Child of Fire

We climbed out of the van and walked down the block, passing the diner Annalise and I had eaten in that first night. The windows were still covered with cardboard, but the waitress spotted us anyway and came outside. “Aunt Arlene, what’s going on? I heard there was a gun-fight at the hospital, and Emmett and the boys just screeched into the station like they were starring in an action movie. Do you know what’s going on?”

Arlene turned to her. “Emmett Dubois killed me,” she said.

The waitress stepped back in surprise. “What? What do you mean?”

“He’s killed a lot of people,” Arlene said. Her voice was flat. I looked at her gray hair and wrinkled skin-she had looked about sixty when I first met her, but she seemed much older at the moment. I wondered if she’d led a good life, and if I would be ready to end my life at her age, or at any age. “He’s been bleeding this town dry. Someone has to end it. And end him.”

“What do you mean he’s killed you?” the waitress asked. “Has he poisoned you?”

“Yes,” Arlene said. “That’s it exactly.”

The waitress stepped forward. “Aunt Arlene-“

“Don’t.” Arlene waved her niece away. “I have something I need to do.”

She and I walked the rest of the way toward the station. I told her to stand at the corner of the wall, beside the stairs, then I circled around behind the trucks. The red one was full of garbage and fast-food wrappers, so I broke into the black one.

With the ghost knife, I cracked the ignition lock and started the truck. I raced the engine loudly, threw it into reverse, and backed out of the spot.

The blinds rippled, and I stood on the brakes, making the tires chirp.

The front door flew open, and Luke lunged out, his face twisted with anger. Obviously, this was his truck. He lifted his revolver and aimed it at me.

I ducked beneath the dashboard, but I didn’t hear any shots. Maybe he loved his truck too much to shoot at it.

Emmett yelled at him, and although his voice was faint, I distinctly heard him say, “… your own brother.” I peeked over the dash and saw him go back into the building.

Obviously, I needed to do more to catch their attention. I threw the truck into drive.

The door flew open again, and Luke shoved Shireen into the daylight. She looked terrified. He pointed a revolver at her head, and she cringed and sank to the ground.

And began to change. Shireen seemed to recede from me, while a strange, hairy thing became visible. It was long and ungainly, with spindly, crooked legs and clawed fingers and toes. Its head was round and bristling with fur, and it had a short snout filled with brutally long teeth.

It stepped forward into the daylight, its gaze locked on me. It had its orders, and it was pretty clear who it was supposed to kill.

It moved toward the steps. It was clumsy on its spindly legs, but those teeth looked vicious. It went down on all fours, but that appeared to be even more awkward than walking upright, so it grabbed the railing instead.

Poor Shireen.

I revved the engine and shot forward. On her crooked legs, Shireen stumbled at the bottom of the stairs. The pickup slammed into her with its full force.

The air bag went off in my face, and I felt the truck bounce backward. The air bag deflated, and I threw open the door.

Shireen’s arm and legs were shattered, and her rib cage was crushed. Before my eyes, her broken bones righted themselves with loud pops and cracks. She moaned and whimpered.

Maybe I could get into that red truck after all and park it on her.

Shireen growled at me. Her transformed legs weren’t built for standing or walking upright, and she stood awkwardly. Steadying herself on the crumpled, hissing hood of Luke’s truck, she lunged for me.

I ran around the back of the truck. Shireen followed me, growling and snarling. I held my ghost knife close to my chest and crossed my left forearm across my throat. The tattoos on my arm didn’t cover enough flesh to truly protect me, but I had nothing else. I didn’t know if her bite would carry the same curse as the Dubois brothers’, and I didn’t want to find out.

She lunged at me again. I leaped to my left. She tried to change direction and follow, but stumbled. Her flailing right arm tore through my sleeve. I backed away and circled her, and she turned to follow me.

I glanced up at the police station. No one was watching us. So far, I wasn’t much of a distraction for Annalise’s attack. I wondered if Luke and Emmett were trying to save Sugar’s life in there.

Shireen snapped at me, then faked a little lunge. I jumped straight back, just to keep her honest. I looked over her shoulder and saw Arlene charging silently at Shireen’s back, her silver letter opener high over her head. She wasn’t moving quickly, but she was putting everything she had into the charge.

Arlene’s foot scraped against the asphalt. Shireen hopped away and turned toward the sound. Arlene, still ten yards away, didn’t slow her charge.

Shireen bent low, letting her hands touch the ground, then leaped forward, snapping her jaws on Arlene’s wrist. The old woman screamed. The opener fell from her hand and bounced down Shireen’s back. Shireen flinched when it touched her, then wrenched her whole body to the side. Blood spurted from Arlene’s arm. She lost her footing and went down. Shireen caught hold of Arlene’s hair with one spindly claw and released her wrist, then turned her fangs to the old woman’s throat.

I heard screams from somewhere nearby. Someone was watching.

I forced myself to look away from Arlene’s bloody murder and searched for the silver blade. It couldn’t have