The Pieces Of Eight

Chapter Five: Falling Apart

   The immense strength of the beast was enough to pull me down. Up close, I recognized a foul odor, it was identical to what I had smelled down in the basement.

      "Help!" I screamed, in a drastic effort to somehow change my fate.

    The beast had, by now, locked me to the ground against my will. Its muscles twitched violently and it's neck extended. It hung its spiny, draconian face right over mine, and spread apart it's jaws, they where wide enough to reach from my head all the way to my knees.

    Just as I could hear the terrifying liquid rush up it's neck, a screeching roar sounded from above us. Through the black mist, I could make out blue-violet feathers, tinted in bright white. Claws extended from above and gripped the beast on it's back, hurling it far into the distance. Softly, I was grabbed by my waist, and the box, which lay a few feet ahead, was also picked up. A cool breeze blew down on me as I was lifted from the ground. Looking down, I saw many black shadows gather from where I had just been. I tensed as I once again heard the deep clicking noise, this time chiming with each other. Wings that had hung limp and torn at their sides now extended as they took off and followed us in a hoard of black. We began to pick up speed.

    Out in the distance, something large swayed  in the fog over the ocean. It was hard to make out, but we where heading towards it. It looked like a schooner, or a sailing ship of some kind. We dived down twoards it quickly. The creature that had been carrying me set me down and looked into my eyes with sorrow, quickly it motioned towards a hatch on the swaying boat, I opened the lid and went down with the box.

      When I had finally reached a quiet spot to rest, my brain began to work again, filtering the events that had happened to me. The bottle, the box, my parents, the blood, the mist, the monsters... The horror of it all was so overwhelming. In less than an hour, I had witnessed that of nightmares. I can still remember that mans face as he lay broken on the ground. 

    I peered over to light filtering in to the dark area where I sat. I peeked through a small hole. The whole town was covered in black mist, and large shapes loomed inside of it. Was Gramma still there? Or had she already left? I pushed away the thought of anything happening to her. And everyone else? My freinds and neighbors? Mrs.Hutchinson? Thunder shook the black sky as I began to break down. I realized how much I was trembling, my skin stung terribly as it bled out of my many gashes, and my legs ached like mad. The freshly wrapped bandage on my arm had been reduced to scraps of linen. Sweat covered my face. But most of all, my heart had been crushed. Through all of the pain, I cried myself to sleep.