Share

Chapter 21

Author: R. L. Ankney
last update Last Updated: 2024-10-29 19:42:56
"Holy shit," Craig breathed again.

This time I didn't call him on it because it echoed my thoughts exactly. Holy shit.

"Now what?" Benjamin asked.

We watched as the people held up rifles and headed towards the front door.

"Block the entrance and hope to hell that they don't need anything from the maternity ward," I said hurrying and turning out some of the lights in the rooms.

The only ones I left on were the ones above the baby's cribs since one of them had jaundice and needed U.V. treatments desperately. I pulled that bed off to the side hoping that the door would block most of the light.

Craig and Benjamin blocked the doorways with beds from the rooms then raced back over and we all hid behind one wall in the nursery. We were all deathly quiet hoping that the babies didn't wake up, or that they didn't try to push themselves in through the door. My heart was thundering so loud that I wasn't sure if I could hear anything anyway. When gunshots rang out through the air, we a
Locked Chapter
Continue to read this book on the APP

Related chapters

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 22

    The banging on the door became more frantic and with the high pitch scraping coming from the bed I knew it was moving. I held little Blaze tighter as a knot of fear became lodged in my throat. I had no idea what this man would do once he got in, but there wasn't a single scenario that went through my head that held a happy ending. The look on Benjamin's face turned from terrified to thoughtful all in a matter of few seconds. I reached out and grabbed his arm as he stood up. "Don't. I don't know what you're going to do, but just don't," I whispered hoarsely. "They know someone's back here. We can't just wait until they burst through the door," Benjamin whispered back before trying to stand up again. I yanked him back down again. "No! Help me up!" "Are you crazy?" Craig asked astonished. "Look, most of those cop shows talk about how most hardcore criminals won't hurt babies or mothers. Now help me up!" I squeaked frantically as the bed scrapped further and further open. I has

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 23

    "Dilly, where's your brother?" Craig asked craning his neck to try to look out the door. "He's dead. One of the zombies chased him down through the back. The others went with him but when we heard the shots, we knew he was gone." Dilly said with a genuinely forlorn thought until it crumbled under a fury I had never seen in a rational person. "But he will never tell me what I can and can't do again." All the blood drained from Craig's face and for a moment he looked so much like Benjamin had before he passed out, I thought he would hit the floor at any moment. My body was trembling with fear, but without my leg, I could do nothing but sit back and watch this unfold. What made this even worse was the fact I could tell Craig was genuinely upset. It seemed whatever was supposed to happen, wasn't turning out the way he had wanted it to. "Chandlers dead?" Craig breathed out. "Yeah, he's dead. Where are those pills that you promised us?" Dilly asked. "I could really use a fix right now.

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 24

    Louis stepped over to look down at the lifeless body with open disgust. He spat next to the man's head as if the sight of him had left an awful taste in his mouth. "About fucking time," Louis said stunning us both. Craig was the first to recover and shook his head at him as if he didn't know what to say to that. He continued his silence and turned towards the nursery, his eyes darkened with sadness and anger. I knew what the cause of that look was but refused to turn around and look at the incubator again. I couldn't bring myself to even acknowledge what I knew would be a terrible, gruesome scene. His face grew paler by the moment as he got closer to the shattered window. I watched as his grip became firmer and firmer until a stream of blood fell from it."Damn it," he cursed quietly. He looked away for a moment or two, then suddenly burst into another rage. He cursed up a storm and kicking the wall repeatedly until I was sure he would break his foot, or the wall would shatter. "St

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter

    He shrugged and didn't embellish on it. I glanced down at the stitching and this time I paid attention to each individual thread and realized that he was right. They were uneven and several different sizes. I felt my heart sink and a wash of anger surged through me, quickly accompanied by shame. I had been so excited to not have to stitch myself up that when he had insisted that he was a doctor I had let him. "Frick," I groaned."Don't beat yourself up too much. I taught him really well and I'm pretty sure with everything going on he thought you guys might kill him or abandon him if you thought he wasn't really a doctor." I hated the fact that his argument sounded so rational. I was angry at Craig and Louis and everyone else for that matter. Most of all I was furious at myself for not seeing through the charade. I leaned my head back against the chair and just barely containing the urge to slam it several times over into the hardwood. I did, however, slap Louis' hands away. "How do

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 26

    I knew that I should have said something to this man, even if it was just to kiss off, but there was nothing to say. What we had witnessed was nothing short of a miracle and in my experience, miracles were never easy to explain. So, all I did was stuff the rock back under my shirt and said nothing. I could feel Louis' eyes on me as he sat hard in a chair in front of me. The silence was almost overwhelming, but I let it continue since I couldn't figure out anything to say. "You're not gonna tell me what happened, are you?" Louis said finally breaking the quiet. I looked at him with a dead stare. He was smart; he took the hint and dropped the subject albeit very unwillingly. He stood up and shook his head then proceeded to look at my leg once again as if nothing had happened. It was odd trying to relax with this man looking me over; I kept waiting for him to jump up and attack me for the necklace. He didn't though; He just continued to examine the stitches in silence before getting

