Page 26 of A Mate For Matrix
Jana hugged her knees as close to her chest as she could. The kittens had finally fallen back to sleep. She absentmindedly fingered the knife lying on the floor next to her. Every time she heard a shout or a thump from outside, she would grab it. If she had thought the noise was scary, it was nothing compared to the silence.
Her heart jumped into her throat when she heard a creak and felt the faint movement of the support beams under the house. Her gaze went to the back door. It and the screen door were securely locked. Her eyes widened when she saw the kitchen floor rise before settling back down.
She curled her fingers around the knife as she gripped the bag with the kittens in it. The portions of the floor rising and down appeared to be heading away from her. Whatever was causing it was moving beneath the hall toward the other side of the house.
A strangled scream escaped Jana when the house suddenly rose off its foundation, then crashed down. She slid forward out of the narrow pantry just as the horrific sound of wood creaking and splintering echoed loudly through the air. The kittens, awakened by the sudden movement and noise, began to emit a series of pitiful meows.
Jana struggled to get her footing when the house shifted under her again. She lost her grip on the bag with the three little kittens inside. Horror and fear choked Jana when she saw first one, then the other two, dart out of the bag and disappear through the doorway.
“No!” she cried, struggling to her feet.
In the distance, she heard an explosion. She was almost to the doorway leading to the hall when a powerful, concussive wave came at her from behind and threw her forward onto the floor. The kitchen windows and doors had burst open. She wasn’t sure what had happened; all she could do was cover her head to protect herself from the glass, which blew inward. The deadly shards pierced the walls of the kitchen, just a few feet above her trembling form.
Dazed, Jana lifted her head. Her gaze caught a slight movement in the filtering light just beginning to shine through the eastern-facing windows. Butter’s creamy fur disappeared under the couch.
“Butter, come to Momma,” Jana cried out, scrambling to her feet.
She had taken only a couple of steps when another movement, this time from near her bedroom door, drew her attention. The scream that started to escape froze in her throat as the massive arms of an enormous creature gripped the door frame and pushed outward. The wood crumpled like paper under the force.
Jana stumbled backwards into the small hall table. The creature’s head turned and stared at her with half a dozen eyes that seemed to look in six directions at once—until they all locked on her. Her fingers tightened on the knife she was holding.
“Jana, don’t move,” K-Nine said in a calm voice from the living room.
“I… I can’t… my… legs… won’t listen to me,” she whispered back. “What… what is that thing?”
“It’s a Crawler,” Matrix said, stepping into the hallway.
“You have mated with this warrior,” the Crawler snarled, pushing against the walls of the narrow hallway. “I will eat you first.”
“That’s just… wrong,” Jana retorted in a trembling voice.
“K-Nine, get Jana out of here,” Matrix ordered, turning to face the Crawler. “This is between the two of us, Crawler.”
“No, it will be between the female and me,” the Crawler hissed.
“The kittens,” Jana whimpered, pressing back when the creature struggled to move closer. “They’re under the couch.”
“Kick the bag to me,” K-Nine ordered.
Matrix released a snarling curse, but kicked the bag that Jana had dropped toward K-Nine. The wolfhound uttered a series of low calls. Instantly, the kittens raced out from under the couch toward him.
“Use the red charge!” K-Nine barked urgently as he hurriedly scooped up the kittens in his mouth and dropped them into the bag.
Jana watched in shock as K-Nine gripped the handles of the bag in his mouth and took off at a run out the front door. Jana turned in time to see Matrix point his weapon at the creature that was hissing and snarling so loudly that her head hurt.
“Trust me,” Matrix said, wrapping a protective arm around her waist.
“Always,” Jana replied in a trembling voice.
Everything slowed.
Jana saw Matrix shoot a bright red bullet of some kind at the Crawler. Her feet left the floor. Matrix slung her over his shoulder and raced toward the back doorway. She saw the walls bulge again as the creature tried to get out of the narrow confines of the hallway an instant before everything started to turn red.
She felt her body twisting as Matrix pulled her off of his shoulder and into his arms as he continued to charge across her backyard. They were almost to the woods when a bright red flash lit up her house and an explosive wave of energy knocked Matrix off his feet.
The shockwave was so powerful that Jana swore that it sucked the oxygen out of the immediate area. She watched over Matrix’s shoulder as the red light faded, leaving nothing behind. The next moment, they hit the ground and everything went black.
Several hours later, Jana sat on the wooden swing that was hanging from a tree near the woods. She stared at the empty spot where her house had once stood. There was nothing left of it but a large burned area.
