Becoming Monsters: In the Mirror Ch. 14

"No, I need to finish..."

"No, you don't. If it won't explode in the next two hours without your attention, put it down. Sleep. Your Hunger is running critical. I'm sure some occupants of this building are siphonable for you, but you're about to burn out. I'm alive."

She seemed to deflate in on herself. "I... alright, Jay. But only for two hours, I'm setting an alarm!" She shuffled off to the bedroom.

As soon as the door closed: "Gloria, you're doing better than her, but you need to rest." Nibbles nodded and rubbed up against her leg. "We are going to go help Whitney at the apartment, where is the expanded bag?"

She actually had it on her. Gloria turned it upside-down and dumped out a few random things, then handed it over. Shortly after, Lucy and I were back on the bus. Nibbles stayed, promising in his cute way to guard the apartment and its occupants. I had no doubts that he would. Cutely.

Home... what used to be home, anyway... was even worse than I thought. The investigators were gone, the crime scene tape was down, but everything I could see in the living room was torn and burnt. Whitney met us there, looking imposing. "They just left a bit ago. Said they got what they needed. Now come here!" Whitney was... enthusiastic about the hug, even her wings joining in, but I had to tap out after a few moments. Ow.

"What's left to pick up?"

"We already got the paperwork, enchanting setup, equipment, perishables, and most of the materials out. Valuables, imperishables, cheaper materials, and anything that wasn't wrecked is next." Whitney was not exactly sounding well-rested, either. Thing is? Despite letting me Feed on her the previous day, her Aura was burning brightly.

"Alright, we'll get to work on that shortly. Need you to tell me, who have you been fighting?"

She paused. "You would know I was. We had a problem with looters overnight. Couple of them decided to try to come in through the broken window to see if they could sneak out some stuff for later. I objected."

We started with the few things left in the gear closet first, then got what small bit of jewelry we had. I caught something then, out of the corner of my eye. Through the doorway to the kitchen, a flicker like a heat shimmer. Like a splash of water striking the surface of a lake. An Aura. One that was actively refilling.

"We got company, demonic in the kitchen!" I deployed my baton and sprinted forward. I had to commit to the fight, like I was running out of time.

So much for taking it easy.