Chapter 55: Chapter 55

Chapter 54:

Sanaya’s P.O.V:

Just when the red orbs had moved dangerously close to me, blocking my exit from all directions, something fell in front of me that had the ground rumble so hard that it knocked me off my feet. I fell to the ground, thankful for the material of the gown that took most of the hit, but my hands came in contact with the rocks and they instantly sliced through my skin, drawing blood. I bit my tongue to keep from crying out loud. It didn’t matter how much pain I was in, I couldn’t give away my location to the newest member who was far too close for comfort. But before I could back away from my attacker, something grabbed a hold of my hand and hauled me to my feet. Strangely, they felt like hands; normal human hands that didn’t burn my skin on contact or draw blood.

I looked up at the figure in front of me; and for a second I was struck by the beauty of the eyes that stared back at me. Amethyst with a hint of grey and blue. They looked like normal human eyes no matter how unusual the color, unlike the red orbs of the creatures that were surrounding me. Hope bloomed in my chest. I wasn’t alone. Someone was here with me, someone human…or immortal.

Before I could determine if the hands belonged to a friend or foe, those hands pushed me away and the creature turned to face the new intruder. I don’t know what happened next but the moaning and groaning sounds increased in crescendo until they were like screams coming from all directions.

“Curro!” (Run)

There was no doubt about it, the sound had definitely come from the amethyst-eyed creature and it sounded more human than anything I’ve heard from this world. And it was a male voice.

“Curro!”

It repeated in Latin, this time, turning its unique eyes towards me. The light from the pendent wasn’t enough to show me who it was, but I could distinctly shape out the outline of a person. But right then, I didn’t have any other choice. If I stayed, the red-orbed creatures would kill us both, and I did not want to die here, in this wretched world. So I did exactly what the voice told me to do. I ran.

“Gratias tibi ago!” (Thank you) I called out without looking back and ran in the direction the man had pointed me towards, trying to keep going in a straight line as best as I could. It was a herculean task when one of my main senses were no longer usable.

I don’t know which direction I was running in, but I knew that I hadn’t gotten very far. The groaning sounds of those red eyed creatures were all around me. Maybe they were everywhere; I couldn’t tell. I was too busy trying to prevent my heart from bursting out of my chest and to stay on my feet.

I was never this comfortable in heels but today I was glad I had worn them because it kept my feet well above the sharp ground. I came to a sudden halt when the light emitting from the pendant suddenly grew brighter.

“What the-“

It was a good thing that I stopped, because the ground ended only two feet in front of me. The light from the pendant was now a deadly beacon and it was enough to help me regain my sight.

“A cliff?” I whispered in horror with a hand against my heart as I tried to look at what was down below. But it looked more like the road ahead had been broken by something heavy. Small shards of the black rocks lay scattered on the ground but I couldn’t see a thing that lied below the edge.

Suddenly, a hand came up from the darkness and grabbed on to the edge. I screamed and backed away from the edge, but my feet slipped on one of the shards on the ground and I fell on my back.

A white hot flash of pain seared through my body and my vision went temporarily blind. When my mind was finally able to think past the pain, I opened my eyes to find a creature with the red orb like eyes, climbing on top of my body. It was the first time I noticed what kind of creatures they were and I wished I had never opened my eyes. A strangled scream tore through me as it based its teeth at me and let out a loud moan.

It was horror personified. When it moaned, its mouth opened wide enough to show me its entails. Made of a slimy black substance that clung to bones, it was almost similar to the zombies I saw in horror movies; except, this was very, very real. And the worst part was, the slime that covered its body was dripping on to my body and wherever it fell, it burned a hole right through my dress and then burned through my skin.

“Somebody! Help!” I screamed as tears streamed my eyes and pain made my mind go numb, but there was no one other than the creature and me. “Please!” I begged. “Help me!”

But no one came. Only, the creature moaned once again, this time louder and slowly crept up my body.

“No, stop! Please, stop! Please!” I kept begging but the creature was almost up to my chest.

I wanted desperately to shove it with my hands but I was terrified that the acid slime in his body will burn right through my hand, or worse, it might even cut off my hand with its skeletal teeth.

Suddenly, I noticed a stray shard of rock from the corner of my eyes. It was long enough that I could hold it with my hand and being slicked by the rock sounded a lot better than being burned by acid. So I moved my hand to try to grab the shard, but instantly, the creatures head whipped around to follow my hand.

It was now or never.

“Lancelin!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as I grabbed the shard in my hand and jabbed it into the creatures head, right between its eyes.

For a second the creature became absolutely still, before opening its sharp, pointed teeth and letting out a loud moan that very much sounded like nails being dragged down a black board.

I screamed and covered my ears with my bleeding hands. But also, taking advantage that the creature was distracted, I used all my strength to bring my legs up to my chest from under the creature and pushed back on its chest with my heels, sending it flying back into the abyss where it had crawled out of.

I collapsed on the ground, crying in momentary relief, not bothering that the ground was cutting into my skin. I was in unimaginable pain, but somehow, I knew this wasn’t the end. I couldn’t die here, so far away from Lance, not knowing how he was. I had to get back to him. I had to know how he was! I needed to be back in his arms!

And that was when I remembered the syringe in my pocket and I knew what I had to do if I had to stay alive.

Reaching into the pocket of my tattered and torn dress, I pulled out the syringe and uncapped the needle. A chunk of something fell on my face along with several droplets. I removed it with my hand and brought it close to my eyes as the pendant began to dim. I gave a sharp bark of laughter as I realized the chunk was a part of my flesh that had sliced off of my hand when I had taken a hold of the rock. And the droplets were my blood.

Not thinking twice, I stabbed the syringe right in the middle of my chest, leaning an inch towards the left where my heart would be, and pressed down on the plunger. When I had emptied out the entire tube, I pulled it out and it automatically fell from my hand as I felt my entire body going numb. The ground was cold and sticky and I could feel the stones digging into my back as blood flowed freely. But at this point, the pain no longer registered in my brain.

Was I too late? I thought to myself as my eyelids began to droop. Was this the end? Will I never see Lance again?

Lancelin…my Lance…

Suddenly, a flash of blue light filled the entire landscape. The light was so bright that it blinded me. I flailed my hands around to get a hold of another one of those shards to defend against the new enemy, but just as soon as I took another stone in my hand, this one shorter, I heard a voice I never thought I’d hear again.

“Sanaya!”

There was not a single doubt in my mind as to whose voice it was.

“Lance!” I yelled back with all the strength I had left, black spots dancing in my vision. “Lance…”

“Sanaya!” Lance yelled again. “I’m coming for you!”

“Lance…” I whispered, turning my head towards the light. “Lance?” I called out again, reaching my hand out towards him.

“I’m here!” His voice sounded nearer. “I’m here, Sanaya!”

“Lance…” My vision began to leave as the dark spots grew bigger and my hand dropped to the ground.

The last thing I remembered seeing was Lance’s handsome face contorted in worry as the entire world faded to black.