Had Coolidge brought weapons? Nicole didn’t have time to summon her powers.
Coolidge pulled a handgun out of his jacket, took aim, and shot one of the creatures. It tumbled down the bones, coming to a rest at Nicole’s feet. She cringed when the bullet wound in its chest sizzled.
Coolidge took aim and fired several more times as Austin threw bones at the attacking creatures.
The rest of the beasts reached the group, sharp talons first. Nicole felt one nick her cheek and she waved her arms, trying to beat the monsters off. She kept expecting a magical attack, but one never came.
Why did they have a pulse if they weren’t magical?
“Must kill them quickly,” Mrs. Morse said, looking at Nicole. “Then pull out their hearts. If you don’t remove their hearts, they come back to life.”
The old woman dropped down next to the beast that had stopped by Nicole’s feet and reached for the wound in the creature’s chest. She wasn’t fast enough. The creature emitted a large number of pulses, the wound closing before the woman could do anything. Suddenly, it jumped back into the air again.
“Run!” Coolidge said as other dead beasts started rising.
Nicole didn’t question. She raced to keep up with Coolidge.
Once she was running alongside him, she told him what Anna Morse had said.
“Good to know,” he said.
They neared the apartment building, holding their hands over their heads as the winged creatures continued attacking from above.
Coolidge’s magazine was soon empty and Nicole saw him working to reload. There was constantly one or two creatures still attacking while others died and regenerated.
As they ran up the hill toward the building, Robert gasped, then pulled something from his bag. He held a hand over it, muttering a few words, and tossed it behind them.
All of the beasts dropped to the ground where the object Robert had thrown landed.
“Kill them!” Mrs. Morse said. “They’ll enter your dimension if you don’t.”
The Aretes heard her and followed her command.
“Remove their hearts to keep them from regenerating,” Coolidge shouted.
Lyla was the first to attack the beasts as they pecked over Robert’s distractor. She reached her hands to the sky, pulling down lightning, and zapped the first creature she saw. It dropped over, dead for the time being. Nicole was impressed at how quickly Lyla had summoned her powers. She needed to achieve that sort of swiftness.
Lyla glanced at Mrs. Morse, a questioning expression on her face.
“Oh, I’ll do it,” the woman said, her English accent barely noticeable. She scurried to where Lyla was and dropped to her knees.
Nicole noticed a flash of light on the woman’s fingertips moments before they were plunged into the chest of the creature. She yanked out its heart, throwing it away before starting on the next beast, one Austin had just killed.
Nicole could only watch with horror and fascination as Mrs. Morse continued removing hearts. The expression on the woman’s face disgusted her. The elderly lady was enjoying the task. Nicole saw her lick her hands numerous times.
What the crap?
Nicole shuddered, having to turn away before bile could build at the back of her mouth.
Soon, all the creatures were permanently dead. Mrs. Morse returned to Nicole, a smile on her face. She hesitated when she saw Nicole’s expression. “Horrible, awful creatures.”
Yeah.
The group climbed the hill again and stepped into Mrs. Morse’s old apartment. They decided to leave Nicole’s suitcase. Tired now, they descended the stairs slowly.
Mr. Landon’s eyes bulged when he saw Mrs. Morse. “What? How?”
Mrs. Morse only laughed. “Simpleton,” she said. She turned to Nicole. “Well, dear, what are your plans now?”
Nicole shrugged. “Like we said—find a way to stop Rebecca. Destroy those machines.”
Anna Morse nodded and followed Nicole and the rest out of the building. They walked down the cobblestoned street and crossed the canal without any problem.
Mrs. Morse suddenly slumped against Nicole, coughing. Nicole looked at her with concern. “Are you okay?” she asked.
The others gathered around her, ready to help if needed.
“I’ll be good in a moment.” Anna Morse glanced at the rest. “Go about your business. Nicole can assist me.” She motioned to the canal. “I need to be close to it.”
Nicole lowered Mrs. Morse to the gravel by the canal, marveling at how easy the woman’s accent was to understand now. She turned her head away from the smell of the rotten water, surprised that Mrs. Morse seemed to enjoy it. The woman breathed it in deeply after her next coughing fit stopped, a relaxed expression on her face.
“How can you tolerate that stench?” Nicole asked.
The woman didn’t respond, but her coughing fits gradually subsided, and she closed her eyes.
Deciding that it was okay to let the others update Professor Nielsen and load the cars, Nicole pulled the papers out of her pocket, wanting to study the map to the machines while waiting for Mrs. Morse to recover. She shifted through the pages, her breath catching in her throat when she saw that a new note had been written for her on the laminated paper.
Nicole, the woman with you is not me!
Nicole glanced at Anna Morse just as the elderly woman looked at her.
Mrs. Morse held her hand over her throat and coughed again. “Help me?”
Nicole warily put the papers back in her pocket. “What do you need?”
“You. Closer.”
Nicole shook her head and slowly started getting to her feet. The woman lunged at her, hands going straight for her throat.
Only a fraction of Nicole’s scream escaped before it was cut short. Was it enough to catch her friends’ attention? They were across the street with Professor Nielsen.
