Page 160 of Mayhem and Minnie

It doesn’t budge.

Her eyes are wide with shock as she does her best to signal for me to leave.

To hell with that! If she thinks I’m going to run away and leave her in danger then she doesn’t know me at all.

I slam myself against the forming cocoon again, but it’s in vain.

With every second, the shell around her becomes stronger, more impenetrable.

Panic swells inside of me as I wildly look around and force myself to think.

Despite it being a dream, it seems I’m not in control.

The creatures maintain their formation, not moving one inch. But there’s something odd about their position. Their mouths are wide open, and their entire focus is on Minnie.

I move around them, baiting them.

But they ignore me, as if I weren’t there.

My lips flatten in concentration as I go to the second line of the formation and try to kick one of the sentinels. Like before, it doesn’t do anything to the creature, its skin molding to my kick to absorb the shock. But what’s odd is the fact that it’s not even turning to acknowledge me. It stands there, absorbing blow after blow. Mouth open, eyes straight forward, it stands still as a statue.

I narrow my eyes as an idea comes to mind.

To test it, I go to another sentinel and do the same thing, but this time, I hit the front of its body.

My blow doesn’t do any damage, but it confirms my theory as I see its sunken eyes move slightly to look at me. Yet it doesn’t do anything.

It keeps its mouth open, eyes facing forward.

Could it be…

The only way for them to keep Minnie captive is to not disturb the formation? By keeping their mouths open, they continue to reinforce the prison so Minnie cannot escape?

The initial blow had been accompanied by sound.

I stop, forcing myself to be still. Slowing down my erratic breathing, I tune in with the sounds around me.

It’s dim, but there’s a light vibration emanating from the sentinels. It’s almost like a continuous hum that holds the exact same note ad infinitum.

Minnie said the duty of these things is to track something or someone, which means they’re not here to hurt her, or us. They’re only immobilizing her until someone else comes along to do that job.

Fuck.

That thought is sobering. The clock is ticking, and if these desiccated mummies are any indication of what’s after Minnie, I don’t want to wait around for the ultimate big bad to come along.

I glance back at her. She’s now completely enclosed in the cocoon, the shell almost entirely opaque.

That means I don’t have much time to act. And the only thing I can think of—the only thing that makes logical sense—is to disturb the formation. If that’s holding the prison in place, then any disturbance within the formation should weaken it.

Easier said than done when these fucking mummies seem impervious.

I go back to my initial reasoning, though.

Every being has a weakness. I just need to find theirs. And fast.

The seconds trickle by as I force myself to think. When nothing comes to me, I decide that I might as well throw everything I have to them—starting with the last row.

If the biggest one is at the front, perhaps he’s also the strongest. That means I may have a chance with the last row of creatures.

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