Flash Fiction: Under a Dead Sun: Past Sins

Chapter 15

Ally threw herself backwards, away from the horrible claw reaching out towards her. The light was dim inside the stable, though a soft glow still clung to the lantern on the wall behind her enabling her to still see the man who had been her father. He was trying to free himself from a tangle of bodies, having been thrown under her brother and fiancee. He wasn't her father anymore though, not really. His face had become a twisted mess, his mouth distended into a gaping maw of sharp black teeth and even duller black eyes that stared back at her. She crawled back, her hands tearing at the hard packed earth, fingers clawing at the clay floor so hard that her nails peeled and bled. She screamed again, harder, when she saw her brother and fiancee had also begun to move, they too, having turned into the terrifying creature her father had become.

The thing that had been her father shot his hand forward, having freed his torso. His thick claws grabbed at the hem of her muddy dress, finding purchase. Ally screamed even harder, thrashing so fiercely and using her feet to kick back off the earth so hard that that part of her dress and petticoat tore away. She had kicked so hard that she lifted off the ground and when her dress tore, she landed hard on her backside, letting out a soft cry as she landed, shuddering as a wave of pain shot along her spine. Her head still throbbed from the two huge lumps and her stomach felt tender and bruised. Her fingers bled from torn nails and her lip had split again from her last cry, letting her taste her own coppery terror.

Still, fear over ruled her pain and she rolled over, crawling as far away as she could on her hands and knees. She stopped when she reached the wall of the stable and looked around for a weapon, anything she could use. She looked desperately, for anything, running her hands along the wall trying to find anything she could use. Finally she flashed on the lantern and she pulled herself upright on the wall, fighting the wave of vertigo and nausea that came over her. Her fingers closed around the wire handle of the lantern and she pulled it free, her fingers shaking with terror.

She turned around, thrusting the lantern forward, washing the three creatures in the lantern's meager glow. The one that had been her father was just steps away as Ally pushed herself as far against the wall as she could. The other two had also freed themselves and were but steps behind the first. Her father still clutched the torn shreds of her dress, but stretched his mouth wide in a fetid hiss as he closed in. Tears streamed from Ally's face, though she made no sound, her voice choked off by the thick lump in her throat. Suddenly the beast's eye went wide and it jerked forward, lunging at Ally's throat. Instinctively Ally lashed out with her only weapon, bringing the lantern across and smashing it against the side of the monster's face. The lantern exploded, erupting against the beast in flames. The creature reared back, the flames licking at the monster as it let out a weird, strangled sort of cry. It thrashed backwards, flailing against the creatures behind it. The fire licked at the monster almost inhumanly fast, spreading across it and the other two beasts like wildfire.

The oil from the lantern hadn't stopped there though, the fire and oil licking at the dried bits of hay that lay strewn about the stable, catching in small bits until reaching the first bale, from which the whole building caught. In mere seconds, the stable was burning fiercely. Ally swatted herself as small bits of her own clothes smoldered from errant bits of oil and embers, falling to the hard floor. She watched as her father quickly burned, his sallow flesh melting away. Tears, from both her heart and the thick smoke that was forming inside, streamed from her face. Her father had fell against her fiancee and her brother, the flames catching against them as well. They seemed to burn bright and fast, the only sound coming from them a mix of throaty growls and hisses, as even in flames they tried to crawl towards her.

Turning her head away, Ally couldn't look anymore. She feebly crawled away, pulling herself upright once she reached the exit of the stable. Once clear, she stumbled towards the small boathouse that had once tied the raft to the other side of the river. She fell hard by the door but she didn't have the strength to pull herself back up again. Ally Marshall merely turned over, rolling her back against the side of the boathouse, and lay there in the muddy earth. Then she watched the stable burned itself to the ground and burn away the only family she had ever known.

End of Line.
Gerrad!