A snarling creature slammed its body into the door to the flat building over and over again. All Tanya could do was stare at it. No plans came to mind, no ideas at all. The door to leave the block ahead of her was a no-go with only a few feet of corridor between the stairs and door. Behind her to the right was the door to her flat and across from that was a padlocked door to a shop storeroom. Both her door and the storerooms were far more rickety than the one ahead of her and that one was snapping and splintering already. She could feel the battering noise in her bones. It made her head pound as it went through her.

  She forced herself to take a couple of steps forward. The radio had stopped after that broadcast. If she could see what this thing was, maybe she could find a weak spot and take it down. Who was she kidding? Tanya doubted she could take down a person easily, nevermind whatever this was. It only took a single look to know this thing had 50 pounds on her. She wrung the bat between her hands, adjusting her grip like she’d seen people do at cricket. Then she took another shaky step forward, and another, until she could see through the window in the door.

  It was already smashed and cold winter wind whistled through the shards of glass. Tanya was shivering but she doubted it was from the cold.

  From this step, she could stare down through the little window at the top of the creature. It reminded her of the xenomorph from Alien with the large set jaw full of teeth, except this was smaller; canine-esque. More of them were dashing past outside, a couple staring at what this one was doing but most increasing the banging next door. Mrs Eceer. Tanya had never cared about her before but in this moment all she wanted was for Mrs Eceer to still be alive.

  There was a nasty creaking as the door was forced further towards her. It was still on its hinges but barely. This was Tanya’s last chance to study this thing before it came flying at her face. Her attention kept getting caught by its multiple layers of sharp canines and the squirming black goop of its body. It was nothing like the tall spindly one she’d seen footage of. Its tail slammed into the concrete and she watched the pavement crack. She’d have to stay out of the way of that, and its teeth.

  Weak spots, Tanya.

  She stared at its muscular body. All she could think of was hitting it in the mouth or face but if it grabbed onto her bat she wasn’t sure she could get it back again.

  If it jumped up then maybe she could get its chest—did it even have a heart and lungs there—she had no idea.

  She blinked and a still image of it was stuck in her mind's eye—the way it tensed its haunches before each foot-high jump at the door, its constant slurping and sniffing noises from the gaping nostrils in its square snout. She hoped that meant it did breathe. She hoped its anatomy worked at all like Earth animals so she’d have any knowledge to take it down at all.

  Her eyes opened again just in time to see the door bust open, a hinge finally giving out. The monster lunged at her, taking the steps multiple at a time. With each bound closer she could hear its claws shredding the carpet a little louder, see the bumps on its goopy skin.

  Tanya panicked and swung the bat too early. It skidded it off the creature’s shoulder. The hit wasn’t enough to seriously hurt it but the force on its shoulder pushed its front claw off the step and it tumbled down the steps, a muddle of black limbs. The force pushed Tanya backwards too and she fell onto the stairs, sharp edges slamming into her back, legs and arms. She shuddered down a couple of steps before she could stop herself. The back of her shins and elbows ached but she clambered up. Pain shot through her right leg and she leant to her left, trying not to put weight on it.

  The creature couldn’t right itself until it landed at the bottom, scrabbling around as it ripped shreds of wallpaper off the wall and forced the baseboard off in one kick, nails and all.

  As soon as it was on its feet it lunged again.

  Wait for it. Wait for it.

  Tanya forced herself to wait til the last moment this time. Every muscle in her body was screaming for her to move—that the weight of the creature hitting her body this fast would kill her. She swung right as it was in reaching distance, close enough that she could see the tendril of black saliva dripping from the ridge it had instead of lips. Her swing was more certain and she put her full body into it. She felt a tearing sensation near her shoulder as the swing continued beyond its target. It pulled something deep inside her upper back. She righted herself and watched the monster fall once again, its neck at an unnatural angle from the full weight of Tanya’s arms hitting its head like an oversized cricket ball.

