Fly

Chapter 15

I reacted instinctively before I even fully registered what was happening.

The thing springing out of the bushes was a blur of gray and brown in the air as I threw myself at Dane, slamming into his shoulder as he turned to run. I hit him with more force than I intended, and we went skidding along the concrete, tumbling over each other as the attacker whistled over our heads.

As we came to a stop, I grabbed Dane's arm and hauled him to his feet, ignoring his dazed expression, and shoved him in front of me, pushing him into a run. When I finally glanced back at the thing chasing us, there was no sign of it. I pressed my lips into a line, but didn't slow down. If anything, the fact that I couldn't see it made me even more nervous.

Dane stumbled, and tried to slow down, but I ran up alongside him and grabbed his arm, making him wince. "Come on, it's still after us!"

His eyes widened as he seemed to shake off his confusion, my words jarring him into sprinting. I glanced frantically from side to side as we dashed down the deserted sidewalk, back towards the noise and light of the city streets. The darkness seemed to close in, shadows moving and jerking outside of the circles of light from the park lamps, which had made everything feel safe before, but now felt too far apart and ineffective. I growled under my breath as my eyesight sharpened, a tightness behind my eyes telling me that my pupils had changed and widened to let in more light.

Just as the blackness in the bushes turned to a dingy gray, something flew, whining through the air, out of my peripheral. Before I could react and turn my head to see what it was, a sharp pain struck my skull, and I felt my body lose control and tumble to the ground.

For a moment, my ears ringing was all I could hear. My eyesight dimmed until I could only see the brightness of a nearby lamp, and a blurry confusion of shadows and movement between it and me. I felt vibrations faintly through the ground, and through the pounding of my head and the whine in my eardrums I could barely hear what sounded like a shout, then a few muffled noises that didn't make any sense at all. Everything seemed to sway back and forth as my body turned it's entire effort to keeping my brain from possible damage. Even moving my limbs felt more like pulling puppet strings on a doll made of lead.

I squinted, trying to focus, the alarm and adrenaline still rushing through my system telling me this wasn't over yet. The only really clear thoughts in my head were I can't go to sleep, followed by Dane needs me.

The ringing in my ears gradually faded, allowing sounds, almost painfully loud, to come trickling back in. I heard a groan, followed by a thump and a gasping cough, as if someone had the air knocked out of them. I lay limply, playing dead, trying to buy time to recover. Suddenly, a thin, almost chirpy, whistling voice pierced my ears. I nearly winced, holding still only by force of will. Something in my chest recoiled instinctively at the sound of the slurred, screaky words.

"Is this the one?"

A second of silence and a scuffling sound, followed by another low moan. "Lookss like it. Sshe will be pleased. Our planss musst stay hidden."

A series of clicks, then a tap tap tap tap, getting closer to my head, like the sound of several sets of high-heels marching over pavement. "What about this one?"

A long, whistling breath. "She smells like the male, and like something familiar... I cannot place it."

A chuff from the other voice. "Toss her in the lake then, she iss no use to us."

"I sssay we toss both of them in the lake..."

"True... it would take care of our problem niccccely..."

A moment of considering silence. "Let'ss go, and if we feel hungry before we reach the lake, Sshe will not begrudge usss a bite..." A chittering sound, and the tapping increased rapidly as I was jerked upward, something cold and hard grabbing me around my midsection and throwing me over a bony shoulder like a sack of corn. I hung, still somewhat numb and disoriented, the side of my head above my left ear starting to pound with my heartbeat. A shuffle from nearby, and I dared a peek from under one mostly-closed lid.