CHAPTER 8
I scrambled back over top of the plywood, not feeling at all sorry when I knocked my immobile mother out of the way. I knew she’d forgive me, and understand. I lunged forward and grabbed the bottom of the bedroom door as one of those things rushed at me with deadly purpose. I yanked the door toward me, slamming it shut with a resounding thud.
I fell back, my rapid pants loud in my ears as I tried to catch my breath. One of the things slammed into the door, rattling it in its frame. The old wood held up beneath the onslaught, for now. "Abby get up! Abby up, up!"
Abby was trying to get to her feet, but she struggled beneath the weight of the plywood lying half on top of her. I tugged impatiently at it as I helped to pull it off of her. The things were banging against the door with more urgency now. They would break through it soon enough. Finally freeing Abby, I threw the plywood back down and began to awkwardly roll our mom onto it.
"Bethany," Abby whispered. "Bethany, we have to go."
"I know, I know," I replied impatiently as I finally managed to shove my mom haphazardly onto the wood. Light suddenly filled the upper hallway. The hair on the nape of my neck stood on end as I lifted my head. The window at the end of the hall was now ablaze, the room behind me had become eerily silent. "Oh."
Abby grasped hold of my arm, her grip bruising and harsh. "Bethy."
I raised slowly, my heart hammering, and my whole body trembling. "Get the other end of the plywood Abby."
"Bethy..."
"Now Abby, get it now!"
She released me and crawled to the other end of the board. It wasn't the beams blazing in on us that unnerved me most, but the sudden, ensuing, horrendous quiet. The only sound was the faint scrape of Abby's shoe against the floor as she bent to pick up the other side.
They were toying with us, and they were enjoying every minute of it. For the first time I became certain we wouldn't escape this house alive. I ignored the bite the weight of the plywood caused my injured palms as I gripped it firmly. Shuffling forward, I kicked aside the broken bits of the table I had knocked over earlier. There may be no chance we were going to escape this, but I wasn't going to give up easily.
"Go Abby." Her deep brown eyes rolled toward me as she stared at me with a trembling bottom lip. "Move."
Abby kept her eyes on the window, but she began to edge her way down the hall toward the stairs. There was no sound as she turned into the stairwell and made her way backwards down the steps. Tears brimmed in her eyes, but she didn't complain and she didn't cry. She made it to the bottom of the stairs and turned the corner. Light was still blazing through the windows, illuminating our way as we shuffled through the downstairs hallway.
"What are they doing?" Abby whispered. I shook my head; I had no answer for her. "They're going to kill us."
I agreed. I just wasn't going to tell her that. We were almost to the kitchen when the backdoor flew open. I accidentally slammed the board into Abby, nearly knocking her over, as she stopped abruptly. My heart lurched in my chest, instantly my throat went dry. I was certain this was the end; we were going to die. I wanted to grab Abby and shove her behind me to try and keep her safe, but I couldn't reach her with the plywood between us.
Someone stepped into the kitchen. I blinked rapidly, trying to get my eyes to focus on the person highlighted by the harsh glow of light. Abby was shaking so severely that the board was rattling. Was it one of the aliens? Had they actually come down in order to start retrieving us? "Abby?"
"Aiden?" she croaked. My whole body sagged with relief. "Aiden?"
He stepped further into the room, coming into better view as he moved. "Mom?" he whispered.
"You shouldn't have come Aiden," I breathed. Heartbreak filled me as I realized he was now trapped with us.
"Bethany..."
"You shouldn't have come Aiden," I repeated fighting to get the words out around the lump of tears clogging my throat.
"I had to."
"We're going to die."
I had feared it might be true, but saying the words aloud made it a completely devastating reality. It was true. The three of us wouldn't make it out of this house alive. "Bethy..."
My gaze slid past Aiden, my heart plummeted even further as Bret stepped into the room behind him. "Oh Bret," I whispered, despair filling me. Not Bret too, I didn't think I could handle it. He was a part of our family; he was a part of me. He was Aiden's best friend, Abby's second brother, and he was here because he loved me with everything he had. He was going to die because of me, and I had kissed another man just an hour ago. I had never hated myself more. "You shouldn't have come."
He frowned at me as his head tilted to the side. Like Aiden and I, he was fair, but his hair was a darker blond than ours. "I had to," he said simply, and it was that simple for him. The acid in my stomach churned like I'd just eaten bad chicken. Guilt churned within me as self-hatred swamped me. I was suddenly grateful I wouldn't have much longer to despise myself.
"Hurry," Aiden urged.
I didn't say it didn't matter if we hurried or not. I'd already expressed my opinion on this whole situation. I wasn't going to bring them down any further with my pessimism. "What is going on?" Bret's gaze flitted toward the fully aglow front of the house.
"We pissed them off," I answered. "And now they're toying with us."
Aiden came forward and nudged Abby aside as he grabbed the plywood. His gaze locked on our mother, tears shimmered in his eyes as his head tilted to the side. "Mom," he murmured. The heartache in his voice was almost more than I could bear.
