The headlights faded. Christopher pressed the 'unlock' button on his keying and the lot lit up again. Now the creature was 15 feet from them, growling. Yellow eyes came at them closer and closer...Once more, the light went out.

"Shoot it!"

Christopher's terror was almost painful for Juniper. She had some terror of her own to deal with. The creature came closer, and she was no longer afraid.

"Calm down, it's just a dog," Juniper said.

Another click, and the headlights illuminated the golden retriever at the couple's feet. Though filthy, it appeared friendly. Its primary emotion was 'hungry!'. This dog was a loud broadcaster. Juniper took that as a good sign. Loud broadcasters were usually so because they had little to hide. Occasionally, it meant that they were full of themselves, but she doubted the dog was inclined to narcissism.

"Hey, guy." Juniper put her hand out for the dog to sniff.

Cautiously, it sniffed her outstretched hand. The sniffing turned to licks. Instead of the pathetic yearn for food, the dog felt happy. It had been a few days since Juniper had felt such pure emotion, either from herself or from another person. She held onto the dog's happiness for a few moments. She was unaware that she was standing with her eyes closed, hands stroking the matted hair on the dog's head until Christopher touched her shoulder.

"Juniper, don't you hear that?"

"Huh?" she murmured.

"The growling? Took me a second to figure out that it wasn't coming from the dog," Christopher was whispering.

Growling? Juniper opened her eyes. Happy thoughts had faded, and she could hear a guttural keening. It sounded like a car engine, if a car could sound angry. Underneath her hand, the dog stiffened. It began to whimper and draw closer to her legs. Juniper reached out with her mind to find the source of the noise, but she couldn't feel anything. There was Christopher, the dog, and herself. Whatever else was in the underground lot with them was outside of her control. Christopher recognized the hum in the air that was dispelled whenever Juniper used her power.

"Do you feel something?" he asked.

"No, just us. And can you please dial down your fear a bit, please? Between you and the dog, I'm going to give in to a panic attack."

"Sorry." Christopher did calm down, but not that much. "Let's make a run for the car."

They were whispering in the dark.

"On three, click the button, and then we'll go."

"Okay."

"One, two," Juniper grabbed the dog's collar, "three!"

When the car lights came on, she was sure she would see a monster waiting for them. However, there was not much to see. The parking spaces across the lot were empty, save the oil spots on the concrete. It took a while for Juniper's brain to relay the message of 'run' to her legs. Both she and Christopher stood staring at the car. They didn't move. Once the car lights faded, they woke up. Christopher clicked the button again, took his wife's hand, and dragged her and the dog to the car.

Beyond the car, Juniper spied a wink of green. She thought it was a flashlight. When the light blinked open and closed, she realized she was wrong. The green light was two eyes, as big as baseballs. The thing attached to the eyes had to be massive.

When they got to the car, Christopher ran around to the driver's side and threw open the door. He saw Juniper looking off into the dark.

"Get in!" he yelled.

Juniper took the dog and put it in the back seat. Then she got in the passenger seat. She could not believe that they had made it to the car alive.

Keys in the ignition, Christopher started the car. He looked out of the driver's side window.

"We're gonna be okay." He said. "Where should we---?"

The glass from this window cracked. Then cracked again.

Something hit against it repeatedly, spidering the glass, but not breaking it completely. In an effort to quell the break, Christopher put his hands on the glass, but turning towards the window proved to be a mistake. In the next minute, a creature broke through and swiped a clawed paw at Christopher. The car door buckled inward, pinning his arm. Juniper was screaming and the dog was howling.

Christopher fell eerily quiet. Juniper touched his arm.

"June?" he turned towards her. "I can't see."

Blood steaks covered the top portion of his face, and the first thing Juniper thought of was

Sliced roast beef.

His eyes looked like they hadn't existed at all. Christopher's bones were visible, and she didn't know how he was still breathing, let alone talking. She swallowed back bile and forced herself to speak.

"Baby, there's a thing out there, and it's not human. It's not even an animal, because I can't feel it. Obviously, it wants to hurt us. Step on the gas, and I'll steer."

"Alright." Christopher whispered.

Her husband had reason to be scared, but he wasn't. Juniper felt a sense of purpose rising in him. There was also a protective vibe that gave him a blue glow.

Christopher felt around for the gear stick. He pulled it back to 'drive' and stepped on the gas pedal. The car leapt forward with reckless speed. Juniper leaned over to grab hold of the wheel. She turned the car to the left to avoid hitting the concrete wall.

Alongside the car, a dark figure followed. It kept pace with their car, travelling at 30 miles per hour. Juniper couldn't see it in the dark. She caught a glimpse of shaggy hair, and those eyes. In the 'fore world, she would have thought it to be a bear, but in this aftermath...it was no bear.

As the creature ran near the car, it made wet huffing sighs. Juniper wanted to cover her eyes with her hands, but her hands were far too busy in helping to save their lives.

The garage had a total of five levels. Their car cleared four of them. With all of the winding turns they had taken, the dog slid back and forth on the leather seat. They were near the last ramp leading to the ground floor.

"That thing is still following us, isn't it?" Christopher yelled his question to be heard over the squeal of the tires.

"Yes!"

"Why hasn't it come inside?"

"I think it's too big!"

"Oh!"

They arrived at the exit to the parking lot. A large stick hindered their way out, meant to be brought up electrically by a lot attendant. Only, there was no lot attendant.

"Hit the gas!' Juniper said.

"We're already going fast." Christopher said.

"We need to go faster if we want to get past the stick-gate-thing."

Christopher understood. Slowly, he increased their speed to 45 miles per hour, too fast for the predator. It followed a few feet behind the car as opposed to right next to it. When Juniper turned her attention back to the front, the car was inches from the stick-gate-thing. She had a premonition the gate would be unyielding. The car would crash into it and stall, with the front-end totaled. And it would be the end of them because the creature would find a way inside of the car.

Juniper's premonition was wrong. Fortunately, the gate was made out of plastic and not metal as she had assumed. The pole snapped in half from the impact with the car. One half of the stick rebounded off of the car, and the other half whipped back like a supple tree branch. A yelp, and Juniper risked another glance behind the car. The broken half of the pole impaled the monster through the neck. It hung from the pole, limp, back end in the air. Juniper tried to feel happy, but she feared there would be more like it. Not quite like that, though. Monsters all looked different, didn't they?