Three days after the disappearances, a message arrived.
Not by phone. Not by email. But carved into the bark of the community center's oldest tree.
"Gladys,
Your friends are safe. For now. They will remain safe if you do as I ask.
Meet me at the old Spanish bridge. Midnight. Alone.
Come with others, and they die.
Come with weapons, and they die.
Come with fear, and they die anyway.
—The First"
Glad read it three times, committing every word to memory.
"It's a trap," Ariel said immediately. "You can't go alone."
"If I don't go, they die."
"We'll follow secretly. Protect you."
"She'll know. She's ancient. She'll sense you."
Anino shifted, his ancient face grim. "She will. But she won't sense me."
"What do you mean?"
"In cat form, I'm invisible to her. My magic is tied to this shape now—she can't detect me unless I reveal myself." He met Glad's eyes. "I'll go with you. Hidden. If she attacks, I'll intervene."
"And if she kills you?"
"Then I'll have died protecting you. Which is what I've done for fifty years anyway."
Glad wanted to argue. But there was no time, no choice.
That night, she flew to the old Spanish bridge—a crumbling structure from the colonial era, abandoned for decades.
The Ibwa waited in the center.
She was beautiful, in a terrible way. Tall, elegant, with wings that made Glad's look like toys. Her eyes held centuries of malice.
"Gladys." Her voice was silk over steel. "Finally. We meet."
"Where are my friends?"
"Safe. For now." She circled Glad slowly, examining her. "You're smaller than I expected. Weaker. The prophecy must be wrong."
"Prophecies often are."
"Not this one." The Ibwa stopped, facing her directly. "I've waited centuries for you, Gladys. Since before you were born. I arranged your turning. I shaped your suffering. All so you would be ready for this moment."
"Why? What do you want?"
"Your power. Your position. Your precious community." She smiled—a predator's smile. "I'm going to consume you, Gladys. Take everything you've built. And then I'm going to use it to destroy the humans who've hunted us for millennia."
"I won't let you."
"You can't stop me. You're one creature. I'm the first."
From the shadows, Anino moved.