Staci had been silent since they made it out of the lake, her eyes were glazed over as she stared out over the water.
"Staci?" Wesley spoke gently.
Staci responded by gripping the blanket around her and pulling it closer to her body. A single tear fell down her cheek.
"It's not your fault," Wesley said for the hundredth time.
"She wanted to leave. I didn't. I forced her to hold off so I could have my walk around the lake. She died because of me."
"We don't know she's dead."
"What else is possibly going to happen?" Staci demanded.
"She might have been able to get away," Danny suggested.
Staci shook her head. "You saw the way that whole family was massacred, if they couldn't get away, at least while the Creepalien was distracted by another, than Carla won't be able to when all its attention is focused on her."
"Come on, let's go back inside. We'll probably be a little safer in the house instead of out in the open."
Staci didn't move. Wesley looked to Danny for help. Danny sighed and came over, lifting Staci to her feet and walking her into the house. Wesley, with new bandages, was able to limp after them. Right as he reached the threshold, his arms exploded with goosebumps, getting the sudden feeling that someone was watching them. He spun around, but it was too dark to see. He quickly shut the glass door, locking it, and pulled the blinds closed, blocking out the outside.
"I found the blankets," Danny exclaimed.
He had set Staci down on the coach in the living room while he ran to the linen closet to grab a handful of blankets and three pillows.
"Good," Wesley said nodding.
None of them had wanted to sleep—if they could even fall asleep—alone so they had made the decision to spend the night in the living room, with all the lights on.
"We really do need to sleep," Wesley said.
"Yeah, I know, but how? What if they come and kill us in our sleep?" Danny asked.
"We'll sleep in shifts, someone always awake to keep watch."
Danny nodded. "Alright, I'll take first watch."
Wesley turned, expecting to have to force his sister to lie down and sleep, but she had already curled up into a small ball underneath her blanket and fallen asleep. He smiled, glad that she was able to fall asleep, and grabbed a blanket of his own, moving off to a spot away from the glass door.
"You sure you're okay with the first watch?" he asked Danny, who as sitting in one of the chairs, his eyes on the glass door.
"Yeah," Danny answered, "Don't worry, get some sleep."
Wesley gave a nod and pulled the blanket up close to his chin. He stared at his sister, sleeping soundly, and prayed that they'd live to see another day.
Wesley yawned. He rose smoothly from the chair and paced back and forth, trying to keep awake. Danny had woken him twenty minutes ago to start his watch, but it felt like hours. Nothing had come during Danny's watch and nothing was happening now during his. He sat back down in the chair. No matter how many laps he'd take, he still felt exhausted. He sighed and leaned back further into the chair, wondering if he could get away with taking a quick nap.
He jerked upright a second later. He had heard something; something coming from outside. It had sounded like something being dropped into the lake. He glanced behind him to where Danny and Staci slept. He decided he didn't need to wake them, it was probably nothing anyway, and so he rose to his feet, unlocked the porch door, and slipped out on his own. The air was chilly and he only had a thin t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The lights came on with the flip of a switch and he walked to the edge of the porch, casting his gaze over the lake. The water was rippling out from a point near the shore, close to the house, but it was hard to see what was causing the ripples. Deciding it was nothing he turned to head back inside, and came face to face with the Creepalien.
He was frozen in terror, shiny teeth inches from his face, but the Creepalien didn't attack. It was like having a staring contest with Death, except he couldn't see Death's eyes. He was unable to know what it was thinking and that was what scared him. He felt himself trying to scoot sideways, away from those horrible teeth, but that only angered the Creepalien. It screeched and its tail was suddenly lashing out, striking Wesley in the stomach. He coughed and doubled over, clutching his stomach.
"Oh shit," Wesley mumbled.
He was still doubled over and from this point of view his gaze was in line with the Creepalien's hands; they were both there. He knew what that meant, but he found himself unwilling to admit it. The next thing he knew, something was pulling his feet out from under him and he dropped down hard on his bottom, his legs straight out in front of him. The Creepalien lowered its head, studying his bandaged leg. It growled, displeased that the white gauze was covering its handy work, and in one swift move ripped the bandages free. Wesley flinched as his leg began to sting in the cold air. The Creepalien hissed as it admired the wound, obviously pleased.
