Page 11 of Becoming Brandy

Brandy screamed, backpedaling out of the way as a fight broke out in the hallway. The alien was just like the others she’d seen—scaly with a mane, red eyes, slitted nostrils, and elongated fingers ending in claws. With one hand, it had Drake by the throat and was lifting him so his boots scrabbled on the floor. Caught off guard, Drake struggled for air, grasping at the hands that were choking him. As she watched his eyes bulge, Brandy’s panic turned to terror.

Drake kicked the beast in the ribs over and over as he slowly suffocated. One last hard kick made the alien beast curl inward, his hand letting go of Drake’s throat. Drake fell into a crouch, gasping. A few tortured breaths and Drake was up, slamming the beast into the wall so hard it wobbled. It wrapped long arms around Drake’s back and sank its claws deep into his skin and muscles beneath. He let out a howl, his face twisted with pain.

Desperate, Drake’s eyes darted around, landing on Brandy. “Call… for help.”

Brandy stared at him, unable to move.

Leaning around the beast’s snarling head, Drake locked eyes with her. “Call for… back up. Please.”

What should she do? Drake was just about to punish her for her supposed transgressions, but this fight needed to be broken up before someone got hurt.

“What do I do?” she asked.

Drake was concentrating on keeping the beast pinned while enduring the claws sinking further into his back. Through gritted teeth, he said, “Press your hand… to the wall. Call Wrek.”

Brandy pressed her hand to the wall. Nothing happened. “Drake, it’s not working!”

When she turned, the beast had wrestled out of Drake’s grasp and was trying his best to end his life. The beast slashed out with its claws, cut through Drake’s shirt, and sliced open his chest. Purplish-black blood dripped down his skin as he used his arms to stop the onslaught.

Brandy whirled back to the wall and pressed her hand to it. “Wrek, we need you down here. Hurry!”

A voice crackled overhead. “Brandy? Is that you?”

“Wrek! Please. One of the… aliens is tearing Drake apart.”

“Oh Gods.” The commlink ended.

Brandy turned toward the battle.

Drake was on his back, resembling a piece of shredded beef. Black blood was everywhere—the floors, the wall. The beast stood over Drake’s heaving chest.

It raised its claws to strike.

“Stop!” Brandy screamed.

The beast’s claws stopped in midair. It turned slowly, locking its red eyes on her.

Trembling, she tried her most forceful tone. “Leave him alone. You’ve done enough.”

Nostrils sniffing the air, it left Drake’s body and began to stalk toward her. Blood dripped off its claws and pattered on the floor. Those red eyes locked in like he was seeing his next victim.

Brandy ran.

Heart pounding, she sprinted down the corridor with the beast in pursuit. She could hear it thundering along behind her, footfalls shaking the floors beneath her feet. Breath caught in her throat, she ran with abandon.

Images flashed through her mind as she skidded around a corner—blood on those sharp claws, Drake in a puddle of his own blood. Was that what she’d look like when they found her lifeless body?

She took another corner, her feet slapping against the floor. Tortured sounds were pouring from her throat. Behind her, giant feet pounded on the ground with each lopping step. It was gaining on her.

And then the corridor ended. A dead end. She skidded around to go back the way she came as the beast rounded the corner. She was trapped.

Back against the wall, she tried desperately to think of a way out. The beast blocked the only exit. She tried pressing her hands to the wall with her back to it so she could keep her eyes on him, but no opening appeared.

The beast stalked forward with its claws out like a monstrous Freddy Kruger.

“Stay where you are,” she shrieked, panic tightening her insides. “Don’t come any closer!”

Nostrils flared as his razor-sharp teeth parted. A guttural growl rolled out of its throat.

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