Their eyes met, and they stayed frozen for a long moment. Then Kelly, eyes narrowed, was running past Daniel and out into the common hallway, nearly knocking him over on her way by. He stumbled to his feet and followed.
She darted down to the next pair of doorways and paused, listening. Then the cry came again, from the door on her right. She snatched the doorknob, tried it, then stepped back a few feet from the door.
"Kelly, what are you --" he began, then stopped as she raised her foot and slammed the sole of her boot into the door, just below the doorknob. There was a splintering noise, but the door held firm.
"What are you doing?" he cried. "We don't have a clue what's in there! We don't want to just go charging in blind!"
She turned to him, and he stepped back at the look in her eyes. She reached out and grasped his arm tightly. "Daniel, what would you do if one of those things had carried Anna away and you didn't know if you would ever see her again?"
He raised his hand to hers, and closed his eyes. A shiver passed through him. Then he dropped his hand and nodded.
She let go and took another kick at the door. Again it held.
"Let me," he said, opening his eyes. "I've got a little more weight to get behind it." She moved aside, and he stepped in, took a breath, and placed a swift, solid kick.
A large chunk of the doorframe splintered loose, and the door swung open, the still-extended deadbolt swinging through air. With a swift motion, Kelly was through the door before Daniel had even lowered his foot. He was quick to follow after her.
The floorplan was a mirror image of Daniel's apartment, and he paused for a moment, disoriented. Then he heard Kelly yell from the living room, and ran after.
The raptor was taller than Kelly by a good foot. It was hunched over something, but was looking up and over its shoulder at her. She had picked up a piece of firewood, and as she ran toward the raptor, she swung the firewood through the air and hurled it toward the raptor.
The chunk of firewood -- about eight pounds, Danny guessed -- hit the raptor full in its bony face and bounced off. The raptor blinked, its black eyes gleaming in the light from the shattered remnants of the glass patio door, but otherwise it seemed unfazed. It opened its -- was that a beak? -- and shrieked again.
Kelly backed off, just as Daniel reached the room. "Kelly, are you insane? You heard Matt say he took a two-by-four to one of those things and it just shrugged it off!"
She was breathing heavily, and turned on him with fury in her face. "What do you suggest, then?" she screamed.
Danny caught a glimpse of movement, and looked away from Kelly just in time to see the raptor's impossibly long fingers -- claws? -- setting something on the floor as it moved fluidly toward Kelly. "Look out!" he cried, grabbing Kelly by the arm and pulling her away just as the raptor sliced its claws through the air right where she had been.
She stumbled forward and into the wall. Danny turned toward the raptor, but it continued its catlike motion forward and swiped its claws again. Kelly cried out as it connected.
The world seemed to stand still for a moment. Daniel's mind raced, casting about for a weapon of some sort. There was a pulse of coolness from his hand, and without further thought, he hurled the chunk of metal that he had almost forgotten he was carrying.
There was a burst of what looked like flame as the metal connected. Then the metal was dropping to the floor, but the raptor was backing away, one of its hands held to its side. Its angry shriek reverberated through the room.
Kelly had regained her footing and was back at his side. "Find something sharp," he panted. "That seemed to hurt it."
She nodded tensely and stepped back into the dining room. Daniel and the raptor eyed each other warily for a long moment. Then Kelly returned with a piece of wood that had split to a sharp, jagged point on one end.
"That'll do," he said, taking the ragged piece of wood. "Help me corner it."
He stepped to the right as she moved to the left. The raptor watched them, black eyes in a black face, but it made no move.
"I'll distract it, you go," said Kelly tensely. "Ready? Go!"
The raptor had turned to look at her. Daniel braced the wood against his upper arm, took two running steps forward, and slammed the wood into the raptor's chest. The impact nearly knocked the breath out of him.
The wood splintered, but otherwise had no effect.
Hissing with displeasure, the raptor swung its massive hand through the air, sending Daniel sprawling. He managed to roll well, and rose quickly to his feet and faced the raptor again.
Without taking its eyes off him, the raptor took a step forward. But it instantly let out a scream, and leapt back.
Daniel's eyes darted to the floor where it had just stepped, and he spotted the piece of metal there. He stood still for a moment. Then a fresh whiff of sulfur reached his nose, and his eyes opened wide.
He took a running step forward, ducked under the raptor's arm, and dove for the piece of metal. He snatched the twisted piece of steel and swung it at the raptor's legs. The raptor stepped back just in time, hissed again, and began to back toward the hallway.
"Kelly!" he called, as she backed down the hallway as the raptor moved toward her. "Find something metal! A big knife or something! I think metal hurts it!" She nodded and ducked around the corner.
