The Night Beat

nightmare, surrounded her. Eldritch flames surrounded them, and a pit appeared before her, filled with noxious smells and worse things.
    Eudora was terrified, but she shook her head as defiantly as she could. “I won’t. Go back to Hell, where you all belong. You’re an abomination in the eyes of the Lord, and I won’t ever join you.”
    “You will obey us! We are your father!”
    “No, you’re not. You’re nothing but evil.”
    “They are your father,” her mother said. “You should come with us, dear. We can be a real family.” Her mother was so calm, so happy, it was more horrifying than the monster and everything else around her ever could be.
    “If this is what my family can be, then I choose to be an orphan. And I choose God, not you.” Eudora prayed silently, wondering if God was listening.
    “No god is stronger than us! You pray to a god who cares nothing for you. You were created by sin, born in sin, and now, you will die from sin, and be cast to the great nothingness.” The monster made some movements, the creatures closed in, and Eudora braced herself. She wanted to run but knew she couldn’t escape this -- there was nowhere to go, no way out.
    A bolt of lighting came from the clear skies and struck the pit, destroying it, returning the smooth ground between her and her parents. More lightning flashed and crackled, and the horrors around her screamed in agony as they were destroyed. Eudora heard a voice, in her mind more than through her ears. She has chosen, and she is mine. And I will protect my child.
    Then lightning flashed around the monster that was her father, caging it. Eudora didn’t question, she took the opportunity and fled. But even though the monster was hindered, as she looked over her shoulder, she saw it coming for her.
    She heard a wolf’s howl in the distance, and then another, closer. Soon the air was filled with the sound of a full pack in hunt. She was running right towards the howling, but if she stopped, worse horror awaited her.
    Just before she reached the woods the pack appeared. But they didn’t look like real wolves. They seemed like a cross between a wolf and a man. They stood on their hind legs, they were bigger than any wolf she’d seen, and they were talking. Not in a language she could understand, but not in animal growls or grunts, either.
    The pack surrounded her and Eudora stopped running. One stepped closer to her and nodded his head. “You choose Yahweh or Usen?”
    “Excuse me?” Being polite in this situation seemed more surreal than anything else had tonight, but despite the evidence, her mother had, apparently, raised her right.
    “Choose your God.” The wolf which, upon closer inspection truly looked more like a wolf-man, seemed impatient. Not that she could blame him. It was easy to hear the monster, since it was bellowing for her and her blood.
    She blinked. “I choose whoever answered my prayer, whoever sent the lightning.”
    “Huh, that’s Yahweh. Usen sent us,” he added, somewhat reproachfully.
    “Should I pick both? I ask because we’re all about to die.”
    He shrugged. “Good friends, no problem.” He cocked his head. “Okay, Usen says fine for you to go to Yahweh, more natural for you.” He smiled, which wasn’t all that comforting to look at. “Call me Black Wolf. Won’t hurt. Much.” Then he lunged, grabbed her arms, and bit her neck.
    Eudora would have screamed, but Black Wolf had been too fast. She waited for the other wolves to attack and eat her alive, but they didn’t. Instead they moved to stand between her and Black Wolf, who was still holding her, and the oncoming monster.
    She realized she was still alive, though she felt like she was on fire. “What’s going on?”
    “Change coming. Have to wait.”
    “For what?”
    “For you to undie.”
    Eudora heard snarling and turned to see the wolf pack attack the monster. They were doing a good job against it, but it was clear it was stronger. “Are they going to die?”
    “Hope not. How you feel?”
    “Strange.” This was true. Her body now felt icy and leaden.
    Black Wolf nodded. “Common. When you feel hunger, tell me.”
    “Hunger? We’re fighting something from Hell. I’m not going to stop for supper.” No sooner were these words out of her mouth than it hit -- she was ravenous, more hungry than she’d ever been.
    Black Wolf could tell, possibly because she was growling. “Good. Change complete.” He barked and growled, and the other