FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Tara

Tara and her sister dashed through the halls of the old manor as every statue and painting suddenly sprang to life. Imps fluttered through the air as hell-hounds chased black-cats and large demonic statues came to life and began flexing their muscles. Through all of the madness around her, Tara could not contain the grin on her face. When the imps tried to fly at their heads, she would swat them away. When a trio of black-cats got in their way and hissed, she hissed back, gave the leader a solid kick which sent them scattering. It was a monstrous adventure come to life, and, at long last, she was in the middle of it.

"I think... you're enjoying this... a little... too... much!" Michelle gasped as they leaned against a wall to catch their breath.

"Are you kidding?" Tara shouted with a huge grin. "This is awesome!"

"How... do you figure?"

"You ever play Castlevania?"

"No!"

"Michelle," Tara lamented, "you fail at being a geek."

"Well sorry!" her sister ducked as another imp tugged at her hair and then flew off. Tara laughed at the plight of her sister, but then a hungry growl drew her attention to a monstrous gargoyle statue which marched toward them, licking its lips. "Ah! No!"

"Get back!" Tara shouted as she reached into her satchel. "I came prepared!" The bottle she produced had the holy water she had stolen from the church. The demonic looking statue stared at it for a moment, then advanced quickly. In the blink of an eye, it knocked against Tara, but she had already thrust the bottle forward and it splashed upon the statue... which emitted an unholy scream.

For several seconds, Tara could not hear anything but the ringing in her ears. Then, as she turned onto her hands and knees, the sound of a great deal of crashing forced her to look up. The demon was burning. Large chunks of its body were sizzling away as it thrashed about. Then, the creature threw itself against the outer wall of the manor, which gave way, allowing it to burst through into the courtyard.

"This way!" Tara shouted as she grabbed her sister and pulled her through. They unsteadily clamored to the hole in the wall, but they were on the second floor. "Hands and knees!" Tara ordered, as she lowered herself over the side, extended her arms fully, then dropped the rest of the distance to the ground. Michelle was slower to follow, but her sister's goading forced her along.

"What in the hell is going on?" Michelle wailed as she looked like she was about to lose it.

"All Hell's broken loose," Tara half-joked, and then she laughed as she hugged her sister.

"Why are... you so..."

"It's alright," Tara said a little more gently as she held her sister. "Just let me be there for you this one time."

"Ah... alright," Michelle said as terrified tears hovered at the edges of her eyes.

Tara's grin held firm while her adventurous eyes scanned the decorated yard, and noted that the creatures did not appear to be rampaging outside. A strange sort of concern tugged at her insides as she looked for the creature which had broken through the wall... but there were no footprints or any sign of it ever having landed.

"Come-on, big-sis," Tara told her, "lets go."

"Where?"

"Toward the fence," she said after a moment. "We can't help the others. We're on our own."

"No..."

"We'll come back in the morning," Tara said again. "Come on." The sisters moved quickly, rushing along the well manicured grass, past trees, and statues to where the fence was supposed to be. "Oh, shit."

"Where's the fence?" Michelle shuttered as panic seemed to seize every part of her. "Where's the road? Where... where..."

"Hmmph... happy Halloween," Tara said as her eyes searched the wilderness. The trees danced in spooky motions, creeping her out until she spotted a different type of movement. A person... a girl... was crawling on her hands and knees. "Michelle, look."

"Who's there?"

"Come on!" Tara moved toward the mysterious crawling girl as her heart beat in her head. She didn't have any real weapons in her satchel, save the holy water, a couple of wooden stakes, and a box-cutter which she used for just about everything. I wish I had learned how to use that whip, she thought angrily to herself as she took out her box-cutter knife and gripped it tightly.

As the two of them got closer, they realized the girl in the woods had red hair and looked familiar enough to be approached with less fear. A mix of emotions welled up inside of Tara, though, when she got close enough to speak the young woman's name. "Rachel?"

"Ah! Get back! Nooo!" The normally pompous girl was wide-eyed with scratches all over her body that spoke of a violent encounter. Frantic shuffles scurried her backwards until she hit a tree and then sat and shivered.

