Mated To An Enemy

“Run,” Sadie whispered, staring wide-eyed at the creature emerging from the lake.

“Where do we go?” Dane asked.

“Just run!” Sadie shouted, turning and pushing the others back away from the lake.

The children turned, trying to run away, but they stopped suddenly. Sadie looked up to see that their path was blocked. Before them was another one, just like the creature rising out of the water. Something they had never seen or heard described before.

It was large, as big as a small car. It had a heavy black and brown carapace like an armored shell that covered its long body. Six thin segmented legs extended from the lower abdomen, bent in half as the monster’s body hung low to the ground.

There were two thick and heavy pincher claws in the front. Grabbing and crushing anything within its reach, pulling the remains back to the sharp mandibles of its mouth. Above its mouth, two long and thin antennae touched the dirt and grass around it. These antennae were seemingly replacements for eyes. Finally, the creature’s body ended in a long thin whip-like tail.

The children huddled together between the two monsters. The two younger boys and the girl that had held them earlier stayed at the center. Dane, Sadie, and Stefan all turned, acting as a shield to the other three. They each faced out. Dane kept his eyes on the one that blocked their path while Sadie kept hers on the one from the lake.

Sadie observed as the antennae of the one from the lake reached out, tapping on the dirt and grass between them. She swallowed, thankful that the reach was about five feet short of them.

“We need to call for help!” the girl cried out.

The creature from the lake raised its back end, the whip-like tail swishing above it. The antennae that had been exploring in all directions around the monster now focused only on the ground toward the children.

Sadie gasped.

“Sshhh!” she said. “Quiet… We shouldn’t make loud noises or move too quickly.”

After a few silent moments, the creature lowered itself back toward the ground, its tail falling behind it.

“What do we do?” Dane asked quietly.

Sadie swallowed. Her body already ached from the burns on her stomach and the impact of being dragged. She wasn’t a warrior. None of them were. They needed help, but she instinctively knew that the monsters would immediately attack if she called out for Ashleigh or Myka.

“We can’t just stand here,” Stefan whispered. He turned his head back and forth, looking between both monsters. “What if we tried to run toward the trees?”

Sadie shook her head.

“There are too many of us,” she said. “Besides, look at those legs. These things will move faster than us, I promise.”

Between them, one of the three in the middle began to sob. Their cries were getting louder, and the creature by the lake had noticed. Sadie’s heart was in her throat as she saw its small movements. One step, then two. The antennae were getting close to reaching her now.

“You have to keep quiet,” she whispered. “Please, I know you’re scared, but you have to try.”

The boy that had been letting out loud sobs covered his mouth, trying to keep his voice in. The girl hugged him tighter.

“It’s moving closer,” Dane whispered through his gritted teeth.

Stefan looked toward the one that Dane was watching. It had moved closer, and the antennae were close to touching his feet.

“What if we move back?” Stefan asked. “We don’t need to run, but just move toward the trees… just a little further away.”

Sadie chewed her lower lip. ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

“We would need to all move together, slowly and quietly,” she said. “And we need to be ready to run at any moment.”

It took them a minute to organize themselves. Then, finally, the children in the middle stood and waited for instruction.

The creature Dane was watching had turned its antennae away from the children, exploring the grass near the fire pit.

Meanwhile, the one by the lake had also stopped moving toward Sadie. However, it hadn’t turned away. Instead, it had simply stopped. Its antennae sat perfectly still in the grass no more than a foot away from Sadie’s shoe.

Once they were ready, Sadie took a deep breath. They all moved together, one step. They paused, waiting to see if there was any reaction. Luckily there wasn’t. Another step, again, they were unnoticed. A third step. Now there was at least another foot between Sadie and the antennae. The creature that had been blocking their path moved closer to the remains of the campfire.

Stefan let out a relieved sigh.

“It might take a while,” he whispered. “But we might be able to get away like this.”

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The group took another step. Still no reaction. Sadie narrowed her eyes, feeling like there was something she was missing. She continued to watch it closely as they prepared to move again. And then again, and then again.

But on the fourth step, since Sadie had been watching so closely, she saw it. The tiniest flicker of movement that she hadn’t been able to see before. They took one more step, and Sadie held her breath as she watched, waiting to confirm if what she thought was true.

It was.

Each time they took a step, the antennae of the lake creature moved, just barely, in their direction. She took in a soft gasp.

Stefan noticed; he looked up at her.

“Sadie?” he asked quietly.

Sadie chewed on her bottom lip. She could tell him. They could stop moving, and they might still be safe. It was clear that the creature was still trying to locate them. But they would still be trapped.

They took another step. The antennae adjusted but didn’t move. One more step, this time, there was not even a twitch from the creature.

The children had now managed to distance themselves from the closest of the two creatures. They were roughly halfway to the tree line where Sadie had been taken before.

But with the next step they took, the creature by the lake lifted its antennae from the ground and turned its body toward them.

Sadie gasped.

“Run!” she shouted.

Dane reached back and took hold of the girl’s hand. She already held one of the boys, who held the other. He pulled them along as he ran, without looking back, toward the trees. Stefan should have followed; he was supposed to follow.

But Sadie was supposed to follow too.

Instead, she ran the other way while she screamed and clapped, drawing the monster in her direction.