Chapter 12 – Empusa
EMPUSA
My alarm starts beeping and I jerk awake.
Charm stirs in the bed beside me, and I peel my eyes open to see her yawn.
I scratch the back of her head gently, and she pushes into me.
Her fur is strangely soft now that she’s had a little time with good meals, baths, and good care, which is something I’m glad of.
I pet her for a little bit, then sigh and get out of bed.
Standing for a minute, I try to coax myself into going and taking a shower.
It’s strange. I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired in my life, but apparently, Leo says that’s normal.
There are a lot of freaky things happening to me now that she says are normal.
I’d gone back to Leo after I’d rationally accepted my pregnancy and gotten a couple of ultrasound pictures of the baby that I've carried with me ever since. They help me, at least a little, to feel like all the weirdness of my body is normal, even if I think I’m more afraid to have the baby than to actually be pregnant.
By my calculations, I should be about four months along.
And as for Charm, her pups should come in the next month or so.
So, basically, we’re two tired pregnant ladies. And as much as I want to stay in bed all day and eat, there are monsters to hunt.
Fortunately for me, Charm seems to like this strange life I lead.
She actually seems to get as restless as I do when we’re in one place for too long.
And I think she has a dog’s instinct when it comes to assholes.
Several times she was already growling, hackles raised, before a person with a dark soul approached me.
I kind of thought having a dog would be like having a child, a dependent who could do nothing for themselves. Charm, instead, feels like a partner. I enjoy her more than I imagined I would.
“Time to hunt a monster,” I tell her.
She gives a soft bark. Her barks are always quiet, which is nice because I stay at a lot of motels with policies forbidding pets. The only time she seems to bark loudly is when I’m in danger, and I appreciate the backup.
I dress slowly and repack my bag. Over the last few months, I’d actually started to accumulate things.
As much as I didn’t like stealing from the evil people I killed, it was necessary to survive in this world.
And that money no longer just buys me food and places to stay; it also buys me clothes, brushes, and hair ties.
I even sprung for a series of pictures in a booth of me and Charm.
The pictures were taped inside my suitcase, next to my ultrasound pictures.
“I’m becoming a regular human,” I tell Charm.
She stretches on the bed, then leaps off gingerly.
At first, I wasn’t sure how much to baby her with her leg, but it quickly became apparent that she didn’t want to be babied in the least bit.
She was maybe a bit slower than other dogs and grew tired maybe a little faster.
But she usually kept pace with me when I was hunting, and she seemed to give her bad leg as little mind as her other legs.
Charm moves to her bowls in one corner, and I go take a quick shower, then dress in clean clothes.
I pull on the jeans that I’d recently purchased and frown.
Already, they’re getting hard to button.
Fortunately, Leo had given me her number and a cell phone.
She’d put it on something called “her plan” and told me not to worry about it.
I texted and called her, probably too much, with baby questions, because I didn’t have a clue what was normal.
She assured me of two things. Getting big was normal as a pregnant lady. Getting this big this fast likely was because the father of my child was either a huge gargoyle or a huge phoenix. Either way, bigger than the typical father.
I sigh, finally getting the button in its place.
I don’t particularly like clothes shopping, but it looks like I’ll need to go again soon.
Pulling on my bra, I find the thing has either shrunk or my boobs are trying to keep pace with my belly.
Either way, I barely get the front closed, and then pull on my black tank top.
When I’m done, Charm is waiting by the door, her bowls empty.
I grin at her. “Ready to do some hunting?”
She pants in response.
I clean up her bowls and put them away in the bag I keep of dog items. Then, I take our stuff out to the car. Leo said I might have to train Charm to use a leash, but so far, she kept close and quiet. Things I appreciate.
Hopefully, we’d be back tonight, but I always plan for a quick getaway.
I pack our stuff in the trunk of my car, a car I actually bought from a shady dealer with cash, and then start strolling down the main street in town.
Charm carefully stays at my side, and we walk together in contented silence.
No one else is out this late in this tiny town.
Signs blink from the main buildings along the way, but nothing feels off.
Maybe we’re in the right place. Maybe we aren’t. But I’m determined to know for sure before we leave.
