´óÏó´«Ã½

She ran although she couldn't see where she was going, what with the trees so close together and letting in hardly any light from the moon. She could hear 'it' chasing her. Whatever 'it' was. All she knew was that when it had grabbed her, it had sharp claws and snarled. It was something between a man and an animal. Rachael kept running knowing that she couldn't be too far from the edge of the forest and the back of the houses; her house. Surely someone had to be in and they could help her; that was the handy thing about being the little sister of the slayer of dark forces. Although things usually came after you because of that in the first place. Rachael tripped but gained her balance and kept running, twigs snapping under her feet. She could still hear its snarling and its heavy footsteps coming after her, just a few paces behind. A branch hit her in the face, scratching her and leaving a stinging sensation. She tripped again, this time falling hard onto the muddy forest floor. She tried to get up but it was too late. A huge, sharp clawed hand had grabbed her leg. What would she do now? It was too big to be able to fight it. No one knew she was in trouble! Her sense of panic, fear and dread increasing as 'it' grabbed the back of her top and tried to pull her up, scratching her back. She didn't want to look at what it was. She could feel its foul breath on the back of her neck and hear its snarling. She closed her eyes and steadied her breath. She knew this was too much for her but she wasn't going down without a fight.
With her free leg Rachael blindly kicked behind her. Her leg collided with the creature's leg; it whimpered then got angrier than before, letting out a roar. The creature let go of her other leg and turned her round. She was glad it was dark so she didn't see what her attacker looked like, only the outline of something very big, very hairy and something which had long pointed teeth like a wolf, only ten times bigger. Rachael kicked the creature again; again it whimpered then pushed her backwards with one huge hand. Her feet lifted off the ground as she soared back and hit a tree. She slid down the tree gasping for air. 'It' came towards her, its huge feet thumping on the ground. Rachael tried to get up as it got closer and closer. She staggered, holding her stomach. When it was at arms' length she swung at it, hitting it in the middle of its face. It was angry now, really angry. She knew this was it. 'It' grabbed her, one paw on her waist and one clutching her neck and lifted her into the air.
She heard a thump and was knocked onto the forest floor, free of the claws. The creature let out a spine-chilling howl. She turned around and saw Chris. He'd stabbed it with one of the biggest swords Rachael had ever seen. Chris held it above his head ready to strike again. Rachael didn't know anything that Chris couldn't beat. She lay on the ground, watching in awe and filled with relief, knowing now Chris was here it was going to be OK. 'It' tried to swipe at Chris but he stabbed it again in the side.
The thing ran off through the forest, howling, back the direction it had come. Chris looked down at her, his eyes gleaming in the dark. He let go of the sword and bent down to Rachael so his face was visible to her now. It was intense and concerned. She smiled weakly at him.
"You OK?", he said in his deep voice.
"Yeah, thanks to you of course. That was close."
He nodded. "Let's get you home."
He held out his hand. She grabbed it and he slowly pulled her up. Rachael knew him well enough now but was always surprised at his strength.
'Well he is still technically a vampire,' she thought.