Haven: Revenge of the Viper (13 page)

It was dark. The smell of scorched wood and dust lingered in the air, like a thick undulating fog. She coughed and felt a sharp pain on the left side of her body. Closing her eyes again, she winced and bit down on her lip. She was lying flat on her back and could feel something heavy across her legs. Slowly she lifted her head, straining to get a better look at her surroundings. Pain shot through her body, traveling from her abdomen to her lower back.

She gritted her teeth and took short shallow breaths. Quickly, she scanned the room. Silver iridescent veins of moonlight cascaded from the living room window through the billowing clouds of dust. Water continued to gush from the ruptured kitchen pipes, creating a fine mist that lingered in the stale air.

Debris from the blast littered the living room. Mounds of wood and sheetrock lay in heaps around her. Wires and scraps of insulation clung loosely to severed floor joists above her.

Gasping, Alisa eased her head back to the ground. The agonizing pain was almost unbearable. She waited a few seconds before gradually taking another breath.

But this time the air smelled different. There was something more than dust and wreckage there. It was the smell of iron; it was the smell of blood. Alisa knew that if she could smell the blood, chances were that she had lost a lot of it.

Slowly she turned her head, tilting it just enough to see her midsection, but it was too dark to see anything clearly. The large support beam and part of the staircase that lay across her legs obstructed the moonlight.

Alisa leaned her head back down and listened intently. She could not hear anything over the spewing water in the kitchen. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Did the children make it? Were they safe? She had to find out.

She needed Nara, but where was she? Alisa looked around the room to the best of her capabilities but Nara was nowhere in sight.

“Nara,” she called out, her voice strained and raspy. She brought her hand to her mouth and coughed. When she pulled it away, she grimaced. A thick dark liquid oozed down the length of her palm.

Blood, well, that’s disappointing,
she told herself.

“Nara,” she cried again, this time a bit louder.

In the distance, just beyond the debris, a familiar blue glow appeared in the darkness. “Nara,” she gasped as a weary smile fell across her face.
There is still a chance.

Carefully, Alisa slid her hand down the side of her body to the injury. She could tell she had broken a few ribs, but even worse was the thin shard of wood lodged between two of them. If she had to guess, it was between rib six and seven. She could feel the sharp shaft protruding out of her body but she was too weak to grab it.

Alisa pursed her lips and closed her eyes. She took several shallow breaths and braced herself for the pain.

“Nara!” she yelled. With the cry her body cringed and her lungs constricted. She clenched her jaw and felt her muscles contract around the wooden shaft. The pain was excruciating.

Out of the darkness a blue light sped toward her. Alisa tried to lift her hand to catch the staff but she couldn’t; she no longer had the strength. Nara bounded over the wreckage but she fell short and landed on the ground next to her.

Alisa turned, her breathing labored. She could see Nara’s sapphire hilt just inches away from her hand. Her familiar dim glow was soothing but Alisa was too weak to move, she had lost too much blood. With her arm outstretched, she called once more a barely audible, “Nara …”

The staff responded as it always had and snapped into her open hand. Instantly the symbiotic connection took effect, and Nara knew what her master needed. Alisa felt the rush of Nara’s healing race through her body. Her heart quickened and her muscles began to tingle as blood coursed through her veins. Alisa knew in the end it wouldn’t be enough to heal the wound completely, but it was enough to stop the bleeding and restore her vitals to a normal level.

Within minutes, Alisa could move again. She twisted in pain as she pulled the spike out of her side. She closed her eyes, breathing quickly as she waited for the wound to close. Within minutes, Nara had healed her. She was still in pain but was on the mend now.

Alisa positioned her hand underneath the large wooden beam that lay across her legs. Just as she began to lift, two flashes of light illuminated the back of the living room. Still trapped, Alisa froze.

“Nara, silent,” she whispered, and Nara obeyed.

She listened closely; she thought she heard voices coming from the back of the living room but she wasn’t sure. It was still hard to hear anything over the gushing water. But then she heard them again—voices, she was sure of it. Was it Xavier? If it was, who was with him? It wasn’t the Viper; they didn’t speak that she knew of.

There was only one thing Alisa knew for sure: she had been compromised. Her role as a sleeper agent had come to an end and there was no telling who was after her now.

The intruders began walking around the room, their feet crunching on the scattered wreckage that was once her home. They were coming closer. Alisa could feel a rush of adrenaline but she wasn’t sure if it was her or from Nara, who was vibrating intensely in her hand, awaiting her command.

Alisa gripped Nara so tight her knuckles had turned white. They were almost here; they were almost on top of her.

Chapter 11

S
am took another step back. His legs felt weak and his hands were trembling. Quickly, he brought forth the piece of wooden banister he had been holding and grasped it firmly in his hands. Behind him he could hear Travis warning him.

“Not Ernie, Sam, not Ernie!”

“Sam, get away!” Sarah yelled as she got to her feet.

Sam blinked rapidly. His hands were clammy and shaking as he repositioned his grip on the wooden shard.

“Travis, keep Sarah back!” he said.

But Travis had already gotten to his feet and was standing in front of Sarah, protecting her from whatever was in the room with them.

Ernie slowly rose, and as he did, his body began to change. Long, slender arms morphed into thick, twisting muscle. His gray, pallid skin hardened, changing from flesh to a flat black exoskeleton marred with thin black scales.

Sam stood mesmerized, lost in the creature’s transformation. Believing in magic was one thing; watching it destroy someone he knew was almost unbearable. He wasn’t prepared for this. He had never known anyone in his life that had died until today. Watching Ernie being ravaged from the inside out made his stomach turn.

Sam thought he could hear voices somewhere in the distance telling him to move away. But he couldn’t run; there was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. He couldn’t leave Sarah and Travis there. Not alone, not with this … this thing.

