She was just rolling through town when she spotted something moving by the home of one of the children she had earmarked as a possible target. She turned her headlights onto the moving shadow to try and get a better look at what it was.
She swiftly wished she had not.
It was just as Clara had described and yet so much worse. The almost skeletal figure was hunched at a grotesque angle, seeming to be almost bent double. The grey, clammy, dead seeming skin was decaying away, revealing dying flesh and rotten organs underneath, blood oozing slowly from each and every hole, dripping onto the pavement and leaving a trail that Twilight knew no mortal who could not see like she could would notice. Bloodstains made their way up its arms, at the end of which were claw like fingers. It turned and glared at her with its burning blood red eyes and Twilight froze up in terror as it smirked at her, its sharp, vicious looking teeth bared.
Twilight fumbled for her crossbow, remembering too late that she had no bolts for it and had left it behind. The creature turned away and leapt with astounding agility up to a child’s bedroom window and slowly opened it, using its long fingers as a lever to prise it open. Twilight cussed and snatched up a rock and threw it at the beast before scrambling for a nearby, rather hefty looking branch she could use as a weapon, wondering what the hell she had been thinking in going after any old bogeyman without a weapon. Especially when this monster was roaming around.
She did not get the chance to snatch it up. The creature was on her in a heartbeat, slashing at her with its claws. The shockingly sharp talons pierced not only her bike leathers, but the clothes and skin underneath. Twilight let out a pained yelp which was swiftly cut off when she was knocked off of her feet and her head slammed into the pavement, knocking her partially senseless.
The creature stalked forward with a low, vindictive chuckle as Twilight moaned and tried to push herself upright, pushing her back down with a foot and pinning her to the floor. Twilight feebly struggled as the creature leered down at her, increasing the pressure on her chest, causing her to scream in pain as her ribs started to creak and crack at the weight.
“Little Havenkeeper, I remember you.” The creature hissed, seeming amused, “Your grandmother kept this town from me, rescued you from my clutches when your mother brought you to town. Shame you won’t live to do the same.”
“K...Kill me,” Twilight stammered out, crying out in pain as he kept increasing the pressure, “And you’ll bring t...the entire Compass d...down on your head!”
“They’re too busy to really pay attention to what I’m up to.” The creature smirked back, “Besides none of them could hope to defeat me.”
The first part was probably true. He had hurt her, had probably hurt Mikey. The Wrath of the Seasons should have activated for the nearest Crystal Compass immortal. That none had shown up told Twilight that she was, terrifyingly, alone.
“Y...You’re just a bogeyman.” Twilight retorted, trying to throw him off balance as she grabbed for something, anything, that she could use to defend herself and finding a sharp stick. “I’m not afraid of you!”
She jammed the sharp stick through paper thin flesh, into the ankle of the foot pinning her. The creature howled in pain and backed off, giving Twilight the chance to get to her feet. She took it, rolling onto her side and pushing herself up as she tried to ignore the way her world was swimming nauseatingly.
She stumbled towards her bike, intending to run the thing over, only for him to grab her hair and pull her back. She tripped, losing her balance, only to crash into the creature. It slammed her into the nearest wall, holding her there by the throat, its long fingers wrapping tightly around her neck and its claws cutting in, leaving trails which oozed blood that, thankfully were not deep enough to kill. Not that Twilight appreciated it as she struggled to breathe past his hand, trying to pull his hand away from her neck.
“You should be, little Havenkeeper.” The creature growled at her, though she had trouble hearing it over the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, “I’m not A bogeyman, I’m THE Bogeyman, the one all the others answer to, the one who created them in his image. I’m the King of Fear, Bloody Bones. Not that you’ll get to tell anyone.” He squeezed tighter and drove his other hand through Twilight’s stomach, just below her ribcage.
The scream of agony she wanted to let out caught in her throat and Twilight’s world whited out for a moment. When she came back to herself, the creature had let go and was being chased away by an eight foot long, panther like tabby cat.
“K...Kuma.” Twilight called feebly, beginning to slip again as the creature vanished into the shadows, seeming to use it to teleport away.
The feline returned to her side, concern obvious as it nuzzled her. “Use your bracelet.” The cat demon told her, “I’ll get you mortal help.”
“But...busy...” The librarian managed as Kuma transformed into her human form and rummaged through her pockets until she could find Twilight’s phone.
“This is more important than Handover.” The nekomata hissed at her, her voice unchanged from one form to the next, “Use the damn bracelet.”
Twilight stared at the item in question blankly. The silver bracelet had been a present from Jack and Nowell. It was enchanted to allow her to call them when she needed them. She did now. She really did. But it was Handover. They had jobs to do. But whatever Bloody Bones was, she was never going to defeat it alone.
She made up her mind just before her world gave way to total darkness and whispered just one word, the one word that would bring her friend to her.
“Help.”
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