Chapter 4
Mrs. Dodds, all leathery skin and razor-thin smile, cornered me. "Now, honey," her voice deepened, growing impossibly gravelly, "we wouldn't want to cause any more trouble, would we?" Her eyes burned, twin coals in the shadowed hallway. The air thrummed with a sinister energy. She wasn't human. My gut screamed it. Then, her skin began to peel, her limbs elongating, leathery wings ripping from her back. Fear, cold and absolute, seized me.