When Cherry walked into Charlotte’s office she felt the
muscles in her stomach tighten. Even
though she had known Charlotte for years, she was still the Dean, having to sit
in that waiting room somehow still made her feel like she had done something
wrong, even though she hadn’t.
The fact that she was there to check up on her brother didn’t
help. Yes, Whitley was a Hen warrior,
and that meant that he had to face some really fucked up bad guys on a regular
basis, but he was still her brother. She
still worried about his safety, and the fear of getting that phone call, the
one that said he hadn’t made it out of a fight, haunted her.
Charlotte’s door opened, and when Whitley stepped out Cherry
jumped to her feet, running to her brother.
She hugged him hard, and could feel him wince under her embrace.
“Careful.” He sounded tired. “Squeezing
cracked ribs is a bad idea.”
Cherry stepped back, looking him over. Part of his face was swollen and bruised, and
his right arm was in a sling. He smiled at her, but the smile couldn’t hide the
exhaustion in the rest of his face.
“What happened?” She kept her voice low, always aware that a
student could walk into the office at any time.
“The damn Mythos got the jump on me. Actually used one of his victim’s bodies as a
projectile weapon.” He limped towards one of the chairs in the waiting room,
sitting down slowly. “That is one evil
son of a bitch, Reign… sorry, Cherry.”
He still hadn’t gotten use to her nickname. Probably never
would. He had made it clear very early
on that he hated the nickname Cherry.
Said it sounded perverted.
Cherry sat next to him, gently
placing her hand over his.
“Don’t you think we should start
warning the women on campus?” she asked.
“The women aren’t the ones that have to worry. Not this time.” He shook his head. “Our
Mythos’s tastes run a little more to the butch.”
“Succubus?”
Whitley shook his head. “Very much male, and very
hungry. Found him last night on
Fraternity Row. Makes sense, I guess. In
some sick, sad way.”
Cherry’s eyes went wide. Now that was a new one. Most Mythos were best described as classical
Incubus. They seduced women, with
varying degrees of force, and stole their souls or essences or whatever someone
wanted to call it, and on occasion impregnate their victim. Occasionally a female Mythos, most closely
resembling a Succubus, would arrive, but in all of Cherry’s research they had
mostly focused solely on men, not wanting to invade the Incubus’s feeding
territory. Mythos attracted to the same
sex were not unheard of, but there were almost no documented incidents of a Hen
warrior coming into contact with one.
Cherry shook her head.
She was thinking like a Hen warrior.
It was her life long training coming through, but she did her best to
fight it.
“Cherry, I have a favor to ask
you.” Whitley looked away.
Cherry already knew the
question. “Don’t make me do this, Whitley.”
“Charlotte can’t handle this thing on her own, and I’m at
too much of a disadvantage.” He bit his lower lip. “You are the only other person who can
help. You have the training, the
research. You know Mythos better than
either of us.”
“That isn’t who I am anymore. That isn’t what I want.” Cherry was on her
feet, ready to bolt for the door. “You
agreed that me getting away from our past, away from that… life was for the
best. You even talked mom and dad into
letting me leave. Don’t you dare try and drag me back in.”
“If there was any other option, I wouldn’t be asking.” He stood slowly, wincing as he did so. “There
is no time to bring in someone else.
This thing is here and it is hungry.
Already it has at least three victims that we know of, and probably more
that we don’t.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “What if it comes after
Peter? It already killed two of your friends.
What if it has its sights on Peter next?”
“Fuck you.” She turned, storming
out of the office. When she glanced
back, right before the door closed she could see her brother smiling. He had
won.
She was going to do it.
She was going to fight.
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