Page 33 of Fangs & Fur

“Xan, look,” Noah hisses behind me, his voice sounding like a clap of thunder against the silence of the cabin. Checking my shoulder, I watch as he points to my feet.

Sure enough, only inches before my boot, the clear line of a cellar hatch breaks away from the dusty ground. There’s no handle nor hook, so I dig my nails into the wood, splintering it as I haul the hatch open.

Dusty stone stairs lay before me, leading into a black void, and the acidic odor explodes around me. I gag and cover my mouth, desperate to find a fresh breath of air, but the stench fumigates the rest of the cabin until even Noah is whimpering behind me.

“Don’t move, sweetheart.” I force my voice to stay steady as I descend deeper into the basement of the cabin. The light peeling through the holes in the roof fade quickly as I reach the bottom and survey the darkness.

Amongst the wooden crates and boxes, the stench blossoms just like it had in the cave, and I pull my shirt over my mouth and nose. I struggle to make out the many shapes that dart across the walls, even with my supernatural sight.

I follow the scent, forcing myself to ignore the way my throat starts to close as I strain for any sign of life. Just Noah’s faint heartbeat above me fills the air, and I sigh. It’s been too long not knowing what’s killing these people. Now that I have someone to protect, my anxiety is at an all-time high. Just the thought of Noah being harmed, let alone losing him, has a tightness growing in my gut.

Pushing my way between two palettes, the odor grows to an unbearable strength, and for a moment I turn back, unable to hold myself in this cabin any longer, when within the darkness a splodge of shadow slopes from the far wall.

My pulse skyrockets as I focus my gaze on the shadow, noticing a head and shoulders. Slumped on the floor, their legs splay outwards before them, and I take another step closer. The gleam of metal in their lap catches my eye, and I recognize the barrel of a rifle.

I’m so utterly focused on the figure that I don’t even see the hanging switch for the lightbulb above my head before it smacks me in the forehead. I growl to myself and pull the string, letting the light fill the basement and reveal what I’m looking at.

My stomach drops. Just like the girl in the cave, another body awaits me. This time, it belongs to an older man. With salt and pepper shaggy hair and a long beard, his body leans against the wall, his hands gripping the rifle even in death as his heart no longer beats and the scent of his soul is completely unrecognizable beneath the stench.

It’s killed again.

But it isn’t the way the man’s chest has been ripped open without a single drop of blood dotting his clothes. Or the way his innards have somehow turned to dust. It’s how close this is to home. We are still a mile from the border. Whatever is causing this has grown more confident. It has killed someone so close to town. So close to my house.

“What the fuck?” Noah’s voice booms around me, and I flinch.

With wide eyes and a wobbly bottom lip, Noah stands at the foot of the staircase. “Xan?”

I want to growl at him, but I can see all too clearly the worry that floods his beautiful eyes. So I take a step away from the body and break Noah’s line of vision, not wanting him to see it for another second.

“I told you to stay upstairs.” I speak gently to him, cupping the side of his jaw and pulling him closer, needing his body against mine.

“I-I’m sorry. But I heard something outside,” he whispers, beginning to shake.

As his words fills the air, a subtle creak of floorboard resonates above us. I freeze, and so does Noah.

Just my luck. Whatever killed the man is back for more. Or it’s tracked our scents. But for what? Wherever it is, it doesn’t eat the flesh from its victims. It simply kills them and leaves.

Another creak sounds above us, this time it’s much closer to the hatch, and my mind goes wild with thoughts of an ungodly beast trampling down the stairs. Or a ghostly figure slipping right through the upper level and trapping us in here.

Whatever it is, I’ll kill it.

A shadow looms over the stairs, and my blood runs cold while every muscle in me tenses. Pulling Noah close to my side, my fangs pinch my lower lip, and I lift my hand, claws at the ready.

Meow?

It’s like the air in the room evaporates and I can’t suck in a breath. Neither can Noah as we watch in silence as Nyx saunters down the steps, her glowing red eyes watching us closely.

“Oh my god, it was just Nyx,” Noah lets out a nervous titter. “You gave us a heart attack, cat!”

She meows again, this time more urgently, and I understand. It’s been many years learning her language, but I know with the sharp look in her eye and the way her tail puffs up that she means business.

“Sweetheart,” I start. “Nyx will escort you home. You need to shut the doors and stay inside. Do you understand?”

Noah looks up at me, his brow furrowed. “What about you? And what is it with that dead guy?”

I sigh, knowing there isn’t much time to explain as Nyx growls at us. “This place isn’t safe. I need you to go now. I’ll be right behind you.”

“I don’t believe you, but Nyx seems kinda pissed so I’ll listen to her instead.” Noah grips my hand and steps away. I pull him into me, covering his lips with mine in a chaste kiss.