Behind her, Jennifer stepped forward with the camera. This absolute idiot. I was going to chuck that camera straight into the woods. We were in the middle of fighting an actual monster, and she had the nerve to film this?
Lyra snarled at her. "Get back, you idiot." As she and Bryce dealt with Jennifer, I inched forward with the rest of the vampires, trying to get close to the creature. We had to take advantage of the confusion while it lasted.
"Come on, Dan," Jennifer yelled at her boyfriend. Wait, she was using a new name. Johnny was Dan? I didn't have time to think about it.
The creature groaned, its milky skin returning as the ghostly sound filled the clearing. It reached out, and its claws went straight for Lyra, trying to bypass our vampire trio. Chandry took her shot, sliding underneath the creature. As it looked down to follow her movement, Arlonne and I raced forward to attack. Arlonne landed on the creature's shoulder, and I prepared to do the same, quickly moving behind the beast so I could climb to its head like a human might have. I was still hoping we could convince Jennifer she was mistaken.
The beast roared and tried to snatch at Arlonne by turning its mouth. Chandry came at the beast from the other side, yelling to distract it, but the monster acted like she didn’t exist. If this fight got bad, we would have to shred the human charade.
Cam fired a shot, and the beast shook us off. I tried to hold on, my nails dragging against its white leathery scales, but they were surprisingly smooth. I had nothing to hold on to. I flew off, rolling into the dirt as Chandry bounded over.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Fine," I muttered. My eyes went to Lyra and Cam. Cam was glaring at Jennifer, now, and the newly renamed Dan.
“The creature isn’t going for me,” Chandry mused thoughtfully, breaking the tension as the monster slunk back to the trees, its red eyes on Arlonne. “Just now, I was right by its foot. It should’ve kicked me, at least, but it was bent on you and Arlonne, even when I hit it. And it went for Lyra first.” The monster moved around in the trees. She looked at me curiously. “Did you guys coat yourself in something?”
“No.” We hadn’t done anything different, from what I could tell.
"Wait a minute… the camera, the weird stories? I know who you are," Cam said abruptly. "You're that stupid video blogger, Jessica Laurence. You do those awful conspiracy videos about the supernatural." The creature continued shuffling in the trees. Its wail let me know where it was, but it shifted back to invisibility. They aren’t survivors at all. Anger flared inside me as Jessica fiddled with her camera and stared back at us with a defiant look.
"You're—" Lyra sucked in air as her eyes narrowed. "You lied to us."
"It's for the truth," Jessica blurted, but her words sounded hollow and weak. She knew we were out here fighting for our lives, and she’d still lied? Dan, at least, had the common decency to appear abashed behind her. He was genuinely frightened; I could smell it on him. Jessica could learn a thing or two from him.
"You didn't survive out here for months," Lyra yelled. She was keeping a watch on the trees and the pair of liars at the same time. "You trespassed somehow. Your own stupidity got you trapped in this place. I don't even think you deserve a rescue." Her voice was hot with fury, but I understood completely. She was probably thinking about her parents, who were still missing. We’ll have to evacuate them no matter what, although their rescue will lead to prison.
“Well, I know the truth now. You can’t stop my information. The world needs to know about your weird government coverup of the Leftovers.” Jessica’s eyes sparked wildly in the firelight. Her grating demeanor fell away to something more desperate. She was dedicated… but why this much? “I know you’re working with vampires. They’re all illegal now.” Before the meld, the U.S. government had severely restricted the number of vampires allowed inside their borders, requiring them to be licensed and accompanied by handlers at all times, in response to the revenant attacks. After the meld, the backlash had continued, to the point of outlawing them entirely, except for a few secretly employed by the Bureau. I’d learned that when Fenton had called me into his office in an attempt to talk me into rejoining the Bureau, a meeting which had ultimately led to the formation of Callanish.
Anger rolled through me like a wave of flames. These kids weren’t taking this seriously at all, and they were actively distracting us from our fight. The monster would come back any minute.
The air stilled for a moment. A faint groan came from the forest. Sike held on to the scanner, but the screen flickered and died. The creature’s aura flowed and ebbed for me. She’s threatening to expose us, which lets me know that she’ll do anything to keep the footage they’ve been risking all our lives to get.
“Tie them up and smash their cameras,” I told Sike. “I don’t want any risk of them escaping with footage.” Jessica and Dan stiffened as Sike made his way toward them.
Lyra and Cam readied their guns again at the tree line. The Ghost stepped out, visible, next to Sike. It was dragging its claws across its head and shaking it from side to side. Sike was right next to it. It looked like Chandry and Sike were correct. Something was wrong with it. Why wasn’t it going for them?
Sike tried to grab Jessica, but she darted out of his grasp and ran straight toward the beast. Dan followed right behind her. Sike only managed to grab Dan’s jacket off him.
Abruptly, the Ghost stilled. It vanished partially, leaving its head and a small tail I hadn’t
