Ravenous (The Ravening #1)(51)
Author: Erica Stevens

She rested her hand on my arm. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I don’t,” I admitted.

She squeezed my arm before hooking her arm through mine and leaning against my side. “He is gorgeous,” she muttered.

I chuckled as I hugged her to me, taking solace in her warmth. “It’s time to head back.” Cade didn’t acknowledge the midnight hair falling into one of his eyes as he stepped beside us and focused on me. “Your brother is determined to read that thing cover to cover.”

“Of course he is.” Abby rolled her eyes as she pulled away from me.

She only made it one step before an echoing, crashing screech froze her in place. The sound rumbled throughout the night, and shook the building, as its crescendo rose to higher levels. Abby threw her hands over her ears. She took a step back as it grew steadily louder, and more ear piercing with every second. I didn’t even realize that Jenna was screaming until Molly slammed her hand over Jenna’s mouth to stifle her. It made little difference though; I never heard Jenna’s screams above the rising shriek pulsating through the air.

Abby was nearly on top of me as she fell back. Cade seized hold of my arms as a series of rambling crashes, and the brutal squeal of twisted metal resonated through the air. It seemed to go on forever, rising and falling in streams of sound that shook the windows and caused the floor to shake. I didn’t know what the was causing the noise but I was beginning to fear that it was never going to stop, that it was just going to continue endlessly on until it deafened us, or drove us all mad.

It stopped as suddenly as it started. The ensuing quiet was more unnerving than the awful sound had been. We all held our breaths as we strained to hear or see anything. My ears were ringing; I was shaking within Cade’s grip. I kept waiting for the noise to start again, kept waiting for something to happen, but the world remained still.

“What… what was that?” Molly breathed.

Aiden took a step from behind the counter; his face was far paler than normal. “I think it was the bridge.”

“What!?” Jena demanded.

“The bridge, I think the bridge just collapsed, or was blown up, or whatever. But I’m pretty sure that was the Bourne bridge,” Aiden answered.

Though I couldn’t see it from here, I knew that he was right. The bridge that had been a constant staple in my life was gone. As a young child I’d despised driving over it, certain that it would collapse beneath us. After my father’s death I hadn’t stayed in a car long enough to make the trip over the bridge until a couple of years ago. Both bridges had been a major topic of conversation for the locals, when the tourists flooded in and created massive congestion during the summer. The bridges had been sweeping testimonials to the architecture and technology of the thirties, and now at least one of them was a pile of rubble within the canal it had once gracefully spanned.

“Why would they destroy the bridge?” Jenna whispered.

“Someone must have tried to get across again,” Abby replied.

“No,” Aiden’s forehead furrowed as he puzzled it out. “Someone made it across.”

A jolt of astonishment rocked me. “What?” I inquired.

Excitement filled Aiden’s eyes as he began to talk faster. “Think about it, those things were waiting for us to try and cross that bridge, waiting for us so they could spring their trap. For them, those bridges were like picking off ants at a picnic, easy, simple, and they had the right bait. They wouldn’t destroy that opportunity unless something had gone wrong, unless someone had made it across. Unless someone survived.”

Hope swelled up my throat. “You really think so?”

“I do.”

I glanced eagerly at Cade, but his eyes were distant and turbulent as he focused on the far wall. “Or we did it,” Cade said.

“Huh?” Abby asked.

“There has to be some military still around, there are most definitely other survivors out there. It could have been either group that destroyed the bridge.”

“But why?” Molly demanded.

“To deter others from attempting to cross it and to keep more people from getting killed.”

There was an extended silence before Bret finally spoke. “No matter what it’s a good thing that the bridge is gone. Either someone made it safely to the other side and is seeking help, or there are others on the other side looking to damage the aliens, and they could help us. At least no one else will be hurt again.”

“We should get out of here. No matter which side did it, it’s going to attract a lot of attention and we aren’t that far from it.” Molly bit on her bottom lip as she stared at the window.

She was right, of course, but the last thing I felt like doing was going back outside. Everyone seemed to feel the same way, as no one moved. I finally broke out of the paralysis clinging to me as I pulled reluctantly away from Cade and made my way to the front door. Pulling the blinds apart I peered out at the night. I could see nothing, but I had the unsettling feeling that there was a menacing presence just waiting for us out there.

I backed away from the door. Goose pimples broke out on my skin as a cold chill swept down my spine. “How long will it take you to read that thing?” I managed to croak out.

“I don’t know, an hour, maybe two," Aiden answered.

“I don’t think we have that long.”

“Betha…”

Aiden’s words were cut off as another rattling explosion rent the air. I jumped back, nearly falling over my own feet as I staggered away from the door. I threw my arms up as the glass window exploded inward and littered the store with shards of glass. Cade lurched forward, grabbing hold of my arms he pulled me down and covered me with his body as another loud bang rent the air. I curled into a ball beneath him and covered my ears as I tried to protect them from the noise.

Cade scrambled over me for something I couldn’t see. He returned, pulling my hand away he pressed his mouth to my ear. “We have to go Bethany.”

“Where!?” I cried over the resounding explosions.

Cade didn’t answer as he seized hold of my hand and pulled me to my feet. Another loud bang shattered one of the windows at the far end of the store as the explosions seemed to get steadily closer. I’d had nightmares like this, being frozen in place as imminent death rushed toward me. Then I’d been able to wake up, now I was trapped, stuck like a fly in a spider’s web.

Cade released me and stumbled forward as he staggered toward the wall containing the scuba gear. “Give me a hand!” he yelled at Bret.