Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 13: Fighting It Off

There's the unmistakeable sound of a heavy body hitting the floor, the creature letting out another roar. Casey stumbles to his feet, fear for Raphael's life gripping him as he searches for the flashlight.

His head pounds but that doesn't stop him. He can hear the creature's heavy breaths as it sniffs around for him, the cold aura surrounding it making his teeth chatter uncontrollably. It's getting closer, far too close for comfort, and Raphael's silence only serves to make Casey's heart race faster and faster.

He finally fumbles over the smooth handle of the flashlight and he gasps. He grasps it tight and switches it on, aiming it at the creature like a gun, and it hisses at the light again. This time, he can see it in its entirety. She's a lioness, but unlike any lioness he's ever seen before. Her jet-black fur seems to wave as if being blown by a constant wind, black as the dead of night, and her eyes are those same glowing pits of endless white that seem to see right through to Casey's very soul.

She backs up, hissing and spitting as she hunches low to the ground. A low growl sounds from her chest, mouth jittering as she starts to chatter at him, and Casey's skin prickles. He can see Raphael now too, his stomach twisting at the sight. He lays splayed out on the floor, still as a corpse. Four long bleeding stripes mar his shoulder and there are rough scratches on his plastron. The only thing telling Casey that he might be alive is the faint fluttering of his eyelids.

The lioness lets out another low growl and Casey grips the flashlight tighter, the beam quivering, and she shrinks away from it, ears pulled back. Clarity breaks through the panic for just a second as Casey fumbles for his phone, pressing the first speed dial number he can.

It rings and the lioness glares at him and Raphael's chest barely rises.

"Casey?"

Casey almost sobs at the sound of Destiny's voice. "Wolfie! You've gotta hurry! Raph's hurt and there's a freaky lion thing attacking us!" he screams, blood roaring in his ears.

He doesn't hear a response, just a rush of voices before the line goes dead. Destiny is on the move. Casey tries to calm his breathing even as his gaze flickers to Raphael's body again. He has to get to him, but he fears that the second he moves the lioness will attack, and Casey doesn't have a shell protecting the most vital parts of himself.

He can't breathe. Air moves in and out but it does nothing, whistling down his throat and doing nothing to ease the desperation clinging to him like a second skin. He doesn't understand why Raphael is so still. He's bleeding, hurt, but he's seen Raphael take on much worse and keep stubbornly fighting.

"Please, buddy," he whispers. "Please."

His flashlight beam flickers and the lioness lets out a harsh snarl, jolting forward, and Casey's breath hitches as he moves the beam into her path again. She shies away, hissing.

He's losing it. If this light dies, he's dead and Raphael is dead.

"DESTINY!" he screams. "WOLFIE!"

There's a howl from behind the lioness and Destiny, in her wolf form, bursts through the maze of boxes, knocking some aside as she tackles the cat to the ground. The impact sends the both of them rolling away in a mess of black fur, tumbling past Casey and disappearing into the darkness. Casey finally breathes.

He crawls to Raphael's side and hauls him close, gathering him in his arms as he searches for a pulse. He finds it, tiny and thready but still there, but the dread doesn't go away.

"No...no no, not you too, Raph," he begs as he unties his bandana and ties it around the bleeding gashes on Raphael's arm. "Hold on, buddy. Please, I can't lose you too!"