Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 15966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 53(@300wpm)
My hands trembled as I touched my arms, feeling the sting of countless scratches, the damp stickiness of what was undoubtedly blood.
I squeezed my eyes closed and shook my head. The pain and cuts didn’t matter. Right now, for the time being, I was hidden. I was safe.
Or so I thought.
With each and every breath, I realized something else. Something wrong. But I wasn't going to leave. Not when I knew the guards were right outside, searching for me.
The air here was different. It was thick—almost charged. I held my breath and just listened, because I wasn't able to see a damn thing. My hands were back on the rocky walls, and a strange energy pulsed through the stone, a hum beneath my skin.
The air grew heavier the deeper I ventured. Each step forward felt like I was pushing through an invisible current. I couldn't see it, but God did I feel it.
The cave walls were slick with moisture, and a strange sensation skittered up my arms, like static before a storm.
It was a whisper in my bones.
I swallowed hard, looking left, then right. I wasn’t about to leave the sanctuary of the cave. The darkness was absolute, submersing me like water. My instincts screamed for me to turn around and to run.
But there was no turning back.
I didn’t know how long I walked, but not being able to see anything made it seem like I had been moving forward for hours.
And then I heard it. A sound that was not human.
It was low. Rumbling. God, I felt the unmistakable vibration of whatever lived here.
Was it a bear? A wolf?
The sound made it seem like it was enormous as it stirred in the inkiness.
And then I saw the flicker of light up ahead. But it was too late to retreat.
I wasn't alone.
CHAPTER TWO
Geraldine
The realization that I’d stumbled into the lair of an unknown creature sank into my bones, pressing against my ribs like an unspoken warning so I couldn’t take a full breath in.
I was frozen in place, and I strained to listen beyond the rhythmic thudding of my heart pounding in my ears.
And there it was again.
A deep, guttural growl that vibrated through the cave and made my heart start to pound like it had while I was running for my life. But it wasn’t just sound.
This creature was an apex predator.
I took a step back, my pulse hammering. The light ahead was minimal, still a bit of a distance away. And the darkness seemed endless, vast, an abyss that could swallow me whole. The longer I stood there panicking, the more I could feel it—something watching me.
The flight urge screamed inside me, but the knowledge that the guards were still lingering outside held me frozen in place.
I blinked, and there it was. A flicker of movement in the darkness. It was subtle, but whatever this creature was, it was big, shifting the air so it stirred my hair.
Panic surged through me as my eyes further adjusted, picking up a shape far larger than anything human up ahead and focused right on me.
My breath hitched, an icy shiver racing down my spine, and finally, I took a step back, and then another one.
I swallowed against the dryness in my throat, forcing my feet to continue to move despite the weight of fear pressing down on me. Each step backward was slow, deliberate, my heartbeat a war drum in my ears. And here I was, keeping my focus on the shape in front of me.
I knew that facing the guards outside gave me a far better chance at survival than what lay ahead of me.
Shadows slithered and curled all around me. Somehow, there was just enough visibility that I could see my breath fogged in front of me, tendrils of white vapor dissipating into the void.
Another growl sounded, echoing off the walls. And then whatever it was that made that terrifying noise prowled forward, stalking me. But I was too terrified to move any faster. Instinct told me running would only intensify this creature's need to chase after me.
Another growl, this one a clear warning, had me freezing midstep. The sound wasn’t just from something wild and massive—it was intelligent, deliberate, meant to caution me.
The cave seemed to tremble from the sound once again.
And still, the monster lurked closer. There was a new scent that invaded my senses. It was thick and musky. If I had to describe it, I could only say it was ancient and inhuman. Something from another world.
I wasn’t supposed to be here, but something inside me screamed that I wasn't leaving this cave.
And when it moved, charging forward, my mouth hung open, my eyes widened, and I wanted to shriek, but nothing came out. A gust of cold air rushed over me, lifting my hair and sending pure, raw terror through my veins.