Chapter 10 – Empusa
EMPUSA
It’s been three months since my loss of control with the gargoyles, and my heart still races every time I think about it. Lust. Who would have ever thought a half-demon monster would be lured by lust? But that’s what I felt with them. A pure need to have them above all else.
And I’m determined to never feel that way again.
I know it might sound silly, but I’m terrified.
My mother never told me a lot about my father, and she was honest with me about most things in my life.
So, that made me realize that whoever he was, he was bad.
I feel like I can always feel that part of me deep inside, and I don’t want to be like him. I want to be like my mother.
A woman who was proud, even as a prisoner.
A woman who sacrificed everything to protect her child.
She was everything a mother should be and more.
And every day it kills me inside to think about her trapped in that cell beneath the earth.
A small voice in the back of my head tells me that I will never be happy until she’s free too, but a louder voice reminds me of all my mother did to help me escape.
If I went back, if I got caught again, they’d just use me against her. I could never forgive myself if I made her life even harder. So, I’ve had to accept that I can’t go back for her, no matter what, but I’ve also committed to making this world better, just the way she had done.
“She’s going to be okay.”
My head jerks up to see a woman coming out from the back of the vet’s office. She has long, blonde hair tied back from her face, bags under her dark eyes, and a gentle smile on her lips.
She also just so happens to be a unique shifter and a monster herself.
Although, she managed to hide most of the signs of her true self beneath turtle necks and lab coats.
Apparently, she’d created a whole identity after the hell she’d been through that allowed her to help the humans without them realizing what she is.
By becoming a vet.
I hope one day I’m able to assimilate as well as she has been able to, although I doubt it. She has a natural charisma that I envy.
I stand from the uncomfortable waiting room chair, and the light overhead rapidly blinks again.
It does it every so often. And after spending way too many nights here the last few weeks, I almost feel like I’m holding my breath, waiting for the weird blinking light.
I use it to count how much time has passed.
“She looked bad,” I say, and then force my arms down at my side.
How is it that I still don’t know how to interact with people?
She gives me another smile. “Come and see her.”
I follow her to the back, limping a little. She glances back at me and frowns, her gaze sliding over me.
Yeah, I know I look like a mess. I’m covered in blood from the monster and from the wounded dog.
I hadn’t known what to expect when I came to this town.
I’d been just passing through when I heard the locals talking about all the pets that had gone missing.
I’d never been much of an animal person, but animals are innocents, just like children are, so I stayed in town and decided to figure out if a monster was involved.
And I wasn’t wrong.
“Are you okay?” she asks.
I shrug. “Monster hunting isn’t easy.”
Dr. Leo laughs. “I wouldn’t know, although I’ve wrangled a few asshole pets.”
I grin. “I can imagine.”
“Still feeling sick?”
I’d been throwing up a lot lately, which was a new thing for me.
I had thought monsters were immune to colds and flus, but apparently, spending time with humans meant picking up their little viruses.
Dr. Leo had already held my hair back a couple of times now when I unexpectedly got sick.
She’d told me that taking a few nights off from monster hunting might be enough to feel better.
Now that I’d killed the bastard, I plan to listen to her advice.
“Not much,” I admit reluctantly. “But I’ve barely been able to keep anything down, so I imagine I won’t feel better until I start eating.”
Her expression gentles. “You’re right about that. And, I hope, you’re trying to keep down fluids at least.”
“I’m doing my best.” My gaze goes to the hallway behind her.
“Come on then,” she says with a sigh.
She leads me into the usual room for after surgeries. So far, I’d brought her four pets. The first night, I’d stumbled through her back door while she was having a drink after a long day. I’d been covered in blood, carrying a whimpering cat, and she’d surprised me by just jumping in and helping.
Dr. Leo was the first monster I’d interacted with, outside of my mother.
She said she knew I wasn’t human, just based on my scent.
She explained that she was an unusual shifter with a bad reputation, had chosen a name that was funny for reasons I didn’t understand, and then had given me her private number after I explained there was a monster that was eating the pets in this town.
She was the nicest woman I had ever met, outside of my mother.
“Come here,” she whispers, indicating one of the cages.
I creep closer and find the dog sleeping after her surgery. Somehow, the vet had managed to reattach the leg that had barely been hanging on. The dog’s fur was still matted with blood, and she looked way too thin and scraggly, but her chest rose and fell with ease.
“She’ll be okay?” My voice cracks when I ask the question.
She smiles. “Yeah, I think we’re in the clear.” A little unhappy laugh bubbles from her throat. “Fortunately, or unfortunately for me, I’ve witnessed a lot of limbs being attached and removed in my long life. This was my first time being the one to attach a limb, but my experience made it easier.”
Leo always said things like that. She also said in another world she was called a sphinx.
I had heard about the sphinx, a creature that was part eagle, part lion, and part woman, but I didn’t see any of this in this vet.
Sometimes I couldn’t decide if she was just joking around with me, or if she was actually the woman of legend.
I feel there’s a story there, but I don’t have the social skills to be able to ask about it delicately, so I just don’t ask. If there’s something Leo wants me to know, I have a feeling she’ll tell me.
