2 | Ghoul on the Loose

Content Warning: Violence, Blood

The enormous demonic creature revealed its teeth like a trophy of rusted blades, and bat-like wings cloaked in cruel blue veins protruded from its back. King threatened to throw up at the foul stench that blew out, not only from its mouth but from its whole body, like a sewer full of rotting bodies. He never saw one, but if King didn’t know better, then he wouldn’t have guessed that this is what a vampire is.

Then the fiend reached its bony, dirty clawed hand on a cracked opening. King gasped, and he tried to scoot away, holding his throbbing side in the process. But the car didn’t offer much space at its current condition.

Then a bloodcurdling scream tore out of the boy’s throat when claws dug onto the flesh in his calf, the nails deeply etched into his muscle. He gritted his teeth, holding back from crying on the top of his lungs. Then the creature stirred its hand, dragging its claws, and King howled more in pain. He trembled, feeling like his left leg was getting torn. And it was.

Bryce tried to pry its grip off, grunting as he did, but it was tight as a screw. With her body aching as well, Pandora immediately reached for a shard of glass. She raised her hands and, wham, dug it repeatedly into the leathery skin of the vampire, embedding the sharp object against her palm at the same time.

A sharp inhumane shriek vibrated out of the vampire’s throat, and it drew back its hand, madly rattling the car as it tried to get its robust arm out.

There was blood, the color of burnt orange, that coated the tips of the broken glass Pandora was firmly holding on. She hurried to King’s side and held his leg to examine it. The latter screeched in pain when she accidentally touched the moist gash, and she pulled back her hands, seeing enough of the torn skin.

“I’m sorry,” Pandora uttered, tone laced with worry.

“Damn it. It got my leg,” King heavily breathed out. Cold sweat formed on his skin, and he swallowed the knot on his throat. He was lucky he was a werecat. If he weren’t, he would probably carry the consequence throughout his remaining life.

The vampire stood on its muscular alabaster-grey legs, pointed ears drawn back and raucously heaving as it licked the wound on its arm. There was a hint of satisfaction as it lapped on it. Then its entirely black eyes turned back towards the three, its teeth bared, face creasing into a menacing sneer. It screamed, inhumanely sending a strong gust of wind at them.

The three cousins’ shielded themselves when pieces of broken glass flew around them. When it stopped, their eyes trailed the creature with gaping mouths, eyes slowly bulging. The vampire’s bone-etched chest puffed in and out, wings pulling out, and then, whoosh! It rocketed full force towards the car.

King’s heart nearly jumped out of his throat.

“Oh, shi—!” Bryce choked.

Then the car flipped again. This time, they were ready to scream. And they did.

The car spun, grating in on the asphalt road before it fell from a nearby slope and crashed into a tree. King regretted unbuckling his belt. His whole body felt swelled up, hammered in all sides, aching and burning from a painful fire that wrapped his body, especially his leg, which was hanging semi-numb and in pain. He strained his neck to look down at his feet, just realizing that his favorite ripped-jeans was now literally ripped.

There was a pump in his adrenaline when he heard the same rustling closed in on their direction again, and he strained his ears, listening to the acquainted grunts getting closer. Then he and Bryce screamed on the top of their lungs when razor claws pierced through the metal roof, barely grazing Bryce’s right cheek.

The vampire sliced through the head, rocking the crippled car as it ripped it open like a can of sardines. It peeked from the slice on the roof, black eyes sneering down at them. Yellowish drool, thick and sluggish, dripped from the edge of its mouth.

Then King heard a different growl, more rooted, deeper and violently, sending a wave of static travel down on his body. The vampire’s head suddenly snapped to its left, and unexpectedly, it was punched right on its jaw.

The car rocked, shifting at the impact, and the spittle plopped down on Bryce’s cheek.

“Ahh!” he yelled, immediately wiping the saliva that smelled like crap.

After a split-moment, brutal growls and inhumane shrieks followed. King dragged his head towards where it was coming from, and his eyes widened when he saw it — a werewolf, whose muscular body was covered in a silver coat. If it weren’t for those razor-sharp teeth, claws, and the burly profile, King would have risked touching that fuzz.

The werewolf stood on its hind legs, towering and snarling as it inched and looked down at the undead, who was hunched down on the ground.

The vampire’s gaze darted up, face scrunching into a scowl. Its wings slowly expanded out, aggressive eyes fixated at the other. The pale lips curled up, and a high pitched scream vibrated out of its throat.

The werewolf bellowed in reply, and they rushed at each other, bodyslamming at one another.

King watched them, eyes unblinking. The pain in his body slowly but surely lowered down as his supernatural genetic patched itself triple than a human can. A high-pitched shrill inside the car surprised him, made him cringe and shortly yell on his seat. He held a trembling hand against his pounding heart, and his jaw fell. 

Pandora’s skin began to flake and upsurge into a sleek pelt. She stretched out, allowing her feline to take over and transform herself into a female-built cheetah that tore through her shirt. She immediately leaped out of the roof before expanding to her max size.

“Holy sh—” King bit back his words. He was speechless as he stared at the tall humanoid feline at the side of the car, suddenly remembering that, yes, his cousin could turn into a large freaking jungle cat. And it wasn’t

A moment later, he heard shuffling, then groans from the back seat. The cry turned into grunts that then grew into raucous growls. King turned to look over his shoulder, hazel eyes still inflated.

Bryce’s skin shed like sand, rapidly replaced by a dilating brown-spotted hide. A brawny seven-feet tall leopard began to upsurge, crying out as it inflated the crumpled car like a metal balloon. Unfortunately, he wasn’t as lean as Pandora, and he began to squeeze King into the corner — much to the latter’s horror.