Page 12 of The General’s Captive (The Rift #1)

A male voice, I recognized but couldn’t put my finger on, sang out like a dying auto-tuned cat between the jaws of an alligator.

But I didn’t care because I could not be happier.

Once the chorus played for a second time, I had the lyrics down and I couldn’t help but dance around the store and sing along.

“OooOooh Ohh Oooh,” I sang with the backing singers and danced my way toward the mess of shelves, hoping to find anything that had been left behind.

“Oh my God, yes! Flamin’ hot Cheetos!” I cried out as I rushed to fill my backpack with a bag of chips I found.

I would have liked to have taken more but knew that it would have only taken up precious space in my bag.

And let’s face it, most of them were filled with more air than chips these days.

So, I wisely grabbed the few packets of trail mix and mini bags of cookies that had been littering the floor, too.

“Six-month rule,” I said as I shook them to make sure none were open before stuffing them in.

However, it was when I was crouched on the ground that I started to scratch at the itchy scar behind my ear.

I frowned, hoping it wasn’t what I thought it meant.

Because I had come to discover that whenever a Myth was near, my scars started to burn.

A feeling that usually caused a chill of terror to run down my spine, just like it did now.

I frantically turned to look, searching all around me and freezing when I heard an almighty screech carrying over the music. One that made me feel like my head was going to split in two.

I spun the dial on the volume right down, cutting off the music as my eyes continued to dart around wildly in search of what had made that horrendous noise.

Nothing caught my eye, but I knew I hadn’t imagined it, even if I was starting to go a little apocalyptic crazy.

I ducked down against a shelving unit I had been rummaging through, pulling my backpack close to me.

Then as quietly as I could, I started looking for the weapon in my bag, cursing when the packet of Cheetos crunched, making me wince.

I had learned my lesson about my knife, at least, because this was currently attached to my belt in a sheath I had found in Walmart at the camping section.

But as for the gun and bullets I had found in a glove box once, this was something I had kept in my bag.

And I just hoped it wasn’t going to be another life lesson in survival like last time.

Of course, I still didn’t have much experience with the gun, but I was hoping, at this point, it was a simple aim, shoot, and hey presto, one dead Myth.

I had already practiced loading the gun, it was just the shooting part I wasn’t so sure on. Because one, I hadn’t wanted to waste the bullets on practicing and two, I had been worried that the sound would draw Myths to me.

I shimmied along the aisle and peeked around the edge of the shelves, hoping for a better view. And holy shit, I wished that I hadn’t! I was met with one of my top ten worst sights I had encountered so far, possibly even making it to the top five!

Naturally, I stifled a scream the second I was faced with the saggy, wrinkly ass old woman that looked about a hundred years past her sell by date.

I quickly scurried back, placing an arm over my mouth to try and minimize the combined smell of shit and piss, along with the usual smell of rotting death that emanated from the creature.

At first glance, it looked like an extremely old naked lady had managed to escape the care home and take a trip to Costco. But then the rat-like tail sitting just above her buttocks and the haggard, fleshy wings drooping from her shoulders, quickly gave away the fact that she was a Myth.

Oh, and of course, the smoky darkness surrounding her entire body was another tell-tale sign I was now in deep shit.

Thankfully, she hadn’t seen me yet, because she still had her back to me.

Her tail swished from side to side, missing me by a mere inch, the movement wafting more of the rotting stench, making me want to gag.

I tried to move further back, freezing my movements the second the haggard beast swung around and met me face on.

It bared its yellowed fangs in a hiss, making me gasp at the grotesque sight.

Because I hadn’t been wrong, the creature looked like a crazed old lady had just sprung up from a coffin after a two-hundred-year-old sleep and aged for every second of it!

Her long nose protruded out of her face way further than what would be considered normal. The light green snot dripping rhythmically from the saggy nostrils wasn’t something I would be forgetting any time soon… because eww.

Her teeth were similar to a human, but stained a muddy yellow with a serious lack of dental hygiene, and fangs that were elongated.

She was completely bare, showing off all a woman could show.

Although I say woman in the loosest sense of the word because I kind of felt like I was insulting all of womankind with this one.

Her breasts looked like skin bags filled with prunes but what alarmed me most of all was the size of her stomach.

It was swollen and bloated out, a total contrast to the rest of her.

