed its attack. That was enough time for the stranger to take his hand and jump out of the way. The creature screamed again and looked at Luke, and then at the unknown.

He, in turn, threw his hand over the monster. In the next instant, the arm shriveled in a split second and a stream of blood shot out of it, piercing through the abomination's body like a spear.

The blood spear towered up several meters and nailed the creature to the ground.

A hideous screech echoed across the field and Luke covered his ears.

The creature couldn't move, and pitch-black liquid flowed out of its mouth.

However, it wasn't enough to kill her.

After a few seconds, the abomination was able to move and headed for the Hatch.

There was hatred and contempt in her eyes. However, Luke didn't care about that. He waited.

A lasso of blood wrapped around the monster's neck and prevented it from going any further. The sharp claws reached for the lasso, but at that moment, the world lit up with blue light.

Another lightning bolt struck. However, this time, right into the lightning rod of blood.

For a brief moment, the creature looked like a Christmas tree and illuminated the clearing with blue light.

In the next instant, the world shook with an explosion and the monster was blown to pieces in all directions. Torn apart from the inside by blue fire.

The shock wave knocked back Luke and the unknown.

The guy slipped a few meters on the wet ground. He was stunned for a few seconds and blinded.

After a while, Luke sat up and looked at the surroundings.

A small crater formed at the site of the explosion. Small pieces of the monster could be seen everywhere.

The stranger was lying nearby and looked relatively intact. If you don't look at the terrible burns all over his body.

Luke stretched out his hand and looked at the sky.

— The rain has stopped.