I’ve been walking for maybe twenty minutes when a strange sensation curls up my spine. I tense, looking around, but see nothing to alarm me. Beside me, Charm grows tense too, and then I know something is up. Without a word, I slide into a nearby alley, and Charm follows closely at my heel.
I kneel down, and Charm lays beside me, although the hairs on her back are standing on end.
Suddenly, the building across the street explodes into flames. I leap to my feet and race towards it. In the shadows, I spot a man. His gaze meets mine, and then he’s running.
Charm is barking wildly behind me, and I dart down the alley across the street.
Above me, I hear a cracking. A sign on top of the building is heading straight for us. I don’t think, I just act, curling myself around Charm. My eyes close, and I stiffen, waiting for the impact of the burning sign.
But it never comes.
I feel hot embers strike my flesh, and I look up.
Conley, the phoenix, is lifting the sign above us. The fire races over his hands and his body, but he doesn’t seem to care, his focus entirely on me. “Go!” he shouts.
I don’t hesitate; I grab Charm and start running. We’re out of the alley and in the woods behind the building in seconds. Looking back, I see Conley throw the sign onto the alley ground and then he hurries after me.
“Are you okay?” I ask, heart racing.
His hazel eyes catch mine, and I see that there’s ash and soot on his face.
Unable to help myself, I reach up and try to rub it away.
He catches my hand. “We’ve missed you.”
Butterflies flutter in my belly, and I drop my hand. “We have to hurry or we’ll miss him.”
Disappointment comes and goes across his face, and then he nods. “Lead on!”
I put Charm down. She seems to study him for a moment, decide he’s no threat to us, and then turns toward the woods. She barks again, her angry bark, and we race after her into the darkness of the woods.
Even with her bad leg, she’s fast. I find pride swelling in my chest as I watch her lead us toward the monster that we must catch. She’s ferocious, and I’m glad yet again that the fates brought her into my life.
Just as the fates brought this phoenix and his friends.
I try to push the thought away, but it lingers.
They’re here again, hunting with me. That much is clear.
I knew this moment might come again, and yet, I still don’t know quite what to say to them.
They made their stance on babies and children clear, but will they change their minds when they realize the mother of their child is a monster?
To my shock, I stumble. But before I hit the ground, warm hands are already there, holding me upright. I glance at the phoenix and the same strange feeling as before moves through me. I actually have to shake myself and pull away from him to keep going, not wanting to let Charm out of my sight.
When we break free from the trees, Charm is at the edge of a strange clearing, growling up ahead of her.
I let my claws elongate and inch forward through the long grass, with Conley at my side.
But what I see next makes me freeze. The center of the clearing looks like a meteor hit it.
It’s caved in and black, burnt to a crisp.
And there are several burned bodies thrown into the center of it.
A man stands behind the burned bodies, smiling. But there’s something off about his face. Something I immediately recognize. This man is not only not human, but he has taken a human body to hide within. The bodies only last a few weeks at best before they rot and have to be replaced.
This creature is one to be very cautious of. Using a human body like this requires power, far more power than any of the creatures I’ve faced so far, save the cyclops.
“Hello,” he calls. “Empusa, it’s been a while.”
A chill rolls down my spine.
“You know him?” Conley whispers at my side.
“I don’t know,” I whisper back, and then say louder, “I’m not sure who you are, with your new face and all.”
He looks down at himself, and that overly large smile of his falters. “Ah yes, the human skinbag I wear can be a bit deceptive.”
I wait, studying him.
And then he looks back at me. “But surely you recognize my work.” He sweeps a hand at the bodies in the pit.
Burned bodies? Burned bodies. Hell. “Ceuthonymus?”
“In the flesh,” he says, and his voice rolls out of him, deep and sickly.
“Ceuthonymus?” Conley whispers at my side.
“A very dangerous creature,” I whisper back, but don’t want to say more.
“I’m guessing you managed to escape from the Underworld…”
“Well, of course, along with your…” A look I don’t understand comes over the bastard’s face. “You didn’t know I escaped.”
I frown. “No, I hadn’t heard.”
“Then, there are likely many things you don’t know. And information is power, dear child.”