Huntress Teaser

I know that I've got a lot of friends who are anxious to read the finished product. Soon my lovies... Soon. However, I'm not a total troll. I'll give you a teaser...

I was so stuffed.  I'd had to unbutton my jeans or run the risk of putting out someone's eye when it popped on its own.  We'd dropped Dylan off at Brandon's place on the way home from Rose's.  I was decidedly lacking in the Christmas Spirit as I refused to get out of the car.  Instead, I gave Dylan a kiss and told him to remember that I loved him more than there were stars in the sky - and that he also had a secret to keep.

Drew had helped cart in Dylan’s bags and I’d smiled as I heard Brandon ask Dylan who he was as Drew got back to the car. Sue me.  It was petty, but I wanted him to think I had a hot boyfriend.

I yawned when Drew got back in the car and leaned my seat back. "I’m glad that the holidays only happen once a year. I’m so stuffed I feel like I could sleep ‘til next Christmas." I groaned and burped loudly.

"Wow, you are such a lady," he said wryly.

"I know. It’s sexy right?" I grinned and closed my eyes.

"Oh yeah, how you’re not already married again is a mystery."

"Screw you. Oh God. I’m going to burst like an over-ripe melon."

Drew chuckled and slowed down to pull into the drive. The car jerked to a sudden stop and I slammed forward into my seatbelt.

"What the fuck!" I exclaimed looking at him in disbelief. "Where’d you learn how to drive?"

"Shut up," he ground out. "Look at the house."

I turned my head and it looked like someone had blown out every window on the ground floor. I gasped in surprise and quickly unbuckled my seatbelt. I was opening the door when he grabbed my arm.

"Wait a minute. You can’t just go rushing headlong in there. You don’t know yet what did that to your house. Pull out your weapons."

I nodded dumbly and called in my kukri. I added a .45 for good measure and looked at him expectantly.

He nodded his approval and slipped out of the car - calling in a short sword and a scimitar. He’d shown me that jabbing and slicing weren’t generally done with the same weapon. He’d been surprised when I’d chosen the kukri because it was a good weapon; small and very deadly – good for multiple types of strikes.

"Follow my lead and don’t make a sound. If I tell you to run, you run like the Hounds of Hell are at your feet. Do you understand?"

I opened my mouth to protest and he shot me a deadly look. "Grace.  Do.  You.  Understand?"

I nodded but there was a mutinous look in my eyes. I’d be damned if he got left behind under any circumstances. It would have been nice if he’d shown me the blinking in and out trick.

In stealth mode, he crept toward the entrance, slipping in and out of the shadows. The door was half off of its hinges. I was surprised that one of the neighbors hadn’t called the cops, and said as much in a whisper.

"The house is glamoured. Nobody can see this damage if they’re norms."

He knelt and peered around the doorframe. I knelt too. I wouldn’t have thought to do that. And it was a good thing I had because several darts flew through the space where my head would have been had I just walked into the entryway.

I stifled a gasp. Drew shot me a murderous look and told me to shut up with his eyes. I took a deep breath and nodded to let him know that I had it under control.

He skirted past broken glass and crept into the room. I followed slowly, soaking in the devastation that had been wreaked upon my house.

A taloned foot protruded from the kitchen entry. I touched Drew’s shoulder and jerked my head toward it. His eyes widened in surprise.

He moved so fast toward the kitchen that it looked as though he’d popped from one place to the other. I couldn’t wait until I was able to do that.

Swearing softly, he knelt by the creature. My mouth dropped open. I’d never seen anything like it. Parts of its body looked like they were made of iron. Its gaping maw was filled with razor sharp metallic teeth and prongs of spiked iron protruded from its forehead over a single frost paled eye.

I shuddered and bent over, heaving for breath. The body was missing an arm and part of a leg. A large jagged hole cratered its chest. It looked like Scooter had given this demon a workout. Good dog.

I wasn’t a noob when it came to gore. Hell, I’d killed more Orcs than anyone I knew… Online.  In a game.  But real life has a way of making it all look a little more gruesome.

My eyes scanned the surrounding area and noticed other body parts scattered over the carpet into the living room.  I walked numbly toward where we'd left the loot of Christmas morning and wondered idly if a cleaning service could get these stains out.  I stopped and stared at the utter destruction of one of the happiest days of the year.

"Grace, what are you doing? Get down," he hissed at me.

The tree was shredded.  Presents - so lovingly gifted - were strewn about the room, broken and torn. My eyes fell on the DVD set I’d been so happy to give Drew that morning and it was like someone had flipped a rage switch within my body.

I moved forward, a Christmas ball crunching under my foot. I lifted it to see a miniature picture of Dylan when he was five and closed my eyes, my body burning to murder whoever had done this to my home.

A crunching noise sounded behind me and I whirled, ready to decapitate the intruder. It was Drew. His face was tense. He looked as angry as I was at the destruction.

"Any more?" I mouthed.

He shook his head and nodded at the door to the basement. I took that as a sign that we were going down.

"Don’t forget," he whispered.

"I won’t. I’ll run."

I wasn’t just talking out of my ass this time. After seeing that creature, I was going to run if I had to. 

He silently swung the door open further and I squeezed my eyes shut after seeing what was waiting on the other side. Scooter’s large ebony eyes stared blankly up at me.  His head was lying neatly at the top of the stairs in the same position I’d found him in so many mornings on my way downstairs. Head down, waiting with those soulful eyes for me to come bounding down the stairs for my training sessions.

The problem here was that the rest of his body was missing. I didn’t want to see this. This creature had caused me more terror, pain and agony than any other - but he was mine. He was Dylan’s "dog" for the love of God. Nobody decapitated Dylan’s dog and got away with it. I was going to kill this motherfucker.

Drew grabbed me before I could go storming down the stairs. He took my face in his hands and stared me in the eye, warning me. I shook my head and fought off the tears that were threatening to overcome me.

"I’ll go down first. You back me up," he mouthed.

I nodded and grabbed hold of myself. I could do this. I had to do this. I had to be strong for Drew. I just thanked God that Dylan hadn’t been with us.

Drew glided down the stairs. As his foot touched the last step, iron talons flashed, ripping open his shirt. Had he been any slower, his stomach’s contents would have spilled onto the basement floor.

I stormed after him, raising my kukri as he dodged under the scaled arm, stabbing out with his short sword.