Constance had sworn, too, when the beast had come into view thanks to Armas’s lantern, but her voice had been caught in her throat and a near inaudible squeak was all that had come out. She felt her stomach tighten with fear. Back on the Isles, she could put on a brave face and pretend that nothing frightened her, because back then there was nothing that could scare her; it was wonderful how many of her real fears could be solved with a fistful of dollars. Until recently, at least. Out here, well, she couldn’t throw bills at a tidal wave or a cave beast; she doubted either things had interest in material wealth, unfortunately. It was like she was poor yet again, back on the streets of the Bottoms. Back then the only thing that kept her alive was her fear; in it way, it was kind of nice to have it back.

And, thankfully, it hadn’t paralyzed her.

She was already reaching inside of her jacket when Ed shouted something about one of them bringing a gun, her fingers shaking as she unbuckled the holster and withdrew the pistol. It was surprising plain and utilitarian in design for a gun carried by a woman like Constance, but then again the person she had acquired it from wasn’t really an artisanal gunsmith. Still, she knew how to use it and knew that it shot well, at least when it came to murdering glass bottles. As she fired it made an explosive roar that rivaled the one from the beast, the painfully loud noise echoing off of the walls of the cave. She squeezed the trigger again, knowing that even if she hit it the first time something that big wouldn’t go down so easily. However, she wouldn’t be the one to find out if she had succeeded, because when she fired guns she tended to stand still—and the beast had leapt right at her.

There was a moment of complete clarity as Constance felt her body lift off of the ground and soar through the air as the beast batted her with it’s paw, its claws raking through her clothing and then a little deeper. She thought of how hard it would be to get the blood out and prayed the scars wouldn’t be too bad. She thought that Luna had been closer to her, and wondered why the nurse hadn’t pushed her out of harm’s way. She thought how the gun had left her hands and hoped that it hadn’t been broken when it clattered to the ground near Armas. And lastly she thought of how much it was going to hurt when she hit the wall of the cave, and it wasn’t long before she was proven right, a piercing scream ripped from her lungs as she collapsed to the floor, her vision blurring as her side erupted into pain. 

She decided then, as she was wheezing on the floor of the cave and gripping her side, that whatever name she gave to the beast would most certainly not be a flattering one.