3)

The monstrous husky let out a screech as the Fetch hammered Stucker, spikes first, into the top of its hips. The impact caused the hound’s hind end to sink down to the ground.

Before it or the other Nightmares could react, the Mirror had already let go of the bat which vanished as it left its hand, and then it jumped up high with its low weight and began to climb up to the top of the cage.

Staying on the ground with this many Nightmares would just get it swarmed. On some future day, I would have liked to see that.

As high as it had gotten to start to climb, an impossibly thin greyhound was able to rear up on its hinds legs, towering up high enough to fall forward and bite into the Duplicate’s leg with the sound of shattering glass as an entire outer layer of the Mirror’s leg broke away under the force of bite and crumbled into dust that then faded away.

It had reflected the magazine taped onto my pant legs, but on it, the makeshift armor was a part of it.

The loss of part of its body barely slowed the Fetch down at all, it still reached the top of the cage to hobble to its feet. Snatching its copy of the club that was in my hands out of the air, it began screaming down as the circling hounds, “Come on! Come and get me you sons of bitches!”

The Nightmares tried to climb up the cage, with the ones in the lead getting a face full of spikes as the Reflection swung down at them. While the ones trying to come at it from the other direction got a belly of spikes from below as I swung up at them. Sometimes catching them fully in the guts, other times getting paws and jaws that slipped through the junk on the cage for support as they tried to climb up.

Soon the glowing blue pus that Nightmares used for blood began to puddle on the heavily treaded grass below as the wounds accumulated on the Hounds above me.

A growl from behind me reminded me that I had nearly forgotten about the poodle which had been stunned inside the entrance to the cage, but before I could do more than turn to face it, it had already gotten inside the cage with me.

Backing away with my shoulder to the side of the cage, I was able to swing and caught in the side of its head with the spiked club just before a set of long narrow jaws lunged into a gap in the side of the cage and sunk their teeth into my arm.

The narrow muzzled Greyhound twisted its jaw back and forth as it pulled me back toward the side of the cage. All the strength went out of my arm as the Fetch yelled above me. When I lost my grip on the bat, it lost its as well, leaving the Duplicate unarmed.

I had another option, and one working arm left to me.

Fumbling out the policeman’s gun, I put two shots into the Poodle with the human face.

From this close, even I couldn't miss and with it facing me. preparing to jump at me, both shots went into its face. I could feel the Greyhound flinch from the noise through the teeth in my arm, but it still didn’t let go.

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The sound of gunfire was always a danger, Big Daddy didn’t like loud noises at night.

“AHHHHH! They’re biting me!”

Looking over I could see a group of smaller dogs with too many teeth taking turns to lunge at Suzy, not so much biting her as biting at her blanket as they tried to pull it away from her tight fisted grip.

I reached over my shoulder and put the barrel of the gun against the greyhound's head. There wasn't much point in avoiding more noise now. One shot was enough for its jaws to loosen to let me drop down to my knees and grab the club again. "Thanks so much, having something to fight with helps!” came a sarcastic voice from above.

Big Daddies voice had a hollow, angry tone. “Who the hell is making all that noise? I'm trying to sleep! Why are you screaming you useless brat?"

As one, me and my Mirror said the same words to each other, once again saying what everyone already knew. “He’s awake.”

What does a Nightmare look like to someone who has been blind since birth? What does it do when it has to be seen by the person who dreamed of it because they need them to die with their image in the dreamer's mind so the Nightmare can become real?

Suzy’s father hadn’t struck me as a monster by the time I knew him, but he had been loud and often lost his temper with his blind daughter. I don’t think that he had ever hit her, but she said that he had often dragged her around by her arm whenever she didn’t move fast enough for him.

And he yelled, a lot.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Be quiet! I have to work tonight you useless little shit!”

I lunged across the cage to drop the flip down blocker over the entrance to the cage, then I felt the pressure of Big Daddies regard.

“What are you kids doing in my yard!”

I hit the ground, face down, and curled up into a ball with my eyes clenched shut.

The Fetch yelled wordlessly as it leaped just before something hit the cage hard enough to bend in the monkey bars and shift the whole thing to the side.

Above me, bones snapped as a Hound died without a sound, and something wet coated me as it sprayed down from above.

“I said, no pets!”

I heard a hound yelp as it was lifted into the air and then was dashed to the ground with a meaty sound. Another Nightmare cried out as its ribs gave way before it was sent flying down the street until it impacted against a car.

“You. I told you to stay away from my house!”

I heard my own voice answer him. “Ah… Don’t hurt my dogs! I’ll call the cops!”

The cage shook again as something let out a cry as it struck the metal again. “I’ll get you, and you’re little dogs too! See if I don’t!”

The hounds began to flee with braying howls. I could hear cars getting kicked aside, then the sound of shattering glass and my voice calling out in pain.

The unseen Nightmare's voice almost sounded sad, apologetic. “Let that be a lesson to you. Don't rile me, boy.”

After a moment the angry voice spoke out one last time. "It's past your bedtime little girl. Don't make me put you to bed."

Suzy whimpered. “No Daddy. I’ll be a good girl.”

After a moment she called out once again. “Chris? I think he’s gone.”

I gave it another moment, then opened my eyes to glance around from side to side. I don't know what I was looking for since I had no idea what Big Daddy really looked like. All I knew is that he is on scale to Suzy, a normal sized young woman, to what a full grown rather large man would be to a small girl.

She called out again. “I think you need to check on Fetch, it sounded like he got hit pretty hard.”

I muttered “It.” as I was getting up. I could see what looked like a human shaped disco ball of broken glass covered in blue goo that was lying halfway into the now broken down front door of the Henderson's house. It lifted one arm which was broken at an angle and waved at me. “You should have seen the other guy.”

It took me a bit to get the door opened on the cage with the bend framework so I could get out, and then I checked on Suzy first. The dogs had only poked her a bit as they pulled at her blanket and all I needed to do was hold her for a while until she was ready to go back into her house.

I also borrowed her blanket.

It was easier to lay the blanket out and move the Mirror onto it, then drag the blanket, than it would have been to try to pick the Fetch up. It was light as a child, but it was also all sharp edges.

Dragging it closer to the remains of the Hounds made it easier to begin shoveling the blue pus from their still oozing wounds onto the Fetch. Soaking in the life's goo of its own kind was the quickest way for it to heal.

Which I needed it to do.

The night wasn’t over yet.