Lord of the Manor -- Section 8

[I hate to say this, but I think the rewrite is better than the 2,000 words I lost. Which totally sucks, because that has all kinds of implications for my writing--things about rewriting, and reworking, and improving--and I think I'll just fail to notice all of those important life lessons. Moving on.

[I'm hoping that finally getting to this writing has helped overcome my inertia. No, you STILL don't get to see Maddie safe and sound, but you DO get some nice musings about the ethics of hitting things with a bike helmet.

[Personally, I'm for it.]

    Maddie propped her bike against one of the bizarre bushes, grown even more bizarre in the general neglect of the manor grounds. Everything seemed to have gone wild. She detached the red tail-light from her bike and clicked the button until it gave a steady glow--enough to see a bit of the ground in front of her, but not enough to knock out her night vision or be particularly noticeable to anyone glancing out the window. At least, she hoped it wouldn't be too noticeable. She made sure it was aimed down at the ground, just in case, and not up at any of the windows.
    She shivered slightly as she walked around the corner of the manor house to the north face of the building. The shiver was from the cold, or at least that's what she told herself. Okay, so it wasn't just from cold. The creepy feeling from the gate had found a nice jittery feeling, settled down, and started popping out a whole family of jittery and creepy feelings, and they were all hanging out around Maddie, telling her that the world was full of scary things that waited in the dark to do scary things.
    Maddie shook her head and pushed forward. There was nothing scary around, but her imagination was certainly getting some exercise. Just the same, she unclipped her helmet and pulled it off her head, giving her a slightly better view of the night around her. Not MUCH of a better view, but some, and that was enough to make at least some of the jittery feelings shut up for a minute.
    The windows of the North Wing were almost entirely empty of lights, at least on the ground floor. There were some flickers of light from the second story, which made Maddie think concerned thoughts about fire safety, but the manor hadn't burned down yet, so she had to assume that someone knew what they were doing. Unfortunately, all that the shifting light in the second story showed her was glimpses of painted ceilings, some fancy murals, and an extremely elaborate chandelier. Pretty to look at, but not the same as a short man with bat wings, which was what Maddie had REALLY come to see. Well, that, or something equally cool.
    She glanced up as shadows flickered between her and the quarter moon. She was surprised at the number of bats out, though, truthfully, she wasn't sure if they were bats or swallows or whatever other birds came out for some early evening bug snacking. Whatever they were, there were a lot, and she'd noticed them in the woods, too. Maybe there was a cave somewhere nearby, and they all came around the manor to snack. Though, honestly, Maddie had always assumed that bats would go hunting closer to the city. Bugs like light, bats follow bugs, though she supposed she really didn't know much about bats. Or whatever these things were.
    Keeping her light aimed downward, Maddie leaned in closer to try to get a look in one of the first story windows. There was enough moonlight filtering in through the bats--there really were a lot of them--to let her make out a room that showed every sign of never being used. White sheets covered everything--wow, did people actually DO that?--and the cloth made the furniture anonymous and boring. Maddie couldn't even tell if that was a piano or a harpsichord. One, boring, she had at home. The other, not so boring. Sure, she was out of practice a bit, but she'd get practicing again if she had a harpsichord to mess around on, and that thing under the sheet looked a little to small to be a piano.
    Her hopes got up a little, then settled back down to realistic levels. When would she come out here to play a harpsichord? It wasn't like Michael Arches had suddenly become her best buddy or anything, and her parents weren't likely to be very cool with her hanging out, alone with a guy, in a huge, empty mansion. Especially if they found out that the butler had bat wings.
    Speaking of which, she moved onto the next window and peered in, leaning close against the glass. It was hard to see anything, let alone some kind of midget demon person. Why were there so many bats? Maddie glanced up in time to jump back, startled, as one bat chased a bug right in front of her face. She felt a tug at her cheek as it swept by, and then it was gone, flittering back up into the cloud of creatures above her. There really were a lot, and--ow! Her face started to sting. Maddie handed her helmet over to the hand with the light and reached up to touch her cheek. Her fingers came away wet, and she smelled the slight tang of blood. That bat had scratched her!
