Ravenous (Book 1 The Ravening Series) (21 page)

   “That means they’re probably faster.”

   “They come in different sizes?” I asked in disbelief.

  
“They haven’t fed yet.”

   I was going to vomit, I was going to deny his words, but they were right,
he
was right. I knew it the minute he said it, he was telling the truth. They were small because they were not blotted with the blood of people. As they fed, they would get bigger.

   And
we
may be all they had to feed on.

   “We have to run Bethany.
Now.”

   He didn’t have to tell me twice, his hand slid into mine as he pulled me up the hill. We struggled, slipped, and slid as we frantically climbed upward. I grasped hold of the thin vegetation, pulling myself up with straggling bayberries, ilexes, and seedlings. Cade released my hand to help Abby as she struggled up a steep section. Urgency filled me, my heart
lumbered painfully. Though I knew it wasn’t true, I thought I could hear them scurrying through the trees behind us, gaining on us.

   But perhaps I was right.

   I chanced a glance over my shoulder. The awkward movement caused me to go slightly off balance. My foot landed awkwardly, I was thrown off balance as my ankle twisted out from under me. A startled cry escaped me as I pitched forward, slipping back down the hill. Cade reached out, snagging hold of my wrist before I fell to far. He held me for a long moment, his eyes blazing into mine as my mouth parted slightly.

   “You’re clumsy,” he muttered.

   “You’re fast,” I retorted as he helped pull me back to my feet.

   His hand tightened upon me or a brief moment before he started pulling me forward again. Abby and Jenna had stopped to wait for us but as we started back up the hill again they turned and fled onward up the hill. They suddenly disappeared over the top. Panic filled me as my sister disappeared, but then Cade pulled me to the top and over the brink. It was briefly downhill before the ground leveled out and we became enclosed by the paintball course.

   We raced past walls, covered in myriad colors of paint. Cade took the lead, dodging tires, sacks of sand, and buildings with ease. My legs were beginning to burn, Jenna was starting to lag, and Abby was struggling to keep up. The three of us were winded; Cade seemed as if he could go on for miles, even with the guns strapped to his back. I hadn’t thought he was much of an athlete; apparently I had been completely wrong.

   He disappeared around
a corner before swiftly reappearing. I stopped before him, laboring for breath as I bent over to rest my hands on my knees. “We have to keep moving.”

   I knew he was right but all I wanted was to sit down and rest my weary, shaking legs. I took a deep breath and forced myself to move. Abby looked about ready to collapse, her dark hair was matted t
o her face with sweat and grime; her dark eyes were red rimmed, wild with fear and exhaustion. I thought Jenna was going to complain; instead she remained silent as she wiped the tangled hair away from her face.

  Cade pulled a gun from the waistband of his pants; his dark eyes were intense as he handed it to me. My hand shook as I took it from him; it was the same gun I had used before. “Do not fire it unless it becomes absolutely necessary.” I frowned as my attention turned from the deadly weapon, to him. “It will only bring more of them.”

   “More?” I breathed as Abby stepped closer to me. His attention turned toward the woods. A shiver crept up my spine, the hair on my neck rose as I turned slowly to survey the quiet forest. They were out there. My skin crawled with the realization; I took an involuntary step back. Cade seized hold of my hand, wrapping it around the gun as he squeezed me tight for a long moment as he tried to infuse me with his unwavering strength.

   “This way,” he whispered.

   We followed him as he moved swiftly and with relative ease through the course. A sign, painted in different colors, rea
d
JUNGLE COURS
E
and had an arrow pointing down a path. We followed Cade out of the cleared area and back into the forest. These woods had been transformed into a forest that was not from the northeast. Moss had been draped from the trees, I brushed it aside as it fell over the pathway enshrouding it with an air of mystery. Vines hung from limbs and crawled over the trees lining the small path. Some of them were as thick as my calf, others were small and thin. They climbed up the trees, entangling with the leaves and threatening to choke the tree. Ivy grew over the pathway, crawling over the dirt before slipping into the woods and into the trees. Fake birds and monkeys were propped up in the trees; I spotted a couple of jaguars, a few boas, and other snakes hidden within the landscape. I had never been here before, but I was momentarily fascinated by the atmosphere they had created. I probably would have been shot instantly as I would have been far more preoccupied with trying to find the things hidden along the pathway and in the woods.

