Hooray for chapter 31. Not much else to say, so R&R and enjoy!
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31
I looked at Fang, who was staring wide-eyed at the Erasers that walked out of Ella's house single-file. "Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked quietly, since we were only about a hundred feet from the monsters now.
I nodded and swallowed hard. "I'm afraid so." I retrieved the knife I had stolen from Roland and handed it to Fang. "You're better at this than I am. Wanna take 'em down?"
Fang stared at the knife I had given to him, and I saw something burning in his eyes, anger and hatred. He was ready to kill them for me; he knew how much I wanted to see Ella safe and sound. "Fang? Are you okay?" I asked, reaching for his shoulder. He moved closer to me and nodded, and then lunged headfirst towards the ground, holding the knife at his chest, ready to strike. Thanks, Fang, I said to myself, then followed him downward as the Erasers met us in mid-air.
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"Are they alright?" asked Nudge, squeezing her way in between the Gasman and Angel, who were at the front of the small clearing they had found in the trees.
"Shh!" whispered Gazzy. "I'm trying to focus!"
Nudge retreated back into the trees a bit and let Iggy touch the back of her hand. "Follow me," she said quietly, hoping Gazzy wouldn't hear.
"Nudge? What're you…"
"I just wanna get a better look."
"Well that won't much help me now, will it?" Iggy laughed a bit, but Nudge simply stomped back to where Gazzy and Angel were, feeling unappreciated for trying to help.
Angel turned to her. "Don't think like that, we appreciate you," she said, smiling. Nudge smiled back but couldn't help thinking otherwise.
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Fang whirled around from where the leading Eraser had kicked him in the chest, effectively slashing the behemoth's arm, sending a spiraling trail of blood to the ground. The Eraser howled in pain, and Fang gave him an uppercut to the jaw. That shut him up quickly.
With one Eraser unconscious, that left only two for Fang and I to deal with. But instead of flying at us separately, both Erasers charged me head-on. Son of a gun. Fang swerved in and knocked one of the Erasers off-course using his shoulder as a battering ram, and I nailed the other one with a kick to the groin. Apparently it was male, for its wings suddenly stopped working as it howled in pain, grasping between its legs. I decided to put it out of its misery and hammered it on the head with my fists clenches, sending it plummeting to the ground rather quickly.
When I turned around, Fang had already managed to bring his Eraser down as well, leaving a triangle of unconscious wolf-men on the driveway in front of Ella's house. "That was too easy," I said, almost laughing. Fang nodded and smiled. "Should we get everyone else?"
Fang looked back at where the flock had landed, meeting Gazzy's eyes. Gazzy pointed at the house, and Fang motioned for them to come to us. I saw Nudge grab Iggy's hand and explain the situation into his ear as the four of them flew to our position. "Guys," I said once we were all assembled just a few yards away from the front door of Ella Martinez's house, "I don't know what we'll see in here. I just know that if what Roland says is true, this could get extremely dangerous. And also…" I hesitated a moment, trying to find the right words. "Also, if you want to stay out here, even in the slightest bit, please do. This is a personal mission of mine, and I think the only thing I'll find out in here is about my own past, if anything." I stopped, and a strange silence hung in the air. I got off my metaphorical soapbox and prayed that someone would say something soon, or else I thought I'd explode.
Fang walked up and put his arm around my shoulders, sending instant peace and warmth through my body. "You think we'd really let you do this alone? You must be going crazy." We all laughed for a moment, and then, realizing the importance of how little time we probably had, stepped up to Ella's front door and lightly pushed it open. I'll never forget what I saw inside.