Page 21 of Whispered Warnings: Part One

Now that I know that I am a supernatural, it occurs to me that I have been tapping into it for as long as I can remember. Or, well, at least since after Evander left. I wonder if the timing is significant. I definitely tested as a human in the test for the magical academy, and I know that they had the real deal. Now that I know that the humans didn’t though, it makes me wonder if I would test positive as a supernatural now on the real test and if it would be able to tell me what I am.

My foot squelches down into something soft and I am almost too terrified to glance down and see what it is that I have stepped in, I have to though.

“What the hell,” I mutter as my boot seems to be covered in some sort of purple goo. It wouldn’t normally make me pause, but something makes me stare at it for longer than I usually would, considering it’s something that I have stepped in. I am damn grateful that I did as the goo starts to eat through my boot, and I begin to panic. If it’s eating through my boot that quickly I dread to think what it will do to my foot. Images of the melting corpses from earlier flash through my mind. No thank you.

I stop and bend down, desperately trying to get the boot off without it touching my skin. I manage it just in time and throw it to the floor to get rid of it quickly. Of course, in true me fashion, some of the goo on my boot splashes up and lands on my foot, I wait for the pain, wait to yell, but it has absolutely no effect on my skin whatsoever.

Huh.

Maybe it’s inorganic material that it eats, man made things? I know that I can’t continue with one boot, and as risky as it is to go barefoot in an unknown place, it will slow me down considerably if I have to carry on with only one boot. I also don’t want to carry it, which means I get to test my theory about the goop only eating man made things. Look how that worked out.

“You realize that you are trying to trick yourself. Iknow that you really just want to play with the goop,”my inner voice points out, and I ignore her.

I take off my other boot and sock and drop them into the puddle of goo, being entirely consumed by the goop clearly speeds up the process because my boot and sock have been entirely consumed within thirty seconds. My gaze falls to the jacket, it really is massive and slowing me down, and I briefly contemplate throwing it into the goo just to get rid of it. The problem is, it might be one of the guy's favorite jackets, and I would feel fucking awful if I was the one who ruined it, so despite the fact that it would make my life easier, I keep the jacket on.

I want to drop more things in the puddle and see what happens, but I have three hours to get to the door, and I don’t have time to drop things in puddles.

Damn it.

I wriggle my toes cautiously on the ground, testing to see just how much this is going to hurt my feet. I spend most of my time barefoot, and that includes walking outside, so my feet are hardier than most, but I am not entirely immune.

Thankfully, the floor is relatively soft, and I should be okay so long as it stays this way. A fizz of magic has me tensing, and I see a set of numbers appear just in front of me, they aren’t very big, maybe half the size of my finger, but they are glowing. It only takes me a moment to realize that they are counting down and that I only have two and a half hours remaining to get to the gate.

Where the fuck did that first thirty minutes go?

There is no time to dwell on it now, and I once again set off running, following the mental map in my mind. I jump over tree roots and move through the giant trees with an ease that quite honestly shocks the shit out of me. I’m not going to question it though, if I do I risk it suddenly not working for me.

I really fucking wish I had a weapon with me. Something tells me that Betty would do next to no good here. I usually carry a knife or something on me, but I can’t find anything in the usual places on my outfit, and that is curious in itself because I know I brought some with me when we left the house to go and check out the distress call from those agents.

A growl has my head snapping to the left, and I honestly don’t know what the fuck I am looking at. I guess the most similar creature I can compare it to is a person, but it's not, and it is nothing like the imps or any of the supernatural creatures that I have ever seen before. Its arms are nearly as long as its body, and its long, sharp, clawed hands are nearly dragging on the floor; it runs with its legs bent, but its knees are bending backward and not forward as normal knees do. It is also such a deep black that if it hadn’t growled, there would have been absolutely no chance that I would have seen it, as it blends into its surroundings seamlessly.

Its head is relatively human-shaped, but that is where the similarities end. The creature's mouth stretches from one side of its bald head to the other and is filled with razor-sharp teeth; it opens its mouth, snapping it in my direction and allowing me to see that it has more than one row of those deadly-looking teeth. It has a mouth full of them. And horns, the fucking thing has two twisted and deformed-looking horns protruding from the sides of its head, just above where the flaps for what I am assuming ears are.

Just as I think that I have got a grasp on what the thing is, I see a fucking tail. Covered in deadly spikes. Fantastic, that’s just what I fucking need. I glare at the still glowing little timer.

“This is your fucking fault,” I blame, just because I am mostly freaking out, and I need something to take it out on.

My words anger the creature, and it leaps for me, I barely manage to dive out of the way in time and my hair whips aroundme in the wind that it creates. Shit. I run as fast as I fucking can, but I can feel it moments behind me, and I know that there is no way that I can outrun it to the door. My mental map is already showing me that I am too far away, the creature is moving too quickly.

I am going to have to fight, my problem is I don’t have a fucking weapon. How am I supposed to fight against this creature with no weapon?

I carry on running.

I don’t get very far, though, as weight knocks into me from behind and sends me flying through the air. I am grateful for the giant jacket, despite the extra bulk that it means I have been carrying around because it means that I have a somewhat soft landing as I hit the ground and roll, narrowly missing the claws as they strike the ground where I just was.

It comes after me quickly, and all I can do is roll on the floor, avoiding each strike. There isn’t enough time between attacks for me to get up, and the creature is frantic in its desire to end me. I manage to sit up, launching myself backward as he strikes the floor again. While its claws are stuck in the ground, I strike out with my foot, hoping that I can do enough damage to slow it down.

That may have been the case if it weren’t for the fact that I was barefoot. It hisses; all I have exceeded in doing is pissing it the fuck off.

Great.

I am getting really fucking desperate. I’m going to die. There is no way out of this. Just as I resign myself to my fate, something glinting to the left of me catches my eye. I risk a glance and grin as I see a sword just lying there; I will question that at some point, I am sure, but for now. I am absolutely over the fucking moon.

I roll closer to the sword, grabbing the hilt and ignoring the buzz of magic that kisses my palm and travels up my arm. I love swords, they have always been my weapon of choice, although they are entirely impractical for dealing with humans, and so I never replaced the one that I lost.

I swing in an arc, severing the arm that was coming for me, and grimace as blood splatters my face and clothes.

The creature screams in pain, but losing an arm doesn’t seem to slow it down in the slightest, and it swings its other arm toward me, intent on maiming and killing me. I roll backward, sword still in hand, and manage to spring up to my feet. I have more of an advantage on my feet than I do on my back, on the ground.

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