Darlings by Ashley Swisher Read Free Book Online Page B

muscles snapped, hanging loosely from
the decapitated corpse. Blood spewed like water from a hose on a
hot summer day, shining on the slick gymnasium floor. Andrew tossed
the body aside like a piece of garbage and wasted no time pinning
the second to the floor. Blood dripped from Andrews’s giant mouth.
A third sprung onto Andrew’s back, attempting to drive his silver
sword between her protector’s massive shoulder blades to no reward.
The stringy haired monster on the floor saw his chance and drove
his knife into Andrew’s chest just missing his heart. Gwen screamed
in agony, as she slumped to the floor. 
    With a howl Andrew drove a claw filled paw
into his attacker’s neck holding him in place as he flung the other
from his back, throwing him head first into the brick wall,
instantly paralyzing him. Andrew directed his attention back to the
demon on the floor. He shoved his scalpel like claws further in the
neck of his attacker. Through gurgling, Gwen could hear the
monster’s body being ripped into pieces. Andrew turned, his coat
blood stained, and walked slowly over to the one who was paralyzed.
He ripped off the sub humans remaining ear as it cried out in
agony. Gwen couldn’t help herself. 
    “Just kill him!” she screamed through broken
sobs. Until now she’d been too frozen to move, too terrified to
speak. 
    You go it . With one quick stab through
the skull, into the brain, the gruesome creature was
gone. 
    The leader stood half way across the gym,
eyes filled with fear. “You’ve been sworn. To the princess?” he
asked in disbelief. 
    Andrew answered his question with a simple
growl.  He began walking toward the leader ever so slowly,
preparing for his fourth kill, barely noticing his wounded
chest. 
     Suddenly, a dark shadow emerged. It
started small, barely noticeable but quickly became darker and
larger until it was the size of a standard door. Through the shadow
came a translucent form.
    It appeared to be a small woman, about Tina’s
size with...wings? Gwen couldn’t believe her eyes. The pixyish
woman was dark, gothic-like. Her skin was the color of snow and her
hair as black as the darkest night. She wore an amethyst jewel on a
gold chain around her neck that complemented her plum barely there
dress. Her wings sparkled like sun reflecting off crystal clear
water. She quickly held up a stubby hand to her lilac lips and blew
ever so softly what looked like glitter onto the opponents’ leader.
Then as quickly as she appeared, she was gone, taking him with
her. 
    Damn it . Gwen heard that sultry voice
in her head once more. Just as she felt as if she were going to
faint, her pounding heart slowed to a controlled low rate. Her
breathing became easier and she felt a warm, calm rush over her,
somewhat dulling the pain, though she still felt unavoidably weak.
Blood stained her gray sweater.
    Hurry, go grab a pair of gym shorts .
She heard. 
    “Why?” Gwen whispered. 
    You’ll see, or I guess that’s what I am
trying to avoid . Suddenly, just as sudden as Andrew had
transformed into something horrible, he was turning back into his
human form. Snapping and cracking echoed in throughout the gym
dimmed by the unrelenting buzz of the fire alarm. He was naked
kneeling on the slick floor, his tanned backside to Gwen. Oh God,
Gwen thought. She hobbled to the boys’ locker room returning with a
pair of the first athletic shorts she could find. Thankfully they
managed to fit. 
    She turned away and held out the red shorts
to Andrew who was attempting to conceal all that needed to be
concealed. Her cheeks felt fire engine red, though her
embarrassment was short lived when Andrew slipped the shorts on and
turned to face her. He had a wound where the knife had pierced his
flesh. Gwen’s knees buckled as she examined her similar wound to
the chest. Though her pain was definitely dulled, her wound was
still evident and bleeding more every second. Oddly, though it
didn’t hurt near as much as it