Blood & Juniper

Accounts of Ashlen, October 2017.

Where did I go so totally and completely wrong?

"*Her*," the one word condemnation slithers around the space. It's official, I am so royally screwed.

I start to replay every choice I had made before everything went to shit.

For starters, that premonition. I have to wonder if these visions are screwing me over more than actually helping or it could be I'm prone to making bad decisions.

So, I didn't follow the plan exactly. What was I supposed to do, hang back in the restaurant while Sam got ambushed by this relentless, slimy *woman*? Hell no!

Potential problem number two; I underestimated the power blood has over me still and my anger.

Hindsight, I should have pondered this one longer. Instead, I rushed out here and was abruptly consumed by an immense cloud of rage. Yep, fury, confusion and hunger. Rationality doesn't mix well with any of that.

Once again we have a dead body! The emotions keep piling on. It doesn't get any less horrifying or tasty, does it? Is this going to be an everyday occurrence for the rest of forever? I never dreamed my life would lead somewhere so chaotic and... violent.

What is the correct way to respond to someone getting their neck slashed right in front of you? Watching them bleed out doesn't sound like a good answer, but I don't think drinking the blood pouring out of their neck is the right way to go about it either.

I catch myself reflecting on the question, 'Is there anyway I could have avoided this outcome?' an awful lot lately. I seem to "see" people dying all the time but I'm not preventing any deaths. What good is my future sight anyway?

I wish I could go back and redo. Although, maybe it wouldn't have made a difference.

Betsy's lips are moving, I'm not really following what she's saying but I know I'm in for it! It's her eyes, they are placing a huntress mark on me. I've seen June look at people like that right before she takes them out. I can't run, can't hide. I'm trapped, doomed.

This must be the part where your life flashes before your eyes because I'm recalling something my best friend from childhood said to me after surviving a fatal roll over down a canyon.

I guess that's exactly what this is… A car wreck.

I remember word for word what Maddie told me, "It's luck and probably a dear old gran, being my guardian angel. But can I tell you something? There were moments that I think I somehow avoided being crushed while flipping. I feel like I acted without thinking, but I don't know how. It was all so fast. Before I went unconscious, I moved, perfectly. Ultra aware, like I activated some super power that lasted a split second! How's that even possible, right? But I'm not lying, I reacted faster than my brain could keep up. Do you get what I mean?"

I don't think I understood at the time. Now I do, and it's more relevant than random.

And there's no time.

Betsy is a mad bull, charging straight for me at a speed I can't comprehend!

'Shit!'

No time to think, just react.

She's a force of nature. One moment, punting Sam into the air, the next, rolling me like a croc in the water. And I'm Maddie along for the ride, rocketing toward impending disaster.

I'm forced to duel this lunatic! Well, that's generous, more like this psychopath is kicking my a.s.s. I feel small and powerless by comparison.

The whole alley way is tumbling like the inside of an electric dryer. She's a lightning storm, driving pointy fingers into my arms and face. Her pearly leopard fangs make an attempt to clamp down. All of this happening in milliseconds, *a flash*!

I weave to one side then the other before I think about it. My arms dart in front of my face to block. I can hear my short breaths in my ears. I'm surviving somehow, it's all instinct.

Her nails are like razor blades, so quick and sharp the pain is hardly processed. Her furious growls fill my head. I think I'm snarling back, pushing away from her jabs and blows. I try to get a hit in when I can, but I don't know if it's actually effective.

The alley ramps up, shaking and spinning like some vomit inducing coaster at a carnival. The pressure is building. Her strikes are getting more erratic and lethal, it feels like she's trying to tear my limbs off!

She bats me from one side to the other like some kind of massive cat, claws out and cutting in, sticking like velcro as they draw away for the next swipe.

The repetition is starting to stings like falling down a glacier, scraping and hooking against every frosty ridge as the slick momentum doesn't let up. There's no time to cry out, it's all happening too fast!

I'm up against an evil tiger here! The sound is getting muffled, I'm just trying to hang on.

She jabs two more times at my neck in her frenzy. The noises from her throat are rising in pitch and terrifying, like some enraged animal.

I curl into myself as she rattles my body. I don't know what is up or down as she yo-yos me around. I'd be in the fetal position if she'd allow it.

I don't want to die like this.

I almost fall over as Betsy is siphoned backwards. I can't see straight. There's grunting and struggling, then something snaps. Bones breaking? Not mine.

What… Who? 'Sam!'

My stomach sinks as I regain footing, I'm still dizzy. Where is he? What just happened?

I don't have much time to think, someone practically tackles me. My freedom lasted for a total of three seconds or less. Whoever has me isn't Sam.

