Unknown

Bag of Bones

"Chris?" A voice calls out from the kitchen in a cautious whisper. I recognize the sound of my dear friend.

"Peter?" I reply before taking a step toward the kitchen.

"Don't, it could be a trap," Anna tugs on my arm.

Seconds later Peter's head pokes out of the doorway.

"Oh man, what a relief!" Peter rushes toward me and embraces me in a hug.

"You guys can come out now, it's safe," Peter calls toward the kitchen.

Two people appear from the kitchen. A girl and a boy. The girl has short black hair, spiked up a little. I watch Anna study her outfit with questioning eyes. Girls, I'll never understand them. I think her combat boots, black leggings type things, and green army jacket are suitable for the type of situation we're in. War.

The boy's style is similar to my own, jeans and a shirt. He however has strangely pale hair, almost white-blonde, and falling into his eyes. I watched Anna's eyes move from the girl to the boy, a sense of jealousy arose inside me.

"This is Dawn, and that's Drako," Peter introduces us. "These are my friends Anna and Chris."

"Pleasure to meet you," Dawn eyes pierce my own. There's something different about her eyes. Ones blue and ones green. Interesting.

"You too," Anna speaks up, almost sounding territorial. Dawns eyes land on my hand, loosely hanging onto Anna's.

"So let's exchange information, this way we're all on the same page. It'll increase our chances against the Seikorae." Dawn speaks up in an authoritative tone.

"Anna and I have managed to gather up some information that could help," I reply.

"Tell us all you know, I believe you should start because I reckon Drako and I know more than you," Dawn crosses her arms and Anna frowns.

"Chris has discovered that the beasts' vomit contains acid, causing everything but the bones to be eaten away," Anna says matter-of-factly.

"Yes, the Seikorae," Dawn emphasizes, "spit highly acidic vomit on their victims after beating them, practically senseless. They then smear the blood around, as you can see, as a symbol of their pride, because they've made a kill. The Seikorae are a breed of demon, created in a lab, they were created to expel viruses, instead they became a virus. We aren't dealing with any sort of religion based demon, it's a plague, rooted from your nightmares little girl and holding your boyfriends hand isn't going to make it go away." She takes a step toward Anna.

"He's not my boyfriend," Anna all but growls as she drops my hand. I feel a sharp dropping sensation in my chest.

"Hey, calm down." Peter intervenes. "Dawn knows a lot about the Seikorae, we need to remember who the real enemy is here. Let's try to work as a team."

"We think they're afraid of the sun," I add trying to ease the tension.

Dawn looks like she's about ready to explode, but instead she just sighs and shakes her head.

"The Seikorae have no reason to be afraid of the sun. They're just a bag of bones."

"If they're just a bag of bones how can they spit vomit on their victims?" Anna questions.

"A Seikorae has two organs. A brain, and a small stomach that lies in the back of their throat, coated by cartilage. The virus is fast acting, so they don't need a big stomach. They are however incredibly smart. Injure their stomach, they are nearly useless; injure their brain, they're dead."

"The reason we have survived while our family and friends were attacked is because they are going to build armies and adapt before attempting to conquer the rest of us. But that doesn't mean we're safe. If they wanted, they could stalk us like pray, manipulate us, watch us, and wait for even a split second of weakness and we're subject to every bit of torture in the universe."

"Sounds rough," Peter breaks the silence.

"We need to establish a safe house," Dawn changes the subject.

"We could go to the high school, nobody likes going there," Peter cracks.

"That's actually not a bad idea, Anna was there all night," I watch as Anna continues to stare at Drako. I guess he's kind of good looking, for a guy I mean. But he's still not as handsome as me, right? I shake my head to free my thoughts. I am being absurd. Anna wouldn't go for a mute. How could he tell her how pretty she is? Or if she looks fat in that dress? Not that she ever would-

"Chris! Earth to Chris!" Peter nudges me rather harshly.

"Huh? What?" I snap out of my inner thoughts.

"Are you even paying attention? We asked if we can use your car," Peter looks at me with a raised brow.

Just then a noise came from the upstairs. All five of us stood there with ice in our veins. We listened as scratchy footsteps neared the stairs. Peter cautiously took a step toward the front door, but his foot landed on a creaky board.

The house went silent as we all waited for the other one to make a noise first. Suddenly a loud shrilling scream echoed from upstairs before we heard it come barreling down the stairs.