The air felt cold and wet inside the murky fog. Like getting into a drizzling shower with your clothes on. Laura wiped condensation from her eyes with the back of her hand looked back at the house.
Or at least she tried to. She'd only taken a few steps but the house had disappeared from her sight. Most of the suburb had except for what lay directly under the few yellow lights along the street. She stood still, unwilling to get immediately lost like an idiot.
Her loud calls of Kellan's name went unanswered, just as she ignored Carmilla's calls of her name.
"Laura! You have to get back inside, that thing is out there!" Carmilla's voice came from where Laura guessed was the front door of the house.
"Yeah and Kellan is out here with it," Laura called back. "I'm not leaving her to get eaten, or anyone else who might be out here."
A loud frustrated groan echoed across the street through the fog. "Stay there and keep talking to me, I'm coming to you."
"No!" Laura said. "The only thing that it seemed afraid of was fire. Get back inside and try and find some matches or something. Anything we can make fire from."
"Laura, its suburban mum's house not a camping supplies store, I can't just make a torch-"
"I'm sure a centuries-old ex-vampire is smart enough to figure something out."
"I'm not leaving you out there." Laura heard Carmilla's voice coming closer. "I'm not rummaging through drawers looking for matches while you get eaten by a folklore monster."
Lights were appearing around her on the street. People waking up from all the shouting to find their suburb transformed into a setting from a horror movie.
As Carmilla came to her, she thought about how she might go about finding Kellan. With a start, she remembered her phone. She took it out of her pocket, turned on its flashlight and then called Kellan's number.
A ringtone crawled out from the house, quiet and sounding like a womp womp to her own ears.
"Damn it," she cursed and flicked the phone up to use its flashlight. "Where did you go?"
There's this little park passed the house across the street from ours. A minute or two away.
Holding the phone out to light her way, she sprang into a run across the street.
"Hey, wait a second!" Carmilla called behind her.
"Just follow the light," Laura called back. "I have an idea where she went."
Next to the house across the street, she found a small concrete footpath nestled between a mass of bushes. She raced through it, seeds and fallen leaves crunching under her feet as the edges of the damp bushes whipped across her face and arms.
She crashed through the last of the bushes and abruptly found herself off the concrete path and onto the grass of an open area. This had to be the park.
It sure looked like a place a monster might steal children right now, covered in the murky fog. Laura remembered Kellan talking about some kind duck pond, but wherever it was she couldn't see it. She couldn't see anything, even the night sky above her hidden from sight.
Now that the shouting had stopped and she was out of the noisy bushes and refuse covered footpath, her surroundings fell quiet. The only noise her own heavy breaths.
The light from her phone revealed a little of the park as she flicked it around her. A tall tree to her left, a wooden bench next to her and then a shape straight ahead, off in the distance. Another tree? She couldn't make it out.
"Kellan?" she shouted. "Are you here?"
A voice answered, but it was Carmilla's rather than Kellan's.
"Laura, where did you go? I can't find you."
"There's a path," Laura said, somewhat absently and probably barely loud enough for Carmilla to hear. "Next to the house." She strode towards the shape. "Through some bushes."
Carmilla's response was crude and exasperated.
When the shape didn't get any clearer, she sped up into a jog. The phone held out in front of her and her feet sinking deep into soft, wet grass with every step.
Her mouth opened for another shout, only for it to die in her throat when the shape materialised.
The Leshy stood in the middle of the park, it's hands holding Kellan up to the sky above its head. Its tail hovered around its shoulder, the blade at the end of it aiming at her chest.
The Leshy noticed her arrival. With a low rumbling growl, it turned its head to look at her. Its eyes blinked in irritation at the phone's light. Whether because it recognised her or it just didn't like being interrupted before a meal, it reacted with a devastating roar. It pulled Kellan closer to its body, as if it were somehow worried Laura was another predator looking to steal her for herself.
For a long moment, nothing happened. She, stuck frozen in fear and shock. It, studying her silently. A small voice spoke into the quiet.
"Run," Kellan pleaded.
The Leshy growled again. The tail struck forwards and pierced through Kellan's chest. The Leshy dropped its hands and Kellan hung in the air, the tail blade sticking out of her back.
"No!" Laura yelled.
