Saving the Hero
Gavin could hear the panicked banter from the people inside the house behind him. They were frightened and confused. He could relate to both of those emotions at the moment. What was strange was that he could feel their emotions. Not clearly, but enough to know where they were and who was feeling what.
He shook his head to rid himself of the strange senses he seemed to possess now that he was in his new monstrous form. The other monsters closed in. They slowly circled around to surround him. The battle was inevitable. He could feel a new strength wash through his entire being. He knew that he could take them, but he didn't know how.
One of the beasts to his side lunged at him with lightning speed, but it wasn't fast enough. Gavin spun his body just in time to allow the creature to fly right past him. Before it dashed from his reach he grabbed it and used its momentum to smash its head into the side of the house, smashing a hole into the siding.
He turned from it just in time to see the blur of another one sprinting toward him with its claws extended in hopes of getting a free grab, but Gavin was quicker.
As the creature closed the gap, Gavin ducked down and shoved his own claws up into its stomach, lifting it into the air before sliding its flailing body toward another one that was making a run for him. The creatures slammed into each other and they both fell to the ground with a loud angry scream.
One was left standing. It held a facial expression of pure hatred. It tensed its body as it readied for an attack.
Gavin stood at the ready.
As the creature jumped in his direction, he braced himself for another counterattack, but suddenly had his breath knocked from him as the creature he had smashed into the wall tackled into him. He held his ground, but barely and the other two creatures were up and dashing toward him as well.
Before he knew what had happened, Gavin found himself on the ground with the four monsters kicking, biting and scratching at him. All he could do for a moment was roll up into a ball to try and protect himself from the onslaught of attacks.
He tightened his leg muscles as much as he could and lept into the air, high above his attackers before plunging down from the air onto one so hard that it fell instantly to the ground and stopped moving. He jumped back out of reach from the others that had already started pursuing him once more.
One lowered itself to all fours and jumped low toward him. He stepped to the side and grabbed the back of its head before shoving down until the thing left a small trench as it dragged its face through the dirt.
Gavin looked up as the last two were dashing toward him at the same time. He lowered his stance and braced for the impact. Just as the two were upon him, he grabbed the creature on the ground and slung it up, causing both attackers to hold their hands out to stop it.
He used their moment of distraction to get behind one. It screamed in shock and anger as he dug his nails into the back of its neck and held it above his head before falling back, driving it head first into the ground.
He felt claws digging into his stomach as the last standing attacker attempted to end him before he could get back up.
And it came close to succeeding.
He could feel his strength leaving his body as screams caught the creature's attention. Gavin looked over to see Eliza and Joe standing outside the house as they waved their arms about, distracting his would-be murderer.
Taking advantage of the temporary moment, Gavin grabbed the monster by the back of its head and pulled down with everything that he had in him. If this didn't work then he wasn't sure if he'd be able to stand up to fight anymore. The creature fell onto its back as Gavin fell to his, both lay still for a moment due to complete exhaustion.
"Is it dead?" He heard Eliza question with what seemed to be a real concern in her voice. "We have to help it."
He could see the other creature slowly get up on its hands and knees to stare at him. It's stretched out toothy grin shining in the moonlight. Its facial expression didn't' last for long for it felt the strange tingling sensation of the sun soon to be up. He didn't understand exactly why, but the upcoming dawn frightened him just the same. He felt the urge to flee back into the woods. He felt the need for the sanctuary of the trees, but it didn't matter what urges he felt. He hadn't the strength to do anything about it.
With a low bend, the creature that had been trying to end his life sprang a good twenty feet away from him and disappeared into the treeline faster than it had approached.
Gavin lied his head back down in acceptance for what was about to happen to him. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but every part of his being knew that it was not something to be taken lightly. He thought he had known dread before that moment. He thought he knew what true despair was.
He thought back and remembered his first flight as the captain. The knotting in his guts as he thought about how many passengers relied on his ability to keep them safely in the air. He remembered the first time that he had a mechanical malfunction in the plane and was forced to make an emergency landing. Those were times of fear, but that fear was only a drop in the ocean compared to the anguish that he felt at that moment.
