The Beast Within (Book One of the Changes Series)
The Grotto (Part 14.3)

-Porsha’s POV-

A thunderous roar broke my concentration, forcing my eyes to open. All I could make out was a ton of black fur only an inch away from me. I quietly pushed myself into the rock wall. Maybe I would be able to inch away from it. A scream bellowed out of me as the black fur fiercely turned its torso, displaying a muzzle full of teeth. Its piercing hazel eyes snatched my attention. I no longer had to question which beast was which. It made me feel marginally better that it wasn’t the one that ate Josie.

It glanced at me quickly before it focused its attention back on Josie’s killer. From its terrifying warning, I knew it didn’t want me to move.

I understood, but if those beasts were going to fight, I was going to run. I was in control of my end, not anyone else. I straightened my back against the wall, waiting for the right time, stretching slightly to the side. The black werewolf didn’t look back again, too enthralled with the other to notice what I was doing. It took all I had not to startle with each snarl and growl they shared. They were definitely sizing each other up, and the fight was about to start, but I had no clue as to why. Were they fighting over which one would get to eat me? I wasn’t planning on sticking around to find out.

The two giants began sharing more than snarls and guttural growls. I winced at the sound of their snapping jaws echoing off the walls. The “Black One” held its ground, covering me while the other paced from one side to the other. The only time the black werewolf seemed to move was to keep me hidden. Was she trying to protect me? It felt like it was, but what if I was wrong? It could just be ensuring a meal. I wanted to try something before I made a run for it. What did I have to lose? Maybe my life.

“Danielle?” I whispered.

The black werewolf turned its head slightly towards me as if to answer. Danni’s silent acknowledgment shocked me while the other werewolf took advantage of her distraction, rushing in for an attack. The two beasts were at each other throats. Where I was standing to where they were fighting, I was stuck. It wasn’t until that moment I noticed how different the other creature looked from the black werewolf. It was, for lack of a better word, naked. Another blaring roar moved the air, making me focus on Danielle, who was still entangled. I watched as it looked at me before pointing its head in a runnable direction. Was the creature, I mean Danielle, telling me to run?

I hesitated before slowly creeping away, making sure to stick to the base of the wall. I felt my breath catch in my throat when the naked werewolf bit deep into Danielle’s shoulder. The black werewolf’s feral rage amped up as she squirmed, freeing herself. I was finally able to run from the scene without a backward glance.

I kept running. It wasn’t until I was face to face with Eric, or what was left of him, that I realized where I had run to. I had no intentions of stopping when a gleam of something shiny caught my eye amid the gore. There was a large piece of sharpened metal. It looked as if he tried to fight back before he met his end. If I could pry it out of his hand, I could at least try to fight if it came to it. My stomach turned, causing saliva to collect in my mouth. I swallowed hard, hoping that would be enough to keep the stomach acids at bay. Going out into the open where the body lay would be a considerable risk. There would be no shadows to hide in.

I felt my heart skip a beat, realizing I could no longer hear the werewolves fighting. That could be a good sign or an extremely bad one. If Danni lost, the naked beast could be hunting me right at this very moment. It was even more vital that I would be able to protect myself.

I braced myself on the wall for a second longer before I made a run for it, reaching his mangled body without being attacked. But I knew that my death could be right around the corner, stalking me.

Nervously, I grabbed the dead man’s arm. It was heavier than I thought it would be, and I couldn’t get to the weapon. I yanked on it with strength I didn’t know I had when a sickening crack sounded before I was flat on my ass, holding onto Eric’s disembodied arm.

Reflexively, I threw up. The taste of soured bile made me heave further, but luckily, there wasn’t much in my stomach to rid myself of. The lightheadedness returned with a vengeance, but I forced myself to stay on task, trying to loosen the metal from his grip. Shit, it still wouldn’t budge. My eerily quiet surroundings kept me on edge. I felt as if I had exhausted my time, returning to the shadows with the arm in tow.

My body released a long breath after I rejoined the darkness, taking a quick look around before I tightened my grip over the arm. A not-so-bright idea blazed through my thoughts. Maybe if I could—the arm smacked against the stone—The sound of bone cracking brought hope instead of repulsion, but if I wasn’t quick enough, it could beckon the monster as well. Another lucky hit was all I needed, hearing the metal hit the ground. Throwing the arm down, I claimed my prize.

