by Sonia Harper
Her heart skipped a beat as a loud screech filled the air.
Too late.
Adelyn looked up from her position underneath Donovan and stared in horror as the grey creature narrowed its eyes and raised its arm in the air, claws wide and sharp. It let another screech loose before it brought its claws down on Donovan, aiming straight for his open wound.
“NO!” She screamed as Donovan gasped in pain above her head. The guardian jerked back, its claws dripping with blood as it crushed a clump of flesh within its claws and then smeared it all over its chest, hissing gleefully as the blood streaked over its skin.
Adelyn reached into her back pocket and pulled out the gun, fumbling to reach the safety with only one hand free. She didn't have to think about aiming – she just raised her arm and pulled the trigger.
The creature only had a moment of surprise on its face before it dropped instantly to the floor, incapacitated by the bullet to the face.
“Shit,” She cried out, laying the gun on the floor and crawling out from underneath Donovan. She jumped over the guardian to shove the table a few inches into the hallway and shut the heavy door. She locked it, then jumped back over the guardian, picked up her gun, and shot its head a few more times. She watched as its head jerked with each shot. Confident that it was no longer moving and would be incapacitated for a while, she turned her attention to Donovan.
“No,” she moaned low in her throat as she bent down and carefully rolled him onto his back. Blood was pooling on the red carpet, darkening the pattern with a wet stain. Her hands shook as she carefully lifted the rest of the torn bandage off of his abdomen.
She felt bile in the back of her throat and barely held it back as the contents of his abdomen started to leak outside of his injury.
“Oh god, oh god,” She repeated mindlessly as she hovered her hands over the injury, unsure of what to do. She looked up to his chest and nearly cried in relief when she saw that it was still moving up and down – but barely. She continued up to his face and saw that he was looking at her with drooping eyelids, his mouth cracked open and trying to move.
She shook her head as a small bead of blood arose in the corner of his lips and started to fall down his cheek.
“No,” she snapped, suddenly angry. “No, damn it!” This wasn't right. She wasn't going to allow this.
Picking up her gun, she shot the guardian four more times for good measure before running to the green duffel she had thrown across the room. Tearing it open, she began digging through the medical supplies.
Gauze. Tape. Creams. Splints. Bandages. Scissors. Syringes.
Syringes?
She blinked and held it up in front of her face as if it were foreign. Oh, yes. The serum she stole.
She threw it back in the bag before pausing to consider it.
The serum that made the guardians recover from fatal wounds. Could it help? She didn't know if it would work on daemons. What if it was tailored specifically for guardians? What if it made him worse? What if it killed him?
Licking her lips, she turned around and looked at Donovan. His eyes were still partly open and staring at her, having tracked her movements across the room. The blood on his lips was now dripping past his cheek and onto the floor. No amount of gauze and bandages could save him know. She knew he was a goner unless she did something.
She slowly reached back in and pulled out a full syringe.
It was her only option.
Suddenly feeling weak, she crawled back to Donovan on her hands and knees. He carefully watched as she approached, his throat bobbing up and down. Whether he was trying to speak or trying to swallow blood so that he could breathe, she wasn't sure.
She lifted her free hand to the silky hair on his head and shifted his head so that he was looking up at her.
“I...I have to try something,” she licked her lips and held up the syringe. “I can't let you die.” It came out as a plea rather than a statement.
Donovan's lips moved again, but more blood spilt out, and his eyes seemed to lose focus.
She let his head drop to the side again and removed the cap from the syringe.
“Shit,” she stared at his chest. Muscle? Blood? How was this supposed to be injected?
Taking a chance, she punctured his abdomen, right above his injury and pressed the plunger. No going back now.
Once the plunger was fully depressed, she pulled the needle out and tossed it to the side. She carefully eased closer to his head and lifted it, sliding her legs underneath his head and resting it on her thighs. Hands still shaking, she slowly ran her fingers through his long, dark hair in reassuring strokes.
“It's okay, it's okay,” she whispered softly to him as a crashing noise came through from the other side of the wall. “It's okay,” she stroked his cheek and stole a glance to make sure the guardian was still on the ground. “It's okay.”
She moved her hand down to the side of his neck and pressed down. Holding her breath, she waited cautiously for a pulse.
After ten agonizing seconds of complete stillness, her vision became blurry.
“No,” she moaned, tears falling freely from her eyes. “Damnit, get up!” She pounded once on his chest in frustration, then shifted out from under him to perform CPR. Counting out the beats, she pushed down desperately on his sternum. “Get up, Donovan!”
She shifted closer and lifted his head so that it was straight before pulling his chin down to check his airway. As she leaned closer, she yelped in surprise as his body suddenly jerked and blood spewed out of his mouth and onto her face.
Jerking her head back, she wiped her face with the back of her arm and tried to spit out the blood in her mouth. Great. That was twice now she'd had their blood in her mouth. If she survived this, she needed to get Gregory to find her a damn doctor.
She heard Donovan gasp a long breath of air into his lungs before coughing some more blood up.
“Are you okay?” She asked, realizing how stupid it sounded. His body jerked up off the ground, and he groaned in pain. “What's wrong?”
