"What a nice day... that is wasted away from the comfort of my video games." A dusky skinned man wiped the sweat from his head as he carried a card board box filled with items of unknown origin.
"Hey, you said you were interested in coming here." Replying to the dusk skinned man was a similarly dusk skinned woman as she flicked her brown hair out of her face.
"Well I was until I realized that you were coming."
"...You bitch!"
Listening to the banter between the two brother and sister duo that had joined them in the rare excursion, a woman with abnormally pale skin, long straight black hair in a pony tail and blue eyes sighed.
"Hey bring it down will you? This place is still my dads" Sighing a head of black hair shook as Shana adjusted her hair tie.
"Yeah Sis! Listen to the black hearted lady right there!"
"...What did you just call me?" Feeling a vein pop up on her head, the glasses on her face gleamed brightly as she swiftly moved to attack the brown haired boy.
"Ack!"
Receiving a bop on the head, the boy abruptly dropped the items he was carrying and hurried to run away.
But in the small space that was the bed room, the only places that could be called escape routes were the window and the door way.
And as they were currently on the second floor, Roe was more inclined to rushing past the doorway guarded by his sister.
Rushing to the doorway, a rough tackle to the side sent him tumbling to the floor where Shana grabbed his arm and applied pressure onto his shoulders with her knee in what was commonly known as an arm lock.
"Uncle! I call uncle! Let me gooooo!"
Slamming his palms against the floor, Roe coldly took in several breaths as cold sweat poured down his face.
"Hey Shana, is it fine if you leave him to suffer a little more?"
Giggling into the crook of her palm, Rue who was supposed to be related by blood with the suffering boy asked Shana who had caused Rue's arm to be locked behind his back.
"No" Shaking her head, Shana let go of Roe who dramatically fell to the ground like a puppet that lost its strings.
"Oohhh! My arm! Its broken! I need the aid of a beautiful lady to carry me!"
Turning around, Roe directed his gaze towards a tall figure who stared judgingly at him.
"...Miss Shana, Fine to kick him?"
"Do whatever you want with him, he deserves it"
"Thanks you"
Rearing up to deliver a powerful kick to the abdomen of the flailing boy on the ground Roe felt a chill run down the base of their spine before rapidly jumping up.
"On second thought, I think I am happy with keeping my breakfast in my stomach."
"I am not girl... short person"
"Well I can't help it when the person in question is so beautiful."
Putting on the cutest face that he could, Elijah who was subject to the stare looked at Roe in disgust.
And being subject to that stare, Roe subconsciously averted his gaze knowing full well that he partially deserved it.
The fact of the matter didn't change that Elijah looked more like a girl then a boy though.
Hurriedly patting himself down underneath the very judgmental stares of the others, Roe openly complained to Shana.
"Anyways, why are you so violent lately Shana? I thought you were Canadian? Like not to be stereotypical or anything but aren't you guys supposed to be Nice?"
"Polite, not nice." Correcting the Treasurer who went by the name of Roe, Shana looked around the attic that had so much dust in it that a colony of dust bunnies had formed.
And that was until she caught of something at the edges of her vision.
Deeming it interesting, Shana slowly separated from the group as the others continued to talk amongst themselves while they searched the attic.
"So why are we here again?"
"To find the sword in the stone of course... Not, its to find the photo album Shana's dad told us about."
"Ack, those things" Grimacing, Elijah looked around the attic. "And tell me again why we are looking in the attic?"
"Because we are looking for- Oh Look! Mushrooms!"
"Ooooh Really? Where?"
"Here" Gesturing to a corner of the attic Rue pointed at the set of fungi growing in the less then maintained attic.
And ignoring the others banter who were currently admiring a set of fungi being cultivated in the depths of the attic., Shana slowly made her way to the item.
It was strangely out of place to Shana.
Amidst the various boxes that had so much dust on them that dust bunnies stared at her, the tall standing item was noticeably separated from the clutter.
Standing as tall as her, the item was kept away in the corner of the attic and was covered by a large cloth that had seen better days.
Observing it, Shana concluded that she should find out what the hell that thing was.
'I mean, it's in dad's attic, it shouldn't be bad right?'
Roughly comparing the odds of whether or not that the item was something dangerous like a barrel of radiation, Shana threw the thoughts away.
'Well I can't find out what it is if I don't look at it.'
