Thanks to the sunglasses we swapped from someone's empty desk, Lea and I fought the monster as more blood runs down our arms, legs, and cheeks like trails of black ink on white paper.

The creature swings his claws at Lea once more, only for her to execute a perfect front flip and land stiffly on the floor. Lea grunts in pain. She looks down at her pair of overalls and notices the blood oozing from her scratched legs.

At first, she tries to calm down, but when she sees the scratch on my face, Lea loses it. With the stomp of her foot, Lea soars off the ground and sucker-punches the lizard in the face.

It sails over the empty desks when I step in and blast a stream of green flames from my hands.

Quickly, the monster lifts its thick hands to protect itself from the heat, only for me to magically lift the beast in the air and brutally slam it against the ceiling and walls.

Pipes and asphalt collapse from the ceiling and bury the monster until all we see a scaly, green arm sticking out of the rubble.

Lea lands on the floor to catch her breath and swear at her fresh wounds.

After a long pause, I grunt, "Just what is happening here? Why are these monsters following us?"

"I wish I knew," Lea said softly.

Upon hearing their words, the blind lizard monster swerves its head in their direction and then squirms out of the rubble.

I kick the creature's crotch. The lizard monster plunges on the floor and runs its thick hand against its sore crotch when Lea maneuvers over my back and bashes her fists across its bloated face.

The demon screams in agony. It collapses on the tiled floor with its bleeding hands and bruised knees.

We waste our breaths maneuvering around the snake demon's massive claws then fight back as hard as we can, but like Godzilla, it absorbs every single blow and sends us flying across the precinct.

Chunks of plaster and broken pieces of glass scrape their skin. Blood soaks their torn fabric. Despite their injuries, the irritable teens get up from the floor and continue fighting.

Lea's steel-like knuckles slam into the monstrous creature's face. As she strikes, ancient runes flake off the metal, leaving scorching marks on the monster's face and chest.

The serpent-like creature bares its sharp teeth at me then seizes my throat.

Caught off guard, I tremble as cold scales wrap around me. I struggle to free myself, but my sunglasses fall off at the worst time.

The second they hit the floor, I spin my head away and squeeze my eyes shut. I immediately turns away from the monster's eyes, until I hear a loud crash coming from the door.

The noise must've caught the reptile off guard because I find myself on the ground, gasping for air. I massage the dark purple bruises around my neck and cough for about thirty minutes when I notice a large bear slashing the reptile's back with its claws.

Blood and glass pieces stick onto the bear's fur.

A pair of dark sunglasses teether in front of its eyes, as the bear slices the reptile's eyes out of its sockets.

The serpent screeches. It strikes the bear with its green, scaly tail. The colossal force of the blow sends the bear sprawling across the floor, leaving it stunned and disoriented.

At first, Lea and I are confused until we see the bear changing back into Casper.

"What the fuck?" Lea gasps. "How did Cass-"

"There's no time," I urge. "Look."

Casper is overwhelmed by the serpent's strength. Its massive claws pierce his wrists. Its feet apply so much weight to the his legs I'm worried the monster will break them.

Emerging from our hiding spot, I crouch on the floor and move behind the monster.

The basilisk's touch has left Casper bleeding from his right cheek. His hair, matted with blood, conceals his tightly shut eyes.

Lea finds a long twisted rope in one of the desk drawers, sees a greasy steak knife beside someone's leftover dinner, and fashions it into a rope javelin of some kind.

With fierce concentration, Lea hurls the rope behind Godzilla 2.0 and pulls it away from Casper, who passes out. I look for a weapon to use until I encounter a dead policeman lying next to the toppled desk.

His head is bitten off. Blood soaks his clothes and loafers. His left hand cradles the gun, prompting me to seize it and shoots the beast twice in the head. Cold blood splatters on Casper's face as the beast collapses on the ground like a plummeting oak tree.

Bright yellow eyes widen maniacally until the scaly lids slither over them. Black blood gushes from its head. Its pink tongue sticking out of its slimy lips.

"Casper!" I wail. I scramble near my best friend and begins checking his pulse. "Are you okay? Jesus fuck, say something!"

Casper opens his eyes briefly, then looks up at his frantic best friend. The cold snake blood ran down his cheeks like black tears. Astonished, he wipes the dark blood with his finger, studies it closely, and finally glares at me who constantly presses her hands on his chest.

"Teddy," he begins carefully. "Did you have to shoot its fucking head close to my face?"

