ã€ŠPacter: Misty Snatcherã€‹


 Chapter 1

    Angeline hated the end of the month. She endured the same miserable ritual month after month. She sat at a cluttered table beside her cramped kitchen surrounded by heaps of torn envelopes and folded up bills. Several bookmarked tabs glared from her browser. Gas. Electric. Rent. Credit card. Bank. Those tabs were like invisible hands grasping at her wallet. Or maybe they were wringing her heart. Her eyes flicked to the taskbar, where the highlighted spreadsheet icon taunted her with a single word: budget.

    Were it only herself, she hardly would have cared. But it wasn¡¯t just herself. She also had to worry about Jake. His pants barely reached his ankles, and his shirts were getting a too tight. There were also his karate classes, not to mention daycare and medical bills and ten other things she couldn¡¯t even remember right now.

    Glancing at the balance in her checking account, Angeline groaned. She already knew what the number would dwindle to once she finished, and it made her stomach swirl anxiously like she was teetering above a thousand-foot canyon in a surreal version of ¡°living on the edge.¡±

    Only sacrifice would appease the monster playing hacky sack with her stomach. So, what did she give up? Coffee. She could stop going to the little coffee shop down the block. That¡¯d ease her margins, but not by a lot. Then she thought about the ice cream waiting in her freezer, and she felt a brief surge of guilt. No more ice cream, then. And she could cancel Jake¡¯s karate lessons, too. That¡¯d help a lot, actually...

    But the thought of canceling his lessons made Angeline flush. She imagined Jake¡¯s heartbroken face covered in streams of tears. She found herself caught between the sensible and the sentimental.

    Was it actually sentimental, though? Jake had so much energy, and those lessons helped him work it out, right? His exhaustion also gave Angeline a couple of hours to clean the apartment. Angeline ignored that she probably lost more time taking him to lessons than she got from exhausting him.

    She decided she could wait to decide until after she¡¯d slept on it. Deep down, she already knew she would not cancel the lessons, but the nagging voice in her head was silenced¡ªor at least muffled¡ªby her pointless promise.

    The voice quieted down momentarily, but the stress gnawing at Angeline cracked her resolve, and her emotions suddenly overwhelmed her. She¡¯d feel better if she let it out and cried, but was too tired, so she settled for leaning back in her chair and rubbing her eyes. She wanted to sleep. But then the anxious concoction in her gut would keep her up all night.

    ¡°Mommy?¡± a little voice said.

    Angeline blinked, and saw Jake just outside the kitchen, rubbing his eyes against the glare of the yellow kitchen lights. He was in his favorite PJs, which were covered in little fighter jets. Angeline remembered yet another promise she¡¯d yet to keep. Jake said he wanted one of those jets, called a ¡°Raptor¡± or something, and Angeline had promised to get it for him after he¡¯d lost his first baby tooth. She could definitely afford that, but hadn¡¯t gotten around to it yet, and that made Angeline feel just a little worse.

    ¡°Can I sleep in your bed tonight?¡± Jake asked as he blinked his little blue eyes.

    ¡°Did you have another bad dream?¡± Angeline asked.

    Jake nodded, ¡°It was really scary.¡±

    ¡°Do you want to talk about it, bud?¡± Angeline said.

    ¡°Mm-hmm,¡± Jake nodded, ¡°It was Long Fingers, again.¡±

    Long Fingers was what Jake called a monster that had started appearing in his dreams for the past few nights. Angeline wondered how much she¡¯d have to budget for a therapist if these nightmares didn¡¯t stop, and her stomach whirled again.

    ¡°Please, Mommy?¡± Jake said.

    ¡°Not tonight, bud,¡± Angeline said, thinking of how Jake always kicked in his sleep, ¡°You need to sleep in your own bed, okay?¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Jake sniffled, and his face contorted and reddened as he started crying.

    ¡°Oh, buddy!¡± Angeline said. Her heart broke a little, sending her out of her chair and over to his side, scooping him up into her arms.

    He buried his face in her shoulder, and sobbed, ¡°He¡¯s really, really, really scary!¡±

    Angeline shushed him, and said, ¡°I know, buddy, I know,¡± and bounced in place, rocking from one foot to the other, just like she used to do when he was a baby.

    ¡°I wanna sleep in your bed,¡± he sobbed, ¡°I won¡¯t have bad dreams if I sleep in your bed!¡±

    ¡°You still might, buddy,¡± Angeline said.

    ¡°But if I do, then I can squeeze you!¡± Jake said, his sobs dying down to choking gasps that sounded like violent hiccups.

    ¡°How about this?¡± Angeline said, ¡°How about you give me the tightest, strongest, most sqeeziest squeeze right now, and maybe you won¡¯t have nightmares tonight?¡±

    Without even a word, Jake squeezed his arms around Angeline¡¯s neck until she felt like she was in a vise, and she choked out, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so strong, little man!¡± and she squeezed him right back.

    Eventually, his grip slackened. He rested on her shoulders as she slowly rocked back and forth. He sniffled again.

    ¡°Do you feel better, bud?¡± Angeline whispered.

    ¡°A little,¡± he said.

    ¡°Are you ready to go back to bed?¡±

    ¡°Noooo,¡± he moaned.

    Angeline glanced back at her laptop, whose screen had gone black.

    ¡°Mommy needs to take care of stuff, okay, so do you think you can go back to bed?¡± she said, doing her best to sound sweet.

    ¡°No,¡± he said, more firmly this time.

    Angeline felt a stab of annoyance. She took a deep breath.

    ¡°How about we make a deal, okay?¡±

    He shook his head, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°If you go back to bed, I¡¯ll buy you the Raptor fighter tomorrow, okay?¡± Angeline said.

    Jake paused.

    ¡°But you were already going to get me the Raptor.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯ll get it for you tomorrow instead of this weekend,¡± Angeline said.

    ¡°No,¡± Jake said resolutely.

    ¡°Okay, how about this, then?¡± Angeline said, ¡°If you promise to go back to bed, I¡¯ll get you some ice cream. And, if you have any other bad dreams tonight, you can sleep in Mommy¡¯s bed. How does that sound?¡±

    Jake kept his face buried in her shoulder for a few moments, then said, ¡°Okay.¡±

    Once he was chomping away at some ice cream, Angeline resumed work on the bills. Jake started making faces at Angeline, which she did her best to replicate, sending him into little fits of giggles. Eventually, the ice cream was all gone, and Angeline took him to the bathroom to brush his teeth again. He complained that he¡¯d already brushed his teeth, but with a just a little scolding he complied.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Tucking him into bed, Jake said, ¡°Mommy, I¡¯m still scared.¡±

    ¡°Why are you scared?¡± Angeline said.

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Long Fingers will eat me,¡± he said in a small voice.

    ¡°Long Fingers isn¡¯t real,¡± Angeline said, ¡°And you know what? Even if he was real?¡± and she stooped down to his ear, and whispered, ¡°I bet you¡¯d kick his butt.¡±

    ¡°No, I can¡¯t,¡± Jake said.

    ¡°Sure, you can! Remember how great your kicks were yesterday at karate practice? You even made Sensei go ¡®oof!¡¯¡± Angeline said, throwing herself back across his bed. Peeking at his face, she saw a little smile. Then she said, ¡°And if he¡¯s still up after you punch him, you just come and get Mommy, and she¡¯ll finish him for you.¡±

    She punched at the air and smiled.

    ¡°Promise?¡± Jake said.

    ¡°Pinky promise,¡± she smiled, extending a pinky. He took his pinky out from under the covers and linked it to hers, then quickly put it back under the covers, his smile widening a little.

    ¡°Love you, bud,¡± Angeline said.

    She planted a kiss on his forehead.

    ¡°Sleep tight, don¡¯t let the bedbugs bite!¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± Jake said, and Angeline left his bedroom, returning to her laptop in the cramped kitchen. The light flickered, and Angeline frowned up at it. Just one more thing to take care of.

    But as Angeline tried to resume her work, she found she could do little more than stare at her budget spreadsheet. She thought of Long Fingers, instead.

    She went to her bedroom and took a drawing out of her nightstand. After Jake¡¯s first nightmare about it, he drew a picture. Jagged crayon marks flickered all over Long Fingers¡¯ form, but the thing itself was eerie. It was almost like a man, but unnaturally thin, almost to the point of being a stick figure, and stooped low, so its string-like fingers tumbled to the ground like knotted bits of hair. The head was long and tubular, not unlike an elephant¡¯s trunk, though the nostrils were replaced by a circle of jagged white teeth colored crimson which stood out against the blackness of its body.

    If Angeline kept having nightmares about this creature, too, she¡¯d also probably want to sleep with someone else. Angeline looked behind her at the bed. It was empty. It had been ever since Evan left. Sometimes, when Angeline looked at Jake, she could see a bit of Evan in him staring back at her, before things had gone bad, and their nights became filled with shouting.

    Suddenly, Angeline found that she didn¡¯t care if Jake kicked in his sleep. She went to his bedroom, and pressed her ear to the door, to see if he was rustling in his bed. She heard nothing. He must be asleep. But Angeline bet she could carry him to her bed, and he wouldn¡¯t wake up. He was such a heavy sleeper that he¡¯d once slept straight through a shooting that had happened right outside their apartment. The gunfire had woken up the whole building, but Jake had slept on.

    The door creaked a little as Angeline opened it, and she wrinkled her nose. Something smelled off. It reminded her instantly of how it had smelled when her cat had died. Her heart suddenly hammering in her chest, she thrust the door wide and stared at the bed.

    Time seemed to stop, and she felt suddenly as if she wasn¡¯t herself anymore. The covers had been cast aside from the bed and someone small in Jake¡¯s jet fighter pajamas was lying there. But they didn¡¯t have a head. Instead, where their head should have been, was a pool of something dark that glistened in the light from the hallway.

    Angeline couldn¡¯t hear herself breathe as she looked just to the left of the bed, toward the floor. Something was there, glistening and shapeless. It was a mush of dark red and gray with chunks of ivory that seemed to have splattered to the floor, and something in Angeline¡¯s head realized that it was about the size of a child¡¯s head and then she started screaming.

    <hr>

    The bar was nice and cool. Not the establishment, mind, but the bar itself. Addy rested her cheek on it with a relaxed sigh, relishing the contrast between the muggy air and the varnished wood.

    ¡°Addy, you don¡¯t know what¡¯s been on there,¡± an uneasy voice said.

