Paradox Force
an excerpt

The creature threw her against the floor, its hungry eyes boring into her. It was impossible for anything alive to be so heavy. The thing shifted its weight, releasing one of her arms. She raked her nails across its chest, but it was like scratching stone. It batted her hand away like an irksome gnat. Its wings enveloped them, and Lucy realized they were translucent, revealing the room around them through a murky film.

"Lucy?" called Noah, and she realized he was on the stairs and would be in the room any second. She tried to cry out through the thickness filling her throat. She was terrified that the creature would attack him too, but God help her, she still wanted him to rush into the room. She had the wild image of him attacking the beast and driving it off.

The creature placed its free hand over her chest, its thick claws pointed directly at her heart. She pushed and scrabbled at the limb, but it was as immobile as a great oak. With great deliberation, the claws slowly sank into her flesh.

Lucy's hand convulsed against the arm it was gripping. Shards of ice raked through her. She watched her hand go limp and fall to her side. She could not move, she could not breathe. The became aware that the thickness had disappeared from her throat, leaving a tingling numbness in its wake. The creature's eyes settled on hers, and it opened its mouth, as though tasting something in the air.

She heard footsteps, and saw through the gauzy wings the passing form of her brother. "Lucy?" he called out again. She could not even draw breath or move her lips. She watched him move out of sight as if in a dream. He had been mere feet from her.

The creature flexed its hand, its claws rooting inside her chest. Its mouth was fully open now, its long, glistening tongue lapping the air. She felt each movement of the claws in intimate detail. The tip of one claw scraped against her spine, and a searing pain arced up and down her body.

She heard soft footfalls, and saw Noah standing above her, frowning down at her as though he'd forgotten an appointment. He had a cola in his hand and sipped at it, gazing right through her. She stared back at him, willing him to do something. He moved away again, out of her field of vision.

The creature hummed in pleasure, its tongue curling back between its jaws. The claws were retracted, and Lucy found she could breathe again, a deep ache punching her with each lungful of air. The thing turned her over as easily as a rag doll, its hand settling around her neck as it drew her against it. Her legs unfolded limply as it stood, and the cold of its chest seeped into her back. Wings still blanketing them, it moved towards the front door. She saw Noah, still sipping his soda, sorting through a pile of framed pictures. He didn't even look up as they passed. She was going to be carried off by this thing and he wasn't going to lift a finger to save her.