Am I Wretched or Divine? ~*COMPLETED*~

Chapter 26. One Thing After Another

Andy's POV

We reached the outskirts of the city and we all agreed to stop and take a breather. What we all had forgotten though was that the Matriarch had sent a few of her creatures out and we all froze in our spot when we heard their screeches echoing behind us. I turned on my heels and readied to fight the things that were steadily running toward us but they were stopped short and turned to dust just as they were about to reach me. I covered my face from the flurry of dust that raged toward us and when it finally died down I was able to make out a figure striding toward us.

"You really should have kept running. They would have torn you to shreds in a matter of seconds. You might be able to handle the Shadows but these Skins are almost stronger than we are." Rikea came closer and started pushing us further from the city.

"Skins? You told us you would explain. This is the last chance to explain before we leave and never come back so get started." Zara tried to take a few steps forward but Rikea held her arms up to signal her to stop.

"Skins are the evolved stage of Shadows. Kind of like we Grims are the evolved stage of the humans and Shadows. All traces of humanity are stripped away, leaving the shell which is harbored by the souls of the damned. They morph the body into something a little easier to handle and feed on the flesh of animals or humans." Rikea sighed and looked around making sure we were still alone.

"So F.E.A.R is in charge of Shadows and the Matriarch is in charge of the Skins... Who is in charge of the Grims?" Zara took a step forward eagerly awaiting the answer to her question.

"Grims are under the control of no one. We all are independent seeing as we ran away from F.E.A.R before we could be controlled."

"Then why do you stay in the city? Stay with all of this danger? Can't you leave whenever you want?" CC asked this time and that's when I remembered that he wasn't there when they explained.

"We cannot. We have deemed it necessary to protect the last of the human race by creating a barrier to seal the remains of the city from the outside world you are in right now. I can't step any closer to you as the barrier traps us in here also, or it will shatter and doom will reign the land." She lifted her hand and reached forward but her hand was stopped and we could see the distorted colors of the shield, that rippled across its surface.

"So you are trapped in there forever? Living in fear that one day you fall at the hands of the Matriarch and everything you had put your life into will have been in vain? That seems unfair to all of you." Alex looked a little disturbed at the situation but we even more disturbed when we all heard a loud crack.

I looked up to find the barrier beginning to shatter and returned my gaze to Rikea who was in complete shock. The Matriarch screeched and in the distance we could see smoke coming from where the theater had been.

"You need to leave now! Nothing is safe now! Take the rest of the humans and find a new place if you can! Zara I hate to ask seeing as This isn't the life I would want to place on anyone else, but could you stay and help? Maybe we could hold the barrier at least for a short time, to allow them some time." The screeches grew louder with each passing second and with Zara's hesitation we came closer to our deaths.

"I will help." Zara stepped inside the barrier and I watched as the cracks stopped spreading and held in their spots without getting any larger.

"Now is your chance. Run and don't look back!" Rikea and Zara turned to face the oncoming horde, led by the Matriarch.

I stood there for a minute before Jake grabbed my arm and pulled me away from them. I looked at him and shook my head, not wanting to leave them in this battle alone but I knew I wouldn't be of much help. If the Matriarch could take down all of the Grims then we definitely didn't stand a chance. I started running to catch up with the group, hoping Zara and Rikea would be able to handle themselves.