Awakening

“Does it die?” Panic bubbled in Sophie’s chest. The creature stared at Aidan.

“Why are we waiting around to find out?” Morgan’s voice echoed off the walls of the empty library.

“What are you worried about?” Jackson fisted his hands. “It can’t even see you.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Tristan sitting with his back against a wall. Lilli leaned against him, her skin nearly translucent. Lilli’s weakness reached out and swirled at Sophie. It didn’t seem like her friend had enough energy to move.

The creature grabbed Aidan by the neck and lifted him off the floor.

“Stop it.” Sophie’s heart hammered in her chest. The creature pinned her with its gaze.

Tasty. A voice hissed into her mind, preceding a darkness so horrifying she almost fell to her knees. The creature realized it didn’t want Aidan anymore and hurled him into a row of bookcases, which fell to the floor like dominoes.

The creature advanced with his claws outstretched. Fear threatened to suffocate Sophie. A woman’s laughter echoed in her mind the closer it got. God, it’s tall, Sophie thought. She had to crane her neck back to see it fully. Her legs wouldn’t listen to her mind’s command to move, and her vision shifted to the premonition from the night before. Chains clinked together in the distance, and heat blasted her.

“Get away from her!” Books flew out of thin air.

The shrill voice knocked Sophie out of her trance. She backpedaled fast. Books continued to fly. “Morgan?”

The air shimmered next to Sophie. “Don’t think this changes anything. I still think you’re a freak.”

“Whatever.” Thank God Morgan had broken her trance. Who knows what could’ve happened had the creature reached her. Aidan lay on top of one of the bookcases. Blood ran down his face and dripped onto his black clothes. “We have to get to Aidan.”

“I don’t see that going well.” Morgan solidified and stood over Sophie.

The creature growled low in its throat. Its wings spread wide, blocking Aidan from their view, and its scales undulated in excitement. It prepared to pounce, red eyes locked on Sophie.

This is it, she thought. The end. I’m going to be attacked by a scaly man-thing eager to eat my flesh.

The creature launched.

She shut her eyes, not wanting its ugly face to be the last thing she saw.

“Sophie!” Lilli’s voice shattered Sophie’s fear.

Gunshots echoed through the library. Bullets tore into scales, halting the creature’s flight, and sending it back several feet. The creature roared in anger, white smoke billowing from the wounds. Another shot nailed it between the eyes.

At the sound of the final shot, Sophie’s eyes snapped open.

The creature staggered back, hit the wall, and slid to the floor. It morphed to human form.

“It’s dead, Demetri.”

Thoughts galloped through Sophie’s mind. One would barely end before another began, coming so close together she was sure it was all one continuous stream. She couldn’t stop staring at the body. It took a second to tear her gaze away from the creature and turn her face to the entrance. Another jolt of shock ran though her when she saw Professor Whittaker and a security guard standing beside each other. They both lowered their guns. Sophie was sure she’d seen the security guard around campus.

“I didn’t think they’d attempt an attack so soon after we got them together.” Whittaker tucked the gun into her jacket. She stepped over the bookcases with precise movements.

Demetri, the security guard, walked to the body and examined it. He moved with warrior-like grace, silent and stealthy. In Sophie’s shock, she seemed to notice random things about him. He was tall with short, dark hair and darker eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Morgan shimmered back into visibility next to Aidan. He struggled to sit up, and the cut above his eye bled harder.

Jackson went straight to Lilli and put an arm around her shoulders. He helped her walk over to Aidan and Morgan, keeping her close to his side. Tristan helped Sophie stand before they, too, joined the others.

Professor Whittaker smiled and gave them a nod of approval.

Police sirens wailed in the distance.

“I called the police, so we have to make this quick. I’ll slip you instructions in class Friday.” Whittaker saw their disbelieving faces. “Trust me, you’ll want to hear what we have to tell you.”

Demetri came up behind them. When he spoke, Sophie started. “Do not tell the police what happened here.”

“Like they’d believe us anyway.” Aidan glanced at the wreckage of the library. He paled. “What was that thing?”

“Tell the police that Demetri ran in as he heard you scream, Sophie. Demetri shot the man when he aimed at you.” Whittaker pulled out the gun and wiped it clean with something that smelled strongly of chemicals, then wrapped the dead creature’s newly human fingers around it.

“How do you want me to explain this?” Aidan gestured to his cut.

Demetri looked Aidan over. “You tried to stop the man, but he was too tough for you.”

Aidan’s smile slipped. “The thing had scales. How do you fight that?”

“Enough questions. The police are here.”

Professor Whittaker snuck out the back, and Sophie watched her go with dread. She had a hard time reconciling the sunny professor with the gun-toting woman who shot down a creature without blinking.

Demetri yelled out to the police that the threat had been cancelled, and the police ran in, shouting for them to put their hands on their heads. Sophie complied, terrified of being arrested, even though she knew she hadn’t done anything wrong.

A few of the officers patted Sophie and the others down while the rest searched the library. When the library was secured the police shouted, “Clear!” and allowed them to drop their hands.

A pretty detective tucked her gun into its holster. She surveyed the mess in the room and the unmoving body before giving orders to the other officers.

Sophie peered sidelong at their attacker. The man didn’t stir, and still she shivered. She remembered what the creature had projected into her mind.

Tasty.

Tristan moved closer. He didn’t put his arm around Sophie, as Jackson did Lilli, but his presence helped just the same. It made her strong enough to stave off the thoughts and essences streaming from the cops.

“Split them up so we can question them,” the pretty detective said. “And have the paramedics get in here.” She motioned to Aidan. “We need to get that head wound bandaged.”

