Chapter 5

Kassy moves towards the creature.

She gets hit hard. The force of the blow sends her crashing directly into the cabin wall with a sickening bone crack. Wood spreads everywhere as the entire structure shudders.

“KASSY!”

No response.

The creature doesn’t bother pausing, stepping forward, it completely ignores Kassy. Its eyes are set on Maxine, unflinchingly.

‘Why is that thing staring at me like I’m a long lost artifact?’

That's when realization hits her. This thing never came here for Kassy. It came for HER.

The world narrows.

Fear wraps itself around Maxine's chest in a tight grip. ‘No time to think, I need to act fast!’ her mind reasons.

Grabbing the nearest thing to her— a frying pan, she hurls it with all her might in the creature’s path.

It hits its target.

A sharp clang echoes throughout as it drops to the floor. The creature snaps its head slightly to the side. Then, slowly it turns back, clearly unaffected.

It growls low, deep and angry.

The sound crawls beneath Maxine's skin, grasping her spine.

‘Oh…No…I’m definitely finished!’ She stumbles back, her heel slipping on the wet floor. She nearly falls.

‘Damn it.’ She thinks.

Her heart races faster. Her breaths, forced and shallow, as if her lungs had forgotten how to function.

‘Run’ her mind screams at her.

Too late. The creature is already in front of her. A clawed hand shoots out. It grabs her in a firm grip.

Pain explodes through her ribs as she's yanked off the ground squirming.

Maxine screams, kicking wildly as she desperately claws at its arm. Her efforts receive no reaction. It doesn't even flinch. Nothing.

Her fate is sealed.

“Maxine!”

Kassy.

‘She’s alive.’

Maxine twists her head, eyes wide.

Kassy is breathing. She is pushing herself up, barely any strength in her arms, one hand pressed against her side. Her pale face contorted in pain.

‘She shouldn't be standing. Much less breathing.’ Maxine reasons.

But she is.

“Drop her!” Kassy snarls, her shaky voice breaking halfway through.

The creature doesn’t even look at her, which is worse. Maxine's stomach drops. Dread fills her body.

‘It doesn't care about Kassy at all.’ She is neither a threat nor its real target.

The grip around her tightens.

Air vanishes from Maxine's lungs. Her body jerks as panic takes over. Her vision darkens at the edges. She can't breathe.

Something snaps.

Inside Maxine, something rises. Not bile. Not fear. Something deeper. It surges up, fast, sudden, unstoppable, and violent.

Light burns from her fingers. White. Blinding. Burning.

It slams into the creature, and the smell of burnt something permeates the air. It staggers, taking a few steps rearwards. Its grip loosens.

Maxine drops.

She hits the floor hard, coughing violently while greedily dragging oxygen back into her lungs.

Her hands shake violently.

‘Wha- what was that?’ She feels normal again.

The light is gone. So is the feeling that came with it.

‘No, come back. I need you!’

She points her palms forward. But comes up utterly drained like a pond in the desert. The creature itself doesn’t move, not immediately. It stands frozen, dazed in awe.

Maxine looks up. She stills.

It's looking at her. Not with rage, but with something else. Its head tilts, slowly, deliberately studying her now—weighing.

A low rumble builds deep within its chest. Its eyes light up with something. Something that has her skin crawling like it wants to rip itself off her and run. Something like,

‘Recognition.’

“Oh no…” Maxine whispers.

The creature breaks out of its trance, stepping forward.

It's faster now, more certain that its suspicions have been confirmed. It must get the girl. This Girl.

Maxine scrambles back, everything she's ever feared flares to life. ‘No no no no.’ Her mind chants.

She tries pushing herself away but she's cornered as her back hits a wall. It grabs her, more determined this time.

No hesitation in its pursuit.

Maxine screams, struggling wildly as her thoughts are consumed by what just happened.

‘What was that!’

‘Do it again!’

She tries concentrating, but still comes up empty. Just her fear and disappointment. Any hope she had disintegrates now that she has run out of luck.

“MAXINE!”

Kassy tries to attack, taking a step forward, but her legs buckle mid-step. She collapses, a sharp gasp tearing from her throat. She groans in pain.

The creature turns to the entrance, fastening its pace.

Maxine continues to thrash relentlessly, reaching for the wall, a lamp—gripping anything she can get her hands on.

Nothing holds.

“No,” comes her raspy voice. “Kassy…”

Kassy crawls her way forward, fingers scraping uselessly against the wood. “I'm coming…” she chokes. Her eyes red from the strain.

But she isn't, she can't. She lies on the floor, breathing heavily, struggling to regain any strength or stability.

The creature steps onto the porch. Cold air slams into Maxine’s tired frame as they descend deeper into the forest.

Branches snap from the force of the beast. Leaves scrape past her skin. The world becomes motion. Her head jerks with each step.

Behind them, smaller now, Kassy has finally risen to her feet. Something gleams in her right palm before she throws it.

A purple-hilted sabre cuts through the air, sailing through wind and trees. The aim, practiced, precise and perfect as it reaches for the back of the creature's head.

The beast shifts into an unnaturally fast sprint. The blade misses its point, barely by a hair’s breadth.

‘Of course it misses.’

Kassy collapses, no longer fighting to get up.

Maxine's chest tightens painfully. Her strength is depleted now that the adrenaline has worn off.

“Kassy…. ” The word barely leaves her lips, stolen by the wind. Her limbs start to feel numb and heavy, her eyes losing focus.

Through the blur, she sees movement at the cabin. Hooded figures swam inside like they own the place, stepping over the ruins with little to no care.

One man steps forward, his hood off, exposing a burn mark on his forehead. He heads straight for Kassy.

Grabbing her collar, he says something. Then, he strikes her, clean. Kassy blacks and doesn't get up.

Maxine's breath hitches, but her body won't respond. The creature doesn’t slow, the forest stretching endlessly ahead.

‘Everything I’ve ever known is now gone.’

Her vision blackens and her mind succumbs to the darkness. The last thing she feels is the creature's hold tightening.

Then, nothing.