Stuart Meczes - The awakening

“Depraved,” breathed Gabriella, “We need to go now.”

Something crawled over the fire escape door. The windows were blocked out by mottled pink flesh. A stench of decay pervaded the room. I gagged. Delagio lifted Tim off his feet. We all sprinted out of the Gymnasium. Straight into the path of The Sorrow. Gabriella let out a bloodcurdling scream so horrifying, I shivered all the way down to my soul.

My heart stalled from the sheer horror of what I was witnessing. The Sorrow was far, far worse than I’d been able to capture in my nightmares. The soul-eater towered over ten feet in height; arching horns that jutted from its head grazed the ceiling. Amour the shade of dried blood and marked with unknowable symbols encased the creature. Long urchin like spines poked out from in-between each joint. A gruesome iron mask covered its face. The edges were studded and deep vertical slits filled the mouth plate. There were no eyes behind the mask, just hollow pits of pure darkness. The decaying mask was kept in place only by a set of fraying straps that locked around The Sorrow’s head.

When it saw us it lifted a hand and pointed. Its joints squealed like a tortured animal. Then it reached the same arm behind its back and unsheathed a sword which was easily as big as Sophia. It smashed into the floor, spraying up splintered tiles. The Sorrow started to walk forwards, the blade edge squealing and sparking as it trailed behind.

Gabriella had curled into a ball on the floor, hands covering her eyes. The confident, strong woman had disappeared, replaced by the terrified little girl from all those years ago.

Tim’s face had gone chalk white. He looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

“Help me get them back into the gym!” I screamed at Delagio.

Together we dragged the weeping Gabriella and dazed Tim away from the advancing Sorrow, back into the Gymnasium. I pulled her arms away from her face. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her teeth clenched together. She must have bitten her tongue, because blood dribbled from between her lips. “Ella snap out of it!” I shouted. She didn’t react. I could hear the thunderous boom of footsteps as The Sorrow drew closer. “Please snap out of it!” She made no indication that she could hear me.

I leaned in close and pressed my mouth against her ear. “ Please Gabriella, If you don’t snap out of this, The Sorrow is going to kill us both. I need you.”

Something seemed to register. Her eyelids fluttered and opened. It only took one look for me to know that Gabriella was back with me.

“Come on,” I said dragging her to her feet.

Slap!

I turned to see Delagio backhand Tim across the face. A trickle of blood ran from his nose. My friend seemed in a fair amount of pain, but appeared to have come to his senses. Gabriella gathered up her dress and together we all sprinted for the fire exit. I ran straight at it, barging with all my strength. The door burst open, sending the creature on it flying. It landed on its back with an indignant squeal. I fell to the ground, soaking my suit. It was Gabriella’s turn to pick me up. I chanced a look around and saw with a wave of disgust that the entire gym was covered in Depraved. They all breathed in unison, which made it seem as if the building itself had come alive. One by one, they turned and saw us, thick black eyes widening. They let out excited shrieks and dropped off the building, landing with wet splashes on the ground.

Delagio and I grabbed Tim and hoisted him between us. We all ran as fast as we could. The swarm of Depraved chased after us, scuttling along the walls and leaping like demented frogs. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, they’re getting closer,” whimpered Tim. We sprinted around the front of the school. That was when I saw what could only have been a dream. A line of Guardians fronted by Scarlett.

They were armed to the teeth and aiming towards us. For a split second I thought we’d been tricked again. But then I felt a bullet whip past my head. I turned to see a Depraved crumple and roll along the ground. It was clambered over by its kin.

We broke through the barrier. The night was filled with the sounds of gunshots and the anguished screams of the Depraved. We reached the front entrance, where dozens of Alliance cars and bikes were scattered about. We set Tim down on his feet. There was a bag by one of the motorbikes. Delagio picked it up and flung it to me. I caught it one-handed and unzipped it. Inside were the Crimson Twins and a Kapre belt, loaded with guns. “I’m sorry, about Rachel,” I said, pulling the swords out of the bag. Gabriella fastened the belt around her waist. “Don’t worry ‘bout that now.” I pointed at Tim. “I need you to get him to safety.” Delagio nodded. “What are you gonna do?”

“I have the swords now. I’m going to lure The Sorrow away from here. I don’t want any more innocent people to die because of me.” Delagio’s eyes went wide. “Alex, that’s suicide!” “It’s here because of me. I have to try.” Gabriella threw me a set of bike keys. “Not without me you’re not.”

I went to argue, but could tell from her face it would be pointless. Instead I handed her one of the Crimson Twins. She used its sharp blade to cut the bottom part of her dress away, so that it now stopped above the knee. She dropped the material and slid the sword into a makeshift holder on the side of the bike. I ran to it — a sleek black Kawasaki — and used the keys to start it. Gabriella hugged her arms around my middle. I was reminded briefly of when she’d driven me to the underground station. I’d felt so weak and confused.

Things had come so far since then.

I looked over at Tim. He was staring at me with a dazed expression. “If I make it out of this alive, we’ll have a chat,” I promised.

He gave a slow nod.

I turned to Delagio. He gave a solemn tip of his hat. “Good luck,” he said. Then he piled Tim into a jeep. Jumped into the driver’s seat and roared off.

From somewhere amongst the roar of battle, I heard the shriek of the Sorrow’s demented steed.

“Go!” shouted Gabriella.

I twisted the accelerator and the bike squealed into action. I doubled back to where the Chosen were locked in combat with the depraved.

“Come on you ugly bastards,” I hollered. “We’re the ones you want!”

Their heads snapped to our direction. Scarlett looked up from the carcass of a fallen Depraved. “Alex what are you doing?” she yelled.

“Look after Mikey,” I shouted back. Kicking the bike around, I accelerated through the main gates. The Depraved broke away from the fight, jumping into trees and over school buildings in a desperate attempt to catch us. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the deformed Unicorn jump the school wall. The Sorrow rode on top, the thick chains clutched between its gauntlets. I pulled the accelerator as far as it would go.

We swerved in and out of traffic. Angry drivers smashed their horns and rolled down their windows to shout abuse. The shouts turned to screams when they saw what was following us. The Sorrow overtook its soulless followers, vaulting over one car and landing on the roof of another. The metal caved in and the driver spilled out of the door, running for cover. The panic was contagious, spreading from person to person. Cars collided with one another, people scrambled into restaurants and bars, trampling each other and knocking bouncers down as they went. The thump of the nightclubs bass was drowned out by the sound of pure fear. The only consolation was that The Sorrow and the Depraved were so focused on us, they ignored everyone else.

“We need to take them somewhere unpopulated!” Gabriella shouted above the roar of the engine, hooves and screams.

I veered off down a quieter street, heading away from town. I turned to see The Sorrow and Depraved still close behind. There were only about ten cars length between us and the nightmare that followed. And it was gaining on us fast. I felt Gabriella’s arms slide from around my waist. I turned to see her swivel around in the seat. “Keep steady!” she shouted. “What are you doing?” “Trying to even the odds a little!”