Ignoring her, the Yeshy flicked Kellan of its tail and bounded off into the fog.
She started to dash after them, but a hand clasped her shoulder and held her back. Instinctively, she tried to wrench it off of her and twist free.
"Let me go!"
Instead, another arm wrapped around her stomach. "That thing is here and we have to go," Carmilla said.
"That thing is here, so we have to stay here and get Kellan," Laura said back, relaxing at hearing Carmilla's words but not ceasing her struggles to wriggle free.
"Laura, we can't help her."
"Yes, we can!" Laura broke free. Or more likely Carmilla let her go. She turned to face her. "We just have to find her and then get her back to the house."
"Laura." Carmilla's tone was soft. "She's-"
"No," Laura shook her head and took a step back. Physically retreating from the expected word. "And even if… that thing is out here and we have to stop it."
"Stop it how? That thing almost killed us last time."
"Yeah and you see any vines coming to drag us to the ground, or birds swooping at us or alligators trying to do… alligator stuff to us? It doesn't have control of everything like it does on that island. The book Mel researched with said that takes time. It's just it, nothing else."
"Oh, just it? You mean the ten feet tall giant it with the long razor claws and xenomorph tail?"
"The next time we come across it, who knows what it will have on its side? This is our best chance to kill it. Here and now."
Carmilla threw her hands out in exasperation. "With what? We don't have any weapons, we literally do not stand a chance."
Laura looked around. A feeble gesture, it wasn't like she could see much of anything even if there was something around they could use. The Leshy didn't have its minions, but neither did they have anything useful themselves.
"Wait," she said, a thought occurring to her. "Kellan's car, that would have petrol right? There's our fire right there. And with all the trees around, we have a torch too."
"Kellan's car is all the way back there," Carmilla said, gesturing vaguely behind her. "We'd never get there and back before it chases us down."
"Not if you grabbed your motorbike out the trunk of the car and drove back."
A growl echoed around the park. Carmilla shook her head.
"Still wouldn't be fast enough."
"It will be if I stay here and distract it."
Carmilla seemed to almost physically recoil from the idea. "Not going to happen."
Laura stepped forward and cupped her hands around Carmilla's cheeks. "I know that we're supposed to be making decisions together, but I'm not leaving this park without stopping that thing and finding Kellan. I need you to trust me to stay alive somehow like I always do while you get that fire and come to my rescue like you always do, okay?"
A war raged visibly in Carmilla's eyes. Another growl, closer than before came out of the fog. There was no time for more words, Laura kissed her abruptly and said one more.
"Please."
Carmilla nodded. Her hands reached out and clutched some strands of Laura's hair before she spun around and raced away in that loping run of hers. The soft grass masked the sound of her footsteps and the fog denied Laura the sight of her almost immediately.
Laura turned back in the direction of where she last saw Kellan and the Leshy. She walked forwards, the phone held up. Its light revealed nothing and the growls seemed to echo around the park.
"Where are you?" she muttered to herself. "And why aren't you coming out and charging me? Easier prey than Bambi's mum over here."
She flicked the phone to the grass under her feet and found dark splotches. Kellan's blood. The image of the monster's tail striking flashed through her mind.
"Where are you?" she asked again angrily, her voice rising. Her phone's light no longer seemed to be penetrating the gloom at all, the beam swallowed up into the grey. A part of her worried that if she didn't see it soon, the Yeshy might be leaving the park and getting away. She had no idea what Baba Yaga had ordered it to do.
Gravenberg. Maybe Baba Yaga was the one with the Leshy's leash, but this was her doing, Laura felt sure. It was too convenient that this had happened right after their encounter at Stevenson's house. After failing to kill them there, she'd sent this monster after them and Kellan had been caught in the crossfire. Despite her efforts, someone had gotten hurt because of them, because of her.
Without thinking she threw the phone frustration.
The phone disappeared and a second later she heard a loud clack! of it hitting something solid, followed by a snarling howl of anger.
The fog cleared away slightly and the hulking figure of the Yeshy appeared in front of her.
As it strode towards her, she abruptly realised she didn't have a plan. It was coming towards her and she had no plan at all.
