Sheepdog

"He looks like a little sheepdog, wouldn't you say?" Ripley asked me. "Y'know, with that kind of coat on him?"

"Oh, and you're one to talk, Shucky," Puck responded, arms crossed.

I gave a little laugh hearing someone else call him Shucky.

"Okay, okay, all of you cut it out," Evan said, kneeling down to reach the puck's level, although he was still a few inches taller.

"Can you tell us anything about the cadejo negro, Black Dog, or Shadow Beast?"

"You mean like that guy over there?" Puck pointed.

"No, I don't. He's a Black Shuck."

"We're in the same family, but he's even worse than I am," Ripley called out.

"Exactly; we're talking about a creature that looks like a shadow with nothing attached to it, but can become unattached to attack; they have also been known to kill a shadow and, as a result, kill the person who the shadow belongs to."

"Aren't those extinct?"

"There was one that was kept for research or preservation or something to that effect, and it escaped. That's what we're looking for."

"Oh, I know what you're talking about!" Puck smiled. "Come and follow me!"

Puck

We ran after the shaggy black thing, and Ripley (or, if you prefer, Shucky) leapt onto its back and grabbed its neck, twisting it around. It was then that we saw a short little face with pointed ears, wrinkles, and an oversized nose.

"Let go of me!" He shouted in a squeaky voice, and Ripley did. The figure he had grabbed popped up. He was a midget with knobby knees. The shaggy blackness that we had seen was a coat that had probably come from some kind of spitz dog, like a Swedish Lapphund.

"What are you?" I asked. I had never seen anything like him.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Puck, part sprite and part hobgoblin. How may I assist you?"

(sorry this is so short; I've been really busy lately)

The Hunt Begins

Chapter Three

In Which We Hunt a Cadejo Negro

A black-and-white cat, a shaggy black dog, and a police officer sneaking around in the bushes looks even more normal than a red-eyed dog the size of a cow with cloven hooves and horns, right? Please tell me that you said no.

"Do you even know where this monster lives?" Evan said through gritted teeth.

"Of course I do! Just trust me!"

"I have a hard time trusting anybody with a record."

"Be quoiet, de both av yer! Oi'm tryin' ter 'ear!" I hissed.

"Sorry," they said simultaneously.

I stood stark still and listened until I heard a faint brush to the west. I pricked my ears in that direction and heard something like footprints. It was probably just some hunter, but I took a few steps closer to get a better look at it. Something large, furry, and black. Maybe it was just a bear?

"That's it! Over there! The cadejo negro!"

"I thought that you wanted to call it a Shadow Beast," Evan said.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that we've got him! Go! Go!"

We went, all right.

No Date

"What are you doing here with him?" Evan asked.

"He said that there was something serious we need to discuss. What are you doing out and about anyway? Aren't you third-shift?"

"Yeah, but I'm not nocturnal. I'll have you know that he is a convicted felon. He was part of a juvenile gang when he was in high school. He was a shoplifter and jumped multiple people in an alley."

"Listen, man, just stay cool. Eehh---" here he forgot my name.

"Ainsley," I filled in.

"Ainsley and I had some very important business to discuss. And it doesn't concern you."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure that it does concern me. I am a law enforcement officer and another fabula creaturis. Anything that you say in front of her can and probably should be said in front of me as well."

"Well, if you insist. Have you ever heard of the dangerous fantastical creature known as the Shadow Beast? It's sometimes known as the Black Dog or the Cadejo Negro."

"It sounds like a Black Shuck to me," Evan grunted.

"Well, it's not me, because I'm completely corporeal. Anyway, the Shadow Beast is a creature that is basically its own independent shadow. But it can jump off the walls in the blink of an eye and kill you. Then it'll jump back and continue its stroll. In its true form it is a large, shaggy dog the size of a cow and with cloven hooves and horns. It has large, glowing red eyes. The majority of them had been hunted to extinction, but there was one that we locked up, and we locked it up in such a way that its shadow would not be able to pass."

"Why are you saying 'we'? You had a part in this?"

"No, but I'm talking about fabula creaturis as a whole. Now don't interrupt me in the future. Some new numbskull released it by accident when trying to feed it, and now it's out and about terrorizing both regular people and others like us. I'm gathering up as many fabula creaturis as possible to help me out. Now, are you in?"

"Sure," I said.

"As am I," Evan interceded.

"Then it's settled."

Black Shuck

Tomorrow after the same class, the Black Shuck came up to me again.

"Listen, I don't think that I caught your name the first time that we met," he said. "I know that the professor always calls on you, but he only refers to you as 'Ms. Aithne'."

"My first name is Ainsley. It's traditionally a guy's name, but you can use it for a girl too. And you never raise your hand, so I don't have anything to call you except for 'Shucky'."

"Please never call me 'Shucky'. Naw, you can call me whatever you feel like. I don't really have a name."

"Fine then, Shucky."

"Fine, you can call me whatever you like as long as it isn't Shucky."

"What name are you enrolled under?"

"Ripley Thorpe."

"Interesting name."

"I know, right? You don't happen to have a class directly after this today, do you?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't."

"Great. Let's go somewhere off-campus for coffee."

"Like a date?"

"No, there's something serious that I need to talk to you about."

We went to the closest off-campus Starbucks and sat down with coffee. As he sat down, he said to me, "You're Irish, right? Where's your accent?"

"It goes back and forth. I've been in America forever."

"If I listen really closely I can hear a couple dialect hints."

We talked for a little bit about nonsense, and I began to think that there was really nothing serious to talk about. Then I noticed a familiar tall man with blonde hair. Officer Ryans was here, and he didn't look too happy seeing me with another guy.

In Class

Chapter Two

In Which I Find Another Fabula Creaturis

"Ms. Aithne, you're late," the professor said. Normally he would be angrier, but I was one of his best students, and this was the first time that I had been late this year.

"Yes, I know," I said, sitting down. The American was second nature to me, and sometimes I would flit between my home accent and Standard American English. In fact, it was becoming difficult at times to call up my Irish. Soon I was going to have to rely on my Gaelic for my roots in terms of language.

Halfway through class, I got up to look closer at something written when a man two rows in front of me turned around and smiled. He flashed gleaming fangs and I sat down without getting what was on the board. I had lost interest in what was there.

When class was over, I was one of the first to get up, going over to the guy who had smiled at me. He was talking to a group of friends, but as I went up they quietly dispersed.

"What are you?" I asked in an anxious whisper.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you have fangs if you're totally human?"

The guy laughed, and I saw the fangs again. My eyes turned "cat", yellow with pupil slits, and I showed him my fangs. He stopped laughing.

"Good; I only suspected that you were a fabula creaturis. Cat Sì, right?"

"Yes. And you?"

"Black Shuck. Listen, I need to get to class, but I'll see you tomorrow. We can talk then."

Sorry

Sorry. I won't be able to get new posts very frequently from now on; I got a new novel idea and the writing for that is spilling out of me faster than I can write. Most of my time spent online is spent writing the new novel. I apologize for this, and I'll try to get posts as much as I can.

I'll let you know when you can expect more frequent posting.