Chapter 19

I had finally snapped. I know we were all waiting for it, but when it happened, it took me by surprise. I should have been expecting it. The only rational response to the past few days of my life was to have a complete meltdown. That was the only reason that I could think of to explain why I was in the forest as dusk started to fall on Walker Bay. Earlier in the afternoon, Tilda had taken me back to her place, fussed over me, and put me to bed like a child. The next part of the plan was for me to rest. That didn't work out so well. I'd tossed and turned for hours, unable to get more than a quick doze. I kept feeling like I needed to do something, but I had no idea what. Eventually, I gave up and left the house with the full intention of walking to Flora's place and continuing the hunt for a grimoire that would help us. That isn't quite where I ended up. Instead, I found myself heading towards the area of the forest that sat high above Walker Bay.

Two hours later I had reached a part of the forest that opened up into a clearing and provided a view of the entire town. My feet hurt, my head ached, and I had no idea why I had walked in this direction. Once again, my stomach was reacting to something, and I leaned over as a strange pain ripped through my abdomen, fighting the nausea that gripped me.

As I was bent over, I heard a strange sound as if someone was striding through the forest. I wanted badly to run, but an unknown force kept me rooted to the spot. Something lumbered into the clearing and a scream strangled in my throat. I thought I'd been dealing well with the different paranormal races in this town, but no amount of willpower was going to keep me calm in the face of this. It looked like a clay project that a small child had completed. Its form was misshapen, one arm larger than the other. Its face had no nose, just two indentations where the eyes should have been and an oversized clown mouth.

The creature stopped on the edge of the clearing, watching me as if determining what its next move should be. Despite my protesting body I turned to run, but I didn't have a chance. Belying its misshapen form, the creature moved quickly and was on top of me in a moment. It grabbed my arm and swung me to the ground. I felt my elbow wrench when I hit the dirt. As the creature moved towards me, I kicked out at its legs and screamed as it felt like my feet landed against pure rock. I tried to scramble away, only to have the creature come down on his knees beside me and push his hand into the center of my chest. I started wheezing as the pressure built like I was being crushed. I struggled against the creature, but it was like hitting solid rock. I heard gunshots and small particles of clay fell on my face. The shooting stopped and I blinked as I saw Karl and Sheriff Tolan appear over the creature, both of them desperately trying to pull it away from me. I gasped for breath as the hand lifted off my chest.

"Go," yelled Sheriff Tolan.

I scrambled back from the battle. Both Karl and the sheriff were trying to wrestle the creature down, but they may as well have been wrestling a mountain. With a flick, Sheriff Tolan was flung away and landed heavily against a tree. I could see Karl's muscles bunching and the strength he was using, but it was all pointless. The creature lurched and Karl went flying in the opposite direction of his boss. Before I could get away, the creature was on me again. Only this time it clamped its hands around my throat. I scratched and hit at it as my vision grew dark. As I started to believe that my last view of this world was a monster born of a child's imagination under the setting sun, another nightmare entered the fray. The hands were ripped from my throat and the creature was thrown to the side in the same way he had thrown the two lawmen. I blinked as the darkness receded and screamed, a scream that sounded like a croak. While the creature that attacked me looked like a demented clay figure from a preschool class, the monster that saved me looked like it came from the bowels of hell. It had an exaggerated musculature like a human with sharp claws at the end of its fingers. I knew the face would be visiting me in my nightmares. It was a combination between human and animal, neither holding sway. Only the tattered sheriff's uniform that it was wearing gave any indication to its identity. I glanced over at Karl, thanked the universe that he still looked the same, and crawled over to him.

He was trying to lift his head as I reached him. "Are you hurt?" he muttered urgently.

"Nothing that will stop me running away," I replied.

Karl glanced over at the battle as if he was just realizing what was going on. "What the hell...?"

"I don't know. I think that's the sheriff."

Karl was stunned, and I was right there with him. What had previously been a very one-sided match had now turned. The creature that had easily subdued all three of us was now being torn apart by the claws and teeth of the sheriff. Chunks of clay were flying through the air. It fell to its knees and I watched in horror as the sheriff ripped its head off and threw it to the ground. The body twitched and toppled over. Finally, it was still. Then the thing that defeated the creature turned its attention to us. Karl was already getting to his feet and grabbed my hand to pull me behind him. The sheriff roared and before we could move, he had grabbed Karl away from me and thrown him to the side.

"No!" I screamed, terrified that he was going to do to Karl what he did to the creature.

The sheriff turned to me and sniffed the air as he came closer. I felt like my fear was starting to choke me.

"Please, don't hurt us." I wiped away a couple of tears that had started making their way down my face. "Karl is your friend, you'll never forgive yourself if you hurt him."

The sheriff held out his arm and I froze as I felt him brush one of his claws against my cheek. He pulled it back and I saw a single tear had landed on it. He ducked his head and I was captured by the pale ice blue eyes that were so foreign yet so familiar.

I swallowed my fear and tentatively placed my hand over his. "Please, come back to us."

A couple of seconds passed where neither of us moved, and then everything happened at once. The sheriff groaned as if he were in a deep pain and then dropped to his knees, clamping on to my hand and dragging me with him. As we fell, we were surrounded by light that was so blinding I closed my eyes. Under my hand I felt heaving movements and heard cracking. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the sheriff was back, his face and body once more how they were when I first met him.

I sighed with relief and stared into his eyes. "Don't worry," I murmured. "You're safe now."

He responded by putting his hand around the nape of my neck, pulling my head down and sealing his lips to mine. I gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to take the kiss deeper. Heat rushed through me and, for a moment, I forgot my fear and my pain and concentrated on the way his lips moved against mine. I was lost in a whirlpool of feelings, wanting to get closer, when I felt him go lax and he slumped to the ground.

"Deputy," I yelled, "Something's wrong."

In an instant, Karl was beside me. "What's happening?"

I had my hand on Sheriff Tolan's bare chest. "He's hot, really hot, but he's shivering. I think he might have a fever."

"We need to get him to the doctor." Karl looped one of the sheriff's arms over his shoulder and I copied the movement with the other arm. "The truck's not too far from here," he said as we started dragging the sheriff between us, his head slumped on my shoulder.

As we left the clearing, I looked back and shivered at the sight of the scattered remains of the clay creature that had attacked me. I had a bad feeling that things had just taken a turn for the worse.