The Tucker Phenomenon

by Raven On The Writing Desk

Chimeras have always been a problem, but not always as much to the general public. However, at the abandoned Tucker home, recent sightings by passersby have been reported of seeing strange, sometimes grotesque amalgamations, all gathering around the home. The Amestrian military can't afford to have a public panic, so something must be done to find why they are gathering there.

3. The Girl With The Lion's Tail

Roy and Risa waited until they were sure every last one of those creatures had disappeared into the house and everything was silent before proceeding. Very slowly, ears primed to every little sound, they shuffled to the broken front steps. The door was covered in holes and scratch marks and was just barely hanging onto the hinges. The alchemical power was nearly palpable in the air, and both of them peered in through the holes in the door, but there were no creatures in sight. Slowly, they slipped into the house, careful not to touch the ajar door, in case it would fall off its hinges. The walls were torn apart and streaked with blood and claw marks, and there were more nests on the floor made of library books and sticks and pieces of fabric, but thankfully they were empty. Next they headed to the staircase, and Roy, who had since retaken point, threw his arm out to stop Riza before she could take a step up. There was a faint sound of buzzing, and both looked around carefully before Riza pointed at the ceiling atop the staircase landing.

The ceiling was dotted with large, hole-filled lumps of a hard, murky brown substance mixed with fur, bones, paper, glass, and rocks. Fluttering about were wasps as large and almost as fast as hummingbirds! The creatures hadn't noticed them and just kept on about their work of drilling new holes or taking unwanted things out of their weird hives. There were easily thirty of the things moving as a unit to do some task. Slowly, Roy took one step up on the rickety wood, and it groaned beneath his boots, but the creatures still paid him no mind. So, one by one, the two started climbing the staircase, ducking as low as they could to avoid the weird chimeras. The chimeras, in true wasp fashion, didn't bother the soldiers because the soldiers didn't bother them. The steps groaned and wailed with even the slightest pressure, and the pair would always stop and listen for any indication something had become angry, but there was never any change from the low buzzing that filled their ears. They came ever so slowly to the landing, and saw that there were more of those hives on the walls as well as the ceiling, but they were silent and still. About ten feet in front of them there was another door; the only structure that appeared to have been left untouched by the chimeras that inhabited the old home. The door was cracked open, and so they crept closer until they could peer through the door.

It appeared it had been the master bedroom at one time, seeing as there was a large king-size bed in the corner, but it was torn apart and springs were showing and it was splattered with blood and dirt. Their eyes travelled up to the ceiling and Riza had to stifle a gasp; they hadn't heard it at first, but the entire ceiling was absolutely covered in the wasp creatures from the stairwell. They blanketed the ceiling, buzzing and crawling as if the very ceiling was alive. Their eyes kept wandering and they could see flocks of the parrot creatures resting around the room in groups of ten, in groups of two or three there were the wolves, and far on the other end stood a pack of the deer types, who looked right at the soldiers, ears flicking now and again. It hadn't been clear before, but these deer had mesmerizing golden eyes.

Neither had noticed it at first, due to how natural it looked, but in the middle of the room was a throne-type chair adorned with feathers and pelts and bits of precious metals. Sitting in it, with legs crossed daintily, arms on the armrests, head bowed, was a young female who appeared to be in her twenties, and her skin was as pale as silk-covered bones. Laying across her lap was a thin tail, like that on a lion, but it was silver and the tuft was black. Around her shoulders and covering her body was a pelt that had the same silver and black color scheme. The man around her neck was black and the fur that covered her seemingly dead body was a shiny silver. It was sad for a moment that anyone would have died down in this hole. She probably hadn't died long ago either. Her skin was untouched by the claws and teeth of the creatures, and the pelt hadn't been dissected by the wasps for their hives. If they could sneak her remains out of the hole perhaps they could give her a proper and respectful burial, but two against a room of chimeras was a death wish.

It was silently agreed between them that the best course of action would be to leave this dark, stinking hole and motion that the hole quickly be filled before the chimeras started getting back out. Just then, they could see the nose of the female wrinkle, as if her senses had been assaulted with a foul smell, and then she opened her eyes. They were the same deep, rich gold as the deer, and when she raised her head, the eyes of every chimera opened too. The wasps on the ceiling in the room started slowing, and the ones above the stairs did too. The two had turned around to look at the creatures on the stairs, and when they turned back to peer through the door it was a blood-chilling sight.

The women had raised her head and was staring directly at them. All the chimeras had also turned golden gazes to the soldiers, and the room was as still as if they were looking at a photograph. Neither noticed at first but the buzzing had suddenly picked back up and was becoming a wall of sound about to crash over them. They had been spotted, and the eyes of the girl with the lion's tail glittered with murderous anger.