By the time Sunny could acknowledge what was happening, she was across the street where she and Benji had been waiting minutes prior. Sunny looked over her shoulder to see a set of razor-sharp teeth and two large, beady yellow eyes.

“Ahh!” Sunny squealed.

“It’s okay, Sunny!” Benji said. “I think it’s here to help us.”

“Down,” the beast snarled. “Safe.”

The strange being set Sunny and Benji down before returning to leap into the fray with the Lurkers.

“W-What is that thing?” Sunny stammered.

‘Werewolf’ was the first word that came to mind as Sunny observed the Denizen. Long brown fur covered the beast from head to toe. It wore a tattered gray hoodie and black shorts that cut just above the knee. A long tail extended from the end of its spine, swaying side to side as it entered combat with the herd of Lurkers.

Of all the weird things about the Denizen, however, what really caught her eye was the tombstone it carried on its back.

“What if we’re next?” Sunny trembled, the adrenaline in her veins dulling the pain around her shoulder blade.

“I don’t think we are,” Benji said as he put his eyepatch back on. “It had a chance to kill us. Wouldn’t it have been easier to run away?”

It was becoming more and more difficult to form words. Sunny replied with a shaky “Uh-huh,” her eyes glued to the fight—no, a fight was how one described two combatants going toe to toe with weapons or their fists.

It was a bloodbath.

The beast howled as if it reveled in every second spent drawing blood and flesh from its next target. One minute the creature would pin a Lurker to a tree with one of its obsidian-black claws. The next, its head would be flying into the air. Park benches and nearby buildings were painted in scarlet, the creature’s attention never on Sunny or Benji for more than a split second.

“Do you hear that?” Benji asked.

Sunny struggled to answer, mortified by the amount of blood she was seeing. “H-H-Hear what?”

“It’s a whisper. A song? No… I can’t make it out, it’s too loud over there.”

Sunny shut her eyes and tried to listen. Perhaps it would help alleviate her pain and the horror she observed. After a time, she could hear it too. It was sporadic, with no particular rhyme or melody. Benji was right—it did sound like a song. At least, at first, it did. But as Sunny listened, it started to sound less like a melody and more like someone was speaking into a cup. Just as Sunny felt she was beginning to understand it, the sound became haphazard again.

Meanwhile, the slaughter continued. One of the Lurkers bit the forearm of the werewolf. Blood oozed out, and the werewolf roared, spittle spraying from its fanged teeth. Tearing the beast away from its wound with seemingly no effort, it spun on its heel, swinging the Lurker like a club and knocking two more of the advancing creatures away into a nearby wall. The beasts hit the wall with a crunch, splattering blood and brain matter onto the structure until collapsing to the ground.

“What’s wrong with this thing?” Sunny asked, her eyes growing wide. There’d been a lot of blood when Ren lost his arm, but that was nothing compared to this. What they were watching was no better than a meat grinder. Sunny could barely watch when the werewolf started to dismantle the bodies and use their limbs as makeshift baseball bats. “Benji, this isn’t right.”

“Sunny,” Benji said, grabbing both of Sunny’s shoulders. “I know this is hard to watch. I don’t like it either. But if we run, and even a single one of those things follows us… we’re dead.” Benji bowed his head and swallowed hard. “We have to stay here. It’s… it’s safe.”

“Safe?” Sunny squeaked, tears falling down the sides of her cheeks. “Look at what it’s doing. It’s not just killing them! It’s tearing them into pieces! The thing’s a butcher!”

Sunny struggled to think of things to say. What else was there to say? All they could do was watch this thing tear every Lurker apart and hope they wouldn’t be next.

“It’s going to be fine,” Benji said.

Sunny shook her head. Did Benji believe the words he was speaking? Was he saying that to convince himself?

“G!” a feminine voice cried.

The werewolf turned to face Sunny and Benji, and as the children raised their heads, two more Lurkers were galloping in their direction. They’d barely had enough time to gasp before the werewolf leaped into the air and came crashing down on both of them, one beneath each foot.

For a moment, Sunny thought she sensed a hint of civility in the creature. It bore cat eyes, its pupils long and thin. Its hair was equal parts black and blue, tied into matching braids that flanked its cheeks. It briefly regarded her with curiosity before stepping off the Lurkers and pulling each one up to eye level by their snouts. The werewolf turned around, smashing the two Lurker’s heads together, spraying blood and viscera onto the streets.

Only a couple remained. Pinning one of the dead Lurkers with its foot, the werewolf tore a hind leg from the body, marching toward the remaining beasts with slow and heavy footsteps. The severed limb dripped with life’s essence, droplets landing on the friendly werewolf’s feet periodically.

With a single swing of the Lurker’s severed leg, the werewolf sent the two remaining creatures soaring into the park bench. The bench snapped like a bundle of toothpicks, scattering wood and splinters. One had died instantly, but the other was limping away.

“No,” the werewolf growled. The ground trembled as it made its way over to the Lurker, sweeping up it with its spare hand and holding it at eye level. A puff of hot air escaped the deepest regions of its throat as it growled. The Lurker snapped its jaws in retaliation shortly before the werewolf threw it to the ground.

“What is it doing now?” Sunny asked as she fell to her knees. The pain in her back was returning, and the sight was becoming too difficult to bear.

Stomping on the gut of the Lurker, the werewolf tore the head from the creature’s body, blood pouring freely onto the grass as he held it up. A sickening smile twisted the lips of the werewolf as he muttered a single phrase. “Batter up.” He tossed the head straight up, underhanded, before clasping both hands around his makeshift baseball bat and striking the lump of flesh. A disgusting crunch followed, and the lump went flying.

Sunny swore she heard the creature chuckle.

Its attention back on Sunny and Benji, the would-be hero dropped the limb it’d been using and approached with slow and steady steps. It stopped a few paces away, and extended one black nail toward Sunny.

Benji moved to stand in front of Sunny. “I like to think that you helped us,” Benji said, his arms extended at his sides. His legs visibly trembled. “But if you want to hurt her, you’ll have to get through me first.”

The creature retracted its nail, electing to scratch the bottom of its chin instead. It grunted, then said, “You. Safe.”