Chapter 84: Danger

HELENA. One moment I was questioning my reality, hoping that the sounds I heard were caused by the constant exposure to deoxygenated air. The next, Aaron was sent flying at a hundred miles per hour, crashing into basically all the bookshelves. I yelled in horror, clutching my flashlight. Whatever it was that threw him with such force was standing behind me. I could feel its hot breath. Gosh it stank. But I couldn't move. I couldn't turn around and pray that this was all a dream. I stood there, praying, watching, hoping. Something wet slithered down my neck. I flinched, stepping forward, and trying to turn around slowly. I was whimpering, sweating, my knees were buckling, and I was finding it hard to breathe. The creature was massive, at least 20 feet tall, staring down at me with hungry red eyes. It had scales all over its body, and looked a bit like Godzilla. Except its tongue was forked, and had thorns attached. Its mouth was dripping with saliva, and I assumed that was what dropped onto my back. 'Helena! Run!" I heard Luna's voice sound from the other end of the room. That was what my subconscious had been yelling at me to do for the last 30 seconds, but my muscles refused to respond. I didn't think. I didn't have time to think. My legs moved against my brain's will, and I ran. I ran as fast as I could, hiding behind a huge table at the far end of the aisle. Far away from the monster. Far away from the danger. I was breathing too hard, too fast. I opened my eyes, and turned back to see what was going on. Luna jumped into the creature, all knives, claws, and teeth. She tried biting into the creature's flesh, but the scales were too hard. She tried the knives, her claws, all three combined even. But the monster threw her off like she wasn't even trying. Now I was genuinely scared. What if she couldn't defeat it? Somewhere between the rubble, I saw a movement. I readied my small gun, aiming shakily. Aaron roared, pushing aside the piles of wood that were crashed on top of him. He glanced at me, eyes glowing a fiery red, and his expression softened a bit. 'Are you okay?" He yelled. 'I'm fine!" I nodded at him, turning back to the fight -more like the futile attacks- going on between Luna and the creature. With the amount of times that thing threw Luna, I was scared she'd have broken most of her bones. I was even wondering how the building hadn't buckled yet. Something on Luna's thigh caught my eyes. A piece of paper, folded into…a scroll. She found it. And this thing was stopping her from leaving with it. Aaron leapt up from the rubble, landing in front of the monster. He looked bigger than usual, and roared loudly at the red eyed monster. It paused, from where it was mercilessly trying to crush Luna, and turned towards Aaron. Luna looked at him, twisting her face in confusion. The look vanished a second later, as the monster tried grabbing Aaron. He moved swiftly, jumping on its back and pulling out a knife. 'Luna! Toss me yours!" He yelled midair. Luna nodded, throwing both of her knives into the air. They glowed in the dark, and I realized they weren't just ordinary knives. Aaron caught both of them effortlessly, and sunk all three knives into the spot behind the monster's neck. It was then I realized that there were no scales covering that part. The creature shrieked and thrashed, sending Aaron flying off of it and landing on a table. He got up immediately, and leapt back towards the monster. Luna tossed him some more knives, and bottle of potion. 'Target the wound!" She yelled. I sat in awe as Aaron moved so fast I couldn't catch some of his movements. The monster had a lot of wounds on the neck region by now, and it was pretty disoriented. Aaron jumped into the air to deliver the final blow, smashing the bottle directly on its open flesh. He leapt back down, watching as the monster groaned in pain. The place where its skin came in contact with the bottle sizzled, and began…dissolving. Right before our eyes, the monster disintegrated, leaving just a puddle of fluid at the center of the room. 'That was some monster." Luna said, laughing. Yes, yes it was. 'Why didn't you call for help earlier?" Aaron asked, still in his wolf form. His eyes were still glowing bright red, and there was still something unsettling about it. Like it was a transformation into another level of power. 'I thought I could handle it on my own. I didn't even realize it had a weak spot. Been fighting that thing for thirty minutes now." Luna said breathlessly. 'That was dangerous Luna. What if I didn't hear it?" Aaron looked really angry. 'I don't get why you're making it such a big deal." 'You always refuse help. When are you gonna learn that you can't do it on your own?!" 'Guys!" I rushed in between them. 'Tempers are flaring now, and we don't want that do we? Luna found the scroll. Let's just get out of here and pretend this never happened?" I said, clutching my chest. It felt like I was having an asthma attack. I wasn't ready to witness another blood bath. Luna was injured pretty badly on her arms, torso and part of her face, and most of her clothes were torn off. She looked like she needed a time out. Aaron exhaled, shutting his eyes and walking out of the room. I sat on the floor, trying to catch my breath. 'I'm sorry." Luna muttered. 'I was caught up in the situation." 'You should apologize to him. Not me." I muttered in response, laying on the dusty ground. 'Yeah but he's right. I also put you in danger. All this will soon be over. I'm sorry." She crouched on the ground, touching one of the openings on her arm. I suddenly felt sorry for her. She was…well, all alone.