How Was Your Day? - Chapter 12.3

The darkness slid out fast as anything; it seemed to Finnley like an unfurling scroll, but by no means a pleasant one. It quickly unfolded into a gigantic winged beast, all tattered edges and sharp talons, and entirely colored black. It gave a mighty screech, and the trio below, even Mia, cowered at the sound, covering their ears with their hands.

It beat its wings in great strokes and took to the sky. It was a horror to watch, as the creature seemed to be entirely made from black smoke, coiling in a dark mass. Its eyes, when Finnley caught sight of them, were a flat, piercing white. It struck him to his soul and he couldn't look away. The same went for the rest of them; they only pulled out of their terrifying trance when a figure came up to the door.

"Uncle Fred!" Mia gasped, the first to break the spell and turn around. Monica and Finnley followed suit, staring at the man in the doorway, framed with yellow light from the house. He looked a great deal like Mia's father, though a little tougher around the edges. He had a look about him, like he came off gruff but was truly kind on the inside.

"Mia!" he replied, and anger flickered like a cracklings fire in his voice. "You let the demon out!" There were notes of panic in there, carefully controlled, but there. Finnley rubbed his own arms to keep down the goosebumps, though it didn't do much for the fear.

"Demon?" she said in a small voice, seeming to shrink before her uncle, an odd thing to see in someone so self confident. "Oh," she said after a moment, "oh. That was why you told us not to come in."

"Yes," her uncle replied, clearly exasperated. He ran a thick, calloused hand through his hair. "Did you think I wouldn't let my niece in out of some sort of spite?" Mia was about to answer, but he waved a hand. "No, no time for this now! I'm going to get my gun- we've got to hunt this beast down before it causes any more damage! Whoever drove that car out front, you need to either give me the keys or do exactly as I say." Uncle Fred darted into the house, grabbed a long gun which had been sitting right by the door, waiting for use, and slammed the door.

Finnley didn't think his mom would approve of this man of questionable sanity driving the car, related to Mia or not. Then again, she wouldn't approve of anything in this situation. He had to make his own decisions, like he already had in coming here in the first place. Finnley tossed the keys to Mia's uncle, who gave a nod of respect as he caught them. "Everyone in!"

No one dared to question this order, and so Finnley found himself in the backseat with Monica, exchanging worried glances with her while Mia sat in the passenger seat next to her uncle, who drove like it was his last day to live. Maybe it was. He sped around the treacherous mountain curves, not caring which Kane was rightfully his and which belonged to oncoming traffic. Finnley could only be grateful that there were no other cars on the road at this time of night.

Mia seemed more comfortable with the silence than any of them, and Monica looked incredibly concerned about the whole ordeal, so in the end it was Finnley who spoke up. He leaned forward in his seat to tap Uncle Fred on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me? We came here to find you, there have been some things happening in the forest. We've been looking everywhere for more information, but we think you know a lot more about it than we do. Is that true? Can you help us?"

Finnley watched Uncle Fred's thick brown eyebrows lift up in a bemused expression through the rearview mirror. "Seriously? You just let a demon out of my house and you still aren't sure if I know things about it? Look, just call me Fred. Or Uncle Fred if you like, I suppose. Anyway. This is just a tiny bit more important right now, but I'm sure we'll get to everything else in good time."

This left Finnley extremely dissatisfied, but he stayed quiet this time. He peered out the window and saw that they were driving directly into the other side of the forest, where the smoky demon could just barely be seen threading its way through the treetops. Pine trees lined the unlit road, and they were thick and menacing. In the front seat, Mia just shrugged, but she was very clearly excited about this supernatural hunt and the possibility of gaining more information, whereas Monica looked positively queasy.

Uncle Fred turned sharply down a dirt road and drove as far along it as possible. Finnley cling for dear life to the handle on the ceiling; the car ride was beginning to frighten him more than the demon. Gravel bits attacked the car from all sides, adding to the twisting feeling in Finnley's gut. They abruptly pulled over and all leaped out of the car at once. "Can you kill it with that gun?" Monica asked in a low, terrified whisper.

"If I hit it in the right spot," Uncle Fred murmured back, already fixing the winged demon in the sights of his gun. He took a shot at the creature where it was hovering just above the tree line, and it let out another earsplitting screech. It dove, only to reappear a moment later just out of range.

"Dang," Uncle Fred cursed, then froze when he saw the demon change course. The moonlight shone all around the creature, but did not illuminate the creature itself. It blocked out all the stars in its wake. Fred slowly backed towards the car. "Guys... we got trouble," he informed them.

"This wasn't trouble?" Finnley said, aghast, though he, too was already getting back in the car.

"It's out for revenge, see. And it's heading straight back to Mia's home," Fred declared grimly.