Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Nyx was woken by another bright, golden flash. She jumped awake and fell off of the bed with a hard thump.

Hardly fazed, she jumped up and unsheathed the dagger when it had stopped glowing.

Nothing was here. The glow was gone and there was no sound.

She was shaking so bad she almost dropped the weapon. She took a couple deep breaths and ran a hand through her hair. Maybe she’d only dreamed the flash.

She sheathed the dagger and dressed in jeans, a blue button-down shirt and a droopy black scarf. She tied her hair back and hid her dagger so Auntie wouldn’t find it. She felt uneasy leaving it alone.

She ate a small breakfast of toast and peaches, then went back upstairs and stared at the dagger. She found herself wishing to see the strange man again. He, she felt, was the only one who could explain things.

When she went back upstairs and took out the deadly weapon again, she heard a roaring-like sound outside of her window.

Oh no. Not again.

She ran to her window and clutched the windowsill. Outside, a bear the size of a truck and with a snake-like tail was stomping down through a nearby store parking lot that was abandoned.

Adrenaline surged through Nyx and somehow she knew this fight was for her and her alone. She watched the bear a few minutes and noticed it didn’t seem to have greet seeing ability. It kept sniffing around, and the long tail would act like a giant whisker and feel the terrain in front of the bear.

She could use that to her advantage. She observed the worst part of the bear. The tail seemed to be the worst enemy, along with the fangs.

No more time to study or plan. Nyx was out of time. She readied her dagger and trotted down to the garage where she found hiking rope. She slung it over her shoulder and slipped into tennis shoes before going outside and running as fast as she could toward the parking lot.

The bear must have caught her scent however, because he looked up and growled a warning. The tail whipper around menacingly.

Nyx drew the dagger and the bear’s ear swiveled toward the sound.

Nyx had to take care of the tail before she could kill the bear. She had another risky idea, but it was going to work, she just knew it. She took out her rope and created a loop while the bear tried to locate her.

Then, she threw the bait.

“Hey ugly, over here!” she called. The bear turned her way and the tail started lashing out in her direction.

“That’s a good fellow, keep coming.” she called. The bear growled and came closer.

Whoosh. Whoosh. The tail lashed closer. She only had one chance.

As the tail drew back she swallowed hard. This was it. She held the loop of rope out arms length and the tail lashed straight into it.

She jerked hard. Just as she’d hoped, the tail was caught fast in the rope. When the rope was yanked out of her hands, she let o, her hands rope-burned.

She jumped forward and grabbed the rope before it could escape her reach. The bear roared angrily and yanked his tail this way and that.

She scanned the parking lot, wondering if she’d have the strength she needed. She saw a light suspended on a pole not too far away. Perfect.

She called out to the bear to get him to come closer. She struggled to reach the light. The bear roared again and ran toward her voice this time. She felt the rope slacken. She took the opportunity and ran for the light. The bear followed, not far behind.

As soon as she was able, she tied the rope around the pole, using dozens of knots to make it secure. She skittered out of the way and watched as the bear tried to figure out why it’s tail wasn’t going where it was supposed to.

She didn’t have much time before it figured out the answer, so she gripped her dagger and crept forward.

The bear was sniffing the rope with its nose now. This was her chance.

She ran forward and stabbed the knife deep into the bear’s thick hide. It melted into the pavement, leaving only a rope tied around a pole.

Both monsters had come from the same place, she was sure. Something was definitely up with that dagger. She knew now for sure that the monsters, dagger and the strange man were all connected.

She shook her head in confusion. She loved mysteries, she loved planning strategies, but this was real. It was almost too much to take in.

She sheathed her dagger, gathered the rope and pushed her hair off of her face.

Now she had to find a way to slip past Auntie. She would freak if she saw Nyx with a dagger.

She approached the house and peeked in the window. Auntie wasn’t anywhere to be found. Maybe she was still asleep. It was, after all, still fairly early in the morning.

She ran around to the back door and quietly slipped in before kicking off her shoes and running upstairs to her room. She deposited the hiking rope on the bed and studied the dagger.

The strange thing was that there was still no blood on the dagger. No sign whatsoever to prove she had just used it to kill a blood-thirsty bear and weird seal-demon thing.

What was going on? She sheathed the dagger and put it back in the hiding place before heading downstairs.

She had come in just in time. Auntie entered the room through another door and saw Nyx. Thankfully, without the dagger.

“There you are, Nyx. I am leaving for a while. Don’t leave the house, or you know what happens. Don’t mess with my things or go into my room either.” Auntie warned harshly. Nyx sighed. She was hardly ever allowed outside. Why? She didn’t know.

Auntie touched her frizzy hair and left the house, locking the door behind her.

Nyx groaned and fell on to a recliner. “Why me!”

She hauled herself up and went upstairs. She had a feeling more monsters were on the way, so she figured she would plan a strategy. It was what she did best.

She locked the door and placed her hands on her hips, surveying the room. Ideas were already forming She started at the closet.

She pulled out her old, blue backpack and unloaded all of the books. She loved reading, but ight now something more important called on her attention.

Laying the backpack on the bed, she filled it with the things she felt she would need the most.

First, she packed two, coiled hiking ropes, a first aid kit and two boxes of protein bars. She filled a thermos full of water and threw it in too. She packed her spiked shoes and a small grappling hook. She added pepper-spray and tablet with pencil and extra led. The dagger she didn’t pack. She would need that close by her side. There, that would surely help in any situation.

She put the backpack and sheathed dagger on her dresser, making sure to hide the dagger under the backpack, in case she had to leave it alone for a while.

Realizing she had nothing to do, she sighed and flopped on to her bed. She was bored. Fighting monsters was scary but at least it was something to do.

She got out her journal and an old pencil, then shoved in some white earphones that went with her purple MP3.

She turned on the music and listened as she wrote.

The first song was “The Call” by Regina Spektor, a favorite of Nyx’s. She bobbed her head a little as she listened and wrote in her diary about the recent encounter with the bear. It felt different to write about something most would never get the chance to write about. She probably had some of the most exciting diary entries of all time.

Another song switched on. Sky Spills Over by Michael W. Smith. Another favorite.

When she finished writing, she stopped the music and put everything away. She took out the dagger once again. She stared hard at it, as if that could somehow solve her problems.

The blade suddenly started to glow brightly. She gasped and dropped the dagger, covering her eyes as a familiar flash filled the room.

When it stopped, she looked around. There was nothing in her room, thankfully.

But the feeling of relief was soon replaced by one of fear and dread when she heard a shriek from outside her window.

She grabbed the dagger and ran to the window, gasping at what she saw.

Half-hopping, half-flying from rooftop to rooftop was a small creature.

Author's Note

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