The House Of Hellfire

Chapter 5 - Buried Secrets

Iris could do nothing but watch on in horror as the Demodog tore Trevor apart.

"Come on Sweetheart, we gotta get out of here!" Eddie yelled as he dragged her away from the horrid scene. She could still hear Trevor's screams even as the distance between them widened.

They ran as hard and fast as they possibly could, Eddie practically dragging her behind him. They ran along the banks of the shallow creek for what seemed like miles, still hearing the creatures running alongside them in the forest.

Eddie came to a dead halt, throwing an arm in front of Iris, nearly knocking the wind out of her in the process. He used the same arm to quickly wrap around her midsection, and pull her close to him, while staring straight ahead. She followed his line of vision ahead of them, and her heart dropped to see at least 12 to 15 Demodogs before them in a U-shaped formation.

Their eyes scanned the sides of the ravine they were in, and many more appeared on top.
Glancing over his shoulder, the only clear path was backward. It rapidly became apparent that they had been led into a trap. Even if the two of them ran at a dead sprint, the creatures would descend upon them fast.

"Okay here's what you're going to do," Eddie said with a quiet, shaky voice. "When I say 'go' you run in the opposite direction. You ran as fucking fast as you can, you hear me?"
"What?! No!" Iris nearly cried, "What about you?!"

"Songbird, there's no way both of us can make it out of here alive," he said gently. "I'm sorry. I wish we could have had more time."
"No! That's not fucking fair!" She sobbed. "You literally just came back! We haven't even figured out how or why yet!"

"If nothing else, maybe it was to protect you," he said. "And for that, I'm honored."
"No! I'm not leaving you!" She insisted. "Let me-"
She was cut off when he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, before pulling back and looking into her eyes.

"I'm not giving you a choice Songbird," he pushed her back slightly, then turned and ran towards the Demodogs.
Taking one last glance at her over his shoulder, he screamed, "GO!"

Iris begrudgingly turned and sprinted in the opposite direction. Hot tears left burning streaks down her face, and she dared not turn around, because she already knew.

The sounds of what was happening behind her were gut-wrenching enough.
She had just lost Trevor, and now she just lost Eddie as well. Much more and-

Beep - beep - beep - beep - beep - beep

Iris reached over and tapped her cell phone, before pushing herself up against the headboard.
She sat trying to shake the nightmare, reminding herself that although they did encounter one, Eddie made sure the Demodog was dead. Although she saw more in her flash, they got out in time.

That she was safe.
That the boys were safe, albeit passed out drunk.
It was just her mind rehashing the events of the previous night. Nothing more, nothing less.
She breathed deeply as her heart stopped racing and her gut stopped twisting.

But another thought crossed her mind.

Why did she dream that he kissed her?

Oh.

Because he almost did last night.

But why? What possessed him to want to?
And why was she more than goddamn willing to?

She couldn't deny that he was very good-looking, even bordering on pretty. She thought that even before they met, seeing pictures of him from Dustin, but as the saying goes: they didn't do him justice.

Much like the stories she heard of him having a flirtatious personality, she wasn't quite prepared for how much so. But then again, she couldn't say she didn't like that about him.
All that combined was like the human embodiment of temptation to her.