Cold Snap (Warriors: S1B3)

Chapter 4

Earth date: 10/23/11, 22:37

I don't like dogs.

My mom says it's because of something that happened when I was little. A neighbor had a big dog, a coonhound, who was a little too excitable. The neighbor was taking it for a walk while I was playing in the front yard, and it got so excited seeing me that it yanked the leash out of the owner's hand, ran at me, and knocked me over. It ran back to its owner when I started screaming and crying, but the damage was done. To this day, with the exception of Kristi's dog Grayson, if there's a big dog around, I'm not. If a dog jumps on someone, I have a flashback of a black dog racing towards me.

I would have preferred a coonhound to whatever dropped down on me from the roof of our back porch.

It was as big as a mountain lion and had a body to match: a lithe body that hid how much muscle it had. But feline was the wrong word to describe it. It had a wide, oval-shaped head more like a lizard or a salamander, and its tail, sliding across my legs as it waved it back and forth, felt scaly like a reptile. It had muscular arms like a gorilla's, but only three clawed fingers on each hand-paw, as well as three-toed back feet like a dinosaur or an ostrich. Frills ran down its head and upper back. 

Did I mention it was such a dark blue it was almost black? It was such a dark blue it was almost black.

Did I also mention its eyes glowed bright blue? Its eyes were a pure, glowing blue. No iris or anything. In the split second glimpse I got of it crouched on the roof, the eyes, as fluorescent as headlights, were the only thing I could make out.

The creature clapped a hand-paw down on my hand holding the knife. I felt my blood run cold, and I mean that literally. I'd had fevers before. My wrist experienced the opposite of a fever. I could feel my body temperature dropping below my wrist.

The creature lowered its head and sniffed me. It started at my stomach and tracked up my body until it came to my face. It seemed especially fascinated by my hair. It lowered its snout into my hair and sniffed deep.

I waited until its snout was hovering over my face. Then I reared my neck back and slammed my forehead into its nose, the way Will had instructed us to in the training room. My skull vibrated as that basso growl came from its throat. It clamped a free paw down on my throat, cutting off my air. It shook its head and made another teeth-chattering growl. 

It was met with a yell.

From the darkness, Jay leaped on its back. His arms wrapped around the creature's throat, and he used the momentum to shove the creature off of me and  into a roll. The weight lifted off of me, and I sucked in sweet air. The creature jumped to its feet. It bent its neck backwards and tried to bite Jay. Its neck was too stubby to do it, but Jay used that as an opportunity to punch it in its injured nose. It roared, a noise I felt more than heard, and began bucking, trying to throw Jay off its back. Jay was too strong and clung to its back, looking like a bull rider. 

Joey stood over me. "Margaret, are you OK?" I managed to nod.

"Joey, Margaret," Jay grunted. "Little help?" He must have loosened his grip, because the creature gave a throat rumble and bucked its hindquarters one last time. Jay swore as he flew over the creature's head and disappeared into the dark backyard. The creature sat back and wiggled his hindquarters like it was getting ready to leap. 

Joey plucked the knife from my stiff fingers. "Gonna need this." He tossed the knife in the air, caught it by the blade, and hurled it as the creature leaped after Jay. It spun end-over-end and buried itself in the creature's back leg. It bellowed and faltered in midair, leaping over Jay instead of on top of him. I heard grass crunching as the creature tumbled, followed by a crash as it slammed into the back fence. Light flooded through the new hole in the fence. Our backyard lights weren't working, but the neighbor's was. I could see the creature struggling to its feet. It looked back, probably at the knife buried in its haunch. It looked at Joey, and its eyes narrowed. It whirled to its left and ran over the covered pool. It ran straight over the neighbor's car, setting off the car alarm as it shattered the windshield, and disappeared into the night.