Taken Over (Book 2 The Ravening Series) (19 page)

   “Barney.”
I said more out of habit then with any real hope
that
Lloyd might start calling him something other than
that
dog
.

   Lloyd nodded before slipping from the shadows of the woods and hitting the street. We followed swiftly behind, staying close on his heels as we darted down the street far faster than we had moved down it last time. We stayed close to the buildings, in the darkness
i
t was hard to see
the bricks and
debris in the
way
but I was able to avoid most of it by
following Barney
.

   I found that I could hardly breathe, found that my heart was hammering with terror, but my feet continued to move and so far we were all still alive. So far. It wasn’t that hot out but sweat was running down my face
and into my eyes
. I had to juggle my gun to wipe my bro
w with the back of my arm. I felt ill. I wanted to vomit. I wanted off of this damn street and I wanted to go to sleep tonight and wake up in my bed, in my room, in my home, with my siblings and my mother. I wanted this all to be just one horrendous nightmare; I wanted Cade
,
and everyone that had been lost
,
to still be alive.

   I wanted it all so badly that I could nearly taste it. Wanted it so badly that for a moment I almost froze. For a moment
,
I was so filled with longing and a desperate need for all of this to
not be real
,
that I almost sat down on the sidewalk and lost myself to the
memories and
despair
engulf
ing
me. I grit my teeth as I fought against the waves of misery t
hreatening
to
consume me.
T
his was not the place, and this was not the time
to completely lose control
. In fact, there was no time for thoughts like the ones I was having. Not anymore.
Not if I wanted to keep my sanity, not if I wanted to keep waking up every day.
Not if I wanted to retain any measure of hope.

   There was only time for survival in this world, and we
had
to survive.

  
I forced myself to take deep breaths in an attempt to ward off the panic attack I felt clamoring at my insides.
“What
is
that?”

   I turned, expecting Jenna to be right behind me, but
she had stopped
moving
and fallen behind us. I stepped closer to the building, pressing myself flat against the cool brick as I searched for whatever it was she was talking about. “What’s what?” Bret asked quietly.

   Though it was dark I could make out the fierce frown that marred Jenna’s pretty features.
I just couldn’t see what was causing it. I stepped slightly away from the building to search the area that
she
was staring at, but I saw nothing. “Let’s go!” Lloyd hissed sharply.
   “Jenna what is it?”

   She shook her head, appearing confused as she turned back to me. “Never
mind, it must have been nothing.”

   Barney remained by my side, but he seemed unfazed as he l
ay
down for a moment, his head resting on his paws. He wouldn’t be so relaxed if there was something out there.
But there was one thing I had learned over the past month, it was never just nothing.
“We have to go.”

  
Barney fell into step beside me again as I turned away and
hurried after Bret. I wanted off of this damn street, I wanted out of this freaking eerie
G
odforsaken town. I wanted to find the hospital; I wanted to be with Aiden and Abby again. I wanted this whole experience over with and just to feel one moment of security, no matter how false
it was
.

   Lloyd broke into a run as he darted across a side road
. He was
momentarily exposed
before he reached the other side and plastered himself against the building. Bret bolted across next
,
with Barney following behind at a leisurely jog.
I was about to
follow after them
when I heard Jenna mutter something.

   I took a step forward at the same time that I turned toward her. The uncoordinated move almost caused me to fall on my ass
as I stepped off the curb
, but
I managed to keep myself upright by falling against the building. Aggravation spurted through me as I shoved
off of the cool brick façade. “Jenna!” I hissed.

   But she was already moving away from me, creeping back the way we had come. I frowned in confusion. What the
hell
was she doing?
Was she trying to get us all killed?

  “Hello,” her call was soft, but it caused the hair on the nape of my neck to stand on end and my heart to plummet straight into my stomach. We had struggled to stay as quiet as possible and now she was calling out into the dark night as if it were the safest thing in the world to do. Wh
en
it most certainly was
not
.

   “Jenna!” Her name was grated from my lips, quiet in the night, but I knew that she could hear me.

   “There’s someone…”

   Goose pimples broke out on my body, the sweat coating m
e
suddenly turned
frigid
.
A sense of impending doom slipped down my spine, causing the hair on the nape of my neck and arms to stand on end.
I was shivering, I was
terrified; I was going to vomit, or run
away
. But before I
fully registered
what I was going to do, I was already doing it.

   I darted down the street, r
acin
g for Jenna who was somehow already a good hundred feet away from me. She took a step closer to the road, her attention fix
at
ed
on something
across the street. I was finally
able to see what had her so enraptured. What had entangled her so completely
that she seemed to have forgotten all sense of self preservation
. I inhaled sharply; my legs nearly gave out beneath me as I caught sight of the slender boy
within the shadows of the buildings
on the other side of the road.

   Time seemed to slow, everything became crisp and clear.
The world
was
stunningly
vivid around me
.
I could make
out every detail of the night,
every different strand of color within
Jenna’s
red hued hair
, and even the colored particles within the air
.
The lack of light was suddenly no longer a problem as I saw everything
in brilliant detail
, and recognized the death lurking within the shadows. It was a disconcerting feeling, one that left me shaken, but did not slow my onward rush as my legs pumped faster than I had ever thought possible.

  
Jenna stepped off the curb and into the street. I clearly recalled the young girl that had killed Sarah, the young girl that had seemed so real
and vulnerable
, yet harbored a
hideous
monster. A girl that Jenna had been told about
,
but had not actually
seen
. 

   “We can help you!” Jenna called softly.

   “No Jenna!” I gasped.

   I flung myself off the sidewalk
, my adrenaline fueled mind was oblivious of the danger it was in as I lurched at Jenna. T
he young boy unraveled
swiftly
to reveal the hideous
fiend within. T
he creature lunged forward, one of those awful tentacles whipping out with amazing speed and deadly accuracy. I hit Jenna
with the full force of my body.
K
nocking her off balance,
I
shov
ed
her out of the way of the deadly attack
seconds before it would have
demolished
her chest. I stumbled, nearly fell, but
the thing slammed into my shoulder
knocking me back as it pierced my body
.

   Pain exploded through
out
m
e
, a scream of agony rose up in my throat but came out only as garbled nonsense.
B
one or cartilage snapp
ed and
t
ore loudly
as it was
bent in
to
a
direction
it was never meant to go.
Shouts erupted around me, white lights exploded before my eyes as I
was pushed
back
beneath the force of the creature
. I expected to feel the hard impact of the road against my back, but it did not come as something clamped down on my shoulder, bit deep into my flesh
as it
pierc
ed
me, grasp
ed
me, cl
u
ng to me with murderous intent
as it lifted me above the ground
.

  
A scream of agony was trapped within my throat; it burned in me, choking me.
I tried to raise my hands to grasp hold of
the thing clinging to me
,
torturing me. My arms
were like lead weights
as
they
hung
limply
at my sides. I didn’t have time to fear that I was going to die.
I was too caught up in the pain enshrouding me, wrapping around me, and freezing me within its cold, hard grasp. A high pitched ringing
exploded in
my ears; it pounded against me, filling everything that I was with its intense
noise.
I thought for a moment that
it
might be my own screams
I was hearing,
but my voice was still trapped tightly within me, unable to break free.