Chapter 41


    With the slightest of ease Lyte pushed open a door and let herself inside another vacant


    apartment. She then shut the door as gently as she could behind her before limping over to the first


    window that she could spot within the room.Outside it was pitch ck. Only the bright full moon could


    provide the adequate lighting she required in order to see. Lyte could tell that they were facing


    west because Downtown always led out of the city.


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    She could still hear the beast rummage and growl about the apartment they had just escaped. What


    furniture and appliances that were still left inside the room were by then being destroyed by the thing''s


    blind and furious attempts to search for its nourishment.Still, Lyte made sure to not only keep


    Isaiah''s mouth covered but also her own in the hopes that the beast would somehow, someway move


    on. But even she at that point in their madness knew better.


    With her face pointed outside the window, Lyte thought to herself, "I wonder what time it is. We


    couldn''t have been inside this ce that long."She then gazed down at the dark ground. "If that really


    was the fuzz that showed up, then where in fuck is their backup?" She asked herself while grinding her


    teeth back and forth.


    Lyte pulled away from the window and inhaled more thick smoke that seemed to be seeping its


    way down onto their floor. She then took Isaiah, looked the boy deep in his eyes and grunted softly, "If


    your fucking father isn''t in hell already, I''m gonna make sure he will be when I see his ck ass next


    time."


    Isaiah only smiled back at his mother while wiping his bleary eyes. Lyte did all she could to keep


    from crying out loud for the boy''s well-being. He was tired and in the beginning stages of bing


    fussy, something that neither of them really could afford right then.


    "Just hang on, sweetie, God will get us out of here." She whispered into his ear.


    All of the sudden, the loudest crashing noise erupted from outside the door. For a moment it sounded


    as if the ceiling were caving in. Just before Lyte could take one step forward the roars of the beast


    from out in the hallway red out.


    "Doggy," Isaiah shouted. "Shh, boy," Lyte covered his mouth.


    Lyte stood, shook and listened as the creature stomped about outside. But soon she realized that


    something was off kilter. First off, it possessed a keen sense of smell, it knew exactly where they were,


    which was exactly why it sounded as though it were outside the door. And second, there was smoke


    filtering in through the bottom of the door; thick, ck smoke that was filling the room rapidly.


    Lyte ced Isaiah down onto the floor and carefully crept towards the door. She just had to


    examine with her own misty eyes just what was taking ce on the other side. With her right hand she


    touched the knob to notice it scolding hot. Quickly she withdrew and stood back for a minute.


    "If I remember correctly, all three of these buildings had elevators." She thought. "I probably missed this


    floor''s altogether."


    Covering her mouth and nose from the smoke Lyte once more grabbed the knob and twisted


    before flinging the door wide open to find not only a wall of mes before her, but also half of the ceiling


    lying on the floor and the beast lurking about beyond the mes.


    Lyte''s very first instinct was to scream and m the door shut, but instead she paused and looked.


    Between both her and the beast was about six or more feet, all of which had them both separated by


    the ze.


    The creature stood up on its two legs and roared while swiping at the mes in a furious manner trying


    to get at her.


    "Fire, mommy," Isaiah squealed from behind.


    The beast only roared all the louder at the sound of the child, but it was just as helpless as its human


    counterparts.


    "Now I can scream as loud as I want to, motherfucker!" Lyte bawled her lungs out before mming


    the door shut and coughing.


    Dragging herself over to the window Lyte peered outside and looked down. It was a long way to


    the ground, jumping from a great distance wouldn''t have been wise...but then again.


    "I...I think I saw the elevator out there." Lyte said to Isaiah as she began searching all over the


    living room, the kitchen and eventually the one bedroom to find a dingy, white nket lying on the floor


    right next to a dead rat.


    She swiped the thing from off the floor and made her way into the tiny bathroom where she opened the


    toilet seat and reached inside. The second her hand connected with scant traces of something wet she


    quickly dipped the nket inside in an attempt to dampen the cloth as much as possible. It wasn''t


    much, but what she managed to get would have to do. The nket by then had the stifling stench of


    age old, stale urine.


    Lyte hobbled back to where Isaiah was seated on the floor before she gathered the boy and


    wrapped both herself and him inside the rancid nket.


    She could hear the mes outside the door crackle and spurt with such intensity that for all she knew


    the entire floor could have been swallowed up by fire.


    "Okay, baby, just hold on to me and don''t let go." Lyte said into Isaiah''s ear. "We''re gonna have to


    be brave and make a run for it. It may hurt...but at least we''ll be one step closer to getting out."


