Daring Hearts: Fearless Fourteen Boxed Set

by Box Set

  My shoulders turned so abruptly I could barely hold onto my weapon. I lost my balance with the shift in weight, collapsing over the rail. As one, we dropped to the ground with an impact that shook through me, smashing my knees against the cement. I screamed at the agonizing undulation of pain, the sound smothered by the angry call of the monster that continued to run at the place I had been, its body slamming into the cabinet with the force of an explosion.

  Shards of wood and broken cords poured over me as the creature collided with the cabinet I cowered in front of. The creature stood over me, the thick layer of blood that covered its skin dripping over me, pooling around its feet, and soaking into the knees of my pants, running over my hands as I tried to keep myself balanced.

  Breathing erratically, I shuffled away as quickly as I could, my knees slipping on the blood, my hands burning from trying to keep ahold of the rail.

  With a snarling scream that attempted to restart my heart, the creature moved away from the cabinet, the call only growing angrier as its head swiped from side to side, looking for me, for an enemy, for someone to attack.

  It would be only moments until it found Travis, and I couldn’t let that happen.

  I hadn’t even stood up before I swung the rail through the air, desperate to hit the monster, if only to regain its attention and keep it away from my brother.

  The impact of the rail against the Tar’s hip wasn’t anything near what I knew it should have been, and the creature seemed to sense that, too, what with the way it turned toward me, its dark eyes flashing, its movements slow, almost in warning.

  A warning that I was a second too slow to heed.

  The Tar took one step forward, one click of its talons echoing in my ears before it swung wide, connecting with my stomach and sending me flying.

  Air rushed out of my chest as I slammed into the cement wall behind me.

  I could have sworn I heard cracking. Skull cracking, cement cracking, I wasn’t sure. I felt both ripple through me in a wave of pain so violent it sent the contents of my stomach out, and all the precious food from the night before left in a rush.

  I slid down the wall into a heap, trying my hardest to remember where I was and what I was doing, where my rail was. Nevertheless, all I knew was pain, all I knew was the clenching fear that ran through me, and even that seemed to be misplaced.

  I fought through the pain for my answers, each thought hurting as it pulsed through my brain like a smack to the head, which I guess, in a way, it was.

  The garage. Fighting. Somewhere over there, flying through the air.

  No wonder I was hurting. No wonder I was scared.

  I needed to get my rail. That was number one.

  I moved to stand, my head spinning violently and stomach threatening to turn inside out again. I wished I could just curl up in a ball until the pain went away, but that wasn’t an option. I needed to be ready to fight, ready to kill, ready to find a way to get us out of here. I was ready until the world spun, and everything changed into glitter and light, the way it had not long before.

  Everything shifted as if someone had pulled the blanket of dust off, as though the dust and the darkness was only an invisible sheet over the world. With one pull, it left, moving off everything in a shimmering wave, moving away from me like I was the rock in the pond, the rock that caused the change.

  The ache in my head seemed to have gone with the dust. Either that, or the pain no longer mattered due to what had been revealed to me.

  When I had previously seen this, when I had looked into the monster’s eyes and been pulled away from my humanity, I had seen this color, seen this world with a new light. It was nothing compared to what I saw now, though.

  It was the same as before in that the vibrant colors had been pulled out of the dust. It was the same in the way everything glistened and sparkled, as if I was looking at it all through cellophane covered with glitter.

  However, it was also different, as though I was looking at a world hidden underneath the darkness and dust. It was different in that the world was light, but not light as the sun shines down. It was light as if everything carried its own luminescence, and before, I had simply been too alive to see how the world glittered, to see the light that was hiding.

  Everything was different now, including the monster that stood before me.

  I had seen the Tar in the light before. I had seen this one in the light only moments before, but now, in this world underneath a world, it almost didn’t look like a monster at all.

  In the way that the dust had been pulled from the world like a dirt shirt, the sheath of black that covered this thing was also gone, yanked away and taken into the darkness where the dust still lived, leaving me standing in the luminous world, staring at the creature that existed beyond the black, beyond the blood, beyond the darkness.

  The black creatures I had come to fear were nothing compared to what I saw now, nothing compared to the way its body glowed and shimmered, the way its blank, white eyes stared at me.

  For a moment, I wished the darkness would come back. I wished it would devour the world again and save me from the thing I now faced.

  If only I could ask it to put its skin back on...

  Skeletal black wings had melted into what looked like bleached, white bones, the feathers gone, leaving only an ornate, white framework of bones that were cracked and brittle as though it had sat in the sun too long. The oozing blood that had covered the thing was gone, leaving nothing more than a clean, translucent silver that glowed and shimmered in a chalky white that seemed to be peeling underneath the silver coating.

  Underneath it all was a body that looked almost human in comparison. Human hands, human feet, everything elongated into long lines, each one almost alien with its extremities. It was more human than any other Tar I had seen. It seemed more alive.

  If it wasn’t for the eyes, the shade-less orbs of pure white that, even though there was no color, no pupil, nothing but white, I could tell it was looking at me.

  Staring at me.

  Seeing into me.

