Frenzied

by Chilton, Claire

  “Let’s get out of here,” she whispered into his ear.

  “Which way?” he asked. They had yet to find a way out.

  “Try the roof.” If nothing else, it would provide fresh air. The climate control in the cinema stank of death, blowing the odor into every room.

  He nodded, holding her close as he walked up the theatre towards the door. He kissed her on the top of the head. “We’re going to be okay.”

  Lucy was still processing the events of the day as Ben nudged open the door to the roof with her in his arms.

  It was crazy. Everything they’d seen and done was insane. Sure, her life as a human hadn’t been very enticing, but at least it had been normal. She couldn’t imagine going back to her daily routine of work, and then sitting at home alone each night afterwards. It wasn’t much of a life to lose.

  What kind of sad-sack ends up going to the cinema alone anyway?

  There wasn’t anyone who’d miss her if she never went back to her life. Not even a goldfish to mourn her loss. She glanced up at Ben. They hadn’t discussed what would happen if they did get out of here.

  She frowned when his eyes narrowed, and then turned her head to look out onto the roof of the cinema.

  She inhaled sharply as she scanned the flat roof of the building.

  A large group of creatures stood on the roof amidst the pipes and aerials. They were a range of beasts with different animal features; bears, wolves and big cats. At the front of the group stood a large bull.

  “How are you feeling?” Ben asked her.

  “Okay. The pains have all gone.”

  He lowered her to her feet, holding her shoulders as she stood up. She flexed her muscles, relieved to discover that all her limbs were working. She nodded at him and stood by his side, preparing for another battle.

  These creatures weren’t snarling or making any sound at all. They were just staring at them. The bull stepped forward, transforming into the shape of an old woman. Her grey hair was twisted up into a knot, and she wore a tan robe that was decorated with sigils. “You cannot leave this place.” Her voice was commanding and deep. “If you try to, we will stop you.”

  “Why?” Lucy asked.

  The woman frowned before narrowing her eyes at her. “You know why, Ketis.”

  Lucy frowned.

  Ketis, wasn’t that the name of the manager?

  “We’re not him. Whatever the hell he was.” She turned to Ben. “They think we’re the freaky manager guy.”

  “We just killed him.” Ben turned to face the older woman. “If you’d care to examine his remains, you can find him in pieces in theatre twelve.”

  The woman fixed her glassy silver eyes onto Ben for a moment before nodding at the two bears on her left. “Check it out.”

  Lucy and Ben moved aside as the two bears raced past them into the cinema.

  “Who are you?” Lucy asked.

  “We are Odin’s warriors,” the woman said. “And if what you say is true, then I would like to hear your story.”

  Lucy stared at the large group of creatures. They would overpower her and Ben in an instant, so she nodded.

  “Okay. We both woke up in the cinema with amnesia. Everyone was dead. There were monsters stalking the halls. When we were attacked, we became monsters too, but we could er, turn it off.”

  “And we found a freaky room full of magical crap,” Ben added.

  “Oh yeah, these books.” She pulled the books out of her bag and offered them to the woman. “We’re not sure, but we think is means we’re Berserkers,” she said as the woman waved away the books.

  Lucy shrugged and dropped them back into her bag. “Anyway, we tried to get out, but all the doors were locked. So we kind of figured out that this Ketis guy, the manager, had done something that made everyone into a crazy creature.”

  The woman scowled at her.

  “Not that I’m er, saying you are …” She trailed off.

  “So you killed him without evidence?” The woman clenched her hands into fists.

  “No! He had a creature on a table and ate its heart out of its chest while it was still alive.” She shot the woman an annoyed glance. “That was a good enough reason to kill him. And I’d do it again.”

  “So would I.” Ben straightened his shoulders, and his muscles bulged in his arms as he tensed.

  “I see.” The woman frowned at them. The wolf-like creature behind the woman transformed into a man in his forties. He leaned over and whispered into her ear. She nodded, her eyes not leaving Lucy and Ben for a second.

  Lucy jumped as the two bear-like creatures bounded up the stairs behind her. They brushed past her and Ben, heading for the old woman. One reported to her in a low voice before bowing. Then he stood by her side.

  “It seems you are telling the truth,” the woman said.

  “Would you mind telling us what this is all about?” Lucy asked. She was getting annoyed with the vague answers. Odin’s warriors or not, she wanted to know what the hell was going on.

  The woman sized them both up in silence.

  Ben stepped forward. “Tell us what you want. It’s been a long fucking day!”

  The woman walked towards them, sniffing the air around them when she reached them. “You are blessed by Odin.”

  “Blessed?” Lucy grimaced. “This is no blessing.”

