The Night Sister

“Rose,” Piper said.

The dog approached, its head down, its hackles raised. Piper understood then that Rose was ready to defend herself. To defend her family. She held still and tried to remain calm, tried to remember that this was still Rose, that there was a piece of her inside—a rational being who only wanted what was best for her grandchild.

“I think we both want the same thing…” Piper began, but she was interrupted by a small voice.

“Grandma?” Piper turned back and saw that the panther had become a little girl once more. Lou was naked, on all fours on the forest floor. Her eyes had a strange glow, and her hands…didn’t look like hands at all, but dainty black paws. Piper blinked, and watched as they turned back to a child’s hands. Piper could now see the faint shadows of bruises around the girl’s pale wrists.

Bruises from being shackled under the tower, her mother trying to keep her safe.

When Death comes knocking at your door,

you’ll think you’ve seen his face before.



Lou, fully human now, rose to her feet.

The dog let out a sharp bark and trotted over to Lou; it circled her once, then darted toward the thick line of trees, and back again. Rose was coaxing Lou to follow her into the woods.

“Lou?” Piper said, looking into the little girl’s eyes, which were once again those of a human child—blue, like her mother’s. “You don’t have to do this. You can learn to control this. You can have a normal life.”

Lou shook her head. “That’s what Mama said. But she locked me up like I was an animal at the zoo. Made me take pills that made me sleep all the time.”

The dog came back to Lou’s side, nudged her hand.

“We can figure it out,” Piper said. “I’m sure there’s a way we can fix this.”

If you hold up a mirror, you shall see

that he is you and you are he.



“Maybe I don’t want to fix it.” Lou stroked the dog’s head as she spoke. “Maybe I like the way I am. I’m good at it. Better than anyone in my family ever has been.”

She looked down at the dog, who gave a little woof of agreement, then nudged hard at Lou’s hip, still trying to lead her away.

“I can change into whatever I want just by thinking about it,” Lou continued. “A bird, a bee, even a panther.”

She said this last part with a smile that showed her teeth, still pointed.

“But, Lou, can you always control it? Don’t you sometimes change without meaning to? Hurt people you don’t mean to?”

The little girl stopped moving and blinked at her. “I—”

“What happened that night? With your family?”

“I didn’t…” Lou stammered, voice cracking. “I didn’t mean it. She locked me in that room. It was so cold. Dark. I couldn’t move. I was strapped down to a bed. I was calling for her and calling for her, begging for her to come let me out. Then, the next thing I knew, I was up in the house. My mama, she…” Lou’s voice faltered, and she began to cry. She may have been a monster, but she was also a little girl who had lost everything. A creature who had destroyed those she loved most.

Piper looked at the dog. “Rose, you have to know this isn’t what’s best for Lou. It’s not what Amy would have wanted.”

The dog gave a low, disapproving growl and wrinkled her lips, baring gleaming fangs.

“Margot!”

A man’s voice, coming from the direction of the house—Jason. Margot moaned.

“She’s here!” Piper called back.

“No!” Lou said angrily. “Don’t call him over here! He doesn’t understand, and he’s a policeman. If he finds out…”

Piper turned back to Lou. The little girl’s face was frantic.

“It’s okay,” Piper told her, voice soothing. “I’ll take care of Jason. I can help you—I know I can,” she promised.