So without further ado, Shana ripped the cloth away and produced a rain of dust which entered her open mouth.
"Ack! Cough cough kak!"
Hurriedly spewing out the dust which forcibly entered her lungs through her olfactory tools, she soon found herself staring face to face with a mirror.
Surrounded by a frame of gold, Shana was unconsciously drawn closer to the mirror.
Admiring the carvings on its golden frame that were molded into the likeness of a river, she shivered when she glanced at the top that was molded into an eerie likeness of a snake.
'It's almost as if its alive...'
Shaking her head, Shana slowly focused on the aspect of a mirror that actually made them be called mirrors.
Touching its surface which was covered in a thick layer of dust that was almost the width of her fingernail, Shana grimaced.
And using the thing that made humans rise to the top, Shana used the cloth that she had initially tossed the ground to wipe the mirror.
And when she finished, she was stunned.
'Is this thing defective? Can mirrors even be defective?'
Because standing in front of her was a mirror reflecting everything behind her but the person standing right in front of it.
Staring long and hard at the mirror, every single detail that had been reflected in the mirror on the opposite side.
Even if she looked at it from a different angle, the items were being reflected as designed.
Just not herself.
She knew how she looked like of course, since it would be ridiculous if she didn't know her own body.
Black hair, blue eyes, abnormally pale skin that never seemed to receive that much vitamin D, a well proportioned body with curves in all the right places and all that stuff.
Staring in strong concern in regards of the mirror that didn't reflect, the sound of the old attic door being opened echoed out behind her.
"Ugh, Shana! We are going to go down first since it doesn't seem like the project materials we nee----."
Hearing the voices of the others slowly move away from her Shana hesitated at the forefront of the strange mirror that didn't contain her reflection before hurrying to catch up with the others.
And as she ran away from the mirror that reflected everything but her, without her own knowledge the mirror gained a small crack at its center.
A crack that rapidly spread to the rest of the mirror making it seem as if it was the victim of a violent attack.
Red eyes of the snake on the top of the mirror gleaming ominously, the splayed tongue seemed to twitch as shadowy hands slowly twisted beyond the mirror.
But oblivious of that fact, Shana slowly closed the door leading to the attic.
And when she did, she caught sight of her dad.
"So? How would you rate the experience out of a scale of one to ten?"
Grinning, Shana's bearded father wheeled into the room with a smile.
Despite not having access to his legs he didn't neglect his muscles which presented the odd image of a well built man who never seemed to train his legs.
"It's good mister Shard."
"Oh you don't need to call me that." Shaking his hand in an amiable fashion the paraplegic man slowly set down a plate of cut apple bits.
"In fact, I would much rather you call me..." A mischievous look adorned his face as he whipped out a traditional Japanese demon mask from out of nowhere.
"-The Demon King! Raa!"
"Dad!"
Hurriedly snapping up, Shana quickly tried pushing her dad out of the room much to the amusement of the others.
"Ahhahahaha!"
"Heaheaheaheaehaeha!"
"You know you can't be away from your handler for long!"
Pushing her dad away from atop his wheelchair, Shana's dad grinned as Shana flushed in embarrassment.
"Why did you do that?"
"What? Can I not meet your friends?"
"Not like that you can't! Where is Auntie Sylvie!"
Huffing she wheeled him to the kitchen where he was to be left.
"Oh don't worry about her, she's just taking a nap."
"That's not the problem here!"
Rapidly moving to the place where she last recalled seeing her aunt, Shana shouted from atop the stairs placed horizontal to the kitchen.
"Stay there while I get Aunt Sylvie you hear me!?"
"I hear you darling"
Shana's dad lightly smiled at the retreating back of his daughter right before he dragged his gaze to a picture set on the counter top.
And in it, a photo containing a healthy man and woman posing over a small girl smiling as if the worlds treasures had been gifted to her.
"Hmm... I guess I should bring out ol' reliable since I'm here."
Grinning, he slowly made his way to the wine cabinet where a collection of various wines appeared.
And as the variety of wines appeared in front of him, his face stiffened upon hearing a voice come from behind him.
"Long time no see Red Breaker."
---
When climbing up the familiar set of stairs that had always been there, Shana didn't expect anything much.
If anything it would just be that she would have to help bring down a very strong and heavy woman with her who may or may not have had a smidgen to many drinks.
