Betrayal 2012 (16 page)

“And don’t make any sound,” Graham continued.  “They seem to be focused on the front of the house and we don’t want to alert them to our location.”

I nodded and let him grab my hand.  He mouthed
one-two-three
and then we jumped.  The fall probably only lasted a few seconds but it felt much longer.  There was no graceful or safe way to land in bushes and that was quite evident when I crashed through them.  The branches stabbed at my legs and scratched my arms.  I took a brief moment to be thankful that they weren’t rose bushes with thorns, but I was still injured by my jump. 

We sat still for a few seconds to see if any of the ratchets heard us.  Their incessant howling and barking surrounded the house and created a prison.  I heard Graham shifting in the bush beside me and decided that it must be safe to emerge.  It wasn’t pretty, but I finally detangled myself from the woody claws.  When I took my first step forward, I immediately fell back to the ground.  “Ahh!”

Graham ran quickly to me and draped his arm over my back.  “What’s wrong?” he whispered.  A piercing howl echoed off the walls behind us and made it sound like at least one ratchet was getting close.

“I think I twisted my ankle.”  I tried standing again and felt the searing pain.  Now was not the time to be injured.

“We need to go,” Graham said urgently.

“Okay.  I can do this.”  I stood up and bit my lip hard. 
The pain was just like going through a transition
, I kept telling myself.  And once we reached the water I would be able to change and everything would feel better.

We ran along the back wall until we reached the corner.  Unfortunately, the ocean was across the road in front of the house, so we needed to get past all of the activity without being seen.  I leaned around Graham to see for myself what we were getting into.  Two protectors were taking on one ratchet and what I saw frightened me to my core.

The hound was more akin to a bear than a dog.  It was about five feet tall with thick, dark fur and a head that must have been at least the size of a mastiff’s.  The large fangs glistened with drool and its lips were pulled back in a snarl.  The creature’s body was hunched over and ready to pounce on the next protector that made a move.  And unfortunately, it happened.

The merman leapt forward in an attempt to plunge his knife into the ratchet’s neck.  With unnatural speed, the dog creature twisted to the side and chomped down on the man’s arm, eliciting a gut-wrenching shriek from him.  The ratchet shook his head from side to side, tossing the protector around like a doll.  When the other merman ran forward to his aid, the dog growled and threw the first protector from his jaws and into the side of the house.  He hit with a sickening crunch and fell motionless to the ground.  By this time, the ratchet and the still standing protector were circling each other like gladiators in the ring.  After what we just witnessed, I didn’t think the merman had a chance.

“We need to go while it’s distracted,” Graham whispered and pulled me ahead with him.  I didn’t want to leave our protectors behind, but we really didn’t have another option right now.  Graham and I ran as fast as we could into a cluster of shrubs that bordered the perimeter of the property.  Ducking and twisting through the underbrush, we’d almost made it to the front of the house and the open driveway when we suddenly heard a low rumble.  I froze mid stride causing Graham to slam into me.

“Did you hear that?”  The sound grew louder.

“Don’t move,” he said through gritted teeth.  Something crunched off to our side forcing us to turn and face the danger.  Four ratchets were making their way directly towards our hiding spot.  The front one raised his giant head in the air and flared his nostrils.  It was evident to me when he caught our scent as he lowered his head and looked directly through the bushes at us.  The night was suddenly filled with a howl so sharp and frightening that I could barely breathe.  He was telling the others where we were, and now we were out of time.

“Run!” I shouted at Graham and we bolted forward with as much speed as we could muster.  Just as we crashed through the bushes and into the open road, I heard several yelps and snarls as the rest of the ratchets finally spotted us and began their hunt.  Some slid in the gravel and others snapped at their companions in order to get ahead.  When I made the mistake of peeking behind me, I saw that the leader of the group was only steps behind and he was dripping with determination and also with something wet.  I hoped that it wasn’t blood.

We sprinted across the road, not even checking for cars.  The site of the sand dunes gave me hope knowing that the ocean wasn’t too far away.  Surely we would be safe once we reached the water.  When my foot hit the incline on the first dune, I crumpled to the ground. 

The pain in my ankle worsened as I scrambled through the sand trying to get my footing back.  The lead ratchet lunged for me with his giant fangs and expanded jaw but I was able to roll to the side quick enough to avoid the bite.  His face slammed into the dune and it took him a few seconds to get upright again.  In that time, I managed to roll onto my back and place a devastating kick to the creature’s ribs.  Thinking that I actually heard bone crunching, I was relieved to see that it knocked him sideways with a yelp.

Graham pulled me up under my arms and yanked me over the rest of the dune.  We had two more to climb over before reaching the flattened beach and from the noises behind us, the ratchets were gaining ground.  In the distance, I heard more sounds of glass breaking interspersed with gun shots.  The protectors had resorted to firearms.  The situation must be grim.

We reached the beach just as three ratchets leapt over the final dune and stumbled to the ground.  Their footing slipped when they landed on the hardened substrate instead of loose sand.  Thankfully, it gave us the few extra seconds we needed to get to the water’s edge. 

Without saying a word, Graham and I hurled ourselves into the water and let nature take its course.  Ever since becoming a clan leader, my transitions have been smooth and mostly painless, and tonight was no exception.  It was a little awkward with clothes on, but they quickly ripped away in the process.