    Blinking, Addy looked toward the voice¡¯s source. A glowing green serpent floated in the air next to her. If a snake could look concerned, then S certainly did. Addy giggled, ¡°I think I know better than you, S.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± another voice asked, this one rough and surly. Tommy, the bartender, was blurry, but Addy could make out his grey button down that was stretched over a generously portioned gut.

    ¡°Nothing,¡± Addy said, and closed her eyes again.

    ¡°I think you should head home,¡± S said.

    Addy waved her hand blindly at where she supposed S must be and grumbled.

    ¡°Want another?¡± Tommy said.

    ¡°Yes!¡± Addy slurred, not sure what she¡¯d agreed to.

    ¡°This bartender is a horrid influence,¡± S groaned, ¡°He really should know better. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯ve had enough to drink?¡±

    ¡°Can always have more,¡± Addy mumbled.

    ¡°I really can¡¯t understand you when you¡¯re drunk,¡± S said, ¡°Enunciate, Addy!¡±

    Addy sat up, abandoning the cool bar top, and tried to stare at S, which was difficult seeing as there were three of him, and she said, ¡°I drink as much as I want, you fu-gh-cking snake.¡±

    ¡°Who the hell d¡¯you think you¡¯re talking to?¡± Tommy said as he slid a tumbler overflowing with beautiful amber liquor toward Addy, who grabbed it. She gave it a cursory, token sniff, as if that would somehow improve the flavor in her stupefied state.

    ¡°This is top shelf stuff, thanks, Tommy Boy!¡± Addy said.

    Tommy stared at Addy for a moment, then scratched his head and said, ¡°Uh, sure. Enjoy the Jack.¡±

    Addy did. Or at least, she tried. She felt so fuzzy it was as if her soul were phasing out of her body. This made Addy giggle even more. Soul. What would a priest give for the knowledge that she had about the Soul? All these idiots arguing about the afterlife and souls and it was Addy, a drunk twenty-something that could reveal its nature to them and shove their pompous faces in just how bleak it was. Not even oblivion could be so depressing! Addy finished the whiskey, savoring its burn, wanting to see just how numb she could get before she had an out-of-body experience.

    ¡°One more!¡± Addy shouted, and another tumbler was in her hand. She really felt disconnected now, like she had fully left her body for something else entirely. ¡°Wine is the blood of Christ, but whiskey is the piss of gods!¡±

    Elsewhere in the bar, someone said, ¡°What¡¯d she say?¡±

    But as Addy gulped down the whiskey for a second, she wondered if maybe this actually was piss. She smacked her lips. It didn¡¯t burn. In fact, it tasted bitter. She looked at her glass and saw water.

    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the big fucking idea, Tommy¡ª¡±

    Before Addy could finish her thought, she was no longer in the bar. Everything was white, and she groaned as she realized what had happened. That sodden bitch had turned perfectly good whiskey into water.

    And as if in response to Addy¡¯s thought, the Lady appeared. She was pale, with skin more akin to porcelain than flesh. Her braided, damp, black hair glimmered from an unseen light. But her eyes were even more unsettling: bright, neon green like a luminescent sea, shifting and swirling like the tide. Her soaked white dress clung tightly to her body, revealing a figure far from voluptuous, more akin to a wasted husk than a woman.

    ¡°Having fun?¡± the Lady said.

    ¡°Sure am,¡± Addy said uneasily, ¡°Why don¡¯t you let me get back to it?¡±

    ¡°My goal is to limit our interactions¡ª¡± the Lady began.

    ¡°Sweet!¡± Addy interrupted, ¡°Me, too. So, how about you let me go?¡±

    ¡°But your most recent failure requires redress,¡± the Lady said, narrowing her eyes.

    Addy blinked, ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°There is a monster hunting, unopposed, in my city,¡± the Lady said, ¡°While you¡¯ve been going to bars and wasted the healing spell I so graciously granted you to restore your abused liver because... Why? Because you¡¯re bored, perhaps?¡±

    ¡°Because I need a goddamn vacation,¡± Addy growled.

    ¡°I see you¡¯ve let the liquid courage loosen your tongue overmuch if you can even consider airing such foolishness,¡± the Lady said, and she raised a hand to Addy, who recoiled, ¡°Let¡¯s dry up that courage.¡±

    It felt as if Addy¡¯s soul had slammed back into her body. Sensation returned like a truck, and a jackhammer began pounding against the inside of her skull. Addy fell to the ground, clutching her head, groaning.

    ¡°Feeling less foolish?¡± the Lady asked.

    ¡°Yeah, loads,¡± Addy grumbled, then added, ¡°My Lady.¡±

    ¡°Good,¡± the Lady said, ¡°Now get up.¡±

    Addy knew she wasn¡¯t actually in this white space. She knew it was just a projection, an illusion or dream, but she only barely staggered to her feet. The white room suddenly seemed brighter, and Addy shut her nonexistent eyes, which only gave minimal relief.

    ¡°What¡¯s this about a monster?¡± Addy asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯ve enough wits to recall why I¡¯ve called you here,¡± the Lady said, ¡°A Monster has been terrorizing my city, which, as you will recall, I¡¯ve employed you to protect.¡±

    Her city. What a joke. And saying Addy was supposed to protect it, as if Addy had signed a contract and not been coerced into serving this damp bimbo. But Addy bit her tongue.

    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll get right on it.¡±

    ¡°See that you do,¡± the Lady said.

    ¡°You wanna give me a hint on where to start?¡± Addy said.

    ¡°You will find emergency vehicles near the latest victim¡¯s home in Blaketown,¡± the Lady said, ¡°I suggest you hurry.¡±

    ¡°Got it,¡± Addy said, ¡°Anything else?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± the Lady said, and she gave one of her little smiles, ¡°The next time I have to bother you to do your job, our encounter will be far less pleasant for you, though much more gratifying for me. So, for your sake, I suggest you, as they say, get your act together.¡±

    Addy shuddered. She had an idea of what the Lady had in mind. ¡°Got it,¡± Addy said.

    The Lady phased away and a ceiling took her place. Tommy and a few other crusty bar patrons were leaning over her, concern on their faces. ¡°You okay?¡± Tommy asked.

    ¡°What, worried that if I die my tab will go unpaid?¡± Addy grumbled.

    ¡°Not at all¡ª¡± Tommy began.

    ¡°Sure,¡± Addy said, staggering to her feet, ¡°I think I¡¯d better get home.¡±

    ¡°Do you need me to call you a cab?¡± Tommy said.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of myself,¡± Addy said, ¡°That fall sobered me up.¡±

    Tommy blinked, wondering how in the world falling would sober anyone up. She shoved her way out of the bar and said, ¡°S, where are you?¡±

    ¡°Right here,¡± S said, materializing suddenly just out of the corner of Addy¡¯s eyes.

    ¡°We got a job,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°Oh?¡± S asked.

    Addy filled S in, and he said, ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re in any condition to begin an investigation?¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t really have a choice,¡± Addy grumbled.

    ¡°Well, I suppose it is kind of your fault,¡± S said.

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you start too.¡±

 Chapter 2

    Never had sirens been so bright. Addy squinted at the cop cars and ambulance parked outside a dull apartment building which seemed to have been on life support since the 1880s. Addy bet there was a fancy plate on the entrance claiming it was a historical site, as if anyone in their right mind would want to live somewhere quaint enough to be called ¡°historical.¡± Only freaks who want ¡®character¡¯ where they live and people who can¡¯t afford better would take up in a place like this. One of the black vans had ¡°CSI¡± printed in blocky white letters across its side. The cops must already be well underway on their investigation.

    ¡°S, go see if you can find the victim¡¯s apartment,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°What, you aren¡¯t going to break into an active crime scene?¡± S said.

    ¡°Not today, S,¡± Addy said, ¡°Just let me know when you find the apartment.¡±

    ¡°I trust you¡¯ll find your own ways to help from down here?¡±

    ¡°Actually, I was going to go get some hair of the dog,¡± Addy grumbled.

    ¡°Addy...¡± S said warningly.

    ¡°It was a joke!¡± Addy snapped, ¡°There¡¯s a caf¨¦ just there. I¡¯ll grab some coffee and a pastry. That okay with you, Mom?¡±

    ¡°Get a sandwich or something instead, dear,¡± S said lazily as he floated away.

    ¡°Awful lot of back sass for a sentient glow stick,¡± Addy muttered.

    Addy passed this caf¨¦ a few times before, but never tried it out. This was mostly because she could never remember the name. Even now, after having just seen it, she couldn¡¯t recall what it was called. She just thought of it as ¡®the pretentious French place.¡¯ It seemed like it was going for a pleasantly rustic aesthetic with the mismatched paint and haphazard steel chairs. The barista seemed dedicated to the bit with a long, waxed mustache that ended in sharply curled tips. Coffee stains covered his navy apron, and his handwritten nameplate said, ¡®James.¡¯ He also had a pair of orange-rimmed plastic sunglasses hanging on the collar of his t-shirt.

    ¡°Hey,¡± he said, barely even glancing at Addy as she walked in, ¡°What can I get for you?¡±

    ¡°Coffee and a sandwich,¡± Addy said.

    ¡®James¡¯ glanced at her, his eyes flicking up and down, and he smiled.

    ¡°Seems like you got an early start on the night.¡±

    ¡°Yep, already got plenty of regrets,¡± Addy said, ¡°Now about that coffee...¡±

    ¡°Sure!¡± James said, and he took a laminated menu from behind the counter and passed it to Addy. She squinted, then rubbed her eyes, and looked back at the menu.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but this twelve here¡ª¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the price,¡± James said.

    ¡°For a coffee?¡±

    ¡°And it¡¯s worth every penny,¡± James said.

    ¡°Why?¡± Addy said and instantly regretted it. James launched into a rant that she wouldn¡¯t have been able to follow, even without the hangover. She began reflecting on her life choices when a voice said in her head, Found the apartment.

    Addy returned to her senses, and said, ¡°Okay, that¡¯s great, get me the cheapest thing on here and,¡± she glanced at the menu again, and wondered in what world a sandwich would be cheaper than a coffee, and said, ¡°get me a turkey club.¡±

    ¡°Uh,¡± James said, ¡°Sure thing, but¡ª¡±

    ¡°And I¡¯ll tip you to not talk to me while my eyes are closed.¡±

    James blinked and cocked his head, but said, ¡°Sure thing.¡±

    Addy sat down on one of the painted steel chairs and closed her eyes. She projected out to S, Have you found the body yet?

