Chandry’s eyebrows lifted with interest. “How fast can this ghost monster move?” She was probably calculating her acrobatic stunt timing.
“Ghost is a good name,” Sike cut in. Let’s focus. Hard to do with a panicked audience.
Jennifer watched us openly. Her tears had dried, and now her eyes had an unsettled, excited look that made me suspicious. She rubbed her arms vigorously against the chilly night air. Something about her energy radiated strangely. When she looked to the forest, she was looking right where the creature was coming. Had she somehow heard it arrive?
“Fast,” Lyra told Chandry with a serious frown. “The Ghost ripped apart an airplane like nothing, in midair, too. It’s strong, and worse, it seems to be attracted to our group, based on the fact that it keeps finding us. I’m not sure if it wants to eat us or destroy us, but our presence clearly attracts it.”
“Do you have any idea what it’s specifically attracted to?” Arlonne asked. Lyra shook her head. It was something we hadn’t understood when the beast had originally come for us in the airplane. It had beelined straight for us, left, and then come back, but why?
Jennifer sucked in an excited breath. At this point, I was positive Arlonne was weighing her options with murdering this young human and begging forgiveness from Bryce after the fact.
“It’s probably attracted to your, like, vampire energy,” Jennifer blurted. “Your camouflage or whatever.” Her eyes were wide—not with fear, but excitement. Lyra gave her an incredulous look. I slowly watched my wife’s faith in humanity drain away as she glared at Jennifer.
My vampire energy? I guessed the game was up.
“It is camouflage,” I insisted weakly. We didn’t have time for this.
“This is serious. You should be terrified,” Lyra snapped. "You guys need to stay back. You two are civilians, and you don’t know how to fight this thing. If you try anything stupid, you're liable to get killed. I can't stop it from shoving your body in its mouth if I can't even see it."
For a moment, Jennifer's face actually paled. Finally. And yet, I sensed she wasn't going to give in easily.
Lyra was about to move on when Jennifer quickly jumped back… only to bark an order to Johnny to get the camera out. I had seen Lyra angry many times, but in that moment, I wouldn't have been surprised if actual flames sprouted out of her head.
"I told you to stay back," Lyra warned, making a heroic effort to keep her temper.
Arlonne snapped her fangs, which weren't extended but still provided a scare factor. "You would be wise to listen to her."
"We don't have to listen to you." Jennifer let out a scathing laugh as Johnny raised the camera with a shaking hand. They bunched up behind our group like lurking paparazzi at a press conference. The camera wasn’t part of the plan.
“Camera away,” Lyra snapped.
Bryce glowered at them both and lumbered to his feet. He had to stay fifteen feet from Arlonne, but that didn't mean he couldn't herd the civilians off to a safe distance. He grabbed Johnny by the collar with one hand and Jennifer's backpack with the other, yanking them back with the full force of an annoyed Scotsman.
Twigs and underbrush snapped behind us as something crashed through the forest. The beast had found us. Jennifer let out a delighted gasp at the approaching sound. Johnny tried to put away his camera under Bryce’s fierce glare, but she snatched it from him to turn it on. Unable to do anything about them, I focused on what I could do to fight this Ghost. The branches broke on the trees, clearly marking where the monster was in its invisible form.
The beast flickered back and forth between invisibility and showing its milky scales. It had a new pink wound on its snout, and the scent of its sour-smelling blood filled the air. Arlonne crouched low and growled, likely smelling the same thing. The Ghost might be fleeing from another fight, given its recent gash. But was it a fight with other survivors, or with another monster? Chandry shifted her weight from foot to foot, her eyes darting around to find the beast as it shook the broken branches and twigs off its body. Everyone was ready except for Sike, who hung back with Bryce and the civilians, so he could help keep an eye on them.
Lyra readied a rifle alongside Cam. We had precious few bullets, according to Lyra, but this beast was a true threat.
"Fire," she cried. Bullets sailed from their guns into the creature, and it shifted milky white. The beast roared, its wail furious as it quickly withdrew back into the trees. Lyra called to hold fire. "It worked." She sounded surprised, and I remembered how strange the Ghost’s reactions had been to our attacks. Why had her bullets worked this time?
The beast wailed again and charged back into the clearing, shifting into full invisibility. All I could perceive was the sound of the air around it and the faint smell of blood coming toward us. The Ghost circled the encampment, shifting back to its visible form every few seconds. Aggravated, it shook its head in circles.
"It's confused," Sike muttered.
"What the hell does it have to be confused about?" I asked. The Ghost was enraged, likely from the bullets, but there was something going on. Its cry grew louder. The beast jumped back and forth through the clearing, sailing through the air despite a lack of wings as it appeared to be lost on what to target. Sike was right. It was running itself ragged… and its anger was escalating, which wasn't good for us.
"Let's be careful with these shots," Lyra said to Cam. “We don’t know how this thing takes damage yet. When we tried to hurt it before, I only got it in the shoulder when it was visible. Can
