Gabriel climbed to his feet with a curse, stepping back to survey the situation. Bronx was gone, flung out the window and the creature had turned its disconcerting attention on him. Well, so much for the thought of something mundane.

He pulled the talisman from under his shirt yanking the chain over his head. Clasping it in his right hand, he closed his eyes a moment to calm himself before regarding the creature fully, arm extended. The luster of the talisman flashed with the lightning and the creature seemed to be struggling. A grotesque snap resounded in the room and he realized it was one of the creature's bones. His eyes widened with horror-- the creature was turning inside out, pieces of it crawling about like insects on a rotting corpse, worming their way through tender organs and fragile bone.

He took a reflexive step back as the monstrous blob rolled toward the living room at an amazing speed. Across the floor, a bubbling sound popping over the wind of the storm and finally it was gone, slid under the door into the night.

Gabriel pursed his lips and stared after it a moment, trying to regain his composure. 'Certainly didn't plan for anything like this.' He thought, suddenly remembering Bronx.

He darted to the window, squinting through the rain. Her still form was crumpled amidst a pile of glass, eyes tightly closed. Gabriel crawled through the window, avoiding the tiny pieces of sharpened glass that jutted from the wood of the window frame. He knelt beside her, rain toppling upon him in sheets as he reached down to check her pulse.

Still quite alive. He examined her for any severe cuts but there was an alarming amount of glass stuck in her flesh, making the search pointless until it was removed. He picked her up, determining what to do when he heard a loud cry, something of a howl around the front of the house. The creature? Perhaps. There was no time to consider.

He hurried off down the street, taking several turns and alleys, trying anything to make their path more difficult to follow. Finally, drenched and somewhat exhausted, he pushed open the door of an abandoned building, setting her gently on the floor. The scent of dust clung to the air like humid smog and each step created a fresh wisp from the floor. He sneezed, pushing the door closed and securing the windows.

Gabriel knelt beside Bronx and rolled her carefully onto her stomach, grimacing at the sight. It had to look worse than it really was… Her back was covered in blood. He looked around the room, squinting through the darkness. There was an ajar door but other than that, the only exit went outside. He hurried over and glanced within, doing a double take.

It was filled with masked furniture, white sheets set carefully atop each piece. He collected Bronx and carried her over to a couch, setting her on the sheet face down. A sound outside made him start but he only spared it a quick glance before grabbing one of the sheets and ripping it into long shreds. He then began the process of removing the glass from Bronx's back.

"Ouch! What on heaven's Earth are you doing!?" She cried, trying to sit up.

Gabriel put his hand on her shoulder. "Sit still." He scolded. "We're in a lot of trouble."

"The voice of genius." She gritted her teeth, scowling into the musty sofa. "Where are we?"

"I have no idea." He replied, taking one of the sheets and pressing it against her wounds, wiping the blood away.

"Where is… is it?" Bronx scolded herself for the trembling in her voice.

"No doubt looking for us. I need to wrap these wounds and uh… That means you need to take off your shirt."

"Are they that bad!" She glared at him over her shoulder.

He nodded. "Bad enough. Trust me, I'm no more thrilled about the idea than you are."

She frowned and peeled the shirt off, keeping her back to him. Gabriel pressed the first bandage against her flesh and handed around the ends. "Here, make it as comfortable as you can. Hopefully, it's temporary."

The bandages applied, Gabriel stood from the sofa and paced over to the window, glaring out on the flooding street. The storm was still in full sway and lightning flashed with all of nature's fury. Far off in the distance a siren could be heard and closer was the howl he heard earlier… like a hound on the hunt.

He turned back to face her. "By the way, what were you doing back there? You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"Me!" She stormed, her gore covered shirt heavily clinging to her shoulders. "What about you? You should've stayed out of my way!"

"If I hadn't intervened you'd be dead now, Matsu."

"You're lucky you weren't killed!"

"Honestly, this debate is going to have to wait." He prompted as he heard another howl, yet closer still. "I think that it's stalking us."

"What the hell is it?"

"I was about to ask you the same question…" He frowned. "Strange to be going through this with you."

She chuckled wryly. "At least this time you can have a true to life story for your next book."

