I stayed huddled against the door, my heart thudding so loudly I could hear it in my ears, as if it might leap out of my chest at any moment. My breaths were shallow, ragged, and my hands shook uncontrollably in my lap. What now? I had no plan, no clue what I was supposed to do next.
Then—CRASH.
The door jolted, wood splintering around the hinges. I screamed, clapping my hands over my mouth to muffle the sound. My body went cold, the terror clawing at me like icy fingers gripping my spine. I felt frozen, pinned to the spot, staring at the door as it buckled under another heavy blow.
It was back. It wasn't giving up.
"God, no. Please—" I whimpered under my breath, but there was no one to hear me. No one to stop this.
Another crash. The door shuddered, the lock groaning under the strain, and I felt the panic rising in my throat, thick and suffocating. It's coming through. It's going to get in.
Instinct screamed at me to run, but my legs wouldn't move. I was trapped, every limb locked in place by fear, every rational thought drowned out by the sheer terror coursing through my veins. I can't—
The door splintered open with a sickening crack, and the creature pushed through, its blood-soaked hands clawing at the gap, tearing at the wood. Its eyes found mine instantly, and that hollow, hungry gaze sent a bolt of raw fear straight through me. My body reacted before my mind did—I scrambled to my feet, stumbling over the clutter on the floor, nearly tripping as I backed up toward the kitchen.
It lunged, a twisted snarl ripping from its throat. I grabbed the first thing I could find—an old lamp on the counter—and swung it wildly as the creature charged at me. The base of the lamp connected with its head, the impact jarring up my arms as the creature staggered back, momentarily dazed.
"Stay back! Stay away from me!" I screamed, but my voice was high-pitched and trembling, more desperate than threatening.
It didn't stay down. It shook its head, growling low in its throat, then lunged again, teeth bared and reaching for me. Oh God, it's going to kill me.
In a blind panic, I threw the lamp at its head and bolted for the hallway. My feet slipped on the tile as I ran, my chest burning with every breath. I could hear it behind me, the scrape of its shoes, the growl of hunger that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Run, Maya, run! my mind screamed, but my limbs felt weak, sluggish. I crashed into the wall at the end of the hall, barely catching myself before I fell. The thing was right behind me, faster than it had any right to be. I could feel its breath on my neck.
I reached for the door to the fire escape, yanking it open so hard I nearly pulled it off the hinges. I threw myself through the opening, stumbling down the metal stairs, my legs shaking so badly I could barely keep my balance.
The creature slammed into the doorframe behind me, but it was too wide, too clumsy to fit through immediately. I heard it growling, clawing at the metal door, trying to follow. My mind raced. I'm not fast enough. I can't outrun it.
I half-ran, half-fell down the stairs, each clanging footstep echoing in the narrow stairwell. My heart pounded in my chest, every beat screaming at me to move faster, to get away. I hit the landing, my breath coming in sharp, painful gasps.
But as I reached the final set of stairs, I heard something else—another one.
My blood turned to ice. A second creature stood at the bottom of the stairwell, blocking the exit. Its head jerked up at the sound of me barreling down the stairs, and it let out a guttural hiss, its dead eyes locking onto mine.
No. No, no, no—
I turned, trying to scramble back up, but the first one had made it through. It was coming down the stairs after me, its mangled fingers gripping the railing as it descended with terrifying speed.
I was trapped.
Panic took over. I backed up, pressing myself into the corner, my hands shaking so violently I could barely keep hold of the railing. The creature at the bottom was closing in, and the one behind me was nearly on top of me.
This is it. I'm going to die.
My vision blurred with tears. Isla. I couldn't save her. I couldn't even save myself.
But something deep inside me—the part of me that had fought to survive all these years, even in the shadow of everyone else's light—kicked in. I wasn't going to die like this. Not without fighting. Not without giving it everything I had left.
I spotted the fire extinguisher bolted to the wall beside me. With shaking hands, I yanked it off the bracket, barely able to lift the weight of it, but it didn't matter. I swung it with every ounce of strength I had left.
The creature from the top was the first to reach me, but I brought the extinguisher down on its head with a sickening crunch. It stumbled, blood spraying from the wound, but it wasn't enough to stop it. It lunged again, and I screamed, swinging wildly.
The extinguisher connected again, and again, until it finally dropped to the ground, twitching, the snarls turning into garbled moans. My arms felt like they were made of lead, but I turned to the second one, who was nearly upon me.
I screamed, raising the extinguisher one last time, and let it crash down with all the strength I had left.
Everything was a blur of blood and adrenaline, but somehow, I kept swinging. Somehow, I wasn't dead.
The creature finally stopped moving, its body slumped on the cold metal of the fire escape.
I collapsed against the railing, gasping for air, my whole body trembling violently. The extinguisher slipped from my hands, clattering to the floor.
I had survived. Barely.
Tears spilled down my cheeks as I looked at the blood on my hands. I'm alive.