Reggie used caution as he slowly made his way from the safety of the archives and moved closer to the main part of the library where he heard the commotion. He had removed his backpack and had his bat held firmly in his right hand. As he reached the door, he opened it slowly to remain hidden while he tried to spy on the situation.
At the back of the library, three sidhe had cornered someone on the staircase. It looked like an older woman, possibly in her mid-thirties, was caught on the landing of the stairs between the first floor and the second floor. Two of the creatures were below her, blocking her way down, and a lone sidhe was on the stairs above, cautiously closing the distance between them.
Unlike the previous ones he had encountered, these sidhe looked very similar to each other. They were over six feet tall and very lean. Their bodies did not seem to have any hair, and their skin was oily black in color and had a rough scruffy look to it. Running all over their skin were bright veins that glowed like molten rock and pulsed in an alternating rhythm with each other. Each one of them had four eyes and a broad nose that spread the width of their face. Their white teeth were sharp and protruded from their mouths, and looked to be stained pink from blood. Long arms extended from a pointy shoulder and hung past their knees, ending in wide fingers that were covered in barbs and suction cups. None of them seemed to make a sound.
The woman was dressed in torn clothing that looked as thought she had been dragged through a field. Her clothing was very casual, just blue jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt, and a small fall jacket. Despite the fatigued look in her face and her movements, Reggie thought he could see some resistance in her eyes, as though she was ready to keep fighting, despite the current odds.
Letting this woman fight alone to protect his safety was never something he considered. As soon as he realized her situation, he immediately began wondering how he could help her without causing too much noise and risk the possibility of drawing others. Without much time to devise a great plan, Reggie decided the best thing for him to do would be to draw attention to himself and hope that the woman could get away to safety.
As quietly as he could, Reggie approached the two sidhe on the ground level from behind. Luck stayed with him as he got to within ten feet without them making any moves to acknowledge they knew he was there. The direction in which he did approach actually hid him from the higher sidhe’s sight, so he wouldn’t be able to spot him. Of course, the woman couldn’t see him either. Reggie decided that he would grab a chair from one of the nearby tables and smash one of the sidhe with it and then attack the other one with his bat with enough shock and surprise to overtake it before the third one could react.
Silently leaning his bat against the wall, Reggie picked up one of the chairs and raised it slowly above his head as he took a few quick steps to slam it into the sidhe closest to him. As he brought the chair down upon the unsuspecting monster he came suddenly into view and the woman jump back, startled by the sudden movement. This flinch gave the creature enough of a warning to get one of its dark arms up to meet Reggie’s attack.
Although it was able to get one of its arms up to try and block the blow, Reggie was able to build up a considerable amount of momentum as the chair crashed down and into the sidhe, knocking it backwards amid a large explosion of wood pieces. He threw down the remains of the chair that he still held onto and reached backward for his bat.
The second sidhe noticed Reggie, and instead of moving, emitted a blue mist from slits in his neck and on his wrists and proceeded to sink into the floor. Unsure what was happening, he bounded the stair and went after the only one he was aware was still on it’s feet. Seeing Reggie coming, the sidhe embraced itself and dug in.
As Reggie passed the woman and was beginning to ascend the stairs, the monster’s arms came at him quicker and closer than he would have imagined. He was just barely able to dodge the attacks, but it cost him his momentum and forced him to stop, placing his body between the woman and the creature.
The creature attacked again, but this time was able to grab a hold of Reggie’s left leg and begin to pull him in. Despite hoping for the best, he fully expected something of this nature. The barbs on the arm cut quickly through Reggie’s jeans and dug into his flesh. He instantly felt a rush heat and nausea spreading throughout his body. Although this was extremely painful, he had been through enough over the last few hours and he was able to push past the pain and act, bringing his bat into the sidhe’s neck with a familiar authority that he didn’t possess yesterday.
The hands and barbs dug in deeper and the Reggie started to feel himself getting light-headed and sick to his stomach. He dug deeper within himself, remembering what he saw these creatures do to people they defeated and refused to allow himself to share a similar fate. Each swing that he took with the bat became harder and harder; his arms felt heavier and slower and each swing was accompanied by a large grunt or gasp for air. When he thought he couldn’t last much longer, a blue mist began to spill out of the ground next to him and the previous monster rose from the floor.
He stared briefly at the new combatant as he began to panic and sense his eventual death, when the creature’s eyes widened and a large spike of broken wood pierced through its chest. The sidhe crumpled to the floor and revealed the woman standing behind it. The pain in his leg prevented him from concentrating on this development and he turned his attention back to his original opponent and quickly finished killing it with a few more swings from the bat.
The dead creature’s hand made a strange spasm and fell from his leg, but left the barbs in. He could feel his leg getting hotter and begin to swell when he made eye contact with the woman. Just as she was about to say something, the first creature that Reggie had attacked with the chair was starting to stand and blue mist was pouting from his neck as well. Not wanting to fight even more of these things, Reggie was about to jump when the woman moved first.
She was a blur and fury of chops and stabs, and he could just make out the piece of wood that was in her hand. Not wanting to wait for something to discover them or for the monster to some how get the upper hand, he jumped along side her and brought his bat straight down on the sidhe’s head with a bone crushing sound that dropped it right to the ground, convulsion a few seconds longer and then going still.
For long seconds, all that Reggie heard was the panting of his voice and the woman’s. He was forced to lean on his bat as the pain in his wound was becoming unmanageable as his leg began to give out.
The woman rushed to his side and put his arm around her shoulders to support him. She said, “My name is Erin, thanks for the help, but it looks like you’re not doing so well. Is there a place nearby that we can hide?”
Reggie was having trouble focusing on her face, but managed to point in the direction he had come from, “Yeah, we can hide out in the history archives, it’s through that far door and then through another door. That’s where I was when I heard you come in.”
“That sounds great,” she said, “If you can stay awake, I’m sure I can get you there.”
“I will stay awake!” he said, as much to himself as to her. “My name is Reggie, and thanks for helping me. I’ve got some food and water back there for us.”
“That would be great Reggie, I’m starved." Erin added with a tight smile.
It took a few minutes, but Erin was able to get Reggie back to the history room archives. As she laid him out, the heat seemed to run through him and his whole leg was pounding with his heart. The last thing he remembered was Erin’s eyes looking at him concerned.
