Monsters swarmed around every crack and crevice, scratching and leveling furniture. It took three to hold Troll back, even as he thrashed and kicked and roared at the top of his bony lungs. The others swarmed in the middle of the ballroom, muffling a familiar, helpless bear’s roar. The entire room was ice cold, probably due to the floor-length smashed window with the eagle-shaped hole to their left. The wind whistled through Hilary’s auburn curls and rustled the ghostly white sheet over the grand piano.
Betty managed to duck around two monsters who grabbed at her, dashing out to the monsters in the center of the room. “SCOTT!” She screamed. “SCOTT SHERWOOD! What have you done with him?”
They watched in horror as the monsters pulled back…revealing Pavla and three monsters leaning over a huge, shaggy bear. The creature was surrounded by scraps of white silk, though he still wore his black trousers. “Thank you, gentlemen, for getting that shirt off him. We’ll do the pants later. He will not need them where he is going.” Pavla purred into his rounded black ear, touched with silver, as she and the monsters rubbed his stomach. “Shh, pretty bear. Calm yourself.” Her monsters stroked his head as she ran her fingers across his neck, softening his growls into barely-heard whimpers. “Yes, little teddy. You will never make fool of me again. You will prance and do tricks by my side.”
Betty’s screams matched Troll’s furious roars as Pavla yanked a heavy leather muzzle over Bear’s snout. “Tie him down, boys. I do not want him going anywhere until I order him to. He must be made to obey my commands.”
“SCOTT!” Betty pushed another monster aside. “Scott! He’s not an animal, Pavla! Stop hurting him! He’s a human being!” Bear looked up at the sound of her voice, and Betty almost stepped back. His eyes were round, black button eyes…and they were empty, without a hint of thought or human connection.
Pavla’s laugh was chilling. She was dressed for New Year’s Eve, in a black velvet gown with long, wide sleeves, embossed with thorny crimson roses. “That’s funny, Miss Bloom. I do not see a human here. I see a bear. Boys, deal with them. I need to wrap up my sweet, tame pet.” Those needle-sharp crimson fingernails petted the bear, stroking the thick fur around his sensitive ears. “He doesn’t know you, Miss Bloom. Only that he is my playful little teddy bear. I will take him to Hollywood with me. Perhaps, sell him and his eagle friend to Griffith Park Zoo when I get out there.”
As she moved back, the monsters swarmed around him, holding more of the thick rope from the basement. When they finally emerged, the black bear’s paws were lashed so tightly together, he couldn’t move a muscle. “Now,” Pavla pulled out a pair of pliers, “to get rid of those claws. I don’t want him scratching me or my furniture when I take him home tonight.”
“NO!” Betty shrieked as she struggled in the arms of a monster, still clutching the book like a lifeline. “He’s not a pet, Pavla! He’s a man! Scott, please, you have to be in there!”
Hilary tried to hold the others off with the gun as Mackie whined and put up his fists, staying close to his oldest daughter. She waved her gun at the monsters, who gathered around them in a ragged circle. “Which one of you idiots want to take us on first?” She waved the little black gun. “I have a gun, and I’m not afraid to use it!”
“Yahhhh!” Mackie barely managed to dodge a swipe from the largest monster. “Hilary, I don’t think these guys can be taken down with that bitty thing! Maybe an elephant gun. Or a machine gun, like those gangster guys used on Valentine’s Day in Chicago last year. Or you’d need to be Lon Chaney!”
Hilary frowned and looked up as fluttering wings were heard. “Dad, do you hear that?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It sounds like…a bird? But it’s winter! Most of them went south over a month ago!”
That was when Hilary saw the feathered figure burst through the broken window. “Not eagles!” She grinned. “I think the flying cavalry has arrived!”
Everyone turned as Eagle burst through the window, Maple clutching what remained of him for dear life. He was already barely half the size he had been when he took off from the yard. Even as he crashed to the ground, he shrunk all together into the size of an ordinary bald eagle. Maple tumbled from his arms, knocked unconscious as she landed hard on the polished wooden floor.
“Maple!” Hilary dashed to her sister’s side as the monsters swarmed at Eagle. “Speak to me! Dad, come on. We have to help bring her around!” She patted hard at her face. “This is a bad time to become one of those women who faint around monsters!”
Thankfully, it only took a few minutes for Maple to swat Hilary’s hand away. “Five more minutes, Mama!”
Hilary rolled her eyes and shook her shoulders. “Mama has been dead for years. This is hardly the time to be cute. Remember what we discussed? You need to get the record and recorder.”
“I’m awake, Hilary! Jeez, I just fell off the back of an eagle who kept shrinking the whole time we were in the air! I’m lucky to be here!” She instantly looked around. “Where is he, Hilary? Where’s Victor?”
“Victor?” Even as she looked up, two monsters snatched the eagle, avoiding his sharp beak as he bit and pecked and scratched with his talons. “Oh damn. It is him, isn’t it? I thought that beak looked familiar.”
Even as Hilary helped Maple to her feet, she heard a growl that definitely did not come from the monsters…and then, the sound of an organ playing “Do Something” loudly by rabbit paws. “They’re here!” Maple nearly squealed as Pavla was stampeded by a golden puppy and a skinny, aged vixen carrying a newspaper in her mouth. The fluffy old white cat with the silver glasses followed placidly behind them before curling up on the sheet-covered piano to take a nap.
“I’ll take that!” Hilary grabbed Newspaper, his photo on the cover now still, rolled him up, and hit a monster on the shoulder. “Dad, you can have this.” She tossed her father the gun.
“G…gun?” Mackie stared at it like it would bite him, then at the animals. “What in the hell…”
“Dad, you look pale.” Hilary shoved her knee into the nearest monster who tried to reach for Newspaper. “Maybe you ought to sit down. You are still recovering from that flu.”
“I think,” her father gasped, “that’s a very good idea.” He pitched backwards, fainting dead away…just as the chandelier dimmed.
“C.J!” Hilary grinned as every light in the entire house went out. “That’s my little brother!” She took the gun, then slammed her knee into the one holding Betty. “Here.” She tossed her Newspaper. “You and Maple go find that record in Eagle’s office, before Pablum’s movie monster brigade gets to it.” She winced as the rabbit jumped up and down on the organ’s keys, making the monsters cover their ears. “And hurry while they’re distracted!”
Maple had been trying to yank the monsters away from Eagle, but they pushed her aside. “Damn it! Victor, honey, I’ll come back for you! I swear! Betty, come on!” Betty, still clutching the book, reluctantly followed her sister out the door.
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