    I just got here, S said, But it¡¯s definitely getting the full treatment. The apartment is crammed with officers.

    Figures, if they think it¡¯s a serial killer or something, Addy said, Find the body.

    James returned with a sandwich on a puke-green plate and set it in front of Addy.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my coffee?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be just a couple more minutes.¡±

    ¡°I hope it¡¯s worth the wait,¡± Addy said.

    I found the body, S said, It¡¯s not pretty.

    How so?

    It tore the head off the body while the child was still in bed¡ª

    Wait, it was a kid?

    Yes.

    Searching the local news on her phone, Addy said, Where¡¯s the head?

    I can¡¯t say for certain, but there is... something on the floor.

    Stop being vague, Addy said, who flicked through several headlines. The general theme seemed consistent. If she¡¯d bothered to stay up to date, she probably would have seen this coming. Several police reports about decapitated children kept cropping up, but in each case, they deemed the head ¡®missing.¡¯

    There is some kind of fleshy mush on the floor, S said, It seems likely that the Monster processed it.

    It doesn¡¯t show up in statements about the other murders, Addy said, I guess the cops wouldn¡¯t know how to even talk about it.

    Most likely.

    So, if the monster processed the head and nothing else, then it must be after a particular psychic component, Addy said, In kids, it¡¯s probably drawn to creativity or general imaginative properties. Perhaps it just likes immaturity?

    Dreams, I¡¯d say, S said.

    What makes you say that? Addy asked.

    I found traces of oneiromantic Residue on the corpse, S said, It¡¯s probably consuming the dreams of children.

    It¡¯s like a twisted Saturday morning cartoon, Addy said.

    Not sure what that means, but I think you should show a little more respect for the dead, Addy.

    Whatever, S, Addy said as James set some coffee in front of her. Taking a sip, Addy was damn certain it wasn¡¯t worth twelve dollars. Do you see any phasic residue?

    No, S said, I don¡¯t think it phased in here.

    Addy flicked through a few more news stories. For the first case, there was some speculation that maybe the parents did it. Could it have been a possession? If it was, then the victim¡¯s parents could still have traces of residue on them.

    I¡¯m fairly certain I passed the mother on the way up here, and she didn¡¯t have any traces of residue on her. Also, are you only just researching these murders?

    Stop, you, Addy said, How many bathrooms are in the apartment?

    One, S said.

    How many toothbrushes are in it?

    Addy took a disappointed sip of her coffee and said, ¡°Do you seriously think is worth twelve bucks?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± James said in a clipped tone, ¡°I admit it¡¯s not for everyone to appreciate...¡±

    ¡°The only thing I appreciate about coffee is the caffeine,¡± said Addy, ¡°Could you get me some cream and sugar?¡±

    James looked offended, and then said coldly, ¡°I don¡¯t have any.¡±

    ¡°Too bad,¡± Addy said, taking a bite of her sandwich, ¡°Sandwich is good, though.¡±

    There are two toothbrushes, S said.

    Well, even if there is a dad, I think we can rule him out as being possessed. I¡¯ll check later, though. Scan the room for residue again. Maybe it wasn¡¯t phasic, but there had to be a way it got in. What about the window? Perhaps it transmuted itself to pass through.

    The glare was really bugging Addy and squinting at her phone was making her headache worse. James was busy cleaning something in the back, based on the running water. ¡°Hey, James, could you come out here?¡±

    He came out, looking frustrated, ¡°Yes?¡±

    ¡°How much for the shades?¡± Addy asked.

    James blinked, ¡°What, these?¡± and he pointed to the orange plastic sunglasses on his collar.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got a migraine, I have to stay up for a while, and I¡¯m not in the mood to hunt down a drugstore,¡± Addy said.

    James looked at Addy dubiously, then said, ¡°They¡¯re not for sale.¡±

    ¡°Really?¡± Addy said, ¡°After I paid twelve bucks for your coffee?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a fair price,¡± James said.

    ¡°And now I want to pay a fair price for your sunglasses,¡± Addy said, ¡°How much did you pay for them? Must¡¯ve cost ten bucks.¡±

    ¡°It was fourteen,¡± James said.

    ¡°Well, take twenty and give ¡®em here,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°No,¡± James said.

    ¡°Oh, come on, you¡¯d be turning a tidy six-dollar profit!¡± Addy said, ¡°Besides, I bet you have a ton of those lying around. Can¡¯t you spare just one pair?¡±

    ¡°Afraid not,¡± James said.

    Addy groaned. She wasn¡¯t looking forward to thinking with this damn headache.

    There¡¯s a bit of residue on the window, but I¡¯m not entirely sure what class it is, S said.

    Addy frowned, Where is it on the window?

    It looks like there¡¯s some smeared on the crack just at the bottom. Maybe something squeezed through it?

    Addy rubbed her chin.

    Are you sure it isn¡¯t transmutive residue? Maybe the Monster turned into a bug or something and that¡¯s how it got in?

    Maybe, S said, But it doesn¡¯t seem transmutive to me. Honestly, it seems to be a mixture of several types of residue. Maybe there¡¯s a bit of transmutive in there, but I can¡¯t quite discern it.

    Fine, Addy said, Do you see anything outside the window? Maybe it left a trail.

    Nothing on the building that I can see, S said, But... Wait a second.

    With bated breath, Addy said.

    There seems to be a bit of residue in the air, and it¡¯s the same kind as on the windowsill.Stolen story; please report.

    How the hell does that happen?

    Perhaps it¡¯s wounded and flew away?

    Doubt it, Addy said, as she sipped her coffee, What if it turned into something that sheds residue?

    Like what?

    Well, this is just a speculation, but maybe it can turn into mist or something similar?

    S was silent for a moment, then said, If it could, then it wouldn¡¯t be much of a leap to conjecture that it takes some effort to retain its form. And if it takes effort to stay in its misty state, then some parts of it might have been left behind, which would at least appear to be residue.

    Or maybe it turns into residue.

    Seems like a bit of a logical leap, S said skeptically.

    We¡¯re dealing with magic, Addy said, I think logical leaps and speculation are part and parcel. Can you track it?

    Probably, S said.

    Then track it, Addy said, I¡¯ll be along shortly. I paid twelve bucks for this coffee, and I¡¯ll be damned if I let it go to waste.

    I¡¯m glad you have your priorities straight, S said.

    <hr>

    What the hell is going on? Addy projected, I thought you had the fucker¡¯s trail.

    I do, but the funny thing about gas is that it disperses, Addy.

    Food and coffee had done little to assuage Addy¡¯s hangover, and she was growing quite tetchy. She knew it was her own fault, but owning up to poor decisions was even less appealing than a follow-up with the Lady. She took out her frustration on S by pestering him, both to vent her frustration and to keep him on the defensive since if she let up, he would doubtless start lecturing her.

    Another half hour passed before S stopped outside a condemned apartment building. Its lower stories were covered in a hodge-podge technicolor vomit of spray paint. Addy recognized the place and groaned.

    How unoriginal can a monster be? Addy asked.

    Isn¡¯t this where the Tentacular Phaser ended up as well? S asked, Before you, uh, deluged it?

    Addy walked up to a notice on the apartment building door, illuminating it with her phone. She chuckled.

    I guess the water damage was worse than I thought. Looks like it¡¯s been condemned because of a mold infestation, Addy said.

    You seem rather nonchalant about essentially destroying a building.

    Blame Blaster, Addy said, He¡¯s the one who can¡¯t control himself.

    The Spell swirled around in her gut. If Addy had more respect for him, she might have thought she¡¯d offended him, but Addy figured it more likely that he was just excited at being mentioned, as if it were a sign Addy was about to cast him.

    Don¡¯t you feel just a little guilty? S asked.

    I don¡¯t really have time to feel guilty right now. Go see if you can find where the monster to shacked up. I¡¯ll get ready down here.

    Addy knew S was probably irritated with her for dodging the point, but she also wasn¡¯t sure how to answer him honestly. She figured she should feel guilty, but she just... didn¡¯t. Maybe it was because at the time it was kill or be killed. Then again, wasn¡¯t it just human to feel guilty about something bad you did, even if you didn¡¯t have any choice? These questions made Addy queasy and redoubled the banging pain in her head, so she focused instead on the much less anxiety-inducing topic of how to kill a monster she knew little about.

    She took stock of her inventory. First, she had her spells. Dampening Sphere would help mask her approach. Blaster should be able to make the Monster fuck off if things went sideways. Her favorite, of course, was Healer, since without it her face would be repulsive by now. As Addy could only prepare three Spells from the Driftwood Tome a day, they were the only magic she had. She considered them ¡®the reliable trifecta¡¯ and they¡¯d gotten her out of plenty of sticky situations.

    Aside from her Spells, she also had her silver atomizer, which was filled with a nice, dense solution of silver that should be able to disrupt the Monster¡¯s ability to turn into residue, so long as that ability was magical. That should be able to keep it from running away once she¡¯d cornered it, but she¡¯d need a little more than that. That¡¯s where Snap came in. Snap was a 9mm pistol filled with Cursed Rounds courtesy of the Geezer, a secretive occultist with whom Addy was on good terms. So long as the Monster wasn¡¯t in its mist form (courtesy of the silver atomizer), Snap should be more than capable of putting it down. Of course, if it got too close, she could always use Splinter. But Addy preferred not to use a switchblade on Monsters since, y¡¯know, switchblade. Still, it was better than nothing if it got within hugging distance and had the added benefit of disrupting magical powers. Technically, it was her most powerful artifact, and should be her trump card.

    That left the Obscene Scroll. It was probably the freakiest tool in her arsenal: a piece of human-skin parchment covered in symbols supposedly terrifying to a bunch of Monsters. Addy didn¡¯t really understand it, but then, no one did. The thing about the Occult is that it developed less through experimentation and more through random chance. But if things got really desperate, the scroll had a chance of making the Monster scarper. A slim chance, perhaps, but better than nothing if her back was to the wall.

    Getting into the building was trivial. Addy slid Splinter through the crack in the door, and the locks split in two as easily as if she were cutting through the air itself. As the door opened, a gust of musty stench assaulted her. Addy squinted, and felt a pang from her headache, and her stomach swirled¡ªnot from Spells this time¡ªand she grabbed her nose.

    S? Addy said.

    Yes, Addy?

    I feel a little bad, now.

