Page 119 of House of Pain
She could hear feet shuffling upstairs, probably Andro and Blaze trying to reinforce the wards, but it seemed like it was taking forever.
Before she heard the growl, shefeltit. All hairs on the back of her neck rose, her stomach dropping.
Alecto stole a glance behind her shoulder to find two more Hellbates crawling towards her through the corridor. More must have made their way through the windows on the second floor.
Fuck.
She stepped away from the stairs, rounding the railing, and advanced backwards, further away from the creatures crawling at her.
Her heart raced so fast it was hard to catch her breath, and her thoughts were racing just as fast.
Alecto glanced behind her, stealing a couple more steps as the Hellbates moved in closer to her, despite the light.
Maybe they were smarter than they knew. Maybe they could taste her fear, and that was enough to overcome their discomfort with the light.
Alecto’s back hit the wall in the corner of the corridor. Two more growls came from the room next to her.
She was backed up in the corner with Gods know how many fucking killer creatures all coming for her.
Alecto closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she exhaled through her nose, she opened her eyes and split the light off, throwing one globe of it at the creatures in the room next to her.
They hissed and retreated, but just for a moment.
Then, they seemed to come in angrier, hungrier, and Alecto couldn’t hold in the scream of agony as one claw dug into her forearm.
It was as if her whole hand was on fire, muscles burning with a pain she had never experienced before. She backed away out of the corner and pushed against another wall.
With trembling hands, she threw the light at the creatures sprawled in front of her. They all retreated, burned by the massive light ball.
Alecto used that moment to run back down the corridor, hoping to make it up the stairs to the third floor, but there were more Hellbates waiting for her there.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Alecto growled and then hissed as the pain in her hand intensified.
She tried flexing her fingers, but they weren’t cooperating anymore. She whimpered, fear freezing her muscles. Or was it something in the claw that made her muscles refuse to function?
The burning rose further up her arm, getting closer to her shoulder.
Tears sprung to Alecto’s eyes, and she couldn’t stop taking in sharp and shallow breaths as she imagined whatever poison taking over her whole body, leaving her helpless.
She was left alone to face the horrid creatures all crawling towards her, and she soon wouldn’t be able to protect herself.
Of course. Of course they would leave me to fend for myself.
The half breed.
Anger surged to the surface.Exactly what she needed.
She backed away from the stairs, moving towards her room, not turning her back on from the creatures. Her bathroom didn’t have a window. She could hide there, buy herself some time.
Her shoulder burned, numbness creeping up the side of her neck when she finally reached the door.
Alecto couldn’t turn her head to check whether the room was empty, so she just ducked inside, hoping for the best.
Once in her room, she moved to the bathroom. When she opened the door, a wave of dread washed over her at the sight of two Hellbates already inside her bathtub.
“Fuck.”
Alecto whirled, slamming the door shut. Two more were already in her doorway.
