Chapter 101
The first scream shattered the fragile quiet of the pack house. I bolted upright, my heart pounding, and instinctively reached for Jake. He was already out of bed, his blade in hand and eyes blazing with urgency.
“Stay here,” he growled, but I was already reaching for my dagger.
“Don’t even start,” I snapped, throwing on my coat. “I’m coming.”
Another scream echoed, this one closer. It was shrill and raw, the sound of someone in unimaginable pain. My stomach churned, but I forced myself to focus.
Jake gave me a look, half frustration, half resignation, and nodded. “Stay close.”
The hallway was chaos. Doors were flung open, children crying, pack members shouting. The scent of fear was suffocating, mingling with something far worse—an acrid, sickly smell that made my skin crawl.
“Jake!” Chris came barreling down the corridor, his face pale. “It’s happening all over the house. The damn spiders!”
My blood ran cold. “Spiders? You mean—”
“More of them,” Chris interrupted, breathless. “Big ones. They’re everywhere.”
I didn’t have time to ask how it was possible. A guttural shriek from below made my answer clear: Jena wasn’t done with us.
“We need to move everyone to safety,” Jake barked.
“We’ll never get them all out,” Chris said, his voice grim. “They’re coming too fast.”
“We’ll buy time,” I said firmly, gripping my dagger. “Get as many people as you can underground. Jake and I will handle the creatures.”
Jake looked like he wanted to argue, but the determined set of my jaw stopped him. “Fine,” he said tightly. “But don’t you dare get yourself killed.”
The first spider we encountered was in the main foyer. It was even larger than the one from my dream, its hulking form nearly filling the room. Its legs were impossibly long and jagged, slicing through furniture like paper.
A young pack member, no older than twelve, was backed into a corner, her terrified sobs cutting through the air.
“Hey!” I shouted, drawing the spider’s attention. Its glowing yellow eyes snapped to me, and it let out a guttural hiss.
Jake didn’t hesitate, leaping forward and slashing at one of its legs. The blade bit deep, and the spider reared back, shrieking in pain.
“Go!” I yelled to the girl, motioning toward the hallway. She didn’t need to be told twice, scrambling past us as fast as she could.
The spider lunged, and I threw up a wall of flame to block its path. It screeched, its legs skittering against the ground as it tried to circle around.
“Priscilla!” Jake called. “Keep it distracted!”
I didn’t need to be told twice. Summoning all the fire I could muster, I sent a torrent of flame toward the creature. It screeched, retreating slightly, but I could tell it wasn’t enough.
“Jake, now!”
He surged forward, his blade slicing through its thick exoskeleton. The spider convulsed, its legs twitching as it collapsed to the ground in a heap.
“Is it dead?” I asked, panting.
Jake nudged it with his boot, his expression grim. “For now.”
But we both knew this wasn’t the end.
The next few minutes were a blur of chaos. Every corridor we turned down seemed to have another spider, each one more terrifying than the last. Some were fast, their legs a blur as they skittered toward us. Others were slow and hulking, their massive bodies crushing everything in their path.
People were everywhere, some fighting, some running. The air was thick with the scent of blood and fear.
“Priscilla, behind you!” Jake’s shout snapped me back to reality just in time to duck. A spider lunged, its fangs snapping inches from my face.
I slashed upward with my dagger, the blade cutting into one of its eyes. It howled, rearing back, but before I could strike again, another one appeared, its legs crashing down toward me.
“Jake!” I screamed, throwing up a shield of fire.
He was there in an instant, his blade flashing as he drove it into the creature’s abdomen. “We can’t keep this up!” he shouted.
He was right. For every spider we killed, it felt like two more appeared.
The dining hall was the worst.
Bodies were strewn across the floor, some barely recognizable. A group of pack members was cornered by two massive spiders, their terrified screams echoing off the walls.
Jake and I didn’t hesitate. He charged the first spider, his blade slicing through its legs with brutal efficiency. I focused on the second, summoning a whip of flame and snapping it toward the creature.
It screeched, retreating slightly, but it didn’t stop. I could feel the heat of its breath as it lunged toward me, its fangs dripping with venom.
I dove to the side, barely avoiding its strike. My arm burned where it grazed me, the venom sizzling against my skin.
“Fatima!” I screamed, spotting her across the room. “Get them out of here!”
She nodded, her face pale but determined. “Come on!” she shouted to the pack members, herding them toward the door.
Jake and I held the spiders off long enough for them to escape, but it was taking everything we had.
“This isn’t working,” Jake said, his voice strained. “We need a new plan.”
We regrouped in the central corridor, Chris and Fatima joining us.
“There are too many,” Chris said, his face grim. “We’re losing people.”
“Then we need to get everyone underground,” Jake said. “Now.”
“What about the spiders?” Fatima asked, her voice shaking.
“We’ll hold them off as long as we can,” I said.
Jake nodded. “Chris, Fatima, get everyone you can and take them to the tunnels. Priscilla and I will cover you.”
“No,” Fatima said, surprising me. “I’m staying. You’ll need all the help you can get.”
“Fatima—”
“Don’t argue,” she said fiercely. “I’m not leaving you.”
Jake sighed but didn’t argue. “Fine. But stay close.”
The spiders were relentless, their screeches echoing through the pack house as they tore through walls and doors. We fought with everything we had, our weapons and magic barely keeping them at bay.
“Get to the tunnels!” Jake shouted to a group of fleeing pack members.
Fatima threw a bottle of alcohol at one of the creatures, the liquid igniting as I hit it with a burst of flame.
Chris fought like a man possessed, his claws tearing through the spiders’ legs with brutal efficiency.
But it wasn’t enough.
“They just keep coming!” I shouted, dodging another attack.
Jake grabbed my arm, pulling me back. “We can’t save everyone, Priscilla. We need to focus on getting them underground.”
I hated the truth of his words, but there was no time to argue.
By the time we reached the entrance to the tunnels, the pack house was nearly unrecognizable. Walls were crumbled, furniture destroyed, and the air was thick with smoke and ash.
“Go, go!” Jake shouted, ushering the last of the pack members into the tunnels.
Fatima and I held the line as Jake and Chris secured the entrance, sealing it off with heavy doors reinforced with magic.
When the last door slammed shut, the silence was deafening.
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