Chapter 40


    "Okay, okay, okay, okay!" Lyte repeatedly and breathlessly said inside her head as sheid upon


    the floor. "Okay, Lynn, you need to pull your damn self together and think. Apparently, Cloyse was right


    about his fairy dust, so what we need to do is find some way or another to break free, because I can


    hear both of those fuckers inside this building now!"


    With as much energy, will and hope as she could collect, Lyte tried so hard to move at least one


    finger on her right hand, but no matter what it would not budge. She tried again and again but to no


    avail whatsoever.


    "Okay, okay, at least Isaiah has stopped crying." She panted. "Now, if I could somehow just open at


    least one eye, I could see what he was up to."Her eyes were wide open, but the sight in them was


    ck.


    She had no clue as how to even begin with regaining at least one tiny glimpse of light. She could hear


    the boy moving about in the room, babbling and apparently ying with something that in her ears


    sounded like a heavy piece of steel.


    "Baby...be...quiet." She struggled so hard to utter.


    Just trying to push out one word felt like trying to strain mud through a peephole; Lyte''s vocal cords


    were actually beginning to hurt to the point where she wanted to give up speaking and focus solely on


    her limbs.


    "Okay, girl, you have to concentrate. Think about what you want to do and just do it, because I can now


    smell smoke and it smells like it''s near."


    She fought with the resiliency of a titan, attempting to move one finger or two after another, but yet and


    still, nothing would act. Lyte wanted to cry, but even something as simple as tears would not form


    inside her eyes.


    "Mama," Isaiah blurted out real loud.


    The shock of hearing him yell should have sent a wave of fear down her entire body, but Lyte could


    feel nothing physically. She wanted to tell him to be quiet, or better yet, close his mouth with her own


    hand.


    "Please...stop." Lyte grunted in a monotone fashion.


    She listened as Isaiah romped about the room before the growls of the beasts from a far distance came


    into earshot.


    "Isaiah...shut...up." She began to bleed from the mouth.


    Lyte had experienced helplessness before, from the night in the bathroom with Isaac, from being


    upstairs with Arthur, but at that juncture, lying on the floor and not being able to at least see her son,


    the feeling of powerlessness was the ugliest and most soul crushing bit of ungodliness she had ever


    tasted. It was not only frightful, but also demeaning.


    Just as Lyte gave thought to another attempt at moving, something began to rattle at the door. She


    could tell that it was behind the door for the simple fact that she could hear the doorknob twist from side


    to side.


    Out of instinct, Lyte''s eyes opened wide. She could hear Isaiah walk towards the door and pound


    against it. There wasn''t a single bone or nerve inside her body that didn''t want to wake up and scream


    at that moment.


    "Don''t...Isaiah."


    After about a few seconds the door swung open. Lyte could hear footsteps stomp inside the


    apartment before the door mmed shut.


    "Bernice, where the fuck are you," a man''s loud, stern voice shouted.


    Lyte''s eyeballs rolled about in their respective sockets in the hopes that they would mercifullye


    back to life.


    "I...I was in the kitchen cooking your supper." A woman timidly answered.


    The smell of the room unexpectedly changed from an old must to that of the aroma of food, frying


    chicken to be exact.


    "Bitch, I told your ass to meet me downstairs around five o''clock! Where the fuck were you?" The man


    stomped his heavy foot on the floor.


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    "I...I must''ve lost track of time, honey." Thedy stuttered about.


    "Fuck that honey shit, bring your ass here!"


    Lyte could hear the two scuffle about on the floor, but for the life of her she couldn''t hear a


    mumbling word from Isaiah. She couldn''t figure out just what on earth was happening, and just knowing


    that her child was right in the middle of the melee only made her want to fight all the harder.


    "God...please...help...me." She groaned."Okay, God, you''ve sat back and watched me and my son go


    through all of this, now, I am asking you! I''m begging you, fucking help us! I am asking for your help!


    Please, fucking help me!"


    Lyte bore down as hard as she could, straining nearly every muscle inside her stationary body.


    Just listening to the man scream and toss hisdy from one end of the room to the other only caused


    Lyte''s ire to increase to a level that she never imagined it could reach.


    "Okay, Lynn, just focus." She breathlessly gasped. "Just focus on it and it will happen! Focus on one


    finger; it doesn''t matter which one, just one!"


    She thought of moving just one finger, but all that seemed to do was propel even more blood from out


    of her mouth from the straining.


    "Fuck that, I''m gonna blow your ck ass away!" The man in the room roared with blustery rage.


    "Get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up, get up!" She hollered over


    and over again in her head as astonishingly loud as she could.


    "Please, Woody, don''t shoot me!" The woman begged the man.


    "Get the fuck up, bitch!"


    Right then, like someone or something had struck her over the face, her right index finger suddenly


    budged. Lyte''s eyes opened as wide as they could while she kept on trying to move. She was


    finding that the more she kept on pushing, the more feeling began flooding back into her body, like a


    slow trickle from a drain.