"Rachel it's Tara!"

"Ta... ra?"

"Yeah, from Delta Omega... we have English class together on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"Tara... Tara... oh God... Tara!"

Tara stood frozen as her sister stepped forward and hugged the frightened girl to her. "Hush," Michelle whispered as she rocked Rachel back and forward. "Everything's going to be alright. Just relax... we're here now."

Michelle's natural ability to coddle the world and make everyone feel better marveled Tara. Rachel was an evil, coldhearted, bitch of a woman whom she would rather have left for dead. But Michelle pushed all of that bitterness aside and just saw the person who was suffering. It did not matter that Rachel would never show this kind of compassion for another... she was still a person in need of help and Michelle was there to give it.

As the girl's wailing settled into a sort of trembling whimper, a long howl suddenly lifted into the air. "Oh... that doesn't sound good," Tara said quietly. "I don't think we can stay out here either."

"We can't go back to the house," Michelle said as softly as she could manage.

"I think we might have to," Tara said as she looked around for anything she could use as a weapon. "We might find somewhere to hide and wait for the sun to rise."

"Just like that?" Michelle said with a raise in her voice that caused Rachel to cry again until Michelle was able to shush her into silence once more, then she spoke softly. "What makes you think the sun coming up will make it all better?"

"Well... maybe we can find a part of the house that isn't all nuts." Tara thought for a moment. "Maybe the chapel will be safe... or maybe we can hold up in a bathroom, or something until morning."

"And you think this will all just go back to normal once the sun comes up?"

"Maybe," Tara said as she found a good solid branch and gave it a practice swing, "do you have any better ideas?"

Another long howl filled the air, causing Michelle to flinch, then shake her head. "I think they're getting closer."

"Yeah," Tara agreed. "Rachel, can you walk?"

"Rachel, sweety," Michelle whispered. "We're going to head back to the house and find a place to hide. Can you do that?"

"Oh... kay..." the girl breathed as they got her to her feet and began moving toward the house once more.

"What a terrible knight for a curse..." Tara whispered as quietly as she could, the savage grin of adventure hanging on her face as they crossed the open ground. In the distance she could hear them... huge hulking bodies bounding along on four legs. Open jaws grunting with each step as they drew closer to their prey. "Come on... faster!"

"No..." Rachel whimpered.

"Tara," Michelle said softly but sternly, but she could hear the wolf-beasts too. The closest door to the manor was getting closer, but Tara turned and could see them.

"Shit... go!" she shouted and she pulled out the holy water.

"Tara!"

"Just go!"

Removing the lid, Tara breathed deeply as she moved away from the others. The courtyard had a fountain and a collection of large statues she could use for cover, and as she ran, the wolf-beasts moved with her. One... two... three... they were the size of grizzlies, rushing along at great speed. It suddenly occurred to Tara that she was facing down a pack of werewolves and that she had no silver.

"Damn it," she muttered darkly, "I knew I forgot something."

As she saw her sister and Rachel make it inside, she turned to face the leader. Drawing back to throw, she let forth a growl of her own which seemed to startle it for a momentarily. The release of her water caused the beast to yip in surprise but that was all. As a second werewolf rushed toward her, Tara readied her branch. Dodging to once side, she cracked the beast solidly upon the snout, which also drew a yalp of pain. But wolves hunt in a pack, and from the back of her a snarling set of jaws closed down around her left shoulder.

Though she screamed in pain, Tara twisted out of the werewolf's grip and realized she was too close. In a moment of panic, she gripped the branch like a dagger and stabbed the semi-sharp handle into the creature's eye. This caused a howl of pain which appeared to affect the rest of the pack. Not to let a good opportunity go to waste, Tara dashed as fast as she could for the shelter of the house. The sounds of the pack told her they were disoriented as she pumped her legs as hard as she could. Reaching out her hands toward the door, it suddenly flew open. Michelle had not abandoned her, and as second later Tara dashed into the room. Michelle then slammed the door and pushed the sturdy deadbolt into place.