Quick explanation: Empusai is a form of vampire/demoness that would seduce men and drain their life-forces. Lamia, according to accurate mythology, was not an empusai, but I loved the name and incorporated it.

Chapter 1

I Battle The Cheerleading Squad: Part 3

Rachael Elizabeth Dare looked from Lamia to where I lay, sprawled on the floor, and then back to Lamia. I figured she must have wondered from the group as I had, hoping to find a secluded spot somewhere to read her book. Having heard voices, she'd wandered over to where Lamia and were, interrupting the former's attempt to kill me. Rachael's intrusion had saved my life -Lamia had lost interest in me for the time being- but I had a horrible feeling in my gut that it had cost her her's. I thought it strange that, having learned nothing up to that point but the girl's name, I now knew her fatal flaw: curiosity.

There was an odd silence as each girl (erm, rather one girl and… something else) seemed to stare each other down. Lamia's glare could've knocked mountains over, senseless, and, weirdly enough, this mortal girl seemed to stand her ground. But then Lamia began to change, and the possible conflict no longer looked evenly matched. Gone were beautiful girl and starchy uniform. In its place was a horrible, emaciated gray-skinned woman with stringy, lifeless white hair and swirling red pits for eyes. From her boney neck hung a chain with a large flat disk, and the heart of it was also swirling, but in shades of green.

I had a horrible feeling that that pendant caged whatever power Lamia had stolen from me.

I looked towards Rachael, and it struck me again how unusual this Harvard regalia-clad girl was. Yes, she was terrified, a normal reaction; I could tell by the way her hands were shaking, clenched tightly at her sides. But, she didn't seem at all surprised by the situation, as if it were both unfortunate and perfectly normal. And she didn't run, because there was no where to run. Her eyes blazed with an absurdly courageous defiance.

Lamia charged. She moved with a quick but grotesque, limping gait, and I noticed beneath her robes the hooves of a donkey. She raised her ruler-length, dagger-sharp fingernails in an attempt to poke holes in my rescuer, but, at the last second, Rachael gave a surprised squeak and dived out of the way. I tried to crawl near riptide where it lay several feet from me, but my muscles felt as if they had been liquefied.

I looked to the battle: Lamia was trying to incinerate the poor girl using a variety of clawing and flaming-eye attacks. Rachael managed to dodge a particularly nasty assault, and Lamia got a water fountain instead. Its crushed encasement caused the water pressure to build up, and the entire fountain exploded. The water that rained down went unnoticed by the monster and girl who were currently locked in battle, but I was revived enough by the droplets to crawl the rest of the way to retrieve my weapon.

Now, how would I get the monster to come my way?

Lamia was becoming enraged. Apparently, there was nothing she hated more than being interrupted while she was sucking the life from her victims, and she wanted to make this girl pay. She lent forth an agonized roar as Rachael dodged another assault and whacked her medallion with the blown-top of the water fountain she had been using as a shield. A surge of green erupted from the dented disk like a solar flare, and I felt a surge of strength go through me. Getting an idea, I gestured wildly at Rachael, and when our eyes met, she understood.

As Rachael began to dash towards me, Lamia in her wake, I gritted my teeth and braced myself; I would only get one chance. Once Rachael reached me, she vaulted up over my head as I ducked, the bottoms of her sneakers grazing the top of my scalp. Summoning all my strength to move fast, I maneuvered on one knee and plunged riptide into the monster's medallion.

The agonized last screams of all of Lamia's past victims erupted from the halved charm in a single, pain-filled torrent. A bright stream of life bled from the disintegrating monster, and I felt completely revived as the last remnants of Lamia scattered in a sudden breeze.

I got to my feet, turning to the girl who stood beside me and trying to think of something to say, when more inhuman screeches filled my ears. We both whipped around to the sight of more cheerleaders transforming into life-sucking demons, and they blocked all the ways back to the auditorium.

"Come on!" I shouted to Rachael, grabbing her arm and bolting towards a side door that looked as if it led into the basement. I couldn't kill all those monsters on my own and get Rachael safely back to the auditorium, so I had no choice but to escape with her in tow.

We ran panting down the stairs into a stuffy and stifling basement. After barricading the door with some gym mats and filing cabinets, I located our escape route: a small window to the outside paced above a cluttered workbench. We jumped up onto the table, me cupping my hands so the girl could step up. After she got through, she gave me a hand as I scrambled up after her. Then we bolted down the street as fast as our legs would carry us.