As Jack raced up the last four flights of stairs, the undulating horror bubbled and screamed at him from a thousand mouths.
“Stalwart.
You life is numbered in minutes, but your agony will last you
lifetimes. I will digest you slowly, never allowing you to perish.
Instead you will feast on nothing but pain until the stars fade from the
sky.”
“Egoic
much?” Jack panted as the turned another corner in the staircase.
“We’ll see who lives to see the sunrise you slimy son of a bitch.”
It roared and redoubled its effects to catch him.
Despite this, Jack reached the roof well before it. Now what the hell am I going to do?
The roof stretched out before him dark and flat. A few air conditioners
and other machines dotted the ice covered surface at irregular
intervals. He considered dumping one down the stairs, but it would only
delay the inevitable and he needed to use his time more wisely. But to use it for what? Maybe I should have had a plan.
But
even as he thought this, a plan started to form. Looking around, he
assessed the roof. The western side had a sag where a huge amount of
snow and ice had formed. On the lip of this ice was a large air
conditioning unit. He sprinted toward it. Upon reaching it, he removed
his sledge hammer and began to hit the supports on the side closer to
the ice. They buckled. He whacked at the other side’s legs, just enough
to break the bolts holding it to the roof.
He
had just moved back to the legs in front when the monstrosity burst
onto the roof. Forgoing his task, Jack quickly climbed to the top of the
air conditioner. He shifted his hammer to his left hand and tossed
throwing knives in rapid succession at the thousand limbed horror.
“Is this suppose to hurt as, a hundred mouths drooled and caterwauled at him. We suffer more injuries moving across a floor.”
“All
the more reason to kill you,” Jack yelled, as he threw another throwing
knife into the foul glob of flesh with a meaty plop.
Fury
built within the thing and it raged with frenzied movements as it
dragged, rolled, and pulled its huge form across the roof.
Jack
threw his eighth and final knife at the monstrous Xemmoni and then
leapt behind the air conditioner. A second later, he threw his back
against the large machine. At first it wouldn’t move, but then the legs
he had damaged on the other side buckled more. With a yell and a mighty
push he toppled the thing over. It hit the roof with a mighty clang that
sent a huge vibration through the structure.
“Fool, you didn’t even hit us. Now you will join us. Enjoy your last taste of clean air Stal-”
A
huge cracking interrupted the insane babbling and its triumph turned to
fear as the roof started to collapse. Knocking the machine over the
weakened part of the roof proved enough to trigger a reaction. The old
roof had never been designed to support the amount of weight the
undulating horror had become, which Jack guessed must have weighed in
the tons.
With
a hundred screams the floor caved in beneath it, but its fall didn’t
stop there. Floor after floor of the old apartment were smashed through
and the gigantic mound of flesh kept falling.
There
was a cracking beneath his feet and Jack quickly realized he was about
to follow the horror in its plunge. With a yelp, he leapt for the lip of
the roof just as the flooring under his feet tumbled away.
He clung on the edge as huge sections of the roof toppled into the giant hole. “Crew on that crap, you bastard.”
It
took him a minute to find a safe place to stand, but once he did, Jack
tore the backpack off his shoulders. More than half of his prepared
Molotovs had shattered, but at least three were in one piece. He lit his
oil soaked backpack and tossed it down the fissure through the
apartment. The bellow that he heard when it struck the creature proved
most satisfying.
Long way down
Soon
though, he had new problems. Not only was the thrashing monstrosity’s
limbs weakening the structure, but the fire was quickly catching and
soon he would be in the midst of an inferno. He circled the hole to the
stairwell, but it was already too late. It was engulfed.
“Me and my bright ideas.”
Smoke
began to billow out of the giant hole like the haunted high-rise had
become a manmade volcano. “This sucks. Becoming a snake might help, but I
still don’t think they could survive a twelve floor drop. Crap, crap,
crap.”
Sunrise
appeared to be an hour away, but some of the birds had already risen.
Their chatter, a normal thing he had heard ten thousand times, felt so
distance. It made him feel removed from the world. Trapped and alone.
Then a murder of crows flew toward the building. “Yig is the master of all animals. My patron blessed me with a Mold Nature spell. I’ve only used it on trees so far, but maybe…”
His
fingers twisted into fists as the sparks flew around him. Focusing with
every fiber of his being, Jack called out to the crow on the far right.
Aid me. Please. In the name of the Earth, help me. They birds kept flying. Please, in Yig’s name.
A bird broke away from the pack and flew toward him. This had better work,
Jack thought as he rapidly transformed into a small gopher snake. The
bird landed and Jack entangled his serpentine body around the crow. It
took off with a loud caw. It had trouble flying at first, but proved
able to get Jack to the ground safely.
Its black pupils eyed him for a moment and then it took off with a flurry of wings.
After
returning to his human form, Jack watched the building collapse in on
itself as it became a true inferno. “I don’t think even that thing can
survive in there.” He sighed. “I guess I can finally visit my mother
now.”
A mustang pulled up in front of him. “Need a lift,” John said with a grin.
Mustang Night Prowl
Alex leaned over. “Yeah and you might want to clean up some before you visit your mom, your a mess.”
Jack
laughed and climbed into of the car behind the teens. “I sure hope you
guys brought beer.” Alex handed him and cold one and Jack sunk back into
the seat.
For
the first times in months, he allowed himself to relax. Sure he wasn’t
done with his work by any means. Vile Darken, his oldest and strongest
enemy still needed to be dealt with, but for a moment, if only for his
mom’s sake, he would allow himself a break.
As
the vehicle left the burning structure in its rear view a pair of eyes
watched them depart. “Impressive, Mr. Primus,” it whispered more to
itself than the creature standing to its left. “You have some skill.
I’ll let you bask in your glory just long enough to feel safe.” A cold
cackle emitted from his dark form. “Yes, just long enough to feel safe.
Then, spawn of Yig, we will come for you.”
Thank you for reading Jack’s newest Adventure Blood Fear
A new Adventure will begin next Monday
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