"What the fuck was that?" Deatt yelled at Evelynn, his ears still ringing from the high-pitched sound.

  "I don't know! An alarm? Probably set by my parents, if I got out." her voice came out as panicked as Deatt's. "I didn't know about it!."

  Deatt tried to force himself to get calm, taking heavy breaths. He could already imagine the wave of mindless bodies running to them.

  "The building is fortified, so we should be alright here for a little while." She said hopefully.

  As jinxes go, this one Deatt saw coming from a mile away. Before he managed to inform her that the fortifications were built to keep something inside as opposed to outside, a creak of a torn board on one of the windows interrupted him.

  They had no chance at a heads on fight. They had to slow them, or block themselves off somehow. For that they would need enough of something to create the blockade. Thankfully, there was enough of that to go around here.

  "We have to go. Run up the stairs and block them." He ordered, taking a surprisingly light crate and moving it to the stairs. It was as if it weighted almost nothing. Like holding a wooden cloud.

  Nido grabbed two, hauling them to the top. Then he continued piling them one after the other, slowly creating a wall.

  While Deatt and Nido layered the wooden defenses, Evelynn watched as the turned slowly made their way through the wood on the windows.

  She trusted Deatt when he described what the 'turned' were supposed to look like, but she hoped he was exaggerating.

  She realized that he wasn't.

  As the turned pulled out the board closest to the window, a head of what used to be a man revealed itself.

  Dried blood covered his face, his red eyes aimed directly to her, and he chopped into the air with his bared teeth even as he bashed his hands against the glass. She saw how he mangled the hands. The aggression making the thing cripple itself just so t could get to her.

  She froze at the sight. She wanted to run, to move her body, but it refused to listen. The horror of the turned slowly breaking the glass panels and trying to get in through the frame seemed like the end. She was locked in the house for years and now she would be buried in it.

  "Evelynn! Run!" Deatt yelled at the woman desperately. But he knew the feeling, he understood that she could not.

  Deatt ran down and grabbed the unmoving Evelynn. Groaning, he ran up the stairs where Nido took her as they finally reinforced the barricades in the upper floor.

  Right when Nido placed the last crate they had on hand, they heard multiple windows shattering.

  The turned were already in. The stampede of the herd of turned caused tremor's around the house. Lights and painting on the wall fell and broke, dust was kicked off the floor and filled the air.

  They ran through the basement floor straight to the stairs, using the unleashed strengths of their bodies to push against the crates at the top.

  Mindless as they were, and as both Nido and Deatt had hoped, they ignored the second and less fortified flight of stairs entirely, only pushing to the one with their 'prey' on the top.

  Then the lightness of the crates proved a curse rather than a blessing, as the crates moved under the pressure of the wave as if they were empty.

  Evelynn saw the two man she met only yesterday struggle to hold the defensive line she was hiding behind. The enchanted crates did not help them at all.

  "Wait! That's it!" she thought.

  "Open them! You have to break the enchantment!" Yelled Evelynn.

  Without questioning it, Nido and Deatt immediately opened the crates. Suddenly, they were getting pushed out no more. The crates seemed to weigh on the floor instantly as they opened their lids. Making them much more efficient.

  But the strength of the wave was only increasing.

  As Deatt opened another crate, he saw the familiar oil inside of them. Having thought of an idea, he quickly turned to Evelynn.

  "Throw them down!" He grabbed two of the flasks and sent them flying over the crates.

  Nido held the position with all his weight, while Deatt and Evelynn barraged the turned with the flasks.

  When Deatt reached into the empty crate, he turned to Evelynn.

  "Light it up!"

  "How?"

  "The snap! Like in the library!" He yelled, opening the other crates. But he found nothing helpful.

  "But that spell is-"

  "Do it! Or you truly will stay here forever!"

  Evelynn shook her head and closed her eyes. She focused, breathing evenly. Then she snapped.

