Betrayed

Chapter 11

Scarlet and Gabriel ran. Footsteps pound behind them, slowly rumbling forward, but they push forward, Gabriel just inches in front of Scarlet, his breath billowing a foggy white cloud in front of him as he breathed heavy. Scarlet ran behind him, her eyes dark with fear. Their footsteps crunched in the dry leaves, smashing them underfoot and snapping twigs as they fled. Yelling commands sounded from behind them, and snarls from answering Hell Hounds answered, a steady pounding of hooves slowly sounding in the distance.

"Gabriel!" She yells, panting for breath. And the sound of his name, Gabriel slows until he matches Scarlet's steady stride, flashing a cautious look behind them.

"What?" He pants, scanning the trees.

"We need to split up." She huffs, and Gabriel immediately shakes his head, looking behind them again.

"No!" He yells, looking at her as if she had grown a second head. "You've got to be crazy to even suggest that."

"Gabriel, if we split up, they might get confused and it'll buy us a few extra seconds. You go to the left, I'll go to the right.... We'll go through the trees and loose them, then we can meet up eventually." Gabriel shakes his head, breathing hard, then looks ahead of them, nodding his head.

"Fine... Whatever. I'm only agreeing because we've got absolutely no other option." He breathes. They look at each other, exchanging final fearful looks, before Gabriel turns and peels off to the right. Scarlet waits until he vanishes into the dark shadows of the woods, then turns off to the left, just as heavy snow begins to fall from the sky. 

The sound of paw-steps and footsteps behind her slowly became jumbled and confused, unsure of where to go. Scarlet took this moment and forced herself to go faster, heart pounding in her throat. This short extra confusion only lasted a split second, because soon the sounds echo through the entire woods, some following Gabriel, some following her. More paw steps sound behind her, Hounds barking commands to each other as they quickly sped up, growing closer and closer to her. The thundering sound of hooves ran from her, fading into the air as they raced after Gabriel. Everything inside of her screamed for her to go faster; to pound ahead, hoping soon that her attackers would tire, but something inside of her skull,deep and small, whispered at her to turn. To fight those behind her, and quit running. She fought her own thoughts, pushing herself forward, but her decision was made as a heavy weight collided with her side, rolling her onto the ground.  

Scarlet screamed as its claws slashed at her side, bringing her fist forward and knocking it a few feet from her. She gasped and rolled to the side, dodging the Hell Hound as it leaped for her once more. Reaching into her belt loop, she gripped at the Demon Blade and yanked it out, slashing at the Hounds throat as he flew at her. Blood sprayed from the wound, black as night, coating the snow with it, some droplets panning onto Scarlet's shirt. It scrambled up in pain, blood practically dripping from its mouth as it locked its beady, ghostly white stare on her. He howled, then crawled away from her, collapsing to the ground, flanks heaving as it fought for its last breath of life. Another Hound raced at her, it's jaws slamming shut just inches from her face as he leaped short. Scarlet kicked out, sending it sprawling back, then scrambles to her feet, glaring at it. The Hound circles her, snarling, ears flat against its ghostly features. She looked from the corners of her eyes around the clearing they had fallen into, and her breath caught in her throat as she surveyed the scene around her.  

Vampires line the trees around her, hissing as they waited for some command. Hell Hounds weave slowly between them, growling, their breath clouding in front of them. As the Hell Hound circling her backs away, a demon stalks from the midst of the Vampires, moving slowly and calmly towards her, his features looking rather happy. He disappeared again behind the ranks of the Vampires, and one flew at her from the trees, bowling her over and landing on top of her, knees planted against her chest, pinning her down. William snarled in her face, an evil grin of pleasure spreading across his face.