That might have something to do with her father, but without substantial proof it wasn't anything to think about.
And on the off chance that something unlikely happened it would be that the rain that was starting to pick up might cause a power outage.
But that was a very small off chance in today's society.
So why was it now that she was standing frozen in the hallway?
Feeling her heart try to escape her chest she breathed harshly before hurriedly covering her mouth unconsciously
*Creeaak...
Because standing right outside of the door to her Aunt's room was a monster.
A creature that she had not once ever seen before.
Covered in a layer of pitch black skin the color of night, inhumanly long arms and legs carried a body that had no discernable human features as it opened up vertically to show a mouth full of sharp teeth.
And because of that incredibly gruesome look, Shana was currently hiding to the side where its vision would be blocked by a conveniently placed set of open doors.
If she just peaked around it, it was probable that the monster wouldn't notice her as it would've gone full throttle if it had.
But either way, the monster was still incredibly ugly to look at.
The strange monster beyond any form of normal biology growled as it carefully felt up the doorway in front of it with its long and taut arms.
'Probably due to it not having any eyes' she observed.
Holding her breath the unknown being let out a few grunts as its fingers scratched at the floor.
Groaning, several thoughts entered her mind as she stared at the creature past the doorway.
'What the hell is that thing? Where did it come from!?'
However, those thoughts immediately froze when the creature stopped to look at her general direction for reasons unknown.
And when it did, she was able to appreciate its entire being.
Breathing heavily a warm breath leaked out of its mouth as its body which was roughly the size of a human baby drooled.
It was strangely off putting how its mouth took over its entire body and opened up vertically.
'How is it still alive biologically???'
Mulling over the strange being that had no visible organs that could fit in its body that had a mouth take over its entire body, the being sucked in air using invisible lungs.
Holding her breath time stretched.
Every second felt stretched into a minute, and a minute, eternity.
Even though the monster's main body was roughly the size of a human baby, the ridiculously long arms and legs made it seem larger than it really was.
Sweat rolling down the back of her neck she subconsciously held her breath in hopes of the monster slowly moving away from her way.
Staring at the creature with shaky eyes Shana tightened her grip around her mouth as she held the pin holding her hair.
Glasses fogging up from the moisture black hair stuck to her forehead as she stared at the
Drool glistening through the cracks, the monster slowly moved away from the doorway and went towards the end of the hall.
Heavy footsteps causing the floorboards to creak from the weight of it, the monster slowly left the room that she was currently hiding in.
Feeling her heart slow down its pace to a point she felt safe to breath again she softly let out a long held breath.
And then her phone rang.
---
"Hey why is Shana taking so long?" Looking at his watch, Elijah played with his absurdly long black hair. "It's been five minutes already."
"Well I don't know, but she should really come back so that we can talk about stuff." Rue said as she played with the remote to the television that was currently displaying internet vomit.
And currently it was playing a video of a prawn using guns to shut down a super mega corporation selling shrimp.
It was a fever dream that could only manifest from the internet.
Rue and Roe looked at each other.
"Should I..."
"You should"
"I should"
"Then do it"
"I'm doing it"
Whipping out her phone, Rue quickly opened up her phone as she searched for the contact that was Shana.
"Now where are... there you are! Black heart!"
And as she punched in the numbers which should activate the signal which would bounce off the signal dish and would bounce back into Shana's phone.
A distinct screeching noise filled the house followed by the sound of various objects being tossed around.
Stunned from the incredibly violent response from the upstairs room which should only have two current inhabitants resting there, logic told them that the one who was affected was Shana.
Either that or it was Aunt Sylvie, but as a former professional at Kick Boxing it didn't seem logical that a lot of things would collide violently against the ground.
And seeing as how this event just happened when they called Shana, the process of elimination pointed logic at the fact that Shana was in danger.
So in true friendship fashion, Rue, Roe and Elijah hurriedly ran upstairs.
They didn't forget to prepare their lungs to laugh/ scream at Shana once they figure out whether she made a mistake or was actually in danger.
One or the other.
It really depends.
However, as they were running upstairs, the one thing that was a completely non option in their minds appeared.
Because right now Shana was fighting off a literal demon from hell.
And although it wasn't the stereotypical red skinned demon with horns and a tail, this was a fine replacement for demons in their book.