  “I didn’t say you would like it.” The woman said. “It’s rare that humans can take our form. Most simply become mindless animals—abominations. They lose their souls, and act only on bloodlust. However, some can retain their human soul. I believe that is what has happened to you.”

  “Why did it happen at all? Who was Ketis?” Ben asked.

  “Ketis was druid, much as I am. We were not sure until now what had happened, but now it becomes clear. His pack died, and he went missing. We tracked him here, but the infestation had begun. We had to block the exits to ensure it did not infest the Earth.”

  “So, are you different from us?” Lucy asked.

  “We are born into our packs. Odin’s gift should not be given by anyone but him.”

  Lucy frowned. “So we’re abominations too?”

  Ben scowled at the word.

  “It seems not. Odin has bestowed your souls upon you. You are part of our pack now.”

  “What if we don’t want to be part of your pack?” Ben folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at the woman.

  “Then you die.”

  Lucy shot him a warning glance. Right now, they didn’t have a choice. There was no way they could take on a whole pack of these things.

  “Um, what does being in a pack mean, exactly?”

  “You live to serve Odin.”

  “Well, that’s nice and vague. Serve him how?” Lucy narrowed her eyes at the woman.

  “You are Odin’s warriors! You fight for his causes.”

  “Which are …?”

  The woman narrowed her eyes. “We fight in the great battles for this planet, we protect life on the planet, and we serve Odin.”

  “Okay.” Lucy sighed. The woman wasn’t going to give her anything else that was helpful by the sound of it.

  Great battles? Was there such a thing?

  “So um, why did Ketis create abominations?”

  The woman stared through her for a moment. “Ketis always wanted to be human, but he could not keep his form for very long. It seems that he used the dark forces to try to become one of them.”

  “So, eating hearts makes you human again?” Lucy wrinkled her nose.

  “There are dark arts that can give you the power to change your shape, but nothing can restore humanity into a creature that does not have it.”

  “Are you saying that we have no humanity anymore?” Ben widened his eyes.

  “No. I’m saying that we don’t.” The woman gestured to the group behind her. “Only humans have humanity.” She waved an arm at Lucy and Ben. “I don’t know if you retain your humanity. You are only known by legend to us.”

  Lucy c
aught Ben’s eye. His jaw muscles tensed as he offered her a subtle shake of his head. Even these creatures didn’t know what she and Ben were.

  “Er, what happens now?” she asked.

  “The guard will clean up this mess.” The woman waved to a pack of bears at the back of the group, who moved quickly into the building. “The rest of us will return to camp.”

  Upon her command, the remaining group of creatures transformed into humans. They varied from young to old.

  Lucy studied them as they began climbing down the fire escape. They looked like a mixture of travelers and bikers, some dressed in smocks and others in leather jackets and combat trousers.

  The woman turned and walked away from them.

  Lucy turned to Ben. “We should at least go and find out what they know about us.”

  “I don’t like it, too many rules and religious fanatics. And what do they know, a legend?” He shook his head.

  “It might not be so bad.”

  The two bears who had confirmed their story flanked them on either side. She glanced up at them as they transformed into bulky-looking bikers. A shiver of fear shot down her spine.

  “Yeah?” Ben shot her a warning glance.

  Lucy leaned over and whispered in his ear. “There are more places to run to on the ground floor.”

  He nodded and put his arm around her, leading her towards the fire escape. The bulky guards closely followed them.

  “So …” She spoke up to break the silence, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t be suspicious. “What kind of Berserker do I turn into?”

  “You appear to be a foxy lady.” Ben wiggled his eyebrows as they climbed down the stairs.

  They reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped onto the tarmac of the car park. She scanned the road for places to run to, noticing a number twelve bus pulling in at the stop ahead of them.

  She sped up, gripping Ben’s hand to ensure he matched her pace as the group of Berserkers began crossing the road in front of the bus ahead of them. The driver was honking his horn, clearly wanting to get past them.

  As they passed the druid leader, she narrowed her eyes at Lucy.

  “Really, I’m a fox?” Lucy asked, feigning innocence.

  The woman’s eyes widened. She stopped in her tracks and stared at her.

  Lucy frowned.

  What’s that look about?

  She shook her head and tightly clutched Ben’s hand, pulling him into the bus just as the driver lost his patience.

  The bus jerked forward as the driver slammed his foot onto the gas, causing the people in front of it to jump out of his way.

  She sighed as the bus zoomed down the road, and they left the cinema behind. She stared back, relieved to find that the bus was empty.

  In the rear window, she watched the group of Berserkers becoming distant figures. The guards were chasing the bus, transforming as they ran. But the bus was going at full speed, leaving them in its wake.

  Lucy frowned. The leader of the group was still staring at her with a look of shock on her face. Her eyes bore into Lucy, regardless of the distance between them, causing a shiver to shoot down her spine.