He rolled to his side and coughed out some more blood, the gash on his abdomen bleeding freely with each cough.
“Stop moving!” She ordered him, trying to shift him onto his back again. “You're going to make it worse!”
He grunted and ignored her pushes, completing the turn and pushing himself onto his hands and knees. He groaned and wrapped one arm around his injury.
“Don't touch it!” She shrieked and tried to pry his arm away.
He screamed in pain and dug his fingers into the carpet. “What did you do to me?” He demanded, turning his head to stare at her with terror-stricken green eyes. “What did you do?”
“I-,” She felt fresh tears running down her face once more, but she was speechless. “I tried-,” she was cut off by another agonizing scream.
“I tried to help you!” She screamed, putting a hand on his back and rubbing up to his shoulders. “What's happening?” She cried.
He replied with another scream before moving his supporting arm to wrap around his injury tighter. His head fell to the carpet, and he screamed into it.
“Oh god, oh god,” Adelyn chanted, trying to help by rubbing his back. A noise caught her attention, and she turned her head in time to see golden eyes staring at her.
She shrieked, but a clawed hand shot out and grabbed her face, cutting it off.
“Evil human,” it hissed and squeezed.
Adelyn's hands ran over what carpet she could, but the guardian's fingers blocked her vision as she searched for her gun in vain. She cried out in pain as the pressure on her face became unbearable.
“How dare you betray your own kind,” the guardian continued in its eerie voice. “You align yourself with demons and help their cause to destroy mankind.”
Adelyn yelped as the guardian suddenly stood, lifting her off her feet by her face. She grabbed its forearm to ease the pressure off her neck and kicked wildly with her feet to try and dislodge him.
“You don't deserve our protection,” it continued. “You've become one of them. Your tainted blood will-,” it suddenly screeched loudly and dropped Adelyn to the floor.
Hitting the floor hard on her backside, she grunted and looked up.
Donovan ripped a sword out of the guardian's side with a grunt, slashing away the blood before swinging hard and cleanly slicing off its head.
Adelyn shrieked and moved out of the way a moment before the body came crashing down in the spot she had occupied before.
“Donovan!” She cried as she stood, looking at his blood-stained abdomen. “What happened?” She ran forward and ran her hands over his stomach, feeling smooth, healed skin as her fingers slid through leftover blood. “It worked!” She gasped and looked up at him.
He jerked his body away from her hands with a grunt. “Tickles,” he mumbled and collapsed against the table, sword still in hand. His head dropped forward, and his hair covered his face. His bare chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath.
“How do you feel?” She asked hesitantly.
Dark tresses moved gracefully as he shook his head, face still down. “I don't know,” he finally mumbled.
A loud crash against the library door made them both jerk upright and faced the door. When nothing broke through it, they both still sprung into action. Adelyn ran and grabbed her gun from the floor. Donovan moved closer to guard the door, sword still in hand.
“What did you give me?” Donovan demanded, his voice a scant whisper.
“That serum that I stole,” Adelyn replied, glancing over at the duffel bag before deciding to put it on her back once more. She wasn't sure if the guardian could recover from a decapitation, but she wasn't taking any chances. “I didn't know what else to do. You were dying.”
Donovan nodded. “I know,” he replied, staring at the library door. “I might still be,” he added, almost as an afterthought.
“What?” She blinked, confused.
“We don't know how this works,” Donovan gripped his sword tighter as a screech came from the hallway. “The effects could reverse after time.”
“No,” Adelyn shook her head. “There's no way. Why would it do that? How would it do that?”
“We can't trust anything from them,” Donovan replied forcefully and turned his head to her. “Why leave a container of serum in the same room as you? Wasn't that a bit too convenient?” His eyes narrowed as he shook his head in disbelief. “How it is even working on me? What are the long-term effects? These are questions we need answers to but have no way of finding out. For now, all we can do is hope that it wasn't a trap.”
“I-I guess I didn't think of it that way,” Adelyn blinked and lowered her gaze. “I'm sorry.”
“It's not your fault,” Donovan's voice turned soft once again. “You did what you thought was right in the moment.” He paused, shifting his weight on his feet. “And-,” he brought a hand up to his chest and rubbed his sternum thoughtfully. “I am...grateful,” he added in a whisper. He turned his head and pinned her with his sharp green eyes. “Truly.”
Adelyn nodded, curling her bottom lip into her mouth to bite it nervously. “Ick!” she spat. “I'm still covered in your blood,” she wiped a hand across her face and lips once more. “Hey, I can't catch any diseases from you guys, can I?”
“I have no idea what you're referring to. Right now, I think that should be the least of your worries,” Donovan replied, gripping his sword as another crack came from the library door. “I think something's about to break through.”
“Please tell me you're joking,” Adelyn watched the door warily as she brought her gun up to aim at it.
“I need you to fill that bag with more clips,” Donovan gestured to the table with his free arm, eyes still trained on the door. “And whatever else you can fit in there that looks useful.”
“Will Gideon kill me if I fill it with his grenades?” She asked, already moving to fill the bag with whatever she could.