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 27

    "She fell in love with some asshole who liked to beat her. Unfortunately, he was also the attorney general for the city we lived in at the time. One day he hit her one time too many times and finally she'd had enough… So, she grabbed a knife and put a stop to him."I listened to his story and heard the truth of it, which made it even sadder. Not to mention it was, unfortunately, one of the oldest, saddest, stories in the book. "Except instead of it being labeled as self-defense like it should have been, his family owned the D.E.A and the judge. She got a manslaughter charge and ten years," he said in disgust. I struggled to stand up and go over to him, but he waved me back in the chair. "It's all right. At least she's not in that godforsaken prison anymore," he said unconvincingly. "My husband turned yesterday morning," I told him sadly. "I'm sorry," was his heartfelt reply. Swallowing several times to relieve the knot in my throat, I finally nodded. I knew it wasn't a shock

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 28

    When a noise came, it didn't come in the direction that I thought it would. When the door on the opposite side of the hall was pushed open, I whipped around wondering why they were coming through that side. The man that came through was about six foot if not taller and a solid wall of muscles and looked meaner than a rabid dog. He had shoved the door all the way opened as if that bed in front of it was nothing more than a rolling stool. He strolled through the door like he owned the place and even though he didn't; I would not be the one to tell him that. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone, two other men closely followed him. One was lanky and geeky looking, but there was no mistaking the insane menace that oozed from his eyes even though they were situated behind thick coke-bottle glasses. The other was a short, stoutly built, and if the stains on his shirt were any sign, he desperately needed a shower. That guy's eyes fell on me with a fiendish glee that I had seen once before. Dilly's

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 29

    Benjamin stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Chandler and a caution entered his gaze. Of course, his back also went straight as if he was trying to become the biggest rooster in the henhouse. "Who's this?" Benjamin asked purposefully slinging his crossbow over his shoulder. I mentally rolled my eyes at the boy. "It's nice to see you too, Benny."He sent a glare my way but didn't call me on the use of his nickname. "What's going on?" I asked quickly before anything else could be said. "Craig and the other guy are down there helping Julia with the rest of the group," suddenly his face got serious. "There were a few people hurt in the escape."I gasped and reached for the chair to hold myself up. "The children?" He shook his head quickly. "No, no, the kids are ok. They were the first ones we loaded up." "Thank goodness," I breathed out. "We did, however, have a few people that thought they should go first, and I'll tell you what Julia gave them a good uppercut until the rest de

Latest chapter

  • Soul Eaters   Epilogue

    The sunlight shined through the gossamer curtains and hit my face. I awoke gently, blinking several times as my eyes tried to adjust to the light. As the window became clearer and clearer, I couldn't place it. I sat up trying to remember where I was. "Vicki?" said a deep voice from behind me. I turned and behind me were the sleep hazed eyes of my husband. Everything hit me at once and I began to shake. He wrapped me in his arms as he had done every morning since our return. We got back to that tiny shore side town to find Craig, Erin and Marcus had been waiting for us at the edge of the pier. They had greeted us like heroes, and I hadn't been able to stop holding Marcus or checking him over to make sure he was okay. Other than the rope burns he seemed physically okay. There was a haunting look in his eyes, but he refused to talk about what had happened while he had been an Eater. I had been forced to let it go after a while, but not before I made him promise to talk to me when

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 123

    I laid the ruby on the ground and brought the solid rock down on it as hard as I could. The ruby shattered instantly and the shockwave from the power being released hurled me back to the ground again. A bolt of light shot to the sky and little lights sped out of it so fast that it looked like one light if you weren't as close to it as I was. Souls. I thought. Souls were being freed. They streamed at light speed towards the sky and as soon as they touched the storm they shot off in all directions. So many souls that the sky began to light up like it was noon instead of almost midnight. The roar of the souls leaving their prison was so loud you could hear it for miles. A loud scream from the circle snapped me out of the hypnotic state that the light show had put me in. She was beating against the field still, but this time it wasn't it anger it was in fear. "Let me out! Let me out! She's gonna kill me! Help! Help!" she screamed frantically. I jumped up to go help her, but Jenevive

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 122

    Avamarie gradually stood up and wiped the blood off her mouth as she chuckled weakly. "You're right, Mother. You did teach me to duel, and I never did defeat you," she said softly. I watched her closely my gut telling me she was up to something. My gaze flew between the two women trying to figure out what was happening. Avamarie couldn't be giving up that easily. Jenevive was indeed enormously powerful, but it was becoming obvious that Avamarie was truly quite powerful in her own right. Movement behind Jenevive caught my eye. A large boulder that had come out of the ground began to quiver then slowly float up. I glanced over at Avamarie trying to see how she was doing it. One finger was lifting, but the hand was pressed so tightly to her side that from where Jenevive stood she wouldn't be able to see. "Look out!" I screamed. Jenevive spun around just in time to be plowed over by this boulder. She flew across the clearing until she landed brutally on the ground, bouncing once

