Hellspawn - part 18
The trees made no noise as the wind put up a gentle breeze along the forest canopy. Darkness enveloped the trees as Julie ran through them not knowing where she would end up, she just knew she had to run away from the monster chasing her. She looked up and glanced its shadow jumping from tree to tree only to vanish once more as the darkness shrouded it. Sweat poured from her face as she tried to out run it, she knew it was a hopeless endeavour but she would not be an easy meal.
Why do you run from me? We both know I am going to get you.
His voice boomed in her mind like he was speaking into a microphone, it caught her by surprise and she tripped on a rock. She hastily got back up to her feet and started to run again but the monster crashed into her and pushed her hard against a tree. It crawled up to her slowly to tease her imminent death, placing its claws on her throat it spoke once again,
Finally, I can have my meal. It’s been fun, but I think now it’s time to call it quits and go our separate ways.
She felt his claws sink into her neck as he licked her face with a black snake like tongue, all she could do was scream in horror whilst he grabbed her head with his other claw and crushed it.
Julie woke up with a start, there was a sweat patch where she slept. For a couple of seconds she didn’t know where she was as she panted like she had just been running through the forest, the dream had felt so real like it had just happened. She looked to Patrick, he was still sound asleep on the other side of the bed with his arm laid out across the bed where she had slept. She yawned and got out of bed, the dreams were the only part of her day that she feared.
Once they had figured out that the bunker somehow blocked the hellspawn from invading their minds they found themselves spending most of their time in there. It didn’t stop them from invading their nightmares though, or perhaps they created the nightmares themselves; normal dreams turned into grotesque twisted nightmares where every time they slept they would feel the pain of being cruelly tortured. Every time she slept Azrael would use the opportunity to torture her, to kill her. They all felt real as if they were actually happening. She could feel the wind on her face, the crunch of leaves beneath her feet, the rough feel of a trees bark, a scratch on her arm, a cut on her leg, a claw in her stomach, her limbs being broken and torn off her body. She wasn’t even sure they were dreams anymore, sometimes she would go days without sleep as did Patrick. He never admitted it, but she knew he had the nightmares too. Perhaps to him admittance would be accepting its real and that it means in some way the monsters are winning the war in his head.
Julie walked through the bunker and into the bathroom before taking her clothes off and stepping into the warm shower. She thought about everything that had happened, she thought about the blood covered streets, the human parts that littered the roads, the hanging bodies which instilled fear and despair. She wondered if anyone else made it to shelter, where was the military and what happened to them? She looked down to the scar on her leg, it had been almost a year now since then and the scar served as a constant reminder of how close she was to dying. It reminded her of how lucky she was and how many others had not been so fortunate. She asked herself what her future held, why bother living if it was so easy to die? She could die today, she could die tomorrow or a week from now. Then she would be in hell to be tortured by Azrael for eternity. She grabbed hold of the low wall which sectioned off the shower from the rest of the bathroom, and burst into tears. Some days she would feel like a zombie, unable to speak, feel emotion or pain. It was those days she would sit on the cabin sofa for timeless hours and let Azrael speak to her, perhaps in hope that it would spark an emotion; anything to tell her she was still alive. Some days she would be happy, the day would look hopeful like that day would bring something that gave them a glimmer of hope. It was on these days they would leave the bunker, sure of themselves they would not be caught or they would make it back to the bunker in time should anything happen. It was like she was telling the hellspawn they had not won, they could not defeat the human soul. However, like most days, today was a day of fear and anguish. These days she could not think of anything but of how little hope they have, it only got worse with each passing day because it meant the chance of them being rescued became less and less. They had a radio they would use in attempt to contact the outside world, they would not reveal their location but if a human voice came back from the other end then it would fill them with some hope but sadly that day had never come.
There was a knock on the bedroom door and she answered, it was Patrick asking her if she was ok. Of course he knew the answer to that every time he asked it, but he would ask anyway to let her know he was there and that he cared. He opened the door and walked in closing and locking it behind him, he said no words as he walked up to her and took her in his arms. He told her he was here for her no matter what, that one day everything would get better. All she could do was cry but somehow his words gave her a smile, it wasn’t much but it told him she found comfort in him and his words. He had to stay strong for her and the other two but she knew that deep down he wanted to cry too, it had been too long without any news, any hope. Nothing human was coming from the outside world and all they could do was stay where they were, too afraid to venture far from their retreat. “You’re all wet.” Julie said in-between sobs with a slight laugh.