Her bony, skeletal frame was covered in a wrinkled gray skin, and she looked like she hadn’t eaten in a decade.

A high-pitched but savage growl tore from her throat, and my own high-pitched scream replied, making her whine as if in pain.

I didn’t think much of it because I was too focused on trying to get away.

I jumped up and ran as fast as I could down the aisle toward the back of the store.

Because in my now extensive knowledge of looting, there was always a back exit.

I sprinted harder, the backpack on my back banging heavily on my spine.

I could feel the contents digging in with every hit.

I turned around to see that, for such an old crone, she was easily keeping up with me.

The beat of her strong wings gave her that added boost to soar toward me, closing the gap.

The scar behind my ear continued to burn and I clenched my jaw at the pounding pulse drumming through my skull.

One I tried to ignore as I dealt with the deadly situation at hand.

Another screech echoed through the store, sending more pain through my skull, and panic set in as I realized it hadn’t come from the hag behind me.

“Oh fuck!” I shouted when I realized my chance at surviving had just been cut down significantly. Old hag face wasn’t alone… no, she had brought a fucking friend!

“Great, now it’s a fucking party!” I hissed as I turned right at the last second before the other one could make her move.

This one was surrounded by the same swirling black mist that started to extend out to grab me.

But when that was unsuccessful, it then propelled her forward, putting her closer so her finger like claws could reach me.

I let out a cry as her taloned nails cut my neck ever so slightly. I managed to dodge the rest of the attack, but with two against one, my odds weren’t great. Not that they had looked so great to begin with. But now even less so, because they were trying to surround me and back me into a corner.

Thankfully, I hadn’t yet dropped my gun, which meant now that they were trying to cut off my escape, it was time to use it.

So, I turned to face the creatures, and, in my anger, I started screaming as loudly and as high-pitched as I could.

I had seen it on a documentary one time, and it saved a guy’s life from a bear attack.

And as for now… Amazingly, they didn’t like it.

They didn’t like it when I forced the scream from my lungs, making the Myths stop dead.

Then their gnarled hands rose up to their pointed ears, covering the sides of their heads as if in pain.

The screeching sound that followed should have hurt their own ears, but it was my screams they didn’t like. Hmm, interesting.

So, I tested it again, screaming even louder this time and causing the Harpies to flinch, keeping their ears covered. I then pointed the gun toward them with outstretched arms, moving side to side, constantly changing my target to keep them both in my sight.

“I… I don’t want to shoot you!” I stuttered, slowly moving backward.

I purposely wanted my back against the wall so I could then shimmy to the side, and closer to the emergency exit that was another aisle down to my left.

Doing so now without having to worry about another creature getting me from behind.

The flying hags began to move forward, and I forced out another fake scream, stopping them in their tracks as their hands flew up to cover their ears once again.

“Stop fucking moving! Or I will shoot! I’m warning you.” They potentially couldn’t hear me over their gnarled hands protecting their ears. Or most likely, they didn’t understand a fucking word I was saying because it wasn’t like I had ever heard a Myth speak before.

But then they began to creep forward again and, in retaliation, I aimed at the first one’s head, making the decision to pull the trigger, stupidly closing my eyes as I did.

I had never shot anything before and I had no doubt many would have questioned how I had made it this far.

However, it was all for nothing, because there was no loud pop like I expected, only me pulling the trigger and nothing happening.

I opened my eyes and pulled the trigger again.

I pulled and pulled again but nothing happened, and I soon realized why.

Terror seized me as I remembered, the safety was still on!

Which meant I ended up fumbling with the gun, my panic clear as day as the Myths flapped their wings and charged toward me. I finally managed to disengage the safety and aimed blindly, now firing the gun. The force shocked me enough that I took a step back.

As for the bullet, this didn’t do anything. But the loud bang had, making them screech in what looked like pain. Knowing my aim was shit, and the likelihood of me hitting them being slim to none, I made a run for it.

Then I heard the echoing boom from two quick gunshots and the sound made me stop dead.

Those gunshots didn’t come from me.

I turned just as I saw the blown-out faces of the two Myths before they dropped to the floor. Like sacks of wrinkly gray meat, they landed with a thud, now revealing the cause behind them.

A handsome blonde man with a shit eating grin who said,

“That’s how you do it.”