She froze as it approached, both in mind and body. The sound of its low grows mingled with her fast breaths and her heart felt like it had risen to ears. Dimly she could hear a voice, her own, yelling at her that she needed to do something, anything. But she stood rooted to the spot, as stuck to the ground as when the vines had trapped her on the island.
The Yeshy's steps were slow and languid, its eyes studying her closely. Perhaps surprised at her lack of action. Even through the fog, she could see droplets of drool falling from its mouth onto the ground. Its claws extended out of its knuckles, the sound of it like a dozen swords being unsheathed. Was this how it had gotten Kellan? Casually striding up to her as she stood too fearful to move? The tail struck yet again in her mind. Except this time it was spearing her. And then Carmilla.
That final image broke her out of her trance . A big breath exploded out of her and her brain rebooted. What could she do? How could she stay alive for a few minutes?
The memory of it charging at Carmilla on the island told her she couldn't outrun it, not even for a few seconds. She couldn't hide from it, the fog didn't seem to impair its sight at all and otherwise, the park was an open space. And unlike Carmilla, she had no weapon to keep it at bay.
No running, no hiding, no weapon to defend herself. How else did something stop a predator from eating them?
Carmilla's words back at the cabin floated across her mind. Predators like to hunt, but they don't like to fight.
She didn't have anything that she could hurt it with. But was the Yeshy smart enough to know that? In the end, despite all of its abilities, it was an animal, nothing more. An idea came to her, one that Carmilla would hate. In fact, she kind of hated it too and if it failed, her death would be so dumb she'd be glad to have no camera recording it like at Silas.
The Yeshy lost its patience. It bounded into a charge, its antlers and claws levelled in her direction.
Standing still meant death. Running away meant death.
She ran at it.
It was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. Forcing herself to run forwards, projecting as much confidence as she could muster as she charged a ferocious beast that could kill her without any effort. If this was going to work, she'd couldn't show any fear. To that effect, she shouted as she ran, as loud as she could. A battle-cry she hoped, and not a frightened squeak.
The distance closed between them rapidly, soon its antlers and claws would gore her.
The Leshy was bigger than a grizzly bear, if she were any smaller she'd could've passed as a Hobbit. It had claws the size of a longsword, pincer sharp teeth and a tail Ellen Ripley would baulk at, she kinda sorta knew krav maga. It was a monster out of a nightmarish Slavic fairy tale, she was a college drop out.
It blinked first.
Right before they crashed into each other, it reared up and stumbled back like a chastised dog. It's howling roars and growls turned into panicked grunts as its claws turned sideways protectively over its body. It rose up to its full height and took a few more steps back.
She doubted even a single creature of any size had ever charged it back in its entire lifetime. It didn't seem to know how to respond. Its eyes studied her intently and it moved erratically. Taking one or two steps in a random direction and then immediately shuffling back.
It roared so loud that her eardrums almost burst. But she could hear the note of confusion and nervousness in it. She couldn't back down, if she did it would kill her instantly.
Stomach lurching, she took yet more steps towards it and jumped into the air.
It backed away again with a snort, claws held up protectively. If it hadn't have moved, she'd probably have jumped right onto a claw or an antler. How long could she keep this up? How long would it take Carmilla to get back here?
She yelled and it roared right back. Somewhere around the park, David Attenborough was talking about rival animals posturing for dominance. Maybe she should pee on the ground to mark her territory or something?
The Leshy held its tail high in the air and pressed its claws towards her threateningly as it opened its jaws as wide as they would go, showcasing its yellow savage teeth. Faced with such a sight, her courage failed to let her charge again and its confidence came back. It pressed forwards, with all of its weapons.
Without any other choice, she jumped at it again. But this time instead of falling back, the Yeshy whipped its tail to batter her away.
The force of the blow crunched into her side and sent her flying. After a long, almost surreal moment of being airborne, she landed hard on her back and rolled uncontrollably until she ended up on her stomach.
She couldn't breathe, the air squeezed out of her from the blow. Her head spun and she struggled to remember where she was and what was happening. When she tried to push herself up, her ribs screamed in agony and she had to bite back a sob. Unable to get up, she tried to crawl. She heard the Yeshy coming up behind her, howling in triumph. It had won its first-ever fight, what a big moment for it.
