“What’s going on?” I question as I quickly slip on one of Karston’s t-shirts. My panties were left behind at the beach, so I also pull on a pair of his boxers. “Karston?”
I move to join my uncharacteristically silent Ghost at the window while Preston hurriedly gets dressed.
My breath leaves me in a swooshing exhale as I stare down at the courtyard. Horror fills me, and I clamp down on Karston’s shoulder when my legs threaten to give out.
Braxton’s stories from Hell fail to encapsulate how hideous and terrifying monsters actually are. And right now, the grounds of the Academy are filled with them.
They roam the courtyard, tearing into any student who gets too close. I count at least fifty of them, if not more, constantly spilling through the woods. The one just below Karston’s window has a surprisingly human face…if all of the skin hadn’t been removed. Red flesh, mottled with grotesque shades of pink and white, stare back at me with eyeless sockets. Its nose is nothing but two diminutive holes. Behind him, another creature stands on its hind legs, batting at the air. Its head is triangular in appearance, with matted brown fur clamoring down its cheeks and neck. Dozens and dozens of monsters—each one more hideous than the last—roar and hiss, their guttural cries bleeding together.
I watch, horrified, as a group of Demons rushes into battle wielding swords and shields. More and more students join in, but even I can see it's a losing fight.
“We need to help them!” I exclaim, already racing out of the dorm. Karston releases a muffled curse as he struggles to pull on a pair of loose pants.
“Hadley, wait!” he screams as I dart around the corner, Preston nipping at my heels. Before I can exit the building, Karston materializes in front of me, still shirtless from last night’s escapades.
“If you try to stop me…” I hiss, glaring up at him. Preston moves to stand beside me, and I revel in his warm hand interlocked with mine.
“No, I’m not going to stop you.” With a heavy sigh, Karston hands me his second dagger. “But if anything fucking happens to you, you can bet your pretty ass I’ll kill you myself.”
“I’ll be safe,” I promise, pushing up onto my tiptoes to kiss his lips. “But the same goes to both of you.” I turn towards Preston who appears ashen yet determined. Already, his scythe is in his hand as he prepares to battle. “I can’t lose either of you.”
“We’ll be safe,” Preston assures me, squeezing my hand.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Karston vows before pausing. “Wait. Bad saying.” Ignoring him, Preston shoves open the door, and we step out into the morning sunlight. This close, the screams are even louder, ripping and clawing at something inside of my chest.
“Do you think Lilith is behind this?” I ask as I survey the battle. Icy fear thrums through me, but I sweep it beneath the proverbial rug. If there’s one thing I learned, it’s that I can’t allow fear to consume me. I refuse to become swept away by it, not when I need to keep a clear head.
But as I stare into the beady eyes of a rapidly approaching monster, I’m struck immobile. There was a period in elementary school that I had been terrified that there were monsters hiding beneath my bed. Mom had consoled me and promised that they were only in my head, but I still had to sleep with my light on for months. I think it’s rational to be afraid of the unknown. To be afraid of the creatures who go bump in the night.
Staring into the monster’s vibrant red eyes, I have the irresistible urge to burrow under the covers and turn on all the lights. Maybe then, the monster won’t see me.
Before it can charge, a sword slices through its neck, and its head tumbles to the ground. For the first time in my life, I understand the saying “seeing the light leave his eyes.” The red orbs spark once before dulling into a ruddy shade of black.
“Braxton!” Karston shouts, running towards the shirtless Demon. Already, blood and sweat run together down the broad planes of his chest. Fortunately, besides a cut on his forehead, I don’t see any injuries. “What the hell is happening?”
“The monsters from Hell,” he rasps, confirming my suspicions as he sidesteps Karston and charges me. He captures my cheek with the hand not holding his sword and turns my face to and fro, checking for injuries. “They’ve escaped.”
“I’m okay,” I assure him, covering his hand with my own. “Where’s Auston?”
As if my question has summoned him, white wings appear in the sky as my Angel twists and turns, evading a fleet of winged monsters. When one of them gets too close, claws extended, Auston turns and fires two arrows into its heart. The creature releases an earth-shattering roar as it begins to tumble towards the earth.
“So far, there’s only been three casualties,” Braxton continues, and though his words are meant for Karston and Preston, he doesn’t turn away from me. “But the monsters have only just arrived. Heaven only knows how many more innocent souls will perish before we get this threat contained. I have a team working on closing the portal to Hell.”
“Who the hell opened it in the first place?” Karston yells as he faces off with a five-legged creature with a slimy, skeletal, gray body. With short stabs at the creature’s belly, the monster falls back, lifeless.
“I have one guess,” Braxton hisses through gritted teeth. Over his shoulder, I spot Preston holding his scythe and blowing things away with a giddy smile. It’s so hard to forget that despite his clumsiness and awkwardness, Preston has been trained to be a stone-cold killer. “Baby, you need to get back inside. It’s not safe out here.”
“No way,” I state fiercely, proud when my voice doesn’t waver. “I want to help.”
“You can help by staying inside where it’s safe,” Braxton insists. Before I can mount another protest, an agonized cry ripples through the clearing, overwhelming even the growls and screams of the monsters. I turn just in time to see a Demon pushed onto the ground by a red monster, its claws embedding themselves into the Demon’s chest.
“Fuck!” Braxton releases my shoulders and turns towards Karston, fighting a new creature that has crawled forward. “Watch Hadley!” His spindly black wings unfurl behind him as he takes to the air, his sword extended. With one fatal swipe of his hand, the monster’s head falls to the ground, spraying the wounded Demon in slimy green ichor.
Reapers, Demons, Angels, Ghosts, and Dearly Departeds are all fighting together, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough. Every time a monster is slain, a new one ambles from the forest to take its place. How much longer can we survive this? How much more can we fight? And where the fuck are all of our teachers?
I hold my dagger shakily as I survey the once pristine and immaculately cut field. Now, it’s stained with blood, dead bodies littering every available surface.
Behind me, a low growl emits from just inside the Ghost dormitory. Heart hammering a mile a minute, I turn on my heel, dagger raised. I want to scream for Karston and Preston, but they’re both busy with their own monsters and I don’t want to distract them. No, this one will have to be mine.
The first thing I notice is that he has two heads jutting from his neck. Five arms. Seven legs ending in clawed feet. His disproportionate body causes him to fall forward, crawling towards me like some sort of fucked up millipede. The second thing I make note of are his features. One head shows a gaping maw currently open to reveal razor-sharp teeth. He has no eyes on that head, only sunken sockets where his eyes should be. The second head is eerily similar to a man I know. A man who once tortured me, all in the name of stopping the Darkness.