HeartBreak

~Chapter 9~

-N/A-

Garrett rushes back to the house, the necklace swinging wildly in his hand. The sound of his feet hitting the pavement is the only available noise. With the house in sight, he stops to calm his beating heart.

Out of the blue, one of the creatures laying on the ground reaches out and grabs his arm. Caught off guard, Garrett falls on top of the body, pinning it against the ground.

"Fuck..." He mumbles under his breath as his arm is pulled closer to the thing's mouth. Using his free hand to grab his knife off of his belt, he rips his arm out of its grasp and drives the blade through its skull.

A mixture of blood with black and pink goo oozes out from the hole as Garrett removes his knife and places back on his belt. The creature snarls once more before its jaw goes slack. The sight of the red liquid gives him an idea.

Kneeling down besides the corpse, he wipes the blood over himself, making it seem as if he had fought through a group of them. Once satisfied with his work, he stands back up and races back.

The front door swings open violently. Curtis, Creed, Meliyah, Jonathan, Jordan, and Adam all turn to see who had interrupted their conversation. "Look, I don't know how the hell you got in here, but..." Curtis stops mid-sentence at the sight of the blood covered Garrett.

"Well what in the world happened to you?" Garrett leans against his knees as he tries to breath. "...it...it was terrible man..." Anxious and worried, Creed steps up beside Curtis.

"Where's Bella Garrett?"

Garrett smiles slightly to himself as he sighs. Looking up at the two of them, he replaces his grin with a look of despair and grief.

"...we weren't alone... in that house..."

He takes a moment to let his words sink into the pair, taking note of Creed's expression growing a bit worried. Curtis speaks up.

"What do you mean you 'weren't alone' there? Who was that figure? What the hell went down?"

Garrett looks between the two of them.

"...I don't know... I didn't... get a good chance to look at them...before they..."

He trails off as he leans over and goes into a coughing fit. Growing impatient, Creed grabs him by his shoulders and pulls him back up.

"Cut the bullshit and goddamn tell us already Garrett! What happened out there? What did 'they' do? And where the fuck is Bella?!"

The entire house seems to go quiet as everyone stares at Creed with wide eyes and open mouths. Realizing that he's dramatically causing a scene, he lets go of Garrett and backs off.

"...they pushed her...Bella...into a group of those things walking around outside..."

All of the color drains from Creed's face. "Wh...what?" Garrett ignores him and continues on.

"I was already busy with one when she was pushed. I had been cornered by one before I heard a gunshot. The bullet completely missed the creature in my face and struck me in the chest, knocking the breath right out of me..."

He stops and mimics getting hit by the bullet. Everyone continues watching and listening to him in silence.

"...Right before I heard the gun, I heard her scream out. 'Aaaahhhh! Garrett! Help me!' Then the bullet hit me. My vision went black around the edges as I tried to get rid of the thing in my face. I almost blacked out, but another one of her screams pulled me out of it..."

Nobody notices the tears that start to fall down Creed's face as he listens in disbelief.

"...I manage to reach down on my side and grab my knife. By this point, the creature in front of me has my arm locked between its teeth. I yank my arm out and kill it off before I even get a glance at what's going on..."

Garrett shivers dramatically. "...I'll spare you all the gory details..." Everyone but Creed mumbles some sort of a thanks before he continues.

"...By the time I started to approach her, I knew I was too late to do anything. I had to kill every single one of those things before I could actually get to where she was, or at least what was left of her. She was so unrecognizable I almost mistook her body as one of the creatures I had killed. But then I saw this..."

Garrett reaches into his back pocket and pulls out the necklace. "...Bella's necklace. I'd remembered her wearing it so that's why I recognized her..."

He walks forward towards Creed. Sensing Garrett coming towards him, Creed wipes the remaining tears off of his face. "Here..." Garrett takes his hand and gently places the necklace in his palm. "...I think she'd want you to have it Creed..." Creed stares on in disbelief as Curtis comes up to Garrett and pulls him away to have a private conversation in the kitchen.

Eventually the people remaining in the foyer exit. Creed makes his way out on to the front porch. He sighs and looks down as Jordan stands next to him.

"Listen Jordan, call me crazy or a lovesick puppy, but I don't think Bella's dead."

Anticipating embarrassment, he leans against the railing and stares down at the ground. Jordan sighs and joins him against the rail before speaking.

"Neither do I, Creed. She's my soul sister, so we kinda have a special connection, and right now it's telling me that she is certainly alive. Meliyah and Jonathan both told me the same thing, plus I know that Caroline and Nate would agree with me..." She pokes him playfully in his side with her elbow. "Though you may be a bit lovesick, you're not crazy."

He smiles as he wraps his arm around her shoulder and playfully squeezes her back. "Thanks girl. You're the best." He lets go of her and sighs before looking off into the distance. "Now on to the most important part..." They both look at each other and speak in unison. "How are we going to find Bella?"