This is a series of short stories, detailing the adventures of Chelsea Childling. You can start with her origin story or pick any story from the index.
***

Chelsea’s fingers drummed against her steering wheel as she glared into the dark streets. Velvet winter night had taken over most of the city, but between worrying about Jack and Amber and having to be in New York, her nerves were raw.

Waiting for Andy to do whatever he was doing wasn’t helping. Neither was leaving her dog with Keegan back at Andy’s place. 

Her frustration had nearly driven her from the car when Andy emerged from the high-rise apartment building. He tapped on her window until she rolled it down.

Breath fogging in the biting wind, he grinned. “Pop the trunk.”

She obliged without a word. Speaking seemed beyond her the past few days while Andy got his shit together. Even Keegan had given up on conversation with her.

I just want to find Jack and Amber. I need to know if they are okay and he’s taking days to figure out a debt.

“Earth to Red. We can drive away now.” Andy’s grin from the passenger seat did nothing for her temper. ”Okay, hun, coffee for your thoughts.”

A laugh escaped her. “Coffee?”

“Let’s be real: Pennies are worthless, and you love coffee. And as you only brood silently these days, I need something to get you talking.”

She laughed again, temper receding. “I need to find them.”

Andy clucked his tongue. “We will.”

“We?”

He sighed. “Both of them ditched their old phones. I’m trying to find their new numbers.”

She felt her heart in her chest, and the moment the beat went erratic.

“Breathe, Chelsea. In the nose and out the mouth.”

She tried, but nothing stayed in her lungs.

“Can you hear me?” 

She nodded. 

A warm hand grabbed the back of her neck. “Hold your breath.”

That she could do.

“Good. Now slowly, breathe out..”

She managed that.

“Slowly, breathe in.”

Somehow, she managed again. Andy talked her through a few more deep breaths until the panic passed. Exhaustion closed her eyes, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. “Sorry about that.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, Red.” A warm arm gripped her in a tight hug. “We hunt monsters. Living on the edge of a panic attack is normal for most of us.”

They sat in silence for a while. Once she felt up to driving, Chelsea righted herself and rubbed at her eyes. “So where to now?”

The address he gave took them to a small park a few blocks away. The empty basketball court sat beside concrete picnic tables, where Andy quickly unloaded his package from the apartment building. Two small, and familiar, cages came together in the chilled air.

Chelsea found her hands on her hips as she glared at her friend. “What the hell are we hunting?”

Too innocent eyes smiled at her. “Dronkes.”

She shook her head. She’d hunted the magical ferret like creatures before. It wasn’t particularly difficult. “I’ve waited days for a hunt big enough to justify you breaking your code of ethics and its dronkes.”

Andy waved a hand at her. “I stopped trying to justify anything once I realized that they ditched their phones. Tonight, we’re just getting fucked up.”

Confused by the sudden change, Chelsea blindly followed him as he set the traps under bushes and then bustled her back to the car to avoid waiting in the cold. Two hours later, they returned to Andy’s warehouse haunt, dronkes scratching at the metal floors of their cages.

The usual crowd was out, no computers pinged, and the police scanner sat silent. Only Keegan and Bentley waited for them amongst the couches, chairs, and beanbags. Keegan put down the book he was reading as Andy deposited his cage on a cuffed small table and waved for Chelsea to do the same.

“Are those dronkes?” Keegan scratched at her dog’s ears, amusement clear in his voice.

“Yup.” Andy sashayed to the kitchen, hips swaying. “We deserve a night off.” 

Keegan looked to her, and Chelsea could only shrug. She had no idea what Andy was up to.

Moments later, he appeared with a vial of intense green liquid. “Did you two know that dronkes can be forced into a mating heat?”

Chelsea’s eyebrows raised in surprise. Dronkes in a mating heat gave a scent that got humans high.

Keegan snorted. “We could just get drunk.”

Andy nodded. “We could, but that feels like work.”

“And trapping dronkes isn’t?” Chelsea asked, unable to hide her amusement.

“Oh, it is.” Andy winked a cat-lined eye at her. “But it’s the fun kind of work. Not the depressing work of drinking until you black out.” He popped the cork on the vial and poured some into each cage. The skinny little monsters eagerly lapped it up. Moments later, the all too familiar light-headedness hit Chelsea.

Constraining a giggle, she plopped down on the couch beside Keegan. “Wish we had that dronke remedy. Worst hangover of my life.”

Keegan laughed and slung an arm over her shoulders. “That was all the booze. Not the dronkes.”

“Ooo,” Andy cooed. “I want this story.”

Keegan obliged with a smirk. Once their laughter died down, Andy told Chelsea all about Keegan’s time with his crew. In turn, Chelsea told the guys about her latest trip through the desert. The stories kept coming until the sky lightened.

Finally, Andy stood with a slap to his legs. “It’s my bedtime. Tomorrow, we should head back to Washington. I need to look around and ask some questions in person.”

Utterly shocked by this random turn, Chelsea shot Keegan a glance, but he seemed just as floored.

Andy sighed. “They ditched their phones, which means they’re hiding from me. I’m starting to think they might really be trying to kill a demon lord. Hopefully, they’re putting together a team, and I can track that easily enough. But if they aren’t…” He rubbed at his temples. “I thought about just sending you two, but I’d go crazy waiting for you to call end up flying out. So tomorrow, we hit the road and find those two idiots before they get themselves or anybody else killed.”

Struggling past the fumes of the dronkes, Chelsea tried to find the right words. “Are we doing a road trip tomorrow?”

Keegan snickered. “We’re starting a road trip tomorrow.”

Andy grinned as he held out his hand. “How fast can you get us to the West Coast?”

Chelsea let him pull her to her feet. “Let’s find out.”

***