Ava and I ran into the house, almost tripping over the dining room chairs. Another loud shriek, this time echoing throughout the house. We ran through the hallway, finding our way into the den. Floating slightly above the ground  cowering in pain, its skin singed and burning was one of those hideous creatures, its right arm resembling a giant scythe, while its left was long and skinny, almost like a skeleton, ending in a large three-fingered claw for a hand. 

Standing in the kitchen doorway was my stepmother, wearing a goofy set of goggles over her eyes, the rubber strap messing up her already frizzled, grey hair. She was holding what looked like a mini pressure washer connected to a hose leading to a bucket-sized canister that said ‘holy water’ written on a piece of tape with a sharpie. 

I looked at her with a bewildered expression before she pulled the trigger on the pressure washer, spraying the creature again. A thick jet of water blasted from the nozzle, soaking the creature. 

It begin to shriek again as it's entire body singed and lit aflame, it started to charge at her, my stepmother threw a handful of salt into its face and it shrieked more, its eyes melting, oozing down its chest cavity. I was frozen in place just watching, I noticed Ava had started running towards the creature, her large tail arching over her back and impaling the monster with lightning-fast speeds. 

She lifted it into the air and flung it towards a window, it shattered and the creature went flying through into the side of another house. My stepmother huffed before removing her goggles. She smiled at Ava. “Thank you dear.” she said. I stared looking at her. 

“Susan!? What the hell? Why do you have all this stuff?” I asked my stepmother looking around and picking up a few little trinkets on the table. I noticed a pile of books and picked one up reading the title. “How to prepare for the rapture and how to keep your family safe?” I shook my head and put the book down. 

“I'm guessing this is where you kept getting all those crazy hair-brained ideas that you preached about for years then?” 

she nodded and spoke quietly. “Except those ideas aren't so crazy Samantha. Can't you see what's happening around us? It's all coming true.” she sighed and walked over to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Now is the time to believe sweetheart, I know things have been hard for you since your father died. Things have been hard for me too. But I promised him id keep you safe, and rapture or not I intend to keep my promise.” 

she looked me in the eyes, smiling softly. I was just about to tell her how much that meant to me when suddenly all three of us heard a loud crackling boom followed by a lightning strike. We peered out the already busted open door in horror to see a huge crowd of monsters. 

Gargoyles and those hideous bug head creatures with the scythes were charging towards the house at very fast speeds. 

Ava's tail arched over her, it's point aiming towards the threat. Her tail opened up to reveal a fleshy sack filled with spikes similar to the one at the tip of her tail. She stood in the doorway and lowered herself, the sack burst open and all those spikes shot out like shrapnel from a grenade, they flew in every direction except towards me and Susan and of course Ava. 

The creatures started to shriek as one by one they were impaled by the sharp spikes. A lot of them fell to the ground, suffering fatal injuries but there were still enough survivors to form a large horde, and that horde was heading straight for us. Ava flexed her tail and another fleshy spike-filled sack begin to grow. She flinched as it started to seal up once again, hiding it's biological bomb inside. This time however spikes begin to grow at the tip of her tail, making the end look like a large deadly Mace. 

She jumped back inside the house. “Samantha! Push as much furniture as you can against the doorway! Hurry!” she yelled at me. I sprung into action, quickly pushing tables, chairs and even the sofa against the doorframe with inhuman strength, what would have taken a great effort from my stepmother, only took me a few moments. as I was finishing my step mother begin to drag her pressure washer closer to the door, she repositioned her goggles and took on a fierce-looking stance, glaring at the doorway. She looked at ava and I before speaking up. 

“You two need to go! Out the back door, there's a pack and a duffle bag filled with everything you'll need to survive for at least a month, it's on the steps near the shed!” she picked up the book on how to survive the rapture and tossed it to me. “Dont forget this.” she said smiling. 

“But Susan I can't just leave-” I started to protest but she cut me off shaking her head. “Its my time dear. You have to survive. God didn't take me like the rest of them, so I must have been left for a purpose.” the horde had reached the front door and was quickly tearing through the furniture. Ugly growls and grunts could be heard from the monsters nearby. “Go!” she yelled at ava and me. 

Through tear-stained eyes I took one last look at her and the house. The last place id been with my dad before he died. I gathered my courage and straightened my back. “Thank you.. Goodbye Susan.” I smiled at her, tears running down my face. I grabbed Ava’s hand and both of us bolted towards the back door. We stepped outside and ran for the shed. I grabbed the duffle while ava grabbed the backpack, I turned back towards the house as I heard shrieks and screams coming from the monsters. I smiled knowing they must be suffering. 

I wiped my eyes and looked at Ava, she gave me a sad glance. “Where should we go..?” I whispered. She shook her head but didn't comment, instead taking my hand and leading us towards the forest.