The Vaga by S. A. Carter Page B

can see their firm outline and a tingle of desire travels through me.
    Ama’s words taunt me, ‘
You
,
my love
,
are going through Luxus
.’
    I will myself to get a grip and push down my horny-Luxus-vibes.
    I keep close to Julian, not willing to be too far away from him, and his hand reaches out to me as we move closer to our escape.
    With only a few metres left to go he gives me an on-my-signal-we-run look and I nod in agreement. He nods back and takes a hard look into the empty space in front of the entry before giving me the signal.
    We take off running and out of nowhere the creature attacks, its body launching into the air towards us. Julian twists his body and punches his arm out. It connects with the creature’s head, but not before it knocks us off our feet. As it lands back onto its creepy cloven hooves it shakes its head, a little startled that contact was made, and then turns back in our direction.
    Julian gets up swiftly and pulls me along with him just as the creature peels its wide mouth open to reveal sharp ridges of bone where there should have been teeth. Julian moves himself in front of me and with lightning fast speed pulls a dagger from his left thigh, just as the creature pounces.
    I watch him lash out with the dagger and then a howling screech fills the air.
    ‘Elena, run!’ Julian yells, taking me by the hand.
    I don’t need any convincing. We quickly make our way out of the animal exhibit into the direction of the storage room.
    We are running fast when a crashing noise sounds out from behind us and the screeching howl of the creature fills the museum’s emptiness. I look back over my shoulder and see it lunge after us down the gloomy corridor.
    My eyes are trained on the storage door, hoping we can reach it in one piece and make it out of here, but the horrible sound of the creature advancing tells me that isn’t going to happen.
    Julian must be thinking the same thing because all of a sudden he stops running and turns to me. ‘Run!’
    As if in slow motion my eyes see the creature speeding towards us, and then I realise what Julian is trying to do.
    He is trying to save me.
    ‘No,’ I manage to whisper.
    ‘Elena, you have to run. Now!’ he yells as he gets ready to defend us.
    ‘No, I won’t leave you!’
    His eyes burn fiercely and he groans as he faces the enemy closing in on us.
    I stand next to him, no weapon at my disposal, but ready to do whatever it takes to protect us.
    The beast is nearly on us and for the first time in my life I feel completely helpless without my magic. How could I have been resenting it so much recently when all my life I’ve relied on it to get me through?
    I keep glancing at Julian in distress, wondering how in the hell a scissor kick to the creature’s head is supposed to help us.
    Julian’s body tightens as he gets ready for impact, twirling his knife around in his hand, waiting for the perfect time to strike out.
    Within seconds the creature is on us, and as it launches itself at Julian another animal leaps out of nowhere and crashes into the creature, both of them going down in a tumble of fur and animal growls.
    Julian doesn’t hesitate as he grabs my hand and yells something inaudible at me, but I am frozen in place thinking that the animal that just launched itself at the creature was Magi.
    ‘Elena, move!’
    I can’t see any black fur as I watch the animals thrash at each other, and a shudder of relief runs through me before I’m pulled towards our escape.

    We run out into the street with the spine-tingling sounds of vicious fighting following us into the dawn-filled morning.
    ‘Don’t stop moving, Elena. We need to get you home,’ Julian says, still keeping a tight grip on my hand.
    ‘But Uncle Jo and Magi could still be—’
    ‘They weren’t in there. Trust me. The creature lured them towards the woods before using its magic on you.’
    ‘How…how do you know this?’ I ask, trying to make sense of what just happened.
    ‘I was