    The lights must not have been turned on in ages, and the yawning darkness of the staircase before her was just a bit ominous. Addy closed her eyes, and felt around for Dampening Sphere, who lethargically began to swirl in her gut until it suddenly popped, and Addy felt a wave of pressure erupt through her skin. It was not unlike how one¡¯s ears popped when diving too deep in a pool, only the feeling extended to her whole body. It was a strange mix of discomfort and relief, not unlike cracking one¡¯s knuckles or working out a crick in the neck.

    Dampening Sphere was always useful when Addy needed to be quiet, since from within it she could fire off her pistol and only those within Sphere¡¯s boundary would be able to hear. Moreover, the barrier was one way: although no one could hear anything from within the sphere, Addy could hear everything from without, albeit distorted as though she were underwater.

    Have you found it yet?

    Yes, on the fourth floor, apartment 406, S replied.

    After traversing the dark so many times, Addy might have hoped that she would be used to it by now. But then, she knew better than most what sometimes lurked within, and that only made her more wary.

    What¡¯s it doing? Addy asked.

    It seems to be asleep, S said.

    Must be digesting tonight¡¯s meal.

    Looking around at the walls, it wasn¡¯t hard to see where the mold had taken root. Creeping lines of black mass emerged from corners and stained the walls. Blaster had certainly torn the place up, but Addy was surprised at how quickly the infestation had spread. It wasn¡¯t as if the water Blaster spewed was clean or anything (in fact, it was basically dirty pond water), but nonetheless Addy doubted that Blaster could have destroyed this building so effectively.

    S, Addy said, Are we sure that Blaster caused this? The infestation is a bit too far spread for Blaster to be wholly responsible.

    I think we can be fairly confident it was Blaster¡¯s fault, S said.

    Why?

    That¡¯s the nature of the Lady¡¯s power, S said, Now please focus; I¡¯d rather you not die.

    I¡¯m touched. And also, on the fourth floor.

    The black and white tiling covering the floor was absolutely filthy, and as Addy squinted, she realized it was also slimy: a sheen of viscous green filth grew over it, with black gunk clogging the grout. It was like a pond without the water. And the water damage to the walls seemed to have only gotten worse on these higher floors. Entire sections of drywall crumbled apart in places, and the dark stains behind the wallpaper snaked together. Addy could only imagine how bad the stench was and was glad for her Dampening Sphere, which kept the worst of it out.

    S emerged from a rotting wall, and said, Oh, good. Are you ready?

    Sure am, Addy said, drawing out Snap, releasing its safety and cocking it, What room is it in?

    It¡¯s lying down in the living room, S said.

    Addy pressed herself up to the wall beside the door and tested the handle, twisting it slowly. Fortunately, despite the rampant rot, it seemed to not have rusted over as it moved silkily until Addy could barely hear the latch click. She paused and held her breath, pushing her ear to the door. Not a peep from within.

    S, check that it¡¯s still asleep.

    S slithered through the wall like it was water, and said, It is.

    Addy eased the door open carefully, being certain to keep it as even as possible and was grateful as the hinges uttered not a squeak. Even if they did, the Monster shouldn¡¯t hear, as the hinges were in her Dampening Sphere, but Addy¡¯s experience with Monsters taught her to be ready for anything. Reality often shatters illusions of safety or certainty, like an empty rum bottle over the head.

    The door opened into a tight hall that led immediately to a small kitchen on the left with a living room adjacent. Moonlight shone through a sliding door leading to the balcony, illuminating a dark mound that slowly pulsated. It was small, no larger than a human child. Addy could not pick out any distinguishing features; it was rather like a ball.

    Addy crept in slowly, pulling the silver atomizer out of her jacket. Mere feet away, her heart began hammering in her chest as she realized that the creature was most certainly not a ball. She could make out subtle contours within the ball that reminded her somewhat of a sleeping cat, or maybe a potato bug. It seemed so perversely innocent.

    But it wasn¡¯t. Addy raised both her atomizer and Snap, aiming down the sights of the latter so they lined up right in the middle of the creature while she aligned the atomizer alongside it.

    Several shots cracked inside the Dampening Sphere while she furiously sprayed a cloud of silver mist at the prone form. But before Addy could get off even three shots, she felt something smack into her side, and she flew across the room. The shock spread through her body in a numb wave, followed by a blooming pain. Gritting her teeth, she tucked into a roll, and came back up, pointing her gun at the attacker, and her heart nearly stopped.

    Monsters were nothing new to Addy. She¡¯d killed her fair share. But Addy couldn¡¯t say ¡®if you¡¯ve seen one monster, you¡¯ve seen them all.¡¯ Each Monster was its own twisted sort of terrifying. And this one was no exception. If Addy could only use one word to describe it, that word would be ¡®wiry.¡¯ Its long limbs were corded with tight muscles that seemed more like bone than flesh. It towered within the room such that it had to stoop its crane-like neck to look down at Addy. Hundreds of black eyes glistened in the moonlight like freshly spawned fish eggs along its tubular, trunk-like head. But strangest of all were the long tendrils, that extended from what passed for its hands. They were more like wires, and they tumbled to the ground, thrashing so wildly that Addy would have expected them to tangle together.

    The monster noiselessly lunged at Addy. When something roars, it means to scare you off or intimidate you into submission. In Addy¡¯s experience, when a Monster is silent, that means it doesn¡¯t care about any of that; it wants to kill you and waste no time about it.

    That should have been it. Addy should¡¯ve been monster chow. But, mid-leap, a long, glowing green cord wrapped around it. A snake¡¯s head reared from the end of the cord and hissed at the Monster. Addy knew better than to waste time thanking S, and leaped to the other side of the room, and aimed her atomizer straight at the Monster, spraying it liberally with a stream of silver. Addy grinned savagely as she brought Snap to bear. She had it.

    The Monster let out a sound like a grumbling stomach as it stretched its arms and snapped S apart. The snake blew away into ribbons that disintegrated like ashes in the wind. Addy winced despite herself, but knew he would reform in no time, even if he was in crippling pain.

    But he¡¯d bought Addy time. She dropped the atomizer, bringing Snap to bear with both hands and shot as quickly as possible at the Monster. Snap flashed like a strobe light, blinding her, but she knew each shot was good as she relentlessly pumped the trigger, doing her best to keep her spread tightly controlled.

    Snap suddenly whipped out of her hand as something tight cut into her wrist, and she cried out. A mass of writhing wires was coming straight at her face, and she instinctively put her other hand to her throat as the wires suddenly wrapped around her neck, and she tumbled to the floor.

    She stared into at a circle of bloody red teeth in a gaping maw wiggling above her head. Thick streams of drool dribbled onto her head. The wires cutting into her neck and hand tightened. Addy felt as if they would cut straight through, splitting her hand and decapitating her.

    Addy glanced at her other hand, bound up in another set of wires, and tried to pull it toward her chest, but the writhing wires tightened and pulled it further away. Addy could feel that hand twisting in on itself, as if it were going to be crushed into a ball of mangled flesh. Tears streaked down her face as the searing pain cut through her, and she desperately projected, S!

    A fuzzy green cloud appeared, and tried to slam straight into the Monster¡¯s head, but merely passed through it.

    The Monster¡¯s maw wavered right in front of her, descending slowly, as if savoring its victory. Addy hocked and spat as hard as she could straight inside its mouth.

    The Monster recoiled slightly, and Addy quickly dragged her sliced up hand out from the wires, and reached inside her jacket, pulling out her trump card: Splinter. This dumb fucking creature got itself too close, and now Addy was going to make it pay. She flicked it open and sliced straight at its face.

    The knife passed straight through as the flesh of the creature turned into inky mist instead of splitting open.

    Oh, dick!

    No matter where Addy slashed, the creature just turned into mist. Addy ceased her attacks, instead drawing her arm close to her chest as the Monster tried to grab her newly freed hand with a tangle of wiry tendrils. She felt as if the skin in her face was going to pop open like a balloon from the pressure of the garottes cutting into her flesh.

    She was fucked.

    The monster¡¯s long, cordlike tongue dangled out, covered in thick mucus, and it began to lick at Addy¡¯s face, covering it in slime. A wave of revulsion swept through her. Was this how those kids had died? Being toyed with by this disgusting creature? Addy suddenly wished she had taken this job a little more seriously.

    Something caught Addy¡¯s watering eyes, though: a mark on the tongue, almost like a brand. It was distinctly ovular and symmetrical, wavering in and out in an almost hypnotic pattern. It seemed somehow familiar.

    Well, she¡¯d brought the scroll along for a reason.

    Addy let go of the useless Splinter, and withdrew the Obscene Scroll from her jacket, flicked it open and draped it over her face.

    The effect was instantaneous. The wires immediately released her neck, and the Monster shrieked. Addy coughed as her breath returned, the pressure in her face suddenly relieved. Addy stumbled to her feet, holding the scroll in front of her like the protective talisman it was, and saw that the Monster had left. She heard bounding steps from outside the apartment, echoing as they died away, and she fell to the ground, coughing what felt like blood.

    Her ears pounded. She closed her eyes. Suddenly, her headache didn¡¯t seem so bad anymore. Then her hands started aching. She looked down at them. They were covered in glistening blood. She could also see something white. She groaned. The monster had cut both up good, and she could tell the back of her neck was similarly fucked.

    She felt around for Healer, who reacted immediately, as if it had been chomping at the bit, sending blossoming warmth from inside her gut to her extremities. Her wounds started to itch and burn with the worst pins and needles she¡¯d felt in her entire life. She gritted her teeth while the cuts stitched themselves back together over the course of a couple of minutes. When the pain died away, she looked down at her hands, which glowed raw and red, ached terribly, and were still covered in blood. She opened and closed them, but they barely responded. She held one of them out in front of her, and it shook terribly. Healer was useful, but it had the nasty side effect of completely draining her.

    She grabbed a bundle of granola bars from her jacket and got started on one, ignoring that her hands were covered in blood. She wasn¡¯t in the mood to find a working sink in a condemned building. The bitter, salty blood definitely didn¡¯t help the taste, but she was ravenous and didn¡¯t care.

    When she finished, she leaned her head against the wall behind her back and closed her eyes. She was wet. Wet with mucus, slime, and blood. But that revulsion meant she was alive, and when fighting Monsters, that was victory. Despite that, she shuddered as she remembered the feel of the Monster¡¯s leathery, wet tongue on her face.

    Are you there, S?

    Still reforming, he said, seeming in just about as much pain as Addy.

    What the fuck are we supposed to do? she asked.

