Fallen

Chapter 44. The surprise [Caleb]

Rain is starting to fall. The raindrops making their way through the leaves of the trees. They splatter onto the already muddy forest floor, painting everything into an even wetter mess. There's a crack of thunder above before the rain starts coming down heavier.

Tina is trembling like a leaf. "Caleb," She cries out, her eyes blown wide open. She takes a step in my direction. The leaves crunch under her sneakers.

The many beasts surrounding the both of them start to growl at the movement, showing off their sharp teeth. Mørke tightens his grip on her bicep, pulling her up against him. Tina winces, her face scrunching up in pain. "You're not going anywhere," Mørke clicks his tongue, mouth drawing into a snarl.

"Let her go, you bastard," I push my way forward. Ready to beat that ugly face of his into tomorrow for touching my friend like that. But M holds me back by my shoulders, forcing me back into place, preventing me from doing something stupid, even if it's tempting. "She's not a part of this," M says from next to me, taking a small step forward like he's offering himself up. "It's me you want, so let her go."

"I can't do that. You see, she made herself a part of this," Mørke huffs a breath of air as he jerks Tina a bit in his hold. "I did give her a chance, believe me, but instead of taking it like a good little human, she decided to dial the pathetic police force you guys have in town. And I can't allow such a thing now, can I?"

"You leave my friends alone," Tina growls out from his grip. It leaves Mørke chuckling as he lets his hand slide down the side of her face.

While distracted I poke M in the side with my elbow. "What do we do?" I ask, voice low.

"We wait for the right moment, then we take him and the beasts out." He whispers back to me, dark eyes glued on Mørke.

"Sounds easier said than done," I say. "When is the right moment anyway?" I look around for a suitable weapon. Another sturdy stick preferably. I spot one, lying near a fallen down tree not far from us.

There's a surprised yelp coming from Mørke as Tina head-butts him. It gives Tina just enough time to slink her way out of his grip, pushing him off of her. He falls to the ground with a thud, dark blood seeping down from his nose. He looks up in shock, anger fuming.

"Now!" M yells out as the beasts jump into action. M's hands start to glow, lighting up the forest from where he's standing. He hits one of the beasts square in its chest as it goes for him. Turning it into dust instantly. A heap of it, simply falling to the ground, disappearing.

I go for the stick I saw earlier, ready to kick some monster-ass. Legs quivering with fear.

I see Tina in the corner of my vision, grabbing a stick of her own. She fumbles over to me, avoiding one of the beasts from grabbing her with its tight claws.

"You have so much explaining to do, Caleb!" Tina screams out as a beast goes to strike.

I manage to smack it in its face. "I promise I will do that," I say, hitting it again. "But can we maybe not do this while we're both fighting for our lives!" I yell out over the hammering rain.

"How do we even stop these things," Tina screams out as she goes to copy my action, hitting it as hard as she can. The beast howls in pain as it turns to dust like many before it.

"Like that," I point out, surprised at how easy she makes it look.

"Watch out!" Tina screams out pushing me to the side, both of us barely avoiding another one of those beasts. We end up in a heap of tangled limbs. Mud painting our clothes brown.

Before I can thank her, something grabs a hold of my leg. I scream in pain as sharp claws dig into my shin as I get dragged across the forest floor, the wet patch of mud making the slide easier. I try to grab anything that can prevent myself from getting dragged away any further, but everything is made slippery by the heavy rain.

I hear Tina call out my name. I see her struggling with a beast of her own. I'm utterly screwed. I turn on my back, staring up at the growling beast, drool falling onto me along with the rain. I kick out after it, struggling with all my might, screaming bloody murder.

Suddenly, there's a glowing hand sliding through its chest. The weight on top of me disappears instantly.

"We need to stop doing this," I complain as M helps me stand up. I wince as I put pressure on my injured leg.

"You have to go, take Tina with you, and run," M yells out above the rain as he punches another beast into dust with ease. He's changed, he's so much better at this now, beating up the beasts.

"What about that asshole," Tina asks from next to me, having finished off the beast she was fighting and now helping me stand up, putting pressure off of my leg.

"I don't see him anywhere," M says, as he takes two more beasts down. "I need to get rid of the last few beasts before I can do anything else, you guys must go!" M adds as he strikes off one more of the remaining beasts.

I look around through the heavy downfall. Only able to spot a few more of those beasts left. There's a flash going through the forest each time M strikes, taking down one after the other without a sweat. And that's when I see it, a tall looming figure moving at incredible speed towards us. Before I can react, the weight next to me disappears as Tina gets thrown across the forest. She hits a tree with a loud thud, falling onto the ground, motionless.

"Look out!" I hear M scream. Suddenly, there's a hand around my throat, claws digging into the sides of my neck. My feet lift off of the ground, the air leaving my lungs. I look into glowing orange eyes, filled with nothing but pure hatred. The next thing I know, I'm flying through the trees. There's a resounding crack as the back of my head makes contact with the rough bark of a tree. The sound of the rain is quickly drowned out by the ringing in my ears. My vision swims before me, slowly turning dark. The last thing I feel is the cold raindrops falling onto my skin as I let the pain in my head overtake all of my senses, falling into a void of nothingness.