Instead of the choke Nicole had expected, the woman’s fingers punctured her skin.
Nicole gagged as blood flooded her mouth, watching in alarm as the woman’s wrists began turning invisible.
Anna Morse’s eyes rolled back in pleasure, her mouth open, panting.
She was feeding off Nicole!
Nicole struggled, trying to pull away, but felt her strength disappear fast, numbness taking over. She didn’t have the ability to fight off the creature that pinned her to the ground.
Only moments passed before half of the woman was invisible.
Nicole tried to shout, but her vocal folds wouldn’t cooperate.
Suddenly, Lizzie was screaming, and a second later, the old woman got tackled to the side.
Nicole could no longer move in any way. She could hear, though, and could still see, even though her eyes wouldn’t move.
“Help!” Lizzie gurgled. She tumbled across Nicole’s midsection, paralyzed.
Austin and Coolidge appeared in Nicole’s vision, trying to yank the beast off Lizzie, Coolidge holding his gun, but obviously not sure where to shoot when most of the woman was invisible and he might hit the girls.
After a scuffle, they too became victims. They dropped motionless near Nicole and Lizzie, Coolidge knocking Nicole over so she wasn’t looking up into the sky anymore. Now she was staring to the side, where she could see Robert and Lyla hesitating, trying to figure out what to do.
How was this beast acting so quickly? It had paralyzed four people in moments.
The only thing visible now was Mrs. Morse’s head as she watched Robert and Lyla, who were maintaining their distance.
Dawning crossed Robert’s face as he apparently realized what was going on.
“Lyla,” he shouted. “Blood makes it invisible—it’s not an old woman anymore. We can’t see what it really is.”
His guess had to be correct because just then, his legs were whipped out from underneath him, even though Mrs. Morse’s head was at least ten feet away.
Lyla stepped outside of Nicole’s view, then back in as she tried to stay away from the w
oman while assessing the situation.
Realizing she didn’t need to move to control her powers, Nicole reached toward them, but felt the dam she hadn’t had to deal with in months stopping her. Apparently, whatever had paralyzed her had dampened all her senses.
Robert stumbled to his feet—obviously, he hadn’t been poisoned yet. He looked up the road. A massive wind roared down the street, slamming into Mrs. Morse, and Nicole remembered that Robert was a native Wind Arete.
The wind didn’t have an effect on the creature. Robert was forced to change tactics. He called a massive storm overhead. Nicole felt the pressure growing.
Lyla must’ve understood what he was doing because lightning flashed in Nicole’s peripheral vision, striking Mrs. Morse several times.
Robert’s storm was still building pressure and was darkening. But his concentration was divided, and just as he started forming a tornado, his legs were pulled out from underneath him and he fell twenty feet away. This time, he didn’t get up.
Mrs. Morse’s invisibility rose to her forehead. Nicole gasped, realizing they wouldn’t be able to see the beast at all.
Lyla sent down bolt after bolt, using the electric pressure Robert had built, striking the top of Anna Morse’s head.
Nicole longed to help. She stretched out mentally for the girl, wishing she could join powers with her.
Her fingers twitched. She could feel them! They bent and straightened at her will. Would her powers be available again too?
For a split second, she debated what to do. Call her powers when her brain was still foggy and take over what Robert had done, losing precious seconds . . . or . . . her eyes dropped to Coolidge’s gun, just out of reach.
Making up her mind, Nicole stretched as hard as she could. Her fingers brushed the butt of the gun, pushing it farther away.
Nicole growled at her stupidity, then took a breath and reached again, this time not touching the gun until her hand was just over it.
Using her fingertips, she slid the weapon closer. It moved only a fraction.
Lyla squealed and ran thirty feet down the street. Had the girl felt Mrs. Morse trying to grab her? The woman’s head bobbed in and out of view as she moved around a car.
Nicole turned her attention back to her task, working her exhausted fingers, forcing them to continue dragging the gun closer.
Finally, it was near enough for her to grasp. She raised it, her hand shaking from the exertion.
She waited until Anna Morse was in view again, now only eight or so feet away, and took aim at the area just below the tip of woman’s head—the only visible point now. She pulled the trigger once, twice, then over and over again, emptying the rest of the magazine.
The echoing cracks nearly deafened her, but the noise of a massive body toppling also sounded through the air, dust billowing up and flowing past Nicole.
Lyla was the only thing standing now.
Nicole lowered the gun, letting her hand rest against the gravel. She panted, struggling to keep her eyes open.
Lyla approached the top of Anna Morse’s head cautiously. “Um, what do I do with it in case it isn’t dead?”
Nicole opened her mouth to answer, but still couldn’t talk. She took a breath, then tried to mime tying a knot with her free hand, knowing that without a second hand, the gestures wouldn’t look like much to anyone watching.
The energy it took to do even that made her arm slacken again. How long would it take for this stuff to wear off?
Either Lyla caught on or she figured out on her own—probably the latter—because she started digging through the bags in the cars, pulling out piles of rope.
It wasn’t until then that Nicole realized she hadn’t seen Professor Nielsen in a long while. Where was he? She tried to turn her head to see more, but couldn’t. She felt Lizzie stirring, still draped across her, and decided to wait for more strength to come. She continued watching Lyla.
