Page 113 of Unbinding the Demon
Adelstein’s jaw clenched, but his face morphed into another sadistic grin. “I wouldn’t come near me just yet if I were you, demon!” he warned and waved his arm up. “Bring them out!”
A couple of corrupted shuffled out from the darkness of the church, dragging two badly beaten and bedraggled individuals along with them. Sharp obsidian daggers glimmered at their throats, threatening them into submission. My blood chilled, freezing into a river of dread. Trepidation gripped me like an icy hand tightening in my gut as they stepped into the moonlight, revealing the shadowy details of their faces.
No! No! No!
“Get your grimy hands the fuck off me!” Lacey thrashed against her captor, uncaring of the dagger at her throat.
The corrupted man who held her growled, and she growled right back. Her white jeggings and cute navy-blue peplum top were both torn and filthy. Her skin, which was usually flawless and smooth, now had deep purple and yellow bruises blemishing it. Meanwhile, her tight, curly locks spiraled into a wild disarray that bounced with her tumultuous actions. But despite that, her fiery spirit was still shining brightly through her beautiful umber eyes.
William was struggling less than Lacey, but his mouth was still as feisty as ever. “Let go of me! Let fucking go of me right now, before I dropkick your ugly snarling ass into next week! Do not fucking test me becauseI ammotherfucking crazy! I will literally chew your fucking face off, you skanky Frankenstein bitch!” he grumbled his empty threats with an air of sass.
Like Lacey, his messy waves fell wildly into his face, the blond strands stained with blood, dirt, and black goo. Grim and dark purple and green bruises contrasted against his pale skin, and his usually perfect makeup was all smudged and worn. One of his dangly gold hoop earrings was missing, while the other glinted in the moonlight. His pink“Feel the Steel”Steel Panther T-shirt and open dark blue denim jacket were caked with blood and dirt. While his black skinny jeans were ripped in numerous places... Well, his pants were likely already ripped, but he looked awful regardless.
Adelstein smirked. “It’s amazing that they still have so much fight left in them.” He chuckled sardonically, then looked me dead in the eye. “I have a proposal for you, Ms. Gallagher...”
Both William and Lacey snapped their gazes at me at the mention of my name. And they both looked beyond horrified to see me here. “Gwendolyn, run! He’s a monster!” Lacey shouted in a panic the moment she saw me. She gasped, and shock filled her fearful eyes when she spotted Azathoth. “What the hell?” she whispered in disbelief and confusion. “Is that... Ashton?”
William was full-on gaping. “What the fuck happened to Ashton!?” he blurted out, then his gaze landed on Belzar’s nightmarish appearance. “Oh shit! Oh fuck no! Hell fucking no! We got massive-ass zombie wolves now!?” He screeched and thrashed in terror, his body flailing uncontrollably.
“...Your life, for theirs!” Adelstein was still grinning like a madman as he gestured toward them. “You have twenty seconds to decide before I have my children slice their throats open.”
Oh shit! Only twenty seconds!?
My heart was beating in overdrive, and my hands trembled. The howling wind numbed my cheeks as I looked over at the shocked and terrified faces of my two good friends. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind about what I should do. I couldn’t stand by and let Adelstein kill them. I would trade my life to save either of theirs any day. My anxious gaze met Azathoth’s scheming one, then I took a wary step toward the church.
His hand latched onto my upper arm, keeping me firmly in place. “Don’t even think about it.” He gave me a stern look. “I can take care of this.” He let go of me, then looked at Belzar. “Protect Gwendolyn at all costs.”
Belzar nodded his head with a woof, and Azathoth disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. He then reappeared right smack in between the two corrupted that held Lacey and William hostage. The second he appeared, his fiery wings forcefully spread out. They violently speared and incinerated both of the undead before they even realized he was there. Adelstein shrieked with rage and gripped his hooded head in panic. It was a loud, chilling, abyssal sound that sent a shiver slithering up my spine.
“Go!”Azathoth roared at them.
Lacey and William’s fear of Azathoth far surpassed their fear of Adelstein. They dashed right toward his white, wispy figure, desperate to escape. Adelstein took the opportunity and lunged out, grabbing William by the throat with his abyssal hand. “Ah-ha!” Adelstein proclaimed with villainous intent as he snatched William up.
