Ashanté woke up after a deep slumber. She scanned around in hazy eyes, lost about where she was. She looked around and saw white paintings all over the room, with white slabs, white crucibles, different test tubes with different potions.
'This looked like my school chemistry laboratory'.
'What am I doing here?'
Covering her mouth, she yawned and stretched, feeling relieved, she climbed down on the bed and stepped down on the floor. The cold, wet and sticky feeling of her sole made her look down in surprise.
'What is this wet...,'
Her eyes widened and she gasped.
"What!".
"This is blood... blood.... blood".
Ashanté held on tight to her chest as her heart beat hard and fast against her thorax. She could feel her lungs losing air and her vision darkened. She was fainting, yet she lowered her head and held on tight to her bed.
After feeling relieved, she walked towards the door, resting her hand on the wall for support, she looked to the sides and saw two heads that have been decapitated on the floor. She retched and vomited.
Getting a hold of herself, she struggled till she got outside and walked towards the other two dead men she found in the corridor. Bending down, she managed to search the bodies and found a phone in one of the men's pocket. She dialled her mom's number.
Rings.....
No answer.
"Isshhh, pick up mom! Pick up!".
She dialled the number again.
Ring....Ring....
No answer.
Ashanté clenched her fist in annoyance and made her way outside the building. Turning to look at the building, she realised it looked like an abandoned factory. Not knowing her exact location, she put on the phone internet connection and opened google maps.
Zooming in on the phone screen, she realised she was in Stellenbosch, 300 kilometers away from her parent house.
"How the hell did I got here?" She asked loudly to no one in particular.
Then it hits.
"Wait, I thought we were to go see Orion and his mom at Cape Town hospital about the result that I was..."
She touched her abdomen , rubbed it.
She gasped.
'Yeah, true. I think I'm pregnant. Issssh! How can my first sex lead to pregnancy?'.
She opened the phone again and dialled her mom's number.
Ring....
"Hello, who's on the line" The exhausted feminine voice came in.
"Mom! Mom, it's me, Ashanté. Where are you? I just woke up and found myself at Stellenbosch...What happened?"
"Where are you, you said? Stellen..? Just wait right there, don't move, and hide properly, we are coming to find you now. Please, stay wherever you are. It's dangerous outside".
The call ended.
Ashanté was more surprised about her mom last statement, 'it's dangerous outside'.
Covering her mouth with resolve, 'what could have killed these men and who are they? Why am I still alive?' She asked herself.
Deciding to wait for her mom, two monstrous flying beast crowed above her. Looking up, she saw the two car-sized like birds flying just 20 meters above her.
"What the fuck is this?"
The birds hearing some sounds down below hovered around the area, looking for what made the sound. Ashanté had hid herself under Lucas' car that was left in the area because it was damaged.
One of the bird landed, dusts flew in all directions as it flapped its wings. Ashanté sneezed due to the dust irritating her nostrils. Alerting the birds, the second one landed and they furiously ran towards the car. Circling the car, looking for the source of the noise, they angrily used their large hammer like beaks to hit the car, which dented the car to some degree.
'Oh! Goodness. What have I done, save me O'Lord' Ashanté prayed silently.
The birds kept circling around the car, nudging it side by side, in order to find the source of the noise.
They were too large and their legs were to long for them to bend down and look under the car.
One of the birds used it head to lift the car up to a few inches, but it dropped before Ashanté could be exposed. Annoyed about their failed hunt, they flapped their wings, spreading gust of air and dust, and both birds at once, took off.
Breathing hard, Ashanté thanked her stars for been allowed to live unscathed.
Then she decided to wait under the car for her mom. Doubtful if the birds had truly left or it was just a decoy.
Orion ran as fast as he could, but the horde of beasts behind him was faster. He couldn't literally outrun this stampede, he knew he needed a help, magic or a miracle.
Still running to the best of his capabilities, as fast as his athletic limbs could carry him, Orion mind drifted into the subconscious part of his brain, he could feel a presence but also couldn't control it. The presence summoning him to call for help. The pull was strong and magnetic, but Orion didn't know how to access it. He kept running, noting the closing distance between him and the stampede behind him. He decided to run back into the subway from which he had came through.
'At least it will reduce the stampede by half'.
Taking the turning to the right, Orion had entered the subway and something pulled hard on him into his subconscious state. Once he got to where there was light, the pulling force reduced. The next dark spot in the subway, he felt the pull was stronger than the last one. Still trying to understand what was going on, he kept running and didn't yield to the force.
'I just want to avoid being trampled to death, I really am not a fan of this games' Orion told himself.
While running, he came across a mirror and realised his reflection was split in two. One was his, and the other was his too, but with a more defined body and look, a very distinguishable contrast.
The next and the last dark spot he got to before he got out of the subway, the magnetic pull dragged him hard into his subconscious mind and he found himself in front of another entity.
"What am I doing here"? Orion asked.
"Wasn't I supposed to be outside running away from those beasts?" Orion was shocked at the revelation.
"As long as you're here, they can't touch your body". The entity responded.
"Okay, so you're Mister Powerful now? You kind of looked familiar, have we met before?" Orion asked.
Laughing, the entity said, "Yes, Boy. I'm the reason you're still alive. I actually called you here to ask for my bargain".
"Bargain? Where? Me and you struck a deal? Orion asked surprised.
"Yes, man. You said you were gonna bring me lambs, and I said I'll get back to you. Now, I'm back to get my quota of lambs you promised".
"Lambs? I'm not a herder. Where do you expect me to get lambs from?" Orion asked again.
"By lambs, I meant lives. You already gave me 5 lambs, but the end of the day is getting nearer, and you have not completed your quota that's why I came to remind you" The entity said.
"Okay, okay, how do I escape this stampede first, then we can talk about this bargain of a thing" Orion quipped.
"Well, those beasts can fill up your quota, all you need is to killed them and they'll be sacrificed as your lambs".
"How do you expect me to kill those guys? Are you insane?".
Laughing hysterically, the devil moved closer to Orion. "I gave you more powers than you can imagine, just know how to use it and you'll become unstoppable" The laughing continued till it faded.
Orion came back to consciousness, and noted he was about to get out of the subway, he looked back and realised the beasts were just few feets closer.
'Shit, I'm going to die'.