  “You better have a ticket, or I’m throwing you back to the curb,” the driver muttered.

  She and Ben both pulled out their student bus passes and flashed them at the driver with a smile.

  “Fucking students.” He grumbled, shaking his head.

  Lucy rolled her eyes at him.

  Why are bus drivers always such assholes?

  She tugged on Ben’s arm, leading him to the back of the bus. They walked down the aisle to the back seats and sat beside each other.

  Peering through the back window, she breathed easy when she realized that she couldn’t even see the group anymore. They’d left them far behind.

  “Nice moves.” Ben winked at her. “Where now?”

  “We need to get off at the next stop and head somewhere far away from here. I don’t think they’re going to stop looking for us anytime soon.”

  “You think it’s safe to go home?”

  “Well, they never took our names, so I think we are okay at home, but I don’t think we should split up. We kind of need each other now.”

  “Yeah, we need to keep the world safe from us.” He nodded.

  “And keep ourselves safe from Odin’s warriors,” she added.

  “So, my place or yours?” He grinned as he put an arm around her shoulders.

  Lucy snuggled into his chest. “Mine.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  She frowned and peered up at him. “Why?”

  “I don’t have a place.”

  “I guess you do now, but kiss my arse if you think I’ll be cleaning up after you.”

  Ben laughed and tightly hugged her against him. “I can do my own cleaning.”

  “Great, at least you’re housebroken.” She smiled.

  It was a messed up world, but at least she wasn’t alone in it anymore.

  Thank you for reading Frenzied. I hope you enjoyed it.

  I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the fans of this book for their great comments, so thank you! There is nothing more satisfying for a writer than to hear that your book kept the reader up all night or gave them the shivers. It’s when you know you’ve done a good job.

  Unfortunately, I don’t hear from my readers very often. I know there are a lot of you out there, so I just thought I’d leave you a message to find out what your experience of this book was.

  The best place to leave a note about a book is in a review. We authors always read those, even the bad ones. I’d love to see a review from you, good or bad. It helps me know what I’m doing right and what I might need to improve on next time. It also helps other readers find out about the book.

  When I’m writing, I always wonder what my readers would like the most, and your words could give me an idea of what you want to read. Did you like this book? Do you want to read more from Lucy and Ben? Did it keep you up all night or send you to sleep?

  Hopefully, it wasn’t the latter, but I’d love to know what you thought either way. I hope you will all drop by the book store you bought this from and leave a review on the book, so I can write more books that you want to read.

  If you liked this book, you may want to read more of the same, but I won’t know that unless you tell me.

  Thanks for listening, and I hope this story took you on a thrilling adventure.

  Lots of love

  She’s finally managed to summon her first demon...

  Dora Carridine is trying to summon a demon, but she’s not very good at Latin and nothing ever works out the way she plans.

  Her life is fraught with weekly exorcisms and having to watch her father’s fire and brimstone TV show every Sunday. So, when Dora finally succeeds in summoning an incompetent demon lord, she’s absolutely delighted when all hell breaks loose.

  She thought summoning a sexy demon lord would be the answer to all of her problems, but her problems are only just beginning when her zealot parents try to burn her at the stake, and Dora is left with only one option—to escape and follow her demon straight into Hell.

  Buy the book online.

  Claire Chilton is a geek-girl, high-school drop-out, who somehow managed to get an English degree in spite of never taking a single GCSE, although she once taught them.

  She’s done every job on the planet at least once, except astronaut, and won an award for being ’most likely to trip over the red carpet and flash her arse at the cameras’.

  She is a writer of young adult science fiction, dark fantasy, paranormal romance and horror comedy, which she affectionately calls her ’editing nightmares’. She gets distracted easily by shiny things and is currently investigating the washing machine mystery of ’what happened to the other sock’.

  www.claire-chilton.com

  New Releases

  Frenzied

  A Hint of Magic | Origins 1 | The Demon Diaries


  Demonic Dora | Book 1 | The Demon Diaries

  Book Series

  The Demon Diaries

  Demonic Dora | Book 1

  Deceased Dora | Book 2

  A Hint of Magic | Origins 1

  A Hint of Hell | Origins 2

  The Squishies Series

  Whatever Became of the Squishies? | Book 1

  Shattered | Book 2

  Inheritance | Book 3

  Other Books

  Frenzied

  Hunted Hearts

  Dark Thoughts

  Start

  Copyright

  Title Page

  One | Horror Show

  Two | Trust

  Three | The Dark Room

  Four | Splitting Up

  Five | Monsters

  Six | Berserkers

  Seven | Rage

  Eight | Eat Your Heart Out

  Nine | Odin’s Warriors

  Author’s Note

  Demonic Dora

  Author

  More Books

  Contents