Without warning, the raptor was charging toward him -- that thing could move! He already had the chunk of metal held at the ready, and he just barely had time to throw it clumsily at the raptor. The raptor raised its arm to block the throw. There was another burst of light, another shriek and whiff of sulfur, and then the raptor had knocked him over and charged past him. Then it was out through the broken glass of the patio door, and a swish of air heralded its takeoff.
"It's gone," he called, sinking against the wall. His legs were trembling.
Kelly appeared from the kitchen and leaned against the kitchen doorway, her hand held to her arm. Her face was drawn and a bit pale, and there was a bright red patch on the sleeve of her arm.
"Ouch," he said, wincing as he saw the blood. "Let's get you back to my apartment and see if we've got some bandages. I think we do." He bent and picked up the piece of metal, then paused as he hefted it. "Funny, isn't it? This little thing's probably about five or six pounds of fused metal, but it feels lighter now. Probably all those endorphins in my bloodstream now."
He tossed the chunk of metal lightly in the air. It sailed lightly through the air, paused at the top of its arc for what seemed a little too long, then fell back. He barely managed to catch it. Frowning, he slipped it back into his pocket. "Come on," he said.
Kelly stepped unsteadily forward and stumbled slightly. "Whoa," he said, stepping forward and taking her by her uninjured arm. "You're pale. Come on, let's get back. I'll get you a cool washcloth."
"Yeah," she said. "I'm okay, I'm just a little dizzy. A chair and a cool washcloth would be great."
But by the time they had made their way back down the hallway, she was stumbling ever more frequently. "Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, his forehead creased with worry.
"No," she admitted. "Maybe you'd better take me straight to the bathroom. I'm not feeling good."
He glanced again at her shoulder. The fabric of her shirt sleeve was torn where the raptor's claws had connected, and his frown deepened.
They had made it to the doorway of his apartment, and he paused as a thought occurred to him. "Hold on a sec," he said, moving so she could shift some of her weight to lean against the doorway. He dug in his pocket and pulled out the piece of metal, and pressed it into the hand of her injured arm.
"What --?" she started to ask, then stopped abruptly, a look of surprise spreading over her face. "Jesus. What is this?"
"To tell you the truth," he said, "I don't really know. Are you feeling better?"
"Yes," she said with a puzzled frown, "a little. Not quite so sick to my stomach. I'll still take that chair and cool washcloth, but..." She shook her head as he led her into the living room, where she settled into a recliner while he got a washcloth.
"I don't know exactly the best way to wash that cut," he said as he arranged the washcloth on her forehead. "We don't really know if the water is safe. Ideally we'd use warm water, but that's kind of out too." He paused to think. "Probably a clean washcloth with bottled water is our best bet."
He started to turn away, but she reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Daniel. Tell me something. What is this hunk of metal?"
He hesitated. "Well," he said slowly, "first of all, I think that raptor's claws may have had some kind of poison on them. And I think, somehow, that it's countering the poison."
"But how?" she pressed. "I'm just holding it. Don't tell me it's magic or something."
A faint smile flickered across his face. "I don't know what it is," he said. "I've got a crazy idea, but that's all."
"What is it?" she said, her grip tightening.
He smiled. "I told you, it's crazy. Now let's see about washing that cut, shall we?" He pried his wrist loose from her grip and headed back to the bathroom.
"Daniel," she said firmly. He stopped and looked back at her. "You know, I don't think I really care if it's crazy. This weeklong power outage? That's crazy. Hardly any other people in sight? That's crazy. The raptors?" She rolled her eyes. "Plenty crazy. Almost as crazy as some of the shit the government does. So I don't really care if your idea is crazy. Tell me."
He hesitated for a moment, then said, "According to folk tales, cold iron is one of the few things that can harm faeries." He smiled wryly. "And I'm not talking about Tinkerbell-type fairies. I'm talking about faeries that make your crops go bad if you don't leave a saucer of milk out for them, faeries that haunt the wild forests. You know. Things that go bump in the night."
Her eyes widened. "Okay," she said, "that's crazy."
"Told you," he said with a grin. "Like I said, just a crazy idea. Admittedly, though, if you really were poisoned, and if that piece of metal really is helping you out... well, I don't know what it means, but it must mean something."
She shook her head. "I suppose we could try a scientific experiment, but for now I'm just as happy not to get poisoned again. If it was poison."
"Agreed. So let's do something about that arm, and then as soon as you're ready to go again, we'll go do some shopping."
"Shopping?" she said in surprise. "Where are we going?"
He chuckled. "Westroads Mall, about two miles from here. To the Remington store."
"Oh, are we picking up some rifles?" she said.
He blinked at her, then grinned and shook his head. "Sorry. No, I don't think lead bullets would do a great deal of good on these things. I didn't mean that Remington, I meant the other one. They make electric razors and such."
She stared at him. "Oh, now don't tell me the raptors need a shave."
He grinned and started back toward the bathroom, in search of a clean washcloth.
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