Soulbound Read Free Page A

Avery.
    A word flitted through my mind, and chasing after it was denial. I’d heard rumors, fairy tales that no one really believed, about monsters that lurked in the treetops up in the mountains where the villagers didn’t dare travel. And my parents had told me stories about the beasts—stories that insisted that these monsters were real. But I didn’t believe them. I thought my father was teasing me, or that maybe they were just trying to keep me from climbing the mountains unguarded. But standing directly in front of me, growling, a long strand of spittle hanging from the corner of its mouth, was a Graplar.
    One thing raced across my thoughts as I stood there staring at it, shaking with fear.
    Graplars eat people.
    In a moment of panic, certain that the beast was about to lurch forward and attack Avery, I waved my arms and shouted, hoping to distract it. Just as my shouts left my throat, I heard my father shout as well, only his was a word, and the word was
No
!
    The creature lunged at me, opening its mouth wide. As it snapped its jaw closed, I jumped back. Its teeth closed over the fabric of my shirt and I yanked away, scrambling backward, hoping that Avery had the good sense to run while the thing was distracted. As it threwits head forward again, gnashing its teeth at me, I stumbled, tripping over Micah’s corpse. Avery had wiggled herself free and stood. Our eyes met for a brief moment before she turned toward the woods and took off in a sprint. It was then that I heard my father calling out again, his voice full of warning. “Don’t run! Don’t move! It attracts them!”
    The beast leaped over me, charging after Avery, and seconds later, my father was jumping over me as well, chasing it down, katana in hand. I hurried to stand, and ignoring the blood and dirt that was sticking my clothes to my skin, I ran after him, after Avery, after the monster that had attacked our small town. In the distance, beyond the edge of the firelight, I heard rustling, then grunting, then a heavy, meaty thump. As I reached the edge of the light, I saw my father emerge from the darkness, the front of his shirt spattered with blood, dragging the Graplar’s head behind him. He dropped it to the ground, shaking his head, his brow troubled. As he returned his katana to the sheath on his back, I breathed a sigh of relief. My muscles relaxed. My father had saved us, all but the boy. We were so fortunate. I wondered how far Avery had gotten, or whether she was still running away from the beast. Hugging my father tightly, I said, “Thank you. Thank you for killing it. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I’d better go get Avery and tell her it’s dead.”
    As I stepped forward to move past him, my father put his hand out, gripping my shoulder. He looked down at the stains on his shirt before his dark, troubled eyes found mine. After a moment of confusion, my heart shattered into a million pieces. He didn’t have to say the words for me to understand what had happened. The monster had gotten to Avery before he could. It was Avery’s blood on his shirt—an image that would forever haunt me. My best friend was dead, and all because I hadn’t known how to stop the creature from attacking her.
    As tears welled in my eyes, my world swirled around me in the muted colors of night. Sounds blended until all I heard was silence. I was certain I was falling, but the last thing I remembered was my father’s arms lifting me from the ground and carrying me away from the monster that had killed my friend. Then everything went black.
    “Let her rest, Patrick. She’s been through a lot.” My parents’ voices drifted through the cabin in hushed tones—ones not quiet enough for me to fully ignore. I lay in bed, still stunned, still feeling numb. The moon was casting shadows of trees on my wall. I stared at the dancing branch shadows, not thinking anything, trying not to feel, most certainly not letting the image of Avery’s blood into my haunted