The museum was a lovely place, once the people were gone. I loved to roam the halls at night, staring at pictures and trinkets and treasures of the dead. Magical exhibits were marked with blue ropes, stored in cases made from tinted glass - glass laced with a metal that stopped the flow of magic. I didn’t understand the physics of it, but Judy assured me they were safe.

There was a new exhibit, just recently rolled out onto the main floor - a huge book, resting in a cylinder of that special glass. The placard said it was recovered from a prison in 1986. Some gifted nutcase blew up a trailer park. Bluestar mages found this book on him and threw it in a containment field.

All attempts to study it had failed, so the Department of Metahuman Affairs put it under glass and sent it to us. They said the wards around Newbury Tower protected things better than they could. Tomorrow this place would be full of students from the tower, all fighting for a glimpse of this book.

It was enormous. It would have covered Judy’s desk and hung off the edge. The cover was thick black leather - spotless, like it had been crafted yesterday. The pages were vellum, but no one could identify the animals they were made from. Some guy in Germany said it was made from human flesh, but nobody believed him. Human skin is too fragile; it would take fancy alchemy and thousands of corpses to make a book that big.

There was a giant rune embossed on the cover, presumably the title. The placard said it was Taltorak - a Romanian rune symbolizing continuity and rebirth.

Fingerprints didn’t stick to the cover, but hair follicles between the pages dated back to the 12th century. A dozen scholars had died trying to read it, killed by some kind of demonic guardian. Some had tried to read it safely from behind that special glass, but the field that kept magic out blotted out the writing as well.

It was a great mystery. Who made it? Who wrote it? What force protected it? And how did an ancient tome from Romania end up in an Arizona jail? The killer died in prison, and his file was sealed.

The placard said he killed sixty-two people, blasted their bodies and burned their homes with lightning from the sky.

* * *

The book distracted me for a minute when I walked in, but I had work to do. I unlocked Judy’s office and started working on my database. Some idiot from campus computing had pushed an update and screwed up my code. Fixing it would take hours.

An hour later, I was startled by a buzz from the front door. I pulled up a monitor window and checked the security camera. Judy was at the door, soaking wet and shivering in the rain. I’d been so busy; I didn’t even hear the rain start.

Judy saw the light come on and started mugging for the camera. She waved a bag at me and stuck her tongue out. I grabbed a door code from her password file and let her in.

I must have gone back to work right away, because Judy snuck up behind me and pulled her soaking wet raincoat over my head. I had planned a night of depression and self-pity, but Judy had a talent for cheering me up. I laughed and threw the coat back at her.

She was carrying a grocery bag. “I brought food. You always forget to eat when you’re working.”

It was such a little thing to her, but it made my heart go thump in my chest. I knew Judy would never really love me again, but now here she was, walking six blocks in the rain to bring me dinner.

She launched into her usual banter as she unpacked the food. “I brought sandwiches - tuna and sprouts.” I thought I was hiding it, but Judy saw my face droop. She laughed at me and produced another sandwich like she was doing a magic trick. “And I brought ham and cheese for you. Because god knows, if you ever ate a vegetable, you would just puff up and die.”

We didn’t talk much during dinner. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating. Judy produced a thermos and poured two cups of soup. I cocked an eyebrow at her and tried to lean over. “What else have you got in that bag?”

Judy snatched it away and clutched it to her chest. “It’s a secret. Finish your dinner.”

I shook my head and did as I was told. A minute later, Judy cussed. “Dammit! I forgot drinks. I’ll have to get something from the machine.” I reached in my pocket, but Judy was already walking away. “I got it. Sit. Eat. Work.” She turned around and wagged her finger at me. “And don’t look in that bag.”

I held up my hand like a Boy Scout. “I promise.”

And crept toward the bag as soon as she was gone. What I saw sucked the smile right off my face. I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my eyes, suddenly very tired. Judy hated cooking. She was a frustrated banshee in the kitchen, cussing and spitting and throwing things. But tonight, for my birthday, she had baked me a cake.

I never got to eat it.

* * *

Judy returned with two bottles of soda. She had just sat down when I heard the noise - a weird series of thumps and footsteps, like Santa Claus had just landed on the roof. Judy didn’t hear it, but she saw my reaction. “What’s wrong?”

I shushed her and cocked my head to listen, then all the power in the building went out. A moment of complete darkness, then the emergency lights came on, bathing the area in garish white and sickly red. In normal light, the museum was a safe place. Now it was a dungeon, filled with odd shapes and shifting shadows.

An instant later, we heard a high-pitched whining sound. It wasn’t terribly loud, but the pitch was so high, it made my ears hurt. A minute of silence and another series of soft thumps that turned out to be coils of rope hitting the floor.

I motioned for Judy to kneel down as I crawled to the window. I brought my head up and looked out onto the exhibit floor, peeking from the gap between the shade and the windowsill.

