Obsession

Chapter 33

Thirty-Three

R en and Callum’s plan for escape was slowly taking shape. Callum, with his intricate knowledge of the mansion and its history, revealed hidden passages and secret exits to Ren. The musty scent of the secret passages, their stone walls cold and damp to the touch, were both intimidating and exciting. The promise of freedom they held made the dangerous game of deception seem worth the risk.

“Are you sure this will work?” Ren asked.

“As sure as I can be.” Callum answered.

They were not prepared for the disturbingly eerie sounds that echoed through the hollow passages that night though.

Low menacing breathing and the scraping of something metallic against the bare stone, set the hair to stand up on the back of Ren’s neck.

“Do you hear that?” What is that?”

“Nothing to worry about. Hopefully.”

“That doesn't sound too convincing.” Ren stopped when she heard another noise.

There was a fast scuttling sound and a whoosh of freezing cold air, followed by a low growl that grew to an ear splitting shriek.

“Oh god, what is that?” She whisper-screamed into the dark.

Ren stopped breathing as she felt her blood run cold. She hugged tight to Callum. Her nails left little moon shaped divots in his skin where she clung to him. Scared. She inched her way forward despite her aversion to the darkness. Despite the growing anxiety, she continued.

When they both saw the shadows multiply against the farthest wall, they froze.

The terror she felt exploded in a release of adrenaline and her heart nearly stopped before it took off into a gallop. The look of dread emanating from her eyes was wholly reflected in Callum’s returning gaze.

“Don’t run.” Callum said.

“What?” Ren asked.

A pack of barely human creatures, with pale gray skin pulled tight to wiry muscles over a sharp and gnarled bony frame, poured like a river of rats over each other as they slammed around a bend at the end of the corridor. They moved like a swarm of ants running from a flood inside of their nest.

The combined shriek as they screamed for blood in unison was like nails on a chalkboard. With the power of a hurricane backing them they powered through the hidden passage.

“Nevermind! Run!” Callum yelled as loud as he could manage. The sound barely audible over the growing mass of certain death headed directly for them.

Callum and Ren could feel warm blood trickling down their necks from their ears as they turned to run. Their hands pressed to the side of their heads in a poor attempt to abate the pain. The force of the sound ruptured their eardrums yet echoed relentlessly.

The pack headed for them was so fast, Callum knew they would never out run them on foot, not with Ren’s basic human speed.

“Take my hand and don’t let go. No matter what, don’t let go.” Calllum yelled again to make sure Ren heard him. Even standing shoulder to shoulder, he could barely hear himself over the torrent of sound louder than a locomotive speeding through a backroad crossing.

He had to drag her along like a ragdoll, but he knew if the pack caught them, they’d be torn to shreds in the chaos.

He’d seen starving wild vampires before, and the bodies that got caught in a swarm were not as recognizable as even the slabs of meat you’d find at a butcher shop after they had finished carving the saleable pieces from it.

They would not stop with their vicious attack until there was nothing more than a husk of their prey remaining.

“I’ve got you.” Callum pulled Ren behind himself while throwing every possible thing he could grasp along the way behind himself as a means to slow the swarm.

“They’re gaining on us!” Ren cried out. Her feet never touched the ground. She bounced off of the walls and objects as some of them errantly kicked back from Callum’s haphazard throws.

“I’m going to get us out of here.” Callum promised.