The three monsters were standing in a semi-circle facing the wall, the broad brute in the middle moving his hips rhythmically back and forth as his comrades chuckled every time the girl made a noise.
“Fuck, go faster, Cres. I’m busting out my fucking pants here,” the monster on the left groaned, pawing at his crotch.
But Cres never got to answer, because Selma stepped forward and swung her impromptu bat with as much force as she could, cracking the metal pipe against his horned skull.
The strike sounded like a gong through the alleyway and vibrated up through Selma’s arms and into her teeth.
“What the fuck?” The monster on the right whirled on her, mouth open as Cres let out an inhuman snarl. He pulled free from the girl, finally revealing her body as she sagged to the ground, and rounded on Selma.
His eyes were acid-green with slitted pupils, and his bared teeth were sharp as any predator’s. Revulsion honed Selma’s terror to a fine point. Suddenly, she was his full focus.
“You’re one very dumb little girl,” Cres hissed, reaching for her weapon.
Selma snatched it away just in time and delivered another whack, this time to his shoulder. “Get away from her!”
“Now, now… don’t be like that, baby,” one of the other monsters purred, his blue-scaled mouth twisted in a nasty smile. “We’ve got plenty of time to play with you as well.”
“No thanks.” She swung again, hitting Blue square in the face. “Get out of here now! The police are on their way!”
“Son of a bitch!” Blue staggered for a moment, bringing one clawed hand to his face. “Little cunt broke my fucking nose!”
“Feisty thing.” The other beast, whose horns curled in a strange pattern behind his head, grinned. “Calm down, pretty girl. Relax and it won’t hurt… that bad.”
A dark fog rose around Selma. It felt like thick, clammy soup clinging to her skin, setting every hair on her body on end as it tried to penetrate through her nostrils and mouth.
Magic.
This was what they used to make their victims docile and believe their lies. Some had tried it on her when she was a little girl screaming at their gruesome features. It hadn’t worked then, and it wasn’t working now, but she lowered her bat anyway, relaxing her pose.
“Now there’s a good girl,” Curly purred, stepping toward her with his hand outstretched. “Give me that nasty stick, why don’t you, and then you and me are going to have some fun.”
“Leave her alone!” Someone shouted from behind the monsters, followed by a metallic clang when a garbage can lid connected with Cres’ horned head. It seemed their victim had managed to shake their filthy magic while Selma distracted them.
Cres snarled and spun around, backhanding the woman to the ground, but that was all the time Selma needed. She raised her weapon again and aimed straight for Curly’s temple, putting all her strength behind her swing.
He let out a groan like a wounded animal and staggered back, stumbling over his feet and falling on his ass as he clutched his head.
“What the…?” Blue stared at her through narrowed eyes, for the first time taking up a cautionary stance as she rounded on him. “How did you break through his magic?”
Selma didn’t answer, choosing instead to press her advantage. She leapt at him, but this time he was prepared. He easily side-stepped her swing, and when she tried again he twisted to block her, grabbing the metal pole in one huge, clawed hand.
She pulled, but he was so much stronger. With an easy yank, he ripped her weapon from her hand and tossed it into a dark corner of the alley, leaving her defenseless.
It was as if all the anger that’d propelled her into action seeped out through the soles of her feet as the blue-scaled monster rounded on her, lips curled in a snarl.
Out of sight, the woman she’d tried to save fought against Cres on the ground. This time, it seemed the monster hadn’t deemed it necessary to drug her with his magic.
“Not so feisty now, huh?” Over Blue’s shoulder, the curly-horned monster reappeared. Thin trails of blood trickled from his pointed ears, but that was the extent of the damage she’d managed to inflict.
She’d been a fool in thinking she could save anyone from these monsters. She’d never even been able to save herself.
“Hope you like it rough, bitch, ‘cause we’re gonna make your cunt pay for every blow you got in with that pipe,” Blue growled, reaching for his belt buckle as Curly rushed forward and pinned Selma’s shoulders to the wall before she could twist away.
Rough, cold brick bit into her back as they moved in, blocking the faint light from the city. She screamed and tried to force her body to keep fighting, but there was nothing she could do to prevent their clawed hands from ripping the clothes from her body or pushing up between her legs.
As a child, her fear of the monsters had been childish. She’d feared they’d eat her, that they’d hide in the dark underneath her bed or in her closet and devour her in her sleep.
Adulthood had brought a different understanding of their intent. She’d seen the hunger in their eyes as they chose their prey, and it was rarely to feed.
