The Miscreants of Xiphoid Camp [NOT UPDATING CURRENTLY]

» 2131 « Chapter 27 - Scant!

On the screen, the orange line slithered in a winding path, occasionally switching direction or looping back around itself, but its intention was clear: it was headed for the two little dots in the center of the screen.

In the real world, the sound of something being dragged along the floor grew nearer and nearer, and the louder it got, the more terrifying this whole situation became.

Avior's eyes were glued to the screen, closely tracking the orange line's progress. When would it reach him? What was going to happen?

Just on the other side of the table with the computers, a book toppled off a shelf and landed facedown, pages bent and splayed. Another book followed. Three more. What must have been a dozen. The shelf swayed unsteadily. It tipped to one side, then rocked back to the other. More books fell, one landing on its spine and opening to reveal an illustration from the book about Scants, of the woman bent over backwards in an impossible position, limbs at odd angles, head twisted to face outward, a too-big smile plastered upon her face.

The shelf rocked further and further from side to side, and then, slowly, it tilted

down

down

"MOVE!" Marcus yelled, grabbing Avior's arm and yanking him out of the way.

Down. With a great crashing sound, the shelf fell upon the table of computers. A thick cloud of dust rose, obscuring whatever it was on the other side that had just pushed it over.

Avior leaned forward even as everything in him screamed RUN, straining to glimpse what might have tipped over the shelf.

The dust settled to reveal a small figure with a shock of white hair lying facedown on the ground.

Marcus gasped. "Is that Ethel?"

Ethel's head snapped up at the sound of his voice. Slowly it turned to face them.

Wrinkled, papery skin tinged with gray. Eyes as wide as saucers. Scales all down its back.

A smile that quite literally stretched from ear to ear, and a mouth that was filled with hundreds of tiny, gleaming, razor-sharp teeth.

The thing that was not Ethel anymore pushed itself up onto four unsteady, thin limbs.

Avior did not wait for it to make any further movements. He bolted, Marcus close on his heels. He did not know where he was going, only that he was getting OUT one way or another. Avior flew through the door, Marcus following a moment later.

"CLOSE IT!" Avior screamed as the thing that was not Ethel anymore rapidly approached them, skittering impossibly fast along the ground on those spindly legs.

The door slammed shut. Marcus turned the lock. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

The thing that was not Ethel anymore slammed into the door from the other side. A long split appeared in the old wood of the door.

Marcus let loose a long stream of profanities. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. The wood splintered slightly. "We have to get help!" he yelled, gesturing wildly to the door. "That's not gonna hold forever, and we can't fight it on our own!"

An old woman couldn't be much harder to fight than a giant robot chicken.

"We can't fight it on our own, but I can," Avior said, though his voice shook slightly. "Go ahead and run for it. I want to fight,"

"But—I—no—" Marcus stammered. He took a deep breath, gathering his resolve. "I'm not just going to leave you here to die, no matter how much I hate you," he said.