Darlings by Ashley Swisher Read Free Book Online Page A

spoke.  
    “You know why we’re here, beast.” Was he
speaking to Andrew? Who was he to call anyone a beast Gwen thought?
She shook, unable to move as if the ground had turned to wet
cement. Run she commanded, but her body wouldn’t listen. Scream.
Fight. Do something, anything. Still nothing. Andrew stepped in
front of her. 
    “Pete has been gone far too long. We want the
princess. Don’t you beasts travel in packs?” The demon crouched
looking left then right and finally sniffed the air. A low rattle
came from his throat that appeared to be his laugh. “You’re alone?”
He laughed again. “A young one even. Your heart is nothing like an
immortals…but will suffice.” The group crouched and hissed, lunging
forward awaiting their leader’s consent to attack.  
    Andrew stepped in front of Gwen.
“Get…back…Gwen,” he stammered. Gwen backed up until her pointy
shoulder blades were touching the matt on the gym wall. She pressed
herself into it as if she were hoping to become part of it.
Inanimate. Lifeless, so she had no life to take.
Princess? 
    It was horrific. Terrible. Gut wrenching.
Andrew clenched his huge fists and dropped his head peering at the
monsters with eyes filled of sheer hate and insanity. Gwen
shivered. His opponents continued to lunge towards the invisible
line, which was the only thing holding them in place. They snarled
almost animal like. One with deep scars covering his awful pale
face held some sort of massive silver steak. Another with a missing
ear pulled a crimson glistening silver sword covered in wet blood
from behind his back. He licked the liquid off the blade, slicing
his tongue and hollering in delight. The third arched his gruesome
body and yanked out a handful of sparse black string-like hair,
from his own scaly head, as he shrieked happily, lapping up the
blood spilling from the other. Their leader put one sickening hand
up. 
    “Are you sure you want to do this boy? You
could just hand her over you know. Spare your life...for a while,”
the monster smiled. 
    “I...want nothing...more...than to tear you
limb...from limb,” Andrew growled, followed by a fierce howl that
could only be heard from the deepest pits of hell. He suddenly
changed into something menacing, almost evil. His clothes tore in
half with vengeance. Gwen could hear his
    bones break and snap back together. In a
single moment he was the creature from a horrible nightmare, a
lion-like human being with thick brown fur and gigantic protruding
teeth.  Standing well over seven foot, he walked on two
massive hind legs. Thick, hard, fur covered muscles bulging from
every part of his form. His claws were almost metallic as they
radiated in the gyms fluorescent lights. He turned and looked at
Gwen with black un-human eyes. On his colossal chest was the oddest
thing of all, one of the most beautiful things Gwen had ever seen.
It shown like gold diamonds shaped into a sideways figure eight,
pulsating with every beat of his heart. He quickly touched it with
his huge paw. 
    I won’t let them touch you. Just stay back.
His voice appeared in her head again, smooth as melted chocolate,
just as it did before he took this ugly form.  The leader
threw down his hand and the monstrous group charged forward,
breaking free of their imaginary restraints, coming in for the
kill. The sounds alone were enough to make Gwen vomit. They
attacked her protector from all sides. Circling, taking turns
lunging with snarling teeth and hurling weapons. They moved with
superhuman force. Jumping and twisting far beyond what is humanly
possible. 
    Andrew moved with equal agility. The first
sprang through the air attempting to drive his silver sword into
Andrew’s bulging hide over his neck. Her protector jumped up,
meeting the slimy demon in mid-air. He caught the fiend with one
paw and brought him to his dog like mouth. Snarling, Andrew bit
into the monsters scarred head, ripping it from his body in one
smooth motion. Tendons and