Sourmouth (34 page)

             
“...Try...” she said.

             
It took a few breaths. A few long breaths before Riley could even begin to
think. They needed a way out that wasn’t down through the house. And the only
alternative was up.

             
Sourmouth
clawed into the wood, each swipe ripping
more and more pieces into the room below. Each turn making the gap bigger and
bigger. Each chunk that fell extracting a colossal bark from the wolf’s
snapping teeth as its anticipation grew.

             
Riley stood up and stared at the ceiling, trying to analyze his approach
without being able to see. He didn’t know how long it would take to get it
done, but he knew that no matter what, he needed to get through before
Sourmouth
did. He swung overhead, the axe scraping the roof
and finishing its arc towards his feet. Without even seeing it, he could tell
that he didn’t do enough damage to matter. With another swing and another clip
that barely made contact with the roof. Riley just couldn’t manage to hit it at
an angle that would break through.

             
Sourmouth
was pulling down pieces of wood with both
hands, its feverish intensity driving it forward like a wrecking ball,
destroying everything in front of it. 

             
“Riley, come swing over here. Just above the wall. The roof slants upwards,
it’ll be easier to hit,” Violet yelled out, her voice carrying as she moved out
of the way.

             
He walked forward with his axe extended in front of him like a measuring stick,
hitting the wall when he was within distance. Riley took another swing, this
time cracking into the roof. The second swing broke through and stuck into the
timber.

             
“Riley!” Violet screamed as
Sourmouth
began to rise
up from the room below, its head reared back as both arms madly clawed in front
in search of leverage to pull itself up.

             
Without a moment of hesitation, Riley pulled the axe free and swung again. And
then he swung again. And again until he felt the rain falling through the hole
onto his bare arms. Knowing how close he was gave Riley the extra strength that
he needed to keep going. Each swing he took stronger than the last, as he tore
through the wood at a pace that matched
Sourmouth’s
from below.

             
It might have been delirium, but Violet couldn’t stop herself from laughing out
at the sight of the moon in the stormy sky. It was easily the most beautiful
thing that she had ever seen in her life. They were almost there. Another few
pieces and it would be big enough for them to climb through.

             
Then
Sourmouth
rumbled out loud enough to shake the
air.

             
The
Tylers
both turned their attention to the
gigantic
wolf, that
stood crouched before them. It had
gotten up.

             
“You need to go,” Riley said simply to his wife as his arms fell to his sides.

             
Violet rushed over to her husband, a hand on his and one hand on the rim of
their escape route. She looked back and forth to the hole and realized that it
wasn’t yet wide enough for him to fit through it.

             
“...Riley...” she cried out, shaking her head at the thought of leaving him
behind.

             
He didn’t wait around to discuss the subject. Riley charged forward with a
growl of his own.

             
The lack of space inhibited
Sourmouth’s
movements,
its awkward body catching onto the support beams overhead as it clumsily tried
to defend itself. But its attempts were too late, as Riley’s axe landed on its
chest plate, digging inches deep just above its right lung. With the axe still
in its torso
Sourmouth
angrily struck outwards;
catching Riley with another blow to the ribs that sent him flying backwards
just in front of his wife’s feet. The axe was left behind, still hanging
loosely in the animal’s thick hide.

             
Violet scrambled to the ground, wrapping her arms around her husband and
pulling him into a sitting position between her legs, her head resting against
his. She refused to leave him behind. As afraid as she was, she never wanted to
abandon him.

             
Riley struggled to breathe, his chest aching from the repeated damage. He
reached out around him looking for his weapon before realizing that it was
still lodged in the wolf.  
             

             
Sourmouth
reached upwards, awkwardly swatting at the
axe until he was able to knock it to the ground, followed by spurts of
glistening blood that sprayed from the wound. It stood unwaveringly, watching
the
Tylers
huddled on the floor below the hole in the
roof. The only sound that filled the attic was the relentless tapping of the
rain and the rhythmic breathing of
Sourmouth
.

             
Violet clutched her husband as tightly from behind as her arms could muster.
Her tears warm against the back of his neck, a stark contrast to the freezing
rain that fell on them from above.

             
Riley leaned back in her arms and gazed at his wife. It might have been the
blood loss that he was suffering from, but he could have sworn that Violet was
radiating from the moonlight behind her.

             
Violet smiled down at him with her big watery eyes, rubbing her soft hand over
his forehead.

             
“You haven’t looked at me like that for a long time...” she said.

             
He chuckled, “...I’m a bit of an idiot”.

             
“Yeah, I got that,” she laughed as she hugged him against her knowing that it
would be the last time that they ever embraced.

Sourmouth
exhaled sharply as
it took a step forward, its mouth pulled back to bare its horrifying rows of
teeth, wet with saliva. Its eyes burned through the darkness like stars as it
stood above the couple with its face wrought with ire.

             
Riley didn’t bother even looking in
Sourmouth’s
direction as he stared at his wife.

And Violet returned the
favour
.

             
It was in that moment when the
Tylers
fell in love
with each other again. It was no longer the comfort of being together for so
long that they were feeling or a sense that they needed to be together out of
obligation so that they might one day work things out. For the first time in
years, they were truly in love with one another and couldn’t imagine being
anywhere but in each other’s arms.

             
“I love you...” Violet wept out in a cracking whimper as she leaned down and
pressed her face against her husband’s. Violet’s hand shook over his face and
her body trembled uncontrollably from fear.

             
Riley could feel his own tears running down his face unabashedly, their
presence unmistakable and burning hot against his cheeks as he leaned in to
kiss his wife one last time, “...I love you...”

             
As the storm tore through the sky above and the rain barraged the old house,
the loudest noise to live in the dead of the night wasn’t from the thunder, but
from the gloomy attic where pleased and monstrous roars danced from the gaping
maw of
Sourmouth
.

THE END