Chapter 78: Close combat
She hit the monster on its exposed sides, slamming it into the nearby wall. A light tremor ran through the room on impact, sending dust falling off the kitchen ceiling.
It shook its movable head. There was a large depression where the girl had hit, but it barely did anything to its actual capabilities. Mia backed off before it could recover, glancing at the new, massive dent in her bat.
It likely wouldn’t survive another swing.
The pale beast pushed itself off the wall in a single motion, slashing a bladed limb at Mia as it did so. A flying can intercepted it before it reached her.
It struck the intersection where the limb met its second torso, detonating against the joint there. The arm flew back, hitting and snapping against the wall. It remained barely connected to its body by a string of ruined muscle and cartilage, all covered in a mix of steaming beans and shrapnel.
Truly enraged now, it didn’t bother with the ruined arm and just swung wide in Grimm’s direction with its last good arm.
The boy dropped down, just barely escaping being cut in half. The blade continued on its path, tearing a large gash in Morgan’s corpse and flinging him off the central table. The body crashed into the stove, scattering the pots on top of it.
Before it could unleash another swing, Ryan rose up and charged towards it, holding a long mixing paddle in his hands. He barely kept his footing while running on the corpses below.
The slight delay they caused gave the monster some time to react. It clawed at him with its other set of arms, yet it was already too late by then. He was already in its range, letting him dodge the telegraphed attack and ram his paddle’s blade into the monster’s chest.
The force pressed it against the wall once more, restricting its movements once again. Only for a moment though, as its blade limb had finally recovered.
It grabbed Ryan with its frostbitten arms, locking him in place before stabbing with its blade limb. A flying can interrupted it midway.
Having learned from the first time, it dodged, letting the can crash and explode on the wall behind it. The detonation still sent shrapnel into its back.
It turned towards Grimm, the boy already reaching for another can from the pile he’d retrieved from the room. Then it screeched with the most emotion Miles had ever heard from an anomaly.
Hate. There was nothing but pure hate in both voices.
Ryan took advantage of its distraction to break out of its grasp. But the thing couldn’t be bothered, and still screeching at Grimm, it tensed its legs against the wall.
Brandon ignited the broken broomstick in his hands, wreathing it in bright blue flames. He threw it into the mouth of the eyeless head.
With its focus on Grimm, it didn’t even notice the threat, not until it landed in its mouth. The flames caught instantly, engulfing the soft tissue in a roaring blaze.
A pungent smell wafted off the fire.
Both heads screeched in pain as the flames spread within. The burning head spat the still flaming stick out of its mouth, the wood having already burned into dark charcoal. The other dazedly scanned the room once before launching its burning self forward with reckless abandon. Limbs, blades, everything attacking anything with no target in mind.
Brandon was forefront in its way. He couldn’t duck in time, and the bone blade nicked him on the shoulder for it.
A hand whipped towards Ryan. He raised his new paddle to block, saving himself from a direct hit. The force behind it threw him back, flinging the weapon out of his hands and sending it somewhere among the corpses.
The beast smashed into a cupboard, shattering it and spraying wood splinters into the frigid air. Still letting out that horrid screech, it redirected itself, then pounced once more.
This time, it was heading for Miles.
There was little space to dodge or even try and escape its burning body. So he did the next best thing.
He threw himself into the nearest cabinet and slammed the door shut, hiding in the pitch-black darkness of its interior.
He could only be thankful that his diminutive size let him even fit in.
A crash sounded beyond it, and the space around him shook violently. Then it calmed for a moment, before the monster started moving again.
"Get to the storeroom!"
Chloe shouted somewhere outside. The next things he heard were scrambling, screeching, and a metal door being opened and shut.
"Miles!"
Chloe shouted.
"You have to get in!"
Brandon’s voice sounded over hers, panting and groaning between his words.
"What are you doing? Do you want that thing to get in here? Close the door!"
Then Ryan stepped in.
"Get in, both of you! Miles, if you’re hiding and you’re sure it’s safe, then keep hiding. The flames should kill it soon enough. If you’re not, then run when you get the chance and knock; we’ll open it for you."
"What-"
The door slammed shut, cutting any questions off.
Now it was just the darkness, the screeching beast, and him.
Miles remained silent, considering his options for a moment before deciding that escaping was the better option.
He’d hesitated too long and missed the perfect time to escape, which was when the others were making their moves.
The beast had slowly reduced the intensity of its rampage, and that pained, screeching howl grew lower, and almost mournful.
’Is it dying?’
He pushed the cabinet door open a little, peeking out into the kitchen. At first, he saw nothing but carnage: mutilated corpses on the floor, shattered countertops and shelves, and kitchen equipment strewn all over the place.
Then the creature lumbered its way, stumbling into his view.
The burning head was mostly done burning now, reduced to a blackened lump roughly fused to the shoulder of the ’normal’ head. Its torso had largely been ruined too, with its last bone blade dragging weakly behind it.
Unfortunately, the flames had died down too, and although the other head and its torso were severely damaged as well, it was nowhere near death.
Still, gone was that seemingly insurmountable horror that had nearly killed them all before. It looked weaker now, much like the ghouls did.
A thought went through his mind at the sight.
’Should I kill it?’
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A/N privilege readers: I messed up the upload structure again((T_T))((T_T)). Please reread the last four Chapters