Three men in black clothes slid down from the ceiling on ropes, just like in the movies. It looked so ridiculous, I froze for a moment, unable to accept that I was seeing this in real life. Their faces were covered by hoods. The leader was carrying a huge nylon bag. The second was holding something that looked like a molded chainsaw, some kind of sonic drill.

The man with the drill moved quickly, cutting a circle in the dark glass around Taltorak. The others just stood guard. Their part of the job was done. When the circle was finished, the thief reached into his pocket and produced a tiny disk. I didn’t recognize the technology. He reached in carefully and placed it inside the case. It stuck.

He took a few steps back and motioned for his colleagues to do the same. Ten seconds later, the case started to glow. I couldn’t smell smoke with Judy’s door closed, but the glass was melting off the case. I thought heat would ruin the book, but it didn’t seem to mind.

This wasn’t some fraternity prank; these men had a plan. They stood in a half-circle, staring at the naked black cover. They were hesitating, afraid to touch it. The first man held his bag open, barking an order to the third. The man hesitated for a moment, then he grabbed the cover with both hands.

He died so fast; I couldn’t even see what killed him. He didn’t even have time to scream. I heard this terrible ripping sound, like a buzzsaw chewing through something wet.

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The thief hovered in mid-air for a second, then he collapsed forward onto the pedestal. From my angle at the window, I couldn’t see the weapon, the cut, or the wound in his chest. Blood flowed freely over the book, but when I looked again, the cover was clean. The thief lost a gallon of blood on that pedestal, but none of it hit the ground.

His partners panicked and went for the door, but they were too slow. The light caught it just right, and I saw the demon.

The Guardian was thick and hunched - like a little gorilla, resting on its haunches. Its skin was jet black, smooth like a shark’s belly. Its body had a wavering, translucent quality to it, like it wasn’t entirely there. Its head was long and bulbous, filled with moving shadows that only vaguely looked like teeth. I could see fresh blood dripping from its jaws. Its claws scraped the tile when it walked, like a dog that needed clipping. It had crazy long arms, with six fingers on each hand.

The demon sat calmly and watched the humans run. It scratched itself like a dog, then it decided to kill them. The slowest one died first. The Guardian didn’t need a running start. It just sprang like a rabbit and landed on his back. The thief struggled a bit as the demon dug into him. I heard another ripping sound and watched the demon sever his spine.

Judy was curled in a ball against her desk. Her whole body was shaking. I offered my hand, and very slowly, she took it. I pulled her tight against me as we huddled under the window. There was no moment of decision, no sudden flash of courage. I just held her and whispered softly in her ear.

“Don’t try to talk. Just nod your head. Do you remember where the door is, down the hall?” It was a stupid question. I was just asking to calm her down.

Judy nodded.

“Good. It’s just a few feet away, but we have to run through the exhibit hall to get there.”

Judy whispered, “What’s going on?”

No time to explain, so I slid away from the window and showed her where to look. I couldn’t see her face, but I watched her shoulders shake as she peered into the hall. Judy pulled away suddenly and collapsed in my arms. Her face was bright red, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. She looked like she was going to scream, so I grabbed her and pulled her close, clamping my hand over her mouth.

But Judy recovered quickly. “What can we do?”

I looked into her eyes, grappling with something I had never felt before. “It’s gonna be okay. I’m gonna open the door to your office and step outside. The instant I walk out, run for the front door, fast as you can. Run outside and hit the police box, but don’t stop running. Head for the dorm down the street. Somewhere with lots of people.”

Judy frowned and blinked away tears. “What about you?”

I hugged her tight and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right behind you.”

It had been a while since I had lied to her face.

* * *

I crept to the office door with Judy a few steps behind. I put my hand on the doorknob and looked back at her. She nodded once and whispered, “I love you.”

I looked in her eyes and fixed them in my memory. I wanted her face to be the last thing I saw. “I love you, too. Run!”

I flung the door open and let it bang against the wall. I stalked into the room, headed straight for the Guardian - sighing as I heard Judy’s footsteps echo down the hall.

I could see the demon better now. It was crouched between two bodies - feeding. Its claws were buried in a corpse, shuffling back and forth. It looked like a dog, digging a hole in the backyard. The Guardian dug its head in the body cavity and came up with a long, wet tube in its mouth - a length of intestine. It hung like a limp sausage and the demon slurped it down, like a fat man eating spaghetti.

Then it turned its head like a bird, reacting to the sound of Judy’s footsteps. It wagged its bloody tongue and tensed its back legs like it was about to jump or give chase.

I stepped in front of the creature and waved my arms, shouting “Fuck off! We’re closed!”

I heard a distant thump, the sound of Judy running out the front door. I enjoyed one sweet moment of relief, then the demon hit me like a freight train.

