Escort Assassin

Chapter 4

"How does this one look?" Evelyn asked as we stood at the mouth of the second tunnel. There was nothing at the first tunnel but the smell of dirt and rock. Our best guess is that it leads farther into the hill, or mountain were under.

"I'm not sure." I replied straining to listen to any animals in it. There was a faint animalistic gurgling sound followed by a small inhuman shriek.

"There's something down there." I hissed, "It's a ways off though."

"It smells like rotten meat to." Eli murmured. I'm going to take his word for it.

"I'm sure it's just bats or a bear." The boy replied appearing behind us with a lit torch.

"What was your name?" Evelyn asked.

"Hudson. Why?"

"Do you want to fight a bear?"

I rolled my eyes and glanced at the ground before something caught my eye.

"Hudson, give me that torch." I ordered holding my hand out for it without looking back at them. When he handed it to me I brought the torch to the ground. There were small human hand prints on the ground. Only there were claws instead of fingers. I already thought that we shouldn't go down this tunnel, but now I know for sure.

"We don't want to go down there." I told them, while standing and brushing the dust off.

"Let's check this one." Heading over to the last tunnel I smelt a small draft from it.

'I smell salt!" Evelyn announced rushing over to it.," Definitely salt form the ocean."

"There is also a fresh breeze." Eli reported.

"This is our safest bet then." I decided.

"Hold on, who elected you leader?" Hudson demanded gaining our attention, "Why do you get to say where we should and should not go?"

"I'm not." I growled, "We're trying to get out of here alive."

"Did any of you think that if we' stay in place, someone will come get us?" Hudson asked.

"Do you want to stay here?" Evelyn asked.

"I think that's the smarter choice." He snapped

I glanced at the second tunnel before shaking me head. Staying is his choice, I'm not going to force him to come with me if he doesn't want to.

"Okay then. You can stay, I'm going though." I paused and turned to Evelyn and Eli.

"What are you to going to do?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Evelyn chuckled walking over to me, "If we ever get into a fight with our captors you'll need me."

"I have to agree." Eli answered, "The sooner we get out of her the better."

"You all are going to die." Hudson growled. I ignored the comment and began walking down the tunnel with Evelyn and Eli. Soon we couldn't even see the cavern behind us.

"What did you see at the second cavern?" Eli demanded out of the blue.

"Prints of something, No animal i have ever seen though." I admitted glancing back at them.

Did you two here the noises down the tunnel?" I asked

They didn't sound human or like a bear." Evelyn recapped sounding worried.

"I have an idea that it wasn't a human or an animal. I don't know what else it could be, but from the tracks it looked like there was a lot of them."

We were all quiet for a moment before Evelyn spoke, "Do you think he'll be okay on his own?"

As if to answer her question, there was a scream that sounded like Hudson.

"Apparently not," I muttered, " Let's get out of here before they catch up."

We started to run. Behind us, I could hear chattering and the sound of something sharp scraping against the rocky walls.

"I think I see the exit." Evelyn cheered. There was a bright light a head that was getting larger with each step. However, we had to skitter to a stop when a small creature appeared in front of us.

Terrified, I turned around to see an army of the same creature. Their eyes were solid black and their skin was a light grey. The inside of their mouths had rows of sharp teeth. They had claws instead of fingers. When they saw the light of the fire they hissed and shrunk back.

"They're afraid of the light," I hollered over my shoulder, " Kill the one in front of you so we can get out of here."

"How do we kill it?" Evelyn asked as if I knew the answer.

"Just start stabbing it everywhere. Something has to work." I didn't look away from the creatures. Every one of the looked like they would be happy to tear us apart. The wait felt like forever, but in reality it was probably only a couple of minutes.

"Did you get it?" i asked.

"Yes. You can kill it, like a regular person." Eli explained.

"Okay, let's go, slowly. They're afraid of the light. If we keep the torch between us and them we should be safe." I answered taking some steps back. Being careful to step over the dead creature.

"If we get close enough, do you think we can make a run for it?" Evelyn whispered.

"I think so." Eli replied.

"How far are we from the end?" I whimpered. These creatures are not something I enjoy looking at. I feel like I'm looking death in the face. Even if they are only up to my knees.

"Only a few more feet and we can make a run for it." Assured Eli as I felt one of them grab my shoulder. For some reason I began to mentally count the steps.

"Now Maya." Evelyn scream. I tossed the torch to the creatures, turned around, and ran. This way they would be forced farther away from us. The end was so close. The sun rays were barely shined on us.

Then I felt something sharp dig into my thigh and lower leg. Next to me, I saw that one of the creatures was hanging onto Evelyn by her arm. Two creatures had latched themselves to Eli's sides. I guess these little guys are the one's with guts, to face the light. Glancing back behind me, I saw that the army of creatures had stopped. They seemed to be cheering for their pals. I found out why when I tripped. One of the creatures bit into my shoulder while the other one started to drag me back. For little things, they are surprisingly strong. Horrified, I kicked it away before jumping up and running again. Ignoring the pain in my leg as well as the creature hanging onto my arm.

Up a head a little ways, Eli was down with the two creatures attacking him. He was trying to protect his head and neck from them.

"Get off him." I shrieked taking a scythe from my belt and slicing them. When they were dead, he leapt to his feet. We sprinted the rest of the way out.

"Are you two okay?" Evelyn asked sounding out of breath. I imagine we all are. I felt the weight of the creature on my arm vanish as it let out a painful scream. I turned away from it to the setting sun.

"Just as I thought," I panted, "they can't take the light."

"No, they can't." A female voice behind us chuckled. We jumped and got our weapons ready to fight.

Three people stood behind us. A man with black hair and blue eyes. A woman and a man with red hair.

"Congratulations on passing your first exam." the man with black hair complimented.