 Chapter 3

    Devin had seen plenty of crazy shit driving cabs, sometimes literally. He¡¯d had pukers, fuckers, shitters, and pissers, all in a very literal sense. More often than not, a passenger tended to be talkative, though, which was annoying, but at least it was mundane. Devin could directly correlate these things with how drunk a passenger was, which happened more often the further past midnight it was. He always figured the most exciting or weirdest stories would come from a drunkard, until tonight.

    When he¡¯d gotten the pick-up request, he¡¯d been a little perplexed. He knew the building, and that no one lived there. It¡¯d been condemned months ago because of some catastrophic water damage. The guy who¡¯d owned the building had been hit with a massive lawsuit. So, when Devin got the request for a ride, he was uneasy. He¡¯d nearly cancelled, but curiosity got the better of him.

    The lady who got in the car smelled awful, and immediately asked to be taken up the canyon. She was drenched in what seemed like every bodily fluid possible, and Devin nearly threw up on the spot and kicked her out. But instead, he choked out, ¡°Uh, rough night?¡± and immediately felt like an ass when she stared, deadpan, and said: ¡°Like you wouldn¡¯t believe.¡±

    It was the mother of all awkward silences. Devin wrestled between his typical ¡°don¡¯t fuck with it¡± attitude and the boiling bubble of guilt that was building up inside of him. Eventually he said, ¡°You, uh . . . you gonna call someone?¡±

    She didn¡¯t say anything.

    ¡°Cause, y¡¯know, these kinds of things . . . they¡¯re time-sensitive, y¡¯know, and . . . uh . . . I can come with you if you like.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± she said, tired and annoyed.

    ¡°I just thought that y¡¯know, that, uh . . . Never mind.¡±

    They drove up a canyon just outside the city. It wound up between pine trees that stretched straight up, blocking the moon from view. It was totally dark, and Devin had to turn on his brights to see anything at all. He always hated driving the canyons at night. He imagined some fuck-off elk meandering in front of him from a bend and knew that either he smacked into the elk and totaled his car or swerved and killed himself as he toppled over a cliff. These terrible choices made him hyperalert, so he carefully meandered up the canyon, slowing at every bend. He thought he was approaching a dead end when his phone beeped, ¡°You have arrived at your destination.¡±

    He blinked, and out of nowhere a shimmering, moonlit lake yawned out at Devin. Devin was suddenly queasy. He shouldn¡¯t be seeing this. Across the lake, a small house stood, lightless. It reminded Devin of some really bad horror movies, and he said, ¡°Uh, you gonna be alright, miss?¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± she said, clambering out of the car, ¡°Sorry about the mess.¡±

    ¡°Yeah.¡±

    She walked off toward the house, and Devin turned around and left, feeling like the worst person in the world as he drove away with relief washing over him.

    <hr>

    Even after two showers, Addy still smelled the musky mucus of the monster on her face. She flopped onto her lumpy bed and closed her eyes. A phantom, leathery tongue wiped across her face, and she shuddered. Addy felt like an amateur again, back when she¡¯d had no spells, didn¡¯t even know what silver did, and only had Splinter.

    Thinking of her knife, she flicked it open. The glimmering magenta blade reflected a stretched face back at her. A shard of that king¡¯s sword, or so the Lady claimed. A symbol of Addy¡¯s bondage through inherited oaths and debts. A tiny sliver passed down since the fall of Rome from father to son and so on until eventually it came to her. She held a piece of history in her hands. She¡¯d like to chuck it back into the lake where it belonged.

    Addy snapped the blade closed and stared at her ceiling instead. She traced the same patterns on the white, speckled surface her dad must¡¯ve. Swirls and shadows forming mundane tracks that grabbed the eye as it followed illusory paths leading nowhere. Part of her thought she was being deep. Another part of her thought she needed to get some fucking sleep.

    Finally! S said, Fully reformed.

    ¡°Oh, good,¡± Addy closed her eyes, ¡°You gonna tell me a bedtime story?¡±

    Through her closed eyelids, Addy sensed a green glow off to the right that said, ¡°Once upon a time, there was a very hungover girl and her brilliant familiar. This hungover girl hunted monsters, but had a weakness for drink, even though her snake told her it would get her killed¡ª¡±

    ¡°If you were corporeal, I¡¯d slap you,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°I could say the same to you,¡± S said, ¡°You nearly ¡®bit it,¡¯ as you would say. And now that thing is roaming free while you¡¯re in no shape to take it down.¡±

    ¡°So, it¡¯s all my fault?¡± Addy said.

    ¡°You have a responsibility¡ª¡±

    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Addy snapped, ¡°I have a coerced obligation. There¡¯s a big fucking difference, you slithery nightlight.¡±

    She glared at S, who recoiled.

    ¡°Perhaps,¡± S said, recovering his composure, ¡°But coerced or not, it is necessary. You are the only person currently equipped to deal with that thing. And the longer it roams free, the more children it will kill. You have, what, a single day based on its killing pattern to take it out before it slaughters another child? If you¡¯d been on top of things¡ª¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me about being on top of things,¡± Addy snarled, ¡°Do you have any fucking idea how exhausting it is cleaning up all these problems for that sodden bitch? Of course, you don¡¯t, because you¡¯re a fucking spirit. You don¡¯t even get tired. You¡¯re like a locomotive flashlight, just floating through the air and pestering me about bullshit.¡±

    ¡°I pester you to save lives,¡± S said.

    ¡°People die every day!¡± Addy shouted, ¡°Why the hell can¡¯t I take turns with someone? Jesus Christ, what I wouldn¡¯t give to tag someone else in for a week or two to help out. I¡¯m at my limit, S. Do you understand?¡±

    S paused for a moment, then said, ¡°No.¡±

    ¡°Your empathy is overwhelming,¡± Addy said coldly.

    ¡°Your petulance is irritating,¡± S said.

    Addy paused, and took a deep breath, covering her face as she sighed. She was exhausted, and her hangover hadn¡¯t totally disappeared yet. She just wanted to sleep. But she knew that S wouldn¡¯t let her. Not until she made some kind of progress hunting down this monster.

    ¡°What should we call it?¡± Addy asked.

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°I said, what should we call this thing?¡± Addy said, ¡°Unless you already know what it is?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    S shook his tiny snake¡¯s head.

    ¡°I say we call it the Misty Snatcher,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t exactly snatch, though, does it?¡± S said.

    ¡°Would you prefer ¡®Misty Strangler?¡¯¡± Addy said, ¡°Because to me, that sounds more like a serial killer. Misty Snatcher sounds more like a monster.¡±

    ¡°Whatever,¡± S said, ¡°Misty Snatcher it is.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll be easier to talk about now we¡¯ve given it a name,¡± Addy said, ¡°So, the next question is, how do we beat it?¡±

    ¡°Did Splinter fail?¡± S asked.

    ¡°Yeah, it just passed through it,¡± Addy said, ¡°It was like it turned into mist when I struck it. It was like fighting a phantom.¡±

    ¡°Do you think it might be one?¡± S said, ¡°If so, perhaps some incense¡ª¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t be stupid,¡± Addy said, ¡°If it was a phantom, then it wouldn¡¯t have bothered to munch on those kids¡¯ flesh. It would have just gone straight for the goodies inside their soul and would sure as hell made less of a ruckus.¡±

    ¡°It could be a variant of a phantom,¡± S pointed out.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Addy said, ¡°The way my blade passed through it . . . It¡¯s difficult to explain, but it was almost as if it was reacting to the cuts I made. The mist parted as I swung at it. When I strike phantoms, it¡¯s more like slashing light. No, this was a distinctly physical being. One that may be able to turn into mist, but still physical.¡±

    ¡°Then we should consider a stronger silver concentration.¡±

    Addy hesitated, then said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure it would make a difference.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±

    ¡°It didn¡¯t even recoil when I sprayed it,¡± Addy said, ¡°Normally when I use the atomizer, even if the concentration is too low, the Monster will flinch. I don¡¯t think this is a typical resistance; I think it might be immune to silver.¡±

    ¡°Well, that is certainly atypical,¡± S said, ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s not a phantom?¡±

    ¡°Positive,¡± Addy said, ¡°Remember the cardinal rule of Monsters: the rules apply until they don¡¯t. All Occult knowledge is basically a bunch of trends that form assumptions that idiots take as immutable fact to their peril. I¡¯m not interested in being in any more peril than I need to, so let¡¯s proceed with the assumption that it¡¯s not just resistant, but entirely immune to silver.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s a surprisingly cogent argument coming from you, Addy.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s what I tell myself every single time I deal with fucking monsters, so I¡¯ve had practice,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°Very well, then: the Misty Snatcher is immune to silver,¡± S conceded, ¡°We could enlist some allies who would be very interested in studying it. They may even have some ideas on how to take it down.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll stick with my regulars,¡± Addy said, ¡°I won¡¯t let that thing survive our next fight. And the last thing I want is to give some sick fuck like Ooros the idea to summon another one of these things for his sick experiments. Especially since his Monsters seem to have the nasty habit of escaping.¡±

    ¡°If you insist,¡± S said, ¡°But do you have any ideas on how to take it out?¡±

    ¡°Well, this is kind of a stretch, but...¡± Addy stopped and looked at her knees.

    ¡°I¡¯m waiting with bated breath,¡± S said.

    ¡°Maybe we could freeze it.¡±

    S remained silent for a moment, then said, ¡°But you don¡¯t have any spells that control temperature.¡±

    ¡°Oh, geez, thanks for the reminder,¡± Addy rolled her eyes, ¡°I know I don¡¯t have anything in the Driftwood Tome that¡¯ll freeze it, but there are other ways to freeze something. Like liquid nitrogen.¡±

    S blinked, ¡°Pardon, but how in the world will you get liquid nitrogen on such short notice?¡±

    ¡°I could steal it,¡± Addy said, ¡°It¡¯d be for a noble cause.¡±

    ¡°That is incredibly stupid.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Addy said, ¡°I could totally do it. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time¡ª¡±

    ¡°Addy, you have no idea how to safely handle liquid nitrogen.¡±

    ¡°I could learn¡ª¡±

    ¡°And even if you did, how would you find the time to find a supplier and track down the Misty Snatcher and not get caught by the police all on the same day?¡± S continued, ¡°It presents a rather volatile element, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡±

    ¡°Well, what do you suggest, genius?¡±

    ¡°You could always see the Leaser.¡±

    Addy blinked, then glanced away, feeling a little flush of shame.