“That’s ok, if it means I get to see you smile then I’ll do anything for that.” He told her making her smile once more.
Isabella woke up, the sun was glaring through the open window and Daniel had his arm wrapped around her. Ever since they got here he had changed so much. Every day he would find ways to make himself more useful. She had asked him why he felt the need to make himself so busy every day and his response would always be that he wanted to be a better person in order to protect her, how he could not protect her if he was a weak child who wasn’t helping anyone. He forgot that she wanted him regardless of that, although she wasn’t complaining. Together Daniel and Patrick had fixed the retreat up after that first monster attacked them, they had repaired the smaller entrance door and the freezer door. They had also installed a better security system and done routine checks on it to make sure it’s always working, but they only had what was already there. They went on regular hunting trips together to keep food supplies up and for something to do to fill the void of emptiness.
Julie and Patrick had told them both about the monsters being in their heads, what happened in the city and how they tormented them with secrets from the past although they wouldn’t tell them what those secrets were, something they would rather not mention. It was all the same to her, they had seen enough bloodshed and torment and she didn’t want to hear about anything that could only make the mood worse. Julie would most of the time be sulking around the retreat, mainly in the bunker to shut out the voice of the one in her head. Patrick did the same but he was out more than she was, he seemed to push it to the back of his mind although she could tell it was slowly driving him insane. She did wonder what it would be like having one of them in your head, hearing your every thought and being able to pry into your deepest secrets to drive you crazy. She appreciated that it never happened to her, their situation may be dire but it wasn’t worse theirs. It was one of the main reasons they slept in the retreat and not in the bunker with them, although it would be far safer. She trusted the security system enough to give them ample time and they took it in turns to keep a look out on the night time, although they had been getting sloppy recently as Daniel was meant to have been keeping watch this time. He was laid in bed fully clothed on top of the duvet, clearly he had crashed a couple of hours earlier. At first it infuriated Patrick when this happened, but as time went on and it happened more often he became more lenient, although Isabella was sure it couldn’t lead to anything good if they started taking everything for granted.
Isabella crawled out of bed and looked out the window, gazing through the forest. It was starting to get cold again and they would once again be able to go out further for longer although there was still a very uneasy feeling every time they did, they had searched for other survivors last winter but there was no signs of life anywhere. Not even the hellspawn had shown themselves, that’s what Julie said they called themselves. They had no idea where they went, perhaps they migrated to warmer climates, perhaps they went into hiding in places they would never dare to look. They had not seen any in person since that day, they would most likely be dead if they had. The last time they saw one was last summer, when they spent all the warm months cooped up inside the bunker. Patrick would not have anyone leave, not whilst they had the supplies to live down there. By the time they had been allowed to leave tensions were very high, everyone was at each other’s throats and a day longer in there and they may have killed each other themselves. Whilst they were in there they had watched the security cameras which were installed around and in the retreat, that’s when they saw one of them. It was Daniels idea to rough the place up a little bit and make it look abandoned, they had all watched the cameras with held breath as one of them prowled around the cabin checking every nook and cranny of the place. Thankfully it did not notice the hidden wall and soon walked away. It was strange seeing one up close, it felt as if it somehow knew they were there, as if it could sense them and that it projected that feeling on them intentionally. There was still a lot to learn about them but that would not happen any time soon. “You going to stand there all day?” Daniel asked her rhetorically, he had risen from his deep sleep and looked as if he could do with a few more hours. She turned in surprise and smiled at him.
“You fell asleep on the job again huh?” She asked with a raised accusing eyebrow.
“Yeah, I was so tired I was falling asleep on the sofa. We get plenty of warning anyway so there’s no harm in it.” He said it almost casually, as if it was ok. They were definitely getting sloppier. She decided to not bug him about it.
