No More Time

Chapter 1

It had been three months since the big event.

The sun was nowhere in sight. Midday meant nothing anymore. Billows of grey cloud rolled across a dark sky. The street lamps that had survived had to be lit in some areas to give pedestrians enough vision to avoid the giant cracks in the pavement left by the catastrophic phenomenon that had affected the whole earth.

There was only a few who braved the outdoors in this town and Alyssa was one of them. She was running. Her battered trainers hit the ground wildly, occasionally tripping on the raised parts of concrete. Some of the cracks were too big to jump over where jagged chasms had been left. Suddenly Alyssa came to an abrupt halt, almost falling over when she realised one of these gaping holes were right in front of her.

But there was no time to stop now! Her head whipped around frantically making her long braids hit her face. The chasm spanned across one side of the street to the other, leaving not even an edge to manoeuvre around. Crying in frustration she realised she had taken the wrong route, and now she would die as a result.

Her pursuer was in the form of a middle aged woman who was moving with considerable speed for somebody wearing high heels. However anybody looking at her would be able to see she was not quite human. There was something occupying her body, and it didn't care about how broken her ankles were now due to all of the cracks her foot had gotten twisted in, it just had to keep moving until it devoured its victim.

The human-demon hybrid was catching up on Alyssa.

She thought of calling for help, but gave up on the thought, worrying that the only one who could rescue her might not even listen, not after what she had done. She looked around for a weapon, something she could grab - a scrap piece of metal or a plank of wood - anything. There was nothing. She scrabbled for a rock on the floor. A high pitched shriek in the distance made Alyssa's body cringe. Though it wasn't in sight, she could tell whatever was pursuing her had gotten her scent. It knew she was standing still. The rock in her hand wouldn't even come close to defending her from this thing. She had seen many of its kind rip humans apart.

"Please!" She cried out in desperation.

"Go down the chasm." Came the reply.

Alyssa looked to the hole just a foots-length in front of her. She didn't have to look down it to know that it was deep. There were many stories of people falling down these openings since the event and never getting out. Had she heard right? Had she annoyed her Helper so much that He wanted her dead too?

The sound of heavy breathing and erratic footsteps quickly advancing stopped her questioning and forced her to move. Turning around on her hands and knees she shuffled backwards, trying to feel her way over the jagged surface. Her right leg fell of the end of the cracked pavement first. Moving carefully she started to lower her body down the rocky edge, but she was soon moving faster than she could control. As she slid down her stomach scraped against the harsh rock.

Any pain she should have felt was overridden by the fear that she was now dangling. Her hands were gripping tightly to the raised parts of the opening. Panic ripped through her mind. This was it; her Helper wanted her dead because of what she'd done. Suddenly her scrabbling feet found footholds.

"Go lower." The voice came to her again.

She let go with one hand, searching around the rock for another place to put it. She found a good hold, allowing her to bring her other hand down. She wasn't so scared this time as she lowered her feet again and found places to rest them.

"What now?" She whispered. There was no answer.

But the sound of disjointed footsteps and heavy breathing quickly caught her attention, except it wasn't stopping like Alyssa had. She looked up as she saw a dark shadow cover her for a moment. The figure of a woman sailed over her head and shot past her down the middle of the chasm.

She heard the human shriek of a terrified lady who had suddenly come to her senses mixed with the demonic growl of an otherworldly creature.

Alyssa stayed where she was for a moment, eyes tightly shut, until she could hear silence again. She was shaking, tears rolling down her face. She heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Holy Spirit!"