I laugh and hug the boy when a tiny serpent-like monster scurries down from the dark corridor. It has the same appearance as the one Lea and I fought.

However, instead of yellow eyes, the monster's gaze oozes dark orange. Its nails are sharp yet short as a hangnail. Its mud-brown tail swishes across the white tile floor from left to right when a weary, blood-soaked Lea slowly walks up to the creature and slit the beast's throat with her steak knife.

Dark ooze trickles down from her sunglasses. Her clothes are caked in sweat and blood. Fresh cuts and bruises streak across her bare arms. After wiping the blood trickling down from her nose, Lea stares at Casper and me, then walks faster.

She sees the sweat, blood, and bruises all over us, drops knife, and then drapes her arms around our sore shoulders.

"Holy shit!" Lea exclaims. "You guys are okay!"

I laugh and hug him back. "It's nice to see you too."

Casper gives Lea a warm smile until members of Louisiana Police Department hastily storm the run-down station, resembling a swarm of enraged bees.

Lea, Casper, and I grit our teeth when Lila pops up behind her colleagues and angrily instructs them to lower their weapons. Clutching in her left hand is a napkin splattered in blood; Lila uses it to wipe the red, dried crust on her upper lip and chin, turns it into a ball, and tosses it in the trash can beside the demolished desks.

Once Lila looks at the giant reptiles and the damage to the police station, she tells her friends to check around the precinct for survivors and then approaches us.

"Are you guys okay?" Lila asks breathlessly. "Just what the hell happened?"

Casper shoots her a stern look.

"We don't know," he answers. "One minute, we were being held against our will, and the next, our lives turn into one fucked up Steven Spielberg movie."

Lila sighs, eyes the corpses behind us, then grunts, "I'd take it you three did the job, huh?"

Lea anxiously licks the cut across her busted lip. I try to comb her messy brown hair with my fingers, but the humidity in the station makes them all frizzy.

"I guess so," Lea said, draping her arm around my right shoulder.

Lila studies Casper's injuries and asks if he's alright until she notices the bruises and wounds on his body begin to heal on their own.

As his bruises fade and the wounds close up before her eyes, Lila's curiosity is piqued. She reaches out tentatively, placing her hand on Casper's arm where a deep gash had been moments before. To her surprise, the skin beneath her touch is smooth and unmarred.

Lila's eyes widened in amazement as she realized the extent of what was happening.

"How is this possible?" she whispered, her voice barely above a breath.

"I don't know," Casper says with a shrug. "I guess I heal pretty quickly."

Lila turns to see my bruises fading as well. My dress look like it has seen better days, but at least I wore shorts throughout the fight.

"How did you get out of the interrogation room, Lea?" asked Lila. "Did Detective O'Connor permit you to leave?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Lila's eyes broaden. "Okay, how is he?"

"He's dead," said Lea, relinquishing the dark sunglasses to Lila. "Those lizard things ate him."

All of a sudden, the spark in her brown eyes fade. Lila folds her arms and stares at the cracked concrete floor. She's so quiet I can hear the cops walking past her with their obnoxious Walkie-Talkies.

"Who could've trained these giant lizards to attack the police?" she asks aloud. "I mean, I know we're not popular with the locals, but this insane."

Opening my mouth, I want to say something when a question popped inside my head: What if the council already found out where Lila and her family lives?

It makes sense as to why there were lizard monsters there in the first place. They must've seen that stupid picture frame Lila left on her desk and deduced who her children's names were.

Just then, my eyes grow to the size of marbles.

Fuck. Casper's mom is still in the boarding house. The council's going to think she's harboring Lila's son and kill her for being an accomplice.

Stretching his arms, Casper leans closely in my ear and tells me to stay with Lea while he gets my car off the lot. He turns his blood-soaked heel, walks past the police officers and cop cars, and leaves whereas Lila asks us where he's going.

"He said he's going to call his mom." I lie.

"Okay," said Lila. "Say, how about the three of us talk outside? Get some fresh air?"

Lea and I shrug and follow the cop to the parking lot filled with ambulance trucks, SWAT vehicles, and cop cars. I could have sworn I saw a news reporter in the crowd, but he was too tired to look. Staring at the chaotic police station from afar, Lila can't help but shake her head.

"Who the fuck would do this?" she demands.

Lea kicks a small pebble across the parking lot while I smooth my chaotic hair with my trembling hands.

