Chapter 43: Just Biding Our Time

“I wonder why they won’t leave?” Arabella whispers to me after walking over to where we are sitting and placing her hand gently on my shoulder.

When I glance up at her, she is wearing a fake smile on her face. I begin to wonder if this is getting to be too much for her, but then I open my mouth to mention quietly, “Probably, because they know we are here someplace. They just can’t smell us, so it is driving them insane. I think that is why they are tearing the place apart, in hopes of us coming out.”

“Well, obviously there is no way that they would surprise us. Making so much noise, we would have to be stupid to walk out now.” Eric furrows his brow before looking back down at a paper in his hands.

He reads it silently and then he turns to me before saying, “Apparently, when my dad had this place built 8 years ago, he had a back door installed. Now we just have to find it and hope that we aren’t completely surrounded.”

Hearing this, Arabella gets excited and starts jumping up and down before she says a little too loudly, “Yay. There is hope for us after all.”

Quickly realizing that she should have never done that, she wraps her fingers around her face and then looks up when the noises stop. Shaking my head, I begin to worry. If they know we are down here for sure, they may just find the opening. Even if I did secure it with the bolt on the inside, there is a possibility that they will get it open before we can escape.

When I stand up, I gaze at Arabella’s face, and I can tell that she feels bad now. Does she know that she has just given away our position? I know she didn’t mean to and that is why I could never be mad at her for it. Even if it does end up killing all of us.

I just wish I knew where the hatch was for the back door. We had just been all over this place and found nothing, and then I think of something. Could the old man have installed a back door going down further so that way it came out somewhere else entirely? I suppose it is possible. So, I tell Eric what I think, and we both look down this time as we inspect the area.

Almost stumbling over it, I hit my toe on a crack in the floorboards or so I thought. I look down and see that the throw rug has shifted enough so I can see a distinct frame in the floor. That shouldn’t be there, not unless. Perfect.

There it is. The way out. The old man’s back door so craftly hidden from vision, until I stubbed my toe.

Bending down, I move the rug aside and admire it before whispering to both to come closer. When Eric sees it, he instantly rushes over to my side and then Arabella follows closely behind him. I point down and they both nod in understanding before I unbolt the door and open it.

Once it is open, I take my phone out of my pocket and turn the flashlight app on. However, when I lower it to the opening, I am somewhat disappointed. I was hoping for a long tunnel that was cemented into a long corridor, but what I see is a dirt hole in the ground.

Maybe they never finished it? I stand up and turn to Eric. Do you know if it is finished or not? It certainly doesn’t look like it.

He shrugs before saying in a murmur, “Perhaps I will go down and check it out first before you lower her down. That way I know if it is safe and leads anywhere, because obviously if there is no way out there isn’t a point to any of us going down in it and getting stuck.”

I nod and then state, “Hurry up though. I have a bad feeling about the sudden silence upstairs. If they find the entrance it will only be a matter of time before they get it open and they will be upon us.” Feeling an impending doom falling on us, I hurry him along and then watch as he disappears into the hole and out of my site.

Arabella must know that this could be the end of us because she turns to me and reaches up around my neck with her fingers. Her eyes are filled with tears, but her lips open slightly as she stands on her tip toes so I will kiss her. Leaning my head down, I declare my love for her silently by claiming her lips before sliding my tongue in her sweet mouth.

After hearing a small moan escape her mouth and feel it enter mine, I run my fingers through her beautiful hair and then down to her soft voluptuous breasts. Once I am done caressing them, my hands grasp a tight hold on her butt, just before there is a loud noise outside the barred door. Frightened, Arabella glances up at me with wide eyes, right before Eric pops his head back up through the hole and says in a whisper, “Come this way quick. There is no time. I heard them talking outside and they are about to burn the place to the ground with us inside, otherwise.”

Releasing her body, I take a hold of her hand instead and carefully help her down through the hole to Eric’s waiting arms. He lets her go gently onto her feet and waits expectantly for my turn next. The minute I stick my feet in, I hear a loud crash at the door behind me and then I jump in without looking. Eric quickly shuts the door and bars it before they can get in

We stop for a second to collect ourselves before following Eric through the hole in the ground, to the exit. When I see the moonlight from the frame of the door, I feel relief until I hear Arabella say, “Damn it.”

Stopping again, I wait for her to move but she doesn’t. “What’s wrong?” I ask in a whisper before feeling her hand in front of me.

“I think I am going into labor.” She whispers and then stops talking abruptly.

“What?” I raise my voice in concern while asking.

When she doesn’t say anything, Eric turns around and the rays of his flashlight, highlight her small body. But her face is what is worrying me the most now. Her eyes are shut, and she has a look on her face like she is about to scream at the top of her lungs. I whisper, “Don’t. Please.”

Ignoring my plea, she lets out a blood curdling scream that anyone within a mile from here could hear. Then I knew that we were in for a fight the minute we open that door wherever we are about to come out. “Shit!” Eric yells when he opens the door, and two men are staring at him with golden eyes, fangs and claws extended.

“Move.” I demand before shoving both of them out of the way and rushing head first at the two just outside the door.

If there are only two of them here now, I can take them down before more back up arrives. Then I can worry about that when the time comes. In the meantime, when I launch myself at the first one, he is taken by surprise and ends up on his ass against the nearby tree. The second, poses to be more of a problem when he bares his teeth and slashes my right side open with his sharp claws.

Trying to dodge, I slam into Eric who is only moving out of the way. When I do, I lose tract of the second man and that allows him to get behind me and try to take me. It doesn’t work of course, instead he ends up ramming into the other one when they try to tackle me from both ways. I move quickly enough, that it allows me to duck under the one and they both slash each other with their claws.

Hearing the bones crack and the cloth shred, I know that at least one of them must be hurting. So, of course I take advantage of the situation and come up behind them before taking both my hands and breaking the first one’s neck by twisting his head sharply to the side. The other one, just looks on before shaking his head and deciding to walk away for the time being.

I know that I can’t let him get away though, because he will tell the others where we are and that poses a problem.