Ravenous (The Ravening #1)(16)
Author: Erica Stevens

“Hurry,” Aiden urged.

I didn’t say it didn’t matter if we hurried or not. I’d already expressed my opinion on this whole situation. I wasn’t going to bring them down any further with my pessimism. “What is going on?” Bret’s gaze flitted toward the fully aglow front of the house.

Perhaps, if it was winter, the white glow could almost be passed off as a really gaudy Christmas display. Now it just seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel.

“We pissed them off,” I answered. “And now they’re toying with us.”

Aiden came forward and nudged Abby aside as he grabbed the plywood. His gaze locked on our mother, tears shimmered in his eyes as his head tilted to the side. “Mom,” he murmured. The heartache in his voice was almost more than I could bear.

“Aiden please, we have to move. Abby by the door there are some bags of food, you have to grab them.” I didn’t think we would make it far, but we would need food if we did, and we had to do something other than stand here. I had to think about something other than our impending demise.

“Why are you covered in blood?” Aiden demanded.

I shook my head; I wasn’t ready to get into all of the gory details right now. There was no reason to. If Aiden hadn’t seen those awful sucking tentacles yet, I was pretty sure he was about to. “Go Abby, please,” I pleaded.

She nodded as she released the plywood to Aiden. His gaze was back on our mom, I’d seen kicked puppies that looked better than he did. Abby grabbed the bags by the door and turned expectantly back to us. Bret came to me, but thankfully I couldn’t release the plywood to hug him. I could barely stand the small kiss he dropped on my cheek. It just made me feel even more disloyal and hideous.

I had known for a few years how he felt about me, but up until this year I had warded off his advances. I loved him, deeply, but I’d never been sure if it was as anything more than a friend. Four months ago I finally relented to his pursuit. I’d reasoned that the only way I could ever know how I truly felt about him was to stop pushing him away, and treating him like a brother. Perhaps I could fall in love with him then.

Things were good between us, sweet and caring, and simple. We never fought, never even bickered. But our relationship didn’t possess any of the passion, or rightness, that I felt with Cade. It was rare when we kissed, and I still found it awkward and uncomfortable. Bret was patient with me, certain that I would eventually come to feel more for him, and it was impossible not to put faith in anything that Bret said. Where Cade was an enigma, always had been, and always would be, Bret was an open book of honesty, hope, and love.

Bret’s hand lingered on my cheek, brushing aside some of the drying blood that clung to me. “Are you ok?”

“No,” I answered honestly. “I am not ok. We have to get out of here, now.”

“Yes.” His hand brushed briefly against mine as he took the plywood from me. He was bigger than Cade, taller and broader through the shoulders. He was exceptionally handsome in a lively, unguarded way that was the exact opposite of Cade’s dark splendor. Bret had been the quarterback on the football team, the star athlete. He could have had a full ride to any college he chose but that hope had been squashed by the aliens. People didn’t travel anywhere anymore, never mind to college in order to better themselves. The aliens had claimed that under their society everyone would be equal, and that higher education wasn’t necessary. There would be no more starvation, no more illness and premature death, and far less crime. It had never surprised me that so many people had fallen for their lies; it was easy to believe in something if someone was desperate enough.

Bret had been mister popularity, the golden boy that the girls had chased around, and yet, for some reason he had chosen to pursue me. I should have been flattered by this; all of my friends had told me so. They’d been jealous when he’d started asking me out. They’d also been extremely incredulous, and angry, when I had continued to turn him down. They hadn’t been any happier when I finally relented and said yes to him. They simply hadn’t understood how I felt about Bret; they still didn’t, and in all honesty, neither did I.

“Bethy.” I turned my head toward him, trying to keep my face impassive as I met his gaze. “I’ll keep you safe.”

I winced involuntarily, mentally kicking myself even harder. If, by some miracle, we did survive this I was officially going to consider myself the worst human being ever.

“We have to be quick, move through the woods, down the trail. We can lose them once we get into the thick areas.” Aiden’s tone was hopeful, but we all knew that was highly unlikely. They were airborne after all. “Abby, get the door.”

Abby glanced nervously at all of us as her hands clenched on the bag she held. Taking a deep breath she managed a firm nod before pulling the door hastily open. My heart leapt in my chest, but Abby was already rushing outside. I almost screamed at her to wait, to come back, but we were no safer in here than we were out there.

“Stay close,” Bret ordered as we rushed out the door behind Abby.

I was tempted to argue with him and tell him that I could take care of myself, but what was the point? I couldn’t take care of myself in this situation. No one could.

The light was far more vivid outside; it blazed across the sky with the force of a million bulbs. It blared against my eyes, causing me to stumble and nearly fall as I bumbled blindly behind the plywood. A rumbling filled the air and shook the ground. I was dismayed to recognize it as the same awful sensation that had accompanied the arrival of that hideous thing earlier.

I didn’t look back to see what was coming at us, I knew what was back there, and I didn’t want to see it again. Bret’s breathing was heavy beside me, I strained to make out Abby, but I couldn’t see her through the glare pounding against my irises. I was going to be blind by the time this was over.

I felt, more than heard or saw the impending attack, simply because those two senses were almost completely useless right now. I knew that it was coming, that something was hunting us, and that it was close. I wasn’t ready, I was too young for this, and I certainly had never thought I’d go out this way.

An image of my father flashed before my eyes. I was grateful that he’d never had to know this, had never had to see his family hunted and slaughtered like rodents. I was glad that, as of right now, my mother seemed to have no idea that she was being pursued, and that her children were so close to death. Unfortunately she would wake up, just as that man had, but by then it would be too late, and death would follow shortly after. She would never have to know the loss of her children.