Chapter 7 Night Terror

I hated going to the clinic. It had been another super long night at the clinic being poked and prodded by the man in white. In the end, even he couldn't figure out why my body was so hot. Not surprising, nobody ever did. He told mama to give me more yucky pills and sent us home. I really hated going to the clinic.

Feeling sleepy and still a little sore from the needle pokes, I walked with mama back toward our little apartment. It wasn't very far from the dumb clinic, and nobody but tourists drove in the city anyway. Suddenly I picked up on the wonderfully sweet smell of baked goods nearby and my stomach rumbled.

"Mommy, I wanna doughnut!" I said, tugging on mama's hand.

"Okay, sweetie," Mama said, smiling down at me. "Since you were such a good girl for the doctors, I think you certainly deserve a doughnut."

"Can I get a jelly one?" I asked. "With lotsa sprinkles on top, too!"

"Okay, okay," she said with a laugh as we walked inside.

"Welcome to Monster Donut," said the bored clerk at the counter. "We'll serve you shortly."

Letting go of mama's hand, I ran to the counter to look at the donuts on display. There were so many of all different shapes and colors of frosting and sprinkles! How would I pick only one? The only other customer in the store also wandered over to the counter, sniffing the air. "Smells good."

"They're very good," the counter clerk agreed.

"Can't wait," the customer said, sniffing the air again. "Must eat them all up."

"Yes," the clerk said, closing his eyes. "Eat them both, all up."

"Penny," Mama called, her voice cracked slightly. "Penny, come back here."

I frowned. Mama almost sounded scared, but she was a grown up. Grown ups didn't get scared, did they? I turned away from the doughnuts on display to look at her.

"Penny...!"

I woke suddenly, sitting upright in my bed. The only light in the room filtered in from between the curtains of the window. Heart pounding, mind racing, I strained trying to figure out what had roused me from my sleep.

"Penny," a woman's voice called from the street below. It was hushed, barely loud enough for me to hear, as if the caller was hoping to not wake the neighborhood. "Penny, are you there?" The soft voice was familiar, but for the life of me I couldn't place it. "Penny, please, answer me. Penny, it's me. It's your mom."

"Mom?" I whispered. No, it couldn't be her. Could it?

"Penny, please come back to me," My mom called out to me, her voice breaking my heart in half. "Come home, please!"

I climbed out of bed and slowly made my way to the window. The street below was empty except for the shadowed silhouette of a woman under the street light. She looked up at, our eyes meeting briefly. I gasped. She smiled. It was really her!

As quickly and as quietly as I could, mindful not to wake uncle Joe, I made my way out of the apartment and down the stairs to the street below. By the time I made it to the streetlight visible from my bedroom window, mom was gone. Had I imagined her? No, she was real. She had to be! I blinked fiercely in an attempt to stop the tears from falling. Please, don't let me have imagined her here. Alive.

"Penny?" Mom's voice called from behind me causing me to choke on a sob. I wheeled around to see her standing in the shadows of the alley that ran beside the restaurant.

"Mommy!" I cried, tears hissing into steam as they evaporated against my cheeks, and began to run to her. "Is it really you?"

She smiled, holding her arms out to welcome my embrace. "Sweet girl," she sighed, pressing her lips to the top of my head. "So... Very sweet. With just the perfect hint of something spicy. I can't wait to eat you all up!"

Eat them both, all up.

"Wha-...?" I looked up at her, confusion clear on my face. She smiled down at me, her lips stretching wider than should be possible. I tried to pull away from the embrace, but the woman shifted her grip, pinning my arms at my sides in a strong hold. "No... No. You're not her. You aren't my mom!"

"Of course I'm not, sweet little morsel," she said with a derisive laugh. "Your mother is dead, after all, isn't she?"

Her smile widened as she leaned in closer. Steeling myself, I clenched my eyes shut and pushed away from her. My heart was racing. I was terrified, and had been for a while. It had started with the hellhound. Then the horned man of Central Park. Those teenagers in the alley after that. And now this imposter pretending to be my dead mom. I was so tired of being terrified. Maybe it was time to get pissed off!

"What are you?" I demanded, opening my eyes to glare.

"Hungry!" With a sudden lurch, she dropped to her hands and knees, shoulders shaking with raucous laughter as her body began to shift and contort until she no longer looked human.

The creature standing before me now looked like a horrible twisted amalgam of animal parts. It had the body of a lion with red fur, the legs, hooves and tail of a horse, and the head of a wolf with glowing red eyes. The creature's wide mouth curved in an unnatural parody of a grin with two sharp, ridges of bone in place of teeth.

"I'm going to enjoy eating you slowly," the monster said. "I'll even be sure to keep you alive right to the last bite!" The creature's bony jaws opened wide as it lunged toward me, only to be knocked spinning to the side as an arrow suddenly appeared in its gaping maw. The monster let out a vicious snarl before snapping the arrow embedded in it's mouth in two with its powerful bone-ridged jaws. "What are you doing here, hunter?"

The girl's eyes widened slightly in apparent shock, before schooling her features, "I'm here to end you, monster!"

