Tap Tap Tapping on the Glass

Chapter 3- Beauty Falls

Author's Note: First of all, thank you so much to the 3 people who have read this so far, in just one day of being published. I appreciate you so much <3 I'm adding this chapter on my birthday, which is pretty neat. 

Second, this chapter contains some sensitive topics and may not be suitable for all readers. It gets kind of graphic. 

Anyways, happy reading!!! -Wynn

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"Maddy! Abby!" I cry, recognizing the scream as that of a girl. I stop running. I can still hear two sets of footsteps crashing through the forest ahead of me, so the scream can't be my sisters.

I'm about to keep running when I hear it again. This time the scream is followed by a desperate plea, and I'm certain it's a young girl.

"Louis, help!" The girl screams again, this time in pain. I almost don't chase the voice, but something stops me. The girl knows my name, and there's something familiar about her voice. I hesitate for only a moment longer, then pull my feet away from the hands reaching for me and sprint in the direction of the screams, which grow louder as I get closer.

All of a sudden, the trees stop and I emerge in a field of knee-length grass. The sky is clear, not a cloud in sight. What makes me stop is the moon. It's four times larger than normal and is a vivid scarlet. It looks like it's been dipped in blood, and it bathes everything in dim crimson light.

I'm only given a moment to ponder this strange occurrence when another piercing scream jolts me back into action. Now I see the source of the screams. A girl, who can't be more than eight or nine, is roughly 100 yards from me, and she's surrounded by tall shapes.

At first glance, I think that the shapes are men, cast in shadow, but they're too dark, and wisps of smoke waft off of them. There's a wrongness about them that makes my stomach turn and my mind go blank with fear.

No, those aren't men. Those are monsters. Creatures from the depths of Hell. Creatures that are surrounding that little girl and rapidly closing in on her. The creatures look like they could be werewolves from stories, but inky black and made of shadow vapor. They walk on two legs like men, but I can tell their features are too animalistic, even from this distance.

"Louis!" The girl's pleading, desperate cry echoes through the field, and I start running towards her again, my heart pounding with fear. I'm determined, though. I have to save the girl from those Hellish creatures.

As I quickly cover the ground between us, I see the girl more clearly. She has shoulder-length wavy hair that's either dark brown or black. It's hard to tell with the crimson light over everything. She has pale skin and glasses that look too big on her young face. There's something vaguely familiar about her, and it takes me a moment to realize where I've seen her before.

Eden. My baby sister. Well, she isn't a baby anymore. I'm nearly one hundred percent certain that she's thirteen, so why is she so young now? I nearly stop in my tracks, but I force my legs to keep going. Whether she's four years old or fifty, Eden is my sister and I can't let her be harmed or worse by those creatures.

"Hold on Eden, I'm coming!" I shout. My chest is heaving and my legs feel like jelly, about to buckle under me. I can't stop though, and my sister's screams drive me on. As I get closer, I realize her screams aren't wordless sounds of terror, but hurled abuses and insults, and what I took for desperate thrashing I can now see is her kicking and flailing her fists at the monsters. They reel back when she strikes them, which means they have to be somewhat mortal, right?

I feel a burst of pride for Eden. She isn't going without a fight, and for a moment I think she might be able to hold them off, but they keep moving closer, and I realize that even though she's fighting with everything she has, she won't make it alone.