Even if Juliana could run as fast as Arachne without tiring over the course of an hour, the prison was too far off for a quick visit. Not to mention that, at least tonight, it was where Eva most likely was.
The sudden realization that she wouldn’t find anything interesting sapped her motivation. She was ready for sleep without even changing, showering, or even eating dinner. Everyone else would be at dinner, she offered to go check on Eva to get to snooping.
Juliana curled up beneath her covers. Her eyes shut as she started to drift into a drowsy state.
A tap at the window stopped her descent into sleep.
She tried to ignore it and go back to sleep.
It tapped again, louder than before.
Juliana groaned as she sat up. Eva wouldn’t tap, would she? Arachne maybe?
The windows rattled with the force of the next tap.
Something made her stomach turn. A subtle smell, or tingle in the air. Juliana jumped out of her bed, gripping her wand. She backed away from her window. If it was Arachne, she’d be tapping the window on Eva’s side of the room. Or just open it herself.
Shards of broken glass flew into the room, tearing through the bed and area Juliana had just been standing in.
Juliana ducked low. She shielded her head with the metal bracers on her arms.
The slap of raw steak hitting a cutting board brought her attention back to the window. She peeked out between the small gap in her arms.
Something crawled into her room. A bag of red meat the size of a small person with a few white bones protruding from it slipped into the room, flopping onto the floor as it crested the windowsill. A second then a third followed it.
They just lay there, squirming in a pile between her and Shalise’s bed.
Juliana kept her breath very slow. Her pounding heart told her to run, to throw up, to scream, to attack. She ignored it.
With the slightest flick of her wand hand, the metal covering half of her body came to life. It swam over her skin, building thick around her stomach, chest, and neck. She took a slow, careful step towards the door.
They noticed.
Her foot touched the ground. All three stopped moving and pointed towards Juliana.
She froze.
They didn’t.
Slowly, almost uncertainly, one squirmed in her direction. It clambered over the top of one of its companions.
Juliana internally cursed as it left a trail of blood on its way towards her. She needed more metal or earth, neither of which were available. The large sphere she had from the crypt was still in Eva’s prison. All the furniture was wood. The fridge might work, but it was halfway across the room.
Metal shifted beneath her black shirt. Some coalesced in her hand. It formed into a single sharp blade about a foot long. The rest she spread as thin as she could over the rest of her body, leaving only tiny slits for her eyes.
The things didn’t look like zombies–thank goodness–but Juliana wasn’t willing to risk infection by getting blood splattered on her.
Juliana waited.
The thing crawled to her feet.
Juliana gripped her makeshift sword in both hands. She waited until the last moment. With the creature at her feet, Juliana slammed it straight through what she hoped passed as the creature’s head.
The thing squealed. Rapid, high-pitched noises pierced the air.
She pulled back her hand and jammed it in again. The sword slid, chopping off a large chunk of meat.
The screams continued. The sword was left behind as Juliana stumbled backwards, pressing her hands over her ears.
It didn’t help. The shrieks rattled around her metal helmet.
She almost missed the two other things crawling towards her. There was no peripheral vision in her helmet.
They moved much faster than the first one did.
Juliana made a dash into the kitchen. Jumping onto the counter, she put one foot through the microwave and both hands into the fridge. She reinforced her armor as much as she could before the two things arrived.
She shoved the remains of the microwave off the edge of the counter, landing on one of the creatures trying to climb up.
It screeched louder than the first one.
Juliana shut out the noise the best she could and turned to the last pile of meat.
Its fleshy fingers slid over the smooth surface of her legs.
She took an instant to admire her metalwork. It was a good thing she reinforced her armor if the way it tore her pants was any indication.
More metal flowed from the fridge onto her free leg. It formed long spikes out of her foot.
With all her effort, she kicked.
The thing squealed like the rest as she kicked again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
And again.
“Juliana.”
And again.
And again.
“Juliana!”
And again.
A cry of her name startled her. She looked up, ready with her sword.
The sight of Zoe Baxter alongside one of the dark robed nuns stayed her hand.
Juliana looked down at the slaughterhouse that had once been her kitchen. All three corpses lay in pieces around her. The one she initially stabbed must not have been dead, it lay to one side of the kitchen. No less than forty of her small swords stuck out from various places.
The legs and arms of the one beneath the microwave were spread across the room.
The final one was little more than chunky salsa covering the floor.
Juliana looked back to the two adults standing at the precipice of the gore.
“It’s okay, Juliana,” Zoe said softly, “they’re dead.”
Juliana avoided looking down. She kept her gaze up and tried to swallow the rising bile. Her helmet was the only thing keeping Zoe from seeing whatever her face looked like. Not something she wanted to parade around.
“It took you,” Juliana started. Her voice echoed in her helmet She had to stop and take a deep breath. “Took you long enough.”
“Someone has tampered with the wards,” Zoe said. At least she sounded apologetic about it.
“Eva’s runes?”
Zoe shook her head. “I tested them, they only interfere with magical means of visual observation. There are several wards to detect trouble. At the very least, one should have detected the broken glass. Another should have detected blood, a third should have detected excessive use of magic. There are more but needless to say, none worked.”
At least my roommate isn’t trying to get me killed, Juliana thought. She glared at the nun who gazed around the room with glowing eyes.
It was probably them. Neither her mother nor Eva seemed to like the sisters. They probably took down the wards to draw out an attack like this.
Not that she’d voice her suspicions right in front of one.
Just as Juliana was about to speak, the nun interrupted with a cold voice. “Flesh golems. Verata style. Poorly constructed. Materials too old. Spells weaved improperly. Amateur work.”
The glow from her eyes faded. She slumped back slightly before regaining her composure.
“I doubt these were made by the same people you saw on Halloween,” the nun said after a moment. “Not if your claims of a hundred or more fully functioning flesh golems are true.”
Zoe didn’t look convinced. “Indeed,” was all she said.
Juliana shifted where she stood. A slight wobble almost sent her tumbling as she moved. Sitting would be nice, but showing weakness in front of these two wasn’t something she wanted right now. Her mother was going to have a fit enough as it was; she didn’t need collapsing or breaking down added to the list. Instead, she hardened the metal in her legs and back.
“Where’s Miss Eva?”
“Probably at her place.”
“Her place?” the nun asked with a quirked eyebrow.
The smell started to get to her. She held it in, not wanting to throw up in front of Zoe again.