To be Claimed by Her

Chapter 15

Owen's POV

Sean was grumbling about his shoes as we entered the run-down building. "Why are we here again?" he complained.

"This is where Daryl Jones was supposedly living before he disappeared." I looked around the abandoned building, seeing evidence of squatters and drug users. It smelled of urine and death. "If you can call this living," I mumbled under my breath.

"I thought he was part of that temple Victor and Gabe went to yesterday? Why didn't they help him find a place to live? Isn't that what churches do?" Sean asked, poking through a closet.

"From what Victor said, it's not a church, but more like a pagan group." I wasn't really clear what it was myself. So far everything we looked into only created more questions than answers. I froze in my steps when I heard a loud banging sound and a woman's scream. Sean and I both exchanged a frightened look before running towards the scream.

We reached a large room where a tiny woman seemed to be fighting with a large figure. They both moved so quickly that it was difficult to see them clearly. "What the hell is that thing, Owen?" Sean gasped.

That thing must have heard him because suddenly it shifted its attention towards us. Its body looked human, but its face was something out of a nightmare. A large gaping maw filled with hundreds of teeth and black eyes glared at us. It roared and a ball of fire flew from its hand, hitting Sean in the shoulder. He screamed and dropped to the floor. I ran to him, trying to check on him. Then I heard the woman scream "No!" and turned to see a ball of flame flying towards me. I looked at her, our eyes locked as I watched her jump in between me and the creature. She shouted something I couldn't understand and the beast exploded, but the fire slammed into her chest. I quickly grabbed her, trying to stop the bleeding. "Sean, dammit, Sean help me!" I begged. He groaned as he tried to get up.

The small woman in my arms looked up at me with a sad expression. Trying to comfort her, I stroked her face and felt a sharp jolt that traveled my body and seemed to settle in my very heart and soul. Who was this woman? She raised her hand to my cheek and whispered, "mo chroí" before closing her eyes.