Jodie stares up at Johnny in tear-streaked astonishment. He just killed one of the monsters with his sword. He can protect her. A moment later, she's clawing at the carpet, scrambling on all fours to get to him, but another tentacle wraps itself around her arm, pulling her to the side and into a chair. "Johnny!" she screams, bare feet scrabbling uselessly against the floor.

Aiden tumbles after Jodie, one black cloud among many. His instinct is to shudder away from the monsters, but seeing Johnny vanquish one has changed things. A shapeless creature plants itself between Aiden and Jodie, its hinged jaw opening wide in a challenging shriek. Aiden hesitates until Jodie screams again, and then he darts forward to tangle with the monster, slamming against it with all the force that he can summon. And it works. The creature dissolves into a cloud of sparks and melts away with an echoing howl.