Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 32988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
It would be my turn soon, wouldn't it?
I should stop fighting the inevitable, shouldn't I?
There was no way out, no way to survive—-
BANG!
The doors of the basement flew open, and screeches of outrage ripped through the air as artificial light shot through the room...and the few of us who were still alive were forced to witness the sickening amount of carnage that a horde of blood-drinking creatures had been able to wreak in a mere matter of minutes.
Evil was real, and this was what it looked like. This was what it smelled like. And as bile rose to my throat, that was when I heard what evil sounded like.
Pssst.
My gaze collided once again with the same pair of red-rimmed eyes that had me within its crosshairs from the very start.
No, oh God, no.
The creature still had its fangs buried under someone's throat, and of course I knew.
God, oh God.
Of course I knew it was her.
The lady who prayed with her mouth instead of her heart.
And just like I was afraid of, the woman was old.
A tiny, fragile, white-haired lady, her eyes now lifeless, and her body eerily pale. The creature held her up by the back of her dress, her feet dangling a few inches off the ground as it bled her dry.
I could hear a fight - a battle even - breaking out around us, but I couldn't seem to make myself care. I knew we were being rescued, but I couldn't seem to make myself move because—-
I should've been next.
Even without the creature saying a word, I knew—-
I should've been her.
Because it had been hunting for me in the dark, and I should've been the one who was dead if the old woman hadn't distracted it.
I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!
Regret tore my heart asunder, and agonizing guilt stole my ability to move as I watched the creature carelessly fling her body away as it wiped the blood off its mouth. Its red-rimmed eyes locked with mine, but I was still frozen in my place—-
I'm sorry, oh God, I'm so, so sorry!
It leapt into the air and came for me with bared fangs, but just as I closed my eyes and waited for the demise that I deserved—-
Nothing happened.
Just...nothing.
I waited for God to punish me, but I remained on my feet, untouched.
Am I already dead?
I almost started thinking that the world had suddenly stopped turning, but then something penetrated my grief-stricken thoughts—-
If time had indeed stood still, then why was the sound of breaking bones and furious cries still scorching my ears?
Something else must've happened, and that something else was why I was alive...wasn't it?
"Are you alright?"
The voice was deep and strong.
Tough and harsh.
But somehow, it was also the warmest sound I heard in my entire life, and I knew at that moment that I would never ever forget this voice.
"You can open your eyes..."
My shoulders started to shake, and tears trekked down my cheeks even with my eyes still squeezed shut.
"You're safe now."
Sobs rocked my body as I finally found the courage to open my eyes, and oh God, oh God, oh God—-I couldn't even count the number of dead bodies scattered all over the floor, with its once-beige tiles turned hideously dark by blood.
I started to sway as a spell of dizziness turned my vision blurry. Why, oh God? Why was I still alive when so many of them were dead? I should've been—-I should've been, oh God, I should've died instead of that poor, old woman—-
I'm so sorry, I'm so, so, sorry!
My knees gave out without warning, but a pair of strong arms caught me before I could fall, and I finally remembered to lift my gaze.
"It's alright..."
I stared up at him like an idiot and dazedly wondered if I had indeed died. How else could I explain being in the arms of a man so beautiful he appeared almost otherworldly?
His silvery blond hair was longish on the top, but cut mercilessly short on the sides. It made him seem dangerous and enticing, and the cold shade of his blue eyes only added to his lethal appeal.
A part of me wondered where all of these flowery descriptions were coming from, and if perhaps this was my brain's way of coping with what was happening. It was far, far easier to describe how the sheer gorgeousness of him made my heart ache...rather than come up with words to illustrate how heinously gory my world had become.
"You have nothing to fear. It's over."
I wanted to believe him, but with everything that happened still tortuously embedded in my mind, I was just so desperately afraid to let myself hope and believe that his words were true.
"You're safe now," the man said again, and though I did hear the words, it was just so, so hard to trust him.
I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry.