The Duns

Our First Meeting

Chapter Twenty-three

Peter

As soon as I know she's safe, I turn to the crowd behind me. "William, you heard it too right."

"As clear as night. The hissing was exactly like they described."

Richard walks forward. "How long till they reach here?"

I press my ears, forcing them to listen. "Somewhere around five minutes. It's a large building, but they slither around quickly, apparently."

He nods. Max speaks up, "We split."
He looks at me for confirmation. I nod. He continues. "Richard, William, with me. Harry, Kabir, Arthur, go with Peter."

"Wait." I say, "We need to split in three. Arthur, Harry will go together. Kabir and I will find Andrew and Eliza, check if they're okay. Harry, you and Arthur go to the right, tell everyone to clear out. Max, you guys check the labs- there's a ton of people there. Go!"

I run into the dark corridors, Kabir by my side. His healing powers might help if Andrew and Elle are hurt- we can't risk losing them now. We turn at the next corridor, getting closer to the dining room.

I put my hand out. "Wait, I can hear something. It's close, we need to be ready." I close my eyes. There's something blocking it. I look at Kabir, feeling my eyes turn gold, "I don't know where they are. We need to be ready for anything." He nods.

Before I have any time to reply, something, a person I suppose, jumps off from the ceiling in front of us. She has short, blond hair and her eyes are slanted inwards in concentration. They glow green in the dark, breaking through the blue shaded walls. She wears a leather jumpsuit with scales shaded in green and yellow. She looks at us, her shoulders face the wall, but feet pointing towards us. Oh my god.

I thrust out my hands, firing fireballs aimlessly at her as she tries leaping forward onto us, just steps away. "Kabir, go! And be careful!" I yell, hoping he can reach Countess Elizabeth and Igetis.

The bleeding fire bounces off her suit, not causing enough damage, just pushing her off target and burning through the suit slowly; it doesn't seem to affect her enough. I pull out a gun from my pocket with my left hand and aim it at her. Bang. Bang. Bang. I shoot perfectly at her head, my thorough experience coming in handy; as her body limps down against the floor, a vision breaks through my mind. I shake my shoulders, trying to rub the scene out of my mind.

Without wasting any more time, I bend over the girl's body and cut out a piece of fabric from her feet using the daggers we were given and putting it quickly into my pocket. Getting back up, I sprint down the hallways to where I suspect Kabir would find Igetis- Andrew.

Another Snake-person leaps at me from his position where he stood like a statue, stuck to the wall. How do they do that? He doesn't last for long though, because the moment he puts out his tongue, the fork at the end spitting, I put two clear bullets through his nose.

The sight of him falling onto the ground, his nose leaking, half off, his pale white skin with shining piercings turning darker due to the dim lights, is enough for me to start gagging. I load my gun quickly and continue down the road. Andrew said they attack in large groups. I just killed two, how many more should be here? Did they know we are here?

"Ghack!" I splutter. Something rubbery and wet curves itself around my neck, tightening it. I can hear the fork end slicking up and down as it wraps itself around my throat.

"Argh!" I gasp, my gun slips out of my hands, my hands instinctively coming up to the tongue around my neck. "Ghaaa...!" It's sloppy, rough, yet smooth texture disgusts me, my hands covered with slimy, sloppy saliva, but I stay stuck to it, struggling to get the tongue off me. Think.