Sapphire Read Free Page B

she quickly resumed trying to lift the piece of floorboard.
A splinter stuck under her nail. She stifled a painful cry and
finally pulled the key from its hiding spot. She heard snuffling
noises like it was smelling for her. With a trembling hand she
tried to quietly open her door. The key almost slipped from her
fingers, and she bit her lip to keep from cursing out loud. Barely
breathing, she turned the key in the lock. It clicked like a
gunshot.
    The animal downstairs went silent, then another
menacing growl crawled through the dark. The sound iced through her
bones. Huge paws slowly thumped closer to the bottom of the stairs.
She couldn’t move. There was a moment of complete stillness, then
it leapt onto the stairs and pounded up them. Adrenaline shot
through her veins, shocking her into action as she flung open her
door and slammed it behind her. She was choking back tears, trying
to lock it again. When the creature crashed into the door, she
screamed and fell backwards as the hinges popped and splintered.
There were scrabbling claws and snarling from the other side as the
whole door rattled and shook. Her legs felt like lead.
    Move. She demanded of them. Move. Move.
Move!
    With every ounce of willpower, she half dragged
herself to the open window. The door was beginning to break as the
beast raged from the other side. A warm breeze cooled the tears
from her cheeks when she threw herself into the night. Blindly she
cast her arms wide, hoping to catch the tree, but instead crashed
into its trunk from her exaggerated leap. The backpack became
caught in the branches and yanked her arms back as she fell head
over heels. The air was knocked from her lungs. She gasped,
coughed, and looked up. The pack swung back and forth in the tree.
Her eyes traveled past its pendular motion to a dark mass crawling
out the window.
    Placing giant paws on the windowsill, it gazed down
at her with red burning eyes. Her mind went blank from the surreal
horror of it all. It raised a massive bear-like head, tusks
protruding from its jowls, and a deep screeching roar, like grating
metal, erupted from its throat. Shawna’s entire body shook
uncontrollably. The monster turned its glowing eyes back to hers.
She was gasping and starting to sob. Why were her arms and legs so heavy? All she could manage was to crawl backward, like a
scuttling crab, though her mind screamed, run!
    Wood and glass splintered and shattered to the
ground. The monster landed with a heavy shuddering crunch. She
realized she had been holding the statue the entire time. In
desperate instinct, she launched the iron unicorn, her last
defense. There was a sickening crack as it collided with the
monster’s head, making it halt in surprise. It slowly lowered red
eyes towards her and snarled. Her heart sank to the stones beneath
her.
    Her eyes stared into the monsters as it stalked her.
The longer she stared at them, the more she felt herself falling
into them. They weren’t just red, they were layers upon layers of
molten fire. This nightmare come to life was only a few yards away.
Its curved tusks, like tusks of some demonic boar, dripped with
saliva in the moonlight.
    The moonlight, it glowed upon the little statue
lying in the dead grass. Shawna did not see the glow become
brighter, nor did the giant bear creature. The monster was now only
feet away. Flesh was missing along its face and body, exposing
muscle and bone, but all she could see were the twin fissures of
fire in its partially decayed skull.
    There was a flash of light, the ground quaked, and
suddenly a large silhouetted shape lifted itself from swirling
white flames. The monster howled and leapt away as this dark
apparition dropped its horned head and thundered towards it. The
beast turned to defend itself, revealing rows of sharp fangs
shining like blades, but its attacker was too powerful. Before it
could clamp its jaws shut, a silver horn tore into it. Orange
cracks fractured along the monster’s body, then it