By the time Demarco reached the base of the mountain tunnel, darkness had fallen over Moonwood Mill.
Shaking her head, Demarco's only thought was how late it would be when she finally got back home and how early she would have to get up for her shift at S-Mart tomorrow. Still, energized by her day, she couldn't find any regret in her. She had definitely needed this day.
A little walk back after dark wasn't such a bad thing.
A little later, Demarco was pretty sure she'd gotten turned around in the dark. She had no memory of crossing this little stream on her way to the lake. She had definitely lost the path.
Well, she could admit when she was lost. She considered turning around, trying to find her way back to the lake and start over, but she thought she saw a house up ahead.
Looking past the signs, she examined the battered-looking house. It didn't exactly look promising, but something about it didn't feel empty either. Whoever lived there probably went to bed early. That, or it was later than she thought.
Taking a deep breath, she decided it was worth risking waking some cranky local to ask for directions. 
The house was dark and quiet. Still, the trash piled up around added to the sense that it wasn't completely abandoned.
Demarco could admit to herself that she was starting to get nervous. It occurred to her she was a woman, alone, in the dark. No one actually knew where she was. If she disappeared here, this was totally the kind of place where they would never find her.
You're letting your imagination run away with you, Demarco chided herself. Still, maybe heading back to the lake is a better idea than disturbing the ax-murdering mountain man in his meth-lab cabin.
In the quiet of the woods, she heard a twig actually snap, and she jumped. In that moment she decided that, as an end to a perfectly nice day, running away was better than being violated and killed.
That was, unfortunately, a mistake.
Never run from anything immortal; it only attracts their attention. [1]
She caught a glimpse of grey and black fur, sharp claws and long, white teeth as the Beast hit her from the side.
Lux Demarco fought, punching and kicking, biting and gouging. Every self-defense class she'd had was channeled through a desperate desire to escape, to survive, or - failing that - to damn well make the bastard hurt for it. The tiny corner of her mind that wasn't fighting for its life or screaming in panic couldn't decide if the thing that on her was a man or a beast, but it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was survival.
Demarco screamed as those long white teeth tore into her and hit back with all her strength.
The Beast roared, pain and fury blending into a sound that was neither man nor beast but a hideous combination of the two.
It shook her. Teeth deep in her arm, her shoulder wrenching as it hurled her, Demarco screamed.
The world spun as it threw her, and she landed hard.
"I am not dying here," Lux Demarco groaned as she levered herself to her feet.
She saw it then. The monster. The Beast. Not man or animal but some horrifying combination both.
"Get up," Demarco snarled to herself. "Get up, God damn it!"
The Beast growled deep in its throat.
"I am not dying here!" Demarco answered.
She was, however, still perfectly fine with running away.
He howled out a challenge as the Intruder fled.
Moments later, the Intruder passed the boundary of his territory. Beyond those markings, he would not follow. 
Greggorius Lunvik howled again, reminding the Others he was here.
This territory was his and his alone!
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[1] - quote from Peter S Beagle's The Last Unicorn
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