Page 47

Hauling myself to my knees, I lean over the side to see what’s causing the erratic driving. At first, I’m too stunned to react. Every hair on my body stands erect, a tug around my middle nearly topples me into the dirt below. It’s as if even the sun is afraid, sinking faster into the horizon. Midnight blue coats the eastern sky, stars blinking to life. Wind blows my hair back from my eyes, spraying dust into them.

A mass of blinding electric blue light whips across the land. I can hardly keep track of its movements. Every time it leaps, a scorch trail follows, engulfing the long dead trees. Whatever it is, it’s approaching too fast. The shape shifts from a sphere to thousands of needles. Snakelike and unpredictable, it leaps at least a hundred feet in the air and lands directly on the truck ahead of us.

The steel frame concaves as the engine explodes under the impact. I scream and fall back on my ass. Crawling towards the tailgate, I look at the humans.

Lake mouths a word. Too scared to say it out loud.

I can read his lips perfectly.

Nightpulse.

“What is it?” I cry, terror oozing from every pore.

A horrible unease crawls over my skin like millions of ants. That tug intensifies to the point I think my intestines might burst through my stomach. My hands fly to my head as a sharp, piercing scream shatters my eardrums. It’s unnatural, inhuman.

“Get the fuck out of the truck!” Till shouts at me, shoving at my arms. “It’s coming for you!”

We bank a hard left, the vehicle tilting before toppling to its side. We all fall out onto the sandy ground. My teeth connect with my lip and cheek. My bare arms scrape over sharp rocks and sand. I crawl away from the wreckage, eyes scanning for the blue monster. The few humans within that truck are dead. No one could survive an explosion like that.

Every time I move, though, my limbs turn to lead. I’m like a drying-out slug, withering into ash. I’ve never felt weaker in all my life. Not even after weeks in my cage. I groan, nails digging into the dirt for purchase. More whistles sound off, the rumble of an ancient engine breaking through the chaos.

I lift my head. Another truck approaches. Several armed people stand in the truck bed.

“We’re here!” I hear Lake bellow.

Like the creature knows time has run out, it slithers across the ground, energy crackling and popping. It leaps, and I watch in horror as its trajectory will place it directly on top of me. Throwing my arms over my head in a pathetic attempt to hide, I brace for death. Long seconds pass, and nothing happens. I slowly lower my hands, peer up to catch a glimpse of the Nightpulse suspended.

It shrieks. Tendrils shoot out, vibrating and pulsing. But it doesn’t fall. It doesn’t move.

How?

“Kill it, boss! Fucking kill it!” Till begs.

I whip my head back towards the truck. A single form stands apart from the others. They’re on the ground, black material covering their face and a hood shielding the rest. A gloved palm is held out. Blue energy is so bright it’s as blinding as the creature. That person is controlling the monster. Holding it back.

Sparing me.

Everything in me demands I run. Get as far away from this creature as possible. But I can’t stop staring. The person takes a step forward, and even from here, I can tell how hard they’re straining. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it must be. The Nightpulse screams again. Craning my neck to see how it’ll die, I realize my mistake too late.

Literal bolts of lightning shoot free, landing all around me in a final attempt to end my life. I curl into a ball, mirroring the pose I’ve spent so many days stuck in. One manages to graze my leg, and I howl in pain. A static forcefield swallows the air from my lungs and the area around us. I can hear it dying. Feel it in my genetic makeup. That tug eases, my strength slowly returning.

I unravel my limbs, pushing up enough to rest on my elbow. The blue light dims enough to see the creature fully. A pair of black eyes float in an equally black mass. Four limbs… a torso… and finally, nothing. It evaporates into a pile of silver ash.

***

Run, you fool! Fucking run!

Barely able to catch my breath, I rest on my hands and knees, savoring each painful inhale. The new truck approaches and stops. Boots thump over the ground. Doors open and shut.

“Finally!” Till says happily, clapping her hand on someone’s back.

“Step away from the leech,” a male voice commands.

Right. They mean me.

As much as I’d love to strike the fear of the first seer into them, I can’t manage it just yet. Whatever that Nightpulse did to me still lingers. The energy is zapped from my bones like I’ve never felt before. Something cold hits my forehead. A gun, surely. I sigh in defeat.

“I’m not a threat,” I say.