"Aiden please, we have to move. Abby by the door there are some bags of food, you have to grab them." I didn't think we would make it far, but we would need food if we did, and we had to do something other than stand here. I had to think about something other than our impending demise.
"Why are you covered in blood?" Aiden demanded.
I shook my head; I wasn't ready to get into all of the gory details right now. There was no reason to. If Aiden hadn't seen those awful sucking tentacles yet, he was about to. "Go Abby, please," I pleaded.
She nodded as she released the plywood to Aiden. His gaze was back on our mom, kicked puppies looked better than he did. Abby grabbed the bags by the door and turned back to us expectantly. Bret came to me, but thankfully I couldn't release the plywood to hug him. I could barely stand the small kiss he dropped on my cheek. It just made me feel even more disloyal and hideous.
I had known for a few years how he felt about me, but up until this year I’d warded off his advances. I loved him, deeply, but I'd never been sure if it was as anything more than a friend. Four months ago I finally relented to his pursuit. I'd reasoned that the only way I could ever know how I truly felt about him was to stop pushing him away, and treating him like a brother. Perhaps I could fall in love with him then.
Things were good between us, sweet and caring, and simple. We never fought, never even bickered. But our relationship didn't possess any of the passion, or rightness, I felt with Cade. It was rare when we kissed, and I still found it awkward and uncomfortable. Bret was patient with me, certain I would eventually come to feel more for him, and it was impossible not to put faith in anything Bret said. Where Cade was an enigma, always had been, and always would be, Bret was an open book of honesty, hope, and love.
Bret's hand lingered on my cheek, brushing aside some of the drying blood clinging to me. "Are you ok?"
"No," I answered honestly. "I am not ok. We have to get out of here, now."
"Yes." His hand brushed briefly against mine as he took the plywood from me. He was bigger than Cade, taller and broader through the shoulders. He was exceptionally handsome in a lively, unguarded way that was the exact opposite of Cade's dark splendor. Bret had been the quarterback on the football team, the star athlete. He could have had a full ride to any college he chose but that hope had been squashed by the aliens. People didn't travel anywhere anymore, never mind to college in order to better themselves. The aliens had claimed under their
rule everyone would be equal, and higher education wasn't necessary. There would be no more starvation, no more illness and premature death, and far less crime. It had never surprised me so many people had fallen for their lies; it was easy to believe in something if someone was desperate enough.
Bret had been mister popularity, the golden boy the girls had chased around, and yet, for some reason he had chosen to pursue me. I should have been flattered by this; all of my friends had told me so. They'd been jealous when he'd started asking me out. They'd also been extremely incredulous, and angry, when I had continued to turn him down. They hadn't been any happier when I finally relented and said yes to him. They simply hadn't understood how I felt about Bret; they still didn't, and in all honesty, neither did I.
"Bethy." I turned my head toward him, trying to keep my face impassive as I met his gaze. "I'll keep you safe."
I winced involuntarily, mentally kicking myself even harder. If, by some miracle, we did survive this I was officially going to consider myself the worst human being ever.
"We have to be quick, move through the woods, down the trail. We can lose them once we get into the thick areas." Aiden's tone was hopeful, but we all knew that was highly unlikely. They were airborne after all. "Abby, get the door."
Abby glanced nervously at all of us as her hands clenched on the bag she held. Taking a deep breath, she managed a firm nod before hastily pulling the door open. My heart leapt in my chest, but Abby was already rushing outside. I almost screamed at her to wait, to come back, but we were no safer in here than we were out there.
"Stay close," Bret ordered as we rushed out the door behind Abby.
I was tempted to argue with him and tell him I could take care of myself, but what was the point? I couldn't take care of myself in this situation. No one could.
The light was far more vivid outside; it blazed across the sky with the force of a million bulbs. It blared against my eyes, causing me to stumble and nearly fall as I bumbled blindly behind the plywood. A rumbling filled the air and shook the ground. I was dismayed to recognize it as the same awful sensation that had accompanied the arrival of the hideous thing earlier.
I didn't look back to see what was coming at us, I knew what was back there, and I didn't want to see it again. Bret's breathing was heavy beside me, I strained to make out Abby, but I couldn't see her through the glare pounding against my irises. I was going to be blind by the time this was over.
I felt more than heard or saw the impending attack, simply because those two senses were almost completely useless right now. I knew it was coming, that something was hunting us, and it was close. I wasn't ready, I was too young for this, and I certainly had never thought I'd go out this way.
An image of my father flashed before my eyes. I was grateful he'd never had to know this, had never had to see his family hunted and slaughtered like rodents. I was glad that, as of right now, my mother seemed to have no idea she was being pursued, and her children were so close to death. Unfortunately she would wake up, just as the man had, but by then it would be too late, and death would follow shortly after. She would never have to know the loss of her children.
I was glad for all of these things, and I was especially glad I seemed to be the first one they were going to take down. I couldn't stand to watch as they took my siblings, and Bret. I was tempted to let go of the board and bolt in a different direction, but I knew it wouldn't do me any good, and I wasn't about to go down like a coward.
No, I was going to die brave, or at least make an attempt at it.