The Masquerade (20 page)

My breath caught in my throat. My fingers grew numb, clenching the dry bark of the trees so hard that small jagged splinters began to seep into the tips of my fingers. Any warmth left in my body was now gone. I
was afraid I couldn't stand for much longer without making a scene.

His teeth bore into the girl's skin below her chin, ripping through it like paper mache. I heard another faint cry for help escape the
girl's lips. My eyes grew wide feeling sharp ice jab into my chest. She was still alive and I was standing there watching.

Without thinking, I stepped fully into the clearing. My feet crunched into the dead grass. Neither of them seemed to notice. The one with
blood on his chin lowered his head to the girl's hip where her shirt was lifted, exposing bare skin. His mouth opened and I panicked.

"Stop!" I shouted impulsively, hoping to drag his
attention away from the girl. The two heads snapped up and slowly turned to me. A sickening feeling washed over me as I felt the weight of their eyes on me. I was a young girl standing alone and defenseless, but in much better condition than the girl beneath them. "Let her go!" I shouted at them, but my
voice was swallowed by the wind. My command was stupid, but I didn't know what else to say.
Me next?
I don't think so.

Their lethal gazes moved over my body. I swallowed loudly,
the saliva in my throat tasted sour when I noticed the whites of their eyes were glowing in the darkness. The girl's small whimpers caught my attention. The moonlight seemed to cast a spotlight over her body, highlighting the bleeding wounds on her small body.

"Please," I begged the two vile strangers, "Let me take her to a hospital." I knew my words were useless. The girl wasn't going to make it, but I was stuck in an irreversible situation. The
two figures exchanged looks that I couldn't catch, causing the trepidation to seep into my pores and chilling every part of my body.

The figure by the girl's hip slowly rose to his feet. The light of the moon caught his face. My mouth fell open to release a silent gasp.
My stomach clenched when I tried to swallow. I could feel the spit slowly slide down my dry throat, as I stood momentarily frozen.

His eyes were jet black, like his hair, in contrast to his
ghostly pale skin. Pieces of his face were ripped open, exposing pink flesh. One gash was cut so deep it revealed part of his cheekbone. Just above his eyebrow, his skin split, like a cracked sidewalk. There were dark circles under his eyes, deadening his expression. Blood smeared below the bottom of his right
eyelid.

I tried to scream, but the shock prevented any sound to split the intimidating silence. I took a step back, moving away from the danger in front of me. I could see a smirk on the man's face. It was innocence,
regarding that of a child's, like what he'd done was something to marvel over.

The second guy stood up, his face resembling the first man's. Their raven hair colors matched their eyes, making them one with the
darkness. The man, if he was even a man, was shorter than the first, but just as chilling. His chin was cracked like mud drying after a rainstorm; his forehead ripped open, exposing chunky pink flesh.

Suddenly, the girl on the ground began to shriek. Her eyes
were wide open, the pain shocking her back into reality. A small sense of hope remained in the back of my mind. If she could feel pain, she was closer to life than she was to death's touch.

"Run!" I screamed at her, hoping she still had
enough feeling in her body to get away from the clearing. I didn't think so, but it was the only thing I thought to suggest at such a time. Her captors' attentions were no longer on her. She had a chance.

I moved backward in strides. They smiled. The taller one, stepped over the girl's body, and together the two men walked forward, their eyes vicious like a horrid monster stalking its prey. My eyes widened when it dawned on me that I was going to run for my life, making that the second time
in one week. I should have caught the irony sooner.

"I think she wants to play," the taller one smirked, his head tilting to the side.

The shorter man grinned, exposing blood stained teeth.
"Isn't there a rule about playing with your food?" Their laughter was sickening. I backed away faster, my eyes refusing to move anywhere but their faces.
They can't be human.
What human looks like
that
?

"We have no rules," the tall man spat. An animal-like growl sprang from the depths of his throat and shot a chill that pranced up my spine. I felt as though my own body was mocking my fear.

