Chapter 4

4: 4

Seeing that I'd stopped struggling, a flicker of satisfaction crossed Violet's eyes.

The air had gone strangely quiet. Outside, a red blood moon was climbing into the sky, and crows were coming toward us in great dark swarms.

My stomach dropped. Blood moon overhead, and the horrors return to their places.

I threw myself toward Ralph. "Run, warn everyone, find the evacuation point! Forget the rewards!"

"They're coming, they're already coming!"

Ralph only kicked me square in the chest and sneered at the window.

"Trying to trick us again? You've got no shame."

"It's just a bunch of crows. What's so frightening about that? Still think you're some delicate little princess? Nobody's going to coddle you now."

Then he turned to face what had once been my squad. "This is the good-luck charm you all talked about? A few birds and she falls apart. A useless coward too scared to die, worth nothing."

"That reminds me. Don't you love being clean? My squad doesn't feed dead weight. So from today, you handle the bodies. Strip the dead and clean up after them."

The few women in the squad who'd always hated the sight of me cheered him on.

Only one young man limped forward from the corner, unable to stand it.

I knew him. He was the college student Cedric and I had pulled out of the horde of horrors, Daniel Chavez.

His leg had been crushed, so he'd stayed with the group doing odd jobs.

"Vice-Captain Dickerson, you can't!" He dropped to his knees and grabbed hold of Ralph's shoe.

"Miss Fox is weak. Those bodies carry dark energy. It's too much for a normal person, and it's too much even for someone with talent!"

"If it really has to be done, let me. My leg's already broken and I never awakened any talent. I'm more suited to this than Miss Fox!"

"I swear I'll bring back everything our teammates left behind. And I'll give them a decent end."

Violet stepped up and kicked me again. "Filthy little slut, still hooking men even now."

Ralph looked at Daniel, something dark passing through his eyes, and spoke without warning.

"Since when does a piece of garbage like you get to tell anyone what to do?"

Then he looked at Daniel, a flash of cruelty in his eyes.

The next second, there was a crack as Ralph slammed his foot into Daniel's other leg.

His mouth curled into a cruel smile. "Garbage should just die."

"Throw him into the pile of horrors. Let him fend for himself."

"Daniel…"

"No, you can't…"

I tried to throw myself in front of Daniel, but Violet's foot came down on my face.

"A squad needs discipline! In times like these, you kill the bleeding hearts first!"

No one dared object again. Violet ground the toe of her shoe hard across my face.

"You see that? You got him killed! Our squad has no use for the useless!"

"Both his legs are ruined now. Alive, he's just a burden." At that, Ralph waved his hand, and several men hurled Daniel out.

"Ivy, you have to survive. I know it, only you can…" He looked at me and gave me a despairing smile.

The next second, they threw him into that mass of horrors, and the horrors lunged at him at once.

"You got him killed, you know." Violet bent down, laughing, and murmured in my ear. "If he hadn't stuck his neck out for you, he could have gone on living."

I stared blankly as the horrors swallowed Daniel, and something in my mind gave way completely. The people around me were pointing and cursing, the wounds on my body still bleeding, and yet I couldn't seem to feel any of it.

As the dark energy in the air grew thicker, hatred spread through me.

None of them knew that outside the villa, the horrors seemed to have lost some restraint that had held them back. They were full of a bloodthirsty craving, the last of their humanity peeling away, and at the scent of the living they flung themselves like mad things at the barrier outside the villa.

In a corner no one could see, a small, unremarkable crack was spreading out from one edge of the barrier.