The pain in his side grew sharper as he felt his eyes growing darker. The last thing he could see was the group of survivors running from the house toward him.
************************************************
Eliza was the first to make it to their strange savior. She eyed it up and down. It was tall and thin with milky white flesh. Its eyes were closed and it held it's head turned, allowing her to take a good look at its long elf-like ears. Its features were pointy and angular. She studied down its body and stopped when she realized something peculiar.
"It doesn't have a penis," she exclaimed.
"What does it matter if it has a dick or not?" Joe asked gruffly.
"How do these things reproduce?" Eliza asked, giving him a sharp look. Probably sharper than she intended, considering how taken aback he looked. "We have to know more about these things yes?"
"I guess so," he admitted begrudgingly.
"We need to get it inside," The tall woman with glasses claimed from behind them.
"Are you nuts?" Holly shouted in what sounded like a mixture of shock and anger. "These things are trying to kill us and you're wanting to bring it inside?!"
"We need to study as much about the creatures as we can," she returned showing no signs of emotion in her tone.
Eliza hadn't really noticed the woman before now. She was tall and thin with long dark blond hair that she constantly kept in a ponytail to keep it out of her eyes. She wore dark-rimmed glasses that made her look more dignified than awkward.
"It did save our lives," Eliza stated, deciding to take the tall woman's side over the over-emotional Holly. "Most of all it saved your life, Holly."
Holly sniffed in anger before stomping off to somewhere else. Probably didn't matter at that moment. Anywhere else would have suited her just fine. Eliza could second that.
The remaining survivors worked a plan together to get the creature into the house before the sun was able to rise above the treetops. They didn't know what the sun would do to the creatures in direct exposure, but considering they fled to the safety of shelter every night before dawn, it couldn't be good.
The remaining survivors were the tall blond, who Eliza learned that her name was Coralyn, Krystal, the darkly skinned athlete who had been rooming with Kyle, Katey, the curvy blond who seemed to be constantly lost, Joe, who had been making an effort to take over the roles of both Kyle and Gavin, but not enjoying his time doing so, and of course Eliza herself, who had to play the voice of reason more than she was comfortable with.
Eliza had spent her entire adult life up until now barely scraping by. She never planned or worried about the future at all. There was always something around the corner just waiting to take her on another ride. That's why she had chosen her current profession. To be able to fly to a different place almost every night was like a dream come true for her. She could have one night stands with no concerns of commitment. She could talk any man into buying her way through just about anything in life. Which left her where she was. Pushing close to thirty years old and surrounded by monsters of the night. It didn't matter now. It didn't make a difference if she had worked hard to be a leader of a community or a lawyer, which was what she had originally intended to do. She even learned that Coralyn was a doctor. What good that did her! She ended up in the exact same place as Eliza.
"I'm going to tend to his wounds," Coralyn stated dryly, snapping Eliza from her thoughts.
"Do you need anything?" She asked the doctor who seemed to be barely paying attention to her while she stared behind her into the room where the creature was lying strapped to a bed.
"No," she finally answered as she looked back to Eliza. "I think I have everything I need. I'm not even sure if this thing's anatomy works similar enough to humans for my treatment to even mean anything."
"I'm not sleeping in this house tonight," Holly snorted in anger as she placed her fists on her hips in defiance. "It's not happening."
"Are you sure you're going to be alright in there with it?" Joe asked as he stepped back into the house. "With the windows boarded up, there's no way of us seeing if you're in trouble."
"I'll be fine," Coralyn stated with a tone that left no room for argument. "Just do what you think you need to in order to keep us safe tonight."
Joe nodded his head as Coralyn stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She was a very strange woman indeed.
"I'm going back out into the woods," Eliza said after a few moments passed.
Joe spun his head around and his eyes were so wide that Eliza looked behind her to see if one of the monsters had jumped through the window.
"You can't," he almost ordered. After realizing his own tone, Joe cleared his throat and tried again. "I need you here. I can't do this alone." That last part was a low whisper.
"You'll be fine," she assured him with a kind smile. "Just get started boarding up a couple of houses for tonight. I'll be back way before dusk."