“I won't let him,” he promised softly.
She grabbed whatever she could from the table and quickly filled the bag before carefully put it on her back, terrified of jostling the grenades too much. “Yeah?” She asked, coming up behind Donovan. “You and what army?” She glanced down at his sword.
“Is that-,” She peered closer. “Is that a katana?” She asked, incredulous.
“I have no idea what that is,” Donovan tore his eyes away from the door to glance down at the sword. “But I like it.”
Pytho, Adelyn rolled her eyes. Something told her that was his purchase.
A crash came from the door, and she watched as a grey-coloured fist punched a hole through the door. Faster than Donovan could cut the arm, it reached through and turned the door handle.
With a battle cry, Donovan ripped the door open before the creature could and rushed forward, stabbing it in the throat and pushing forward, skewering the guardian behind it as well. He twisted his wrist and sliced through their necks.
“Stay close behind me!” His head turned to shout at her.
Adelyn nodded and rushed forward. The library wasn't safe anymore. She would have to stay close to Donovan and take her chances in the middle of the fight. She raised her gun and shot both guardians in the head for good measure as they walked past them and made their way down the hallway.
She nearly froze when she saw the wave of grey creatures lift their heads from tearing apart walls and furniture in the main entrance to stare at them.
“What are they doing?” She whispered, her heart pounding in her chest. There had to be twenty-no, thirty of them just in the entryway alone.
“Searching for the gate,” he whispered back, then raised his sword. “Got those grenades?”
She nodded wordlessly as her hand slipped behind her to open the zipper and pull one out.
Screeching pierced her eardrum and she cried out as they all seemed to try climbing over one another to get to them.
Shrieking, she pulled the pin on the first grenade and threw it over Donovan's shoulder before frantically reaching back for another one while Donovan attacked the first guardian to come within reach.
She barely had enough time to throw the second grenade when the first one blew, clearing a hole in the sea of creatures and shaking the walls of the manor. She raised her gun and shot a guardian that had tried rounding Donovan to attack him from behind. It screeched and turned on her, but she managed to shoot it in the chest a few times, slowing it down.
The second blast went off, and she reached again for another grenade, relief coursing through her as she saw the number of guardians in the entryway dwindling between Donovan's swordsmanship and Gideon's grenades.
She threw the third one closer to the sitting room and stepped forward, aiming her gun at the heads of fallen guardians to make sure they stayed down.
“Watch your back!” She heard Donovan's cry before she whipped around and instinctively kicked out at a guardian behind her to keep it away. It grabbed her leg and yanked, sweeping her off her feet. She grunted as she landed on the lumpy duffel bag, but kept kicking to try and free her leg.
“Damnit!” She screamed in frustration as it grabbed her other leg and sneered at her.
A fist came through the guardian's chest and wiped the sneer off its face. It gurgled and dropped her legs, claws reaching behind it to try and dislodge the daemon from its chest.
Cain lifted the creature up and threw it down on the floor, stomping hard on its head and crushing it before shooting it for good measure.
Cain's eyes appeared to be glowing silver as he turned to her, arm outstretched. “Grenades!” He roared, hand open expectantly.
She rolled off the duffel and shrugged her arms out of the handles. She ripped the zipper open and thrust two into his hand. “Here!” She cried as she picked up another one, removed the pin, and threw it towards the entryway. “Donovan, duck!”
Donovan pulled his sword out of a guardian and took three steps back, calmly crouching un
der the staircase as the blast ripped through the hole where the door used to be, taking down one guardian and sending another one flying outside.
“Keep going,” Donovan ordered, pointing his sword at the bag. “Drive them away from this area.”
She complied, picking up another one and throwing it down the hallway as shadows caught her eye. More were coming in from the bay window at the end of the hallway.
“How much more can the building take?” She yelled, cringing as Cain barely evaded the blast from the grenade she had just thrown. She heard his cry of anger echo down the hallway.
Oops.
“Never mind that,” Donovan grabbed the hair of an injured guardian and pulled it towards him, slicing through its neck and tossing its head to the side. “Keep this area clear!”
“Okay,” She muttered to herself, grabbing another grenade and tossing it back down the hallway, shouting out a warning to Cain this time.
“Bitch, stop trying to blow me up!” He roared in anger after the blast went off.
“I'm not trying to blow you up!” She yelled back.
A grenade came flying in her direction from the hallway and she shrieked, throwing her hands over her head and turning the other way. When no blast came, she uncovered her head and turned. The pin was still in the grenade.
“What the hell?” She demanded, swiping the grenade off the floor, removing the pin and throwing it towards the parlour where two guardians were trying to crawl in through the window.
“Not so fun, is it?” Cain's voice growled behind her as he leaned down and picked up another grenade, this time running out the front door.
“Asshole,” She snapped, raising her gun and running around to shoot the bodies that were still prone on the floor. She didn't know how long they had been down, but she didn't want to find out if they healed faster than the one in the library.
Silence filled the first floor of the manor, but she could still hear fighting upstairs and outside. She grabbed another grenade and sat, waiting for guardians and praying none would come.
