what looked like a harmless, lightweight extendable selfie stick.
Her fingers pressed a hidden catch near the grip; the metallic segments locked, the phone clamp snapped inward into a weighted pommel, and with a heavy CLICK-CLACK the gadget lengthened into a solid tactical steel baton.
She stepped in front of Lester, holding the reinforced rod in a low combat stance.
Sky lunged, swinging the transformed rod in a precise, athletic arc straight for Mira's temple.
CLANG!
The heavy steel struck a horn directly, throwing sparks, but the entity didn't even flinch. Before Sky could reset her stance, the anomaly's hand blurred—clamping around her throat with iron force and lifting her effortlessly off her feet.
"Is this what the Association has to offer?" it purred, lips curling back over rows of razor-sharp fangs. "A stale little side-salad with a stick?"
"Y… you…" Skye choked out, her legs kicking uselessly as her weapon clattered to the carpet.
"Use your camera and take a picture of us now!"
"Y..you" Skye choked out, her legs kicking uselessly as her weapon clattered to the carpet.
"Use your camera and take a picture of us now!"
Learning his lesson about hesitation, Lester didn't even think.
Panic overrode the blinding pain in his hand. He ignored his throbbing palm, lifted his vintage camera, and pointed it blindly toward the struggling pair.
CLICK-WHIRRR.
The loud, bright flash of the camera fired, illuminating the corridor.
The light hit the anomaly like a physical shockwave.
A sharp, agonized screech tore from her throat as her iron grip instantly loosened, dropping Sky to the carpet.
The entity reeled backward, clutching its face as the bright flare stunned her completely, leaving her staggering and disoriented in the middle of the hallway.
"Move!" Sky gasped, grabbing Lester by his jacket and dragging him forward before Mira could recover.
They bolted down the corridor, taking a sharp left, then a right through a labyrinth of identical hallways in the sprawling house.
Their footsteps thundered against the wooden floorboards until Sky shoved open a door, pulled Lester inside, and slammed it shut behind them.
It was a small, dimly lit bathroom. Above the porcelain sink sat a wide, spotless mirror reflecting two pale, terrified faces.
Lester collapsed against the counter, his chest heaving violently.
His lungs felt like squeezed sponges, refusing to expand. Panic and pain choked his airway as he hyperventilated, his good hand frantically slapping at his coat pockets, digging through receipts and pens in a desperate search.
"I-I... gasp... I can't breathe..." he wheezed out, his vision swimming with dark spots.
His trembling fingers finally caught on the familiar plastic casing of his inhaler. He yanked it out, brought it to his mouth, and pressed down twice.
PFFT-PFFT.
Lester collapsed against the counter, his chest heaving violently.
His lungs felt like squeezed sponges, refusing to expand. Panic and pain choked his airway as he hyperventilated, his good hand frantically slapping at his coat pockets, digging through receipts and pens in a desperate search.
"I-I... gasp... I can't breathe..." he wheezed out, his vision swimming with dark spots.
His trembling fingers finally caught on the familiar plastic casing of his inhaler. He yanked it out, brought it to his mouth, and pressed down twice.
PFFT-PFFT.
He inhaled deeply, holding the cool mist in his lungs until his airways grudgingly widened. He exhaled a long, shuddering breath, resting his forearms against the sink basin while his whole frame continued to shake.
He readjusted his glasses
He turned his eyes towards Skye.
"What... what was that thing?" he demanded, his voice shaking with a mix of terror and sudden, hot indignation.
"How is a monster like that even real? What is happening?!"
Skye adjusted her jacket, her expression guarded. "The less you know, the better. Trust me."
"The less I know?!" Lester's voice snapped, rising into a furious, cracked register.
He slammed his left fist onto the edge of the sink, his chest heaving.
"My life is literally on the line! I was almost killed three minutes ago! My hand is sliced open, I'm bleeding on your shoes, and a horned monster is hunting us down!
If you're supposed to be handling this, why isn't it actually you doing it?"
Skye let out a dry, humorless exhale.
"That thing is what is classified as a paranormal."
"It's my organization that handles paranormals like this, not me single-handedly.
That paranormal was way beyond my pay grade."
"And I didn't know that work was going to show up here," she added, her voice tightening with frustration.
"Don't worry too much I already contacted for backup—we just need to wait for them."
Lester opened his mouth, gasping as he tried to find the words to argue back.
"Yes," Skye cut him off smoothly, holding up a hand before he could speak. "The take time to mobilise."
Lester gritted his teeth, forced to yield to the reality of the situation.
He hoisted himself up and sat on the edge of the porcelain sink, cradling his sliced palm.
Skye stepped past him, opened the medicine cabinet above the counter, and pulled out a standard emergency first aid kit resting on the top shelf.
She popped the plastic latches, pulled out a bottle of antiseptic spray, gauze, and a roll of medical tape, then grabbed Lester's bloody wrist with firm, practiced hands.
"Hold still," Skye murmured, spraying the antiseptic across his open wound.
Lester hissed sharply through his teeth, his leg twitching, but he didn't pull away.
She laid a thick pad of sterile gauze over his palm and began wrapping the white cloth tightly around his hand and knuckles, securing his wrist.
Pulling the tape tight, she pressed the edge against the fresh bandage.
"My job—and the job of the organization I work with—is to track these anomalies out in the field before civilian populations notice," Skye explained, smoothing down the edge of the tape.
"You just happened to encounter one unfortunately. There. Hand's wrapped."
BANG-BANG-BANG!
The sudden, violent assault on the bathroom door made both of them jump.
Lester nearly fell off the sink as Skye scrambled up right beside him, mounting the porcelain edge with her feet planted firmly on the rim.
They both stared at the vibrating wooden door in absolute, breathless horror, their knuckles white, waiting for the wood to splinter.
Then, a muffled, annoyed male voice called out from the hallway.
"Hey! Are you done in there yet?! All the bathrooms downstairs are full!"
A massive wave of relief washed over them. Skye let out a harsh exhale, her shoulders slumping as she yelled back toward the door.
"You almost gave me a heart attack with that banging! Fuck off somewhere else!"
"Jeez," the guy grumbled from the other side. "You don't have to be that rude... I'll just go piss in one of the flower pots then."
His footsteps faded down the hall.
They both let out an awkward, breathless laugh, wiping cold sweat from their foreheads.
"Ah... phew. I almost thought she found us..."
And at that exact moment, a soft, dripping voice whispered from a space that shouldn't have been behind them—a voice echoing from inside the narrow room with eerie, impossible resonance:
"Found you."