While the Creepalien was distracted, Wesley looked over at the door. He couldn't see Danny or Staci, but he hoped that they would hear him. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, but held off screaming as a sharp, but small pain flared up on his leg. The Creepalien hadn't done anything extreme, merely laid a claw on Wesley's exposed wound. He understood the message; the point wasn't to cause immense pain, it meant to get his attention. The Creepalien glanced over its shoulder at the house before looking back at Wesley. It hissed and ran one, sharp claw along the deck, gouging deep into the wood. The gesture was clear as well, anyone who came out in answer to Wesley's scream would be killed.
"Please," he found himself whispering, "What do you want?"
The Creepalien cocked its head to the side when Wesley spoke, it looked stumped. Then, it turned its attention to the deck where it had already scratched into the surface. It began scratching in the wood again. Wesley groaned and looked up, trying not to think about the monster currently trapping him. The Creepalien growled, brushing a claw against Wesley's leg to get his attention again. Wesley looked into the Creepalien's face, but that wasn't what the Creepalien wanted him to do. It looked toward the deck and hissed. Wesley slowly lowered his eyes and looked down.
You
Wesley's breath caught in his throat as he stared down at the harsh scratching. But he wasn't sure what he was more freaked out about; the fact that the Creepalien wanted him, or the fact that the Creepalien was a lot smarter than he thought.
"No," he whispered.
The next thing he knew, the Creepalien's claws were digging deeply into his right leg. He held back the scream that had risen in his throat. The Creepalien watched as Wesley closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to ignore the pain. It hissed with enjoyment and twisted its claws. Wesley let a gasp slip as his body jerked. Clearly enjoying itself, the Creepalien wrenched its claws out of Wesley's leg and watched as he covered his mouth, trying to hold back his scream of anguish.
"Hey!"
The Creepalien and Wesley both glanced toward the house. Danny was standing there with the fire poker held in his hands like a baseball bat. He was shaking slightly in terror, but had a look of determination in his eyes. Clearly impressed, as well as caught off-guard with Danny's sudden appearance, the Creepalien could only stare. But it recovered quickly and hissed, angry that it was interrupted. It turned back to Wesley and bared its teeth at him.
"Danny," Wesley said in a shaky voice, "Drop the poker."
"No! I'm not going to let it hurt you anymore!"
The Creepalien hissed in annoyance and lifted a clawed hand over Wesley's burn wound, but not touching it. Wesley eyed the hand in terror.
"Just drop it!"
Danny didn't move, he didn't know what to do. He didn't want to surrender his weapon, but he didn't want to see Wesley getting hurt any more. Before he could reach a decision, the Creepalien slammed its hand down hard on Wesley's leg. The pain that followed was excruciating, forcing a scream to rip out from Wesley's throat. Danny's hands immediately released the poker and it fell to the porch with a clatter. The Creepalien lifted its hand, but kept it close, in case Danny decided to try and retrieve his weapon, but Danny remained frozen.
"Wesley?" he called out.
Wesley didn't answer as he clutched his leg tightly above the knee. The pain hadn't gone away like he expected it to once the Creepalien removed its hand, and he had to close his eyes against the pain. He heard the Creepalien's raspy hiss close to his ear, causing him to jump, but he was unable to move away. A small shudder ran up the length of his spine as he felt something cool and slimy brush against his cheek. A few seconds passed before he felt hands on his shoulders.
"Wesley!"
It was Danny calling his name. Wesley opened his eyes to see his friend looking at him with terror. The Creepalien had disappeared.
"Are you okay?" Danny asked.
"What do you think?" Wesley grumbled.
He wiped at his cheek and held his hand in front of his face. It was covered in slime. He grunted in disgust and scrubbed his hand against the deck.
"What the hell does it want?" Danny cried.
Wesley glanced at the word carved into the deck and was unable to repress a shudder. Although, the shudder could have been from the pain; his leg was searing white hot.
"Wesley!" Staci had come out and was by his side in a second. "Oh God, what did it do to you?"
"It, uh, it w-wanted—" Wesley tried to say, but he was feeling dizzy and was starting to lose focus.
"Danny!" Staci was screaming frantically, "Get some bandages! He's going to bleed to death!"
Wesley heard Danny's footsteps as he pounded back into the house. He felt his sister's hands on his face and he was forced to look into her eyes.
"Look at me, Wesley, you're going to be okay," Staci said, "I'm not going to let anything else happen to you."
Her words became garbled and her face turned into a blurry blob. The pain was fading as darkness crept into his vision. He heard her voice rising in pitch, but he couldn't understand what she was saying. Darkness completely consumed his vision and clouded his mind. He knew nothing more.