William screamed in extreme pain as blood dripped down his neck. The flesh where Adelstein’s skeletal hand touched sizzled, becoming rotten and raw. Lacey stopped dead in her tracks and clumsily spun back around, terrified and unsure of how to help him. Simultaneously, the many corrupted surrounding us began to converge like a mob of obsessive teenage girls at a boy band concert. Their snarls and screeches were deafening, piercing the eerie silence of the night like a banshee’s wail.
It felt like time had frozen. Like I was a spectator in a crazy dream. In the blink of an eye, chaos had erupted all around me. The air crackled with energy and a cacophony of mayhem. Instinct took over, and without thinking, I tried to sprint over to where Adelstein had William. But Belzar bit down on my hood, stopping me dead in my tracks.“William!”I screamed with an outstretched arm as I was yanked back.
The entire doorway to the church was now burning in a fiery blaze. Azathoth slashed at Adelstein with swirls of orange flames spewing from his claws. Adelstein anticipated his attack and jumped back with a hiss, carelessly dropping William in the process. Azathoth caught him before he fell over. Despite William struggling and freaking out because a literal demon of all things was now holding him, Azathoth still managed to put a hand on his throat and heal his scathing wound.
Belzar whipped his head back, using his hold on my hood to throw me onto his back like a measly rag doll, just as the swarm of corrupted reached us. I screamed as my world spun, then I latched my hands onto his bristly fur to keep myself up. I held on for dear life, while his powerful, fanged jaws and massive, lethal claws violently shredded through the decaying horde like a rabid berserker. Blackened blood sprayed all around as putrid body parts and entrails flew sporadically through the air.
Holy fuck!
Adelstein took the opportunity to escape. He began to claw and crawl his way up the side of the church, hissing and snarling like a Spider-Man strigoi. He grumbled in irritation as he pulled his bony, bumbling butt up onto the angled roof. He chanted something with an ominous tone while stretching his hand out toward the graveyard.
A thick, black mist began to swirl around the crumbling headstones. It danced as though rousing the ghosts sleeping just beneath the frost-laden soil. From the eerie fog, sibilant whispers slithered through the air, fighting to be heard over the snarling shrieks of the corrupted. Hushed, anguished voices echoed with an inhuman quality, speaking in an otherworldly language. Each word dripped with fear and pain, causing dread to settle deep within my bones.
I ducked as some guy’s grotesque, severed leg flew over my head. I watched as it limply wobbled while soaring by, with black blood spewing out from the tattered stump of the thigh. Then a whirling torrent of flames instantly roasted it to a blackened crisp, like an overcooked Christmas ham.
My eyes squinted from the blazingly bright light and intense heat as I peered up. Azathoth was flying above us with a literal stream of flames pouring from his hands. It looked like the fiery breath of a dragon scorching some defenseless city. The flames roared and hissed as they swiftly incinerated almost all the surrounding undead. I smiled, even though I was gagging on the putrid and suffocating fumes of burning rotten flesh and smoke.
Azathoth swooped down after rectifying the situation, kicking one of the charred bodies as he landed. I slipped off Belzar and staggered over to him. Lacey and William ran through the smoldering remains toward us, but they didn’t get too close. Fear and uncertainty were reflected in their eyes as they paused, wanting to get to me, but too afraid to make another move. Their fear of Azathoth and Belzar was understandable, but I still hated to see it.
“Gwendolyn! Are you all right?” Lacey yelled, her eyes darting over my frame as Azathoth put an arm around me.
I wasn’t able to answer her, though. Whatever cracked-out abyssal wizardry Adelstein did over the graveyard began to take effect. All of us turned to watch in disbelief as a gigantic black creature emerged from the swirling caliginous mist. A pitch-black reptilian head popped out from the darkness first. It let out a deafening, otherworldly shriek, revealing multiple rows of pointed black teeth. It was the type of sound that should never have been heard by human ears, utterly alien and horrific. Formidably sharp talons dangled from its two sets of upper arms and muscular hind legs. Its body was long and slender, with a lengthy, spiked whip of a tail. The whole thing was solid black and decaying, its rotting flesh glistening as if wet. With its immense height, its large, pitch-black eyes easily peered over the church roof as it took in its new surroundings.
Oh shit.
