Grim Business

Chapter Four

Dru moved at the last second, bringing her arm up just in time to catch the beast’s jaw on her arm instead of her throat. Her resulting cry of pain was what finally shook Phoebe out of her stupor. She glanced at the flickering lantern in her hand and felt the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind. It wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was something, so she shouted, “Hey, ugly!”

The beast paused, releasing Dru for a moment and turning its glowing yellow eyes on Phoebe. It wasn’t long, but as soon as the beast let her go, Dru crawled hurriedly away. Rambo moved to grab her, yanking her into his arms and practically dragging her back behind Phoebe.’

“Get out of here, guys,” she said, her voice quavering a tiny bit. She swallowed thickly, forcing the quaver down; in times like this, she had to be brave. She kept her eyes locked on the beast, which was moving slowly in a circle, crouched low on all fours and staring up at her, taking her measure. It was only a matter of time before it sprang, and when that happened, her friends had to be out of there.

“No way, we can’t just leave you—“ Rambo began.

Dru was whimpering in his arms, but she shook her head vehemently, red curls bouncing up and down around her pale face. Brambles and sticks were stuck in the usually perfectly groomed locks; it was such a small thing, but it made Phoebe smile. A short, fleeting smile, but a smile nonetheless. “Go. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

Dru looked like she was going to argue further, squaring her shoulders and pulling herself up to her full height. She was no longer whimpering, although she still held her arm delicately in her hand. She had that look about her, the one that said she was about to get her way whether anyone else liked it or not. Phoebe couldn’t let that happen. She locked eyes with Rambo over Dru’s head. “You pick her up, and you run. Get the hell out of here, because I don’t know how long I can keep this thing occupied. Please. You have to protect her.”

Rambo’s eyes flickered between them, his priorities warring on his face. Eventually, he slumped. “Fine, but I’m coming back for you.”

“Good, because I don’t want to stay here alone. Now, run!”

The beast sprang, but Phoebe placed herself squarely between it and her friends. “No. You’ll be dealing with me,” she said, and surprisingly, her voice was tempered steel, ringing with conviction enough to make the beast waver for another moment, long enough to buy her friends the time that they needed.

Dru shrieked and beat her fists futilely against Rambo’s back as he hefted her over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and dashed off into the night, heading back towards town. Phoebe would have to compliment him on his strength and lack of clumsiness when she made it out of here—if she made it out of here, she corrected herself mentally—but for now, she had something to deal with.

Slowly, she and the beast circled one another. It was a waiting game, each waiting to see if the other would spring first. For Phoebe, it was critical that the beast was the first to move. She didn’t want to give it even a moment to dodge, because she only had one trick.

Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, the beast got tired of waiting. His powerful paws dug into the ground just a moment before he sprang at her, 700 pounds of ferocious fur and teeth plunging headlong at her across the clearing. Phoebe didn’t think; she had no time to think.  Screaming as loudly and as powerfully as she dared, she hurled her lantern at the beast.

It slammed into him mid-flight, spilling kerosene across the clearing. For one awful moment, Phoebe was afraid that it hadn’t worked, that somehow, the fire wouldn’t catch, but as the beast bared down at her, and she stared at it flying through the air as if in slow-motion, flames exploded around the beast.