"Cassie! Run!" Charlie shouted as she conjured her sister's Bō. It was the last bit of power she could use before the circle completed its cycle and cut her off completely.
Cassie snatched the staff as it was tossed to her and gave her a frightened, heart-wrenching look. "I'm sorry!" Grief filled her voice as she turned on her heels and rushed out the door.
In the hallway, the guard turned his rifle toward her and shouted. "Hey! Stop!"
She shifted the Bō in her hands, thrust it forward, and knocked the gun from his grasp. Then, she spun her staff so the other end struck his ear and snapped his neck to the side with a loud grunt. She continued her swing and swept his feet out from under him, causing the guard to crash to the ground with a dull thump.
A quick kick with the toe of her boot to his cheek finished the job. The whole move took no more than four seconds, but it still cost her time, and with fear and adrenaline fueling her, she raced down the hallway.
She quickly reviewed the layout they had been led through and noted the rooms and turns she could use to escape Rygen's sight. Based on Angel's story, the hellhound was extremely fast and agile. Her only hope was to disable as many of its senses as possible.
It was a fleeting hope at best, and dread crept into her throat, threatening to drown out her rational mind. She had seen the hellhound's claw work on Angel's back, and when she saw Rygen for the first time, those images came rushing back in full. Charlie was bound, Angel was injured, and she was alone. No amount of military training, help from her Wiccan friends, or access to mystical Frequencies could prepare her for a demonic hellhound's hunt.
Yet she possessed much more than all of that—training with the Princess of Hell herself had given her more experience fighting demons than her brother had. Charlie once told her that she could sense the emotional state of someone when their feelings were heightened and vibrant. So she would use that. She projected her anxiety outward and hoped the beast would sense it and think she was simply running for her life.
Suddenly, she heard the guard she had knocked down let out a scream that quickly turned into a gurgle before it fell silent.
"Did you hear that, meat!?" Rygen bellowed out from somewhere behind her. "You're next!"
The sharp sound of claws clicked on the sand-stained stone floor that announced that he wasn't in the mood to keep playing games. When he found her, she was dead. Cassie sprinted at full speed, saw a turn twenty yards ahead, and pushed herself to run faster.
"Chatterbug! Sitrep, now!" Brute's voice buzzed in her ear.
Not now! She shook her head and tapped her earpiece. "Can't talk now! Just get the kids!"
She quickly yanked out the device, stashed it in her fanny pack, and grabbed a vial—marked with Braille-like bumps—and pulled it out as she rounded the corner. She popped the stopper with her thumb, whispering a spell as she scattered the powder in a line on the floor behind her.
Once the vial was empty, she tossed it aside and sprinted another ten yards before Rygen's bellowing roar signaled that he was about to turn the corner and reduce the distance between them to almost nothing.
Please work! She pleaded to the goddesses as he appeared
He saw her and bared his fangs. "Found you, meat!" The hellhound chuckled darkly and stepped forward.
When his claw hit the powder on the floor, it erupted upward on contact and splattered into his eyes. "What the hell!" He stopped and violently shook his head, trying to clear his vision.
The spell succeeded and gave her a moment to open another vial wrapped in a tight gauze band. She quickly sprinkled plum-colored powder over her head while she murmured another spell. As he struggled to clear the powder from his eyes, Cassie slipped into one of the recessed doorways she had explored during their trip to the altar room. She used all her military training, calmed herself, and focused on control of her heavy breathing.
Rygen growled softly and blinked, only to realize his vision was badly distorted. "Fucking cunt! You blinded me!" He moved forward, nostrils flaring as he inhaled deeply, trying to catch every scent, but the witch's was missing entirely. "Where did you go!? Why can't I smell you anymore? Come out, fucking bitch!"
Yes! Thank the goddesses! The two spells used in unison effectively blinded him temporarily while they concealed her scent and presence. To his senses, she had simply vanished.
Still, she tensed up as he stopped next to her door and paused, his lip lifted in a snarl. "You are going to suffer for this." The promise hung in the air before he continued down the hallway and turned a corner another fifteen yards ahead.
