Faith headed back to the kitchen, popping her laptop onto the breakfast table and double-checking the recipe they had settled on. It seemed entirely ridiculous but then smores brownies while at a cabin was significantly less silly than when they were back home. At least here it was a reasonable thought that they might work off all those calories.
Faith smiled to herself and stood up to start making a new pot of coffee. Keeping up with Kaylee was a workout all by itself. Who needed a gym membership when they had her?
She scooped the grounds into the basket then dropped it back into place and pulled the pitcher out to carry it to the sink. As the water ran into it she glanced out the window, letting her mind drift around between thoughts. Kaylee thumped around in her room. A bird startled out in the woods and went flying away from the trees, protesting loudly. Some other animal had disturbed it.
She shut the water off and poured it into the reservoir and put the carafe back into its slot, and flipped the switch, starting the machine to gurgle itself from separate ingredients to that life-giving elixir known as coffee. Faith grinned as a poster she almost bought the other day popped back to her mind. It was black with white cursive writing on the front, like words forming out of the steam that drifted out of a cauldron-shaped cup, and it said I'm a witch! Every morning I brew a magic potion from beans!
Maybe she would pick it up after all. Crissy's birthday was coming up soonish. She could get them one each. Crissy would be amused at the semi-truth behind the flippant words.
"Aunt Faith?"
Something in Kaylee's voice snapped Faith out of her mental wandering. "Yeah, sweetie?"
"Did you hear something weird?" Kaylee popped around the corner where the open living room fed into the hallway. Her hair was still half-combed, but she wore shorts and a blue t-shirt with a glittery rainbow and had sandals on her feet. That counted as dressed to Faith.
"No, I didn't, but then I wasn't paying attention," Faith said. "I was making coffee."
Kaylee grinned. "No Aunt Monster here!"
"Ha ha ha," Faith crouched over and reached for Kaylee, drawing her niece close and wrapping her up in a hug. "I'll give you Aunt Monster!"
Faith blew a raspberry on the side of Kaylee's neck and danced her fingers over her ribs.
"No! Aunt Faith! No tickles!" Kayle dissolved into shrieks and giggles and Faith felt the world right itself. Everything was better when Kaylee was happy.
The low growl outside the back door was quiet but still managed to drown out the joyful sounds. Both Faith and Kaylee froze at the sound.
"What the hell is that?" Faith's voice was soft now as well, and Kaylee shrank into her arms.
"That's the sound I heard," she said.
"Maybe it's a bear? Stay back here, behind the sofa. I'm going to look," Faith said. She gave Kaylee a little push, then turned toward the kitchen.
3
Faith stepped close enough to the window to peek out and immediately wished that she hadn't.
What the hell IS that thing? As soon as she thought it, four more of the things slunk out from the cover of the woods. Whatever they were, they were nasty, and they were coming towards the house.
They looked more movie monsters than any kind of real dogs she could think of. Or… wolves? These creatures were way bigger and way more mangy looking than any wolf she had ever heard of, with red eyes and teeth that were not just there for decoration. The growling stopped and for a moment the only sound was the gurgling drip from the coffeemaker.
One of the creatures swung its heavy head around and looked right at her through the window, making her yelp and scramble back from the kitchen.
The front. They'd go out the front and... shit. Crissy had the car.
Well, then, they'd stay inside. The doors were closed, so they should be safe. Wolf… things... whatever they were, they didn't have thumbs, so they couldn't open the doors, right? She reached into her pocket for her phone to call Crissy and warn her. Maybe she could bring some hunters or a SWAT team or something?
The back door rattled and she imagined the– screw it, she was calling it a wolf, though she had a feeling that she was insulting real wolves everywhere. She imagined the wolf sniffing at the door, pawing at it. Kaylee whimpered.
Faith hurried over to her niece and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Don't worry, Kaylee-bee. I'm right here. Those things are outside and we're safe in here, okay?"
Kaylee just nodded, her eyes wide and scared. Faith swallowed and glanced back over her shoulder at the door. The wolf-thing was now banging against it and the growling had started again.
Faith's mind flashed back to her mother and a conversation from so long ago she could barely even remember it. Monsters aren't real, she had assured Faith. They're just your imagination putting a form to your fears. She shook her head to try to clear it because her fears never tried to break down a door. She had to focus on the present, and she fumbled her phone out of her pocket.
The first crashing bang made her jump and her phone went flying, skittering across the floor to slide under the table. The imagined-form-of-her-fears was trying to break through the door.
"What the hell?" Faith whispered and Kaylee whimpered again and pressed herself against Faith's leg. She had just enough time to reach down and smooth her hand down Kaylee's shoulder when the wooden for Fram splintered, cracked, and gave way. "Stay behind me, Kaylee-bee."
The monster wolf growled– a sound that rumbled against her brain like a
