Free From Gods by Mary Ting Page A

just as he pulled into the driveway. But before she had the chance to step out, Mason opened the door wider and yanked her out in a hurry with a look of fury. Skylar gasped sharply. A scream for help reached her throat, only to get cut off by Mason’s hand. She was locked in his hold with his hand over her mouth. Twisting and fighting, she tried to escape, but to no avail.
    “Shhh….” Mason whispered. “They’ll hear you.”
    Is he crazy? And how did he get to me so fast? Skylar’s eyes were wide and confused.
    When he noticed her expression, Mason gestured his head to her house. “Something is in there.”
    Sure enough, the front door was wide open. Skylar shook her head and muttered some noise. Unable to hear, Mason released his hand and lowered both of them beside the car.
    “That’s my cousin’s house,” Skylar whispered, panicking. Why did he say “something” instead of “someone”? As sounds of crashing objects and loud inhuman groans filled her ears, she trembled. She had never witnessed a break-in before. “We’re being robbed? Call the police.”
    “The police can’t help.”
    “What do you mean ‘the police can’t help’? We can’t just stand here.” Skylar narrowed her eyes at him, thinking he was out of his mind. “Listen….” She stood up.
    Mason yanked her down. “Shhh…they will hear you.”
    “I don’t care if they hear me. Then maybe they’ll leave.”
    “Trust me, they won’t.”
    “Trust you?” Skylar scoffed.
    “They aren’t what you think.” Mason sat on the cement with his back against the car. “How did I miss them?” he mumbled, raking his hair back and then standing up.
    “How did you miss them? Are they your friends? What’s going on?” Skylar voice was loud. She didn’t care that he’d asked her to keep her voice down. Maybe if her voice was loud enough, they would be scared off and just leave.
    Mason rolled his eyes. “Great. Now you’ve got their attention. Run!”
    Two men suddenly stood outside the doorway, obviously searching for where the voices came from. They turned and spotted Skylar dead on. What they did next seemed impossible, but it was real…they morphed into beast-like forms.
    She stood frozen, unable to believe her eyes. Incapable of moving by her own will, a forceful yank pulled her arm, taking her out of her trance. Mason had seized her wrist as he began to run. Wobbling and unable to run as fast with her two-inch heels on, she swiftly took them off one by one as she ran, and hooked the back straps over her fingers.
    Looking over her shoulder to see who—or what—she was dashing madly away from, she saw two hideous creatures on their tail. Skylar was glad Mason made her run. Their body structures were grotesque. They appeared to be half beast and half human. Their arms and legs were bulky, like steroids gone wrong. With distorted heads and bulging yellow eyes as bright as headlights on a car, their humongous mouths were too big for their faces. They roared with vengeance through their shark-like teeth, charging ahead with looks that showed no thoughts of mercy.
    What the hell? Am I dreaming? She wasn’t sure, but the way her heart painfully pounded out of her chest brought her back to reality. Not only that, her bare feet impacting on the cement sent searing pain through her legs. She was sure she would have blisters on the bottoms of her feet tonight. Thank God it was night, but she wondered if the neighbors could hear them. Mason was much faster than her; he practically dragged her. As she ran as fast as her feet would allow, she looked over her shoulder to see them closing in.
    “Faster,” she yelled, but it came out inaudibly since she was out of breath. Wanting to lose them, they turned right, jumped over low bushes, darted through someone’s backyard, crossed the street, and then hid behind tall bushes.
    “We can hide here for now,” he said, releasing his grip, catching his breath.
    Skylar’s legs were extremely