Death Comes Knocking

Chapter Four

When I came to the hell hound was still standing over me, literally.  He was standing over me, two legs on either side and his snout pressed up against my face.  I could smell his sulfur breath and feel the heat of it against my fair skin.  I tried to move but it was useless.  His "master" was laughing at my struggles.    I had never been so frightened in my life.  Every move I made the dog seemed to press down on me harder and harder.  Eventually it got to the point where I felt as if my lungs were about to explode because of the pressure that he forced upon me.

"You know this is all in your mind.  You know that this isn't real.  I'm not real.  The hound isn't real.  Jeremiah isn't real.  You know this.  Just need to admit it."

I barely managed to lift my head to try to find where the voice was coming from.  I couldn't do it.  The moment I lifted my head even a centimeter off of the ground Kaos's paw would press harder and harder on my windpipe.  I knew that if I made it through this I would have scratches and paw prints on my neck for weeks. 

"What do you mean, if you make it through?  You know you aren't.  There is no way.  Jeremiah is the master of the original hound of hell.  Or is Kaos the master?  Either way you lose.  Might as well accept it and go with a bit of dignity."

I summoned up all of my strength and just barely managed to kick Kaos off of me.  As I started scrambling for the door Jeremiah produced a long sword out of thin air.  Black with red runes etched along the glistening surface, this sword was the stuff of legends.  I had heard of this sword from J.T.  The Soul-Swallower.  Not only did it take the physical life of its victims, it also held onto their soul for eternity.  No Vahallah for them.  No "ever-loving peace" to ever be found.  Nothing but emptiness and sorrow for the rest of eternity, being captured in that sword.  I refused to let that be my fate.

I started to run past him and felt Kaos at my heels.  Seeing Jeremiah wield that sword was beauty and tragedy mixed in equal measures.  If I hadn't been running for my life I would have stopped and watched in awe.  The sword moved as if it were an extension of himself.  Cleaving through the air with the greatest of ease, he managed to make it look easy.  I knew it wasn't.  The tip of the sword blade hitting the front door, 2 inches above my shoulder, was all that I needed to break me out of my revelry.

"Move your ass.  Do you REALLY want to wind up the swords next midnight snack?  Get the FUCK out of here, NOW.  Do you hear me?  Not yesterday, not tomorrow.  Now, now, now!"

Crashing through the door, down the stairs and out of the front lobby proved to be no issue.  Everything was strangely quiet for this time of day.  No cars to be seen anywhere.  No kids running around and tripping everyone up.  Not a single soul in sight.  This knowledge frightened me more than anything.  I looked down at my watch and noticed that the hands had frozen. Time had literally come to a stand still.

"Fuck!", I screamed to myself and started running at a more frenzied pace, my heels making a very stark click-clacking noise on the pavement compared to the silence of the mid day outside.


I hazarded a glance over my shoulder and saw Kaos running towards me at full tilt, Jeremiah behind.  Jeremiah was still swinging that god awful sword.  Kaos made  a final leap and jumped towards me and almost, almost but not quite, knocked me over.  I managed to keep my balance and put every ounce of strength I had into speed.  Keeping my breathing focused wasn't too difficult, but fighting the incessant need to look over my shoulder again was.

"No, don't you dare look back.  That is how you get killed.  Keep your eyes focused and keep your feet moving.  There's a tunnel you have to get to.  Five more miles down the road.  I know you can outrun him.  Or can you?  If you can't you would make a nice little bit of puppy chow."

I listened to the voice this time and started to run full tilt.  One mile passed in a blur.  Two.  Three.  Fourth mile I started to flag and started to look over my shoulder but felt as if my neck had been grabbed and I turned to face forward again. 

"One more mile.  C'mon.  I know I can do it."

I'd never run more than a half a mile at a time in my life.  Lungs burning and coughing like a cancer patient I kept going.  This was NOT my idea of fun but I had to do so if I were to survive.  I had to survive.  I had to finish my chore and meet up with J.T.  in the space of a few weeks.  Had to, had to, had to.

Mile five.  YES!  I raced full tilt into the tunnel and saw Kaos and Jeremiah speed on by.  Inch by inch I made my way through the slimy tunnel.  At points I had to hunch down and crawl through the slime and mold.  Rats scurried all around me.  Dirty creatures!  Finally, after what seemed like hours, I re-surfaced.  I had come to the light at the end of the tunnel, literally.  I had come up in some place that I had never known existed in the city.  A "wellness supply shop" is what the sign touted but I knew a black magic den when I saw one. 

"Do you really now?  Then why couldn't your spidey senses pick this up before you almost got yourself eaten, and not in the pleasant way either?  Look around, feel with what J.T. managed to teach you.  Darlin, you're not in Kansas anymore."

Fourth prompt.
Tell me about a time when your character was scared to die. What happened and how did they get out of it?
If that is impossible because of your plot and character, give me a time when something either embarrassing or excessively funny happend.
Make me cringe with fear, blush, or laugh out loud for maximal points on this prompt.

WC:  1,026
Total WC: 3,115