The girl was near the top of Anna Morse’s head and feeling her way down it, a grimace on her face.
“This thing definitely isn’t human,” she said, tying the rope around what Nicole assumed was the creature’s neck.
After a few minutes, Lyla had the rope tied in several places, and Nicole was able to move enough to shift Lizzie off her. She tried to get up, but wasn’t successful. At least she could breathe better, though, without her best friend lying across her.
Lyla noticed her struggling and sent her an apologetic expression. “I’d help you get up, but I think this is more important.”
Nicole tried talking again, but only managed a groan. She raised her hand to her throat, surprised to find that whatever wounds the beast had inflicted were cauterized and rough to the touch. Those scars would be pretty, she was sure.
After half an hour, Nicole and the others who’d been paralyzed were able to move enough to get into sitting positions.
Nicole cleared her throat and coughed. “I can talk!” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Me too,” Lizzie responded.
Austin and Coolidge shook their heads, but Nicole guessed it wouldn’t be much longer for them.
Lyla was resting against a car, holding one end of the rope in both hands. She’d tied the creature in multiple places and to multiple things—huge trees across the road and boulders near the canal.
“I’m going to guess it’s dead,” she said, “since it hasn’t moved yet.”
“We can only hope,” Coolidge said in a rough whisper.
As they continued to gain functionality over their bodies, they inspected each other, making sure none of the injuries required immediate care.
“It’s like a mosquito,” Coolidge said in wonder. “It administered a type of numbing agent as it started to drain our blood. I would guess that the agent targets the brain, since I couldn’t control any of my senses.”
Nicole nodded. “I couldn’t use my powers.” She motioned to the gun. “Good thing that dropped next to me.”
Robert sighed. “Sorry I wasn’t able to finish it off—without being able to see what it was doing, it was hard to predict where to attack.”
“How does blood make it turn invisible?” Lizzie asked.
No one had an answer for her, but Austin did have an idea for how to reverse the invisibility. By draining the blood from the beast, they might be able to force it to come back into view.
Lyla was the only one able to move well enough to inflict that kind of wound. She took one of Coolidge’s knives and, turning away, started sawing.
It worked. Blood began pouring from the wound, and the beast slowly became visible again.
Nicole shakily pulled herself to her feet and, leaning against a car, approached the creature.
It had five very long arms that ended in humanoid hands. Each finger had a sharp point that resembled the beak of a mosquito. Three massive legs practically sprouted from a thick trunk. It was obviously not human and it was also obviously dead.
Nicole found herself wishing the creature had finished transforming into its real self. Anna Morse’s head still sat on top of its now nearly severed neck. That was an image she wouldn’t soon forget.
Professor Nielsen took the longest coming back from being paralyzed. He’d only had his blood sucked for a split second before Robert started attacking the thing, but he speculated that his age made a difference. He probably would have died if Robert hadn’t acted so quickly.
Shaken, weak, and exhausted, the group got into the cars and left the creature where it was, deciding to do something about it the next day.
That evening, Nicole found a new note on the bigger piece of paper that Mrs. Morse had given her.
Mr. Landon saw you fight and kill the Croent. He told us you’re fine. Thank goodness. We’ll keep you posted on anything new we learn.
Nicole tucked the paper away, grateful Jack and Anna knew that she and the rest were safe.
***
The next day, the beast wasn’t there anymore. Instead, police tape
surrounded the area, the road to Anna Morse’s building had disappeared, and no sign of the altercation remained.
Coolidge glowered. “Stupid government,” he said, pulling out his cell phone. He made a few phone calls, then, several minutes later, shoved his phone back into his pocket. “The creature is being held for testing. I doubt we’ll ever see it again, especially with how much control the Tarians have over the government.”
Nicole was fine with not seeing the beast again. She hoped news of the monster would spread, helping to increase awareness of the dangers that existed.
The next month and a half would be very difficult. Now that they had the map for the location of the machines in Idaho, they needed to gather a team to travel there, hopefully arriving ahead of Rebecca. They had information on their side that Rebecca didn’t know they had. They had powerful people who were experienced with their abilities. Thanks to the convention, they knew what they were up against.
The only thing they needed was to gather enough Aretes to fight their end of the upcoming battle.
Nicole looked at her friends, all seated around her in Professor Nielsen’s home. She trusted these people more than anyone she’d ever known. They would be successful, she was sure of it. And if not, they’d die together, fighting for what was definitely a worthy cause.
Austin’s eyes met Nicole’s and she grinned at him. He returned the smile, his warm brown eyes lightening with the expression.
And as soon as the elixir was gone, Nicole would have her boyfriend back.
She couldn’t wait.
###
Would you like to know what was on Austin’s mind when he first met Nicole—why he was so upset when she talked to him? Austin’s Perception, a short story, is available only to subscribers of Andrea’s newsletter list. Receive it for free when you sign up. Enjoy!
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I hope you enjoyed reading Observe, Mosaic Chronicles Book Four! If you did, please consider helping me spread the word about it by posting an honest review wherever else you think is appropriate.
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