Lenonte

As I was pondering that, I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye: something fast and yellow—like some sort of animal—streaking across the opposite end of the hallway. By the time I tried to focus on it—cue the scary music—it had vanished.
  “Hello?” I called out. “Is anyone there?”
  No response.

My pulse began to race. “I want to see the principal now. I was supposed to see Mr. Moore.”

  Ms. Roche’s laughter was deep and throaty. “I’m afraid that isn’t possible. Mr. Moore was in my way, just like Mr. Zinck. They would have interfered with our conversation, so I took care of them.”

  “Took care of…” My heart climbed up my throat. “You don’t mean…You couldn’t have—”

  Ms. Roche exhaled, and a chillingly familiar metallic scent wafted through the room. Her fingernails grew, transforming into claws.

  “What the—” I bolted for the door, but Ms. Roche was fast. She sprang across the office in a blur of yellow and blocked my path.

  “Leaving so soon?” Ms. Roche growled. “We’re just getting down to business.”

  Then the most insane thing happened. Her jaw opened wide. Her head peeled back like a hoodie and out of her mouth grew a new head: a feline snout, black lips and white fangs, and large, hungry gold eyes. Her yellow dress changed into sleek fur. Ms. Roche became a fully formed lioness, standing upright on her haunches, ready to tear me to pieces with those gleaming claws.

She bared her fangs.

  I clenched my left hand, suddenly aware I was gripping my lucky coin. Why hadn’t my parents given me a pocketknife? Or a mini-canister of lion spray? Can you even buy lion spray? Or do you just buy bear spray and hope for the best?

  My thoughts were interrupted as Ms. Roche lunged at me, claws extended and fangs exposed. I shouted, instinctively dropping to the ground and rolling to my right.

  My left fist, still clenched tightly, suddenly felt like it was gripping hot lava. I opened my hand to drop the coin, but liquid metal spilled out instead.

  Ms. Roche saw it and scrambled back against the far wall. “No!” she said. “How…?”

Another howl sounded in the distance.
 Sam flinched. “That’s the other leonte.”
 “Leonte? You mean a lion monster, like Ms. Roche?”
 “They always hunt in pairs.

DOA ch