Sabrina woke up. It was the middle of the night and she wished she hadn't been disturbed. She had been having a wonderful dream, where Puck was nice, and never played any pranks or tricks that involved her getting mad, dirty or smelly. He had been nice, and overall, just a better person. She sighed. Why couldn't he be like that for real? It would make life more enjoyable. Without having to check under her pillow every night for a snake or a nest of wasps. (yes, Puck had put a nest of wasps under her pillow. Some of the stings were still visible on her skin. Red, swollen itchy marks.)
Wait…what was that noise? It was like a scratching sound. It sounded like claws. Sabrina got up and put her bathrobe on. She nudged the sleeping form of Daphne.
The scratching was getting louder.
"Daphne!" she whispered. "Wake up! I hear this weird noise."
"Arrrrggggggggggg………grrfungle…" murmured Daphne. She wasn't waking up.
Sabrina quietly opened the bedroom door and padded down the hall. She thought for a moment then carefully opened Puck's bedroom door. She poked her head around the door, hoping nothing disgusting and wet would land on her. Nothing did. She stepped into the room. She scrambled over to the trampoline. Puck wasn't on it. All that was left was his stuffed unicorn toy. He had made a nest for it out of blankets and had put a heart shaped pillow on it.
Sabrina smiled in spite of herself. Sometimes, she really did not know about that kid.
"Puck!" she called quietly. She could hear his chimpanzees snoring off in the distance somewhere. She didn't want to wake them; Puck might have trained them to spill green slimy goo on her. "Puck!" she called again. "PUCK! WHERE ARE YOU?"
After a few more attempts at calling the trickster king, Sabrina gave up. She would just have to face the thing that was making the scratching noise herself.
She softly went downstairs and followed where the noise was coming from. Maybe it was Elvis? She hoped her hunch was true. She followed the noise and it eventually led her to the front door.
Sabrina took a deep breath. She looked through the peephole. She didn't see anything, it was too dark. She heard another noise besides the scratching. It was a little growling, mewling sound.
What if it's a wild tiger or lion that the Scarlet Hand sent? What if it was a giant leopard? What if—Sabrina stopped herself from thinking those thoughts. The scarlet hand wouldn't send a simple tiger on the Grimm's. They would send something more elaborate. Like a dragon.
Mustering all of her courage, Sabrina opened the door.