    She couldn''t see the boy''s face due to it being covered in the filthy nket, but she could definitely feel


    him gripping her t-shirt which let her know that he was still coherent.


    Making sure the wet portion of the nket was to the front of them Lyte twisted the scorching hot


    knob and opened the door to see even more mes in front of her. She tried her best to see just where


    the beast was, but with all the mes it was hard to pinpoint its whereabouts.


    Rather than stand and wait for her nket to dry, Lyte braced herself and darted past the fire. The


    woman yelled out in agony as she passed along the mes before making it through the clear.


    Just before she reached the steps Lyte took the steaming nket and tossed it to the floor before


    looking back at the fire. A great portion of the sixth floor had sumbed to the ze. The elevator


    shaft that she needed was partially blocked by portions of the copsed ceiling. Isaiah coughed and


    hacked so much that he began losing his breath.


    "Hang on, sweetheart! We''ll be outta here soon!" Lyte panicked before hearing something from


    behind her scratch and move about.


    At first she figured it was the other part of the ceiling about to give way, but as she looked back there


    was still one apartment door open. Out the door appeared the beast that was growling and gnashing its


    fangs back and forth.


    The woman had seen enough. Without hesitation Lyte took off in the opposite direction towards the


    opened elevator shaft with the beast racing in behind.


    Lyte struggled to climb past and over parts of ceiling and crumbled walls in an effort to at least get


    inside the shaft. She managed to wedge her way in between the broken wood and cement before


    falling about twelve feet down onto the top of the stalled elevator.


    Lyte cried out in pain before looking up to see the creature looking down at both her and Isaiah


    roaring and howling like an enraged animal. It was shoving debris out of its way in order to squeeze


    itself into the shaft.


    Picking both her and her son up, Lyte frantically threw open the elevator''s top hatch before jumping


    inside. The car toppled and teetered from side to side as if the cable that was holding it could snap at


    any time. Isaiah was a bawling mess, and she herself was racked in pain, and still it never once


    crossed Lyte''s mind to ponder her next move as she stood up and tried to open the elevator''s


    doors.


    The poison that had inflicted her earlier was still having itsborious effects. Her legs were feeble and


    wobbly, her eyesight was dim and her arms still felt as if they were chained to the floor, and yet, with


    her child wailing out in pain and a demon on their tails, the woman had not one notion of slowing down.


    Lyte could hear the beast above her as well as the wreckage that it was throwing down onto the


    car itself causing it to waver even more. With her miniscule strength the woman took her two hands


    and tried to pry open the elevator door. With every roar Lyte fought all the harder until the door


    ever so gradually parted revealing that the car was stuck between two floors with only three feet of


    space to the floor above.


    "Isaiah, get up!" She screamed at the boy who was still lying on the floor crying. "I said get up, Isaiah!"


    Lyte used her back and two feet to keep the doors open while Isaiah rolled over and got up only to


    be snatched by the arm by his mother. Lyte then simply hoisted the child up onto the floor above


    them.


    Then, just like that, the beastnded on top of the elevator car. Lyte could both hear and feel the


    car''s cable begin to give way. She looked up to see the beast''s snout protruding through the top hatch


    of the car.The young woman nced up at the floor where Isaiahnded and made the leap of faith


    herself. She jumped and climbed to the ledge before the door behind her quickly mmed shut.


    Lyte then listened as the beast somehow managed to fall into the car. It ferociously pounded on


    the closed door while roaring. Lyte picked Isaiah up from off the floor before she slowly backed


    away. She could hear the already frayed and weak cable that was holding the elevator twinge and


    snap.


    The steel car banged against the stone of the corridor it was inside of before the cable itself finally


    snapped sending the car crashing down.It took no more than seven seconds before it finally hit the


    bottom most floor of the building.


    The loud collision sounded like tons of steel being crushed at a junkyard. Lyte snuck over to the


    stairwell and peeked down to see the beast that was supposedly guarding the first floor mor and


    skulk about wondering just what on earth had just taken ce. The thing meandered in and out of the


    lobby area like a crazed and confused animal.


    With Isaiah''s mouth muzzled Lyte watched and waited. There wasn''t a single fiber in her body that


    didn''t want to make a daring escape past the creature during its rampaging tirade. But the woman


    thought and kept thinking. She and her son were trapped inside a burning house of horrors; freedom


    had toe at a high ransom.


    "Mommy, I went potty." Isaiah whimpered into his mother''s chest.


    Dragging back down the hallway, Lyte muttered, "So did I, baby... so did I."