  Tanya was panting heavily but she pushed her body onwards. She hurried down the stairs after it, feet hitting the stair it had just been and slippers getting slimier from the black puddles it was leaving in its wake. Black goop was pouring out of its mouth now. She realised it might be blood as she lifted the bat above her head with both hands.

  As the monster thumped to a stop at the bottom of the stairs she swung down, hitting it over and over again in its face and legs and tail and everywhere she could reach. It was still struggling to get up, wriggling from side to side to get its legs underneath it.

  She noticed that it had found its grip too late. Her bat was still being lifted in an upward arc for another swing and she attempted to change direction, forcing it back down at the face that was rearing up towards her. Deep in the monster's throat, she could see a wide tongue and a uvula, the shape looking horrifically like the inside of a human mouth beyond the rows of teeth. She hadn’t swung enough to hit the creature down again, instead staying in its mouth, clamped between its teeth. She could see its sharp teeth boring into the bat. There was no way she could pull this out now so she’d have to just keep pushing down.

  Her arms were terrifyingly close to giving out, sweat dripped down her brow. She couldn’t lift either of her arms for another attack and she knew she wouldn’t win in this battle of brute Strength. All she could do was bide her time until she came up with a plan but with the stairs behind them and certainty that she couldn’t outrun this up the stairs, the world closed in on her. Blackness danced at the corner of her vision as she forced a gasping breath, using it to push down just a little bit harder into the mouth of the monster. The extra couple of inches should have been enough to snap its jaw if it was like a normal dog, but it just unlatched its jaw instead like a snake, using the extra mouth space to clamp on tighter and then violently shake its head side to side. Tanya was thrust into the wall, the handrail hitting the squishy part of her side. She dug her elbow into the space between the rail and the wall for any stability.

  Her arms were throbbing so much she was about to lose Strength. She used the last of it to shove the creature away from her. She turned to run but something touched her shoulder and she spun her head just in time to see the hand gripping at her shirt and throwing itself into the face of the monster. It flipped the knife around in the air, attempting to move the blade from its top to its palm where it could grip it tighter. The knife slipped out of its grasp and its spindly fingers stretched to full extension, barely tapping it as it fell. The hand was still flying towards the monster, its mouth opening even wider than before from its unhinged jaw. The hand began to scramble in the air, attempting to change course.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Tanya noticed the glinting metal as it hit the floor and she lurched towards it, grabbing the hilt of the knife right as the hand landed on the bat, still stuck in the monster's sharp teeth. It hinged open its jaw further around it. A monstrosity of uncanny space appeared for the hand to fall in around the bat. The entire bat was coated with the black liquid and almost as soon as the hand gripped the bat, it slid around it until it was holding on by its fingertips with the rest of its form inside the creature's mouth.

  A thick dread and discomfort overcame her as the monster's mouth closed around it. There were more layers of teeth and she knew that they were piercing her tattoo. It was more like pins and needles than pain, spreading all over her body as she heard the crunch of its teeth against the hand. Tanya tripped, falling to her knees by the monster. With knuckles white, she plunged the blade into the monster's back, pushing it down until some of the hilt disappeared into the monster too. It was easier than she expected to cut through and the blade just kept going until her hand was dripping with the blackness, part way into the creature's back. She could feel its heartbeat in her hand. Tanya gagged. Cutting into it was like carving cooked chicken. The monster grunted and then growled.

  The clanging of metal against a hard surface was proof she’d made it all the way through. Gritting her teeth, she withdrew it slightly and twisted the blade until the monster was howling, the sound muffled by the bat in its mouth. Tanya twisted over and over until the noise died and the thud of its heart slowed and then stopped. The black liquid was coating her hands and her wrists, halfway up her forearm. She could tell her hand was still summoned in there and, putting her foot in the face of the monster, she grabbed the bat and tore it out along with a few of the monster's teeth.