Her crawls didn't last long. A giant paw landed on her legs and a thrill of terror pulsed through her. Drool dripped down onto her clothes and bare skin. It pressed down with the paw and dragged her towards it before using another to roll her onto her back. This close, she could see the black patches of scorched fur on its chest. It smelled awful, like a giant walking compost heap, little pieces of vegetation stuck in its damp fur.
Why it hadn't already killed her seemed strange. Why drag her back and roll her over when it could have just stabbed her its claws? Then she remembered that this was how it had planned to kill them on the island. Trapped flat on their backs with vines as it casually took its time.
She'd unnerved it with her charge and now it wanted to go back to what was familiar. To how it normally killed its prey. Its tail hovered menacingly. It could flash down at any moment.
An engine roared in the distance and her heart leapt in hope. The Leshy looked towards the sound. Its tail darted with it, pointing in the direction of the sound like a bloodhound pointing a paw. For an unlikely moment, they were both doing the same thing, staring into the gloom as the sound got closer.
A light appeared in the fog, tiny but bright.
"Carm! Over here!" she shouted.
The Leshy slammed a hoofed foot on her stomach and the air she needed for shouting abruptly left her body. Then it bellowed a blood-curdling roar at the oncoming sound.
Carmilla and the motorbike came into view. A flaming tree branch in one hand as the other steered. It took Laura a second to realise she'd put her helmet on.
Guess she listens to me sometimes as well.
The Leshy charged at this strange new foe. Carmilla didn't stop or change direction, instead, she lifted the bikes front tyre into the air for a few seconds, like a jouster spurring on their horse. Laura couldn't help a smile.
"Show off," she muttered.
But fear soon came back. There was no way a collision between Carmilla's bike and the Leshy would end up in Carmilla's favour. Laura had seen what those claws could do on the island, she doubted the bike would survive even a single swipe. What was Carmilla's plan?
Carmilla and Leshy charged towards each other, the gap closing rapidly. Right before they collided, Carmilla leapt sideways off the bike. She rolled along the grass and disappeared into the fog.
The Leshy swiped at the bike with a long arm and its claws penetrated straight through with a tortured squeal of metal. Seemingly without effort, it lifted the bike up into the air above its head. To Laura it seemed curious, moving the bike around to get a better look and pressing its nose to it to sniff.
Liquid fell out from the bike, something black. Petrol and a lot of it. Streaming over the Leshy's fur and dripping onto the grass. An ugly fat black tongue slid from its mouth to lap at it.
Carmilla's flaming torch flew from out of the fog and landed at the Leshy's feet.
Fire engulfed the creature from head to toe. It howled piteously and for a moment, despite everything it had done and had tried to do, she couldn't help but feel a stab of pity for it. Nothing should feel such pain to howl like it did and she was certain that she'd remember the sound of it forever.
The bike dropped from its grasp and it flailed wildly, trying to smother the flames on the grass. But the grass under its feet was covered in petrol and its actions merely fed the fire more. The smell of scorched fur and flesh was terrible. At last, just as Laura thought of covering her ears and looking away, it ceased its torturous howls and staggered to the ground.
It's dead. The words floated hazily through her mind. And we're alive.
She pushed herself up with shaky arms and legs, the pain in her chest arguing passionately to stay down. As soon as she was standing, Carmilla engulfed her in a hug.
"Are you okay?" Carmilla asked, clutching Laura close. "Are you okay?"
Carmilla's hug squeezed the air out of her almost as much as the Leshy's stomp had and she barely breathed out a response.
"I'm fine, I'm okay." Her voice sounded ragged and the breath she took equally so. "Some badass on motorbike saved my life. Any idea who she might be? She had a helmet on, so it can't have been you."
Carmilla made a sound that seemed like something halfway between a laugh and a sob. She kissed Laura's forehead. "Safety is important."
The fog around the park was lifting. The murky grey replaced with the half-light of early morning and the heavy black smoke coming from the Leshy's burning corpse.
"I think we're burning down the park," Laura said. "First a house, now a park. I hope this isn't habit forming."
"I thought it got you," Carmilla said. Ignoring the quip. "I could tell it was leaning over something and before I heard you screaming."
"Roaring. Roaring, not screaming. Totally different and much more heroic thing."
