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Stacie and Jack had been on the run for a while. Jack was exhausted. He stopped, leaned forward, and put his hands on his knees. “Whoa, hold on, Stacie.” He barely got the words out as he gasped for air. He continued as he tried to catch his breath. “Can...can we talk a bit?”
“No, we have to keep moving. We have to stay ahead of that, whatever it is.”
“Fine, but where are we headed? I mean, we have to....” Jack stopped mid-sentence.
Stacie waited for him to finish his sentence. “We have to....what?”
Jack raised his hand as if to silence her. “Wait a minute. I heard something.” He took a few steps back from whence they came. Then he said in a calming voice.
“Stay here.”
Stacie shook her head in disapproval. “No. Come on. Let’s keep moving.”
Jack continued to reverse his steps until he found himself in front of some large shrubbery.
“It might be the monster,” Stacie warned.
“I don’t think so. It was a different kind of sound.”
“Be careful.” She advised.
“I will. I will. Just going to take a quick peek to see what’s back there.” Jack extended his arms through the shrubbery to part them to get his quick look.
Suddenly, something pulled Jack’s body into the bushes. “Hey! Let go! What the hell’s going on?” Before an answer came, he was violently tossed outward against a tree. He landed hard and fell to the ground, unconscious.
“Jack!” A shocked Stacie cried out. She went to check on him but also heard what he was about to investigate. She looked around and pinpointed the thrashing sound in the trees and shrubs. The realization came over her. One she’d rather not accept, but one she knew needed to be reconciled. It must be the Creature. She saw Jack’s body on the ground, motionless after what had happened to him. Her mind couldn’t help but envision him smiling, laughing, and making her smile. He might be dead, she thought. Then, anger came over her as none had come before.
She felt blind rage that caused words to burst out of her mouth. “Come on, you! You thing from Hell! Come on and get me!” On cue, the shrubbery parted, but instead of the impending menace she expected to emerge, it was Cole who came forth. He stood before her with a stature of total arrogance.
She was relieved it wasn’t the Creature and smiled, but her smile faded when she recalled what he had just done to Jack.
Cole understood the ramifications of his actions and simply returned her greeting with a demonic smile. “You know, it’s funny you said come and get you. Cause...that’s exactly what I’m going to do.” He began to take slow steps toward her.
As he did, Stacie began to back away, matching her steps to his. She saw the evil intent in his eyes as he inched closer.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Cole?”
“Something I should have done a long time ago.”
Stacie quickly looked around in all directions.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, there’s a demonic presence out there that’s trying to kill us.” She reminded him.
Cole laughed, “You mean that ‘was’ trying to kill us.” He confidently shrugged off her comment. “ Don’t worry, I took care of that bothersome golem...just like I’m going to take care of you.” He raised his finger and pointed at her. “But...but, not before you and I have some fun.” Cole reached out to Stacie.
“I’m warning you, Cole.”
“Warn all you want.”
“I’ll scream.” She warned him.
“Scream all you want, too. For all the good it will do you.”
Stacie raised her arms to strike Cole’s chest, but he quickly grasped her wrists. She resisted by shaking her arms as hard as she could.
“Ooh, you’re a feisty one. I like that.”
“I’m warning you, Cole. Don’t you do it!”
“We’re not in the office. Your seniority over me means nothing out here.” He told her. Cole threw her down and pinned her hands to the ground. He yanked them away from her body and forced them under his knees and shins.
Cole leaned forward and began to kiss her face and neck. “You’ve been teasing me for the last five years. Time for the teasing to end.”
Stacie let out a scream and cried out, “Jack!... Jack!”
“Oh, calling your lover boy over there? Go ahead. He can’t hear you. I threw him pretty hard against that tree. He’ll probably be out for hours.” Cole leaned in again and began to unbutton her blouse. “You’ve never had it this way, have you?”
Stacie yelled out. “Somebody, please help me!”
She raised her head and looked directly into Cole’s face.
“Cole! Stop what you’re doing. I told you to stop now!”
Suddenly, Cole stopped. He remained motionless. Until something made its way through his chest. Cole gasped. His face contorted; she saw him look down. Protruding from his chest was one of his titanium arrows. It was covered with blood and bits of flesh. He half laughed in disbelief. He raised his hand to pull it out, but it was shaking so intensely that he could not grasp it. He grabbed it and squeezed, but before he could he start to pull on it, he felt another arrow as it thrust from his chest. The second arrow burst out with force powerful enough to pass through his arm as well.
He looked down and saw a third and fourth of his arrows that had emerged from his chest. He looked behind him to see where they had come from. He was shocked to see that it was his golem that was responsible for shoving the arrows through his back. Cole gasped again as another arrow burst outward. “No...no it can’t be!”
He tried to stand and turn his body around, but something prevented him from doing so. It was the monster’s other hand that held him in place. Without warning, it grabbed Cole’s head and continued to turn it 180 degrees around until they both ended up face to face.
A total look of astonishment came over him. He tried to speak, but all that came forth was a small amount of blood. As it trickled down the side of his mouth, all he could do was shake his head in utter disbelief as if to say, ‘this was not happening to me.’
Cole’s golem violently tossed his body to the ground and quickly turned its attention to Stacie. She could only manage to slide her body a few feet away by pushing one of her legs. Traumatized by fear, she tried to get up, but her arms were shaking so hard she couldn’t find the strength necessary to raise her body off the ground. She collapsed, unable to move.
“Jack! Jack, can you hear me?!” She turned to see him, still unconscious on the ground, still unable to move. She capitulated to the reality of the situation - she could no longer deny the inevitable outcome that was to come upon her - the nightmare would soon be over.