Killing Tiffany Hudson

"Looked like a dog," I lied, trying to recover from the shock of my hallucination. Why was she asking about my first? It was hard enough to keep going on without being reminded of that day. It should have been the best day of my life, but now I wanted nothing more than to forget it ever happened.

It was my last day of high school; the day I finally kissed Tiffany Hudson. My grandfather had promised to give me his 1970 Shelby Mustang, the 350, for getting a full scholarship to his alma mater. It was the perfect start to a new life.

But life didn't agree with my plans. I never drove that mustang, never went to college, and never saw Tiffany Hudson again, not in person, anyway. That was the day I started killing. Xipe called us exterminators, but whatever word you wanted to use, it all amounted to the same thing.

"It would have killed me if Xipe hadn't been there," I added softly, still caught between the memory of that day and the present. My ears still rang from blocking so many offspring, but it was fading with rest.

"Xipe?" she asked incredulously. It sounded like 'sheep hay' in her drawl. Close enough. "Yeah, right," she continued. "I'm already impressed, pal, you don't have to drop names."

I didn't blame her for not believing me, but I didn't care either way. I wanted to find the humans and get out of the city while I still had a chance, but a chill crawling up my spine told me that our rest was over. Another quick scan for thoughts found only the lustful, hungry hatred of another offspring.

"There's a big one coming. Over there," I said, pointing at the shattered post office. "What were you thinking, coming to a city? Anyone who's lived this long should know better, especially one of us."

She didn't answer. We watched, waiting for the beast to show itself. It knew we were there, of course; I could feel its tendrils of mental energy snaking into my head. The sensation of one of these monsters slipping into my mind was vile, but I didn't want to block it until it was closer. I wanted it to think I was just another hunk of human meat.

It walked out of the alley by the post office, and strolled towards us. It was a big one. The new girl gripped her spear and braced to fight.

"Funny," she said with a short laugh. "I got a camel."

"Clydesdale," I said. "Where'd you ever see a camel?" I added with a slightly mocking chuckle. The offspring used our memories to make us think they were something else; usually a harmless animal that we remembered fondly. It gave them enough time to close in and kill with surprise.

"I've been places," she said defensively. "I'll kill this one, if you don't mind." It sounded like a brave offer, but in truth it was an acknowledgement that she was already too weak to block. She had finished off half a dozen offspring before I arrived, and was now too exhausted to do more than kill. Using that much power so quickly would have been a beacon to the offspring, just as it had been to me.

"I mind," I said, anger starting to boil back to the surface. "If you're already this wiped out, you'll only be in my way. There are humans nearby. Go see if you can find them while I keep it distracted, but stay in sight. We'll have to get out of here soon if we want to live, and it gets dark early here."

I didn't need to read her thoughts to know she thought I was an ass, her expression said it very clearly. Even so, she knew I was right. She jogged to the subway tunnel across the street, and knelt in the shadows of the descending stairs.

The offspring picked up its pace and trotted towards me, ignoring the girl. Its mental energy strengthened, building for the crippling blast it would deliver when it got a few paces closer. Ignoring my ringing ears, I slammed a razor thin wall of energy between us, severing its links to my mind. The illusory Clydesdale skin vanished, revealing the beast's true, horrifying form as it lunged to attack.