   Cade suddenly stepped off the trail and plunged into the woods. He pushed aside vines and moss as he moved. We followed behind, trying to stay as quiet as possible as we moved as swiftly through the dense woods as we could. Cade stopped near a large locust
tree; he glanced briefly around his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the woods. I didn’t know what he was doing, but he seemed certain of something as he turned to the right and started walking again.

   A twig snap
ped behind me. I jumped, instinctively raising my gun as I spun toward the source of the sound. I saw nothing amongst the vegetation and trees, but something was there, I knew it. I could feel it in the marrow of my bones as every primitive instinct I had came screaming awake. Cade was at my side, his hand gentle on my arm as he pushed it lightly down. He placed a finger against his lips, shaking his head at me as he gestured for me to remain quiet.

   He pulled me back, searching the forest as we moved. He pulled me up, halting me at the base of three intersecting pines that had nearly grown together in the dense woods.
He bent; grabbed hold of something and lifted it up. I watched in amazement as he lifted the forest floor into the air. It took a moment to realize that he was actually holding a large piece of plywood that had been creatively, and convincingly, covered with dirt, leaves, pine needles, and sticks. “In,” he whispered gesturing to Abby.

   She stared at him in disbelief for a moment before bending low and climbing into the small hole the plywood had covered. Jenna followed but I hesitated, unwilling to climb under the wood. Cade lowered the wood gently over them. He turned to me, his jaw
clenched tight as he pointed at the tree behind me. I glanced at the large maple, understanding what it was that he wanted me to do.

  
‘You?’ I mouthed.

   He shook his head as he pulled a long, wicked looking knife from the holster at his side. I remained unmoving
, uncertain. I shook my head as he pointed at the tree again. I couldn’t leave him down here, unprotected, vulnerable to the things hunting us in the shadows of the forest. He was beside me suddenly, his hand on me waist as he pushed me toward the tree. “Climb.”

   “You can’t stay
down here.”

   He grasped hold of my hips and lifted me up. I didn’t have time to protest, time to fight him.
“Climb Bethany. Now.”

  
I swallowed heavily as I grabbed hold of the tree and began to pull myself swiftly up. I looked back to find Cade watching me from the ground, his head tilted back to watch me for a long moment before turning away. I almost jumped back out of the tree, almost threw myself from the leafy bowers, but I grasped hold of the limb and pulled myself up. I would have a better shot from up here anyway if I had to take it.

   Halfway up the tree I shimmied out to the end of
a thick branch and flattened myself against it in order to blend in with the thick foliage surrounding me better. I searched rapidly for Cade but he seemed to have vanished within the thick “jungle” surrounding us. My heart hammered, a crushing sense of panic began to descend over me, where had he gone? How had he disappeared so swiftly and silently into the wilderness surrounding us?

   I was about to move forward when
that thing crept into the clearing. I froze, my fingers curled into the limb, bark bit under my fingernails. Horror and fear tore through me in equal waves that left me shaken and on the edge of falling out of the damn tree. It was hideous. It was terrifying. It was a combination of every nightmare I’d ever had and yet I’d never in my life imagined something so appalling could exist.

   It was n
ot overbearing and cumbersome like its bigger brothers. No this was the size of a small Great Dane. It was oval in shape, its legs arachnid in appearance as it stepped slowly forward before taking a small step back. It’s chelicerae like mouth clicked as it took another step forward. Unlike its older brothers, this thing had no blood in it, it did not look like a bloated tick and it was opaque in color. But it was not opaque enough that I couldn’t see the throbbing pulse of what I assumed was the twisted creature’s heart. Strange, twisted things were wrapped in circles close to the monstrosity’s hideous mouth. They contained a black, viscous material that seemed to sift and flow within the vein-like circles but didn’t move out through its body.

