Chapter Eleven: Surfaced
Tessa swept her rifle from left to right and up to down. Nothing. She kept her eyes
fixed on the outside, waiting to pick out any and every movement. John stepped out
first, cautiously edging out and spinning round to look at the roof of the elevator.
Nothing. As she stepped out after a clarifying nod from John she caught the drifting
smell of burning metal and oil. In the distance, only a little way off, the transport
helicopter that had brought her and her now deceased team in was crumpled up and
burning on the helipad.
"Shit."
He been so focused on checking for any surprise attacks from near the elevator that
even his twenty-fourth chromosome enhanced nose don't pick up on the burning
wreckage of the chopper until it knew it was all clear elsewhere. They both ran over to
the burnt out metal skeleton and looked as well as they could, the heat burning their
eyes, searching for the chard remains of the pilot. Nothing.
"We got another one."
"Damn it!"
John kicked a flaming wheel off into the horizon with frustration. No matter how hard
I try those damn things keep multiplying. Their like fucking mutant rabbits! Suddenly
the burning wreckage shifts and rolls straight towards them.
"Fuck!"
They both dived out of the pathway of the rolling remains, to either side of it but while
John landed on his feet, Tessa landed on her side, the chopper just catching her feet as
she rolled, which knocked her off course. She was able to lift her head a few inches
off the ground before a slimy strong hand wrapped it's talons around her neck and
squeezed. The blood rushed from her head and her eyes felt as though they were about
to pop out of her skull from the pressure induced on her throat. On hand pathetically
pawed at the vice gripping hand, the other fingered for the nearest weapon. But she
was getting dizzy and the world around her was beginning to merge into one big
blurry nightmare. Tessa wheezed and kicked, futile as it was, at its stomach and
crotch, just trying to loosen its grip for a moment to swallow a gulp of air. Her fingers,
numb as they were starting to become, finally got a slight enough grip on her shotgun
to pull it free, and drop it. Fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK! This things gonna make my head
pop like a bloody balloon in a minute. NO! just gotta stay conscious, stay conscious!
Unfortunately, her body was over taking her brain and she started blacking out, only a
thin tubular vision that was getting thinner and thinner, and darker and darker.
John got to his feet fast and looked over to see Tessa dangling in the grip of a creature,
all drool and teeth. All the colour had drained from her face and she was turning a
sickly corpse grey. The chopper slammed into the elevator doors and exploded.
Looking over, John saw the elevator frame still standing but was creaking and whining
at the rude nudge from its burning visitor. He looked back in time to see Tessa's boots
being dragged threw a hole in the perimeter fencing that surrounded the facility.
"TESSA!"
John sprinted after her and her slimy captor, letting out short sharp burst from his
machine gun. The creature seemed unbothered by the tickling of gun fire and suddenly
skidded to a stop. The cliff dropped a good hundred feet below. John did the same,
skidding to a stop, not wanting to knock into the monster and over balanced it, sending
it falling down with Tessa in hand. It turned, looking at John with its several shining
eyes. A smile spread across its mutated lipless mouth, a sinister smile not would make
even the strongest people cringe. And at that it lifted the unconscious Tessa up,
dangled her over the cliff for a moment and then let her drop.
Tessa floundered and splashed about for several seconds, disorientated from having
her neck freed and still not being able to breathe air. She was upside down and being
tossed around by the waves. When she finally reached the surface and gulped in some
long overdue oxygen it was just as quickly knocked out of her as she was slammed
into the jagged side of the cliff face. Her head, still inside out from the little oxygen
and too much battering, was slammed with the rest of her against those pointy rocks
several times before she finally comprehended what had gone on. Tessa grabbed one
of the rocks and swallowed in some more air. The salt water stung her eyes and her
entire body was aching. Suddenly a huge splash exploded in the water behind her and
sent more water in her already bloodshot eyes.
John gritted his teeth as Tessa fell. He knew if he tried to catch her he'd fail, and he
knew that if he'd tried to stop the creature he would have failed, but he still couldn't
stand the fact that it was happening all the same. A booming thunderous noise echoed
from inside the monster's chest, laughing at its own cruelty maybe, or at the effect it
had on the man in front of it. However, the creature was not expecting the reaction it
got. A full on tackle in the stomach from John. They both fell, John slamming his fists
and elbows and knees into the creature's chest and face as they did. He then went
about putting several bullets into the creature's several eyes. When the creature finally
stopped shrieking, he gripped onto it, keeping it at the bottom, so as to break his fall.
Tessa screwed her eyes shut and coughed when the great splashing explosion behind
her had finished. Tear drops fell from the corners of her eyes as the salty sea water
stung at them ruthlessly. After a while she opened her eyes to look at the wet slimy
rock she was clinging to, to find another pair of arms and hands clung right next to
hers. She turned to see John coughing himself and blinking a lot. How the hell did he
end up down here?
"What? You expected me to just leave you down here on your own?"
What! He's in my head now?
As Tessa stared at him with questioning look, John stared up at the cliff face. After a
moment she shook her head, snapping out of her little fascinated trance.
"Explain what the fuck just went on? If you don't mind."
His gazed dropped from the cliff wall to her. A mixed expression of confusion and
fascination was on her dripping face.
"You can't remember?"
"Well I was unconscious at the time."
Looking back up, John sharpened his eyes on the edge at the top of the cliff.
"John!"
Shaking his head he looked at her. This boy's in the land of fairies. Tessa rolled her
eyes and looked up herself to see what was so interesting. A black silhouette was
hanging its chest and neck-less head over the edge. Not another one! As if in answer
to her thoughts a shrill roar echoed down to them and the silhouette vanished as
quickly as it had popped up. She looked back to John.
"You have got to be kiddin' me."
"Looks like we haven't finished yet."
Sighing, they both pulled themselves up on top of the sea-weeded rock.
"Tess…"
They locked eyes at that moment, both raw and bloodshot from the onslaught of
seawater. Despite that, they both held each others gaze for a long moment, unaware
that either of them had already started climbing the long ascent of the cliff face.
"… I'll explain everything, later."
She smiled. So he was listening after all.
"I know you will. Later. Let's go hunt some demon."