Chapter 25 Massacre

Fernanda glanced away from the fiendish serpent army before her. She eyed bamboo sticks and turned to Adrianna who tilted her head in response. Fernanda pointed at Adrianna's katana and Adrianna squinted her eyes at her. Matt and Alejandro kept their eyes on the lamias with their fingers on their triggers.

"Give me your sword." Fernanda said to Adrianna with seriousness.

Adrianna threw it at Fernanda who swiftly caught it. Fernanda slashed bamboo sticks and stomped their ends into the soft ground. She held the bunch together with both her arms and closed her eyes. Seeing that, the lamias broke out laughing. The team narrowed close to each other back to back.

"Father, I have done what you wanted me to do, may your will be done." Fernanda prayed.

The sun finally set and darkness took over its rightful place. The lamias cracked their bones in an agonizing rhythm. Their human halves elongated. Scales rapidly covered their flesh. They grew ten times in size. Tension loomed within the team as the horrific snakes raised, and curled themselves up to the moonlight.

"The Lord is my shepherd, even when I walk the valleys of the shadows of death, I shall fear no evil." Fernanda whispered to herself and turned to the team. "And neither should you! Put your weapons aside!" she commanded them.

One of the giant snakes charged at Fernanda. It speared itself towards her at the speed of a bullet. Fernanda pulled out one bamboo stick and smacked it hard on its head. A bright light appeared and burnt the snake to ashes immediately. The other snakes skidded to a halt astonished.

Fernanda threw each team member a bamboo stick. "Those are your weapons against them."

Adrianna spun the stick around and slammed it on the ground. It cracked into a line and blew up at the end, killing four lamias in its direction. She straightened herself with a smirk and whipped her hair back. Glancing back at Fernanda, she asked. "What happened to peaceful prayers?"

"Even the most dedicated prayer warrior has to put aside their bibles and fight once in a while." Fernanda smirked back at her.

"Good enough for me." Matt dashed towards the other lamias.

Alejandro and Stephanie ran after him and together they took down as many as they could. Explosions filled the forest and shook the ground at the ongoing battle.

It was so destructive that the mansion shook slightly. Ruth stared down at her wedding dress on the bed. She tucked her hair behind her ear and faced the window.

"For the first time, I am not excited to see the lunar eclipse." she bit her lip.

****

Mark sat at the table shuffling cards. He caught sight of Abigail joining him outside. Her swollen eyes gazed upon the full moon and a sigh escaped her lips. Mark peeled his eyes off of her and continued with the cards. He was so lost in thought about Matt and the others that he did not see Abigail join him at the table.

"Mind if we played?" she softly asked.

Mark blinked once, twice... "Sure," he agreed with a faint smile.

Mark threw cards to his side and Abigail's. He set the remaining cards on the table and picked up the ones on his side. Mark grinned at Abigail. She raised her brow with a grin of her own. For the next few minutes, they each picked and threw cards on the table.

A sudden violent explosion forced them off their chairs.

"What the fuck was that?" Jose ran out and joined Mark and Abigail staring at the fire far ahead.

"Matt," Mark uttered and ran his hand through his dreadlocks.

"Oh my God, do you think that they are okay?" Abigail voiced her concerns.

"With an explosion like that?" Jose blurted out in disbelief. "That's it, we are getting out of here!"

Mark flashed Jose an appalled look. "Are you kidding, we can't go anywhere until the others return!"

"No one is coming back, you idiot. It's over, we might as well get out of here while we still can." Jose retorted and pushed Mark back.

"I agree," Abigail looked back at the flames and swallowed hard. "They are all likely dead so instead of waiting for the unknown, we must leave."

Mark shook his head at them, "No, the others have entrusted us with this task. We just can't abandon them."

Jose growled and pulled out his gun. Abigail gasped at the sight of it with her hands covering her mouth. "We are getting out of here whether you like it or not." he declared with venom lacing his words.

****

Hendricks walked through the hallways until he came to a closed door. He quickly opened it and set his eyes on Asmodues who had his hands wide as two men fixed his tuxedo on him. Asmodues wore the brightest of smiles and it got Hendricks glad. Hendricks bowed down before Asmodues.

