CHAPTER 55: MORE TROUBLE
Hellhound leans his weight onto Athena’s chest, applying even more pressure than before. Her clawing on Hellhound’s leg gradually ceases due to the lack of oxygen in her lungs. Hellhound watches on with gratified eyes as air slips away from her body.
“It’ll be over soon,” Hellhound whispers to her.
She depletes the last bit of air in her lungs. This causes her head to fall back and her paws to limp over. Blackness overclouds Athena’s vision. Once again, Hellhound’s victorious moment is taken away as a black spot in the distance is seen coming out the corner of his eye. This black spot is Mane.
He races toward them with vicious eyes. Hellhound expresses his dissatisfaction by mumbling something underneath his breath, angrily. He then switches from Mane to Athena again.
“Lucky you,” he tells Athena before he flees down the highway.
Air pours into Athena lungs after the pressure from Hellhound’s foot is removed. She breathes rapidly to catch up on the air she’d lost during her ordeal. Her breaths are so unstable that it causes her to cough. Mane comes to his sister's aid.
“Athena!”
“Worry...about…….Iva. I’ll be fine,” she says weakly between each heavy breath.
Mane snarls and takes off again, pursuing Hellhound with more determination. Meanwhile, Eric finally eases of the gas when he sees the Rochester exit ramp coming into view. The car skids into a giant arch, and now he is driving thirty miles per hour in the downtown area. He skids to a rough halt when a yellow light switches red at an intersection. He looks over his shoulder at Iva.
"Is she still breathing?" Eric asks urgently.
Her breaths are more like short frantic gasps. She’s sucking in air more than she’s releasing it.
"Yeah, but barely,” Jason cries out to him.
Eric sees the blood dripping from her head, which is creating a small puddle on the floor.
"Fuck!" Eric blurts out. “This shit is not happening right now,” he shouts and releases his anger by slamming his palms against the steering-wheel.
As soon as the light switches green, Eric speeds off like a maniac. Shortly, the Charger slides to a halt in front of a high-rise apartment building. Eric and Jason leaps out of the car in a hurry. The trunk of the car opens and Eric runs his bare body to the trunk and quickly throws on a pair of gray sweat pants.
Margie, who is highly hysterical, opens the entrance door and holds it. Jessica runs out the building and confronts them with intense concern in her eyes.
“Is she alive?” she cries out to them.
“Barely,” Eric says.
Eric and Jason open the car door and gently lift her body.
“Are you fucking serious…” Jessica cries out at the first sight of Iva’s current state. ‘What did they do to her?” she says with tears pouring down her face.
“Come on Rave, this is not the time for breaking down, help me with her body,” Jason orders her as they head towards the door.
In a timely, yet careful manner, they race to the building with her body. Jason is still supporting her head, Jessica has her midsection, and Eric has her legs. Margie grabs her chest, nearly fainting, when she sees Iva's bleeding head and swollen face. A young couple walking down the sidewalk is laughing together. They become statues, with shocked expressions, when they notice Iva’s body.
"Oh my God…" the woman says in awe.
The others hurry inside the building and see Charles, who is also completely distraught, reserving an elevator for them.
"Over here!" he shouts to them while he keeps the elevator doors from closing. “Hurry!”
While this is happening, Frank and his partner discovers the mass destruction Hellhound caused. The highway is covered in debris and pieces of twisted metal. They’re both amazed at the amount of devastation.
“What the hell happened here?” Jones says as they drive slowly through the rubble.
Frank picks up the radio and places it at his mouth.
“Dispatch. There’s a huge car pileup on 590. Alert Rochester P.D. Send all units.”
“We will notify them,” a woman’s voice says through the static.
Shortly, Frank takes the off-ramp toward the City of Rochester. They cruise gently through the downtown area, looking for any signs of potential danger. They cease the sirens as their black patrol car prowls through the city streets. Frank spots a group of people standing on a corner, talking very loudly about something he’s unaware of. He halts at the corner next to the small gathering of gossipers.
“I’m telling you it was a lion. I saw it,” the man says in a panic-stricken tone of voice. “The damn thing ran right pass me a moment ago.”
“Sir..,” Frank gathers the distraught man’s attention.
The man turns to Frank with panic still fresh in his eyes.
“You said you saw a lion?” Frank asks.
“Yes, it ran pass me,” the panicked pedestrian informs Frank.
“Which way?’ Jones asks urgently.
“East Ave. near the corner of chestnut,” the man says while pointing up the street.
“Alright, thanks,” Frank says as he slams his foot on the accelerator.
As Frank speeds up the street, the others carefully walk sideways into the elevator with Iva’s body. Charles presses a button repeatedly until the elevator's doors slide close. There's no mellow music playing in the background to soothe their ears from this dreaded noise. The only thing they’re able to hear, over sorrowful weeping, is Iva’s body trying to gasp for air. Then her body goes into a horrible tremor.
Margie flinches and turns away quickly. She covers her eyes, unwilling to watch her struggle to stay alive. Charles embraces his wife firmly in attempt to calm her unsteady emotions. The elevator reaches the fourth floor and stops.
"Shit,” Charles whispers.
He positions himself in front of the elevator. The doors slide open and an elderly woman breaks a gentle smile.
"Going up dear?" she asks Charles.
"No, I’m sorry,” Charles responds as he presses the close button rapidly.
"Oh, okay,” the elderly woman replies.
Slowly her smile dissolves and a curious expression takes its place. She tilts her head sideways and stretches her neck, trying to glance around Charles. Just before the doors close, you can see shock forming on her face. Although it seemed like an eternity, the elevator finally reaches its long awaited destination. The elevator doors slide open and they all exit in a hurry.
Kenya, Olivia, and Jason’s parents are standing down the hall. They walk towards one another as fast as they can.
"Hurry, we don’t have time to waste,” Olivia pleads.
Before both groups are able to meet, an exit door between them explodes of its hinges. Everyone gasps when they realize who they’re face to face with. It’s an irritated, tired, bruised, bloody, and beaten Hellhound.
This dude won’t stop worth shit
He swiftly shifts his eyes to Iva's body. He bends his knees in preparation to leap forward and finish what he started.
Before he’s able to attack, Mane leaps through the same doorway, colliding into Hellhound and breaking through a tenant’s door.
Together they tumble into someone’s living room and slam against a leather sectional. The owner of the sofa, an older woman, can only scream in the hallway as they continue their scuffle. Their ongoing fight leads to the television set being knocked over, pictures on the walls falling to the floor, and even crashing through the dining-room table.
Their bodies detach for a moment. They both take time to catch their breaths. Hellhound looks exhausted and Mane looks even worse.
“Nothing can stop my purpose. Are you willing to die for this woman?” Hellhound asks between breaths.
“I can show you better than I can tell you” Mane replies weakly.
Mane charges at Hellhound and forces him backwards. Now, they are both heading toward the kitchen window. Below the window is a long way down to a concrete pavement. Mane's only focus is to stop the demonic creature once and for all by any means necessary. Even if it means that he dies with him.
Meanwhile, as this is going on, Frank and Jones find the Charger parked in front of the apartment building.
“Okay, we’ve got the car,” Frank says.
“It looks empty,” Jones replies.
“They’re around here somewhere.”
As soon as Frank completes this sentence, he hears the shattering of glass at a close distance. Then, out of the blue, Mane crashes onto the hood of their patrol car and Hellhound falls onto Daniel's car parked in front of them. Now both creatures are unmoving. Is he finally be dead? Has Hellhound's reign of terror come to a dramatic end? Well, keep reading to find out…