I wheeled around to see a girl with long, white hair braided and tied back in a tight ponytail. She was wearing a silver jacket, ripped urban camouflage pants and black combat boots, and in her hands was a drawn bow, another arrow already nocked and aimed.

Her eyes moved to look to me,"Go! Run now, I've got this."

"Like hell," I glared, turning back to the monster and raising my fists. "I'm not running. Not now, not ever again!"

"You wont do any good against this thing without a weapon," she retorted. "You'll just end up feeding yourself to it. Or is that what you want?"

I growled in annoyance, but said nothing. She was right, of course. Unarmed, I stood no chance. I had left the ornate knife back in my room upstairs, heedless of any potential danger. I resolved to not make that mistake again. Still, that did nothing for my current situation. Should I try to collect my knife? Would the fight still be going on by the time I made it back? Would the white-haired girl have led the monster away in that time? Would she have been devoured? If I made it to the apartment, should I even leave it again? I could lock the door and stay safe inside.

My momentary indecision was brought to a halt as the white-haired girl loosed another arrow that narrowly missed the monster before pulling a bronze Bowie knife from a sheathe at her side and tossing it to me.

"Tha-"

"Don't thank me," she interrupted. "Just keep that thing off me while I shoot!"

"Right!" I rushed forward and slashing wide with the knife.

With incredible speed, the creature dodged my wild blow and lunged for my exposed side only to be met with two arrows to the side of it's head and neck, knocking it away.

"Your form is shit!" the girl shouted, loosing another arrow at the creature which was dodged.

"I'm trying my best!" I snapped, lunging again at the monster, the blade glancing ineffectively off it's rib cage.

"Trying my patience, more like it," the girl muttered, loud enough for me to hear as she loosed another arrow which flew wide.

"Thou art allowing thyself to become distracted. Take a moment to steady thy breathing before loosing," a girl's voice shouted. We both looked up to see another girl standing on the roof of the building next to uncle Joe's. She was wearing the same silver jacket as the white-haired girl and had a quiver of arrows on her back. "Thou hast a problem with patience, so mayhap it is a good thing this girl is here to try it."

"Sorry, Elle Tee," the white-haired girl grumbled before nocking another arrow.

The creature glanced up at the roof and took a step back, turning to regard the two of us on the ground level more cautiously, "A trap?"

"Nay," replied the new girl, as she took a seat - one leg drawn up to her chest and the other hanging over the side of the building. "'tis merely a test. I shall not be getting involved unless it becomes absolutely necessary."

I didn't know who this second girl was, but she had successfully distracted the creature for a moment. Taking advantage of the situation, I threw myself onto its back. Grabbing a fistful of fur from the back of it's neck for leverage, I thrust the knife between its shoulder blades using the full weight of my body. Instead of sinking in, however, the blade skidded off it's hide causing me to lose balance and start to fall even as another two arrows bounced off the monster's flank.

"One wonders wouldst thou have discovered the creature's weakness by now?" The girl on the rooftop called out, sounding slightly amused.

"I have no weakness, girl!" The monster snarled. "No weapon forged by god or mortal hands will have any effect on me. You should give up now!"

"No weapon forged..." I trailed off. "Does that mean a gun would slow you down?"

"What? No! Don't be stupid," the monster snapped.

"What's stupid about that? Bullets aren't forged," I said. "Maybe it's like how no man could stop the Witch King of Angmar, but because Éowyn was a woman, she could."

"Witch king? Angmar? What are you talking about?" the white-haired girl asked, confused.

"Lord of the Rings. Seriously, who doesn't know that?"

"Tolkien is fiction," she growled. "This is real life, you nerd!"

An arrow whizzed past us, burying itself in the street in front of the monster that was trying to slink away while we were arguing. The girl on the rooftop set her bow back down and regarded us with an unimpressed glare.

"Cease your bickering," she said. "Do not allow thine quarry to escape. Or doth thou require mine assistance?"

I tuned out the two other girls' voices, turning my focus to the monster before us. Our weapons truly were ineffective. Although the first arrow had found purchase in it's mouth, neither the blade in my hand or the arrows fired from her bow had made any scratch in the creature's hide. The monster was clearly intelligent, so it was unlikely to open its mouth to expose a weak point on its own. Getting close enough to stab it's mouth would also put me in eating range. Not a good plan, so I put that idea out of my head.

The monster swiped its powerful massive claws at me and I was too slow to fully dodge the blow, the claws tearing through my shirt into my stomach and side. I bit my tongue to keep from crying out even as I felt the wound start to bleed. Holding one hand to my injured side and brandishing my borrowed knife in the other, I slowly started to pace a circle with the predator.

No weapon forged could hurt it. Even if I'd had a gun, the bullets wouldn't be celestial bronze and would likely still do nothing against the creature. Another bad plan discarded. Maybe the words 'forged by god or mortal hands' was a red herring? If that was the case, then no weapon could harm the creature. What could be done, then?