With him out of sight, Cassie moved further into the room and reached into her fanny pack again. She needed to be quick and got started on the second part of her plan. It only took her a couple of minutes to feel satisfied with her efforts. Once she was ready, she stepped back into the hallway.
With a deep breath to steady her nerves, she shouted at the top of her lungs. "HEY ASSHOLE!"
The loud sound of rapid-clicking nails echoed from around the corner, preceding the Hellhound's appearance, which grew louder as he approached. Taking deep breaths, she raised the Bō, adopted a defensive stance, and tensed as he turned the corner.
"Bitch! How!?" he'd realized she'd used powerful magic on him and balked, "I destroyed your shop! I destroyed everything!"
"You missed a spot. I had more supplies in my closet." Cassie mocked him, then used the same advice she'd given Charlie the other night to provoke him to attack in blind rage. "You stupid, ignorant mutt!"
Rygen bellowed loudly and charged at her. She held her stance until the last moment, just before his body was on top of her, then twisted to the side, jabbed the staff out, and tripped him. As he sprawled across the floor, dust kicked up and formed a mist that also blinded her.
"Fucking cunt!" He rose to his feet and turned sharply. "I am going to rip your arms off and listen to your beautiful screams!"
"You talk too much!" She snarked at him, spun her Bō to assume another defensive position while she used her free hand to swipe the swirling dust away.
The beast roared and jumped, vaulting into the air with the intent to pounce on her and crush her under his weight. Cassie dropped down and rolled forward, dodging him. As he landed where she had been, Cassie, now faced opposite him, drove the tip of her Bō backward into the spot where his rectum should be.
It was.
Searing pain thickened his outcry as he spun with a wild swipe, ripped the Bō from her grip, sent it smashing against the wall, where it fell to the floor, out of reach. Her swallowing and coughing from the dust revealed her position to his blindness, and he turned directly toward her.
But then, unexpectedly, Rygen dropped to the ground and scooted, his bum irritated by the shock of her attack. Despite the tension and fear of the moment, Cassie couldn't hold back a frightened laugh.
"What the hell are you laughing about?" He hissed viciously and scooted a bit more, black blood trailing from the wound. "Dammit, it's gonna hurt to shit for weeks!"
Cassie deftly reached inside her pack and felt for the vial with the sandpaper-textured tube. "Serves you right, puppy." She taunted him.
But her words died in her throat when he turned around—it was the way his eyes locked onto her. "Looky, looky, I got my eyes back, bitch." His smile dropped into a cruel frown, and he crouched. "No more games. Time to die!"
Rygen pounced forward but was met by her quick response. Swiftly, she pulled her hand from the bag and swung the vial at him, releasing a cloud of charcoal powder into his face. He stumbled back, sneezed uncontrollably, caught in a burst of magically enhanced black pepper.
Cassie took advantage of his distraction and ran for her Bō, but his ears stayed alert, and he blindly swung hard toward the sound of her footsteps. She screamed as his claw tore into her leg, causing her to fall against the wall on top of her weapon. She struggled to regain her footing, pressed her back against the wall, and tried to breathe evenly, but in the process she inhaled more dust.
As sharp coughs burned her lungs, she grabbed for her leg and saw the deep gash spewing blood onto the cracked concrete floor. Fuck!
After clearing his nostrils with two strong sneezes, Rygen let out a loud cry that echoed down the corridor and spun toward her. Rearing up on his hind legs, he rose in the air above her, his ears nearly touching the ten-foot ceiling. Then, he drew his snout down till his crimson-filled eyes saw only her fearful expression.
As he watched her struggle to reach for her weapon, he chuckled and offered her a mocking compliment, "It was a nice try, bitch, and I commend your family for being excellent prey to hunt. Now, let's see how you taste."
His stomach growled with anticipation as he ran his long tongue over his lips, tensing to pounce—and was suddenly interrupted by an explosion that shook the entire building, rattled the walls and ceiling, and sent dust and debris falling onto his matted fur.
He snapped his head upward and growled in surprise. "What the fuck?"