"This is where you run," the other said to me with a sly smile. "You don't stand a chance, but make it a little fun for us."

Tall laughed, "Put your back into it." His eyes
suddenly narrowed and for a minute all was silent. Not even the girl made a sound. When he spoke again, his voice was deadly. "Run."

I didn't want to give them what they wanted, but I saw no other option so I turned and bolted. I was in the woods within seconds,
stumbling over large broken tree branches, as I moved. I didn't dare look over my shoulder, but I knew they were behind me. I could hear their bone chilling laughter ringing in my ears. They were close, maybe even right behind me. The
sound echoed throughout the woods, distorting my perception of their location.

I was gasping for air. Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead. The outer layer of my body was freezing while the inside overheated.
Flames brushed to the surface of my cheeks, trying to break the thin surface of ice. I was panting heavily, swinging my hands out to grab trees for support as I ran.

Their laughter bounced off the trees around me, sounding like hundreds of monsters laughing rather than two. I skidded to a stop,
gripping a few branches to prevent a hard fall. My head snapped in all directions, searching for a distinct location, but the sound echoed everywhere.

The air was heavy in my lungs. My eyes shot to different
shadows, decorations of the darkness. I couldn't see them. My eyes found tall naked trees and the black abyss in between. I could hear the crunch of leaves, swallowing their footsteps as they moved.

"Giving up," I heard one of their condescending
snarls.

My body responded with a two-foot leap in the air. I darted from the tree I held on to and continued to run, but the energy I had before was quickly deteriorating. The reality that I was going to die began to sink
into the pit of my stomach. I wasn't fast enough. They were going to catch me.

"Don't give up now, love," one of them said to me. His voice came from somewhere in front of me. I slowed my pace. I was going to
run right into him if I continued on the path I was headed.

I turned around and took off in the opposite direction. I didn't make it far. When I was beginning to gain more speed the front of my
foot caught under a large tree branch that was hidden under the brush. My body flung forward, my hands hit the ground first, scraping against the twigs and rocks that the leaves covering them could not shield.

There was a brief instance where I felt absolutely nothing.
Then the pain shot into the palms of my hands. I winced, pressing my lips together to hold back a cry. I lifted the side of my face slowly off the gravel, feeling the small rocks and clumps of dirt trickle off my check. My
knees were the next to shriek in pain when I applied pressure to stand. I felt as though fire was running underneath my skin. I managed pull myself off the ground, moaning uncomfortably as I stood.

A chuckle broke the silence behind me. I turned, limping as
I moved my feet. The taller, inhuman being stood in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest. He wore an amusing smile, driven by my fear, on his face. His nostrils flared. He stuck his chin up while he inhaled.

"Now that's a meal."

I realized he was referring to me and I stepped back. "You're sick." I said in short, uneven breaths.

"Bingo," a voice said behind me.

I whirled around and smacked right into his the other man. He gripped my shoulders and spun me back to face the taller man. I shook under his touch, already anticipating the worst. He pulled me against his chest and tightened his arms around my waist. The pressure nearly knocked the breath out
of me. They were faster and stronger in comparison to normal humanlike qualities.

I kicked my legs and squirmed in his grasp. It was easy for him to restrain me but I wasn't going to give in and make it a cakewalk. I
thrashed my arms and legs out hoping to buy myself some time or if anything just to piss him off. I was not going to give them a pleasant experience if I could help it.

"She's still got some fight in her," the one
holding me sneered.

"I love a challenge," the taller man laughed with his dark eyebrows raised.

I felt the man holding me shrug. "I like the ones who beg for mercy like I'm a fuckin' god or something."

Somehow, I managed to feel anger rising over my fear. "Yeah right," I spat between struggles against him.

The man holding me captive paused despite my movements
against him. "Do you smell that?"

