Short Stories

Wraith's Keeper

The thing in front of her had on a long, wicked red robe, that fall in tatters as it slid along the rocky ground. She held her breath as it came to a stop at the edge of the woods. Every molecule in her body seemed to mimic her need to be absolutely still. It turned its head and the shadows that was his face moved about, searching. Her chest ached for a breath and her lungs felt like fire, but before she gave in to the need to breathe, the thing moved on.

She laid there for a few more moments, hoping the thing took notice in another scent besides hers. Hunting the bitch was hard enough, then another hunter decided to use her trail to get the glory for themselves and almost got her killed.

Silence filled the air and she moved, climbing out from under the bush, her legs wobbly from the run she just had. A branch snapped to her left and she went into a crouch, her scythe hitting the ground with a thump. Cursing, she went lower, eyeing her surroundings.

A man emerged from her left and she stood up straight, crossing her arms over her chest. His face held a small scar that went from the bottom of his left eyebrow to the left corner of his lips. Dark blue eyes narrowed at her and full lips pulled into a smile.

She clenched her jaw. “Why the fuck are you following me?”

He shrugged and gave her a mocking smile again. His bow and arrows glinted in the dark, a sign of who he belonged to. “Why are you still out here? Didn’t the Wraith have your scent?”

“Fuck you, Sam.” She snarled, “I’ve been tracking this thing down for months and if it wasn’t for me, you would still be looking.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Yes, right. Thank you for that, by the way. My boss just loves to be shown up by the other side of this.”

She smiled at him sweetly. “Can’t all be good at hunting, that wouldn’t be fair.”

Sam grunted. “But hey, Remi, remember. Who has your scent now?”

She flipped him off and yanked her scythe off the ground, the silver hitting the moon light. “Whatever. If it finds me, I’ll kill it before it kills me.”

Sam smirked. “That’s the spirit.”

Remi scowled and pushed back into the forest, trying to leave him behind as fast as possible. The Wraith is one of the biggest bounties she’s had in a while. Which is why Sam had followed her when she caught the trail of it.

Once she was sure she was miles away from where she ditched Sam, Remi ducked underneath a canopy of trees. Going over the details that she remembered about the Wraith, she knew it could change its shape to draw her in. The closer it gets to her, it feeds on her life force.  The Wraith is an alien being that comes to Earth every hundred years after it gets killed.  This one has been said to be on earth for over the hundred as no one could kill it. 

Silence fell around her and her whole body felt on fire. Before she could hide, a brush of heat slammed into her. Remi turned and there it was, black and red against the dark forest. It crept closer and Remi felt something flicker within, a sense of euphoria.

“Ahhh,” the thing moaned, “you must be the hunter that has been tracking me.”

Remi stood still as it inched closer, but not too fast as if savoring the moment. Her body relaxed each inched it gained, and her mind seemed to slow down. The thing stopped and it’s features started to change with a sickening sound of fleshing being meshed together.

It’s head moved and the face took shape of a handsome man. Liquid brown eyes stared at her with mischief. It backed her up against a tree and a muscled hand wrapped around her neck, pinning her. Her mind was sluggish, but her conscience fought against it as hard she could.

“Much better to be in my human form. Searching for you took my other senses flat work much better in my normal form.” The thing sighs as it rubbed its nose along her neck, making her body feel electrocuted.

“Get…..off..” her voice came out clenched.

“Shhhh,” it sighed against her, “you are so tasty. Such a shame.” It backed up from her, but kept the hand around her throat. 

“I don’t have to feed on all you tonight,” he mumbled and looked at her through the brown eyes. The sluggishness faded a little and pain seemed to bloom across her body.

The Wraith smirked at her. “The side effects of not feeding, dear. I latched onto your life force and I fed on some of it.” It stepped closer again, it’s tongue went up the side of her neck and her whole body  tensed.

“Ahhh, sensitive,” it moaned.

A slight sound caught her ear but she was focused on the creature before her. It’s mouth landed on hers and her whole body went loose. She was filled with a tingly feeling and she felt every mount of repulsion and fear drain from her body. It groaned and pushed its body against hers.

A high pitched whistling sounded and she felt its body lurch forward, pressing firmly against hers. She felt something poke at her chest and she looked down to see the head of an arrow poking through the Wraith.

It hissed and she whipped out her silver wrist dagger and stabbed it in its chest. It let her go and let out a scream. It’s human form dropped and replaced it with a the vision of its final form one more time before falling to shadows.

Behind it, a few feet away, stood Sam. His face was grim and bloodied, a scratch along his neck.

“Thought since I let him catch your scent l, I should save you.”

Remi snorted and bent down, despite the pain that radiated through her. She yanked up the bronze arrow.

“You would’ve gotten me killed anyways. Silver kills wraiths, Sam, not bronze."