Page 16 of Guarded by the Hellhound (Accidental Monsters #3)

KATHERINE

“ Y ou have been a bad girl, Katherine…” I am scrambled against the locked door, and he stands in front of me, smacking a pipe into his hand.

“You were supposed to be mine. MINE!” Spittle flies across my face as he leans in to yell at me.

“You ruined everything; you were with someone else…”

I cry. “No, no, I don’t know you! Who are you?”

He grabs my hair and hauls me up. “I am Joe, and if I can’t be with you, no one can.”

He lifts the pipe, and I scream again, ripping myself out of his hold. I crawl back towards the other end of the wall, shards of glass cutting my knees. I know I won’t make it, but I have to try. I have to try.

He grabs my hair again, making me wince. My scalp feels like it’s on fire. He pushes me up and against one of the side mirrors, pinning me to it with his body.

“You know me, angel, you smiled at me last year, right here at this carnival. I was waiting for you, but instead, I saw you around town with somebody else. I knew I had to wait until everything was perfect, until tonight. BUT YOU BETRAYED ME!”

More spit lands on my face, and I shudder and cry.

I struggle, trying to push him away, but I’m wounded, and he is just too strong.

He lifts the pipe, and with a loud clank, he smashes the mirror on our right side, making me shriek in terror.

He steps back, letting go of me. I sag against the mirror; he is going to kill me, and I don’t have the energy to fight him anymore.

When he lifts the pipe again, I close my eyes, resigning my fate.

A howling noise comes from outside, causing my eyes to pop open in alarm. I give him a feral smile. “Not today motherfucker.”

I’m barely done talking when something bursts through the door, growling and snarling. I can’t see anything though, but Joe gets so spooked he steps back.

“Raider?” I hesitantly say. In the blink of an eye, he appears in front of me, nuzzling my neck before he turns, focusing his attention on Joe. He lets out a low, menacing growl, and before Joe can run, he is on him, snapping his enormous jaws closed on his leg and pulling him with him.

He looks at me in passing, eyes blazing red, more beast than man at this moment. Malice is radiating off him, and my brain tells me I should be scared, but my heart truly knows I have no reason to fear him.

Joe stretches out a hand to me, but before he can touch me, Raider is there and viciously bites off his hand.

Joe cries out in agony, and I scream as well, covering my mouth to mask the sound and my shock.

Raider starts fading before my eyes. In a heartbeat, all I see is Joe being dragged out of the Haunted House, screaming and clawing at something only he can see.

I lay my head back and close my eyes. A sob leaves my aching throat.

It feels like the adrenaline abruptly leaves my system.

I cry, and I cry, and then I cry some more.

Time passes unnoticed, and when my tears dry up, I feel broken—broken and numb.

All I want to do is close my eyes and fade away, the stress from the past hours coming down on me. Hard.

I think of giving up and just closing my eyes and falling asleep. I’m pretty sure I have serious injuries, and I could just let go. I feel so tired, so tired of being afraid.

My breathing evens out, the little voice inside my head whispering, ‘ Just let go, you’ll find peace,’ and I yearn for peace. Like I found with Raider…

Thinking of him makes me open my eyes. What the fuck am I doing? Giving up? After all, I have been through, after the hell of the last hours. After the fucking worst year of my life? I am not giving up! My body may be broken, but my spirit is not.

Raider has kept me safe, and Joe’s screams, which still echo in my mind, leave no room for doubt. He is gone. He will never hurt me again. Giving up is not how I repay Raider.

A yell bubbles up in my body, starting in my toes and making its way up until I let it out and scream until my voice breaks. It feels liberating to release my despair and anger in that way.

Groaning, I push myself up, and I stumble to the door, making my way to freedom.

Outside, I pause. The ground behind the building is black. Scorched black. I gasp and scramble back. Raider, he must have had something to do with it. I look around for a trace, but all I see is the giant scorch mark. This must be where Raider took Joe to… Hell, I guess.

I’m a mess, a bloody mess. I need to find some help, but when I look around at the deserted spot, I know I’m going to have to pull myself together somehow to find it.

The carnival is at my back, and I only have to circle the house, but soft voices and chanting reach me over the sounds of the crowd.

Pulling me in against my better judgment.

I crawl towards the wooded area behind the building. It’s a small spur of the bigger woods separating the old cemetery and the church from the carnival grounds. Now that I think of it, this location makes a lot of sense.

The intoxicating chanting grows louder with every foot I near, making my way through the bushes. The adrenaline that left me in the House of Mirrors comes back as the hairs on the back of my neck rise, activating my fight-or-flight instinct.

As the cemetery comes into view, I notice dim lights shining through the trees. I pause at the edge of the forest, hiding in the shadows as I attempt to make sense of what I’m seeing before me.

Candles everywhere light up the center of the cemetery, appearing to have been placed in a star-like pattern.

I stretch myself to get a closer look. A hooded figure stands in the middle of the pattern.

They are chanting softly, and it appears as though they are waiting for something.

They throw their arms up, and the fire blazes before returning to its natural, small flame.

I shiver. If the supernatural exists, this must be a witch. But what are they waiting for?

They move around as I sink back into the shadows.

When the figure shifts, I notice an altar of some sort behind her.

The candles blaze again, and realization strikes me.

A pentagram with an altar centered inside.

This witch is performing some kind of ritual.

Fear courses through my body, but somehow, I feel a deep-rooted urge to be here right now.

So, I hide and wait, allowing my beaten body some rest.