The confidence boost the scrap metal gave me was immeasurable. A light caught my attention. It looked as if it was coming from a crack in the cavern’s wall. How did I miss that before? I find a hole and escape out of it, and that was that? One could only hope. I quickened my pace. If this crack did lead out, maybe it was also too small for the werewolves to follow.

The fissure of light disappeared before I could reach it. Every hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Something was covering it, and my gut told me it wasn’t friendly.

Turning my head away from it, I tried to retrace my steps, but the movement of pebbles let it be known that it was following me.

My heart was in my throat when I reached a stone wall that blocked me from going farther, which meant I was back in the same spot I tried to leave. A quivery breath escaped me. All my options had been exhausted, and it was time to fight for my life. I shakily stood, waiting.

The sound of heavy footsteps played in my ears as the creature’s deep breathing fought for equal recognition. I felt my resolve start to crumble. Without another thought, I acted, rushing out into the open before I became a lump of jelly on the cavern’s floor.

I held my weapon out in front of me, “Come on, you piece of shit.”

Finally, it walked out of hiding.

I knew it wasn’t Danielle, but it wasn’t the other one either. This one resembled the naked one, but it seemed smaller, weaker, and something was wrong with its jaw. That’s why it wasn’t present earlier. With its deformity, it was waiting for an easy meal, and it chose me. I hoped to prove the monster chose wrong.

I stood there, readying myself to fight. The monster’s movements were awkward and slow. The smell of its rot traveled faster than it could. Like the other, it had no fur, but its skin held a nauseating slick greenish hue. It appeared as if the beast was actively dying. Maybe that could be used to my advantage.

There were only a few feet between the sickly beast and me. Tired of waiting, I tightened my grip on my weapon. A pang of pain radiated through the palm of my hand, but I didn’t care. It was now or never.

Letting out a feral scream, I raised my weapon above my head before I hurriedly closed the gap between us. When I was close enough, I swung once and then kept slicing. The werewolf didn’t appear as weak as I first thought. That didn’t matter, though. My body flooded with endorphins with every new slice I made. An oily substance spurted out of each wounded area, spilling all over the beast, the ground, and me. Even if the beast was injured, I knew my luck was wearing thin. My motivation quickly refocused on escaping.

Before I could act, an intense pain flowed through my chest as the air rushed out of me. It wasn’t until I landed on the ground that I registered that I had been flung into the air. I needed to get up. An ungodly shriek of agony leaked out of me. I fought the urge to pass out. There wasn’t a part of my body that didn’t hurt, and I was sure both legs were broken. I couldn’t tell for sure, but something felt wrong with my face too. The roar of pain quickly became all-consuming. This was it. This was how I would die.

Breathing was hard as I waited for my life to flash before my eyes. But what I really wanted to see was the beast breathe its last breath. Maybe by some miracle, I did enough to kill the fucker.

My head lulled to its side to see if I could see the bastard. It took me a second to notice my eyes were already open. My vision was hazy.

I would’ve laughed if I was able. The beast was on its ass. Danielle was standing over it with blood and slime oozing off her claws. She took care of the bastard.

She stepped over the defeated creature, bending down over my body. I didn’t know what was next, but what did it matter anyway? I was still dying.

My scream vibrated through me, causing even more pain as she tried to pick me up. It wasn’t until she placed me back down I was able to manage not yelling out. I could barely concentrate on anything but the pain, and I needed it to go away.

Danielle lay next to me. For some reason concentrating on her eyes comforted me. I felt even in her monstrous form, my friend was there, and I wasn’t alone.

I watched as she let out a deep breath before tears flooded her eyes. The pain was lifting, but my vision was becoming even more blurry. The colossal form in front of me looked to be melting away, reforming. Its length and girth shrunk as its other features went in on themselves. Without the strength to do anything else, I watched in silence as the creature morphed. I don’t know how long it took, but now I was looking into Danni’s face. I was too weak to talk, but I tried my best to smile in her direction. What if I was making this up in my head? At this point, I guess it didn’t really matter if it was a figment of my imagination. It was comforting to think maybe people got to see what they wanted when their time came. I wanted nothing more than to know that one of us made it out differently than the way I did.

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