I shake my head, trying to focus on the present. “When I saw that thing trying to eat her in the park, I honestly thought she’d die. I’m glad I was wrong.”
She frowns. “Yeah, that creature couldn’t seem to decide if it just wanted to hurt these animals or eat them.”
I think of the other ones that I’d brought to her since coming here. “Did all their owners come to pick them up?”
The vet rubs the back of her neck, looking tired. “Thankfully, yes, but I don’t think this girl will be as lucky.”
“What do you mean?” I ask with a frown.
“I think this dog is a stray. She’s clearly been poorly cared for for a long time. I don’t recognize her, and I’m pretty sure I know all the pets in town. And, she’s pregnant. I did an ultrasound. There are two little ones in there.”
Pregnant and a stray?
“So what will happen to her?”
The vet shakes her head. “I don’t know. I try to help as many pets as I can, but the ones with extra needs tend to have a hard time getting adopted. I have a feeling this girl will limp the rest of her life, or even just have to drag that leg. And with her being pregnant too…”
“Someone will still want her. Just because she’s a little complicated that doesn’t mean she can’t be loved.”
The vet looks at me.
I look back at her, confused.
She seems to realize I have no idea what she’s getting at because then she starts talking. “What if you took her?”
“Took her where?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “What if you took her as your pet? I have a feeling she’d be pretty devoted to you after you saved her life. And because she’s a cocker spaniel, I think you won’t have a lot of trouble getting her pups adopted.”
“Dr. Leo, you know what I do for a living. I spend most of my time on the road killing monsters. That’s not much of a life for a dog.”
Her eyes are sad. “I don’t know how much of a life she’ll have if you leave her here.”
I look back at the sleeping dog. I’m pretty sure she’s a pale tan that’s almost white, with auburn splotches.
When I saved her from the monster, she’d stared at me with big brown eyes.
I’d sincerely been ready for her to bite me or attack, like the other animals had done, but she’d just hidden in my arms. No, I don’t think life on the road would be good for her.
But maybe if I could get her into good shape, and get her puppies adopted, someone more deserving than me would take her in.
“Maybe I can do it. How much more time would she need here?”
Leo shrugs. “Probably just a day or two. And I’d load you up with enough medicine and supplies that you wouldn’t need to worry about anything else.”
“I’ll--” The word catches in my mouth as nausea rolls through me. I’m running for the trash can before I know what I’m doing. I hurl, but not much. All I’ve managed to keep down today are some crackers and a ginger ale.
Leo is there already with a paper towel. I wipe my mouth and mumble a thank you, but stay hovering over the trash can. “It always seems to come at night. Nausea in the morning, puking in the night,” I mutter.
Dr. Leo stiffens beside me. “Em, are you sure you’re sick? I mean, most supernaturals don’t get colds and flus.”
I shrug, my head suddenly pounding. “This definitely isn’t normal, whatever it is.”
“Yeah, but, uh, could you be pregnant?”
I swear I would’ve rather she punched me than say those words. My nausea fades away, and I stand at my full height. “No, I mean, no way.”
She lifts a brow. “You haven’t had sex in a while?”
I flinch. “Well, three months ago I did, but only that one time. Technically, a few times that night, but that’s it, and my partners have issues with infertility, so I don’t think it’s possible.”
Leo gives a little nod, not even seeming to care about me saying partners. “Even so, want to jump on the table? I’m not a human doc, well, I’m not technically any kind of official doc, but I have an ultrasound machine. I can tell you for sure.”
I kind of don’t want to know. I kind of want to run screaming from the room and leave this idea in the dust. But the logical part of me knows that now that the idea has been planted, I won’t be able to shake it until I get proof that I’m not.
“Okay, but just so we can see you’re wrong.”
She grins. “Okay.”
I sit on the metal table, feeling silly. She pulls over the ultrasound machine and gently tugs up my shirt before squirting a clear liquid on the little wand. Then, she pushes it on my belly.
My eyes hurt because of how hard I’m staring at the monitor. I’ve never seen an ultrasound machine. I have no idea what I’m looking for, but the grey and black and white dance together, showing nothing that makes me alarmed.
And then, I see it. There’s no denying the clear shape of a baby surrounded by darkness. My mouth falls open, and I watch it move like a foreign creature that’s found a home inside of me.
“This can’t be happening.”
“Em, you’re going to be okay.” She follows up her words by pushing buttons on the screen.
I scoot off the table and away from her, shaking my head.
“No, you don’t understand. I can’t be pregnant.
My only goal in life is to kill monsters.
There’s nothing outside of that. I don’t have a home.
I don’t have a real job. I can’t possibly take care of another person when I can barely take care of myself. ”
Dr. Leo puts her hands out like I’m an animal she’s trying to calm. “It’s okay. You’re in shock right now and everything seems scary, but it’s going alright.”
How can this be alright?
“I need to go,” I say, sprinting for the door.
“Em!” she shouts.
I glance back at her. She looks like she wants to say so much, but then she just says, “Are you going to be back for the dog?”
The words slip out of my mouth. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything right now.”