  As though it could see the monster behind the human, and I stared back at the person that was behind the monster.

  I could see the humanity and the past. I could see the before, even though we were both trapped in the after.

  Part of me knew it shouldn’t have been beautiful, that it shouldn’t have been something to rejoice over, but it only scared me more—this world that I was suddenly trapped in, this world that felt familiar and frightening. This world that I could tell at once Travis couldn’t see.

  That alone made it more dangerous, like a place I could get trapped in, a place I could lose myself in.

  A place I could lose him.

  I looked to the Tar as the glittering world began to fade away. The human face turned up into a smile, as if it knew I could see it the way it was meant to be seen. It smiled before it melted back into the black beast, before the world fell back into something real. Then it was only me, standing before the Tar, one that was ready to attack, knowing I was unarmed.

  And between us both was the rail.

  Now, if only I could get there first.

  My legs felt like rubber as I began to run for it, each step thundering through my body with the same pain I had felt before the world underneath the darkness had taken me. In some ways, I wished I could stay there, if only to avoid having to fight with this agony.

  With my head thundering, blood pulsing, bones screaming, I reached the rail just as the monster called out, and the scuttling tapping of its advance rang clear.

  It took all my strength to grab the rail, swing it, and attempt to attack the creature. Luckily, I had built up more muscle than when I had fought Sarah, so it wasn’t quite as difficult. Despite the pain, I could still lift the long weapon and swing it, even if my vision continually popped in spots of white, my head buzzing as loud as the monster’s scream.

  Why did head injuries have to be ‘a thing’?

  With a grin
ding thud, the rail slammed into the shoulder of the creature, the force somewhat lacking yet still enough to set it off course, sending the wide swing of claws away from its intended target.

  “Lex!” Travis shouted from somewhere beside me, his voice panicked.

  I knew I should listen, but I couldn’t, not with the life or death struggle I had been shoved into.

  I swung the rail again, grunting as I put more force behind it, glad when it hit the neck of the thing dead on, blood spraying over me as it yelled out.

  “Lex!” Travis bellowed, this time more franticly.

  “I’m a little busy here.” I was irritated, so sue me. I was actually a little busy, and even those few words were going to cost me.

  The creature retaliated quickly, my tiny frame barely able to side step its attack thanks to my split in focus. I wished I could simply focus on one thing, but that obviously wasn’t going to work right now. Guess I better get used to it.

  “I need the wires, Lex!” Travis yelled as I swung the rail around, my whole body moving with the force I put into it, only to miss it by mere inches. “They’re by your feet!”

  Instinctively, I looked down to where he indicated, only to have claws and hands shove against me, pressing into me, attempting to slice through me.

  I fell to the ground in an attempt to escape it, grateful for my father’s leather jacket that stopped them from cutting me, although I was sure the sharp edges of its claws were ripping it to shreds. I could feel pressure. I could hear the leather ripping. I could feel the sharp points of what I was sure were claws.

  My heart thundered at the added pain, knowing I could take it but praying it wasn’t enough to break the skin, that it wasn’t enough to change me. I couldn’t tell, however; the painful prick of the claws was too close.

  “Lex!” he yelled again, as if I hadn’t been almost impaled.

  I knew I should probably be angry at his apparent lack of caring, but I couldn’t, not when he was trying as hard as I was to get us both out of here.

  I had to fight. He had to fix the bike. We each had our jobs, and this was mine. It was our only chance.

  I threw the wires toward him with one quick movement, watching the bundle of possibilities slide and fly through the shimmering light. They didn’t make it all the way, but at least they were closer. At least he could reach them without the fear of getting impaled.

  Me, on the other hand…

  I rolled as the creature screamed from above me, its call loud and abrasive as it attacked. It was all I could do to roll out of the way before claws hit against cement, leaving the rail behind in my haste. I regretted it immediately, even though I knew there was no way I could have rolled as quickly as I had while hanging onto that monstrous thing.

  The Tar’s grinding scream increased in level as it realized it had missed me, its head snapping toward where I cowered against the wall, its yellow eyes narrowing dangerously. I stared at them, almost expecting the glittering underworld to reappear, but nothing happened. There was only hatred there.

  The thing blinked once and, with a heave, shifted toward me. Its back arched as its wings unfurled above it, like a peacock showcasing its beauty and power in a twisted, dark world.

  Furious sounds of claws filled my ears as I crab crawled away from it, thankful when my hand hit against something hard and obviously metal. I grabbed onto it greedily. I didn’t care if I had found a leg to an upright table; I would throw the whole thing at it as long as it would stop the Tar from devouring me.

  Grabbing the mysterious object, I screamed back at the thing, the sound resonating more in fear than in warning.

  The thing didn’t seem to care. It only continued forward, its speed increasing as I swung whatever I had found around, aiming for its face and hoping it would not only hit but do substantial damage, as well.

  With a massive clang, whatever I held collided with it, hitting it in the face with such force that the head swung to the side like it was on a hinge. Black blood sprayed from the impact, showering me with tiny, warm droplets, the pungent smell alarming as I swung once more, the smaller weapon allowing me to get in hit after hit. No wide swing, no reloading, there was just anger and madness as my blood began to boil, my skin began to heat.