A low, resonating growl brought Sam back to reality. The creature’s unrelenting gaze was bearing down on him now. His jaw hung open, revealing a row of savage-looking teeth. A long strand of saliva dripped from his mouth onto the floor. His head began to jerk and his teeth snapped. He looked deranged, like a rabid dog.

The hard exoskeleton was slowly spreading across his face now like a virus, infecting every human cell he had. The skin around his eyes began to expand and tear away, revealing swollen, reptilian orbs the color of blood.

Sam steadied himself and took in a deep breath, gripping the piece of wood as hard as he could.
This is it,
he told himself.
You have no other choice. Sorry, Ernie, if you’re in there.
Sam reared back and swung the piece of wood as hard as he could.

The wood came around like a baseball bat, moving so fast that it was no longer visible. A loud smack reverberated around the room, and the monster stumbled as its head careened into the side of the wall. The tip of the banister shattered upon impact, leaving Sam with a fraction of the weapon he once had.

Shaking, Sam took another step back as the monster turned to face him once more. Its lower jaw had become unhinged by the blow and it dangled at an odd angle, making the beast look even more menacing than before. Sam shuffled backward, his wide eyes watching the beast. Its jaw bone cracked and popped as it realigned itself beyond its human confinements. Frayed and contorted skeletal tissue began to regenerate, fusing torn gums to splintered teeth. Sam wanted to turn away; he could feel the excessive saliva building in his mouth followed by the taste of something sour, but he kept facing forward.

Sarah shuddered in fear as she watched Ernie’s grotesque transformation unfold in front of her. Quickly she scrambled across the wood floor to the corner of the room. Travis followed closely behind. The house groaned and from his bathroom Sam could hear the slow twist of pipes expanding and contracting.

He moved cautiously around the bed but he was running out of room. Sam bumped into the dresser and slid along the back wall and window.

The monster glared at Sam, then slowly turned to look at Travis and Sarah. They both stood nestled in the corner. Tears were streaming down Sarah’s face and Travis held her tight.

Sam moved away from the window toward the back corner of the room but he stopped when he saw something glimmering on the floor behind the monster. His eyes narrowed and then he realized what it was. It was the small shovel Travis had taken from the fireplace set. He must have dropped it when they ran into the room.

“Travis, by the door!” Sam hissed.

Travis’s eyes were fixed on the monster but he looked back to the doorway when he heard Sam’s voice.

The monster heard his voice and turned its attention back to Sam. Sam stared at the creature his mother had fought earlier. It didn’t make sense.
How did that thing escape the blast? Unless … unless it didn’t.
Sam could feel his blood turn to ice.
Unless there are two!

Sam stared more intently at the creature that stood before him. Its long flowing cloak had reappeared, fanning out over the hard wood floor. Sam could hear the horrid hiss that accompanied it and he looked for the snakes but didn’t see any. Until he looked at the creature’s arm.

There, coiled around its forearm, was a long, black, slender snake. Sam swallowed hard. From the corner of his eye, he saw Travis inching his way behind the monster, heading for the shovel. Sarah remained frozen, huddled in the tight corner of the bedroom.

Sam needed to keep the Viper’s attention on himself. He needed to buy Travis some time. They would only get one shot at this; their very lives depended on it.

The Viper’s large gloved hand took the thick snake and pulled it from its wrist. The long serpentine body twisted and spun within its grasp. The Viper slowly turned its head and focused its attention on the snake, which immediately stopped moving and lay still in its palm. It was as if they were communicating. Sam watched as the snake stiffened. Fragments of gnarled bone began to surface on the snake’s overlapping scales, transforming into the staff Sam had seen earlier.

In the shadows, just beyond the Viper, Travis crept across the floor on his hands and knees until he reached the shovel. Reaching out, he grasped it in his hand. He looked up, first at the Viper, then at Sam, who was pinned in the corner with nowhere to go.

Travis wiped the sweat from his brow and carefully got to his feet. In the corner, Sarah covered her mouth with both hands to keep from screaming. Her eyes bulged as she glanced between Sam, Travis, and the Viper.

The Viper inched its way closer to Sam, turning its staff sideways as it walked. One hand was on the center of the shaft, the other on the snake-like pommel. Slowly, the Viper pulled the staff apart, revealing a long, slender, single-edged sword.

Sam’s eyes grew larger, his mouth fell open, and his body went rigid. The majestic sword had a distinctive curve that reminded Sam of a Japanese katana sword. He recognized the style from his Ninja Warrior 5 game. The blade was an eerie black that somehow seemed to shimmer.

Sam’s gaze darted between the Viper and Travis, who was slowly approaching the creature from behind. Sam hoped Travis’s distraction would work; that it would give them time to get past the Viper and make a run for it. To where, he wasn’t sure, but any place was better than here.

“Sarah, get ready to run!” Sam called out.

Sarah nervously dropped her hands from her face and, still clinging to the wall, inched her way toward the door. Sam’s eyes moved from his sister back to the menacing creature that towered before him. The Viper stopped just a few feet away from him and raised its menacing sword. The sinuous muscles contracted beneath its skin-like armor and Sam heard the Viper’s gloved grip tighten around the hilt of the sword. He braced himself, preparing for the inevitable.

Travis inched closer, planting his left foot firmly on the ground. Then he twisted his body and pulled the shovel back over his shoulder. Sam could see his forearms flex as he repositioned his hands around the slender handle. Seconds felt like minutes, until finally Travis took in a deep breath and swung the shovel at the monster’s neck.

A loud metallic
pang
rang out, jarring the creature, but it recovered quickly and spun around and clipped Travis’s legs from underneath him with the sheath of its sword. Travis flew into the air and landed with a thud on his back.