  All around her sparks went flying. The walls, ceiling and the floor started burning where the small embers made contact, suddenly covering their surroundings in a rising tide of fire. But the sparks did not make it to the oil.

  With the quickly spreading fire all around them, they could not hold their position anymore, so Deatt decided to do the only thing that came to mind.

  "Quick! To the windows!"

  He ran to the first one, destroying the glass with his elbow. The shards cut into his hands as he broke the panels. Then he kicked out the frame and climbed outside. The second story was smaller than the one underneath it, making parts of the roof already stick out there. He landed on it, then helped Evelynn go through it. Just when she got outside, the shrieking sound arrived again, confirming Evelynn's suspicion. It was an alarm. Alarm set to alert anyone the 'witch' was getting outside.

  The sudden sound made him lose balance and almost fall of the roof, but he managed to fall on his knees instead, clutching the tiles before him as to not slide down.

  Nido had a few slight burns already as he went through the window. Just as Nido managed to move outside, the room and the window were engulfed in a great torrent of fire. The flames must have made contact with the oil.

  The turned screamed harrowingly as they burned, but even then, Deatt heard them tear through the now burning crates. Even them burning whole would not slow the advancement of the horde.

  "Help me up!" he yelled right when Nido was already putting his hands together for Deatt to stand on. He climbed onto the roof and spun around, reaching his hand for Evelynn. Together they grabbed Nido's pack and hauled the heavy man right on the tiles, before more tendrils of fire flew from the window.

  They made it to the roof, buying them little time. But the turned and the fire inside would find them eventually, or they would break the building from underneath them. They could not wait there.

  Deatt watched as more and more turned made their way inside the house, as more ran to the manor from the road. They were getting swarmed. Even in the prison tunnels, they never gathered in such numbers.

  They must have been getting close to a hundred.

  Deatt did not know what to do. The situation was as bad as it could get, making planning difficult already, and to put salt to the injury, the high-pitched alarm made it almost impossible to think.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  He grabbed his ears, trying to muffle the sound as much as he could, but the sound invaded his mind whenever he tried to think.

  Just who the fuck were her parents?

  Nido was already on his knees, taking the sound much worse than he did before. Only Evelynn stood still, her face calm and eyes closed. The same as when she summoned the fire all around her.

  Suddenly, the sound went away, and at the same time, Evelynn fell lifeless on the tiles.

  "Pick her up Nido." Deatt said as he blinked through the echoing alarm. Evelynn must have broken it somehow, but that was not important at the moment.

  Deatt quickly looked around the house, but the garden offered him no resolution to their issue. Nido gently put his arms around Evelynn and hauled her up. Deatt watched the two with a pained expression. He had promised to himself that Nido would never suffer the consequences of his decisions again. And now here he was, just a roof separating him from a growing inferno and a wave of mindless demons. He had managed to get his friend into hell.

  Even Evelynn, a woman he knew for only a day, had decided to put her trust in him. He swore to get her to Zenwall, if even to himself. Also, Deatt could not help but pity the woman. She deserved a taste of life.

  But a good plan simply was not coming for him. He was fast, maybe he could outrun the wave. That was a big maybe. But it would still leave Nido and Evelynn there, free for the picking.

  He would have to divert the attention of the turned somehow. But to do that he would have to make the same amount of noise like the alarm. There was nothing around that could...

  The church. Churches had bells.

  A plan formed in his mind. One that Nido would absolutely disapprove of. He quickly pulled the rope out of his pack, and pocketed the golden spoons. He simply could not let them go.

  "I will get them all to the church. Once I ring the bell and they are all inside. I need you to barricade it shut. Then you need to run as fast as you can. Towards the forest." he fixed the rope to a beam under the tiles.

  Nido nodded. Before he could ask how to help him escape after, Deatt was already climbing down.

  Deatt went down the rope, kicking himself off of the wall to jump over the high fence. The turned already noticed him based on the change in their groans and flying swings that missed him only by a hair's length.

