The Night Sister

The beam of Jason’s flashlight was bouncing through the trees, and they could hear footsteps crashing through leaves.

“That’s what Mama said, too,” Lou said, her voice suddenly not that of a child, but flatter, deeper, more guttural. And then Lou dropped down into a crouch. It could have been a trick of the eye at first—a cloud passing over the moon that made Lou’s body go from pale to dark. But as Piper watched, the dark skin became fur glistening in the moonlight, black and shiny. Her body elongated, her hands grew into great paws. Supple muscles rippled under the creature’s glossy coat. And where, only seconds before, there had been a little girl on her haunches, a sleek black panther stood, eyes yellow, teeth bared, as it let out a loud, threatening snarl.





Jason


The cruiser’s tires squealed as Jason pulled into the driveway. All the house lights were on, and the front door was open. He bolted inside, calling for Margot and Piper. No answer. The kitchen was a mess, and the bedroom was worse. Signs of a struggle.

“Shit,” he mumbled, heart hammering. “Shit, shit, shit.”

He thought of the doctor’s warnings, how Margot needed bed rest. If anything happened to Margot or the baby…

“Margot!” he bellowed, charging through the house. The sliding doors leading to the patio were open, and all the lights out there were on, too. Suddenly he heard voices: Piper’s, he thought, and someone else’s—a child? They came from the dark woods behind the yard. Stepping outside in the rain, he ran the beam of his flashlight back and forth over the dense wall of trees.

“Margot!” he called.

“She’s here!” Piper’s voice called back from somewhere deep in the woods.

He started running, illuminating the way with his flashlight. He crossed the yard and plunged into the woods. Tree branches scratched his face, grabbed at his arms, trying to hold him back. He tried to imagine what on earth Margot was doing out here. It must have to do with that girl, Lou. Did the killer come for Lou, chase Margot and the girl into the woods? Were they hurt? Was the killer still out there?

More voices from up ahead. Then the snarling growl of a big cat.

He drew his gun. “Margot!” he cried, hurling himself forward, no longer watching the ground, tripping, stumbling, terrified of what he might find. He reached a clearing, illuminating a nightmare scene with his flashlight. It was nothing like what he’d imagined.

Margot was curled up on her side on the leafy forest floor, head tucked, eyes squeezed closed, panting.

In front of Margot, no more than five feet away from her, a sleek black panther stood. It gave a screeching hiss when he shone his light on it. Beside the panther, an enormous black dog with its teeth bared.

Jason knew immediately that this cat was the animal that killed Crystal Bellavance, the little girl behind the school, and, somehow, Amy and her family. He raised his gun, and took aim.

“No!” Piper yelled, stepping directly in front of his gun, the barrel inches from her chest. “Put it away,” she said. “It’s just going to scare her more.”

The panther had flattened its ears and lowered itself to the ground so it was lying down directly in front of Margot. Margot let out a small, fearful whimper. The dog moved a few steps forward, a deep, menacing growl rumbling in its throat.

“Step aside, Piper,” he ordered. This was not the time for an animal-rights speech. How could Piper not understand the danger they were all in? When Piper refused to move, Jason sidestepped, then again trained his gun on the large black cat.

“Jason, for God’s sake, listen!” Piper moved in front of the gun again, hands up, talking fast. “You aren’t going to believe this, but—”