Chapter 3-2
545 Words
Lacey glanced around the courtyard. Something was there; something she had never felt before. A sense of unease swept through her. With a glance at the gate to the corral, she slid the lock back and the gate slowly opened. The two horses and one mule bolted out of the enclosure. She didn’t worry about them. They would head for the open pasture area that separated her and her aunt and sisters’ homes.
Her hand wrapped tightly around the steaming cup of coffee she had just poured when she heard Ginger’s frantic barking. The hair on the back of the Golden was standing straight up and the sound of distress in her voice told Lacey that the unease she’d been feeling was based on a genuine danger. Unsure of where the threat was, Lacey walked calmly over to Ginger and sent a wave of warmth to the young mother. She also muttered a swift protection spell for her and Ginger as a precaution.
“It’s alright, sweetie,” Lacey murmured, glancing around the open area. “Go back to your babies.”
Ginger sneezed and pressed up against Lacey’s left leg. Her dark brown eyes remained frozen on the shadows near the clump of Juniper trees. Lacey carefully turned her head to stare into the shadows. A shiver raced through her and she whispered for Ginger to return to the barn again.
“I’ve got this, girl. Go take care of your babies,” Lacey ordered in a slightly harder voice and with a ‘push’ for the Golden to listen to her. “Your babies need you.”
Lacey waited as Ginger reluctantly backed up before turning and slipping back into the safety of the barn. She never turned her eyes away from the shadows. Biting her bottom lip in uncertainty, she paused before deciding retreating was the smart thing to do. Whatever was hiding it was definitely different from anything she had ever felt before. All of her natural warning systems were going crazy.
Dropping the cup of coffee in her hand, she turned on her heel and took off running for the house. A loud snarl, like that of a feral animal, exploded behind her as she ran the twenty feet to the house. She practically flew up the steps in a desperate attempt to get to safety. A wave of her hand had the screen door opening outward even as the front door opened inward. The moment she was through them, the doors slammed shut and locked.
Lacey stumbled forward and had just turned to invoke a protection spell when both doors shattered inward. She cried out as small pieces of metal and wood flew toward her. Throwing her hands up to protect her face, she screamed when something hard and heavy hit her around the waist.
She fell backwards onto the wood floors of her living room sliding several feet before coming to a stop next to the end table. The fall knocked the breath out of her as she hit the floor, leaving her gasping for breath. She instinctively raised her hands to push against the weight pressing down on her. Sharp claws threatened to pierce the soft skin of her waist even as her hands moved to push the creature off her. Lacey’s eyes widened when she got her first look at the creature on top of her.
“What…?” she gasped in shock.
- Writer