"My lord, your fair maiden is almost done with her preparations." Hendricks announced

Asmodues flipped his hand and the two men grooming him backed away with their heads bowed. "Excellent," he acknowledged, "It's only a matter of time now." Asmodues approached Hendricks, towering over him, he asked, "What is being done about the trespassers?"

"I sent the lamia to handle them." Hendricks replied.

"Oh, Anna is taking them out? She better not fail me again." Asmodues walked away laughing.

****

"Jose, put the gun down, man." Mark nervously reasoned with his hands up.

"No, you go and sail this boat out of here or I will blow your brains out." Jose cocked his gun.

Another explosion startled them.

Mark took the opportunity to pounce on Jose. Abigail ran away screaming. She ducked at the sound of two gun shots. Mark got hold of the gun and whilst he was trying to maintain his hold on it, it fell and fired. Mark forced his knee into Jose's stomach and hit his back with his elbow. Jose body slammed him to the ground.

Abigail peeped at the men punching each other. She shakily eyed the gun a few feet away from them and covered her mouth. Jose kicked Mark in the ribs, and his groan forced a yelp out of Abigail's mouth. She crawled back into the boat whilst Mark gave Jose a few good blows of his own.

Mark picked up a chair and broke it on Jose's head. He got hold of Jose's face and slammed him to the ground before he could recover from the blow. From the corner of his eye, Jose spotted the gun glimmering in the moonlight. He shoved Mark off of him and dived for the gun. Mark pounced at the gun too but Jose grabbed it first.

The two rolled on the ground as they wrestled for the gun and fired more shots with none of them getting hit. Mark head-butted Jose. He forced his leg on his chest. Jose staggered to his feet whilst Mark weakly straightened his back. Jose took a step closer and received a bullet to the shoulder that sent him falling over board with a splash.

Mark ran to the edge of the boat and desperately looked down. He saw Jose struggling to swim in the water. "Abigail, grab me a float!" Mark called out.

Abigail came running out and tossed a float at Mark who quickly threw it to the river. Jose gulped water as he sank in and out of the river. His good hand grabbed hold of the float, and he hung onto it for his dear life. He coughed out water violently.

"I'm going in after him. You stay here." Mark instructed Abigail and she nodded her head.

Mark dived into the water at that. He found Jose barely holding onto the float and got hold of him. Mark held him close and started to swim towards the boat. Abigail anxiously watched everything from up above. She screamed at a spiky tail rolling back into the river. She rushed back inside whilst Mark kept swimming.

Abigail came back out with an AK47 and aimed it. Jose got a glimpse of her and gritted his teeth. "What is she doing?" he wheezed.

"Swim faster, a crocodile is coming after you!" Abigail exclaimed and fired the gun.

Mark and Jose swam through the river with their hearts racing. At the rate at which they were going, it was a shock that they finally got to the boat. Abigail could no longer see the crocodile. She put the gun down and went to help Mark. She pulled Jose up by his shoulders, and he groaned in pain at his bullet wound.

Mark was next to get on but a sudden force pulled him into the water. Mark's blood colored the water as the crocodile squeezed its jaws into his leg. Deep in the river, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his dagger. Mark bent down and stabbed the crocodile over and over again whilst bubbles left his nose and mouth.

The crocodile released its hold on him, and he desperately swam back up. Jose and Abigail couldn't believe it when they saw him pop his head back out of the water. The crocodile burst out from behind him and Mark shouted. He swam away as fast as he could whilst Jose and Abigail screamed after him.

Jose snatched the AK47 and fired at the crocodile. Abigail threw another float into the water. Mark grabbed onto it, and she pulled him up with all her might. Mark coughed out water and laid on his back with Abigail gasping for air beside him.

"I think it is dead now." Jose remarked and swallowed hard.

"Good fucking riddance." Mark huffed and sat up. He let out a groan at the massive bite of his bleeding leg. Abigail tore her blouse and tied it tight around the wound. "Easy woman, I still want to live." he complained.

Another explosion sounded.

"Judging by the continued explosions, perhaps they aren't dead." Jose voiced out his thoughts.

"Yeah, that's why we shouldn't go anywhere." Mark winced in pain.

Jose cracked up laughing, "Why did I agree to come to this fucking forest?" he then smirked at Mark. "Thanks for saving my life."

"Don't start with that bullshit again otherwise I may be forced to kill you." Mark scowled at him.

Jose stretched his lips and nodded his head with his eyes closed. "Touché,"