  Claws flailed around me as I rampaged on the thing, its massive talons missing me by inches, pulling at my hair and shredding my jacket in a mad attempt to fight back, to destroy me as I was it.

  I dodged as best I could, my focus splitting between the claws and my own weapon, the heavy metal of what I now recognized as a monkey wrench bending under the pressure of my attack. I expected it to break in half from the force I was exerting on the creature’s face.

  Thick, warm blood sprayed over me with every hit, but I ignored it, continually hitting and dodging, waiting for it to fall, waiting for the wrench to break.

  Neither happened.

  Instead, the Tar screamed, blood spraying over me as it spurted from its mouth, covering my eyes. The world went black as I called out in pain, the blood burning as it blocked my vision.

  I stumbled away as I clawed at my face, desperately trying to clear the blood from my eyes before it attacked again.

  It was just what the creature had expected, however, and the Tar took advantage of it. Its strong arm swung wide, impacting with my side, pressing painfully into my ribs and shoving me away from it, back through the air and speeding through the garage, dusty cars flying past me until I collided into an old, all-metal behemoth.

  I screamed at the impact, at the debilitating ripple that moved over my body, spreading from the point of impact like a wave, only to settle in my bones and joints like knives weighed down and pressing.

  Stabbing.

  My head felt like it was swelling, my vision nothing but black, but whether it was from the blood that still spread through my eyes or the pressure in my head, I didn’t know.

  Everything was black, filled with a high-pitched buzzing that drowned out the world. I was sure everything was still around me, that I was still in the garage, but I couldn’t focus beyond the pain in my body, beyond the buzzing in my head and the thump of my heart that only seemed to get more erratic.

  Each beat of my heart screamed at me to get up, to move, to fight.

  “Lexi!” Travis’s voice broke through the agony, broke through the ripple of noise, the sound only growing as the buzzing that ruled my head began to recede.

  “Lex!” His scream echoed in my head as I tried to move past the pain, to open my eyes and try to stop whatever was about to happen, to fight off the creature, even though I wasn’t sure I could anymore.

  I turned toward his voice, hoping to see him, but even through the black discoloration I had been left with, he wasn’t there. It was only cars and dust, my brother blocked from my view.

  He had seen me fly through the air, seen the thing attack. But, for all he knew, I was fine. I was one step away from defeating this thing, and then we could get out of here.

  That was wrong, though.

  I needed to tell him. I needed his help.

  “Travis!” I tried to scream his name, but the sound barely made it past my lips, the word lost to the darkness as I tried to rub the acid from my eyes, to press the pain from my head.

  Blinking furiously, I tried to dispel it, only to watch the world change from black to glittering with each bat of my lids.

  I watched as the world went into the gleaming space beyond the dark, the pain leaving my body as I stared at the monster before me, the white demonic face stretching into a wide smile. I blinked on instinct, only to be shoved back into the pitch, back into pain, and to the high-pitched screech of the creature as it began to rush me.

  I stared, wide-eyed through the pain as the sound of claws began scratching through the air. One after another, they rumbled toward me, the creature making its final attack.

  I saw it—its black wings, its hollow face. I froze in fear as it ran, as the rumble of a bike started echoing from somewhere
in this massive space. I heard the roar of an engine, the sputter of oil, and smelled the scent of gas, the memories of it strong before it was gone, the engine giving out and Travis swearing from beside me.

  He was close. We were almost free. I just had to fight this thing off one more time. I just had to try.

  I needed to try.

  If only I could, but I could barely move. The pain in my head was too much. I couldn’t even lift my arm.

  I blinked in fear, in what my mind conveyed as resignation, only to be plunged back into the strange, discolored world, the pain leaving as the creature before me cried through the air, the screech of death sounding like a high-pitched bell in this space.

  It didn’t matter, though—the call, the attack. It didn’t matter, because this thing assumed I could not move, that I could not fight, that it was two steps away from winning.

  And in the darkness, that was true, but not here.

  Not anymore.

  I screamed back at it as I moved, my hands and knees shuffling away as I dodged before pulling myself to standing.

  The call of the thing plunged to a stop, the monster turning with a heaving breath. The shock and anger were clear on its face, even though it was nothing more than a white kabuki mask.

  I cringed at the look, at its reaction, my heart rate speeding to a thunder that pressed painfully against my chest, my own breath trapped beneath my tense muscles.

  “Face me.” The words were a piercing hiss from a voice that was as dark as burned sugar floating through the air, drifting through the light and filling me as if it had come from me, even though I knew, beyond a doubt, the voice came from the thing before me.

  It was the same as that first day, when the darkness had come, when the screams had finally died down, and the scream of the Tar moved inside of me, that deep voice infiltrating my brain with rules and expectations and a new world that had changed everything.

  It was the same. Despite the voice being different, the way it moved, the way it filled me was the same as before.

  My muscles froze in fear, the thunder of my heart so fast it felt like a tiny ball of lead in my chest, painful and heavy.