Another fiction challenge from The Daily Post. As with the last one I’ve set myself an arbitrary word limit of 300. Let’s see how this goes…

I told him where I was going, and he hurried me out, pointing to the door with the gun, but what he didn’t know was I couldn’t go that way. I shook my head.

‘You said…’

‘Not that way.’

‘Why not?’

‘Didn’t you hear the screams?’

He shrugged, exasperated. ‘Then which way?’

I gestured at the front door. ‘I saw a car. I can drive it.’

‘There’s lots of them that way.’

‘There’s more out the back.’ I insisted.

He sighed in defeat, shoved the dresser out of the way and finally opened the door.

It was very dark and I could see a dozen of them at the end of the street. I ignored the car and crept into the alley.

At the end I climbed an escape ladder attached to a block of flats. Every footstep clunked on the metal, loud against the urban silence.

When I reached the top I breathed in the cold winter air and waited.

I was there about a minute when I heard a flutter and the soft landing of claws on concrete.

I couldn’t go out the back because the moonlight of this world interfered with our shapeshifting ability. It would have revealed my true form to him. At the front, the building was tall enough to shield me. Now bathed in sunlight our true images were clear. We looked like Earth bats, true, but we were not from this planet though the comparison added to the fear.

‘Have you discovered why he is immune?’ asked my leader.

‘Not yet.’

‘We need to find out. We are too few-‘

I nodded. ‘So long as he thinks I’m his sister, we’re safe.’ I flipped open my phone and typed a quick text: At the exchange. Calling for help. Hold on my brother x.

Not a bad little horror story there if I do say so myself!