Chapter 6: A Living Nightmare

Emily

I struggle as hard as I can against the arm clamped around my waist. The more I kick, the harder he squeezes. Trying to scream doesn’t do any good because his hand stifles all my cries in my throat. Opening my mouth as wide as I can, one of his fingers slips in and I bite the living hell out of it.

“You fucking bitch,” he shouts, but my mouth is free and I let loose.

“Help! Somebody help us, please!” That’s all I manage before I’m gagged again. Another man takes me by the hair and wrenches my head back to sneer in my face.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” He’s shockingly calm, but his eyes blaze with a yellow light that shakes me to my core. When he sees the terror in my face, he smiles, running a tongue over a row of pointed teeth. “Surprised?” A throaty chuckle gurgles out of his throat. “Welcome to New Orleans.”

He’s not human. The thought shrieks in my brain, and my eyes roll in search of my sister. She’s trying like hell to get her footing, but one of her heels has snapped off and the bastard grappling with her laughs in her face. There’s something off about him too, and when I look closer, I see fangs glinting in his mouth.

Nausea hits me like a punch in the gut and I double over.

This can’t be real. I’m dreaming.

Raya breaks free enough to scream.

“Where the fuck is everyone? HELP!”

Noisy as the bar was, I can’t believe for a second nobody can hear us.

“Shut the fuck up!” Her captor catches her across the face with a slap so hard she drops to the ground in a heap. Adrenaline dumps into my bloodstream and I thrash like a wild animal.

“Nice try,” the yellow-eyed creature taunts, tightening his grip until I think my scalp is going to peel back from my skull. Tears sting the corners of my eyes, pouring down my face in hot rivers.

Then a roar splits the night and a massive black shadow whizzes past. There’s a strangled cry, and the hand in my hair loosens a bit. Relief rushes over me, then the hand lets go completely. There’s an odd sound, like a raw steak hitting a cutting board, and I peel my eyes open to look at the ground.

There’s a severed hand between my feet. The ragged end of it spurts dark blood as the fingers twitch. I jerk back in horror, putting the guy holding me off his balance. He staggers back, the arm around my waist slackening just a bit.

Raya screams again, and I look over just in time to see the monster standing over her slap her again.

“Hey,” the man pinning me shouts. “Something got Uriah.” Taking advantage of his distraction, I twist around in his arms and claw at his face. He reels back, red eyes flashing in the dark. “Bitch!” A savage grimace reveals a pair of fangs and he gnashes them at me as I try to rip his face open.

Another blistering snarl echoes through the alley, and the shadow looms up again. It moves too quickly for me to see it properly, but it manages to sweep one of the legs out from under the guy holding me. He crashes down to his knee, clutching at me all the way down. Just when I’m about to break free, he catches me by the wrist and yanks my arm to his mouth. Before I can wrench myself free, he sinks his teeth into my skin.

I scream and try to pull away, but his head jerks back and something slashes across his throat. It parts in a wide, wet gash, and a gout of crimson blood slops down his shirt.

Staggering back, I trip over my own feet and crater to the grimy pavement. Everything starts spinning as the dark figure swoops through again. And the creature trying to kidnap me is gone. All that’s left is a stain on the asphalt and a pained cry fading in the wind.

My whole body goes numb, and just when I think I’m going to pass out, Raya’s voice cuts through the fog closing in around me.

“Emily!” Pivoting where I sit, I can just see her eyes wide with fear. “Get help!” A van skids up, the door already open. More figures are inside, and hands stretch out and pull her inside. The last thing I see is her eyes shining through the gloom. Then the door grinds shut.

The dark thing rockets after her, slamming into the side of the van hard enough to crumple the door. That’s all the fuckers need, and they zoom off into the night.

A low rumble reverberates down the alleyway, but it’s not the sound of an engine. More like the roar of a ravenous lion. It crescendos, culminating in a piercing shriek. Then a pair of eyes like burning coals flash at me from the shadows, and whatever it is sails off into the sky.

I flop back on the pavement, chest heaving as I stare at the murky sky in disbelief. Despair and agony wash over me, and painful sobs surge up my throat.

They’ve taken Raya. She’s gone.

But just what are ‘they?’ My brain can’t comprehend what I’ve just been through. It just keeps glitching out. My sister and I were just attacked by fucking monsters. And now I’m alone, saved by something I never even saw.

“Looks like we’ve got one over here,” a voice says, and I’m relieved it sounds human. Craning my neck, I can make out a pair of men heading my way. My first impulse is to run. Maybe they’ve come back for me now that that thing is gone.

Then I see the badges.

“How you doing tonight, sweetheart?” Just patronizing enough to make my skin crawl.

“Please,” I stammer. “You have to help me. Those things—they took my sister.”

“Things?” The cops exchange a wry look. God, why are police always so fucking smug? “Let’s sit you up.” They lift me, and my whole body aches from the strain of what I’ve just been through. I’m going to be bruised for weeks from this.

“Please help me.”

“That’s what we’re here for,” the second cop says. He crouches in front of me, shining a small flashlight in my face. “Can you follow the tip of my finger with your eyes?”

“I’m not drunk.”

“Just follow my finger, miss.” But I don’t look at his fucking finger. I look him right in the eye.

“Officer, my sister and I were just attacked by three men. Only they weren’t men. They were monsters or something.”

“Alright, now—”

“Listen to me!” I grab his shoulder, pulling closer. “I saw what I saw. Two of them had me, then a van pulled up and the other one threw my sister inside. You have to go now if you want to catch them.”

“Tell me what these men looked like,” the first cop says, completely unphased.

“I told you they weren’t men.”

“Alright, monsters then.” A mocking smile smears across his face. “What did these monsters look like?” I want to spit in his face.

“You think I’m making this up?”

“Look, miss,” the one crouching next to me says. “You’ve had a lot to drink tonight. I get it. Mardi Gras.”

“I’m not drunk.”

“Like he said, sweetheart,” the standing cop grins, tapping his notepad with the butt of his pen. “It’s Mardi Gras. Everybody’s drunk. How about we get you home?” He reaches for me and I slap his hand away, skittering backwards across the ground.

“Don’t touch me! I’m not some drunk sorority girl! I’m telling you, those things took my sister. They kidnapped her, and you’re just standing here like assholes.”

“Watch it now.” The sympathetic officer stands now, his tone hardening. “We’re just trying to help.”

“You’re not helping at all,” I wail. Getting hysterical isn’t helping my case, but I’m powerless to stop the tailspin. “Why won’t you believe me?”

“Maybe I can help.”

I know that voice.