Teeth and Halo

 Continued from Angels and Demons

“Are you sure he can’t get in?” Deb asked, watching the doorknob turn. Her teeth were bared as she snarled at the door, her inner wolf straining to break free.

“I think he’s just toying with us,” Francine said. “He can’t get in, but he can scare the living daylights out of us.”

The door rattled violently, but it held.

“Yeah, well, it’s working,” Deb muttered.

“He’s here for me,” Heidi whispered.

The girl shivered, and Sandra scooped her into her arms.

“We won’t let him get you,” she said, smoothing the child’s blonde hair and pulling her close.

Now that she had finally confessed her secret, she was ready to defend Heidi against the evil waiting on the other side of the door.

The lights began to flicker. Not once, not twice, but relentlessly. The rapid pulses stabbed behind Francine’s eyes, igniting a migraine.

The door shuddered. The walls creaked in protest. Above them, the ceiling groaned as if it might cave in at any moment.

Hunter tensed, stepping in front of the others. His lips peeled back in a snarl, exposing sharp fangs.

Beside him, Deb snarled. Her jaw twisted, bones cracking as her teeth lengthened and sharpened. Coarse fur rippled along her arms as the wolf inside her surged forward.

Hunter did not change the same way.

He went still.

The warmth seemed to drain from him as his eyes darkened to something ancient and hungry. His lips curved back, revealing elongated fangs. Veins shadowed beneath his pale skin, and a cold, predatory calm settled over him.

The house groaned again.

Wolf and vampire stood side by side, waiting for the door to give.

Francine changed too. Her canines slid downward, lengthening until they pressed past her lower lip. Her pupils thinned, swallowing the color from her irises.

She was not as ancient as Hunter, not yet carved hollow by centuries, but the killer instinct was there. It lived in her blood. It sharpened her senses and steadied her hands.

Without looking away from the door, she motioned Sandra back.

“Behind us,” she said quietly.

Sandra retreated, clutching Heidi to her chest.

Francine stepped forward, aligning herself beside Hunter. Vampire and wolf formed a barrier of teeth and claws.

When the door gave, it would not find them unready.

A blinding flash exploded through the room.

Light swallowed everything.

Silence followed.

Francine’s headache spiked, splitting through her skull. She threw an arm over her eyes, hissing at the burn.

Hunter strained to keep his focus on the door, peering through the white glare. Beside him, Deb howled, the sound raw and animal as the light seared her heightened senses.

Then, just as suddenly, it was gone.

The room snapped back into view. The lights steadied. The walls stilled.

The quiet that followed was almost deafening.

The door still stood.

Unbroken.

And then, without a splinter or crack, it slowly swung open.

Francine stared at the figure standing in the doorway, disbelief freezing her in place.

Before she could speak, Deb surged forward.

“Joseph!”

She collided with him, arms wrapping around his neck as she buried her face against his chest. The snarl vanished from her lips, replaced by a breathless laugh.

For a heartbeat, no one moved.

Hunter did not lower his guard.

Francine didn’t either.

Because if Joseph could walk through that door without breaking it, without forcing it—

What, exactly, had just let him in?