“We should be able to go out there again soon, it’s getting chilly.” Daniel frowned at that comment.
“You know I don’t want you going out there, every time you do my heart races like crazy until you return.” She raised both eyebrows at him.
“You think I don’t feel the same when you go out too? Just because you’ve gotten stronger doesn’t mean you’re invincible, one of those things could easily get the drop on you and kill you just like that.” She started to think about it, it only made her uneasy. Daniel sighed sympathetically, he stood up and walked over to her.
“I know, I’m sorry. I just can’t imagine what I would do without you, you’re the best part about this whole thing, and you’re my world.”
“Stop it,” she could feel her face going red. “You’re making me blush.” He always knew what to say to make her feel better. His face went from charming back to serious.
“You heard anything from them?”
“No.” Half the days they never did hear anything from Patrick or Julie, they usually used the facilities in the bunker while they used the ones in the cabin. Not that she could blame them.
“I’d go crazy down there all day every day.” Daniel started to get dressed. Despite the state of the world she still liked looking at him in his underwear, it was nice to feel something good and remind her she was capable of feeling good things. Daniel glanced at her staring at him and rolled his eyes, it only made her smile.
“Do you ever think we’re getting too… comfortable?” Daniel was surprised at the sudden shift in tone.
“I don’t really think about that to be honest, I just try to keep myself busy and forget about the reality of our situation,” he looked to Isabella who looked uncomfortable. “But you might be right, we might be getting too comfortable and we should be more careful.” She made a fake smile and started to get dressed too. “I’m going downstairs to try the radio again.”
“Ok.” Julie responded. He walked off without saying anything else. She sometimes thought he was getting too serious for his own good, she liked him more when he had more of a personality to him. She put a shirt on when she suddenly caught something moving in the corner of her eye and quickly ducked under the windowsill and peered out the window.
She waited patiently scanning the area outside, looking for signs of movement. They had a perimeter defence set up, once something crossed the motion sensors then the whole cabin would light up red. Nothing like that had happened yet. She saw something move again in the distance, just outside the perimeter, it was a bush that had just been disturbed. A Deer? A bear? They sometimes got some local wildlife setting off the silent alarms and driving them into red alert over nothing, she was surprised local wildlife still existed although it was more frequent during the cold months. She wanted to shout down to the rest of the group that there was something out there but whatever it was might hear her, and if it was one of them it would be too risky. She squinted her eyes, she could see something clearly moving now although it was hard to see. The entire cabin lit up red and she took that as a sign to run down into the bunker, closing the hidden door and vault door behind her she ran into the main lounge to see the other three crowding the monitors. “I was wondering when you’d come down.” Daniel said with relief in his voice as he ran up to her. That made her feel better already.
As a precautionary Patrick handed them all guns, they had all been given basic training to increase their odds of survival should one of the monster show up but they had never had to use them. “What is it?” Julie asked the group. Julie was stood wrapped in a towel with soaking wet hair but Patrick was stood in soaking wet clothes which made her shoot a questioning look at him, he couldn’t find the words to tell her why he was in wet clothes. She decided to ignore it, assuming it was something she’d rather not know about.
“We don’t know yet.” Patrick said with one eye on her and one on the monitors. They all stared at the screens, waiting for something to show up.
“Is it one of them?” Julie asked.
“Could be, although I think it would have shown itself by now, they don’t really care about being unseen.” Patrick responded. They stood around for another minute, carefully scanning each monitor. They would be stuck down here for at least another two hours now, the timeframe in which Patrick felt comfortable they had to wait.
“There!” Daniel shouted jabbing a finger at one of the screens, it showed a seemingly empty patch of forest. Upon closer inspection there appeared to be a human figure laid on the floor, it was a man in camouflage sporting what Isabella thought was an M4 gun. He was laid still inspecting the cabin, wary to continue.
“Is that?” Isabella started, “is that a soldier?!” She looked around gleefully at everyone else. “The military! They’ve come to rescue us!” She said almost too optimistically.
Gee that one took a long time to do! I've had a long weekend and haven't had much time to write, hope you enjoy it.
Check back later for Part 19
Posted Feb 21, 2017, 12:03 AM UTC · edited