Sophie followed a tall, lanky guy in glasses to a recently upturned table close to the charred sheetrock. He pulled a chair out for her and waited until she sat before walking off.

She stared at her shaking hands in disbelief. Even when she and Lilli had gotten lost in the woods when they were younger, her body hadn’t reacted like this. Her legs started bouncing rapidly, and she grit her teeth together. She didn’t like that she couldn’t control herself.

The officers examined the body, and Sophie could tell they didn’t see anything scaly or creature-like about it. The paramedics evaluated Aidan and the librarian, who was still unconscious. Sophie watched them load the woman onto a stretcher and then roll her out of the library.

Seconds later, the college dean marched in. She caught sight of the body and halted. Sophie thought she saw the woman’s lower lip tremble, but when the dean looked at Sophie, her eyes were full of determination.

“What’s your name?” Dean West asked.

Sophie recited her name and waited for the dean to speak again. She was a short, pudgy woman with a kind, sharp eyes. Her graying hair was cut short and framed her face, making her seem like everyone’s favorite grandma, but that didn’t mean Sophie was going to spill her guts to her.

“Are you okay, Ms. Lawrence?”

“Yes.” Sophie’s mind reeled. Images and thoughts flashed through her head. She couldn’t keep her gaze from straying to where Tristan sat, head in his hands. It took everything she had to not go and put her arms around him. He looked tired, and she imagined he was in shock, just like her.

“I’m notifying the students tomorrow that the school will be closed until we figure out what is going on.”

Sophie snapped to attention. Her senses told her that would be the worst thing to happen. “You shouldn’t shut us down, Dean West. This isn’t your fault. Besides, the students need to stick together right now.”

“It happened on my campus to my students. That is fault enough.” Dean West saw the detective eyeing Sophie. “It looks like the police are ready to question you. Are you feeling up to it?”

“Yes.” Sophie’s stomach clenched.

Dean West nodded the woman over. “She’s ready. Be easy on her, she’s just had a traumatic event.”

“I know how to do my job, ma’am.” The detective’s warm brown eyes filled with sympathy when she saw Sophie’s trembling hands. “I’ll go easy.”

Dean West dipped her head crisply and left them.

Sophie didn’t know if she’d be able to lie. It wasn’t a habit, and she certainly didn’t have enough practice. Hopefully the detective would chalk it up to distress.

“I’m Detective Ashley Roland.” She took a seat in the chair nearest Sophie and pulled a pen and small notebook from her brown bomber jacket. Pen poised to write, she looked up at Sophie.

Her patience didn’t make it any easier for Sophie to describe the evening as Whittaker told her to. More than once she paused. Roland seemed to believe Sophie was holding off a nervous breakdown, and for that she was grateful.

“Did the man say why he attacked?” Roland showed no sign that she thought Sophie lied.

“No.” Sophie moistened her dry lips. “He was crazy, talking about getting a prize for kidnapping the six of us.” She caught that much from the thousands of images that flitted through his mind before his death.

Roland cocked her head to the side. “Anything specific?”

“No.” Flashes of the other victims rose in her mind, and she shut her eyes to try to block them out.

“Did he say anything else? About the other students? If they were alive? Where they were being kept?”

“No. Sorry.” Sophie rubbed her temples where a small headache started to form. All she wanted to do was crawl into her bed and pretend none of this ever happened.

Roland took her cue. “Thank you for your time.”

The moment she left, Tristan crossed the room. His worried eyes scanned her face. “You look tired. Are you okay?”

“I’m not the one who was shot,” Sophie whispered through her teeth. She had no idea why she was so angry.

“I’m fine.” He rubbed the back of his neck, and Sophie watched the play of his muscles. His gaze met hers briefly, but she couldn’t mistake the intensity. “Thanks to Lilli.”

She nodded, not able to think of anything to say, and immediately searched her friend out. The others were still being questioned.

“Dean West wants to send us home for a while.”

“No!” Sophie objected. She turned to him. “We shouldn’t be separated right now.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“That’s crazy.” Sophie shoved the hair out of her face. Whatever that creature was, it wanted them pretty badly. Who knew if there weren’t more searching for them at this very moment? If they were separated, they would be easier targets.

Tristan placed a hand on the small of Sophie’s back. “Let’s go see the others.”

Lilli threw her arms around Sophie as she approached. “God, I was so scared.”

Sophie hugged her friend back. She tried to block out the terror and shock Lilli felt. “Me, too.”

Jackson stood behind Lilli. He glanced around at the officers, his chocolate eyes narrowing. “Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”

“We can go to our dorm,” Sophie offered. Lilli pulled back to stand next to Jackson. Sophie felt his burning need for privacy. “We just need to wait on Morgan and Aidan.”

“I’m here.” Aidan walked up. “I’ll go get Morgan.” The cut on his forehead had a small, square bandage taped over it. Drops of dried blood covered the front of his shirt. “I’ll need to change.”

“We all do.” Tristan glanced at everyone’s clothes.

Aidan agreed absently, his attention caught by Morgan. “I’ll be right back.”

Morgan sat on a bench, alone, on the far side of the room. She reminded Sophie of a wilting flower, all of her energy drained out by the darkness surrounding them. Morgan shook her head, and Sophie watched Aidan’s face fall.

He trudged back to them. Sophie placed a hand on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Detective Roland told them it was okay to leave. “Just remember to be careful. Always lock your dorm rooms, and never go anywhere alone. If you’re going to leave town, please give me a call. We may need to speak with you again.”

Sophie silently prayed this would be the end of it. She didn’t want to ever see another creature like that.