The Guardian retracted its claws and jumped on me, forcing my body against the wall. I tried to pull away, but I had hit the wall so hard I had a mild concussion, so everything else I did without thinking. The demon had me by the neck, so I put my hands on its fingers and tried to pull them off. That didn’t work, so I grabbed opposite sides of its face and tried to gouge its eyes out.

The Guardian thought that was very funny. It snorted and shook me a few times, just to watch my head bob up and down. It seemed to enjoy watching me wiggle, but it got bored quickly. It leaned in to kill me, but stopped, right before its teeth touched my neck.

I was waiting for some kind of flashback, some kind of supernatural event before my death, tunnels or bright lights, maybe even an angel choir. But there was nothing, nothing but pain, frustration, and fear.

Most people call for God at this point, but I had never really believed in God. I knew there was something big up there, something that dispatched angels and set bushes on fire, but I didn’t think of God as someone who cared about me. God saved his miracles for important people - politicians and saints and heroes. I hadn’t prayed for anything since I was a child, and an intervention prayer isn’t really something you compose under pressure.

I tried to think of reasons why God should save my life, but nobody on Earth really needed me right now. No kids. No family. I had friends, but my friends were all doing fine without me. It was a terrible moment, hanging on that wall. The Guardian made me face things I’d been trying to ignore for years. I’d wasted my whole life in the service of dead people. I didn’t want to die, but I had nothing to live for.

The demon was toying with me, shaking me like a cougar, playing with its food. I took a deep breath when it leaned in for the killing bite, but I didn’t close my eyes. That seemed important somehow, to face death with my eyes open.

The moment seemed to last forever. I could see every detail in the room. The demon was so close, I could feel its breath on my face. I thought it would smell terrible, but it didn’t. It gave off a weird metallic scent, like copper mixed with ozone. I’d smelled it faintly before, walking around campus, but now the scent was overwhelming. I tried to pull away, but I had nowhere to go. I tensed my muscles and waited to die.

But the demon didn’t bite. It pulled back and cocked its head sideways, inspecting me with tiny red eyes. It leaned in and sniffed, deciding if I was edible. Slowly, the Guardian brought its hand in front of my face. A long black claw popped out of its knuckle like a switchblade. It was performing for me, like a pet showing off. I stared at the weapon, watching it glitter in the red light.

The Guardian slashed its claw across my chest. It was over so fast, it didn’t even hurt. I looked down and saw a clean line cut into my shirt. The demon’s claw was dripping with my blood. It brought the digit back to its face and licked it with a long reptile tongue.

I made a strangled grunting sound, but I couldn’t turn away. The demon made a growling noise and slurped the blood off my chest. The tongue retracted and its pupils got very big - an almost-human gesture of surprise.

The Guardian lowered me to the ground and took its hand off my neck. Then it took two steps backward and dropped to one knee. I stood there shivering as the demon knelt before me, touching its forehead to the ground.

* * *

I thought I was hallucinating. I thought fear had driven me insane. I was afraid any movement would make the demon change its mind and rip me open, but it just knelt there, panting with lungs that didn’t need air.

I worked up my courage and started to move, shuffling sideways against the wall. The floor under my feet felt like the ledge of a tall building, like the slightest movement forward would send me to my death. I got five steps before the Guardian looked up. It saw the movement and lumbered after me, bouncing forward like a bunny. I saw the bounce and decided to run.

I jumped off my invisible ledge and ran out the door. The demon stayed on my heels, but it didn’t pounce or overtake me. I ran to the police box with the Guardian keeping pace by my side. There was already a campus cop on the front lawn. When he saw me running out, the guard drew his gun and yelled, “Freeze!” Just like in the movies.

I yelled, “SHOOT IT! SHOOT IT!”

“Shoot what?” the cop asked. Then he noticed the blood on my clothes and started giving commands. “Down on the ground! Put your hands on your head!”

I had never been held at gunpoint before, but after being slashed by the Guardian, bullets didn’t seem that scary anymore. I yelled at the guard, “What are you, blind?” I took a step back and pointed at the demon. “It’s a monster, dumbass! SHOOT IT!”

The cop spread his feet apart and leveled his pistol at my chest. “On the ground! Now!”

I ignored him and looked down at the demon. I waved my arms and screamed at it. “What? What do you want? Why are you following me?”

The Guardian sat on its haunches and wagged its tongue like a dog waiting for a treat. I shouted, “Fuck off! Go away!” And it vanished.

* * *

I spent two hours talking to police. They got nasty when they found the bodies, but all the evidence backed up my story. You couldn’t see the Guardian on camera, but you could see what it was doing to its victims. I didn’t even appear in the room until all three men were dead.

The footage showed me being slammed against the wall, but it looked like I was hovering in mid-air, supported by an invisible hand. The encounter felt like hours, but it was only five minutes on video. They called records to check my enrollment, then the director showed up and verified my ID. They weren’t holding me for murder anymore, but they wouldn’t let me leave. They were waiting on the super cops, waiting on a wizard from Bluestar 7.