Damn it, I'm not going to get pushed around like this! I'm not playing nice! I bite them and start striping away pieces of flesh in a frenzy. They squeeze, constricting like crushing a soda can in a fist. I suck in a guttural breath of air and keep fighting.

I didn't go through everything trying to get my life back in order for it to end here, like hell!

I'm distracted as Sam hollars, "Get off her!"

We jerk forward, the crackling sounds off again and then gruff hiss, worse than last time. It's like someone took a baseball bat to Sam's leg.

I twist chaotically as I cry out, "Sam!"

I want to claw her eyes out! I throw my arms back trying to reach for her face to do just that. She seizes me, there's nothing I can do. I kick and squirm and yowl in frustration.

Betsy cackles, cruel and completely unhinged. Something doesn't feel right. Why aren't my feet on the ground? We're levitating!

I scream and flail as we zoom backwards and up like being ejected out of a jet pilot seat. I see Sam's urgency as he lunges to grab us like the end of a balloon string drifting away. His fingers brush the tip of my shoe, unable to grab on.

The butterflies turn to wasps in my stomach. How high up can she fly? Is she going to take me a thousand feet and let me drop? I'll splat into an unrecognizable pile of guts!

I writhe, trying to cause her enough grief to pressure a release before we get too high. It's no use. I have no leverage!

She's a skilled fighter. Stronger, faster and has me right where she wants.

I feel fangs pierce harshly into my flesh and scream louder. Razor teeth strip the neck of my sweater and plunge into tough tissue. She sucks at my neck viciously, shredding the skin with an unpleasant tremor of her face. Burrowing like she's sawing her way into my shoulder.

'Don't let me die like this. Please let me find a way out! Luck, divine intervention, anything!'

We smash into the bricked wall of the neighborhooding building before we reach the top. It's a direct hit with the impact of a pirate's cannon ball. We're going down! I yelp as we scr.a.p.e down at a ninety degree angle.

I don't have the security of arms fastened around me anymore, even if those arms were trying to murder me. Now I'm falling from three stories, maybe more. How'd I get upside down? I'm going to land on my head!

I struggle to flip around before I touch down. Roll! Roll, damn it!

*Crunch*

A sharp pain makes me gasp as a jolt shoots up my arm and into my side. My eyes water and I want to throw up.

I don't throw up.

My vision sways as I lay on my side breathing slowly, then stop with a wince. My ribs may have caved in. Looks like I landed on a lumpy metal thing and shattered a pallet. At least I didn't crack my head open or get staked!

My arm and ribs on my right side start to itch and pop, burning a little. Although it's weird, I think the hurt is fading. I hear screaming and growling. Is it an auditory hallucination? I haven't a clue what's going on.

I grunt, carefully lifting myself off the side I fell on. I automatically raise my arm to examine how bad it is in my daze. It's definitely busted and bruised and… It's healing… Freakishly fast.

I stare in shock, squinting upon closer inspection. I'm suffering from delirium, I must be! The purple is fading rapidly from my skin and the arm is straightening out. This is bizarre! I know I heal faster than I did before, but something tells me it shouldn't be *this* quick.

A man yells, and it makes me jump. The cry of a warrior before swinging his axe to chop an opponent in half! I hop to my feet, preparing to defend myself.

A body crash lands a few feet away from where I stand. It startles me so bad I nearly tumble backwards.

The dust and chunks of loose cement scatter in a dry splash. Three big pieces fling, hitting my ripped up sweater and jeans. I'm not going to have any clothes by the end of this month if things keep going this way. They are routinely getting destroyed.

Is that Betsy on the ground? What hit us? Where is Sam?

Someone groans and hacks as the dust clears. I scoot back on my heels, fearing Betsy might recover but the coughing is too masculine. And there's actually two bodies tangled together.

"Sam?"

There's no answer.

The person on top moves. That looks like him. He pushes himself up. His spit is thick, splating the pavement.

I glance at the other body, it doesn't look right. Is that Betsy? Where's her… Oh…

If that's her, her head is missing. *Missing*, totally gone, taken clean off!

I gawk at the beheaded corpse. Blood is freely pouring from the stump like a stream. A squelching, bubbling spout. That's… Disturbing.

'Everything is fine,' I lie to myself, 'technically she was dead anyway.'

It sounds messed up in my own head, minimizing her… Demise, but I can't fall apart.

Did we survive? Alive, I'm alive! Sam's alive! I want to laugh or cry or just flop back onto the ground for a minute.

Sam…

I need to keep it together and make sure he's ok.