"What is that giant ass bird?!"
"Run!" Quince said. The bird, which was at the entrance, began to let out a loud cry that reverberated through the whole neighborhood.
"Thanks Sherlock, I haven't thought about that!" I retorted as I lifted up my cane.
"Just go, idiots!" Oliver yelled out. He grabbed onto my free hand and began to pull me with him.
"Go to 9th and the big white house!" I exclaimed. I was walking as fast as I could, but I was still being dragged along. The uneasy feeling never escaped me, and the cry kept getting louder and louder.
CAW! CAW!
"What's there?" Quince asked.
"My residence!" I replied.
"Fire is the only thing that kills that bird," Oliver explained. "Is there anything that can make a big one?"
Looking back, the distance was beginning to close. It opened its mouth, finally showing a different color other than the blob of darkness the monster was. It revealed its sharp fangs and saliva dripping from it.
"Uh," I sounded out as I began to think. "There's alcohol. We just put it in a pan and ignite it."
"That's not going to do shit," Quince said as we turned the corner. "We need something bigger, like a house-burning level!"
"Alcohol and a lighter," I suggested.
"That would work," Oliver said.
"Two more houses." I felt the effects of the adrenaline increasing my movement. The pain dulled in my foot as it felt more malleable and flexible. While I wasn't able to keep pace with the other two, I wasn't too terribly behind.
Looking back, I saw the bird a few yards behind us. This only motivated me further as we approached the driveway.
Suddenly, the shadow began to get bigger and bigger.
"Run faster! It's swooping down!" Oliver and his British accent said.
"CAW! CAW!" It cried out as I felt wind being swept behind my back. I didn't dare to look; only continue to run forward.
"For Christ sakes," Oliver mumbled as he took a quick glance. His eyes widened and began to move rapidly in their socket. I don't know what he saw, but he quickly grabbed my arm and pulled on it hard.
I heard what sounded like metal skidding on pavement as sunlight began to become more apparent. Looking back, the marks on the ground were extremely close to where I was.
I had just escaped death.
The door swung open as Quince pulled on the handle. The three of us scrambled in before he quickly shut it and pulled on the locks.
"Oliver, move tables or whatever to the door," I ordered. "Quince, go to the glass cabinet in the kitchen and grab liquor or the highest ethanol content you could find."
They both nodded. "I know how to start a fire," Quince exclaimed as he began running to the kitchen.
I did the same, except I took out a lighter.
"There's a problem mate," Oliver said. "The alcohol won't make a big enough fire, even as a molotov cocktail."
"Now you say that?!" I questioned. Was he right? I didn't have time to think. I quickly took out a pan and turned the heat on high. Running to the refrigerator, I took all the bacon and put it onto the pan. It began to immediately sizzle.
"How about a grease fire and a cocktail?" I yelled back. The whole house suddenly shook as I heard the hinges on the door move violently.
"Maybe," he answered. "Just do it fast!"
The house shook once again, but this time I heard screams.
'Shit!' I thought. My shoulder began to slump.
"Carter and Sadie!" I yelled out. "Go into your rooms and lock the doors!"
"Zack! What's going on?!" I heard the two of them scream out with a combination of fear and anxiety.
"Nothing!" I yelled back. "Just go back and open the windows! If you smell smoke, escape through that!"
I heard a pair of doors slam shut. My shoulders lifted back up, as if a burden had been taken off of it.
"Wait," Quince said as he returned with several bottles. "Did you say Carter and Sadie?"
"Later," I said. I looked back in the pan and saw the puddle of grease on the bottom. It wasn't a lot, but it was better than nothing.
"Mates, brace yourself!"
Well, no more chances. I put the lighter towards the grease, heating the oil past its smoking point. A large fire immediately erupted. I threw the lighter to Quince.
The house shook again, except this time the sound of wood breaking reverberated throughout the rooms.
"Throw it!" Oliver and I yelled. Quince, with shaky hands, began to step forward and throw both bottles. The bird was rather large, giving him a big window to hit. Even with that, he just managed to hit the middle as it began to dart inside.
It shrieked as the alcohol began to spread around the body, further igniting it. The darkness began to subside as the creature's brown skin began to show.
"Zack!" the two of them yelled.
I quickly grabbed the pan, ignoring the burning sensation in my hands, and threw it as well. The two fires began to combine to form an infernal. The fire quickly spread to the entire creature as it shrieked and cried in pain.
However, the fire was beginning to get too big. It spread to the nearby wooden area. At first, it was small, but it began to add up as the bird flailed around, splashing oil and alcohol everywhere.
I brought my shirt up to my nose as I began to head outside. "Carter and Sadie! Leave now!"
"What's happening?!" I heard them cry out. That in of itself wouldn't be an issue, but what they said next sent a chill down my spine.
"I can't reach it!" Sadie said.
