We all stood in silence of what had just happened. I still turned the idea of being a baby over and over in my head like a woman examining a pot she might buy. I couldn’t even think about being hunted by a demon at the moment, I was too confused at the thought of being a baby. However, I didn’t get to dwell on that for long.

The creature I’d seen earlier when gazing at this magical lake from the van window was back. Its tan skin and very long limbs still reflected the moonlight like leather that had been shined, as if it was on a saddle. Its ribcage was wider than I’d thought, shorter. Its hips were still hollow and its pointed elf ears twitched as it crouched, stalking me like predator hunting its prey. Its red irises bore into my soul, tracking me, studying my every move. They didn’t glow like Rabby’s, but they were just as terrifying, especially because the pupils were slit like a cat.

Somehow, I knew this hell-bound creature was out for my flesh, and it was not going to give up until all meat had been ripped from my bones with its razor sharp fangs. I also knew what this was, even though I’d never seen anything like it before. This was a Ghoul.

It charged just as Skai awoke, scaring us all into trying to return to the party. It stopped upon a man’s indistinct whisper as we jumped into the elevator and frantically pulled the lever.

We sighed in relief as the elevator started moving downwards, only to have fear speared into our hearts yet again. The elevator stopped with sudden shakes and started slowly moving upwards before coming to a complete and abrupt pause about twenty feet below the surface of the lake.

“Wh-What? What’s happening!?” Mima cried, clutching to a very unamused Ivino. Skai and Silla hugged each other, a sort of panic setting over both of their faces. Evie and I found each other’s hands, sharing a look that let me know she was reading my mind as she had done millions of times before. We both knew who was responsible for stopping the elevator. And we both knew he wouldn’t let us escape. We nodded to each other before opening the hatch at the top of the cage in which we stood.

Since Evie weighed the least and was stronger than me, I gave her a boost up out of the cage. She and Silla helped boost me out next, and we, together, pulled the other four out. Now came the hard part.

We all picked a wire holding the elevator up and started to climb, using the walls to help support us. Everything was going fine until we were all about halfway up. And then the elevator was shooting up at us.

In a flash of adrenaline and terror, I let go of the wires, jumping off the wall and landing in a superhero position atop the cage of an elevator. Ivino fell right off. Evie did the same thing as me, but rolled like Commander Taggart in Galaxy Quest. Because the rolling helps. Silla let the elevator crash into her and take her away, and Skai, clumsy as she is, tried doing a cool landing as she jumped from the wall. She instead belly-flopped the steel with a loud “oof!”

The elevator stopped as quickly as it had started, knocking us all off before sinking back into the ground, all by itself. I sighed in frustration, looking towards the mountain to my left before stopping completely. My breath caught in my throat, and the air became colder around me.

I looked around to try and find an escape from this ghastly lake, but all the cars had gone. It was like someone knew we would try to get out and disposed of them before we could. The only way to escape now was to run. But with my ankle, the fact that I was out of shape, and the fact that we were on ice, that wasn’t a good option for me. Of course, when Shramie appeared, the ice was suddenly less slippery. Or maybe that was because we weren’t trying to run. Or maybe we got used to it. I didn’t know.

I couldn’t find a single breath of fighting chance, nor a way of escaping that didn’t involve tearing my ankle up… Again. Instead, what I found was the Ghoul from earlier. He was not too far away from us, on the icy rocks and leaves within the forest that we were inside. He slowly made his way down the hill, trying to hide behind thin, white trees that wouldn’t cover a squirrel.

I took one step back, then another. My friends all looked at me confused, and Skai started to ask what I was doing before I sharply turned her head. Her eyes grew wide and she stuttered as she pointed to the hell being. The others spotted it soon, and Evie wound up crouching while backing up, trying not to start anything as much as possible.

Silla, however, did not have the same idea. With a shriek, she turned tail and bolted. We all followed suit, the stunned notion from before being wiped away with every step. Soon, we seemed only to be gliding across the ice, not really running. Nothing came to mind except Run. Run from the creature that now pursued us.

-o-

I don’t know how long we were running. I don’t know how far we went, how much ground we left behind us. All I knew was that the Ghoul was after us. And he was separating us. One at a time.

First, we lost Mima. She turned around a tree, ran into a bush. The Ghoul didn’t see her, so she stayed in the bush. Then we lost Ivino. She found a climbable tree and scaled it, but the thing was too close for all of us to climb it too. Skai tripped and fell into a well on the outskirts of an old, abandoned town that looked like no one had been there in at least two hundred years. It looked industrial-revolution-y. Silla hid in one of the shops inside the town. Soon, only me and Evie were left. And the thing got closer with every step.

We ran through the town, onto another path, through another forest until we could see lights up ahead. Or… A light, to be more exact. There was a small cottage below us, but it looked like something out of a horror movie. Several boards from the walls were torn up in places, the building leaned to the side slightly, the windows had dust collected on them. Like no one had been there in years. So why was a light on inside?

I pointed to it, not thinking much except Get away. Get away. Get away from the Ghoul. I took a step forward and my ankle finally gave out, snapping and sending me tumbling down the mountain hill. Being the smart girl I am, I grabbed Evie's arm and pulled her down with me. And then we were both falling.

We, thankfully, missed any large rocks or trees, so we only wound up with scrapes and bruises. We got up slowly and stumbled our way to the shack, which I could now see was more of a garage. A shadow moved inside, the shadow of a man.

Evie pounded on the door while I set my ankle back to where it was supposed to be. The door swung open. No one was inside.

I couldn’t care much about that, the ghoul was still on our heels. I followed her in and slammed the door shut behind me, panting as I leaned against the frame. I was, surprisingly, not tired. I guess the adrenaline kicked in and was still powering my muscles instead of allowing me to collapse in a heap of sweat, bones, and a sheer unwillingness to do anything but sleep.

As soon as I thought we might be safe in this cottage, the candles blew out and we were stuck in the dark. I could hear something sniffing on the other side of the door, a large dog-like creature. But somehow I knew, this was no ordinary dog.

It backed off a little and I heard a lot of shuffling, snorting, growling. A lot of whatever was sniffing me. It’s buddies were here to play. And they did not sound happy.

Evie and I caught our breaths, waiting for the sounds to die down so we might have a chance at sneaking past the remaining creatures and go back to the party, back to the safety of family. Of friends. Of this being the possibility that I might still be in the car, only dreaming.

Somehow, I knew that wasn’t it. This wasn’t a dream. This was reality. And the reality was, we probably weren’t going to make it out in one piece.

After a while, it all went silent. The moon was over halfway up the sky now, the stars glinting, reflecting its light. Evie and I stepped outside, but to our horror, we weren’t out of the woods yet. The door shut behind us.
We were surrounded by hundreds of beasts, Rabby riding one of them. They had horns, eyes made of fire, short stocky bodies with four very muscled legs, short snouts, razor-sharp canine teeth. They reminded me a lot of the things from Ghostbusters. There was barely a stump where a tail was supposed to be. Their leathery skin was cracked, and lava oozed out of the cracks. The things that surrounded us. The things that were now going to eat us…were hellhounds.