Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 46

Trigger Warning! ⚠️ De@th, bl00d, c@nnib@lism, mentions of m@nipul@tion

Everyone stilled. Well everyone except Greer. They tilted their head and grinned, "Is something wrong?" Opting to ignore Greer I frantically searched the room for an exit. Unfortunately, the only one available was the hall we came down earlier. If I had to guess it's the same one the demons are in. That's a problem. That's a big problem. If we can't get out- wait! Sticks! Are there any sticks!? I scanned the room for one, but there was nothing. Seriously!? A twig would work at this point. I'm not picky! Is there any sort of wood object!? We're in the forest there has to be something! "You're not going to find anything that will help you, Luke," Greer hummed, "I removed any tool or weapon long ago." My heart sank. Well, that's inconvenient. Ugh, if only my magic backpack could help us. Wait. Did Margret put sticks in it?

Yanking the bag open I tore through it searching for any wooden object. "What are you doing?" Greer ask annoyed. ".... nothing," I replied not stopping my search. "Oh," they chuckled, "Aren't you clever. Unfortunately for you, I highly doubt there's anything wood in that bag of yours." My hands stilled. "Don't worry," Greer smiled, "Your death will be quick. IF you cooperate." "Yeah, right," Ella scoffed, "Like we're going down that easy." "Yeah," Leo agreed, "Unfortunately for you, we'll be fighting tooth and nail to live." "And hey," Jack said, "Maybe we'll kill you while we're at it. I wonder if the demons will fall apart and retreat like you said they would." "That would be an interesting thing to find out," Ella hummed, "Why don't we test it?" "It'll be like a science experiment," Leo smiled. Greer scowled, "You're confident now, but in a few moments you'll be begging for mercy."

"Will we?" I asked, "Because I'd die before begging to you." Greer clenched their teeth, "Or so you think." "I don't think," I replied, "I know. I will die before begging." "Are you underestimating me?" they growled. "I don't know. Am I?" I asked. Three demons barreled into the room surrounding us. Greer stuck their hand up stopping them. "Don't move," they gritted out. Stalking over to me, I noticed one of Anna's eyes had turned back to its glowing green color. Huh, that's odd. I wonder if Greer can control what they look like. I mean since it is Anna's body shouldn't it look completely like Anna? Greer's consciousness shouldn't affect Anna's appearance, right? It didn't before. Or did it and Greer found a way to conceal it? Colored contacts exist, so it wouldn't have been hard. Greer was a world keeper too so they must know magic. That could have been used too. "Pay attention!" Greer snapped pulling me out of my thoughts.

Oops, were they talking? "Listen to me when I'm talking," they seethed. "Sorry, can you repeat that?" I asked, "I wasn't paying attention." Greer let out a dark laugh, "Oh you want to push it don't you?" "Push what?" I asked, "Am I annoying you?" "I think you already know the answer to that," they answered. "Do I?" I questioned. My eyes darted to the hall entrance. The demons weren't covering it. If my friends sprinted they could get there safely. "Why don't you explain to me just what I'm doing?" I requested hoping to distract Greer. They smiled, "I think I will." I suppressed a grin and tried to catch Leo's eye. Unfortunately, he was preoccupied with watching the demons. Glancing over in Ella's direction, I saw her staring at me. We locked eyes, and I glanced over at the hall entrance. She seemed to get the message and nudged Jack. Good. Now they just need to get Leo's attention. Though he is closest to the exit if they start running he should get the hint. Glancing back at Greer, I saw they were still talking about something.

Turning my attention back to my friends, I saw Jack glancing at the hall. I looked over to the demons to make sure they hadn't moved. Thankfully they were all in the same spot. Making eye contact with Ella, I looked over at Leo. She nodded and tried to get his attention. Unfortunately, it was no use. He seemed to be too focused on something else. Guess they'll just have to start running and hope he notices. They came to the same conclusion because both began to sprint toward the hall. It took a moment for Leo to process what they were doing. As soon as he did, a look of horror passed over his face. "STOP!" he yelled. But it was too late. They had barely reached the entrance when a fourth demon dashed out from the hall and grabbed Ella by the throat slamming her into the ground. Jack froze and Greer cackled. I watched in terror as the demon holding down Ella yanked her throat out spraying blood across the room and leaving the front of her neck in shambles.