    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she hates me now.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯ll still do business with you,¡± S pointed out.

    ¡°At ridiculous mark-ups,¡± Addy complained.

    ¡°But you could still get your hands on a freezing Spell.¡±

    ¡°She might not even have one!¡±

    ¡°It is still markedly a superior option to stealing liquid nitrogen.¡±

    Try as she might, Addy could tell she would not win this argument. She sighed, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll talk with her.¡±

    ¡°Good!¡± S perked up, ¡°I was certain you¡¯d see sense.¡±

    ¡°That just leaves the question of how in the world we¡¯re going to track it down and trap it,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°It seems to consume the dreams of children,¡± S said.

    ¡°That¡¯s not enough to go on, since there are literally thousands of children in this city,¡± Addy frowned, ¡°I guess I better visit the Geezer tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Do you think he will be able to provide some kind of insight?¡± S asked.

    ¡°He has in the past,¡± Addy shrugged, ¡°Besides, it¡¯ll mean I can put off talking to the Leaser.¡±

    ¡°How prudent of you.¡±

    <hr>

    Addy wasn¡¯t a morning person, and the misery of the previous night only made waking up at the crack of dawn even worse than usual. She didn¡¯t wake up early because she needed more time to track down the Misty Snatcher, but because she had to go through one of her least favorite rituals to prepare for the fight, a ritual that could only be conducted at dawn.

    The brisk morning air raised goosebumps all over Addy¡¯s exposed skin, and she pulled her bathrobe tighter around her. She bustled over to the lake, whose pristine blue surface came alive with shimmering light as the morning sun struck its glassy surface. It smelled of rotting dead fish and moldy leaves, despite its clean appearance. One of the dubious benefits of serving the Lady was access to this Lake and its contents. No one could even come here without Addy¡¯s or the Lady¡¯s permission. It was a secret hideout, a fortress shielded by illusion from the many enemies that Addy had accrued during her brief tenure in the Lady¡¯s service. No one was around to ogle her, but she still felt exposed as she let the bathrobe drop upon reaching the water¡¯s edge. She only had on a pair of flip flops to protect her feet from the pebbly excuse for a beach that circled the lake.

    Taking a deep breath, Addy strode straight into the lake. Dipping her feet in, the shocking cold made her whole body spasm, and she stumbled forward, gritting her teeth against the unpleasant chill. She strode forward until only her head was above the water¡¯s surface. The cold seemed to shrink her lungs, and she gasped for air. She floated until she finally felt her body acclimate to the frigid water as a bloom of warmth flooded from her chest through her limbs. Then she submerged, snapping her eyes shut.

    The water¡¯s chill licked unpleasantly at her face as she suddenly sank deeper and deeper into depths beyond what her feet could have possibly touched before. Then, she gulped in the water. Its bitter slime coated her tongue, making her stomach convulse with disgust. She coughed, and great bubbles gurgled around her head as she snapped her eyes open. She could breathe, though it felt like she was inhaling syrup.

    The lake swarmed with glittering silver fish that swam in undulating schools around her. Kelp rose from the unseen lakebed, wavering in the underwater currents. Everything was colored a sickly shade of green, and darkness seemed to creep in from all sides. Even looking up, Addy could not see the surface of the lake; no sun glinted down to her. She saw nothing but green darkness. But as she scanned around, Addy glimpsed a shining blue light off to the side, glinting from within a dim halo.

    Clenching her flip flops between her toes, Addy swam toward the light. It grew larger and larger with each successive stroke until finally she saw the marble pedestal upon the rocky mound that rose from the lake¡¯s unseen depths. As she drew closer, the light dimmed to nothing at all, and she saw a piece of driftwood floating above the pedestal, tied by a thick, rusted iron chain that had long since been covered in thick, furry algae.

    This was the Driftwood Tome. Within it resided the Spells the Lady had granted to Addy. As she touched its soft, uneven surface, she could feel them respond, licking at her palm like candle-flames. She could distinguish each and every presence within. The reliable trifecta pushed to the front expectantly. She sent a mental command, and Healer retreated hesitantly, as if worried about why Addy hadn¡¯t chosen her. Instead, another came forward: Pond Phaser. She wasn¡¯t entirely certain what would happen, but she knew that if she needed to lay a trap, she would need to get to places that she otherwise couldn¡¯t. And like that, she felt Blaster, Dampening Sphere, and Pond Phaser suddenly wriggle into her palm, tickling her at first, but turning into uncomfortable pressure that suddenly released as the three eager Spells shoved their way inside. They traveled through her arm until they took up residence in her gut, lazily swimming within.

    Addy let go of the Driftwood Tome and closed her eyes again, holding her breath until she could feel her lungs burn, then snapped her eyes open again to see sunlight glinting through the water above. She shoved her way upward and broke through the water¡¯s surface, then took in a great gulp of air.

    As usual, although she¡¯d swum to the center of the lake, she somehow appeared kneeling on the shore, not even knowing how she¡¯d left the water. Addy wrung her hair, sending a clear stream of water dribbling onto the pebble-strewn ground. She shivered, feeling as if the chill morning air would freeze the droplets of water to her face. Teeth chattering, she rushed back to the house.

 Chapter 4

    The Geezer¡¯s bookshop was a squat, dilapidated red-brick building squeezed between two skyscrapers. It gave the impression of stubbornly refusing to adapt to the times, a dog-faced rebel in the heart of the financial district. Its quaintness struck newcomers, while the local professionals strained themselves, pretending it didn¡¯t exist as if embarrassed.

    A former local magnate, Jim Wilfrey, who had owned nearly every building in the financial district, once tried to buy it. The Geezer, however, refused. Determined to get rid of the Geezer, Wilfrey investigated the strange shop. He noticed (or rather, the P.I. he hired noticed) that almost no one ever entered the building and suspected there may be some illicit activity he could exploit to deluge the owner with a cascade of fines, legal fees, and potential prison sentences. But the police found nothing amiss, though strangely, their paperwork was sparing in detail.

    Frustrated, Wilfrey resorted to less wholesome tactics. One of the local gangs, the Westpoint G¡¯s, went to harass the owner of the ugly little bookshop. But strangely, they never attacked it, as they all came down with a nasty flu, and subsequently lost interest in going after the bookshop owner. A superstition was born.

    Wilfrey, then, made his biggest mistake. He went straight to the Geezer and tried to ¡°settle¡± things with him. Wilfrey soon developed a strange form of rapid onset Alzheimer¡¯s and became totally incapable of managing his affairs. Several of his riskier financial schemes soon collapsed under the mismanagement of his far less capable executors, and the Wilfrey fortune disappeared in a puff of smoke. The bookshop owner has, since, been left to his own devices, and even more pointedly ignored than before. But to the superstitious, they considered this proof of the Geezer¡¯s Curse, named for the bookshop owner who seemed to have been an old man for the past forty years. Most people scoff at it, yet no one enters that strange, ugly little bookshop except the Geezer, his assistant, and his guests.

    It was the rumor of this curse that initially led Addy to the Geezer, back when she didn¡¯t know anything about the Occult, but had to get caught up quickly. She didn¡¯t have S yet and the Lady was the kind of boss who expected Addy to learn everything on her own. Once the Geezer knew who Addy served, he had become incredibly amicable toward her, and ever since the two had been close allies. Although, as far as Addy could tell, the Geezer didn¡¯t have a curse, nor even access to Spells. She has learned that he is not a man to take lightly and respects the spirit¡ªif not the fact¡ªof the Geezer¡¯s Curse.

    The door jingled as she opened it, and the Geezer¡¯s wispy voice scratched out, ¡°Boy, are you finally back?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s Addy,¡± she said, ¡°And you really shouldn¡¯t call Jerome ¡®boy.¡¯¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡± the Geezer said as he shuffled from the back, passing between precariously stacked obscure, dusty volumes, ¡°He¡¯s a boy, Adeline, what¡¯s your point?¡±

    ¡°Never mind,¡± Addy said, not wanting to debate the octogenarian on the finer points of bigotry, ¡°I need your help.¡±

    ¡°Oh, good!¡± the Geezer said brightly, flashing Addy with his pearly white dentures. They stood out against his crinkled, parchment-like face. On something so decrepit, it was unsettling to find something so bright and flawless.

    ¡°It¡¯s about those child murders,¡± Addy said, looking away from the Geezer¡¯s teeth.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± he said, stroking his shaven chin with shaking hands, ¡°Dreadful stuff, that. We¡¯d better go in the back.¡±

    The Geezer shuffled away, between the winding maze of innumerable thick tomes. Addy followed along behind him, careful not to touch the stacks, lest she topple them to the ground. She¡¯d never knocked them over, but Jerome had once bumped into a stack, and it led to a domino like toppling of walls of books. The Geezer was normally soft-spoken, but he¡¯d flared up with a vengeance, and hounded Jerome with epithets¡ªsome vaguely and uncomfortably racist¡ªuntil each and every book had been cleaned up. It had been a train wreck of awkwardness. It made Addy wonder at Jerome¡¯s resilience, since she probably would have left the old man¡¯s shop long ago if she¡¯d had to suffer that kind of abuse. But Jerome seemed quite driven, and like it or not the Geezer was, apparently, the foremost master of the Occult in this hemisphere, and so despite his . . . problematic tendencies, he had imparted a significant chunk of wisdom onto his apprentice.

    When Addy had talked with Jerome about it, the youth had admitted the Geezer pissed him off plenty, but that the old fart respected, if not Jerome¡¯s heritage, then at least his intelligence and resolve. Jerome even speculated that maybe the old man needled him intentionally, trying to low-key fuck with his focus over time, to help his self-control when conducting particularly dangerous and frustrating rituals. Addy wasn¡¯t so sure, even after Jerome¡¯s explanations about ¡°Entity Resonance¡± and how disastrous it could be to lose control when conducting even the most mundane rituals.

    Much like the rest of his shop, the Geezer¡¯s office was a tumbling mess of books stacked in delicate towers, intermixed with peculiar baubles and trinkets. Given his age, Addy would have thought him at least a little forgetful, but the old bat seemed as sharp as ever. Despite his nonsensical organization (or lack thereof), when he needed something among the thousands of books and objects, he found it without hesitation. It was a mess decipherable only by him and, to a lesser extent, Jerome.

    The Geezer sat down at his desk, his face framed by countless books, and Addy moved a small stack from the chair opposite to the ground, and sat herself, explaining her predicament. The Geezer stroked his chin, nodding thoughtfully.

