Page 27 (1/2)

30

12:00 AM-

Long Midnight

BONFIRE

"Coloved hand clenched around a tree branch, pulling hiht on his injured foot Even so, a strangled cry escaped through his teeth - this was ht here Without Jonathan&039;s h hi flare in his free hand brushed against a wet branch, scattering blinding white sparks across his vision

"You&039;re Rex, right?" Cassie said from behind hi to remember now"

"He looks just like you drew hiht?" Cassie asked "A feeeks ago?"

"I&039; you now! Can we focus on that?" The darkling hiss in his voice silenced her and brought a fresh burst of fear fro, not the defenseless scent of the two girls behind hiain there was no response Rex forced despair fro to answer The last e he&039;d received frouished, and the acid taste of darklings on their way

Hethe pain The narrow trail before thenized a loisted mesquite tree Another hundred yards and they would reach the railroad tracks, only a few minutes away fro cry cut through the trees, and the flutter of leathery wings ca the flare and shielding his eyes frolare Slithers darted in the corners of his vision, and larger shapes shifted aht sputtering in his hand

Rex could ser, finally unleashed after ht there would be no respect aht at last - Samhain

"What was that?" Cassie said

"Monsters" Rex pulled Ani its hilt into her hand Of all the metal Dess had carefully prepared, it was the only weapon he&039;d brought on the frantic flight with Jonathan Of course, there were plenty of weapons at the railroad tracks, if they could only get there

"You remember this?"

She stared down at the knife, eyes wide, head nodding slowly

"It&039;s called Animalization" He winced as the tridec left his lips "Say it"

As Cassie carefully sounded out the syllables, Rex heard soer than a slither

"Duck!" he cried, raising the flare as he crouched

A roar ca the overwheled creature burst into view, tearing at the treetops with four outstretched arht of the flare, then passed overhead, trailing the sound of breaking branches like snapping bones

A sudden downpour descended in its wake, sheets of water dislodged from the rain-soaked trees by the creature A vortex of wet leaves and branches swirled around the three of theloved hand, its flae Just in ti weapon under hiht

At thatpast, their tie of the flare&039;s conceal a bolt of ice down his spine A burst of blue sparks shot into the night from Animalization in Cassie&039;s upraised hands, and he heard Beth cry out

Rex lifted the flare again, exposing it to the dwindling te its white sparks and burst into fla through the trees The others split into a panickeda chorus of screaed water subsided, the flare sputtered weakly, barely staying lit It burned unevenly now, half extinguished by the remains of wet leaves wrapped around it

Rex heard the ain He saw Beth staring dumbfounded at a purple welt on her hand "You two okay?"

"It bit rily

"They&039;re afraid of fire?" Cassie asked

He nodded, gesturing with the flare "They&039;re trying to put this out"

"Why didn&039;t you say so?" She started scrabbling a the leaves "We can start a fire"

"It&039;s too wet!"

"Not under here" She pushed aside handfuls of glistening darandma says you can always find dry leaves at the botto &039;cause they&039;re rotten"

Rex raised his eyebrows In the jittering white light the exposed patch of leaves did look dry The flare still sizzled wetly in his hand, as if it ht not withstand another pass by the creature He reached down to thrust its blinding tongue into the pile Flaes, and a rich smell like an autumn burn-off struck his nose

"Bonfires," he said, rees of ancient Samhains

"Not exactly a bonfire yet" Cassie clearedback!" Beth said The darkling was closing in again, the sound of snapping branches building as it neared them

This time, Rex realized, its attack would be less effective The beast had already shaken most of the water from the rain-soaked leaves They could hold out here indefinitely, or as long as they could feed their little bonfire If they h, the creature could douse them with fresh tree-loads of water

But they had to reach Melissa and the fireworks, not sit here huddled around a shred of safety

Rex felt his teeth bare, s It thought he could be frightened into i

"Take this!" he cried, handing the flare to Beth "Keep it covered!"

He snatched the knife back fro frenzy rising up in hi and shaking free more water, and Rex leapt into the air toward its black silhouette with a screa his injured ankle He thrust the knife out before hi the steel blade into the creature&039;s flesh

Blue sparks spat from the wound back into his face, and the creature&039;s ars Rex felt his - away fro the knife as hard as he could The beast let out a cry, its grasp loosening Rex kicked at it with his good foot

And then he was turowth, slashing blindly at the slithers shooting past He landed heavily on a bare patch of ground, his breath knocked out of hie fist He lay there for a h the knife Somehow he&039;d held on to it

But the forest was alive with sounds: big things pushing through the branches, slithers on the wing Co, the slither bite shooting pain down his spine A shape shot toward hiht the knife up to slice into a wing The slither kept flapping, jerking away like a broken kite into the trees

In the distance he saw a flicker of red Cassie was getting her bonfire going But it seemed incredibly far away

Rex?

"Melissa!" he cried aloud, sensing that she was nearby Whirling around to look for her, he realized that his brief flight with the beast had taken him closer to the railroad tracks

"Rex!" a cry answered

Following the sound, he saw a sheet of blue sparks through the branches and charged toward it He was unprotected by the flare now, and the loo toward him His ankle throbbed with every step, and theslithers struck at his legs But Melissa was so close

The blue sparks glowed through the trees again, revealing the silhouette of a great cat raised up on his haunches The creature was young and eager for a kill, full of the fervor of Sa: Melissa tossing up handfuls ofthe bolts and screws that Dess had created into the cat&039;s face, driving it ith fury It let out a cry, swiping a claw at the tiny missiles

Then it dropped into a crouch, ready to launch itself at her

Rex felt his body changing, transfor more than it ever had before, the full fury of the beast inside him unleashed at last Suddenly his injured foot seethMelissa

He found hi a wild leap onto the back of the darkling He plunged Animalization into its shoulder, and the creature let out a howl Its coiled muscles exploded under Rex, a juht up into the air

It twisted beneath hi on with a wild, inhuainst its flanks He and the darkling spun around each other in midair like some bizarre rodeo ride

The taste of Melissa entered histhe beast free to shred him, but this was Melissa, and his hu He pushed aith all his strength, leaving the knife e to shield his face froround, battered ribs letting out a crack, his ankle screanored The beast inside hiht to the death, but he&039;d listened to Melissa instead

He struggled to his feet with e lay a few yards away, its paitching like a drea scream For a moment Rex didn&039;t understand, until he saw thefro with blue fire The creature twitched once ed fro stunned, her hands black with the creature&039;s blood