"Um, ladies, no offense, but I don't think we have time for that." Kaden had straightened, looking down the hill. A fresh batch of shadow creatures was poring out of the cave mouth.
"Yeah...run, RUN!" I pushed Brie towards the road and quickly scanned for survivors. I was about to point to an injured woman but Kaden cut me off.
"Got 'em!" He yelled and I completed my circle. I heard alarms in the distance, and was counting on that meaning someone had already called for an ambulance. I ran after Brie, who was struggling a bit in her heels with the wet ground. Abruptly I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and realized someone was trying to stand near the open grave. I ran towards them, realizing that it was the preacher. It looked like he had fallen into the empty grave. I pulled him up by the arm.
"My ankle-I'm afraid I've twisted it." He gasped. "What's going on? People were screaming, and running and..." I tried to move him towards the road. He grimaced.
"No time now, let's go ok? We'll get you help." I urged, trying to support his injured side. A dark shape hurtled out of the grave at us, knocking us both over. I cursed myself for not paying attention and sarcastically noted that this attack would make absolute sense in some weird twisted way.. The priest screamed in pain as the shadow creature gripped me by the shirt and lifted me off the ground.
"What's going on?" The priest shrieked "What is wrong with you?" It occurred to me that he probably couldn't see the creature, which could explain why it went straight for me and ignored him. My mind started mulling over this detail as the priest began screaming about possession and the devil. I rolled my eyes. Thankfully though, the noise was distracting the creature, so it gave me a few seconds to think.
The shirt I was wearing was rather old and thin; the shadow creature's grip combined with my dangling weight was straining the material. I did the only thing I could think of, and yanked at the shirt as hard as I could. The material gave way with a satisfying RIIIP. I landed on my feet and quickly turned to the preacher, who was now gaping at me open-mouthed. The creature behind me was looking at the shirt scraps as if confused, which made me feel like they may be a little slow witted.
"Let's go!" I grabbed the preacher's arm and tugged him away from the monster.
"Unhand me! You heathenous woman! Baring yourself before God and all his creation! Satan has his claws in you! And you shall not touch me!" He dramatically proclaimed, jerking his arm out of my grasp.
"Alright fine, deal with it yourself then. Also, I'm wearing a bra!" I gestured and ran past him towards the road. I felt more than heard the thundering steps behind me and knew the creature had finally figured out what happened. The preacher was still shrieking at me from the grave-side.
"Oh shut up." I mumbled, racing towards Brie. She had made i to the asphalt and turned back to look for me. The look on her face told me everything I needed to know about the creature's proximity. My mind raced
'Whhat do I have? What can I use? Use what's available to you! Think goddamn it!' I thought desperately. I didn't think I had time to grab and fold a chair, and without the element of surprise, I wasn't sure if I could do enough damage. Brie started screaming at me and she tossed something black through the air towards my head. My hand snapped up to catch it before I could even register what it was, just as the monster tackled me again.
I was ready for it this time though, so I started to turn as I fell, landing on my shoulder instead of my chest. I gripped the item Brie had tossed me and waited for my opening.
"..noooo...yuuuu" The monster hissed. "haaate...yuuu." It wheezed as it grabbed me by the arm and pulled me off the ground, bringing its face to mine. "Kiiiiilllll youuuu" It spat at me. I swung my arm as hard as I could at its face, jamming the object in my hand at the creature's eye. It screamed grabbing at its eye, and I finally realized what Brie had tossed to me.