Midnight Surrender: A Paranormal Romance Anthology by Alyssa Rose Ivy, Airicka Phoenix, Shannon Dermott, Charlotte Abel, Kelly D. Cooper, Laura A. H. Elliott, Amy M. Jones, Kris Kendall Page B

the light was fading in the distance. I would need a flashlight to see pretty soon. Looking up, I noticed the unnatural clouds rolling across the sky like wild fire. Their rapid appearance turned off the lights as easy as a switch. Slamming the hood, I got back in the car. Mercy sat quietly as if she read my mood and knew better than to speak.
    Scooping my phone from my pocket, I hit the button several times with no response. “Does your phone work?”
    “ No,” she said. “I tried while you were looking under the hood.”
    “ That’s strange,” I said more to myself. “Did you notice how fast the clouds rolled in?”
    Looking out the passenger side window, she said, “Yeah that was weird.”
    We studied each other. Neither of us wanting to admit how freaked out we were. So I made a joke. “You think we will see crop circles using trees instead?” I asked because the woods lined both sides of the road. “Maybe a spotlight on the car before we are lifted into a spaceship.”
    “ If that happens, I am going to find the first Stargate and dial out. I think I remember some of the patterns from the last show I watched.”
    That had us laughing until a creepy howl came from somewhere outside the car. Considering the windows were up and we were laughing, yet we heard the eerie sound loud and clear, sent a chill up my spine. Swallowing, I said, “You heard that.”
    Fear in her eyes had me shrugging off my own. I couldn’t wimp out. All of this was my fault. I felt like I’d driven into a bad horror movie. “It’s probably nothing,” I said. Looking at my dead phone that acted as if it were out of charge, the last of the blue sky was covered. Without the moon, we sat in utter darkness. In vain, I tried to find light in the car from the overhead, from my phone, and from a flashlight under my seat. Nothing.
    “ I guess I could walk back to town, it’s not that far,” I suggested, not really relishing the idea.
    Her hand reached out and caught mine. It trembled. “I’ll go with you.”
    Hearing the fear in her voice, I said, “Okay.” With the howling, I didn’t want to leave her alone. But staying there didn’t seem like a good idea either.
    Opening our doors, we stepped out into the awaiting darkness. At the back of the car, I caught her hand, when all hell broke loose.
    A crashing, like something really big was smashing through the tree line, sounded to our left. I didn’t bother with the car. It wouldn’t protect us from the unseen danger behind us. “Run,” I called out. With our hands interlocked, we did just that.
    As we ran in the direction of the library, something flew by us going towards the danger. A deafening roar resounded against what sounded like a voice. “Die you dirty bastard.” I shouldn’t have heard that. I couldn’t place the voice but it sounded female. With the other noise from the ‘dirty bastard’ that had come through the trees, it was impossible to tell for sure. Looking back didn’t shed any light on what was behind us. A loud thud sounded and the pounding of earth shaking footsteps started to get closer. Whatever it was, it was big. In only a few steps, it sounded as though it was upon us.
    Mercy was quiet, keeping up with my pace. When I sped up, so did she. “Tasty snacks, I do like a chase before I eat.” The voice was gravelly, as if the thing had a mouthful of rocks.
    Quiet Mercy turned and screamed. Something whacked us from behind. The force of it sent us up in the air to crash onto the ground several yards away. Mercy lay still a few feet away. Using my arms, I crawled over to her, heedless of the danger behind us.
    “ Guardian, you are no match for me,” the gravelly voice chided. The whispered threat it’s only disturbance in the air.
    Uncaring, only my need to get to her held my attention. I reached her and from her wrist, I could feel her heart beating. There was a thud and we began to get pelted by earth. Bits of dirt rained down on and around us.