  The hand was pierced in multiple places, a voodoo doll of tooth-shaped pins. Tanya glanced up at the doorway, suddenly terrified of another beast coming for her whilst she got her assistant out. She staggered backwards at the sight of them. Five or six of these hell hounds were throwing themselves at the doorway, mouths opening and closing whilst they howled. Tanya couldn’t hear them at all. The area of the doorway was sparkling with a blue hue and each time one of the monsters hit it, soundless ripples flurried outwards from the area they’d hit

  Tanya turned back to the hand, its fingers twitching weakly. She had no idea how long whatever that field was would hold and she didn’t want to be here to find out. The temptation to run was only halted by her determination not to leave this hand behind.

  There were far more layers of teeth than she’d initially seen, rows and rows going all the way down its throat. She could see grooves of flesh in some places where the teeth had come out and carefully touching one with her finger revealed a hole deep enough for the tooth to retract into.

  The only time she'd ever seen anything like this was in one of those episodes of Deadly 60, some kind of eel she no longer remembered the name of. She’d watched every episode of that show as a kid multiple times. If this worked similarly to that then it would be some kind of muscle keeping the teeth out.

  “I’m gonna get you out, I promise,” Tanya said. “This is gonna hurt.”

  She grabbed the monster's jaw with both hands and pulled. The hand twitched more, tensing its fingers each time she pulled. She winced at the motion, it reacted like a real hand. She wasn’t strong enough to budge it. Using her foot as leverage again, she stuck her foot back in its face and yanked the lower jaw with both hands until the muscle holding the jaw unhinged tore and it flopped open further. The lower teeth yanked out of the hand and black liquid-like ink poured out. It was twitching less now. She had to go fast. She had no idea what would happen to her if this hand died.

  Tanya grabbed the blade again and gently lowered her hand down its throat. With more space to move she was less likely to hit its teeth, but she still got pricked a couple of times. The teeth deep in its throat were sharper than the ones just inside its maw. When her wrist tapped one of the lower teeth a bead of blood appeared instantly, so sharp she barely felt a sting.

  Once her hand was safely underneath the teeth she flailed it around for some sort of muscle that was keeping the teeth out. Finally, something went in her favour and the upper teeth disappeared back into the gums, the hand falling further down its throat. She shoved the knife into her pocket pointing outwards, not caring when it tore her trousers. The end of the blade stuck out of the pocket, visible to the outside world. It would be safer that way. She cradled her assistant in both hands, the black ink of her tattoo and the blackness of the monster's blood merging. The monster's blood was thicker but they had the same shine against the light, they looked like they were similar substances.

  Tanya didn’t have the energy or the brain space to figure out what that meant.

  System, how d’ya heal an injured Summon?

  Error: Restricted Information.

  She saw it coming but she still hiccupped, sobbing out of nowhere as she let herself half relax for the first time since she’d fallen asleep.

  Tanya placed the hand on her wrist. “Please,” she said. “Go back to a tattoo. Use my energy or whatever you need to be alright again. Please.”

  Her voice broke. The image of the hand throwing itself at the monster wouldn't leave her—the sound of the crunch.

  The hand wasn’t moving. Tanya sat on her carpet cross-legged. The black splatters coating her clothes and dripping down her arms pitter-pattered onto the rug before spreading out like little ink drops.

  Tanya closed her eyes and begged.

  Go back inside. Go back on me arm. Unsummon. Unsummon. UNSUMMON.

  Air was forced from her lungs and she gasped, back arching backwards, head to the sky with her eyes rolling back in her head. It felt like breathing through water. Her lungs begged for breath. The pins and needles sensation came back even stronger than before, waves flurrying through her body. She gained control again and coughed over and over, forcing the wet feeling from her lungs. Black splatters flew out her mouth like after the snake venom. She couldn’t move or feel that arm from elbow down and her shoulder was tingling over to her collarbone and across to her shoulder blade. She couldn’t use her arm but her Summon was safe. She could feel it draining her Vitality. She watched it tick down until it stopped at 1. None of it was looking good.

  * * *

  Attributes

  Strength: 5/9

  Dexterity: 8/16

  Vitality: 1/10

  Concentration: 3/7

  Will: 5/13

  * * *

  There was another noise from next door and she dismissed the interface. It was an angry, pained scream.

  Mrs Eceer

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