Page 52 of Medium
“Do you want to step into a tree?” I asked.
Clementine eyed the open space between us and the tree line and shook her head. “I think I’m safer here.” She moved closer to Ms. Jackson’s leg.
Since Ms. Jackson’s tail was pretty much blocking attack from behind, I made everyone but Shane and I stand under their belly. Manny was at my back next to Ms. Jackson’s left front leg, panning his phone at the woods. Rory was behind Shane, and the two dryads were as far under Ms. Jackson as they could get.
Shane pointed to his right, and we all watched fog start to roll out of the trees. I twisted around, but it was only coming from the one area. Ms. Jackson leaned their head toward the fog and made a sound that was slightly closer to a roar. They lifted their wings threateningly.
A large body collided with mine, making me grunt and stumble forward. An arm circled my waist, lifting me off the ground. Manny shrieked in my ear as I started to struggle. A fucking vampire had grabbed both of us and was running for the trees. Pain filled my chest as my bond with Shane was pulled past its limits.
Ms. Jackson gave a full-on roar, and I heard the others shouting. I kicked my legs and flailed my arms, and Manny was doing the same, but the vampire didn’t have any trouble keeping up his speed. I was facing outward, and the vampire was tall as fuck. The way he was holding me, almost horizontal to the ground, I couldn’t grab onto anything except his arm or the outside of his leg. My efforts to dig in with my fingernails to hamper his movement didn’t have any effect. I tried to tangle my legs in his, but I only succeeded in kicking Manny, who was doing the same thing.
We were still several yards from the trees when another vampire joined us, easily keeping pace. She took Manny out of the first vampire’s arm. The vampire holding me changed his grip, wrapping my arms and body in both of his. Now I could only struggle like a fish on land, and he easily kept me still.
“Human!” the second vampire shouted angrily. Manny made an awful sound, and I smelled blood.
“No!” I bucked and struggled, but the vampire’s grip was impossible to get out of. I caught a glimpse of Manny, crumpled on the ground, blood soaking the front of his t-shirt. “Manny!”
In the distance, Pia screamed.
The vampire slowed slightly as we got to the trees. If my arms had been free, I might’ve been able to grab for some branches.
Even more pain tore through my body as my magic slammed back in on itself. I cried out as my bond with Shane was ripped away. My connection to Rory, all my connections to the Wonders in my District and Shane’s, severed.
Everything went black.
CAL’S CAMPAIGN COMPENDIUM
MS. JACKSON
Type: ????
Class: ????
Overview: Ms. Jackson (they/them) is a sentient Elven artifact whose origins are unknown. They are ambulatory, can shift form, and must eat food to replenish their energy.
History: Ms. Jackson began their existence as an Elven artifact of unknown purpose. We are not certain exactly when they became self-aware, but they say it was after they arrived on Earth. They were passed along to a series of Wonders, concluding with an armadillo shifter named Karsha Bennett, who brought them to Texas in the 1960s. The building she lived in was a boarding house for Wonders, and it eventually became the main house for TWIST (Texas Wonder Intervention and Support Team), the Texas-based Wonder rescue organization. Ms. Jackson was assumed to be nothing more than a stone statue and was put in the book room of TWIST and left there.
Ms. Jackson states they were able to hear conversations, radios, and TVs, and thus they educated themselves about Earth and its people.
They were discovered in late March of this year by Greg Shaw and Cal Steadham, who accidentally came across them. Ms. Jackson changed shape and made their sentience known. At that time, they were only able to take the form of inanimate objects, but they communicated by becoming a Ouija board.
In early April Cal Steadham accidentally gifted Ms. Jackson a significant portion of his magic, and as a result Ms. Jackson became ambulatory and able to shift into living beings. At the time this entry was written, Ms. Jackson still communicates mostly via manifesting a Ouija board.
Skills: We—and Ms. Jackson—are not aware yet of their full capabilities, but this is what has been observed to date:
Can change shape, fully or partially, becoming as small as a panther or as large as a dragon
Has at least a small amount of precognition
