Budding hope

I turn to see Hannah giving me a serious look with the spoon in her mouth. My mind races to find a way to dismiss her comment, not wanting to relive the moment even for a bit. The intensity of her stare tells me what I already know. Hannah won't let me run away from this. I sit down on the freshly cleared spot on the couch. After a couple of breaths, I recount the missing information.

“After the monster…you know. It stared at me for a bit. It didn't lunge for an attack. Just stared.”

Those hollowed out slits for eyes appear on my wall. Two empty abysses that housed nothing that, nothing but 2 circles of luminescent purple glowing. The only light source in the unknown darkness. Just focused on me. Followed by the loud snap of its branch skin as its head turns to the side.

The twin voids it calls eyes appear in front of me. Nothing in them, just darkness. Two sickly purple lights bore into me. Then eyes drop to the side
“Like it knew me.”

Shivers tighten my spine as the monster face fills my head. What could have I done differently? Throw the cake fork into its eye? A light scoff escapes from me as the thought appears in my mind. Like a cake fork could take out a demon. It's just, the site of Kat's body in her mother's arm appears again in my mind.

The sound of a struggle tears me from my thoughts. I see Hannah bent over, trying to reach for something under my bed. Before I can say anything, she sits up with something in her hand. A hardcover book, covered in scratches and dark stains from the blood of various monsters. It's the physical version of the Dreadstiary, minus the movie articles of course, the record of every monster we've encountered compiled in a book I bought from Darius.

“How did you know that was there?”

Hannah runs her hands over her shirt, trying to get rid of the dust. An exaggeration, really. No dust came off her at all.

“Sam. You need to set stronger boundaries.”

When did Sam know it was there? I can't really think of a time when I showed her the book. Hannah begins to comb through the information in the book. Her eyes light up each time she comes across a crudely pasted page with her drawings. She lifts her finger and slowly spins it, drawing a circle in the room.

“So you have anything here that could help in a fight?”

I tried to think of anything here that would work as a weapon. Ben was...is more of a skilled hunter out of the two of us, so he had most of the weapons. I doubt I have anything here... I look up and see Hannah holding the book up to me. It's open to a page where I've written a bunch of magical runes. The sight of the runes brings back memories of the only thing I can use to fight.

“That's right, I have some venom pearl shards left.”

A Venom Pearl is a powerful item I found one day while exploring the bowels of North Anthame with Ben and Hannah. I discovered just how powerful it was last summer when, after adding runes to it, I almost permanently vanquished the spirit of a banshee. It broke in the process, and I kept the remains in a bag in my desk.

Could it work on the demon? If the pearl was still whole, maybe, but as long as I choose the right runes, it should have at least a tenth of the power. A multi-attack between Hannah, Duncan and me could stun it. A risky shot, but follow up with something more deadly and it'll do the job.

“Oh, that's what was glowing under your bed?”

"Venom pearl doesn't glow, it absorbs lig-"

My heart sinks. All the new-found hope vanishes when I remember Hannah's question. What is glowing under my bed?

“Turn off the light real quick. And turn it on after you count to ten.”

She quickly puts down the book and flips the light switch. The room goes completely dark, only the faint orange hue of the sunset fills the room, so we're not in total darkness.

Hannah is right, there is a dim light shining from in front of my bed. Walking over to it, I see that it's coming from my laptop. The top is a few inches open as it slowly creeps up and down. The monster must be measuring how much force it needs to open it. The crushed laptop from earlier comes to mind. If it uses too much force, it'll just break the laptop and won't be able to get out. The best thing to do is to put something heavy enough to just close it before the laptop flies open.

After 10 seconds, Hannah turns the light back on. I notice that her bag is very close to her. I point to it, trying to get her attention.

“Pass me your…”

“LOOK OUT”

Hannah lunges at me. Confused, I turn back to the laptop. A small branch snakes out of the small opening. The end of it bends before narrowing to a sharp point that charges straight at me.