    "Don''t stop, just keeping going!"


    Her one finger began stretching in and out before she realized that the other fingers on her right hand


    could do the same. Before long, her entire right arm became mobile, so much so that she began


    pounding on the floor.


    "Come...here, Isaiah." She spoke more fluidly.


    "Bang, bang, bang!" she heard him scream out.


    "Isaiah,e here!" Her muffled voice started to clear up.


    Lyte''s entire body at that stage began to take on an exuberant surge of energy. No, she didn''t have


    the strength to just leap to her feet like a cat, but just being able to operate her own limbs made her feel


    as though she had risen from the grave.


    Lyte managed to roll over onto her stomach before a glimmer of light flickered in her left eye like


    someone was shing a candle in front of her.She waved her hands in front of her face before feeling


    Isaiah touch her forehead. Lyte immediately grabbed her child and held on to him.


    The more the man yelled the more her vision was graduallying back to her.After about four


    minutes what Lyte could see in front of her was fog with shapes within it. It was certainly a lot


    better than what she had been seeing earlier. Standing above both her and Isaiah was arge man,


    and a cowering woman''s silhouette. The man had his gun pointed directly at the woman''s face before


    he pulled the trigger and fired, causing her face to explode upon contact.


    Lyte screamed out in fright, which in turn caused the two beasts downstairs to roar. Before


    Lyte could even react, she watched as both the man that was standing with his gun and the


    woman lying dead on the floor vanished right before her very eyes. The gun that the evil man was


    holding simply dropped to the floor.


    "Bang, bang, bang!" Isaiah pointed his finger and shouted.


    "Hush, baby," Lyte covered his mouth while scooting across the floor towards another room within


    the apartment.


    Still too weak to get to her own feet Lyte carried Isaiah in her arms while listening to something big


    gallop up each step and floor. She never once lost sight of the fact that they were still animals and that


    their sense of hearing and smell was unmatched. She realized that not only did her screaming attract


    them, but all the sweat and blood that she had secreted wasyered all over the sixth floor.


    "Oh, God," her teeth chattered.


    From one corner of the dark, murky room to the other she searched and scanned before her eyes


    caught sight of a venttion shaft within one of the walls. The ck, steel grate covering was hanging


    loosely off its hinges. Lyte crawled over and inspected the square hole before shoving Isaiah


    inside.


    From there she climbed inside herself and took the grate.Drug abuse andck of food were the


    reasons Lyte could fit nearly perfectly inside the vent. It was tight and snug and moving was


    halfway impossible, but both her and her son were still inside.


    As she struggled to fit the grating onto its hinges she could hear one of the beastse upon the sixth


    floor. Instead of fidgeting with the grate Lyte covered Isaiah''s mouth as tight as she could andid


    down perfectly still inside the soot filled vent.


    Outside the apartment door she could hear it growl and plod around before the door itself burst into


    pieces. She saw just one of the demonse in; where the other could have been was another


    mystery.The thing skulked and roared about each room beforeing to aplete stop in the middle


    of the living room floor where it both sniffed and licked up the blood that Lyte had bled just


    moments earlier. From there, it crept about until it managed to sniff out both mother and son in the


    vent.


    Lyte watched as its fur appeared before its snout did. She began to slide backwards before the


    beast ripped the grating right off the wall and reached inside with its massive paw after the two. It


    roared and snarled at them like an enraged, rabid animal that couldn''t attack its prey.Isaiah cried while


    Lyte kept pushing further and further backwards until her feet hit something solid.


    She looked back to see another grating. She furiously kicked at the covering until it brokepletely


    off. Lyte slid out of the vent saturated in nothing but ck soot from head to toe. She then


    attempted to get to her feet only to have them both give way, sending her copsing to the floor.


    She wanted to get angry, but she brushed it aside and used a window pane to propel herself upwards


    before reaching down and picking up Isaiah. She limped towards the door and ever so carefully and


    quietly opened it.


    "Now, I need you to be very, very quiet." She whispered softly into Isaiah''s face before creeping out into


    the hallway, making sure to keep her eyes open for the other lurking beast.


    As they passed by the apartment, they could hear the demon inside continue to rampage about, still


    trying in earnest to reach its food.


    Lyte tip-toed down the hallway until she came to the stairs, the second she reached the first step


    she could right away hear the other snarling.With the stealth of a mouse, Lyte snuck over and


    peeked down the flight of stairs to see it lurking about the first floor lobby between the moonlight''s


    beams like it was waiting on her.


    But above and all around, something was burning. Parts of the ceiling were beginning to crumble into


    ash right above Lyte and Isaiah''s heads. The stench of smoke began filling the sixth floor, and all


    Lyte could do was look down at the creature that had no idea that they were watching it from


    above.


    Lyte kept her sons'' mouth covered as she turned and tip-toed in the opposite direction down


    the