    ¡°It also had a mark on its tongue,¡± Addy said, ¡°If I had to guess, it¡¯s probably serving some Patron or other, though it didn¡¯t belong to any of the usual suspects.¡±

    ¡°And you think it¡¯s harvesting dreams?¡± the Geezer asked.

    Addy shrugged, ¡°There was oneiromantic residue on the body, so it seems likely.¡±

    The Geezer nodded, ¡°The dreams of children are a particularly powerful fuel, if one knows how to harvest them. Which, it would seem, this creature can. Have you identified any patterns to the attacks?¡±

    ¡°Nothing other than what I¡¯ve told you, so I was kind of hoping you¡¯d have some ideas,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°Have you tried mapping them out yet?¡±

    ¡°Um, no.¡±

    The old man nodded his head and smiled. ¡°Geography should never be underestimated!¡±

    He booted up a computer caked in dust and hummed some tuneless ditty to himself. Not long after, he was cursing to himself.

    ¡°You want me to do it?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d rather Jerome did it,¡± the Geezer grumbled.

    ¡°In the meantime, . . .?¡±

    ¡°Oh, fine!¡±

    A few searches later, Addy began putting pins in the map, and frowned, ¡°Well, it isn¡¯t what I¡¯d normally call a pattern . . .¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a straight line!¡± the Geezer said.

    Indeed, the attacks were irregularly spaced along a straight line through the city¡¯s grid.

    ¡°Well, I guess it does narrow things down,¡± Addy said.

    ¡°Hmph, it still leaves you quite a few options for where it will strike next.¡±

    ¡°This might be a dumb idea, but maybe I can have S canvas the area and look for oneiromantic residue. Maybe we could get some other idea on where it hangs out?¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°It would take too long for S to check each and every building,¡± the Geezer said, but then he gave a little conspiratorial smirk, ¡°Unless he had some help, of course.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯d you have in mind?¡± Addy asked.

    The old man took out a small piece of paper and scratched a small, relatively simple magic circle on it. ¡°Do you think your familiar could trace this sigil around the city, dispersing his own residue along the lines?¡±

    Addy frowned, ¡°I think so, but he¡¯ll be stretched pretty thin...¡±

    Not to mention, S interjected into Addy¡¯s mind, It would take me a while to recover and it¡¯ll hurt like hell.

    ¡°It will be worth it,¡± the Geezer said, ¡°I can help you channel a ritual through him, and that should allow you to map oneiromantic Residue intensity through the entire city!¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Addy said, suddenly excited, ¡°Could we use this to pin down the strange residue it sheds when it turns into mist?¡±

    The Geezer frowned, shaking his head as he rubbed his shining pate, ¡°I¡¯m afraid the ritual is rather specific, and unless I know what kind of residue it sheds, or its components were it complex, I cannot identify it. In fact, I am simply operating off the fact that the, uh, ¡®Misty Snatcher,¡¯ as you dubbed it, is invading the dreams of the children it has marked.¡±

    It seems worth it to me, Addy projected to S, Do you think you can do it, and quickly?

    Very well, S said, though Addy detected a note of bitter resignation, I can do it, but it¡¯ll take me an hour.

    ¡°S can do it in an hour,¡± Addy said, ¡°How long should it take you to get things ready on your end?¡±

    ¡°Almost no time at all,¡± the Geezer said, ¡°I can prepare it now, and channel it through your Pact Artifact, Splinter. You need only give a pinprick of blood to make the ritual succeed!¡±

    Well, you better get going then, Addy told S.

    I shall, but are you certain there are no other tasks you need me to complete first?

    Stop wasting time.

    Addy felt S leave dejectedly, then asked the Geezer, ¡°Should we get started?¡±

    The Geezer waved his hand, ¡°I¡¯ll have Jerome do it.¡±

    ¡°When should he be back?¡± Addy said, glancing at her phone.

    The bell jingled. ¡°Just about now,¡± the Geezer said.

    ¡°Oh, hey Addy!¡± Jerome said as he bustled into the office. Jerome was short but built like a tank. Apparently, he loved powerlifting in between bouts of learning about the Occult from a racist old codger. Despite his youth, he shaved his head bald, so it gleamed in the dim yellow light of the stuffy bookshop.

    He carried a small paper bag, from which he extracted a flaky, chocolate frosted donut and handed it over to the Geezer, who accepted it with a snort, ¡°Took you long enough.¡±

    ¡°Longer line than usual,¡± Jerome apologized, ¡°Looks like there¡¯s a convention or something.¡±

    The Geezer took on a dark look, as if contemplating something nasty for the convention goers, then said, ¡°Find Alfonso¡¯s Mystic Arcanum Volume Three and initiate the Residue Detection Ritual, Variant Fifteen.¡±

    Jerome blinked, ¡°Uh, sure. Why am I doing that?¡±

    ¡°Always questions with you!¡± the Geezer snapped as he bit into his donut, smearing cream over his face, ¡°If you spent as much time asking questions as you did thinking, you¡¯d be twice as smart.¡±

    As Jerome left, Addy raised an eyebrow at the Geezer, who returned a petulant stare as he continued munching on his donut. Finally, Addy said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being a little bit shitty?¡±

    The Geezer mumbled some string of curses while he finished his donut, and Addy sighed, ¡°Fine. Thanks for everything. I¡¯ll go help Jerome set up.¡±

    ¡°You do that.¡±

    In the back of the shop was a set of stairs leading down to a concrete basement. Wood beams braced the floor above. All along the sides of the walls were a series of intricate sigils that protected the Geezer¡¯s workshop from prying eyes and hostile spells. Addy supposed it was the single safest place in the city. Near the center, Jerome was lighting some candles, and intermittently checking a book he had placed on a small table.

    Addy helped him set up, following his precise directions, painting incomprehensible markings on the ground and burning small bundles of incense. The markings were almost nonsensical, spiraling away from each other haphazardly. Eventually, Jerome placed a large map of the city over the markings, and Addy went to a small marble plinth he placed at the head of the ritual circle. She pricked her finger with Splinter and smeared her blood over the blade before placing it on the plinth.

    Ready, S said in Addy¡¯s mind, and she nodded to Jerome, who began reciting a strange incantation.

    The markings suddenly flared to life. The map was being marked by lines drawn with a fire that gave off no heat. Addy stared as thirteen small, red lights glowed in a line straight through the city. She recognized at least a few of the lights as the homes where the Misty Snatcher had struck. They all varied in intensity, and Jerome screwed up his face in thought. He took out a small camera and recorded each of the lights, scribbling notes intermittently.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Addy asked.

    ¡°I¡¯m measuring the intensity of the lights,¡± Jerome said.

    ¡°I thought you couldn¡¯t record magic,¡± Addy frowned.

    ¡°You can if you know how,¡± Jerome said, taking down another note, ¡°And despite how crap the Geezer is with tech, he knows how to get magic to interface with it. Speaking of which . . .¡±

    ¡°Jerome!¡± a hoarse voice shouted through a pipe next to Addy, who jumped, ¡°I¡¯m getting a signal. Are you finished down there?¡±

    ¡°Tell him I¡¯ll be up in a sec,¡± Jerome said as he continued making notes and double-checking his measurements.

    Not long after, Jerome and Addy headed back upstairs, and the Geezer said, ¡°About time. Take a look at this.¡±

    On his screen were a series of navigation pins, somehow corresponding to the points of light on the magic map downstairs. Addy doubted he had put those in manually. ¡°Did you get the measurements?¡± the Geezer asked.

    Jerome nodded, then started sounding off a bunch of measurements, which the Geezer slowly tried to put in, until Jerome politely intervened, entering them himself into the spreadsheet, generating a bar chart. Along the bottom was the street number, and the size of each bar corresponded to the intensity of the measured lights.

    ¡°Hmm,¡± the old man said, ¡°Well, still just a line, but each of those dots have a different intensity. Wonder what that means . . .¡±

    Addy frowned, ¡°Wait, how is this ritual picking up the oneiromantic residue from the murder victims¡¯ homes? The bodies would have been moved already.¡±

    ¡°Time is a river, and we paddled upstream,¡± the Geezer said, waving a hand at her, ¡°The ritual is very handy in that regard. Great for picking up historical residue peaks.¡±

    ¡°So, each of those points indicate when the Residue was at its peak?¡±

    ¡°Over the last few days, yes,¡± the Geezer said.

    ¡°Is it picking up anything from the future?¡±

    The Geezer gave a barking laugh, ¡°Don¡¯t be silly.¡±

    ¡°Then the residue signatures could increase in strength over time?¡±

    The Geezer nodded, ¡°Most definitely. But without several other, far more sophisticated rituals, good luck picking up changes in the Residue signatures.¡±

    ¡°So, maybe the strongest remaining peak is where it will attack next?¡± Addy asked.

    ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem so,¡± the Geezer said, ¡°The boy who died last night, his Residue signature was hardly stronger than this one here,¡± and the Geezer pointed at another point on the screen, ¡°I don¡¯t think this thing is harvesting based on intensity of the Residue.¡±

    ¡°Wait,¡± Jerome said, ¡°This looks familiar to me.¡±

    ¡°It does?¡± Addy and Jerome asked.

    Jerome nodded, ¡°It looks like a frequency map.¡±

    Addy stared, then looked at the Geezer. He shrugged.

    ¡°Well, the details aren¡¯t super important,¡± Jerome said, and he walked over to a corner of the office, and took his laptop out of his backpack, ¡°But the point is I could derive a shape or something from it. Could you read me the street addresses from each of the points?¡±

    What followed was tedious, as Addy read off addresses and the intensity signature of each point to Jerome. After about an hour of him typing furiously at his keyboard, muttering weird technobabble, he exclaimed in triumph, ¡°Take a look!¡±

    A chart was displayed on Jerome¡¯s screen. The shape seemed strangely familiar...

    ¡°Wait a sec,¡± Addy said, ¡°This is almost like the symbol I saw on the creature¡¯s tongue. Well, half of it, anyway.¡±

    ¡°Could you draw it?¡± Jerome asked, and Addy sketched it on a piece of paper, then handed it over to Jerome, who, after a little more furious typing and consulting with the sketch, showed her the symbol displayed on his laptop. A little chill of victory made Addy smile, ¡°That¡¯s it!¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what happened, but that¡¯s great!¡± the Geezer said, ¡°Excellent work, Jerome.¡±

    Jerome smiled, and said, ¡°Thanks.¡±

    Then Addy frowned, ¡°Well, this is neat and all, but how does it help us track down the Misty Snatcher?¡±

    ¡°Well, this is just a guess,¡± Jerome said, ¡°But you know the addresses of the murdered children?¡±

    Addy nodded.