Another demon tackled a petrified Jack to the ground from behind and wretched out his spine. I could hear the ripping of flesh and the crunch of bone as it was removed. Leo backpedaled away from the hall and toward me. I stood there staring at Ella and Jack's lifeless bodies unable to move. I was frozen in place. I couldn't do anything. I had killed my friends. I was the one who told them to run to the hall. I should have noticed one of the demons was missing. I should have known something was wrong if Leo hadn't made a break for it. He had a clear view of the hall. He would have noticed the gap. I should know that. He would have left if he could. "Aw," Greer crooned, "Are you feeling guilty? I know you wanted to save everyone. Bring them all back safe and sound." I blinked a few times trying to rid myself of the replaying images in my mind. "I told you that wasn't possible," they continued, "You really shouldn't have thought you could get away."

I could hear the two demons munching on their bodies in the background and was vaguely aware of the backpack being pulled away from my feet. I can't believe I failed. I failed two of my friends and they died. I was supposed to keep them safe. "You failed all three in a way," Greer hummed, "I mean you weren't there to protect Anna that day in the woods." ...I wasn't. I failed there too. Maybe that doomed me from the start. "Oh please," Leo interrupted, "Do you ever stop talking? If we go by that logic then I'm responsible for starving children in London. He wasn't there what was he supposed to do? Have spider sense and teleport?" "I don't think you have room to talk," Greer replied, "I mean you let your friends die too." "You bloody berk," Leo swore, "They were already dead! What was I supposed to do!? Go back for them!?"

"That's what a good friend would do," they hummed. "Stop trying to manipulate me you feck!" he retorted, "Or I'll stick my foot so far up your arse you won't be able to sit." Before I could blink, Leo whirled around and stuck a comb into the head of an attacking demon. As soon as he did the demon burst into a black sludge. That's when I realized the comb was made of wood. Staring me dead in the eye, Leo spoke, "You can mope later you blok. We're getting out of here, do you hear me?" I nodded numbly. He was right. We could still escape. Besides I still have one more friend to protect. Grabbing my wrist, Leo yanked me toward the hall comb in hand. As we moved two more lunged at us. I could feel claws raking down my arm and for a moment I was scared it would get torn off. Suddenly I could feel Leo shoving the comb in my hand as he kicked the other demon away. Taking it, I drove it into the demon's hand grinning as it dissolved into an inky goop. Moving toward the hall, I realized the second demon was still attacking. Whacking it in the throat with the comb, it imploded into ooze. Resuming our escape we reached the hall when the final one lunged.

Leo pulled us to the side and it crashed into the wall. Taking advantage of its stupidity, I slit its throat with the comb. The last one dissolved into sludge and we quickly moved around Ella and Jack's bodies escaping into the hall. "YOU CAN'T RUN!" Greer called from behind us, "I'LL FIND YOU!" "Try it, plonker!" Leo shouted. Emerging into the woods, we continued to run in the opposite direction that we came. Swiftly moving through the trees, I could feel the adrenaline beginning to fade. As it did I became aware of the blood running down the gashes in my arm. Well, that isn't good. Doesn't matter, I'll worry about it later when there's more distance between us. We continued running for a while longer before Leo finally slowed to a stop. "You- you good?" he asked in between breaths. "Eh, sure," I replied breathing hard.

"How attached to those pants are you?" Leo asked. I glanced down at the dirty pair of jeans, "Not that attached. Why?" "Because we left the backpack and you're bleeding," he replied gesturing to my arm. I looked at the jeans, "I think they're too big to be used as a bandage. Also, I'd like to keep my pants on." Leo rolled his eyes, "I'm not cutting off the whole thing you moron. Just part of the leg." "Oh," I replied, "How are you going to do that? We have nothing to cut it with." "Yes, we do," he replied pulling a knife out of his pocket, "I never put the knife back in the bag." "Oh," I muttered. "Hold still," he commanded crouching down and beginning to cut my pant leg below the knee. "So," I said as he worked, "What was with all those fancy words back there?" "Huh?" He asked removing the fabric. "You know," I told him, "Feck, plonker." "Oh, those," he muttered cutting the fabric into strips, "Yeah, British cuss words. I use them when I'm pissed." "Ah," I replied as he bandaged my arm. "Sorry about your friends," he whispered when he finished. My breath caught in my chest. "Um, thanks," I wheezed, "We should keep going."

"Oh yeah," he replied, "One second." I watched as he cut off one of his pant legs. That's when I realized one of the demons had got him on the leg. Hmm, must have happened when he kicked it. Once he was done bandaging the wound we set off walking through the woods.

Look at that! LOOK! What do you think? I liked it. I thought it went well. Yeah? Well, see you next week! Have a great day! Bye! 🙃