   It made me sick to look at it; I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

   It crept slowly forward, its leg clicked, it seemed to be looking everywhere at once but I didn’t know where its eyes were. Perhaps it didn’t have any, perhaps it could smell us, or even hear the rapid beat of my heart. It somehow seemed to know that we were close though as it appeared cautious as it crept closer to where Jenna and Abby were hiding. My hand tightened on the gun, I aimed it at the thing. I knew Cade was right, firing the gun would only bring more of them here, but I would destroy that thing before it ever got hold of my sister.

   That was when I saw Cade. He was kneeling at the edge of the woods, the knife clasped within his right hand as he pressed it against the ground. Shadows played over him, making him nearly imperceptible in the darkness of the woods. His eyes were narrowed, but
an unnerving air of calmness surrounded him. I was mesmerized by him; I couldn’t look away as he rose slightly and somehow disappeared from sight.

   I blinked, searching for him, but he was no longer visible in the shadows. My attention was drawn back to the thing still creeping toward where Jenna and Abby were hidden. And then Cade was back, moving with startling speed as he raced from the woods. A scream of fear rose in my throat, I strangled on it as t
he creature spun toward him. It took a startled step back before raising slightly on its hind legs as it appeared completely taken aback by Cade’s attack.         

   A strange squeal escaped the creature as Cade slammed into it. Terror flooded me, I couldn’t stay here; I couldn’t remain useless. I scurried swiftly back, moving as quickly as I could down the tree as I was filled with the need to get to Cade, to help him. He couldn’t take on that thing by himself, he simply couldn’t. I leapt out of the tree when I was still ten feet from the ground, my ankles protested the action but II didn’t care as I raced through the forest to him. I didn’t know what I was going to do, what I could possibly use against this thing but I didn’t care. I simply could not allow him to face this thing alone.

   I had lost sight of Cade when I plunged out of the tree, but as I plunged through some thick underbrush, he came into sight again. I was nearly brought up short, nearly undone by the sight that greeted me. I was struck by the fact that the battle had become oddly silent after the squeal. It had also become far more violent and bloody. I stumbled forward, nearly fell as Cade lifted the knife over his head and plunged it into the already staggering creature.

   It wasn’t the awful, bluish black blood that covered him and the creature, or even the tentacle that had emerged from the underbelly of the beast and now flopped on the ground, that caused me to halt. It was the utter calm façade that Cade still possessed. He did not seem winded, did not even seemed phased as the creature crumpled beneath him. He ripped the knife free and wiped the bloody blade on a handful of leaves he snagged from the ground.

   I remained unmoving, my breath caught in my chest as he finally lifted his gaze to me. He remained unmoving for a long moment, as still as stone as he watched me. I didn’t know what to do, what to say. I didn’t know what I had just witnessed, was uncertain as to who exactly this person standing across from me was. I’d known him nearly my whole life, even when we hadn’t spoken, he had always been a presence, always been a presence in my world. And now he was standing there, covered in blood and staring at me with a look that both broke my heart and terrified me. He looked so vulnerable, looked as if he desperately needed me to understand what had just happened, but I didn’t know how to. He looked primitive, he looked wild, and I was filled with the certainty that this would not be the last time he killed with such force and brutality.

   But then, it was a necessity of our lives now. I was just stunned by how fast he had accepted and taken to this.

   “Are you ok?” I managed to croak out in a tremulous voice. He nodded as he used his forearm to wipe some of the blood from his face. I found myself able to move again, able to breathe again as I caught sight of the gash on his upper arm. He had won the battle, but he had not walked away unscathed. “You’re hurt.”
   “It’s fine.”