Page 13 of Kat Bethel

Why wasn’t anything working?

The elderwood wasn’t impacted by him when the vines burned away from the wall. Yes!

This time, I whipped out an elderwood stake, jabbing it where his heart would be. The elderwood clattered to the stone beneath us as if nothing was there.

It didn’t disintegrate like the knife had, but the echo of it hitting the ground ripped any illusion of hope that I could win away from me.

For the first time in my life, all my training failed me. I didn’t have a single possible answer on how to deal with this.

The air grew thin as I panted.

If you panic, you die. Stay calm and think.

“You can burn your sage, draw your symbols, and pray to your goddess, Dandelion.” He caressed my cheek as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “I’m not leaving.”

I wasn’t sure which shook me more.

The calm or the certainty in his voice.

He was standing inside my protective salt circle, so obviously that wouldn’t protect me.

I’d met a lot of cocky monsters over the years. They all proclaimed to be invincible. This was the first time I believed one.

Why hadn’t my ancestors already taken care of him?

The answer was simple.

Because they couldn’t.

My sister, turn back. Death awaits you here.

Run.

Chapter 6:

Thecardinalruleofmonster hunting was to never run.

I’d like to say that knowing this wasn’t an animal was what made my legs move without permission. But the dirty truth was that my training flew out of my mind, and I reacted like prey.

As I ran, I reached into my pocket, looking for my flashlight again, hoping I hadn’t left it behind in the confusion.

I ran full-force into a slab of foundation. It hit my shin like a sledgehammer, and a pained yelp ripped from my throat.

Don’t stop.

I already fucked up. Now I had to commit to it.

I let out a short breath of relief when I found my light in my back pocket and ran down the main road. Every step throbbed, but I didn’t dare let that distract me. The temperature dropped, until my breath made large clouds in front of me.

The dim light from the fire that I left burning faded until the only light was from the LED beam of my flashlight. The forest was silent now that I’d sent the ghosts away. No crickets or frogs. No locusts.

Not even footsteps behind me.

The only sound was my ragged breathing and my heavy steps as I ran full-force out of the settlement.

That unnerved me more than if the ground shook or if a roar echoed behind me. I couldn’t gauge how close or how far he was, for all I knew he was still right on me. But I wouldn’t take the time to stop and look back.

The light guiding my way dimmed as if the brand new batteries were dying, giving me only half the amount of distance ahead of me. It continued to fade until it died out completely.