Mated To An Enemy

The beast jumped to its feet and charged into the room without giving Peter a chance to react. It grabbed the end of the bed and flipped it against the far wall, revealing Sadie and exposing Peter.

Sadie screamed, and the monster turned its eyes on her.

"Sadie, run!" Peter shouted as he tried to scramble to his feet.

The monster turned and snarled, reaching out to grab Peter by the shoulder. Peter tried to pull away, but the beast tightened its clawed hand, painfully digging into Peter's shoulder.

Peter let out a groan at the burning sensation.

Sadie desperately tried to get untangled from the blanket, but her fear kept her from thinking clearly. The monster swung at her, dragging his taloned claw against the blanket, unintentionally setting her free from her trappings.

As the blankets fell away, Sadie quickly crawled to the wall, staring at the monster holding tightly to Peter. Finally, she sobbed and cried out.

"Run!" Peter shouted, hitting the monster's arm to keep it focused on him.

Sadie uttered a soft cry and then tried to move toward the door, but the monster roared and swung in her direction.

Sadie cried out in fear and pressed herself to the wall, hugging her knees and covering her face as she cried in complete terror.

Peter knew that she wouldn't be able to get out of the room on her own. So he needed to do something to get them both away from this creature.

The monster locked his right arm tightly with his claws dug deeply into his shoulder, but he still had his left hand. Peter searched his pocket for anything that he might have that could help.

He found a pen.

Peter gritted his teeth and grabbed a tight hold on the pen, then with every ounce of strength he could muster. Finally, he jammed the pen straight into the monster's eye.

It screamed and threw Peter hard against the wall.

Peter's body ached. His shoulder, in particular, was burning and bleeding. Still, he got to his feet and grabbed Sadie, helping her up as the monster screamed and worked to grab hold of the pen. But its elongated hands and taloned fingers were finding difficulty in grabbing hold of the pen to pull it out.

Peter took advantage of this and quickly pulled Sadie into his arms. It was a struggle, his shoulder burned and ached, but it didn't matter. He needed to get her out of this room and out of the house.

He lowered her head against his shoulder and ran full speed toward the door, the beast caught sight of them and tried to stop them, but he could not grab them as Peter shoved past it into the hallway.

He hurried down the hall, hearing the sound of the beast crashing into the wall, its taloned claws digging into the wood flooring as it tried to turn and run after them.

The beast let out a screeching howl that almost made Peter lose his footing as he pushed through the living room, so close to the door.

Sadie hugged Peter even tighter. The snarling was getting closer and closer. Peter did everything he could to ignore the sound, to get them through that door.

'I just need to get outside…' he thought. 'If I get outside… maybe Myka will be there… or one of the patrols? Maybe we can outrun it if we just get outside!'

Peter pushed himself harder than he ever had. He ran through the open doorway into the cold air, into the bright white snow. He made it a few feet out the door before they stumbled.

They fell to the ground, and he held Sadie tightly, trying to protect her from the impact.

Behind them, he heard the doorframe breaking as the monster tore through it to reach them. It snarled and let out another of those screeching howls.

Peter looked back, he met the beast's eyes, and he knew at that moment that it wanted to kill him. That he was all the monster was focused on now. Peter swallowed and let go of Sadie.

"Run," he said.

Sadie didn't move. But the beast began to close the distance between them.

Peter turned to Sadie. He petted her hair and pushed her gently.

"Please," he whispered. "Run, and don't look back."

Sadie let out a sob as he pushed her again. Then, finally, she moved away, quickly getting to her feet and running. Peter sighed, exhausted and relieved, as he heard her footfalls in the snow getting further away.

He turned and watched the beast approaching him with rage in its eyes. Peter had nothing left. His body was exhausted, and the pain in his shoulder was spreading. Even if he managed to get to his feet, he wouldn't get far. All that mattered now was giving Sadie time to get away.

Peter took a deep breath and closed his eyes as only a few feet were left between him and the monster.

He thought of Myka. He saw him laugh, saw the way that he always looked at Peter with complete adoration.

He wished for more time. For a chance to grow old together. For the opportunity to drive each other crazy for just a little longer. For even one more night in his arms.

Peter clenched his jaw as he felt a hot tear roll down his cheek. He took a deep breath.

"I love you, Myka…" he whispered.

And as he sat there, listening to the footfalls get closer and closer, as he waited for the inevitable pain of being torn apart by the beast, something strange happened.

He felt the ground below him begin to shake and move.

Peter opened his eyes, seeing the monster less than a foot away from him. But then he looked down at the ground between them. The snow and dirt began to twist and turn, moving as though something moved below the surface.

Suddenly the snow and dirt exploded as deep, dark roots burst from the ground.