Stranger Spirits

Oh My Gods [Chapter Eight Part Four]

"What are we gonna do?" I whispered back to her.

My heart began to thud hard in anticipation as Wren wrinkled her nose in frustration and bent over slightly. Her hands moved under the front slit of her dress to retrieve a dagger in each hand from a leather band that was strapped around each thigh. "This is me paying you back for last night." She steadied herself and exhaled a quick breath. "At the count of three I'm going to rush at the group and distract them. You'll need to sneak past the open way. I'll join you once I'm done with those guys."

"Wait what?"

"Ready, set, three!" Off she darted into the darkness dashing back and forth so she couldn't really be seen. With only a moment's hesitation I ran in the other direction. I heard a man yelp and almost looked in that direction but I kept on running till I got to my destination. Hands on both sides of the wall I took a quick peek to see that the area only descended from here.

"Hey!" The portly man stomped towards me with his hands in the air.

"Eep!" I flinched back for a moment but then braced myself for a potential blow. With his arms far enough apart I punch him square on the chest. I stepped forward with a clenched fist and knocked the air out of the man. He staggered back and I rushed forward pushing him against the wall knocking him out for good. "Oh my gods! Did I kill him?" I bent down to feel his pulse. Blood was spilling out of his head but he seemed fine enough.

I stood up and turned around to see Alfred in the distance pacing beside the large cauldron that we had brought in our carriage. I couldn't make out what was in the cauldron but I saw that he had already built a fire under it. I looked at the ground and found a coarse rock.

"Here goes nothing!" With a grunt I hurled the rock towards Alfred and missed. A loud clang rang and Alfred turned towards me eyes widened in shock. The contents within the cauldron shifted from the hit but I paid it no mind as I trudged carefully towards him.

"What's going on Alfred, where's Atticus and why did your associates take him?" My breathing was ragged but I made sure my voice was level as I looked him directly in the eye.

"You're not supposed to be here." He was about to say something else when I heard muffled screaming from my right. I looked to my side in horror as I saw Atticus gagged with a cloth to prevent him from making noise. His eyes were bloodshot red and his face was pink and flushed. Though that all shocked me what stunned me the most was that Atticus was IN the cauldron.

"What the fuck?!"

"You're weren't supposed to see this. You didn't need to know." I turned back at Alfred to see him walking towards me as I took a step away from him. "This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. You were supposed to wake up and find that he abandoned you. You'd come back to me. We'd start a life together." He began to excitedly ramble.

Voice shaking I couldn't choose an easier target to look at. Alfred and his excited rambling or Atticus in the hot water. "Why's he in the cauldron, Alfred. You're scaring me."

"Isn't it obvious?" He gave me a cruel smile baring his teeth. "He's my secret ingredient."

My heart was pounding as my hands shook. "Oh my Gods."

"Originally I had planned on you being my ingredient. So foreign and new. You definitely would have been a good treat to have and easy too. You were already injured; I could have just overdosed you and that would be that...but then we began to travel together and everything changed." He stepped forward and caressed my cheek with his hand. "You told me to move on from the death of my sweet Amy and I have. I want you to be mine."

"Amy," My lip trembled. "No-"

"She couldn't handle the truth about me so she had to go." I smacked his hand away from him. "I couldn't possibly let her go away and tell everyone. No one would understand. Society doesn't understand! My colleagues and I have found a way to be greater than man! By ingesting others we can learn what they know faster than if they ever bothered to teach us! We can be superior than anyone else. One meal at a time."

"You murdered her! You ATE her!" I cried aloud. My breathing was hitched as I covered my mouth with my hands.

"But NOW you know! This is better than I had planned!" He laughed lightly as if his entire scheme of murder was just a parlor trick. "We can eat Atticus and move on together."

"Do you even hear yourself? This is insanity!" I waved my arms bewildered. "You're fucking disgusting!"

In that moment it were as if time had frozen. His almost cheerful disposition slowly transitioned into one of rage. "You WILL join me!" He screamed lunging towards me, pinning me onto the ground. He pinned me down into a choke hold as I gasped for air. I looked up to see that Atticus had shifted over to look down at what was happening.

NO! I tried pushing Alfred off but his weight was holding me down too well. I looked to my side and the only thing that was nearby was the rock that I had thrown. My vision was blurring as I struggled to get it. I gripped the rock and without hesitation I slammed it against his face knocking him off of me. Without hesitation I pounced on him and began to thrash my open fist against him.

"WHY HIM?! HE'LL NEVER CARE ABOUT YOU THE WAY THAT I DO!" I kept on punching him. Temporarily stunned from Alfred spitting his blood up at me he flipped us over and was back atop of me. "YOU'LL BE MINE IF I EVEN HAVE TO FUCKING TIE YOU TO MY SIDE. WE'LL BE TOGETHER TILL THE DAY WE DIE!" He shouted at me as his blood continued to fall on my face.

There's no way I can get out of this in one piece. He has me pinned and I can't move at all. "Fine." A tear began to form in my eye as a piece of me gave up. "I'll be yours." My voice cracked as my body loosened up underneath his weight.