Carmilla laughed again and her hands started doing that thing where they roamed everywhere Laura they could touch. Then Laura's stomach dropped as she remembered what she came out here in the first place for.
"Oh, my God," she said. Looking around wildly. "Kellan, we have to find her."
Their search didn't take long with the fog lifted. A small motionless figure lying on the grass where the Yeshy had thrown her with its tail. Laura ran to her, the pain in her ribs forgotten, to be replaced by a pit of dread in her stomach.
The grass was dark around Kellan, it contrasted with how white her face looked. Her breaths were short and shallow. Two hands were pressed against her chest. They were dark too. Somehow, when her eyes saw Laura standing over her, she managed a smile.
"Hey," she said lightly, blood creeping out of the corner of her mouth. "It didn't kill you. Wait." Her eyes focused and she tried to rise from the grass. "Is it still here? You have to run, it's not safe-"
"No no no, it's gone, Carm took care of it." Laura sat down on her knees next to her and pushed her down gently. Not that Kellan could have risen anyway, Laura was sure, but she didn't want her doing any more damage to herself. "Nothing to worry about."
That drew a short ragged laugh. Kellan looked down at her chest and then back to Laura. Her point made without needing to speak.
"Okay, okay, okay," Laura said, her hands moving above Kellan's chest but not actually touching any part of it. "Okay, so all we have to do is stop the bleeding, I think. Yeah, stop the bleeding and then we can move-"
"Laura." Kellan's voice was soft but it cut through the babble. Laura wasn't sure she'd ever used her first name before. Ever since they'd met, Kellan had often spoken her words nervously, but somehow despite everything going on, now she spoke calmly and with clarity. "I think, what I need, is for you to tell my daughter-"
No.
"Yeah, so you're going to be fine. Okay? Okay. Just gonna stop this bleeding… and, uh, should probably. Carm? Carm's been around for like three centuries so there's no way she's never had to deal with something like this. Carm!"
A familiar hand settled on her shoulder.
"Fantastic! So what do you think we should do? I'm thinking we take a look at the… at the wound and try to bandage it with something?"
But the hand didn't move. Instead it squeezed her shoulder. Tight, reassuring,
Consoling.
She tried to shrug it off. When it stayed put, she ignored it. "Alright, so that's what we'll do. Don't worry I've watched all the good seasons of Scrubs, I know what I'm doing. So if you-"
"Laura," Kellan's calm tone took on a measure of insistence. She was looking just above Laura, then she nodded slowly and looked at her. "Laura, I need you to listen to me for a moment."
She took a hand off the wound in her chest and placed it in Laura's. Laura felt her eyes start to wander down from Kellan's face.
"No," Kellan said and Laura's eyes snapped back up. "You don't have to look at that, sweetie. I don't want you to look at that. Look at me."
Another kind smile, how was she managing to do that?
"It's funny," Kellan said. "To think I told Lexi about a monster getting her in this park so many years ago. I guess there was one here after all, it's just that it got me instead."
Her laughter was short and shaky, but she held herself together.
"I promised you, you'd see her again. I promised you," Laura said in a hollow voice.
Kellan shook her head. "Don't worry about that. It's not your fault, none of this is. You two have done so much, I'm so thankful."
"I've done nothing but fail. You shouldn't thank me, all I've done is screw up and-"
Kellan's hand in her grasp squeezed firmly. Laura didn't know where she got the strength for it.
"You've done nothing but try. When no one else would. Thank you." Kellan coughed and shuddered and Laura's heart stopped in the seconds before the cough subsided and Kellan kept going.
"I know your mother died a long time ago. So, I wanted you to know, that as one, I would have been proud to call you a daughter."
The world went fuzzy and out of focus, she blinked but it didn't fix anything.
"I know that you'll find my Lexi, I know that you will." More coughs and shudders, each one worse than the last. "I need you to tell her that I love her, more than anything in this world. And that I am so sorry."
I am so sorry. The words sparked off the dreams in her mind. The memories.
"She won't want to hear that. I don't want to tell her that," she said, her voice somehow worse than Kellan's.
"I know. But you will." Kellan slid her hand out of Laura's grasp and reached it up to her cheek. "Brave, brave girl."
Kellan's hand dropped as she gave one final shudder and lay still.