Gabriel laughed without humor. "You have no idea." He jogged into the other room and tossed open the door that led outside. The street was deserted. The creature was nowhere to be seen. "Bronx, let's go!"

She came out of the back room, her stride stiff. "Will you be okay?" He asked, offering his hand for support.

She brushed it away. "I'll be fine! Just watch out for yourself!" She looked down the street. "Follow me!" She exclaimed hurrying off in the opposite direction from which he brought her, pressing into the sheets of rain. Gabriel followed his head down for better visibility. The water on the pavement collected into large puddles helping to soak their feet through their shoes.

There was a tension, the silence behind the rain enhancing the suspense that they were in a race without knowledge of the other contestant…The appearance of which was a terrifying thought. Gabriel continually thought he saw it appear from behind a shadow, from within an alley. Each time it was a play of the light. When would it be real?

Bronx stopped abruptly at a thick wooden door and pulled it open. "Hurry up!" She hissed, pushing Gabriel in behind her as she closed the door. Darkness engulfed them both and Gabriel could hear her soft breathing and movement. A sweet smell filled his nostrils, sterile but aromatic. He squinted to make anything out when a sudden light filled the room followed by a small click. "We'll be safe here… at least for a little while."

It was an open room, wide and empty. Hard wood floors were thoroughly waxed and the lighting that clung to the ceiling indicated that perhaps they were in a gallery of sorts. Void of any artwork, it seemed a lonely, fragile place blanketed in silence-- even the rain was forbidden to rumble within. Bronx stopped in a small kitchenette and tore off her tattered shirt, replacing it with a black silk blouse. Gabriel looked around nervously, wondering how long they had before they'd have to be on the move again.

"This is to be the site of the next exhibit." She approached him slowly, running a brush through her hair. "I've been spending some time here remodeling."

"I can see that." He ran his hands through his wet hair. "Don't happen to have a towel here do ya?"

She frowned. "I don't think so. I'll double check." Bronx wandered back into the kitchenette and brought out several paper towels all folded into one. "This will have to do I'm 'fraid."

Gabriel took the towels and frowned. "Thanks." He mumbled, bringing them to his face to wipe away what water he could. "We really shouldn't stay though. That thing was gaining on us."

She nodded. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet but since we don't even know what it is…" He paused with a shrug. "Our research will have to be performed on the run."

"There's a place we can go… get away from it for a time though I don't know how long."

"Out of the city?"

Bronx nodded. "Near the beach."

"Okay, that sounds fine… How long does it take to get there?"

"No more than an hour's drive."

"Great." Gabriel crumpled the towels and looked down. "We need to get back to your house… My bike's there."

"And the keys to the beach house." She knelt next to a cabinet in the kitchen and winced, her hand falling to her stomach.

"Are you okay?" He asked. "Should we get you to the hospital?"

"I'm fine!" She snapped, casting him an angry glance. "Just a little nauseous."

"That's understandable. You lost a lot of blood." He glanced at the door, half expecting to see the creature standing there.

"That's not it…" She stopped quickly, her cheeks flushing.

"What is it then?" Gabriel folded his arms against a chill that was coming over him.

"Nothing, Gabriel." She stood up and started toward the door. "Let's just go."

Gabriel heard the howl again. It couldn't have been more than a block away near the door in. "Is there a back door to this place?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah." She hurried back into the kitchen, pushing open a door to a small utility room. It was rank with a stagnant scent like rotting trash. He wrinkled his nose and held his breath.

"Seems your cleaning didn't reach this room, eh?" He whispered which warranted nothing more than a glare.

Bronx shoved open the outside door, letting the rain come pounding in. She immediately closed her eyes and waved at Gabriel to follow her. As he took a step outside, he heard a crash in the gallery and heavy steps on the hard wood floor. He slammed the door shut, looking for something to bar it with but it was at the top of a small incline of stairs and nothing nearby would be any sort of deterrent.

"C'mon!" She cried grabbing his arm and running into the night as best as she could fighting against the elements. There was a determination in her-- something that Gabriel never would've guessed existed. Here she was, ill and injured and yet she refused to ask for his assistance. Indeed when he offered his arm as support she angrily brushed it away. Independent, strong, intelligent. Aspects of her personality that he never allowed himself to notice. Or perhaps she was more of an enigma than he gave her credit for.