The white-haired girl shot another two arrows in quick succession that were equally ineffective as the others at piercing the monster's hide. I spared a glance back to the girl on the roof. Aside from standing back up, she had made no move to actually join the fight. She seemed sure that she could stop the threat on her own, if it came down to it. She had also claimed this was a test of some sort, which meant there had to be a right answer.

The sound of something snapping caught my attention, and I turned to see the white-haired archer holding a broken bow in one hand and covering a bleeding gash in the side of her neck with the other. The monster saw it too, and began to rush her. The world slowed down around me as I felt my body heat rise. That girl had tried to help me, and now she was in serious trouble. The girl on the rooftop had still not moved to step in. Our weapons were useless except as a defensive measure against this monstrous enemy.

"Get down," I called out to the girl as I extended my hand in front of me, dropping the knife to the ground as I felt the surge of power swelling within my body.

The monster turned it's head at the commanding tone in my voice, it's eyes widening comically as it no doubt saw the glow of fire spreading from my palm. I met its gaze and grinned, "Vattene, se non sarai immortale!"

A roaring torrent of fire erupted from my outstretched hand, melting the asphalt of the street and enveloping the monster entirely. It didn't even have time to scream before it too melted away into ash and dust.

"What was that?" the white-haired girl demanded of me, wide-eyed and gesturing with her broken bow at the melted pothole that used to be a monster.

"No weapon forged by god or mortal hands," I said with a crooked grin.

"Well done," the girl on the roof called.

I looked up to see her jump off the side of the building. Before I could shout, let alone move, she hit the ground in a somersault tumble before rolling to her feet seemingly unfazed. My eyes must have been the size of dinner plates, but the white-haired girl merely scoffed. Now that she was down at street level under the streetlights, I could see she had brown eyes, dark brown, almost black hair and a deep Mediterranean complexion. Her clothes were almost identical to those of the other girl, but without the rips and tears. The only other difference in presentation was a thin silver circlet adorning her brow.

"Thanks for finally joining us lowly mortals, Zoë," the white-haired girl said.

"Mind your attitude, Hunter," Zoë replied. "That was a test set forth by our lady. Had you not allowed it to escape the first time, we would not be here now."

"Allowed it to escape? Maybe it escaped your notice, but my weapons were useless!" The girl, now named Hunter, said. "This fight was rigged against me from the start!"

"Let it be a valuable lesson that in life, there is no such thing as a fair fight. Do not forget that thou art immortal only so long as you do not fall in combat. Most things we face are not so easily dispatched, and oft times we must adapt to the situation. I have lost many sisters that either could not, or would not, learn that lesson."

A heavy silence fell between the two girls before Zoë turned to regard me.

"Thou performed..." She hesitated before saying, "adequately. Thine form with a blade in hand was abysmal, as I believe Hunter had put it."

"Thanks," I said. "I think."

"Her form was shit," Hunter said, reaching into her backpack and pulling out a sport bottle and a cloth. "You can say shit, Zoë."

"I shall not!"

Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, I was finding it hard to stay standing. Using that much fire power was exausting, and even though my ribs had mostly healed from my previous injury, my side now also ached from being slashed by the monster's claws. The dark-haired Zoë took notice and helped me to sit down.

"Hunter, bring some nectar here for her," she said. "After all, 'twould be poor repayment to allow this girl to perish after she had saved thine own life."

Hunter walked over, her neck washed of the blood and the injury gone, and passed Zoë the bottle in her hand.

"Drink slowly, and take no more than a single mouthful," Zoë instructed. "Any more and the Leucrocotta will not be the only one reduced to ash this night."

I did as she suggested, and was shocked to find the bottle was not filled with water, but instead contained the same medicine Doctor Phoebe had been giving me. As expected, my side felt better almost instantly.

"Thank you," I said, stretching slightly and not feeling any discomfort. "Oh, before I forget...!"

I leapt up to my feet and ran to recover the dropped blade, bringing it back to Hunter. "Thanks for lending it to me. Also, sorry for dropping it."

Hunter took the knife, shooting a glance to Zoë before handing it back to me, "Keep it. You should have a weapon, even if you suck at using it."

"And thou shall have instruction in its use," Zoë said. "I speak on behalf of our lady in saying that thou shall train this maiden in how to compose herself in battle."

Hunter balked, "What? No, I can't... You can't..."

"I assure you, I can and thou wilt," Zoë said in a commanding tone. "Consider it further training for thyself. Or would thou prefer we find another Leucrocotta? I believe milady's brother has two others still."

"No, lieutenant," Hunter said with a sigh. "I'll do it."

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of a plate bouncing off the bedroom floor. Blearily I cracked my eyes open to see uncle Joe standing in the doorway staring back at me in shock.

"Oh, hey. Good morning, uncle Joe," I yawned and felt the bed shift. That's when I noticed the extra lump under the blanket beside me. Frowning slightly, I lifted the blanket to see a mass of white hair splayed out on the pillow beside me.

"Nipote...?" uncle Joe started to ask.

"I can explain!" I said.

"Five more minutes," Hunter grumbled, grabbing the blanket from my hands and covering back up.