Lea stares at the frantic looks on the officers' whitened faces and whispers, "You don't think it's the council, right? I mean, I've seen what they're capable of, but doing it in broad daylight isn't their style."

"Yeah, but I don't think they're after the cops," I mutter, glaring at the policewoman. "I think they're after Lila and her family."

Hearing our conversation, Lila furrows her eyebrows at me. "You think the council is doing this?"

Lea sets her gaze on the detective. "Before you jump to your bullshit theories-"

"Do you think the council is doing this?" Lila demands, cutting him off. "Yes or no?"

"I don't know!" Lea yells.

"What about your father? Could he have heard about-"

"I haven't talked to that piece of shit for five years, detective!" Lea snaps. "So I'd appreciate it if you drop that stupid theory right now!"

Clenching her fists, Lila is about to say something cruel when her forehe­ad is creased with pain. She marches up to me, clutches my hands and pleads for answers, but I brush her aside.

"We don't know," I said quickly. "Liste­n, can we just go home now? It's bee­n a pretty rough day, and the last thing we want to do is talk to you."

"No."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because­ I want to drive you guys to the hospital."

Lea lets out a frustrated groan and scowls, "We're fine, Detective."

Lila casts her a dubious frown. She places her hands on he­r hips and glares down at us until a drop of blood oozes from her right nostril.

Frustrated, Lila retrieves a brown napkin from her pocket, turns her head, and anxiously wipes the blood from her upper lip.

"We­ll, I'm sorry you think I'm being an asshole," she growls, crumpling her napkin inside her fist. "But it's my job to care for you kids. Speaking of which, is Casper finished talking to his mom, yet? Because I want to ask him some questions."

"No," I lie. "Look, we­ get that you want to protect us, but we'd fe­el a lot better if you just le­t us go home."

Lila takes a deep breath and groans, "I wish I could, but like I said, you kids are my responsibility. Plus, I need a statement as to what happened-"

"Oh, you want a statement from each of us?" Lea asks, cutting her off. "Okay, do you want me to talk about how I was detained by a cop for no fucking reason?"

"Or being kept in an interrogation room without a phone call or a lawyer?" I snap.

Lila presse­d her index finger against he­r temple as the nose­bleed became­ heavier. Trails of crimson alarm Lea and me as the­ blood stains Lila's clothes. Frustrated, the cop grabs more napkins and frantically pats the­ blood running down her lips and chin, but it continues spewing like a broken faucet.

"Jesus," Lea murmurs. "Are you alright, Detective Ramirez?"

"Yeah." Lila croaks. "I'm fine­. I'm fine."

"Are you sure, be­cause-"

SPLAT!

The gruesome­ sound makes my heart skip a beat as Lila's head e­xplodes right in front of our eyes.

Warm blood drenches our horrified faces and clothes.

The crimson liquid gushe­s from Lila's neck, flowing across her uniform and shoes like­ snakes until gravity pulls her he­adless body onto the blood-speckle­d floor.

"HOLY SHIT!" I cry in anguish. "WHAT THE FUCK?"

A stunned Lea looks down at the headless corpse, but instead of screaming her lungs out, she frantically shoves me and barks at her to move.

Unfortunately, my screams attract the SWAT team.

However, many officers turn their gazes away from us as the putrid stench of Lila's decapitated corpse fills their nostrils. Puddles of blood and brain matter send piercing chills down the authorities' spine.

Some even run away to puke in the bushes.

"What is happening?!" someone­ yells. "Call for fucking backup!"

SPLAT! SPLAT!

Without warning, five random NYPD detectives explode into puddles of blood. More screams and cries erupt behind our backs. Watching the scene from above is a black crow, whose wings stretch out at a sharp angle. Peeking through the clouds, the sun's rays glint off the crow's sharp talons and beady eyes, reflecting the intensity and dread of death.

Lea is tempted to stop and watch, but I urgently pulls her towards me. We maneuver around parked trucks and police cars, Lea and I hear the screeching of tires roaring behind them.

A spark of green flashes in my eyes. I lift my hand to shield the glint, only to see the annoyed shapeshifter driving in my car. Slamming his foot on the brake pedal, Casper halts beside Lea and me, rolls the window down, and sticks his head outside.

"HOLY SHIT, GUYS!" he yells. "MOVE YOUR ASSES, COME ON!"

Lea and I scramble in the back seat. I slam the door across from me before Casper reverses the Volkswagen and exits the parking lot.
© kstorm68q