Fallen University: Year One

The pointed tail that stuck out of my tailbone just above my ass swished in a whip-like fashion, almost like it was mocking my words. It must’ve been stuck in my pant leg before—or else my shock at waking up in an alley had made me really damn unobservant.

As if responding to my agitation, the long, supple tail began thrashing back and forth more violently.

That was the final straw. I lurched toward the toilet, losing the contents of my stomach as it cramped and heaved.

“This cannot be happening,” I groaned into the bowl as I reached up weakly to flush. “I look like some Halloween freak from the discount party center.”

When I thought I had the lingering nausea under control, I rose unsteadily to my feet. I yanked open the medicine cabinet again so I wouldn’t have to watch my insane reflection mirror my movements as I paced back and forth in the tiny bathroom, yanking at my hair so hard I almost pulled it straight from my scalp.

What the fuck happened to me? What’s going on?

As I moved like a caged animal, the cobwebs in my mind started to fade away. Memories from last night rammed into me like a speeding bullet train. Winded by the force of them, I sank onto the edge of the tub, hand on my chest.

Walking back to my apartment in the light rain.

The footsteps behind me.

The creepy guy following me.

That blonde girl coming to my rescue.

Then…

A monster plucking her up like she weighed nothing.

Another one attacking me.

Being dragged from roof to roof like I was a goddamn leaf.

The creature’s voice—like nails being ground up in a blender.

The pain.

“Oh, God…”

The rush of images and sensations was too much for me to handle. I rushed over to the toilet bowl and hurled again. There wasn’t anything left to get rid of at this point, but my body insisted on trying, heaving until I was a gasping, groaning mess. My throat was raw by the time I slumped onto the cool tile floor.

I didn’t know how long I laid there, but I had just about managed to convince myself once again that this really was a dream when a noise came from the living room.

Bzzzzz.

I barely registered the buzzer at first.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

It was louder the second time, more insistent. I picked my head up off the floor, adrenaline shooting through my system.

Shit. What if it’s that monster come to finish me off?

Fear seized me, but somehow, I got to my feet and approached the front window. It probably wasn’t wise for me to do so, but my body seemed to move of its own volition, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Slowly, I rose to my tippy toes to better see out the window, peering down toward the front stoop of the building as the buzzer sounded again.

Bzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

“Oh, shit. What?” I muttered.

It was the blonde girl—the one who’d been texting in front of the dive bar. I could only see the top of her head, but I was positive it was her. She had on the same deep purple leather jacket I’d noticed when I’d walked up to her the night before.