Black Holes - The Mors Mortis Trilogy Book 3

Chapter Fifty Six

Leah's heart was pounding as those footsteps came closer, her eyes flickering between Danny and the stairwell. Danny glanced at the portal, calculating and coming to the same conclusion she already had. Whatever was descending those stairs would reach them before the portal shut.

His face hardened and he turned back to the shadowy entrance of the stairwell, pulling his gun and knife from his holster, ready to fight.

Another bolt of pain shot down Leah's arm and her vision blurred. Her whole body tensed against the urge to gasp as the portal closed another inch. It still yawned open behind her though, big enough to slip through, and by the time she'd recovered, they were no longer alone.

A creature was haloed in the stairwell entrance, its silhouette strangely lopsided.

Danny slashed out, his movement efficient and brutal, and the creature fell, toppling into the room. But as it did, it pulled something with it; an object it'd been dragging down the stairs. Leah caught a flash of colour, of clothing, and suddenly Danny was swearing.

Before she could see what the object was though, another creature leapt into the room and Danny lunged for it, his knife meeting its arms as it reached for her.

Leah jerked out of the way, giving Danny more room to work, and craned her neck to see what the creatures had brought with them. But there was too much happening. Danny had taken care of the second creature, it's body crashing to the floor at his feet, but another was already looming in the doorway.

How many creatures had come back? Were there hundreds lined up out there waiting to crowd the room?

Leah felt her heart kick into overdrive, panic setting in.

Danny gutted the third creature and it fell with a thud, collapsing on top of the first one that had entered. Both bodies skidded further into the room with the impact, their corpses large and heavy, and the object they'd brought skidded forward with them, and finally, Leah saw what it was.

A person. Their clothes and back were shredded where the claws of the first creature had sunk in. But they were familiar clothes. And above them was a familiar dark bob of hair, clotted into a sticky, congealed patch.

Cassandra.

Leah's stomach dropped. She could picture it so clearly, exactly what they'd feared would happen. Cassandra and the Brentons following Zarah and Danny as fast as they could, Cassandra tiring herself out trying to look strong enough to keep the Brenton's in control, and then suddenly a stream of those creatures coming for them, completely unavoidable, a stampede released.

Another creature lunged into the room, kicking the dead ones out of the way, and Cassandra skidded further into the corner, her body limp and unresponsive. The image of it made Leah's vision go white, and she pulled her gun free, her hand trembling as she pointed at the new creature.

Danny was already taking care of it though, lunging and slashing with a ferocity that didn't give the creature much chance. But that didn't matter. Another creature was already pushing into the room behind it, a third scrambling down the stairs.

Leah watched, her pulse racing as one of the Brenton's was dragged into the room, limp in a creature's claws. Then, the girl Zarah had saved only minutes earlier too, her escape from this house short lived.

Danny spun, lunging and slashing and killing, but Leah could already see what would happen. There were too many of them. They weren't going to be able to hold them off. Not when one of Leah's hands was joined with Zarah's, sunk deep into the in between.

Soon, Leah and Danny would join the pile of unconscious people on the floor. They would fail, and Zarah would be unprotected, standing vulnerable as all these creatures returned to their home.

Leah turned back to the portal, suddenly certain they only had one option left.

Zarah had to close the portal, and she had to do it now. They couldn't take any longer.

"Zarah!" she shouted, and even through the portal's surface, she saw Zarah flinch, saw her head jerk in Leah's direction and take in what was happening. "Hurry!"

Then all hell broke loose.

One creature got past Danny and lunged for her, and Leah shot it, kicking it aside as it fell. There was another there before it even hit the ground though, and she shot again.

The creatures were becoming a secondary worry though.

Because Zarah had clearly heard Leah's words, and it suddenly felt like lava was spilling into Leah's veins. The portal boiled and writhed behind her, shrinking up faster and faster, and Leah could feel herself boiling with it, popping and sizzling and evaporating into steam.

Her knees gave out and she crashed to the floor, her breathing loud in her ears and she fought down a scream.

But then Danny was yelling her name, and she looked up.

A creature towered above her, someone in its grasp. She raised her gun to shoot it, but her arm was leaden and heavy, and the creature just stepped over her, kicking her arm in the process and tearing the gun from her grip. And then it was through the portal, pulling the unconscious person with it.

Leah caught a flash of a familiar shirt, a shock of dark, close-cropped hair.

One of the Brentons.

No. Leah thought. No, no, no.

She lunged after it, trying to grab onto some part of Brenton, to keep him and the creature here, to keep Zarah safe, but before she could there was another creature in front of her, swiping for her head.

Leah stumbled out of the way, the movement nearly wrenching her arm from its socket as she kept her hand in Zarah's. She ducked for her gun and raised it quick, shooting the creature in the head before it could come for her again.

But another was taking its place, and her legs were giving out again, her vision blurring and shaking like an earthquake had hit the room.

"Danny!" she wheezed, and her knees crashed to the floor.

She saw Danny look back at her, heard him yell something, and she felt Zarah's grip on her hand tighten, felt Zarah pull more from her, rip more of her away.

And everything went black.

...

Next chapter out in two weeks :)

- Skylar xx