Family

Sarah closed the documents and shut down her computer. She rubbed her bleary eyes and glanced at the clock.

She'd been here for more than 12 hours, and she still had work to catch up on. The past few weeks of her life had been a mess, and she was trying to get things back in order.

Her messy breakup with James, her crazy boyfriend-turned-stalker, didn't help things at her new job, though. Everyone thought she was paranoid, but they didn't have to live with the late-night phone calls, the threatening messages, and the creepy encounters he seemed to plan almost daily. At least getting rid of him was a good decision, she thought to herself.

She looked around her desk, making sure that she'd finished everything vital for the weekend, and her gaze strayed to the statuettes on her desk. They had been an impulse purchase after getting the new job, but they were like family to her. Toth, Prickly, Clyde, and Julius, 12 inch tall gargoyle figurines, stood guard over her tiny domain at work. Sarah didn't know where the names came from, but she felt comfortable with them, so she never thought to change them. She liked to think of them as her friends, because she hadn't known a single person when she started her new job, but they seemed like they had always been there for her. It was strange, she admitted to herself, but the purchase was the first fond memory she had of her new life.

Just as she was grabbing her purse to leave, the glass in the front office door shattered. She ducked behind her desk, pulling out her cell phone to call 911. Just as the connection was made, James' familiar face peeked around the corner of the desk and grinned evilly. He grabbed her by the hair and drug her out of the space below her desk. He slammed her into her chair with teeth-rattling force.

Spittle flew from his lips as he screamed in her face, "We could have been happy! You ruined my life, and now I'm going to ruin yours!"

He slapped her in the face, splitting her lip. She could feel her face beginning to swell immediately. James slapped her twice more before he pushed her to the floor and kicked her solidly in the ribs.

"Trying to call for help? Nobody can help you this time! I'm going to make you sorry you ever left me!"

Sarah tried to speak, but her face was numb, and her mouth didn't want to form the words.

James kicked her again, and she curled into a ball on the floor.

He pulled out his switchblade and flipped it open, licking his lips as he stared at her.

Suddenly, a dark shape crossed her line of sight in a blur. She thought she was losing consciousness, but James turned toward the shape as well.

"What was that?"

As he was turned away from her, she saw 2 more dark blurs slam into his back, knocking him to the floor. She felt a surge of joy! Someone had come to save her!

Suddenly, James started to scream. He sounded like he was in agony.

The last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was seeing something with wings settle on James' chest and thinking to herself, "How did a bat get in the building?"

--

Sarah woke to a bright light, and she instinctually cringed.

"Shhh! Be calm, darlin', you're gonna be alright," she heard a calm voice say.

She focused her good eye on the speaker, and she saw a female police officer kneeling over her.

"Are you okay?" The officer seemed genuinely concerned.

"I think I'll be okay. Can you help me up?"

"Sure, take it slow, though, I don't want you aggravatin' anything. Your face sure looks like it took quite a beating."

Suddenly fear gripped her, and she grabbed onto the police officer's hand. She asked, "Where's James?"

Something like nausea passed over the officer's face. "That guy over there?" she jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "He mighta been a James, but he ain't anymore."

Sarah relaxed, knowing that there was nothing further to be afraid of. The officer, who introduced herself as Officer Morton, helped Sarah gently to her feet.

She looked toward where James fell, and she cried out in horror. His head was gone. There were cuts and bloody holes all over his body, and his head was gone!

She turned to her desk, trying to will the bile back into her stomach.

Officer Morton said, "I don't know what happened here, but this is the most vicious thing I've ever seen. It looks like a wild animal attack, even though there are no prints. Look, there's even blood on your desk."

Sarah looked up, knowing what she would see, and yet not being able to look away. There, on Julius' teeth and claws, was the drying blood of her former boyfriend. She tried to be angry, sad, or hurt, but she knew that if not for the intervention of her "family," she would never have made it through the night.

With a solemn nod in the direction of the statues, she turned and allowed Officer Morton to lead her from the office...