Between the Light and the Darkness - Chapter 3

He was running. He had been, for a long time. He was exhausted, but he dared not stop.

A quick glance behind him revealed that his pursuers were still following. A group humanoid shapes with toothy grinning faces were chasing him across an unknown landscape. They had a predatory look in their eyes, and blood smeared across their lips.

An angel with silvery hair came down from the sky and told him to hurry in her sweet voice.

She landed before him and stretched her arms out to him...

...then gasped for breath suddenly. Her hands fluttered up to her neck and she tried to speak, but it was useless.

She fell to her knees, suffocating.

Tim watched helplessly as the angel collapsed in a heap in front of him.

He rushed to her side to help her, but it was too late. He looked at his fallen angel and felt an overwhelming sense of despair.

"NOOOOO!"

He looked behind him in a dazed stupor. The creatures were almost upon him now, grunting excitedly.

He looked back down at the angel, but a demon stood in her place. She hissed at him, baring fangs.

Tim recoiled. It laughed and reached for him.

Its hand brushed his face and he screeched in agony at its touch.

The demon cackled, rising into the air. Apalled, Tim turned to run.

The demon grabbed him by the neck. Tim heard his own screams echo back at him. Icy hands choked him, stifling his screams and his breath. He grabbed at the hands, but he couldn't pry them off his neck.

"No," he croaked.

The hands squeezed tighter, and he staggered, falling to the ground.

The demons surrounded him, chortling excitedly...