16
Ness
Harvey was incredibly fast.Thankfully, my smaller form gave me a small advantage. I could fit through small spaces. I darted into a doggie door of a random house. I couldn’t hide in here forever, but it would give me time.
Harvey hit the door so hard the frame rattled. He could shift back to his human form and break down the door, but it would cost him, especially if he wanted to shift back. So, I waited to see what he would do.
Since I didn’t have a lot of energy to waste either, I didn’t bother looking for weapons or tools. I wasn’t going to face Harvey down in a stranger’s home. I would have to find another exit while he figured out what to do about the doggie door.
I didn’t go to the front of the house for an open window, that would be too obvious. Instead, I went upstairs. In the summer, homeowners without central air liked to let the hot air rise and exit through windows upstairs. Even though no one was home, I figured that at least one window would have to be open.
I searched three rooms before I found an open window. It was the bathroom window, but it led out onto a portion of the roof. That was exactly what I’d been looking for. With a nudge of my nose, I lifted the window higher so I could squeeze out.
The screen took a little more effort. Since I couldn’t risk shifting back, I had to claw a hole through the screen. I felt awful about ruining the screen, but it was all I could do. For once, I would put my own life first. I had to. A window screen was so small and insignificant in comparison.
Once I wriggled through the tear in the screen, I padded out onto the roof and peered down. I couldn’t hear Harvey from here. That made me worry. He could have found a way through the door. Or he’d realized what I was up to.
When I peered down at the ground below, I didn’t see Harvey anywhere. A bit of tension between my hunched shoulders eased away. I looked up and down the house for a way to get back to the ground. A prebuilt shed sat near the back of the house. I jumped to the shed’s roof and hesitated before leaping the rest of the way.
That brief moment of hesitation cost me. Once I found the courage and leapt, Harvey appeared. He slammed into me from the side. I hit the ground and skidded along the grass. Pain radiated along my ribs and flanks.
Harvey made a sound like a chuckle. The reek of rot hit my nose. It was familiar, not death but poison. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched dark drool dribble out of Harvey’s muzzle. His jaws opened wide.
I thrashed but to no avail. Harvey had me pinned to the ground. The smell of the poison filled my nose until it burned. I didn’t have time to sneeze though. Harvey bit down into my neck. Fur parted and skin gave way. A burning sensation spread from my throat down to my chest. My jaw locked in place.
A whimper escaped me before I could silence it.
Shift, my hound said.
I could feel her reluctance, but it was the only way she could think to get the poison out. If I rushed a shift, then there was a chance the sweat would expel some of the poison and buy me some time.
Harvey let go, almost immediately. It seemed that my command had stuck with him, too. He staggered back. At least, now I knew he wouldn’t be able to pin me down while the poison did the rest of his work.
He must have realized that. Harvey had brought the poison along because he’d known that my command would keep him from killing me with his own teeth.
While he was caught by the command, I hurriedly shifted. My body protested. It was already fighting off the poison. The burn of it seized my muscles. I felt like stone, but I kept pushing. There was no time to waste. I couldn’t let Harvey win.
I refused.
Hound paws extended into human fingers. I heaved, the contents of my stomach coming up right as I finished shifting. After I wiped at my mouth with the back of my shaky hand, I staggered to my feet. My skin reeked of the poison. Quite a bit of it had been expelled through my pores in the rush of my shift.
Some of it, however, had found its way deeper into my body. It seemed that moving everything around had its drawbacks. I backpedaled. My feet tangled with each other and nearly sent me to the ground again. I spun and caught myself before I hit the ground.
I ran to the shed I used to jump to the ground. There would be tools in there. At least, that’s what I hoped. I yanked the door open, snapping the lock in the progress. It cost me. The poison sank deeper into my body and sapped a little more of my energy.
I had to stop and drag in a ragged breath while my heart struggled to beat. In that moment, Harvey attacked again. I heard his growl before he leapt. Though I tried to throw myself forward, out of his reach. I wasn’t fast enough.
Harvey grabbed the back of my leg and yanked. He let go of me, but that didn’t matter when I hit the ground. I tried to pick myself up, but I was too slow. My limbs were heavier than I remembered. They felt like cinderblocks scraping against the ground. I tugged and tugged, but I didn’t have the strength.
Behind me, Harvey closed the distance. There were gardening tools in front of me. The hedge clippers would have served me well if I could have grabbed them. I reached, but the air felt thick. It pushed back at me. It held me down.
The second bite sent more poison flowing through my body. My leg was on fire. I tried to move it out of the way, like I’d somehow fallen into a bonfire, but that did nothing as the heat climbed up my thigh.
Harvey growled. The sound wasn’t menacing. I could hear the triumph in it.
Maybe he’d finally caught me, but I wouldn’t let him win. This would become a stalemate. I was going to take him down with me. As much as I hated Beryl, she was right. The world didn’t need a useless meatbag like him. He would only cause more harm. Others would suffer like I had so long as Harvey existed.
This time, the presence of my arcana didn’t rise like smoke. It crackled in my core. It fed on the heat of the poison pumping through my body.