Alice and I walked back into the hospital break room. The voices inside were casual, and I even heard some laughter as we approached. When Alice began to enter, however, those sounds of joviality cut off.
"It's just us," Alice said as she swung open the door. The four people inside visibly relaxed. I guess even without fighting monsters, times were tense.
"Lord, Alice." Anderson said, "You scared the crap out of us."
"How's Oberon? All patched up? That didn't take long." Jessica asked with slightly-forced cheer in her voice.
"Just a few quick staples and I'm good to go," I said lightly, swinging my arms unconsciously. Jessica made me nervous in the 'I don't want to do the wrong thing!' kind of way.
"Time to let out the others?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, Alice said these guys might want to see," I said.
"I'll admit to a bit of curiosity myself. I've seen the dark; now, show me the ark," Luke joked.
"Well, should I just whip it out here?" I joked.
"Why not? we can lock the door if it makes you feel more comfortable." Alice teased with a wink at Luke, who just looked bemused.
"That's probably a good idea. Alright. Alice, you get the door, everybody else, stand back, I guess. Or don't; I don't know what happens if someone gets in the way of this opening, so we can find out together." Oddly enough, nobody was interested in testing that for me, and they backed up.
The Shadow door seemed to rise up from the actual shadows, so it was likely it would just form in front of them, but I also wasn't putting my arm out to test that, at least not this early into a loop.
The Shadow rose up my actual shadow. I hadn't had a chance to do a ton of testing yet, but one of the tests on my list was trying to open the Shadow Alcove in the complete dark. Would it just appear around me, or would the entrance appear somewhere randomly in the dark space? At some point, I'd test it, but it wasn't a high priority right then.
I gestured at the doorway with a bow to my audience. Alice and Luke clapped politely while the rest also gaped more genuinely. "After you," I said, but my words were met with hesitation until I glanced at Alice for help.
"Alright, after me then," She said and stepped inside. She'd been in the Shadow before, though even apart from the otherworldly emptiness Luke's patrons had talked about, Alice had been operated on in there while awake. I couldn't imagine there weren't some negative associations there that I hadn't really considered.
Still, she entered the Shadow, and the others followed in after, with Jessica and myself in the rear. When I entered the alcove, I immediately opened the passage to my ether ship, to allow Alice and the others access.
"This is so weird," Jessica said.
Perhaps it was because she was the first to speak in the space; maybe it was because she was the smallest, but, for one reason or another, something tried to kill her in that moment.
Whatever it was, I couldn't see it, but some sound or glint or sixth sense told me danger was incoming. I dove forward, tackling Jessica as carefully as I could, something sharp scraping against the back of my neck as I did.
I cradled Jessica in one arm and caught myself on the floor with the other. "Go go! into the ship!" I yelled. It was too dark in here. We couldn't see the attacker. My spine tingled, and I could tell I was being watched.
"Oberon, what is it?" Luke asked.
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"He said go!" Alice snapped, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him deeper into the shadow. If I died, the doorways would close, but everybody on the ship would be fine if I didn't trap them with the monster. Anybody in the Shadow would probably be killed by whatever was attacking.
Goddamit, this is supposed to be MY Shadow; why am I being attacked here?
Alice dragged Luke through the passage to my Ether Ship, and Maebe and Anderson hurried in behind as I stood and pulled Jessica to her feet. "Come one, stick close, keep your head down."
I had a suspicion about what this thing was, but for that moment, that's all it was. I put one arm out at Jessica's head level to block sneak attacks and raised the other arm up to protect my own head as best as I could.
Jessica put her hands softly on my arm, not to move or lower it, but to cling to it as a guide and protection as we moved toward the ship door. The alcove's exit was closer, but if we split up, the attacker could probably take out whoever I wasn't with.
The smart thing to do would be to send Jessica out and hope she wasn't pursued or could at least escape. Even if she died, she'd at least have lured the monster out of hiding. If I stayed with her, the creature could remain hidden and potentially even kill Alice and company in the Ether, risking all the memories they'd gained so far.
One step at a time, Jessica and I walked—inches apart—toward the entrance, my eyes, ears, and instincts searching for any sign of movement.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up; I could feel motion in the dark, but not its target or where it was exactly. The entrance to the ship was just ahead, and I shoved Jessica forward a moment before a feathered weight smacked into my arm, one talon tearing into me. Jessica screamed as she stumbled forward, and I saw a tear in her scrubs top and a bloom of blood as the wound beneath bled freely and copiously.
Alice and Luke were waiting just on the other side of the entryway, peering into the ark with the limited light that was available below deck on my ship. When Jessica came stumbling through, they grabbed her before she could sprawl out on the floor and pulled her deeper.
"Come on! This way!" Alice said, leading Luke and Jessica deeper into the ship where she'd already directed Anderson and Maebe.
The owl monster had somehow snuck into my Shadow, probably back in the mechanic's pit. I hurried after—them if for no other reason than getting into the light would make finding the thing much easier.
The giant owl was quicker. Its wings hugged its side as it propelled itself through the doorway, spreading out again to glide down the hall, wings curving up slightly to avoid dragging against the walls.
"Alice, behind you!" I shouted a warning, chasing after the group.
"Down!" Alice said, pulling Jessica and Luke down as she dropped to the ground under swooping talons.
The patchy pale-green owl monster brought its feet up and closed its wings. Its talons hit the far wall by the doorway to the stairs, and it pushed off, propelling itself back toward us while my allies were still trying to get back to their feet.
Its eyes were locked on its targets, and they'd have trouble getting out of the way a second time. I sprinted toward them and, without slowing, hurdled Luke and Jessica as they tried to get back to their feet.
The owl tried to pull back but was too slow.
My paw hands gripped each other, and I brought my fists down like a club on the owl's head, smashing it to the ground and then stomped hard on it, once, twice, and then pulled back for a third before pausing, panting heavily, if mostly from adrenaline. When it didn't move, I lowered my leg and turned to check on my allies.
"Jesus, that's that owl from back in the alley," Luke said, his own breathing coming hard.
"Yeah, it must have snuck in back then, when I was taking care of Craig and them. Everybody okay? Jessica?" I asked, my youthful voice shaking as much or more than Luke's.
"Just a scratch. I'll be okay. Alice?" Jessica said, her voice surprisingly cool, if not completely void of quaver.
"All good, bruised knees, but I'll take it," Alice said. "That was quick S-Oberon."
"Thanks," I said, a doggy grin pulling my mouth back and opening just enough to tug at the staples in my mostly numb cheek.
"Um, Thanks, Oberon. Thanks for saving us and staying with me in the dark." Jessica said, her eyes fixed on the pale body and dark gore.
It was gross and in my fur, but we were in the Ether, and since I actually had a second to think, I changed into my preferred shape, letting the gore fall away. My voice was a deeper tenor verging on baritone when I spoke, matching that of my inner monologue, and I breathed a sigh of relief. "No problem. I'm glad I could help. We'll get you bandaged up when we get to the others."