My eyes widened. Immediately, I began to navigate through the burning house towards the fire. It hadn't spread to the area already, which was the only good thing so far.
"Don't be an idiot!" Oliver yelled out.
"I'm not Quince!" I retorted. Oliver just had a thing with verbalization. I know he didn't intend it to come out as insensitive. Rather, he meant it as a word of goodwill, similar to saying good luck.
The fire alarm began to blare as I approached. When I got to her room, I kicked the door down. It took two attempts, but when I managed to get it, I saw her curled up and crying under the window.
"It'll be okay," I reassured her. I rotated the clip at the top of the pane and pulled it up, exposing the outside world. "It's open now. Come on."
I grabbed her hand and pulled her up. She tried jumping over, but it was to no avail. I had to drop my cane and pick her up by the hips. A surge of strength passed through me as I lifted her to the window and gently set her down.
I grabbed my cane back and jumped over very ungracefully. I looked to Carter's room and saw that the window wasn't open as well.
I looked to Sadie with a reassuring smile. "Go to the front until you see two kids. The British one is named Oliver and the other one is named Quince. They'll keep you safe, alright?" I wiped the tears from her face.
"Go, now." I said as I turned her around and gave a gentle shove. She did as instructed.
Now onto Carter. When I looked into the window, I saw him in the corner of his room. He was crawling on the floor, which was a smart thing to do. Smoke rises more, leaving the fresh air at the bottom.
The window wouldn't open from the outside. Well, at least not by pushing it up or down. I took a step back and positioned my cane horizontally. I took a step and rotated my hips, pushing the cane into the corner of the glass as hard as I could. It immediately broke as a small section shattered. Hitting the rest a few times completely removed it.
"Carter, be careful of the glass. Do you think you can climb through the window?"
"Y-yeah," he said. His voice, while panicky, was more collected than Sadie. "Alright, come here."
He stood up and walked around the glass. When he got to the window, he tried to put it onto the bottom of the frame. It didn't reach, forcing me to grab his hands instead.
"I'm going to pull you up," I said. "On 3."
"1 … 2 … 3!" I pulled him up as his stomach passed the frame. He layed on it as he wiggled to get the rest of his body balanced. I gently guided him out.
"Follow me to the front," I gently said. He wasn't as easily influenced as Sadie, so a smile didn't help him as much. But he focused more on logic, so he followed me immediately. We walked around and to the front, where Sadie was crying into Oliver's shirt.
I watched as he tapped on her shoulder. His mouth opened as he pointed to me.
Sadie immediately turned and began to run in our direction. "Zack!" I let her run into me as she hugged me tightly.
"See, everything's okay," I said in a soothing voice as I gently patted her. "Did Oliver and Quince help you?"
She nodded her head. I quickly examined the both of them, looking for any signs of smoke inhalation. They both looked fine. No coughing or nausea. "Okay, I need to talk to them for a while, so stay here with your brother. I imagine the firefighters and ambulance are on their way."
I extended my arms to get hers off of mine. "I'll be back really quick."
She nodded as she finally released. I gave her another smile as I began to walk towards the two of them.
"You have a lot of explaining to do," I said. "Especially making me burn down their house.".
"Making you?" Quince said. "We didn't force you! You could've just gotten eaten!"
"And you owe us an explanation too," Oliver said. "Are those the Kanes? And how did you get here?"
"How did you?" I countered.
As he opened his mouth, I heard Julius' voice began to speak. "What's going on?"
I turned to the street and saw Julius and Ruby running here. Ruby had sweat running all across her head.
'Did they portal here and run?'
When they saw the three of us, their eyes immediately widened. I saw their bodies tense up massively. The two of them pulled their hands back as a wand suddenly appeared in their hands. They'd just pulled it out of the Duat.
"Julius! Ruby!" I yelled out. "The house is burning, but your children are in the yard!"
They didn't slow down. They continued to sprint forward as their staff began to point towards us.
"What the fuck?" I said. "Have they lost their minds?"
"They know," Oliver said as he backed up.
"Know what?" I asked. Suddenly, a beam of light whizzed past us. Oliver quickly moved to the side, and it hit only his clothing.
"Zack! Step away!"
"Chill out! They're friends!" I yelled as I stuck my hand out. I stepped in between the two different parties, turning myself into a glorified meat shield.
"They're not who you think they are!" Julius said as they got into the driveway. Both of them pointed their wands at Oliver and Quince.
"I know them," I argued back, trying to de-escalate. "They're old friends."
"This is going to sound crazy," Ruby began. Her voice was comforting, but her face didn't exactly reflect that, making it harder to feel that emotion. "But they're not human. They're monsters."
"Monsters?" I repeated in shock. I quickly glanced at the two of them. "Okay, it's your turn for explanations."
Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I haven't written a fight scene before, so hopefully it wasn't too bad. I appreciate the reviews!