Where Monsters Hide (The Monster Within 1)

My eyes snap up, and my body tenses.

“Get inside,” I say, then, when I am ignored, I shout it again. I throw out some random words in Romanian and wave my arms at them, gesturing for them to go. Now. They do, but not without much more arm waving and shouting. They might call the police, but I don’t care.

Because the moment the door slams shut and I’m cast, once more, into darkness … I hear something moving in the trees.

I don’t see it.

But it’s definitely here, and it knows I’m here too.

Chapter Thirteen

The presence I sensed is long gone by the time I snatch my spear up from where I stowed it behind the tree, but all’s not lost. I pull out my flashlight and crouch low to the ground.

Tracks. I study them. They appear to be made by clawed feet, too long to be a bear’s. They’re heading directly into the woods, away from the house. This has got to be the al.

My heart starts beating wildly. I may have fought an ogre at the beginning of the year, and creature handling may have brought me close to monsters, but this is my first actual hunt. And I’m doing it on my own. Is this how my parents felt on their first hunt? I wonder if this feeling, this nervous tremble in my gut, will ever go away.

As I follow the tracks into the woods, I start wishing that I had someone with me. I’m scared. I’d welcome anyone’s company right about now. Erin and Sawyer would be my first pick, of course, but even Piers or Owen would be reassuring. Bennett especially so, with his huge muscles and calm demeanor.

I hear a noise. I turn off my flashlight and crouch behind some bushes. There’s shuffling and heavy breathing ahead. I remind myself that I don’t need to kill it—I just need to get something from it and then get away.

I ready my spear and allow my eyes to readjust to the darkness around me. The sounds become clearer, punctuated by grunts and snorts. I creep toward the noises. The trees are thin here, so I have to be careful to make sure I don’t put myself out in the open.

I see a figure in the trees ahead, and grip my spear tightly. Maybe Erin was right. Maybe this thing won’t hold up in combat.

I get closer, and the figure is holding a lantern. It looks remarkably human. It lifts the lantern up and the light falls over me, just as it sees me—

“Avery Black?”

Dumbfounded and crouching stupidly in the bushes, I look up into the scarred face of Professor Helsing.

Immediately, panic sets in. I’m going to be expelled. Or he might murder me in rage right here—who knows? I have to say something, give him some bullshit reason why I’m out here.

“Evening, Professor,” I splutter. What a stupid thing to say.

He sighs and clips the lantern to his belt. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Black?” He doesn’t sound angry, just resigned. I realize that all that heavy breathing I heard was his, not the al. He’s got a messy tourniquet around his upper arm, soaked through with blood. His clothes are ripped, showing gashes in the skin underneath. He’s holding a crossbow and has an array of weapons on his belt, some of which are already dripping with more dark blood.

I stand up, brushing leaves off my pants. “Would you believe me if I told you I was going for a walk?”

“Absolutely the fuck not.” He sighs and pulls a long knife with a cruel blade off his belt. “Take this and follow me.”

Surprised, I grab the handle of the knife. “You’re not sending me back?”

“No. I’m on this thing’s trail, but there’s no guarantee it won’t circle back and try to get you. You’d be in more danger if I sent you back. Plus … I could use the help.”

I’m too shocked to respond, so I just do as he says. He plucks his lantern off his belt and holds it above his head as he leads me through the woods, keeping an eye on the ground. His breathing is even more ragged up close.

“Have you fought it already?”

“Oh, yeah,” he growls. “I’m the one who spotted it and called in the alert. It’s been sneakin’ around my house. Got close to the village, but the crowds scared it off.”

“It was there for the baby, wasn’t it?” I ask, thinking back to the pregnant woman still currently in labor back at the house. Helsing is right. We can’t risk the monster doubling back. I’m not the only one at risk tonight.

“Dunno. Probably.” He pauses to cough a little, and I worriedly step toward him, but he waves me away. “Als are like that; they just wanna eat babies. It’s in their nature. Wait, shh—you hear that?”

I do. A soft rustling, somewhere not too far off. He blows out the lantern and clips it to his belt again.

“Stay behind me,” he whispers. “It’s dark, and this crossbow ain’t loaded with feathers.”