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 121

    "You had everything inside you to make it here. And look you did," she finished with glee.Her reasoning's were horrifyingly simple, terrifyingly easy. She used me plain and true, and I had made it so easy for her to manipulate me."If you hadn't meant for me to save the world, then why did you give me this stone that would save me and keep me safe?" I asked angrily throwing the shards from the stone at her feet.She bent over slowly and picked them up petting them tenderly as if they were the sweetest flower, she had ever seen. She looked down at them with a strange curiosity that held a tinge of regret in her eyes."I gave it to you so that you could bring it back here. I knew Mother would never give me this stone and it was the last piece I needed to complete the spell. A pure soul for sacrifice," she said softly. Then fury boiled up as she turned it on me. "But you! You, selfish bitch! You couldn't help yourself. You had to use it on every bleeding soul that you came across, didn'

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 120

    In anger and disbelief, I confronted her. "NO! You're lying! It is you! You killed your own daughter! You sacrificed her to seal your pact with the Daemon!" I yelled at her. She dropped her head and I nodded at the acknowledgement of her guilt. "You're right. I killed my own daughter," she admitted despondently. I straighten my shoulders feeling justified in my anger. She was trying to mess with me to keep me from my goals. Well, she would have to try harder than that. By the end of the night, I was going to have my children back. "But not for the reason you think," she interrupted my thoughts. "And you have no reason to trust me, but I sacrificed her in hopes that I could save her before she finalized the pact with the Daemon. What I didn't know was that in doing so I, myself finished it. Because I took the last piece of good that was in her and sealed it in a stone known as the Black Star Sapphire." She pulled a necklace from under her dress and showed me a stone that was

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 119

    The dusk was approaching harsh and rapidly when I dropped in front of a tree wasted. Panting, thirsty and starving. I was lost and had long ago ran out of will power to keep going. My body itself was refusing to keep walking. I had been coaching the exhausted lump of skin for the last few hours just trying to keep going and now my feet finally gave out on me leaving me sitting against the tree. The little nudge inside of me had grown into a constant tightness of the gut. I knew I was getting close and didn't want to give up. Looking around I tried to spot something anything that looked familiar to me. I pulled up the image that Avamarie had given me in my dream trying to find a clue. The cabin was desolate and run down. The area looked like a million other areas that were in the forest. The only thing that stood out was a few odd wooden wind chimes.Wait… wind chimes. Immediately I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breath so that my pounding heart didn't override every other soun

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 118

    We waited until we were far away from the shore before beginning to bombard Gerard with questions. "How did you find us?" Was mine. "Why did you come back?" Benny asked viciously. Gerard raised an eyebrow at him. "You're welcome," he replied sarcastically. "Something told me that you guys needed me. So, I found the nearest non-crushed rig and following the carnage. You guys left a lot of banged up rigs behind." He gave a short chuckle as if he could see the image of the wreckage in his head. "Where is everyone else?" he asked changing the subject abruptly. Benjamin and I looked at each other hoping the other would tell the story not wanting to verbally rehash it. I couldn't think of Marcus laying tied to that bed thrashing around reaching for someone to try an ease the hunger inside of him. Just the thought of not wanting to think of it brought the image to mind and my breath left my body in a whoosh as if I had been struck in the gut. "I left him," I whispered heartbrokenl

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 117

    The Eaters let out a scream rocking the walls then went straight for Craig and me. I tucked my head down around Marcus' shoulder waiting for the hands to grab me. Two loud thuds then nothing. My ears were ringing making it hard to hear anything more than the pounding of my heart over them. An eerie silence reached me when my ears finally opened again. Glancing over my shoulder into the room I found Benny standing there staring at us with a smoking gun in his hand. Erin stood next to him gripping his arm tightly and horror darkened both of their gazes. Marcus was making clicking noises in my ear and then I heard a response in my other ear. Panic consumed me as I struggled to get free realizing that Craig had been turned as well. Something slammed into the front door before any of us could make a move to free me. It slammed over and over again until we could all hear the wood on the door splintering. "Get him off her," Benjamin order Erin before booking it out of the room. Erin

  • Soul Eaters   Chapter 116

    "Let me take Marcus," Craig offered. I gave him a grateful look and traded him. Johnny jumped on me wrapping his little arms around my neck with a strangled grip and I felt the wet rain of his tears. My own silent answer fell from my face as I walked behind Craig watching him carry my screeching Soul Eater son in his arms. I felt like a failure, worse than I had when I thought I had lost the world to this epidemic. I had failed to keep my son's safe and now one had been turned. Benjamin opened the door as he saw us approaching. "Oh shit," he whispered. Erin popped out the door with a smile of greeting until she saw Marcus. "Oh, God! No!" she cried racing towards us. "Stop!" Benjamin demanded grabbing her to keep her away from us. She spun in his arms and hid her face against his chest sobbing. Craig pushed passed them and took Marcus to a little room in the back of the house. "What happened?" Benny demanded. I had to swallow several times before I could speak and even

DMCA.com Protection Status