Obsidian black skin shining underneath the light, its teeth had taken hold of Shana's fist as it clawed at her arm with long and lanky arms.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THINGS???" Cursing loudly Roe shouted in shock as the big black ball on legs growled loudly with teeth stained with red blood.
"Ack!" Groaning in pain from thevibrations be transmitted through her arm she continued to stab the pin in her left arm into the body of the monster.
And since it wasn't one of the cheap plastic one's that were mostly ornamental and cute looking, the sharp metal end was doing it's job spectacularly well.
Black blood leaking out of its body with every stab, Shana stabbed the monster as if possessed even as it clawed at her arms more and more frantically.
Deep rumble leaking out of its throat, a door burst open with a bang leaving a visible mark on the wall from where the door know impacted.
And following that explosion of doorly power, a woman of large proportions quickly leapt at the beast.
Whipping past the opened doorway, the woman quickly landed a kick on the beast leading to it screeching loudly.
"SCKRAAAAA"
Screeching loudly the woman who had just forcefully kicked the beast off of Shana quickly followed up by several ground shaking stomps that made it's noise levels lower and lower with every stomp.
Using the muscles on her body which rippled with strength her legs tensed as a final stomp splashed at the ground causing its teeth to crack.
Body turning into a pancake, the symphony of crackling bones caused the monster to twitch with its final breath leaking out of its body.
Spitting onto the beast that was limply twitching on the ground, the blood leaking out of the monster didn't seem to deter her as the woman turned to look at the trio who were at the crown of the stairs.
"Um... Hi Miss Sylvie..." Blushing Elijah averted his eyes from the prominent 'melons' bouncing in front of his eyes.
Sweat flowing down her body, Aunt Sylvie nodded briefly towards them before rapidly making various finger signs.
-You-Know-Happening?-
"You... Uh... No I don't actually..."
Rubbing the back of his head Elijah hurriedly spoke.
"But uh... Can you put on a shirt?"
Blinking a few times Miss Sylvie looked down at her prominent chest which had no covering on it save for the large black bra.
-I-was-hot-
Signing to Elijah he hurriedly diverted the conversation.
"Oh wait! What about Shana!"
Shouting loudly Elijah shouted at Aunt Sylvie who silently moved to the side to allow the others to see Shana.
And from it a roughed up but definitely alive face poked through albeit it seemed somewhat shaken up about the whole situation.
That is if the spazzed out hairstyle and loosely hanging glasses weren't already an indicator of it.
Oh, that and she was bearing several wounds on her right arm.
"Uh... Nice to see you guys again?"
"Shana!"
Swiftly converging on Shana's position the trio forced themselves near her while assessing the damages.
A discarded metal hair pin covered in unidentifiable black liquid.
Roughed up hair that definitely gave her a wild look.
Pin small pupils that showed signs of adrenaline.
The ground that had red blood coating it.
And an injured person who was the source of the blood.
"Shana! Are you alright? What happened to your arm?!"
Hurriedly grabbing Shana by the shoulders, Rue pointed at Shana's tattered right arm that had a series of bite marks on it then Roe butt in.
"An even better question, why is there a literal hell spawn here???"
"An even bester question, what the hell happened!?"
"The bestest question, What the hell is happening!?"
"Uh..." Disoriented from the continued screaming, Shana dizzily looked upwards to the ceiling which had been coated in an unknown black substance for some time now.
"Hey, leave her alone you guys are overstimulating her."
Interjecting gently, Elijah slowly pried away the clinging hands of the two siblings who had grabbed Shana.
And as he gently rotated Shana so that she was facing directly into Elijah's shining blue eyes, he calmly spoke "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?????"
"I think I should tell you that."
"Mister Shard?"
Turning around the quartet looked at the Father of Shana Shard who had positioned his wheelchair at the forefront of the stair well.
Adjusting his glasses, his green eyes sharply stared at the quartet.
"Now follow me downstairs to the living room, I suspect that this is going to be a long talk."
Wheeling around to go downstairs, Aunt Sylvie poked her head through the doorframe while presenting a thumbs up in her now fully clothed self.
+++
So a real thing I experienced before
We have lizard brains and one particular day when I was just trying not to get bit by a stray, it just attacked.
Then I got very angry and started hitting the dog like crazy.
And now I am all up for a good old petting dog situation, but my lizard brain at the time chose fight over flight.
Tree that made sure to get checked for rabies later.
Tree