The taller man cocked his head to the side. "I thought she just smelled good..." I couldn't see the other man's face, but I watched the tall man exchange a long stare with him. His eyes suddenly lit like
he'd come to a brilliant realization.

"It's her."

"No it's not!" I shot at him, not liking the way the tall one was looking at me like I was the answer to all of his problems.

He laughed, but the shorter man ignored me. "We have to bring her back."

"Bring me where?" I questioned. I was surprised by the harshness in my voice that I didn't feel on the inside. I glared at the man
in front of me.

"You don't get the pleasure of our company, sorry sweetheart." He said, his eyes glowing but his expression had fallen in disappointment.

"Fuck you," I snapped.

He laughed and stepped forward, his ravenous eyes moving over my body. "She's pretty." His knuckles ran over my cheekbone. I narrowed my eyes and spit on him. My saliva hit just below his mouth and rolled
slowly off his chin. I expected him to get angry, maybe even hit me, but he laughed instead. "I like her."

"We can't keep her," the other reminded him bitterly.

We started to move. The smaller man began to drag me back. I
moved with him unwillingly, my feet sliding against the dirt, trying to make it difficult for him. He didn't seem the slightest bit phased. His fingers dug into the skin exposed on my waist where my shirt was raised. I winced and shot
profanities at them, but their laughter in response wasn't satisfying.

"Do you think we could have a taste?"

I felt the one dragging me shake his head. "Don't even
think about it. We don't want to piss them off if all we give those bastards is leftovers."

"So what? We found her first." The tall one threw a glance at me. "She smells so good."

"Stop it," the shorter one snapped.

"No, you stop it." I grunted and pushed myself back into his chest, hoping to make it the slightest bit more arduous for him to drag me. It seemed every attempt I made failed and resulted in their
laughter at my stupidity.

"I really do like this girl," the tall one said.

"Get over it. She's not ours."

I snapped my head up to see where we were going. Through my
tangled strands of hair, my eyes noticed we were nearing a house, appearing larger as we moved towards it. The woods divided around the house and then continued behind it. The windows were dark on the second story but every window
was illuminated on the first floor.

As we neared closer I realized the building was larger than I thought. It was more of a mansion than a house. Its cement walls were grey and faded with lack of care. The windows were dirty and the lawn wasn't
manicured. There was something so haunting and uninviting about the plantation that I immediately began to thrash against the man holding me.

"Let me go!" I shouted at him.

And I was dropped. My body tumbled to the ground
unexpectedly. I looked up and found the two monsters staring down at me in amusement. They wanted me to run again. It was all about the chase. I didn't want to give in to them, but I saw no other options.

I scrambled to my feet and tried to run off to the side,
avoiding the house at all costs even if it meant backtracking into the woods. I didn't make it very far before I felt someone grab me from behind. I screamed at the surprise attack and heard the humor in the taller man's voice.

"Gotcha," he whispered in my ear. I shivered and stretched away from his mouth. His grip on my waist tightened. He held me in the same way the other man had, only this time my legs were dangling off the
ground. "One taste wouldn't hurt," I heard him say and then felt his mouth on my throat.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" The small man shouted behind us.

"The fuck does it look like I'm doing. One bite isn't
going to kill her."

"No!" The other man said, suddenly standing in front of us. His black eyes glared at the man holding me. In response he removed his open mouth from my neck, leaving a trail of salvia. "She has
to be in one piece."

"I thought I heard screaming," a new voice said.

I lifted my head up to see another man, his face painted clean of any wounds. The darkness made his features difficult to make out, but
he looked like a human. There was even a sense of vague familiarity about him. However his eyes moved over my shaking form with hunger in them that sent chills down my spine. Whatever hope I felt for a split second had vanished. His
appearance was deceiving. He was one of
them
.

"Guess who we found wandering alone in the woods."

The new man stared at me a moment before his nostrils
flared. His eyes fluttered like he was experiencing a moment of pure heaven, before they snapped open. He grinned, exposing a set of perfectly white teeth.