Fade by Chad West Page A

Wraith to control it, unbridled, instinctual anger did. It flung itself at them. Its speed was amazing considering its size. Angela dug her heel into the ground and jumped out of its path. Jonas managed to push Lucy aside as it neared. She tumbled, grunting as she hit the ground. He might have given her a few scratches or bruises, but it was nothing compared to what the behemoth could do. He tensed, planting his feet, ready for the impact that would odds-on end with him in pieces on the ground.
    His eyes met its narrowed eyes. Those eyes widened. It tripped, floundering to the ground, missing him by inches. Sliding, leaving a ragged furrow in the dirt, the thing thrashed, flipping onto its side. Every inch of skin remaining on muscle tightened. Bulbous arms trembled. Its mouth gaped open, and dark blood erupted.
    Angela stood, eyes closed, shaking. Tears popped out from her screwed together lids, her teeth bore down on her lower lip. Jonas noticed the flames on her arms. Lucy yelped. He prayed Angela wouldn’t open her eyes.
    A pop, like an aerosol can exploding in a fire, came from the writhing beast’s center. Cinders, gobs of flesh and the smell of a field of rotting corpses filled the air. Angela’s eyes opened at the noise. She stared at her arms, swallowed up by flames, for an intense moment before beginning to screech, shaking them.
    “Calm down! It won’t hurt you!” Jonas said.
    The beast rose, its skin sizzling, steam rising from its fat form. Its face marred with pain. Gore pumped out of the new hole in its stomach with each breath. It stumbled. Jonas looked past it to the farmhouse. He hoped with his last shred of hope that no more than two people had lived there for the Wraith to corrupt.
    “What did I do?” Angela cried. “I just wanted it to stop!”
    Jonas took a step back, eyeing the blood-smeared pole poking from the corpse of the last creature. The larger Golem’s head rose in slow motion and it took a deep, quick breath. Another stumbling step forward. Jonas whipped around, yanking the pipe out with a reverberating, slurping sound. The giant fell on him in one, quick, awkward leap.
    Jonas managed to swing the steel. A warbling whistle, followed by a solid strike to its face, and it had him. Its fat, bluish fingers pressed in; Jonas’ chest felt like it might cave. A board zoomed over his head, rebounding off the fleshy blob’s shoulder. Lucy’s eyes fluttered and she went to her knees, the overuse of her new powers overwhelming her.
    There was no one now. All this time, all the planning, it had been for nothing. The Fade would have this world, too. He took its face in his hands, pressing it away. The thing growled, its hazy, fat eyes widening. He would die there, now. He didn’t blame the girls for breaking down, of course. This was all fiction come to life for them. Its mouth—green swollen gums, jutting decaying teeth, caked with its own gore—opened.
    It pulled him forward, stumbling again, jerking Jonas upwards onto its head. He smiled. Jonas stiffened his thumbs and buried them deep into its eyes. He thought that it felt like plunging them into ripe plums right before he was thrown across the pasture. When he landed, a wave of pain enveloped his body. But it was better than being eaten to death. He watched as the monster pawed at its face and then slumped forward, unmoving.
    Angela cried. Lucy was coming around again. Cynthia was balled up against her tree, rocking herself. Every muscle ached as Jonas rose. He scanned the four corners of the pasture as far as he could see. They seemed to be alone now. They needed that to be the last one. The girls were done, and so was he.
    The slight rise of the creature’s stomach was the single indication that it was still alive. He wanted to collect his trusty pipe, go over there and stuff it down its throat. But, he couldn’t take the chance that it might have another round in it. It would die soon enough from Angela’s wound. Until then, he had