    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t have to change those frequency signatures at all.¡±

    ¡°Which means...?¡±

    ¡°This is kind of a stretch, but this,¡± he said, pointing at a row on a table he pulled up on his laptop, ¡°Is the address corresponding to the frequency signature I had to adjust the least. Well, of the ones I even changed at all. And each time I had to make an adjustment, it was positive, so . . .¡±

    ¡°The Misty Snatcher is building up oneiromantic residue in each of the children before it harvests them, and you think that the child living at that address is due to be killed.¡±

    Jerome nodded.

    Addy frowned, ¡°But why?¡±

    ¡°Who knows,¡± the Geezer said, ¡°Could be its marking territory for its master, carving out the Souls in the city to be sent to it upon death.¡±

    Jerome gaped, ¡°That¡¯s horrible!¡±

    ¡°Indeed,¡± the Geezer said, ¡°But it¡¯s only a guess, and it can be foolish to guess at the machinations of monsters.¡±

    Addy flicked her gaze from the Geezer, to Jerome, then back again. Apparently, the apprentice didn¡¯t know his soul was already marked to be taken. But if the creature really was after the Souls of the city¡¯s denizens, then the Lady would be pissed if it pulled it off, and who knows what she¡¯d have in store for Addy at that point. Addy sighed, rubbed the bridge of her nose, then said, ¡°Well, this gets me the most likely location where that fucking thing is going to pop up next.¡±

    Addy stood up and made to leave, but the Geezer said, ¡°You got a plan?¡±

    Addy paused in the doorway, then said, ¡°The beginnings of one. Just need to chat with the Leaser and raid an orthopedic clinic.¡±

 Chapter 5

    Inky mist floated in through the cracks around the window. A young girl muttered in her sleep, clutching her stuffed bunny tightly to her chest as if having a nightmare.

    Slowly, the mist coalesced, forming into a dark humanoid shape. Long tendrils tumbled to the floor from slender arms like wiry streamers. Hundreds of unblinking black eyes scanned the room. The pastel pink walls seemed lavender in the dim moonlight that streamed through the blinds. Toys were strewn across, ranging from dolls to metal matchbox cars. The creature carefully traversed the littered landscape, stalking toward the bed. Thrashing fingers grasped with suppressed anticipation toward the sleeping, whimpering child. Her eyes flickered behind her lids, almost as if they could see the approaching monster, but could not open to meet its terrible advance.

    Slobber slowly drooled from the monster¡¯s mouth, and its trunk-like head stretched forward eagerly. Rows of gnashing teeth clacked softly like the clattering of building blocks. It could taste the young girl¡¯s terror as she ran from phantoms in the dreams it had planted within her. She was just ripe enough for harvest, her fear reaching the right pitch to signal its master, siphoning a piece of this city¡¯s soul. But the creature didn¡¯t understand this; it simply acted on the instinct that had been implanted into it. There was only one thing on its primitive mind.

    That there was nothing like the helpless to whet a famished appetite.

    The tubular mouth opened, expanding like a balloon. Wiry tendrils splayed out, ready to squeeze her throat so tightly not a gasp would escape. Her terror would be complete as it pulped her head and extracted the sweet, terrifying dreams from within, like juicing an orange.

    Its many eyes saw a closet door open, though there was not a sound. It swiveled to stare as a familiar scentless female strode forward, her hands extended before her. She was drenched. She smirked and said something from beneath a faceplate, her neck fixed tightly with a thick, white neck brace.

    <hr>

    Addy was cold, wet, and miserable. And to make things worse, she¡¯d only just realized that the stupid creature wouldn¡¯t be able to hear her. She¡¯d spent all night coming up with that line, and it had been fucking wasted. But she didn¡¯t have time to dwell on her wasted one-liner: she summoned Blaster, who swirled and writhed through her veins and burst from her hand. Her other hand, which was numb from the Frost Spell the Leaser had engraved upon it suddenly got a lot colder. It felt like her palm would peel off. A frigid mist sprayed out alongside the stream rocketing toward the enraged monster. Too late, it seemed to sense it was in danger, and tried to dodge, but was smacked in the chest by the freezing water that hardened into ice as the frozen mist coated it, crystallizing into a white mesh.

    Addy didn¡¯t give it a chance to recover. Her left hand was still numb, but her right was nimble, if a bit tingly. She drew Snap and fired several shots into the screaming creature. Not a sound escaped Addy¡¯s Dampening Sphere, but the muzzle flashes lit up the room, and the suddenly awakened little girl¡¯s screaming soon joined the shrieks of the wounded monster.

    Snap clicked as the last round collided with the frosty, oozing monster. There was a rattling at the door, and the little girl¡¯s ear-piercing screams chorused with her parent¡¯s desperate shouts. It was bad enough the little girl was in danger, and though Addy had felt a little dirty for doing it, locking the door was the only way to keep the parents from getting in her way.

    The Misty Snatcher pounced at Addy, and she dropped Snap to the carpet, pulling out Splinter. It collided with her, residue oozing all over her jacket. It grabbed at her throat, but the neck brace softened its death grip, giving Addy just enough time to stab the monster¡¯s throat with Splinter. Addy expected resistance despite herself as the blade sank in, but Splinter passed through as if slicing air. But instead of parting into mist, Residue bubbled around where the blade had struck. The Misty Snatcher gurgled, and Residue spurted out of its tubular maw onto Addy¡¯s faceplate, where it fizzled away into nothing.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    The monster let go with a morose trumpet as Addy repeatedly stabbed it, sinking the knife to the hilt each time. The monster stumbled to its feet, knees buckling. Addy jabbed at it, Splinter extending before her. The Snatcher threw itself against the window, shattering the glass with a crash. Addy heard a dull thud as it smacked into the ground below and ran to the window to see its shadowy form limping away; it had fallen two stories.

    The rattling door had given way to slamming as something heavy was thrown against it, making the door buckle in its frame. Addy grimaced, then saw the limb of a tree nearby. The door buckled again. A woman shouted from behind the door, her voice shrill with fright. Addy pocketed Splinter, gathered up Snap, and went back to the window.

    ¡°Are you a superhero?¡± the little girl asked in a trembling voice.

    Addy paused, then said, ¡°Sure, kid.¡±

    The tree limb was right there, and Addy jumped for it, grabbing with both hands. It bent under her weight, and she let go, bending her knees as she smacked into the soft lawn below. Shocks of pain shot through her legs, and she gritted her teeth. Above, Addy heard the door smash open. If she stuck around, people might get the wrong idea. I mean, who¡¯d believe the kid that a superhero burst out of her closet to fight a monster?

    Addy sprinted after the Misty Snatcher, which she saw stumble down an alley several houses down.

    She¡¯d had to watch the house for hours, waiting for the little girl to be put to bed. Addy had used her Phasing Pond Spell¡ªwhich had the miserable side effect of soaking her¡ªin order to get inside the little girl¡¯s closet, waiting for the Misty Snatcher to finally show its face. Or rather, what passed for its face. It had been painful watching it stalk toward the little girl, drool slobbering to the floor out of its disgusting mouth. But Addy had waited, wanting to strike when it was at its most vulnerable. She¡¯d honestly expected Snap to be able to finish the job. She¡¯d been a little dismayed when it hadn¡¯t even fallen. But now that she¡¯d stabbed it with Splinter, its magical abilities were thoroughly fucked. It would be weeks¡ªmaybe even months¡ªbefore it would be able to turn into mist again, and any supernatural healing factors it had would be degraded to near nothing. It would die tonight.

    And it seemed to realize this. Or at least had been forced to reckon with it. Addy found it lying on the ground, chest heaving. It had evidently collapsed from massive Residue loss. It whined pathetically, like a kicked dog. Its numerous black, fish egg eyes were staring at Addy, pleading for mercy.

    She stepped on its neck, and cleanly severed its head with Splinter. It croaked in shock, then rattled in death throes as it slowly melted away into oozing Residue.

    As the Residue fizzled away into nothing, becoming invisible to mortal eyes, Addy collapsed against a nearby wall, and closed her eyes. She was exhausted. She¡¯d done her job. No one else had died from her overconfidence the night before. She¡¯d won. So why didn¡¯t she feel anything other than exhaustion? Shouldn¡¯t she feel triumphant?

    ¡°Don¡¯t move!¡±

    Addy groaned, and saw a bald, bearded man in a bathrobe, pointing a snub nose revolver at her, his hands shaking uncertainly. Addy could tell just by looking at him that he had never pointed a gun at anyone in his entire life. Addy could tell, though, that despite his discomfiture and lack of confidence, he had the steely resolve of a father protecting his family. He would shoot her if he felt he had to.

    Addy dismissed Dampening Sphere and said, ¡°Sure thing.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve called the cops, so don¡¯t do anything,¡± the dad said, his voice trembling angrily.

    His eyes kept flicking toward the melting Misty Snatcher.

    ¡°You curious what that is?¡± Addy smirked.

    ¡°No,¡± he said.

    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Addy chuckled, ¡°Your mind¡¯s catching up with you, and it doesn¡¯t know how to process whatever the fuck that thing melting before your eyes even is. It¡¯s trying to figure out why it fizzles away into nothing, and it¡¯s melting your brain just a little.¡±

    ¡°Stop talking.¡±

    Addy got to her feet.

    ¡°Stay where you are!¡± he bellowed, his voice echoing off the tight walls of the alleyway.

    ¡°You won¡¯t shoot me, I don¡¯t think,¡± Addy said, and looked at the man, ¡°You know on some level that I just saved your daughter¡¯s life. So, I¡¯m going to go home, and you¡¯re going to say a burglar broke in, but you managed to chase him off with your gun, but you couldn¡¯t apprehend him. They¡¯re going to have a tough time putting a lot of this together, and they¡¯ll definitely be confused by the wet closet, but they¡¯ll believe you, because they¡¯d rather not look into the weirdness of this case any further than they have to, though they won¡¯t quite know why.¡±

    ¡°How do you know that?¡±

    ¡°Because that¡¯s how shit like this usually goes in this city,¡± Addy said, ¡°Do yourself a favor, and forget what you saw in this alley. Especially me. You¡¯ll be happier that way.¡±

    Addy walked down the alley for a home and a bottle-sized nightcap.