  He ran full speed, hearing crazed stumping behind him. He did not need to turn around to know he was already being pursued.

  As he came closer to the church, he realized a slight overlook he made during the plan. What if the doors were locked?

  While sprinting, he analyzed the churches surroundings, finding a tree that had branches wide enough for him to climb, while being tall enough so he could get to the roof.

  He used all he could to run quicker, reaching the tree before the turned could catch up. Jumping off the ground, he took hold of the branches. He jumped higher on the branch, trying to reach another branch higher up the tree, when it broke underneath him. He was able to keep himself from falling with his arms, but something was pulling him back.

  He tried to kick off the hands wrapped around his shin, feeling the thud every time the kick landed, but the grasp on his leg was too strong. He did not manage to shake off his attacker before feeling it's teeth sink into his heel.

  Deatt yelped from the pain, gritting his teeth, struggling to keep hold.

  He did not think about the wound, or the terrifying thought that he was gone. Instead, he finally kicked off the tick of his leg and continued climbing.

  He managed to get to the roof and climb into the tower using the window. Hearing the front doors buckle under the forceful stream of the turned, they quickly ran inside. Only when he kicked off the ladder did the reality of the situation settle in for Deatt.

  He failed.

  He started climbing the stairs when he felt his whole body twitch. He fell down on the wood, coughing. He felt like he was burning, the sensation much hotter than the real fires in the manor. He felt dryness in his mouth and his lungs exhaled and inhaled sporadically.

  He reached up the stairs with his trembling hand, grabbing their edge and lifting himself up. After another two steps he fell again.

  "What do you want?" He heard a voice coming from somewhere.

  He could not answer, focusing on the climb. Instead he pulled himself up another two stairs.

  "You are suffering. Why continue in this hell? What if you were here instead?"

  Suddenly, the stairs to the tower of the church disappeared. The gray old stone of the walls turned to white marble, the small room into a great hall. Even the lavishness of the manor paled in comparison to the extravagance here. The couches were of dragon leather, the rims of pure gold. A great chandelier hung from the ceiling, sparkling in platinum and shining with ever-fire.

  A long red rug was spread across the room and Deatt instantly knew that it was made from the leather of a chimera.

  "Or do you want fame? Recognition? Possessions of others?" the sweet voice continued.

  Now he was sitting in a comfortable throne, around him piles of gold and jewelry. Men before him knelt and women licked their lips. He was the greatest among them, the sole great existence.

  He wanted the possessions, he wanted the respect. He yearned to live in a great villa, with so much space he would not know what to do with. And he wanted so much more...

  But ultimately, none of these wants and yearnings mattered. Not as long as Nido was not in them.

  "Or do you want her?" the voice asked.

  She appeared before him. Her long dark hair reaching her knees. Her sharp features and red full lips awakening the primal attraction he felt whenever he saw her. She wore a long flowing dress, which pronounced her perfect curves, while still staying decent. She bat her long eyelashes at him and beckoned him to come to her. To embrace her.

  He spent countless nights picturing his life with this woman. He still remembered her scent, the way she moved about a room, taking the attention of all present. The way she spoke his name. She might have been the person of his dreams...but he wanted that no more. Not since she did what she did.

  "I want..." he heard himself say. He sounded like a turned, but unalike them, he would complete the sentence. "to ring that bell."

  He shook his head of all the beautiful things and got on his knees. Every step harder than the one he took before, he slowly reached the giant iron bell. He took the clapper in both of his hands and started swinging it wildly.

  The sound was incredibly loud, but the alarm before was worse. Deatt swung his whole body with the bell. He would fall any moment, but before that, he would finish what he started.

  His vision slowly blurred and he fell to the wood like a bag of stone, but he heard it.

  The turned were groaning angrily down in the church, they screamed at the sound of the bell. The smell of burnt meat and innards reached Deatt's nose, but he did not even have the strength to realize just how horrid it was.

  All he could do was close his eyes.