For a moment, they were frozen. The Grave Imp stood between them and survival, its eyeless face a mask of primal hunger. The gruesome remains of Marcus Thorne lay at its feet, a grim warning.
"It can't see us," Ben breathed, his voice barely a whisper. "It must hunt by sound or smell." This wasn't a fight they could win. Not now. Not after the Corpse Hound.
"Elara," Kai said, his voice low and urgent. "When we move, you don't stop. You run straight for the door. I've got the key in my pocket. You get that door open. Ben, you're with her. I'll draw it away."
"No!" Elara protested. "We're not leaving you!"
"It's the only way," Kai insisted, his eyes never leaving the Imp. "I'm faster. It would catch you. Now go!"
He didn't wait for an answer. He took a deep breath and yelled, "HEY! UGLY!" He then turned and sprinted down the street, away from the shop, his boots slapping loudly against the pavement. The Grave Imp let out a piercing shriek and charged after him, its long claws tearing up the asphalt as it ran with terrifying speed.
"GO! NOW!" Kai screamed over his shoulder. That broke the spell for Elara and Ben. They dashed for the shop door. Elara's hands were shaking so violently she could barely get the key from Kai's pocket. She fumbled with the lock, the sound of the Imp's shrieks getting closer.
The lock clicked open. They scrambled inside, Ben immediately throwing his weight against the heavy oak door to slam it shut. Elara fumbled with the deadbolts, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Outside, Kai risked a glance behind him. The Imp was gaining. He ducked into an alley, pressing himself into a recessed doorway. The Imp shrieked in frustration as it lost its prey. Suddenly, a deep, grinding CLANG echoed down the street. The steel roll-down gate on the shop. Ben had found the manual crank.
The sound drew the Imp's attention. It began to lope back toward the shop. It was the opening Kai needed. He burst from the alley, sprinting for the front door as the steel gate slowly descended. "WAIT!" he roared.
The gate stopped, a two-foot gap remaining at the bottom. The Imp, hearing him, changed direction again, bounding toward him. Kai didn't slow down. He dove, sliding on the grimy pavement through the gap just as the Imp's claws swiped at the air where his head had been.
CLANG. Ben let the gate drop the rest of the way. They were inside. They were safe.
Plunged into the dusty darkness, the only light came from the few cracks in the boarded-up back windows. The sounds of the shieking Imp outside were muffled. Kai, Elara, and Ben stood in the center of the room, panting, covered in sweat and grime, their faces a mixture of terror, exhaustion, and overwhelming relief. They had made it.
The adrenaline began to fade, replaced by a bone-deep weariness. "First things first," Kai said, his voice raspy. "Let's check our supplies. Food, water, anything we can use as a weapon."
The back room of the shop was a cluttered storage space, but it was a treasure trove. Marcus had a paranoid streak, and they found a case of bottled water, a large box of high-energy protein bars, and a comprehensive emergency medical kit that put Elara's to shame.
While Elara properly cleaned and re-dressed the wound on his thigh, Kai explored the shop's inventory. Most of it was junk, but among the rusted farming tools and tarnished silverware, he found a few potential assets. He picked up a solid-looking round steel shield from a medieval replica set, its leather straps still intact. It was heavy, but far more protective than the Broodguard Plate.
"We rest here for the night," Kai announced, his voice echoing in the quiet space. "We eat, we sleep. Tomorrow, we make a real plan." He looked from Elara's relieved face to Ben's cautiously optimistic one. "Tomorrow, we figure out how to live in this world."