DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
Black clouds covered the pale red moon and swept across the sky, making it indistinguishable from the dark silhouettes of the hills. The only light came from the flickering street lamps and the lanterns that swayed in the grasp of those few souls hurrying home late. Between the murky night and the soft, chilly wind coming down from the north, it was easy to dismiss the churning on the surface of the lake as nothing at all.
The jaguars slipped into the water one by one and began to paddle towards the island without a sound. They moved quickly, even as their careful strokes made nothing more than small splashes. The tops of their heads bobbed just above the water, their eyes glowing as they caught the light coming from the shore. When the wind changed course and blew towards them, carrying with it the scent of human flesh, they began to swim even faster. The steep edges of the sidewalk only slowed them down for a moment: they clawed and leapt their way on to the land, their tails flicking as they bared their teeth and sniffed the air. Not since the ancient times had there been so many mortals in one place. They would feast for days on such a haul as this!
"Not yet," Pax snapped at his soldiers as he followed them out of the water. "First we take what we need." He tensed his muscles and crouched, scanning his surroundings.
The slight flash of movement in an alleyway caught his eye — a little man cowering behind a barrel, trembling as though he knew he was prey. Pax grinned and lunged forward. The human dropped his lantern and tried to scramble away, letting out a shrill scream that was instantly silenced by a paw to his neck.
"And where do you think you're going?" Pax said with a toothy smile as he pinned the man down. "To raise the alarm?"
The man blanched, a pathetic squeak squeezing its way from his throat just before he fainted dead away.
Pax rolled his eyes and shoved the prone body aside. "Do you see any others?" he asked one of his men.
"No, my lord."
"Then follow me." Catching the scent he searched for on the wind, he growled his approval before running off into town with his pack on his heels.
"What did you just do?" Maria repeated, her tone becoming sharper when her husband refused to answer her. "Why is…hey!"
Darting towards her, Manolo grabbed his wife by the arm and quickly pulled her down the hall. Not until they reached the top of the stairs did he pause. "I need you to go outside and wait under the window in case she tries going out that way. Take a sword along if you have to. If you see the twins — "
"Why is our daughter locked in her room, Manolo?" she shouted.
"Because they've come for her!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"The jaguars," he said, grabbing her by the shoulders. "They've come for Ofelia. Right now."
Maria's eyes began to widen. "…How do you know?"
"I-I don't, not really," he answered, trembling. "But t-there was this dream, and I thought I saw…" He shook his head. "I can just feel it somehow. They're getting close, I know it."
A look of horror slowly but surely spread across Maria's face. "And you've left her by herself?" Tearing away from Manolo's grasp, she took off down the hall. "Mija!"
Manolo caught her again, holding her back by her shoulders. "She was going to sneak out!"
"And that's supposed to make this okay?" she snarled.
"I'm trying to keep her safe, Maria! We need to make sure she stays in there. If they track her down, they'll — "
"I know what they'll do," she said, glaring at him. "Does she?"
He didn't answer.
Her eyes narrowed as she shook her head, muttering curses under her breath. "Fine." She started to turn away. "If you can't do the right thing here, then — "
The walls of the house abruptly groaned, rattling from the roof down to the foundation. Manolo and Maria froze and fell silent, their eyes darting between the ceiling and the hallway. Back in their bedroom, Chuy bolted upright and sniffed the air before squealing in fear and diving under the bed. Behind them, Alejo stirred and began to wail.
Maria glanced at her husband as she nodded in the direction of the baby's room, wordlessly commanding him. Manolo nodded back and began to creep towards Alejo's door, but then stopped. "Do you hear that?" he whispered.
"Hear what?"
He pointed at the ceiling. "Listen…"
Heavy steps were plodding across the roof, several sets of them. They passed over the adults' heads, then grew slower and quieter as they traveled down the hall. When they were nearly at the end, they suddenly halted. The whole world seemed to have fallen into silence by now: the only thing Manolo could hear was his own ragged breathing. He took a step forward, intending to make his way to Ofelia's door. We can still make it if —
CRASH! "Papa! Papa!"
Ofelia had been putting on her shoes and searching for her little brown satchel when she heard her bedroom door lock. She whirled around, her eyes widening in realization as she caught sight of her father's slippers from beneath the door. She ran to the door as he walked away, grabbing the doorknob with both hands and twisting it back and forth in vain. "Papa?" she called out, knocking on the door. "Papa!" He must have been listening.
She pressed her ear to the door: there was her mother's voice now, with the quiet and firm tone she only used in times of trouble. The two of them were walking away, her voices growing louder as they spoke to each other — even from this distance, the girl could tell that they were fighting.
"P-Please stop," she blurted out when she found her voice again. "I'm sorry, Papa! I won't do it again! I'll be good! Can I come out, por favor? W-What's going on?"
There was no answer, only more muffled shouts.
It suddenly dawned upon her how quiet it had become, and how dark: the moonlight was all but gone, and jagged shadows were crawling up the floorboards as though they meant to grab her. Pulling her yellow robe tighter around herself, Ofelia sank back against the wall and slid to the floor, clutching her satchel and trying not to tremble.
She was searching in the bag for her flashlight when the house began to groan. It was a loud, long and ugly noise, as though the timbers were suddenly forced to carry the weight of something terrible. She let out a small gasp and curled into a ball, pressing herself against the door. Her hands were shaking too hard to switch on the flashlight, let alone hold it. The weight of a dozen wicked, prying eyes seemed to be watching her at once. Ofelia stiffened, gulping down her screams. Please go away…
Instead they began to move towards her with lumbering, focused steps. The roof creaked beneath their clicking feet as they made their way towards her room, circled her ceiling, gathered just above her window. Ofelia thought she heard low, hungry growls piercing the silence.
Please don't hurt us, she thought, hoping whatever spirit that had come would hear. Please don't hurt Mama and Papa.
It's not them we want.
A large figure swung down in front of her window in the blink of an eye, shattering the glass with a single kick and leaping into the room. It was the largest cat she'd ever seen, staring at her with glowing yellow eyes as it stalked towards her. The creature growled as it bared its teeth in a victorious sneer. "Hello, Ofelia."
She bolted to her feet and threw herself against the door, pounding on the wood and tugging in vain at the knob. "Papa! Papa!"
A paw struck the side of her head, knocking her to the floor, and she fell into nothingness.
It didn't take much to break the bedroom door down, not with Manolo and Maria both rushing at it. They staggered into the room as it gave way, collapsing onto the shards of broken glass and the large, dirty paw tracks. "Mija!" they cried out. "Ofelia!"
She was too far away to hear them now.