    She glanced down the wall of the North Wing toward the only light coming out on the first floor--electric light from the stained glass window by the servant entrance. That seemed the most likely place to see anything, but she looked up at the swirling cloud of night flyers and hesitated. She wasn't sure she wanted any more accidents. Maybe it would be better to come back during the day with some excuse--a free pizza, or promotion, or even to ask about the harpsichord. She could say that the old Mr. Arches had promised she could use it.
    Maddie was starting to feel comfortable with that plan--especially since it involved getting away from what was becoming a thick ceiling of bats overhead--when another bit of shadow broke away from the crowd and shot down. Straight toward Maddie.
    It flashed past her face again, and she felt another tug, this time on her forehead. It wasn't long before she felt the same, sharp stinging. Another cut, and she winced as she felt the edges and the blood beginning to run down into her eyebrow. That hurt! Were these bats going crazy?
    Maddie found herself crouching, looking up and trying to keep an eye on every one of the flying things. No, that would be impossible. Instead, she backed up against the manor house and tried to look in every direction at the same time. Not much more possible, but better. Better enough that when the next bit of shadow dropped toward her, she was ready. Well, mostly. She gave a slight shriek, which she decided was justified, given the circumstances, and jerked up her helmet out of reflex. The bat collided with the helmet with a hollow, plastic smack, and dropped to the ground. Maddie's arm ached, mostly from clenching her fingers around the straps of her helmet, but a bit from the impact. It was solid. That bat had hit HARD. Worried that she'd killed it, Maddie turned her bike light on it for a better look.
    It wasn't a bat.
    Wings like a butterfly, hair like a white-guy afro, and baggy pants, all on a little man not even a foot long, lying in the grass, perfectly still. Also, she couldn't help but notice the things fingers. Clawed. Or would it be taloned?
    "Oh my gosh," said Maddie. "I killed a person. A thing. A fairy. I killed a fairy-person-thing." What would she tell her mom? I went out for a bike ride, lied about the library, and killed a mythical creature? She'd have to tell SOMEONE, because you don't just kill someone and forget about it. She felt sick, a tense something that was half in her stomach and half at the base of her skull.
    Then the thing stirred, staggered to his feet, and looked up at her. Glared, really, then lurched away drunkenly.
    "Of all the crazy..." it muttered. "Why would she...can you even believe...with her HELMET!" The little man gave his wings an experimental flutter and jumped into the air, still staggering.
    "Sorry!" Maddie called. "I didn't mean...." She stopped. Didn't mean what? That thing had claws. It had tried to cut her! She wiped away the blood that was gathering over her left eyebrow. Those things HAD cut her. Were they trying to kill her?
    Maddie decided it was time to leave. She started walking back toward the corner of the manor house and toward her bike, forming some vague plan for out-running the things, or at least making herself a harder target to hit. At first she tried to keep an eye on the things, but found herself walking extra fast. Then jogging. Then running. Something swept down at her and she ducked. There was a tug at her hair and she felt some strands tear out of her scalp. It stung, but she decided she liked it better than cuts to her face.
    Some part of her thought about what a great show this would make for public television. The rebellious girl says she's going to the library and instead goes charging off to some spooky manor. Then she's torn apart by little butterflies. The moral of the story would be kind of obvious.
    "I'm never lying to my parents again," she whispered, and something tugged at her calf. She swatted her helmet back there but kept running. There, there it was, her bicycle.
    "Oh crap," she said. She was pretty good at math, but her estimation skills weren't up to the overload her brain was getting at the moment. She could see them in the moonlight. Sitting on her bike, climbing over her bike, gnawing at the tires, was a fluttering crowd of little men. Moth wings, butterfly wings, bird wings, and lots and lots of claws.