The Portal: An Afterlife Novella by Isabel Brann

Author:Isabel Brann [Brann, Isabel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-05-02T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

The ground under her feet was wet and muddy and a delicate drizzle lingered from the earlier downpour. She followed the trail of the wide, brownish river to her right, her feet stepping on fallen branches and patches of grass. She didn’t know what she would find at the end of the path, but she was certain her only chance of survival would be to make it there. Safety awaited if only she was courageous enough to take it.

Every step took great effort, her whole body felt as if it was filled with lead, but despite physical exhaustion or perhaps because of it, she didn’t pause.

She walked faster.

A soft whistle caressed her ears, alluring and melodic like the song of a bird or perhaps the spell of a siren. There was no doubt in her mind that its owner wanted her death as much as the mythical bird-woman had wanted a sailor’s.

“Come, mi vida, come to me,” a soft plea.

No, she thought, shaking her head and forcing her limbs to cooperate. From the murky river, a pair of yellowed eyes lifted, a caiman silently stalking its prey. Her. No, she would not be prey.

Keep moving, keep moving.

“You must stop!” the voice commanded, the tone forceful and irate.

A humongous olive green snake with black spots slithered between her legs, hissing and showing the fleshy recesses of its mouth. Screaming, she stopped and looked around for a way to escape. To the right, the river and the caiman blocked her, in front the snake waited with dark glee for a chance to devour her, and behind… behind lurked death.

Desperate, she lunged to the left, but she didn’t want to move too far, scared she would lose sight of the river. She must not lose sight of the river.

“I said stop. And you shall obey,” the voice snarled, blocking her only exit.

A man of average height stood in front of her, his face shadowed by the brim of a tan cowboy hat. She took a step back but suddenly the snake was there, preventing her every movement. It twisted and coiled around her legs, using every ounce of its five hundred pounds to still any motion up to her knees.

“You’ve forgotten how to listen, querida, but don’t worry, you have eternity to learn.”

He lifted his face, showing red eyes and a fleshless face, bones protruding and gleaming like pearls under the light of the moon. His mouth contorted into a horrid smile, sharp fangs showing. While she watched, he grew in size. His clothes shredded as swiftly as the rest of his flesh as he turned into a twenty feet giant. A sack over his shoulder rattled with something that sounded that rocks but she knew were not.

The bones of his father, the legend said, and the bones of his victims.

“Ah, my wife, here you are. At last,” an elongated skeletal finger reached down and stroked her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. His eyes shone with desire at the sight of the crimson liquid and she flinched, trying to move her face away from him.

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