I turned to see that Graham had already changed and watched as he tore off the remaining remnants of clothing.  He then reached for my hand and began to propel us deeper and further away from the beach.  I understood that we needed to keep moving, but it wasn’t like the dogs could come after us.  Pulling away from his grasp, I darted to the surface to catch a larger breath of air and to make sure that we weren’t being followed.  Graham popped up beside me.

“We need to keep moving,” he was breathing hard.

“I needed a better breath.  Plus I wanted to make sure that we were safe.”

He turned to look at the beach and shook his head.  “We’re not.” 

I caught the movement as soon as he said something.  The largest ratchet had reached the shoreline and seemed to be calling for others.  More enormous dogs came barreling over the dunes and stopped just short of the water’s edge.  Then, as one, they all ran forward into the water and disappeared under the surface.

“What….?” I tried to ask, but Graham was already pulling me back under.  He pumped his tail and I followed suit as we tried to put some distance between us and our attackers.  I had never heard of ratchets before or creatures that looked like dogs and could swim underwater.  Perhaps they were a type of sprite and maybe they could change their shape and size.  That thought sent pure fear and dread through my body.  If these were water sprites, then we were in serious trouble.

Graham and I swam hard and fast.  Risking a glance behind me again, I thought that I saw something in the darkness.  When we heard a shrill scream under the water, I knew that the ratchets weren’t far behind.  Graham must have come to the same conclusion because he spun around so fast, I sped right past him.  He looked for our attackers and soon he found them.

A dozen dark shapes jetted out of the surrounding abyss and I nearly swallowed the water.  The doglike head was still present, but their black bodies had elongated into an eel shape complete with two tiny front legs and dorsal and tail fins.  They swiveled from side to side, undulating through the water at a remarkable speed.  As they approached, I crept closer to Graham who seemed to only have eyes for them.

I watched as they surrounding us and snapped their fangs in our direction.  It took every fiber in my being not to turn and run.  Mermaids were fast, but I wasn’t sure that I would be able to out swim all of these creatures. 

Graham reached behind and pulled my body closer to his.  I took the hint and wrapped my arms around his waist, effectively using his body as a shield.  The largest ratchet began to glide closer to us while the others formed a circular barrier.  My gaze kept moving between each creature that edged a little too close.  What kind of a threat was I?  What could I possibly do to counterattack?

It was Graham who came up with a solution and it was one that I wouldn’t have been able to perform.  I felt his muscles strain as he lifted his arms to the side and then flipped them over his head.  We spun around in several tight circles and even though I didn’t know what was going on, I stayed glued to his back.  When we stopped moving, I peeked over his shoulder only to be amazed at what I saw.

Graham had created a tornado under water.  Using his hands to bend the element to his will, he managed to conjure up a giant whirlpool of sorts with us in the center and the ratchets spinning around uncontrollably on the outside.  I watched in fascination as he wielded the energy from the water and directed it towards incapacitating our attackers.

Somehow, the lead ratchet escaped the currents and barreled straight forward into both of us.  The impact knocked us back and Graham was forced to drop control over the water.  He needed to maintain the tornado in order for us to even have some semblance of a chance.  So without thinking, I pushed him behind me and grabbed the massive dog-eel around the body to yank him away from Graham.

Keep going!
I yelled in my mind, not knowing if Graham would be able to understand.  I really didn’t have time to wait and see because a large set of canines chomped down on my arm and I screamed in pain.  His grip tightened and I was forced to let go of his back. 

Using my free hand, I pushed my thumb into the ratchet’s eye until he let go of my arm.  As soon he did, I backed away and spared a glance towards Graham.  The tornado was moving again and this time I saw him use tendrils of water to grab individual ratchets and slam their bodies together.  It seemed to be killing them and I quickly felt reassured.  They may be water sprites, but they can still be killed. 

I suddenly remembered something.  We should be able to control water sprites, at least to a degree.  I looked at the ratchet swimming straight for me and thought
Stop!
in my head as hard as I could.  He continued to come at me, so I held up my hands and commanded him to stop again. 

It was futile.  His jaws were opened and focused on my extended arm.  With a rush of dread, I realized I couldn’t control him.  Then abruptly, he jerked away from me.  I looked at Graham in surprise as he commanded a strand of water to grab a hold of the ratchet and pull it closer to him.

The creature shrieked as the water crushed his ribs like a constricting snake.  Graham’s eyes were focused on the ratchet but I could see his body trembling with overexertion.  Belatedly, I also realized that there were no more ratchets spinning around us.  I assumed they were dead, but the water was too dark to see if their bodies sunk to the bottom.  Graham whipped his arms around his head and I saw another tendril appear out of nowhere and wrap around the ratchet’s snarling head.  The water sprite was still struggling to break free but his movements were waning.  It was only a few seconds longer before I heard the breaking of bones as his body was flattened to an unnatural shape by the force of the water.

His final yelp echoed through our surroundings and something dark began to seep from his body.  I didn’t know if it was blood, but it was definitely a symbol of his demise.  With a final toss, Graham used his watery arms to throw the creature down towards the bottom of the ocean. 

Once it was safely out of sight, I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms tightly around his chest.  He had saved us and I would forever be grateful.

Graham nodded towards the surface so I began to move my tail to lift us out of the water.  We broke through and gasped for a clean breath of air.  Graham was breathing heavily and he looked tired.  I focused on the beach that was now at least half a mile away and tried to see if there were anymore ratchets waiting for us.  In the distance, I noticed an orange glowing light coming from the area of Jeremiah’s house and my heart sank when I realized it was fire.  Many people probably died tonight and although I didn’t know most of them, it still saddened me.