the guy.
I tried to turn and run. With every ounce of strength I had, I tried to force my feet
to head in the opposite direction, but I could only stare. Watch as he got closer
and closer. Drool rolled out of his shrieking mouth like the foam of a rabid dog.
He wanted me dead. And he craved my death like addicts craved their next high. I could
feel it. In one caustic blast, his murderous intentions hit me a microsecond before
he did.
He slammed into me with the force of a freight train, knocking me senseless, but he
had only enough time to send me crashing against the wall behind me before he went
down. Probably because an equally angry Reyes was on his back. He tackled the guy
to the floor, wrenching a loud scream from the guy’s throat as he tried to shake Reyes
off. Still, the guy kept coming forward. Kept fighting and crawling and inching toward
me as I pressed against the wall, stewing in my own bewilderment. And agony. My head
had whipped back when I hit, and a startlingly sharp jolt of pain ripped through me
like a tornado hell-bent on eating half of Barbara, my brain.
Faced with such bizarre and violent behavior, the crowd panicked. Several were hurt
the moment the guy landed, but more were getting hurt in the crush of bodies, some
trying to get out, some angling for a better look. Screams and shouts erupted and
grew louder and louder as the guy did everything in his power to get to me.
“Go!”
I looked at Reyes. Keeping the man subdued was taking all his strength, and that’s
when I knew the guy could not possibly be human. Or at least not all human.
He fought for a better hold and wrapped the guy in a headlock before offering me another
glare. “Charley, for fuck’s sake, go!” he shouted through clenched teeth.
I scrambled to my feet as the guy elbowed Reyes’s jaw, loosening his hold just enough
to gain another six inches. He refocused on me, his face contorted with a hateful
sneer, saliva bubbling out of his mouth, blood gushing from his nose, but his only
goal was to get to me. He clawed forward, his nails scraping on the cement floor,
breaking as he fought for ground.
The chaos around me took on a life of its own. It rose to a cacophonic frenzy. Screams
echoed from all corners of the warehouse as the spectators ran for the doors. I doubted
any one of them even knew what they were running from at that point. People were screaming.
People were running. And that was good enough for them. They followed suit only because
not to do so would be detrimental to their health. They simply had no choice.
I’d started for the door when I noticed a kid in a Slipknot hoodie. He fell and would
be trampled in a matter of seconds if no one went to his aid. I tried to rush forward,
but the throngs of frenzied spectators pushed me back. I lost sight of the kid altogether.
Then I heard another growl. I had to turn back, to check on Reyes. The man had made
some headway. He was once again only a few feet from me. As I placed one foot behind
the other, unable to take my eyes off Reyes and the Hulk, a darkness emerged from
him, the opponent, the crazy guy clawing toward me with a rabid fervor. For a split
second, another head emerged out of his own. As black and dark as the outermost fringes
of the universe. Teeth sharp as an obsidian razor and honed to a needlelike point.
Then the beast was back inside him and I realized what I was looking at. A demon.
No. I stepped back again. No. A man possessed by a demon. I’d seen demons before when
they’d tortured Reyes. Their spiderlike bodies. Their sinewy limbs that bent and twisted
at unnatural angles. Their eyeless heads that consisted of teeth, teeth, and more
teeth. And one was inside this man. He quaked with a fierce, animalistic need to rip
me to shreds. He wanted me so badly, the hunger of it radiated toward me.
He gave one last, valiant effort to shake Reyes off, but Reyes was too strong.
I tried to turn and run. With every ounce of strength I had, I tried to force my feet
to head in the opposite direction, but I could only stare. Watch as he got closer
and closer. Drool rolled out of his shrieking mouth like the foam of a rabid dog.
He wanted me dead. And he craved my death like addicts craved their next high. I could
feel it. In one caustic blast, his murderous intentions hit me a microsecond before
he did.
He slammed into me with the force of a freight train, knocking me senseless, but he
had only enough time to send me crashing against the wall behind me before he went
down. Probably because an equally angry Reyes was on his back. He tackled the guy
to the floor, wrenching a loud scream from the guy’s throat as he tried to shake Reyes
off. Still, the guy kept coming forward. Kept fighting and crawling and inching toward
me as I pressed against the wall, stewing in my own bewilderment. And agony. My head
had whipped back when I hit, and a startlingly sharp jolt of pain ripped through me
like a tornado hell-bent on eating half of Barbara, my brain.
Faced with such bizarre and violent behavior, the crowd panicked. Several were hurt
the moment the guy landed, but more were getting hurt in the crush of bodies, some
trying to get out, some angling for a better look. Screams and shouts erupted and
grew louder and louder as the guy did everything in his power to get to me.
“Go!”
I looked at Reyes. Keeping the man subdued was taking all his strength, and that’s
when I knew the guy could not possibly be human. Or at least not all human.
He fought for a better hold and wrapped the guy in a headlock before offering me another
glare. “Charley, for fuck’s sake, go!” he shouted through clenched teeth.
I scrambled to my feet as the guy elbowed Reyes’s jaw, loosening his hold just enough
to gain another six inches. He refocused on me, his face contorted with a hateful
sneer, saliva bubbling out of his mouth, blood gushing from his nose, but his only
goal was to get to me. He clawed forward, his nails scraping on the cement floor,
breaking as he fought for ground.
The chaos around me took on a life of its own. It rose to a cacophonic frenzy. Screams
echoed from all corners of the warehouse as the spectators ran for the doors. I doubted
any one of them even knew what they were running from at that point. People were screaming.
People were running. And that was good enough for them. They followed suit only because
not to do so would be detrimental to their health. They simply had no choice.
I’d started for the door when I noticed a kid in a Slipknot hoodie. He fell and would
be trampled in a matter of seconds if no one went to his aid. I tried to rush forward,
but the throngs of frenzied spectators pushed me back. I lost sight of the kid altogether.
Then I heard another growl. I had to turn back, to check on Reyes. The man had made
some headway. He was once again only a few feet from me. As I placed one foot behind
the other, unable to take my eyes off Reyes and the Hulk, a darkness emerged from
him, the opponent, the crazy guy clawing toward me with a rabid fervor. For a split
second, another head emerged out of his own. As black and dark as the outermost fringes
of the universe. Teeth sharp as an obsidian razor and honed to a needlelike point.
Then the beast was back inside him and I realized what I was looking at. A demon.
No. I stepped back again. No. A man possessed by a demon. I’d seen demons before when
they’d tortured Reyes. Their spiderlike bodies. Their sinewy limbs that bent and twisted
at unnatural angles. Their eyeless heads that consisted of teeth, teeth, and more
teeth. And one was inside this man. He quaked with a fierce, animalistic need to rip
me to shreds. He wanted me so badly, the hunger of it radiated toward me.
He gave one last, valiant effort to shake Reyes off, but Reyes was too strong.
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