Love and Monsters, Part 2: Outbreak

Mary Ellen's mind raced. She couldn't make it to the front door, there was no back door, and no windows on the first floor, but for the ceiling of the ballroom. Upstairs, though...

She ran for the western stairs, adrenaline pushing her to go faster as the monster tore through the house looking for her. Up she ran, heels thudding loudly against the wood, John not far behind her. At the landing, she dashed to the first window she saw in the hall. The drop was too far; she might break her legs if she leapt from the second floor.

John's roar sent her into a panic. She couldn't think, couldn't breathe, just felt her heart heaving and the epinephrine spiking through her veins, almost painfully. She ran blindly in her fear, running into a marble statue at one point, and knocking her head hard enough to open a small gash.

Eventually she ran into a dead end, and she almost broke down crying again, until she saw the elevator to her right. The mansion, having four floors, was too large to be walking up and down stairs all the time, so she'd had two elevators installed on the east and west sides of the house. She briefly congratulated herself for having made such a brilliant decision, and pressed the down button. The elevator had just begun whirring to life when she heard the tell tale thud of John's shoes hitting the floor. The elevator doors opened, making her jump.

She flew into the compartment and repeatedly hit the button to make the doors close. They slid shut just as John rounded the corner. She fell back into the corner as he ran into the metal doors. She knew he couldn't breach them, but still she feared he might pry them open somehow. As she descended, she mapped out the first floor in her mind: two lefts, a right and a quick sprint north would bring her to the front door. She doubted John was smart enough in this state to realize where she would be going.

When the doors opened, she stepped out cautiously. She could still hear John beating on the metal doors above. This could work to her advantage. If she could sneak down the hall silently, she could get out the door without his knowing. Mary Ellen began the slow, nerve-wracking journey to the foyer, waiting for John to realize that she was downstairs again and come after her. But he never did; just kept banging on the doors.

She'd made it to the foyer and was making her way to the door when luck suddenly turned on her: her dress got caught under her shoe and she fell into a table, sending a vase crashing to the floor. The sound of fists pounding metal ended, and in its place came the pounding of feet on wood.

Recovering from the pain in her shoulder, she flung the door open and beat feet down the red dirt road to town. She glanced over her shoulder every few seconds, waiting for John to come roaring after her. She was almost to the first set of houses when she saw his distant form exit her home and zero in on her. She screamed and pushed herself to go faster. It wasn't easy running on loose soil in heels.

She managed to confuse the beast, taking random detours down several side streets, and she finally saw the police station not a hundred yards away. Bursting through the doors, she ran to the first available officer, spilling out her story in a half-comprehensible rush. He stared at her for a moment, observing her disheveled hair, clothes, and bleeding forehead, before asking if she'd been drinking.

Her temper flared. "Of course not, you dolt, did you not hear a word I just said! My fiancé went to the cellar to get a bottle of wine, I fell asleep for an hour, during which he never came back, and by the time I'd found him, he'd turned into a murderous beast! One generally doesn't have time to drink while running for their life!"

The policeman looked exasperated, and he put an authoritative hand on her shoulder "Miss, I think you should come with me. We'll find you a seat and and let you calm down."

"You don't understand! John is... I mean, that thing is coming for me! He'll be here any minute, you have to get the other officers in the building ready to stop him!" The officer sighed and took out a set of handcuffs. He was about to ask Mary Ellen to turn around so he could shackle her, when the front door banged open.

The officer gasped, and Mary Ellen turned her head to the entrance. John had found her. His black tongue was still hanging out of his mouth, and his eyes were burning with a primal hunger. The officer let go of her wrist and pulled his pistol out, firing several rounds at John. The creature shifted its gaze to the police man and lunged. Despite his primitive mentality, John was graceful as he hurtled through the air and landed on the officer, ripping the poor man's throat out. Mary Ellen turned and ran to the first door she saw, more screams and gunfire echoing through the foyer before she slammed the door shut and kept running. She got down three corridors and up a staircase to the third floor before she slowed down.

She was beginning to tire, and her adrenaline was leaving her system, making her muscles feel heavy and weak. Her head was now pounding from the gash she'd received from the statue earlier. She ducked into a random room, finding herself in some kind of library. She quickly scanned the room and found a flashlight resting on a desk. She picked it up and quickly ran to lock the doors and turn off the lights. Using the flashlight's narrow beam, she found and hid in the corner farthest from the door, hidden by several towering book cases. Flicking off the light, she hunkered down for hours in the dark, listening to the screams of the station employees as they ran for their lives in vain...