Mother Arrives

The Mongrifier roared in frustration as it pushed the car away from it. The hit had caused some damage and it could feel his insides slosh around a bit but he was angry. So angry that for now the pain didn't matter. He had to get the woman who had struck him with the vehicle.

He limped after the woman who ran full speed towards Mr. Kosmos. She reached the tree before Mongrifier could reach her. She sliced the rope binding Mr. Kosmos to the tree and the card went through the rope like a hot knife through butter.

“Gimme that!” Mr. Kosmos lunged for the card but his mother held it away from his reach.

“No! I found it, it's mine.”

He looked behind his mother and saw Mongrifier speeding up towards them.

“Mon, if you don't give me this card, we both die. You don't know how to use this thing and the animal rushing towards us is not going to stop unless you let me use this card.”

“Oh, shush. I know enough how to use this card. Now sit the fuck down and let mama do her thing.”

Mr. Kosmos shrunk away in face of the rebuke. Something small twisted itself inside him and died. He didn't have to worry for long. A hand crept up from behind him, clamped up on his mouth and dragged him. He struggled, but the hand was strong and his strength was fading after being tied up for so long. He tried calling out for his mother, but she was facing the Mongrifier and her attention was diverted.

Mongrifer saw the woman standing in front of him and slowed down. He could sense an aura of danger swirling about her like dark snakes. His hunting instinct screamed at him to leave this and get out of there, but there was something called pride and he was not going to back down from this fight.

As the Mongrifier stalked towards her, she placed a card on the ground and said a word. He didn't hear the word, but he saw the card change color from black to a bright red. A bean of red light shot up from it and spread like an umbrella over them. The tendrils of light snaked around, looking for a target, and they found the target in form of Mongrifier.

Fuck, not again, he thought as the red snakes made of light headed for him, wrapping around his limbs and then spreading as far as they could go. So, hung the Mongrifier, up in the air, stretched like a patient on a surgery table.

In his state of fear and anger, the Mongrifier thought of the only place in the worlds that gave him peace.

The library.

His eyes teared up, thinking about prancing through the shelves of books, all neatly arranged and labeled. He could smell the heady aroma of slowly decaying paper and ink. For a moment, he felt as if he was back in the library, hunting down errant dreamers that dared to enter his domain. Then the ropes tugged once more at his limbs, threatening to rip them out of their sockets. He saw the witch below him, holding fast to the magic that had struck him.

Someone slowly walked up behind the woman and raised something high above their head. Through the pain, the Mongrifier smiled.

The hardbound book struck the witch right on the nape of her neck and she went down in a bundle. The red snakes vanished and Mongrifier landed on his feet.

His savior, Lisa held the heavy book in her hands. It was a copy of Gravity's Rainbow. Saved by fiction once again.

“Are you back?” She asked him, still a bit cautious. He knew he had lost control for a while, but the knock from the car had knocked him back into his senses.

He nodded at her and then placed his paw on the black card.

She nodded back. “Back to the library, then?”

He nodded again and poured his will into the black card. The library was the only thing on his mind. He was done with this place and these people.

The card mushroomed into a cloud, enveloping the Mongrifier and once the smoke disappeared, he was gone.

Lisa looked at the woman lying at her feet who was slowly groaning and trying to get up. She raised the hardcover over her head and dropped it on the woman, knocking her back into the land of sleep once again.

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We're almost at the end folks. Almost there.