Monster Gauntlet by Paul Emil Page B

gun to my eyes. Our eyes locked, and after seeing no signs of weakness or bluffing, his will crumbled and he backed down.
    “Fine,” he spat, putting up his hands. “Let’s just move.”
    The woman groaned. All of our heads turned when towards her. I took my eyes and gunpoint off of Bear. The woman was waking up.
    “What’s your name, girl?” Bear said. I didn’t like how he called that.
    “H-Help me,” she moaned without looking up, her we hair partially covering her face.
    “Oh that is totally a monster,” said Trish.
    “Shut up!” I said, still holding my gun. Trish looked at me defiantly, then saw the expression on my face, and shut up. I almost smiled. I felt powerful with the gun in my hand. I was powerful. Maybe this was why people got off on guns so much.
    “Give me an arrow,” I ordered Trish.
    Her face said no, but her mouth wisely wouldn’t. Instead, she said, “Why?”
    “Just give it and let’s get this over with,” I said. Slowly, she withdrew one and handed it to me. I was secretly grateful that I didn’t have to point the gun at her face to get my way.
    I turned to the woman on the rack.
    I took the tip of the arrow and dragged it across her arm, leaving a red line as if I’d used a marker. The woman jolted, cried out, and woke up. Her arm was bleeding.
    Holding the shaft of the arrow, I wiped the bloody arrowhead in the wet fabric in what little was left of the woman’s clothing.
    I leaned closer to the woman.
    “What’s your name?”
    She looked up, defeated, and said, “Cleona.”
    “Cleona?”
    “Call me ... Clea.”
    “Where are you from, Clea?”
    “Here,” she said. “Scotland.”
    “What are you doing here, tied to this stake?”
    “They took me.”
    “Who?
    “They took me,” she repeated, “and brought me here. This is my punishment. They said, ‘Now you will be dependent on the kindness of strangers.’”
    I looked at Marine, trying to gauge his thoughts. I looked at the others. They just stared, deferring to me. I had taken charge, and they were waiting for me to finish the interrogation. I definitely had a lot more questions before...
    Somewhere in the woods behind us, maybe about a kilometer away, something huge crashed through the trees and roared.
    “What the fuck was that?” Mason gasped.
    “Something fucked up,” Bear said.
    Marine said, “We’ve got to move. Now.”
    I looked at the woman, and then at Trish, whom I considered my main opponent in this. I handed her back the crossbow bolt.
    “Silver-tipped arrows, right? They didn’t burn her skin. She’s not a werewolf. She’s not a vampire. She’s human.”
    “I know what she is,” Bear barked. “She’s bait! And we’re standing right here at Ground Zero!”
    As if to confirm Bear’s statement, another roar echoed in the distance from the forest. It sounded closer this time.
    I hated to admit it, but Bear was probably right.
    I didn’t know what to say. I looked around at the view from the knoll for the first time.
    “Look!” I said with a sudden spike of delight. “There’s the lake! And I can see the castle! We’re close!”
    Sure enough, there they were, about two kilometers away. The lake looked like distant mirror reflecting the bleak sky.
    I thought this good news would bring hope and a moment of peace and agreement to our group. Of course it didn’t.
    Bear rightfully pointed out a stone tower, standing on hill beyond the bank of trees on the left.
    “So?” Bear said. “There’s the tower! It’s closer!”
    It did look closer, about one kilometer away, but I know that it could’ve been an illusion. Sometimes things in the distance look close but are actually a lot further than they appear when you walk to them. Of course, the same could be said of the castle and the loch.
    “We should go to the tower,” Mason said. “We’ll get there faster.”
    “But we’d have to go through the woods,” Marine said.
    “So? There’s a path,” Trish said.
    Indeed, there was