Meghan grabbed the collar of my dress and literally lifted me from the couch, dragging me across the living room and down the hall like a rag doll. Just as we reached the entrance to the hall, the house shook, an impact that rippled through the floor, knocking Meghan off of her feet and sending me sprawling back toward the couch. My head hurt. I could see a pool of red seeping onto the tile around me. It would heal, but god damn it hurt. Through my blurred vision I saw Meredith standing there, confronting the giant, but she looked different, so very different. Her skin was a deep blue, surrounded in neon green swirls of energy that shot across it like veins. Her eyes glowed green, and from her back, a pair what I could only describe as butterfly wings, flapping rapidly and keeping her suspended a foot off the ground. In her hands, a pair of short blades flashed, reflecting the glow of the spotlights high up in our vaulted ceiling.

“The girl is under the Contract of Eaves,” Meredith’s voice, oscillated and distorted echoed through the house, it shook my bones. The giant responded by swinging his massive sword in her direction, the blade whooshing, as if it were tearing the very air it came into contact with. Meredith shot backward, catching the sword between her two blades and landing a kick between the Giant’s ribs, sending him skidding backward into the stairs. I cringed as the bannister splintered and his mass crushed the wall beyond.

“Come on!” Meghan grabbed my arm and peeled me off of the tile, I cried out as the pain in my head surged. Meredith shot across the room, her feet never touching the ground and buried her dagger into the giant’s shoulder, it screamed, a bellow that was on par with a train whistle, I clapped my hands over my ears as Meghan turned me away and rushed me down the hall. She was fast, she was really, really fast. My stomach lurched as she shot from the front of the hall all the way to the back, taking a left turn as if she were an Indy car driver. I heard Meredith scream, and then the giant screamed. I heard another crash. I felt the house shake. Meghan slipped and slid across the tile floor, dropping me once again and landing us in the second hallway, nearest the outside of the house.

I could hear it coming after us, crushing the hallway walls that we’d just run through. I could hear the singing of Meredith’s blades, I could sense my sister’s fear. What was going on? Why was this happening to us?

“Meghan!” I said drowsily. “I need my bow…I need…”

“No, we have to get out of here!” She said insistently. “Where is it?”

“Living room,” I said. “It’s on…it’s on the other couch.”

“You keep your most important weapon on the living room couch?” She demanded as she took a turn at the end of the hallway, darting past what was once the front door and back toward the living room. Behind us, a flash of green light surged. I looked back just in time to see the giant reappear, a blast of green fire splashing against his back. He turned to face Meredith who screeched and lunged at him once again, her daggers slashing at the speed of light.

“Put me down!” I shouted as we reached the living room. As soon as my feet were on the floor I snatched the bow and quiver from the couch. “Get Mr. Giggles, he’s over there!”

I sped past her, notching a bow onto the string and flinging myself around the corner, just in time to loose an arrow at the giant. It struck him in the arm, he howled and turned his full attention toward me.

“Jasmine don’t!” Meredith screamed from behind him as she raced behind him and lunged again. “Get back! Get out of the house!”

“Come on!” I shouted. “We need to get to the mirror! Let’s get out of here!”

“Jasmine,” Meghan said, much more calmly than she should have. “I can’t use the mirror.”

“What?!” I exclaimed as I turned toward her.

“I’m a vampire,” She said. “I can’t use the mirror.”

I cursed and fired another arrow, this time hitting the giant in the leg. It didn’t even slow down. My eyes widening, I lowered the bow and ran back toward the living room.

“The front door Jasmine!” Meredith screamed. “Get out of the house!”

“I’m not going without you!” I shouted back as I took cover behind the couch. The giant swung its sword again, this time tearing through one of the beams that supported the ‘sitting room’, which was another open space that Angela and Meredith would have used to host parties, if they’d had any friends they wanted to invite over. As the beam broke, the ceiling began to sag and a barrage of splinters exploded outward toward the living room. I ducked as they impacted with the couch and clattered against the wall beside me. The giant howled again as Meredith tried to get in front of it, between me and him.

“Get…out…of…the…house!” She shrieked. “I can handle myself!”

“I can’t leave without you!” I sobbed. “Let me help you!”

From the corner of my eye I saw Megan rushing toward me, this time scooping me up under one arm. I couldn’t move, I was completely pinned.

“Get her out!” Meredith ordered. As she screamed, distracted for one second, the giant’s sword slammed against her flesh, cutting her from shoulder to naval. She howled as green blood exploded from the open wound. I think I was screaming. I don’t know, I remembered trying to claw my way out of Meghan’s grasp, I remembered pounding against her arm. I remembered the tears and rage flooding my vision. My hair matted and wrapped around my head. Meredith lunged again, this time digging her twin daggers into the giant’s neck and jerking outward, tearing through it’s throat and shrieking as a torrent of blood splattered against her face. The giant fell. It slammed against the floor, collapsing into a pile of flesh and blood. Meghan had stopped short, setting me on the ground momentarily. I saw Meredith trying to regain her composure, but the blood was spewing from her chest, trickling down her leg and pooling on the floor at her feet. I watched in horror as her wings ceased to beat and she collapsed onto the floor, using her hand to support her weight. Breathing heavily, she looked up at me, the silence between us spoke volumes.

“Meredith?” I whimpered. “Meredith?”

“It’s okay, Jasmine,” She said, trying to force a smile. “Go into town, there’s a….there’s a pub, called Howell’s. I want you…you go in there, and you tell the owner, Mr. Craven that you’re the daughter of Angeline. Tell him what happened.”

“Meredith?!” I rushed toward her, my arms outstretched, but it was too late. With a brief, less than spectacular flash, her body ignited and turned to ash. All that was left of her, Meredith, the beautiful woman who had protected me for so long, crumbled onto the floor. I screamed, at least I think I screamed. My mouth opened, I made the effort, but the sound didn’t reach my ears. I threw myself onto the floor, tearing through the ashes as my tears flowed, intermixing with them. This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening. She wasn’t dead. She hadn’t just died for me. No, no no, this wasn’t real. This wasn’t fucking real. Meghan’s fingers were wrapping around my arms, yanking me from the floor as I curled my fists and shook them at non-existent enemies.

“There are more coming,” She warned me. “Come on!”

I was numb as she took me to the mirror, I was despondent as she slung the bow over my back and shoved Mr. Giggles into my arms.

“I love you, little sister,” She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before she threw me at the mirror.