Rapture Read Free

skewered itself on the spikes, but the other – impossibly – must have seen them at the last moment and somehow managed to flip itself over and avoid them.
    Sam focused his attention back on the one in front of him. Just in time he brought the wakizashi around to block a talon swipe that would have torn his face off. He thrust with the katana, taking the Lemure through the middle but not before he felt a terrible pain in his side. The Lemure vanished, but his momentary lapse of concentration had cost him. He looked down. There was a line of bloody claw marks on his side. He shrugged - it might slow him down but he certainly wasn’t out of the fight yet.
    As the wailing horde of demons surged through the doors and windows, Sam retreated through the lounge. He was reasonably confident the rear porch would be clear. He had set numerous iron traps and spikes and in any case, the stupidity of the demons meant they didn’t think tactically. Forward assault was the only method they seemed to possess.
    The demons continued to force him back. His swords became a blur of motion as he cut and thrust faster than the eye could follow, a whirlwind attack. The demons went down in great numbers but for every one he cut down, two more replaced it. Talons left bloody tracks on his face and his legs, and the wound in his side oozed blood, but still he fought. He had never known them to arrive in such force before. Perhaps, somehow, they knew he was leaving and were doing their utmost to prevent it.
    Eventually he reached the relative safety of the back door and ran through, slamming it shut behind him. A pair of demon hands darted through at the last moment and wedged themselves into the gap. Sam forced it closed with all his strength, severing the taloned hands in the process, then placed the locking board against it.
    Outside, he took a moment to get his breath, ignoring the pounding and screams from inside. He had boarded up the windows on this side of the house for this exact reason – to contain and trap the hunting demons. Even as he recalled this, the frames began shaking and quivering with blows from taloned hands. The demons would throw themselves at the door and the windows for some time before breaking through. They were too idiotic to just go around the back. Hopefully, that would give him enough time to get away.
    Hopefully.
    Not for the first time, he doubted his tactics. At least travelling in the daylight would have been demon-free. But like the demons, he felt more comfortable at night. He would be able to move faster. In any case, even if he had left during the day, as soon as night fell he would have been caught in the open with no where to run. At least this way, he had a head start. That was the plan.
    He sensed something then. He wondered if it was his very essence that enabled him to sense these creatures before he saw them, or whether it was something he had learnt through his training. Regardless of the reason, he’d stopped doubting this ability days ago. He knew something was coming, something that took his breath away with fear. It was close, and it wasn’t a Lemure, but something much, much worse. Even the near presence of it was enough for him to almost gag in terror. He had a sudden urge to get away, to run, to hide. Using his training, he fought against his fear and managed to control both it and the adrenaline surging through him. His mind cleared.
    Then the house shook from a massive impact. He heard it too – a great tearing noise and glass and timber shattering. Whatever it was, it was coming through the house. And it was in a hurry.
    Sheathing both swords, Sam turned and fled, battling his way through dead and dying vegetation, ignoring the clouds of ash disturbed by his flailing arms. He reached the fence marking the end of their property and leapt over it just as his house exploded.
    There was a blaze of light, a reverberating blast. Shards of timber from his house whistled past his ear. Every